Inspiration surged like a crystalline spring through Ciel's mind, flooding his consciousness with brilliant clarity. How had he forgotten the fundamental properties of light from his previous life?
Interference. One of light's most essential characteristics. Light emitted from the same source could produce interference effects under specific conditions, manifesting as light superposition that created alternating bright and dark patterns. The bright areas would exceed the brightness of a single beam by tremendous margins!
Previously, to perfect this self-created spell, he had only focused on improving individual Lumos castings. Even after achieving uniform frequency among magical light particles and maximising concentration and brightness within his current limits, the laser spell text on his system panel had never fully crystallised.
Now understanding crashed over him like a revelation. He'd forgotten that multiple Lumos spells could interact with each other in complex ways. If not for glimpsing the interaction between the little badgers' overlapping Lumos spells in his dazed state, he wouldn't know when he'd make this crucial connection.
But now, with this breakthrough in magical thinking, the remaining problems weren't insurmountable for someone who had long studied this spell's intricacies.
"Cast two Lumos spells in rapid succession within a short timeframe. The magic from both spells interacts, creating interference phenomena, producing a far stronger beam..."
Excitement banished his mental fatigue instantly. He immediately began experimenting with trembling hands.
"Lumos-Acies!"
With the derived incantation, a bright, concentrated beam shot from his wand tip like liquid starlight. Then he repeated the incantation with precise timing. Another beam emerged from his wand.
But when these successive beams met in the air, instead of becoming brighter as he expected, they interfered destructively with each other and both dimmed significantly.
Seeing this result, he showed not disappointment but increased joy radiating from his features. This proved one crucial thing. Interference phenomena truly occurred with magical spells too.
He simply hadn't mastered the delicate interaction between competing magical forces, causing the two laser spells to cancel each other out instead of reinforcing their combined power. This wasn't a major obstacle, just requiring more careful, thorough magical control and extensive practice.
For him, this was entirely manageable. But having this hypothesis verified was tremendously meaningful, opening entirely new avenues of magical thinking.
If Lumos could produce such interference effects, what about other spells? He took a deep breath, strange light flickering in his eyes like captured lightning.
If this conjecture also held true for other magic, his spell power might increase exponentially across the board. He increasingly appreciated the profound benefits of improved magical perception. Different perspectives brought completely revolutionary magical understanding.
Without perceiving magic's microscopic level, he'd never have conceived such approaches. The possibilities seemed endless.
But soon after, his excitement gradually settled into focused determination. Unlike Lumos, verifying this "interference" approach with other spells would be much more challenging, probably not achievable quickly. His current magical perception might not suffice for more complex interactions either.
In unfamiliar territory, start with the simplest foundation. Build experience with Lumos first.
Soon he concentrated his thoughts, focusing entirely on laser spell interference practice with methodical precision.
"Lumos-Acies!"
Incantations rang out repeatedly through the common room. Bright beams continuously emerged from his wand tip in rapid succession. Sometimes dim, sometimes blazingly bright, weaving strange interference patterns in the air.
But in his enhanced perception, beneath these macroscopic light displays, he could seemingly observe magic particles from two laser spells continuously interacting at the fundamental level. They vibrated at carefully calibrated frequencies. Macroscopic expressions originated directly from these microscopic magical interactions.
He concentrated intensively on observing this phenomenon, his enhanced magical perception allowing him to witness the dance of magical forces. Time passed minute by minute as he refined his understanding.
Gradually, amidst these magic particles' monotonous, repetitive movements, profound understanding dawned in his consciousness like sunrise breaking over mountains:
"To achieve positive interference, the key lies in making the magic particles from successive laser spells resonate harmoniously together."
With this realisation crystallised, his mouth curved into a satisfied smile. The next moment, his wrist trembled, and the wand swayed with newfound precision.
"Lumos-Acies!"
Different from all previous attempts, this time the wand tip emitted a beam far thicker and more brilliant than anything before. Just looking directly at it seemed to sear the retina with pure radiance, too bright to view safely.
Its destructive potential showed qualitative improvement compared to earlier versions. He maintained this enhanced laser spell, gently sweeping it across nearby surfaces.
The desktop and thick stone floor tiles separated instantly with mirror-smooth traces, the cuts so precise they seemed crafted by master artisans. This power amazed even him.
Though not as formidable as Sectumsempra in certain aspects, lacking properties like ignoring most protective magic or leaving permanently unhealable wounds, in pure cutting effectiveness, it approached that legendary Dark Arts spell.
