章節 50: A Balancing Act
The Charms classroom was cylindrical with three circular rows of long, narrow tables. Each row lay a step above the other, and in the center, surrounded by stacks of books, was the professor's pulpit. Clambering over the books to his chair, the diminutive professor cleared his throat and spoke, "Good morning, class! Please hand in your essay when I call your name for attendance!"
Cyrna took out her 8-inch essay on the charm, Alohomora, and its counter-charm, Colloportus. While she waited, she twiddled with her wand and mused about the reputation she had cultivated among the other students. Her epithet as the odd Slytherin did her no favours within her House. However, outside of Slytherin, she was considered by others to be relatively approachable. Students from the other houses did not give her a wide berth like the other Slytherins of her year, no matter her apparent disinterest. When a group of Hufflepuffs settled near her, Cyrna accepted her role as an unwilling eavesdropper, listening as they chattered loudly about the new sweet Honeydukes had created that would taste like the person's favourite drink. Apparently, the public reception was excellent, and she heard a Hufflepuff declare that it would be a staple in their family.
"Ms. Raine!" Professor Flitwick called her name. He did a happy little jump when she handed over her essay. "As excellent as the previous ones, I should hope?"
"Hopefully, sir," Cyrna said shyly.
Either Professor Flitwick had meagre expectations, or he was a lenient grader, but all her assignments had landed an 'A' or 'EE' when Cyrna had done nothing but regurgitate text without additional inspiration. However, she showed none of these thoughts as she waited for the lesson to begin.
"Now watch and listen carefully," said Flitwick after the essays had been collected. He drew his wand and demonstrated the unlocking charm: a circle then, before completion, a downwards slash. The wand sparked, but without the incantation and intent, the charm did not activate. He brought out a lock and held it up for people to see. "The same motion, but quicker. Then speak the incantation: Alohomora!"
A click echoed through the room.
Professor Flitwick gave a dramatic bow, causing some of the students to giggle as they clapped.
"Now this charm, as I'm sure you've all read, is used for getting past locked doors discreetly. There isn't too much of a place for this spell when it comes to duelling, but nevertheless, it can be useful and is one of the simplest charms to cast—"
The Hufflepuff nearest her raised her hand.
"Miss Bones?"
"But I saw my aunt cast spells that had simpler..."
"Wandwork?" supplied a Hufflepuff boy.
"Thanks, Ernie! Yeah, it had simpler wandwork!"
Professor Flitwick seemed pleased by the question. "5 points to Hufflepuff for your inquisitive mind, Miss Bones. Does anyone know the answer? No?" asked Flitwick when the class remained silent. "Well, alohomora is considered one of the simplest spells because it doesn't need too much magic or control for it to work. Say, for a spell like Wingardium leviosa," he pointed his wand at the now floating lock, "you need a certain control over your magic. If you feed it a bit too much magic—" the lock shot to the ceiling with a loud bang. Bits of stone rained onto the class was now paying rapt attention to the professor. Flitwick summoned the lock back to him.
"Or if there is too little magic—" the lock wobbled on his palm but did not rise— "then you won't get the desired result." On Flitwick's last cast, the lock bobbed gently in the air.
Remembering how quickly her Spiky Bush had burned even when she hadn't used Perenelle's adjusted wandwork to produce hotter flames, Cyrna's hand shot up before she could stop herself.
"Miss Raine?"
"So it's not only the wandwork but also your magical power and your control over it that makes a particular charm difficult?"
"3 points to Slytherin for a fantastic follow-up question, Miss Raine! Saying yes or no wouldn't be completely accurate. Complexity of the wandwork does indeed have a relationship with the power needed to perform the charm." Flitwick glanced over the class. "However, power won't be a concern for any of you. All of you selected for Hogwarts have the required reserves. You will be able to perform the most complex spells in the curriculum, so long as you've cultivated sufficient control over your magic."
Theodore stuck up his hand, appearing awake for once. "To clarify, does this mean it's possible to achieve the same explosion from Bombarda Maxima using the spellwork for Bombarda, as long as you've fed the spell enough magic?"
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