The new students' first year at Hogwarts thus began, with Harry and Alan becoming the most noticeable first-years.
Harry was noticeable because of his scar, while Alan was even more so—on his third day at Hogwarts, he randomly got a pair of moose antlers, which couldn't be hidden by any means.
Alan had no choice but to brace himself and go to the Great Hall for meals, becoming the center of attention, and soon the entire school knew about him.
"Over there, look!"
"Where?"
"Next to the tall, red-haired boy."
"The one with glasses?"
"Did you see his face?"
"Did you see his scar?"
As Harry arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast, these whispers constantly surrounded him; students craned their necks, eager to catch a glimpse of him, and also pointed and whispered about Alan, who sat opposite him.
But Alan continued to eat his breakfast with a normal expression, completely unfazed.
Harry, unable to bear the constant gazes, asked Alan for advice: "How do you stay so calm? You don't seem to care about all the attention?"
"I worked at the Leaky Cauldron for four months, and many people were curious about me there too; I'm used to this kind of situation," Alan said calmly, putting a sausage into his mouth.
Harry thought for a moment and said, "I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid before, and we passed the Leaky Cauldron; why didn't I see you?"
"I was at St. Mungo's for several days for a follow-up check-up during that time. When I came back, I heard everyone talking about Harry Potter having just visited. I remember feeling quite regretful that I missed seeing our savior. I actually understand them perfectly," Alan said with a shrug.
"But people's enthusiasm comes and goes quickly. After a few days, everyone will get used to your presence, and they won't pay too much attention to you. That's my experience!" Alan raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on Harry's plate.
"I hope so!" Harry mumbled.
"Harry, can I trade my pumpkin pasty for your sausage?" Alan hesitated before asking Harry.
"Huh? Sure! But why?" Harry was a bit confused by the request.
"Today I randomly got a tongue, it seems to be from some kind of carnivorous animal. From my experience, I can't eat pumpkin pasties in this state."
With that, Alan opened his mouth and stuck out a long tongue covered in barbs. The surrounding whispers instantly died down, then immediately grew louder...
...
After breakfast, Harry and his group headed to Charms class. The Charms professor was an unusually small wizard, Professor Flitwick, who had to stand on a stack of books to reach the desk during class. He took out the roll call, and when he called Harry's name, he let out an excited squeal and disappeared, falling to the floor.
The first Charms class began in such a chaotic manner.
Professor Flitwick composed himself, wiped the corner of his eye with a handkerchief, and began teaching.
"First, we need to understand what a charm is. A charm is a controllable application of magic, generally used by wizards or witches, and sometimes by other magical creatures. Charms are produced by incantations and may be accompanied by magical beams of light. It is because of the existence of these beams that many charms can be dodged, or deflected by obstacles and other charms. The act of using a charm is usually referred to as 'casting a spell'."
"Does any student know the four elements of spell-casting?" Professor Flitwick looked at the students expectantly.
As soon as Alan understood the question, he saw Hermione, sitting in the front row, raise her hand high into the air.
"Miss Granger, please answer," Professor Flitwick said happily.
"The four elements for successful spell-casting are: specific wand movements, correct incantation, the caster's subjective intention for the spell's effect, and a certain degree of concentration from the caster," Hermione stood up and answered clearly.
"Wow~ Absolutely correct, Gryffindor gets 5 points!" Professor Flitwick was even more delighted; Alan was almost afraid he'd faint from happiness.
"As Miss Granger said, to successfully cast a spell, if at least one of these four conditions is not met—for example, if the caster does not use the correct wand movement during the casting process, does not correctly recite the incantation, does not concentrate, or does not have a clear spell effect in mind—then the spell will not be cast successfully..." Professor Flitwick was about to continue when Hermione, sitting in the front row, eagerly raised her hand high again.
"Miss Granger, do you have another question?" Professor Flitwick showed no displeasure at being interrupted.
"I read in a book that some powerful wizards can cast spells silently and wandlessly. If they lack specific wand movements and correct incantations when casting, how can they still succeed?" Hermione stood up once more.
"I'm very pleased that my student can ask such a constructive question. Although this topic is a bit advanced, I'm still going to briefly touch upon it. These four conditions are essential for correctly casting a spell! Silent casting and wandless casting merely transform one of these conditions into another form to fulfill it. They are much, much harder than normal spell-casting and are also very prone to failure, which is why only some powerful wizards can master them. Furthermore, the scenarios where these two spell-casting techniques are applied are relatively few, so Hogwarts will not arrange silent spell courses before sixth year, nor do we encourage everyone to practice them," Professor Flitwick patiently explained.
Alan quickly jotted down Professor Flitwick's words in his notebook.
"Therefore, everyone should still master the normal method of spell-casting. The normal method of spell-casting has evolved over thousands of years to be the simplest, fastest, safest, and most successful method, while the failure rate of those other two spell-casting methods is much higher, and failed spell-casting can lead to various unexpected consequences." As Professor Flitwick said this, he quickly glanced at Alan.
"Next, I will talk about the basic characteristics of charms. Everyone should take notes on this part."
"When casting a spell, charms often manifest as beams of light or energy rays emitted from the tip of the wand. These beams and energy rays come in a variety of colors, and they differ in thickness, speed, duration, and outward radiating energy. Some charms have distinct identifiable features when cast, such as producing a certain color of smoke. However, some charms are invisible to the naked eye after being cast, and some cannot even be physically sensed. Additionally, some charms emit sounds when cast, and a few are accompanied by loud noises."
"Theoretically, magic itself has a limited duration, so as a form of magic application, the effect of a charm is also limited, meaning the effects produced by a charm will not last forever. Some charms, like the Disarming Charm, have an effect that occurs only at the moment of casting, while others, like the Stunning Spell, can last for a long time, with the effect slowly fading. Counter-spells can immediately end the effect of a charm, and the death of the caster will also lift the charm's effect. However, to our knowledge, powerful Memory Charms can cause the cursed person to completely lose their memory, making it irrecoverable, and can even permanently damage the cursed person's brain."
"Finally, regarding the classification of charms, based on their magical principles and effects, we generally divide known charms into seven major categories: Transfiguration, Charms, Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, Counter-spells, and Healing Spells," Professor Flitwick rattled off in one breath.
This time, Hermione didn't raise her hand to interrupt Professor Flitwick; instead, she was diligently taking notes.
Alan, however, was not focused on taking notes, as a question that had always bothered him resurfaced in his mind:
Why is there no concept of magical power when casting magic in this world?
Where is the magical power for casting spells that appears in so many fantasy novels?
Why is magical power not one of the four elements?