Who could believe such lethal magic originated from humble Lumos?
His gaze shifted toward the system panel, and he saw an even more amazing sight that made his heart race. The previously slightly blurred laser spell text became completely clear and sharp.
But now, Lumos, the Variable-Light Charm, and the newly perfected laser spell no longer showed Platinum-level radiance. They were completely covered in pure Diamond brilliance that pulsed with inner fire.
[Lumos (Diamond Level)]
[Variable-Light Charm (Diamond Level)]
[Lumos-Acies (Diamond Level)]
All of his light-based magic had advanced to Diamond level after completing his interference hypothesis!
Though he previously possessed Diamond-level Serpensortia, that was temporarily maintained through cursed jewellery enhancement. His actual personal mastery in that spell remained lacking.
But now, the advancement of his light magic resulted purely from his own effort and inspiration. Though this Diamond radiance was still relatively weak compared to true masters, in his eyes it was exceptionally beautiful.
"When school started, I thought having one Platinum-level spell in the first year would be excellent progress. Unexpectedly, advancement far exceeded all estimates. Diamond-level spells are now within reach."
He paused, eyes gleaming with ambition. "Given a few more years of dedicated study, would Legendary or even Mythical-level magic be far away? Even if it's just Lumos reaching the Mythical level, it would probably produce jaw-dropping effects, right?"
Thinking this, all his previous concerns relaxed considerably. Anthony Dolohov, Voldemort's return, Delia Island temple mysteries, Patronus Charm's potential magical world dangers, Olympian era secrets. As long as he was strong enough, none of these represented insurmountable problems.
Then he snapped back to immediate reality. What met his eyes were the other little badgers' completely dumbfounded expressions throughout the common room. They stared at the impossibly smooth cuts his laser spell had made in solid stone, eyes still flickering with afterimages of the previous brilliant light.
"C-Ciel, was that also Lumos?!" A little badger stammered, voice filled with awe.
He nodded with a gentle smile. "Strictly speaking, it's a specialised variant of Lumos magic. A little spell I created myself through experimentation."
This caused the little badgers to stir with visible excitement. "Self-created spell?!"
They gasped collectively. If memory served correctly, he had already created a spell based on the Levitation Charm in Charms class before, right? In such short time, he'd developed another original magic?
The little badgers looked at each other with expressions of amazement. Susan Bones couldn't help complaining with good-natured exasperation: "Are we really attending the same school? Ciel, you make the rest of us look incredibly stupid by comparison."
But the little badgers showed no jealousy or resentment, only genuine happiness for his achievements.
"Wonderful! With this spell, your upcoming Defence Against the Dark Arts exam will be much safer."
He gently corrected their assumption: "Not just me being safer. We'll all be safer together."
Before the little badgers could fully process his meaning, he said softly: "Would everyone be interested in learning this spell?"
Hearing his words, the little badgers' breathing quickened audibly, their gazes filled with incredulous hope.
"But this is your self-created magic, Ciel."
"Every self-created spell is extremely precious. Everyone in the magical world knows this."
He naturally understood this fundamental truth. Many wizards wouldn't choose to publicise unique magical knowledge they developed, instead jealously guarding it as family wealth for generations.
Sometimes such closely held magical secrets could keep pure-blood families wealthy and influential for centuries. For instance, the Potter family's special hair growth potion recipe had accumulated tremendous wealth over generations.
His laser spell might not match hair growth potions or certain unique potion recipes for generating pure profit, but it possessed distinct advantages. It was lethal combat magic derived from basic Lumos.
This meant using it effectively didn't require overly complex or advanced magical knowledge. Theoretically, young wizards who'd mastered Lumos could eventually learn the laser spell with proper instruction.
Many established wizarding families might prove very interested in trading substantial sums for this spell. If he were willing to negotiate such exchanges, several hundred Galleons should be easily obtainable.
The little badgers didn't know its specific monetary value, but judging from its demonstrated destructive power, they recognised this as formidable combat magic. Its worth would definitely be significant.
Facing his proposal to teach them freely, the little badgers repeatedly shook their heads in polite refusal.
Seeing their reaction, warmth flooded his heart. They weren't unscrupulous, profit-seeking little snakes, nor knowledge-hungry little eagles obsessed with pursuing learning at any cost.
Little badgers might not be the most brilliant students, but they'd never take unfair advantage of friends. This was Hufflepuff's true nature.
