Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 34 Silent Rhythm

The morning sunlight streamed through the blue glass windows of the Ravenclaw Tower, and Karen was already dressed.

"Going out so early? I don't remember having class this morning?" Fabian poked his head out from under the covers, rubbing his eyes, still sleepy on his face.

"Go find Professor Victor and report on yesterday's results." Karen took the bag containing the iron block with her, and after thinking for a moment, she also put the "Detailed Explanation and Application of Illumination Charms" and "Introduction to Silent Spells" that Professor Flitwick had given her into the bag, preparing to go to the "Eagle's Nest" to practice silent spellcasting after reporting to the professor.

The Ravenclaw common room was empty, the blue curtains of dawn fluttering gently in the breeze. Karen walked down the silent corridor to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. He took a deep breath and knocked softly, but received no response.

"Strange..." Karen frowned and tried knocking a few more times, but there was still no response.

With a hint of disappointment, Karen turned and headed to the fifth floor, heading towards the "Eagle's Nest".

Karen drew his wand and tried silent casting again. He concentrated, imagining the magic flowing from the tip of the wand, but just like countless times before, the magic flow stopped halfway through.

"Flash!" he finally uttered the incantation. With the magic no longer blocked, the tip of his wand immediately shone with a warm light. Karen sighed, staring blankly at the light with her grey-blue eyes.

"Perhaps I should try a different approach..." he muttered to himself, taking out the two books Professor Flitwick had given him from his bag. He carefully perused "Introduction to Silent Spells," meticulously studying the descriptions of the silent spellcasting process.

Then Karen stood up, holding her wand horizontally in front of her chest. Following the instructions in the book, the first step was to "recite the spell silently," not just by remaining silent, but by carefully feeling the flow of magic. Karen closed her eyes, her lips trembling slightly but making no sound, clearly outlining each syllable of the word "Lumos" in her mind.

On the first attempt, the wand did not budge.

The second time, a faint spark flashed from the tip of the staff.

The third time, a faint light, like that of a firefly, appeared and disappeared in an instant.

Karen wasn't discouraged; instead, a smile appeared on his face. He stretched his stiff shoulders and began to regulate his breathing. The key principle from the book came to mind: "Magic is like breathing; don't rush it, let it flow naturally..."

On the fifth attempt, things changed. As he silently chanted the spell to the second syllable, he suddenly felt a warm current flow from his chest to his arm. The tip of the wand glowed with a steady light, only one-third of its normal brightness, but it lasted for a full ten seconds before going out.

"It worked!" Karen couldn't help but cheer softly, his voice echoing slightly in the empty classroom. He immediately opened his notebook and used shorthand notation to record the flow of magic and the rhythm of his breathing.

Sunlight gradually climbed onto the windowsill, casting a golden veil over the classroom. Karen was completely immersed in his practice. After each failure, he would stop to analyze the reasons; he gradually stopped chanting incantations and reduced his spellcasting actions; every small improvement was meticulously recorded.

At noon, when Wesley pushed open the door, this was what he saw: Karen stood in the center of the classroom, her eyes closed, her wand held horizontally, the tip of the wand emitting a soft and steady light, showing no sign of chanting a spell.

"Merlin's Beard!" Wesley exclaimed, nearly dropping what he was holding. "You did it?"

The light vanished instantly. Karen opened her eyes, a tired yet satisfied smile on her face: "It lasted for half a minute... I've mastered the basics of the silent casting of the Illumination Charm."

"That's so cool!" Wesley rushed over, his reddish-brown curly hair shaking with excitement. "How did you do that?"

Karen wiped the sweat from his brow and pointed to the open book: "The key is still in the control of magic. I was a bit too eager to succeed before, trying to cast spells silently directly. We still need to proceed step by step. Ordinary spells 'push' magic out, while silent spells require the magic to 'flow' out..." He suddenly paused, a glint of light flashing in his gray-blue eyes, "It's like the feel when you kick a soccer ball. You don't need to think about the angle or the force; your body naturally knows what to do."

Wesley blinked. "So the Silent Spell is like... a magical version of muscle memory?"

"Exactly!" Karen nodded affirmatively. "You need to make spellcasting an instinct."

The two boys were so engrossed in their discussion about magic that they didn't notice the classroom door being pushed open again. Fabian and Ernesto entered one after the other, the former carrying a stack of books and the latter holding an exquisite planetarium.

"I heard you've been practicing the Silent Spell? How's it going? Did you succeed?" Fabian pushed up his glasses, his face full of curiosity.

Ernesto didn't speak, but interest was clearly evident in his gray eyes. He put down the planetarium and leaned gracefully against the table: "Would you like to demonstrate?"

Under the watchful eyes of his three roommates, Karen raised his wand once more. This time, he didn't close his eyes; instead, he maintained steady breathing, and the tip of the wand glowed with a steady light for a longer duration than before.

"Not skilled enough yet." Karen shook her head. "There's still a magical backlash when it's interrupted..."

"That's already quite an achievement," Fabian said sincerely. "The Encyclopedia of Spells says that it takes an average wizard three months to master the most basic silent spell."

"Since everything's settled, let's go eat! We came here to check on you, worried you'd been so focused on practicing you'd forgotten to eat," Wesley said to Karen.

The group headed towards the auditorium. On the way, Ernesto suddenly asked, "By the way, didn't you go to Professor Victor this morning to report your experimental results? How did it go?"

"I went there this morning, but he wasn't in his office," Karen replied, shaking her head.

"By the way, where did you get these books? From the library?" Fabian asked, pointing to Karen's books.

“Professor Flitwick gave it to me,” Karen explained, “because I had been practicing silent spells in class but hadn’t succeeded. The professor noticed my behavior and thought I should first fully understand the nature of spells.”

"Typical Ravenclaw advice," Ernesto chuckled. "Slytherin would tell you to just practice a hundred more times."

"And what about Gryffindor?"

"Practice jumping off a cliff?" Ernesto rarely made a joke, and all four of them laughed.

As Karen descended the spiral staircase, his cloth bag slipped out of his pocket. He instinctively reached out, without chanting an incantation, but with a thought, the bag paused slightly in mid-air before slowly flying back into his hand.

This unexpected success stunned the four boys. After a moment of silence, Wesley burst into cheers: "Silent Levitation Charm! You mastered it without a teacher!"

"Not quite successful yet." Karen tried again, but this time it only floated slightly before stopping.

But just a moment ago, he seemed to have touched the deepest rhythm of magic, that wonderful resonance that needs no words and is understood intuitively.