Then he spoke with complete seriousness: "I'm not teaching you for free, actually. In exchange, everyone must achieve first place in evaluations this time. We've already led for an entire school year. No one wants an imperfect conclusion in the final exam, right?"
His voice grew warm with genuine affection. "Moreover, aren't we Hufflepuffs? Mutual sharing and helping each other – isn't that our house's most precious quality? If you obtained unique, powerful spells when friends might face danger, I think you wouldn't hoard them selfishly either, right?"
"Though I'm often absent from common room activities, I shouldn't be expelled from Hufflepuff, should I?"
Hearing his heartfelt words, the little badgers hesitated for several moments. After internal struggle, they gritted their teeth and nodded with determined expressions burning in their eyes.
As he said, this year's House Cup must be won by Hufflepuff, and won perfectly. They'd give their absolute all for first place in final evaluations too.
Seeing the little badgers' resolute expressions, he nodded with deep satisfaction. Then he began explaining laser spellcasting requirements to the eager group.
Compared to creating laser spells, which required deep understanding of magic's microscopic world and grasping complex interference principles, merely learning to use this spell wasn't overwhelmingly difficult.
Just slightly more challenging than the basic Lumos or Levitation Charm. For the current little badgers, this represented manageable advancement.
Moreover, their accumulated Lumos experience would directly help in learning laser spell fundamentals. Though they couldn't reach his current mastery level, after practising intensively for a while, some little badgers with particularly solid Lumos foundations, like Susan and Hannah, gradually grasped the essential techniques.
Their Lumos light became noticeably more concentrated and focused than before. He showed visible satisfaction at their rapid progress.
Continuing this dedicated practice until Defence Against the Dark Arts exams began, they'd possess at least one additional lethal spell and considerably improved self-protection capability.
Just then, he exhaled softly and walked to one side, not wanting to disturb the intensely focused little badgers. But his enhanced senses detected something unusual approaching.
Turning around, he saw Professor Sprout standing at the common room entrance. It was unclear how long she'd been observing their practice session.
She approached him with measured steps and sat beside him on the comfortable cushions. Professor Sprout said gently: "Ciel, you did very well indeed."
Tears of relief and joy glimmered in the professor's kind eyes. "Actually, I've always sensed that you possess maturity far beyond your peers. This greatly benefits your magical research and advancement but also creates communication gaps with Hufflepuff classmates."
"I was once worried you couldn't properly integrate with the house, but after this full year, facts prove my concerns were completely unnecessary."
Her voice carried profound warmth. "You're a true Hufflepuff."
Hearing Aunt Sprout's praise, he felt somewhat embarrassed by the recognition. For a long time previously, he'd spent very little time actively participating in Hufflepuff activities.
Rather than him integrating into Hufflepuff, it was more accurate that the little badgers of Hufflepuff had actively accommodated his various un-house-like behaviours with remarkable patience.
Being called a "true Hufflepuff" made him feel genuinely undeserving of such honour.
Professor Sprout, seemingly reading his thoughts with maternal intuition, showed a gentle smile: "Hufflepuff House has always embraced students of diverse personalities and backgrounds. But only those who truly unite the entire house and make selfless contributions to it qualify as genuine Hufflepuffs."
"This isn't merely my personal standard, but the principle established by house founder Helga Hufflepuff herself."
Then Professor Sprout guided his attention toward a corner of the common room he'd never noticed before. There, a previously invisible hidden door appeared like magic, similar to the Room of Requirement's manifestation, slowly materialising from apparent nothingness.
Besides him, other little badgers seemed completely unable to perceive this mysterious entrance.
His expression shifted to amazement. "This... what is this?"
Professor Sprout's mouth curved upward with knowing satisfaction. "If you've read 'Hogwarts: A History', you'd know Salazar Slytherin left a Chamber of Secrets inheritance at Hogwarts. Only students with noble bloodlines and extraordinary abilities can enter the Chamber and obtain what Slytherin left behind."
"Godric Gryffindor also left his inheritance for worthy successors. Only those with true courage can draw Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat."
Her eyes sparkled with ancient secrets. "So you wouldn't think Helga Hufflepuff left nothing behind for her deserving heirs, would you?"
Professor Sprout indicated he should approach the mysterious door. "Go, Ciel. Only a true Hufflepuff can receive Helga Hufflepuff's gifts. She's waiting for you there."