"Now you can autonomously control your magic and play some magic tricks. Perhaps, I think we can try combining spells to release some magic," Howl's voice slowly appeared in the living room.
"Really?!" Harry, who was reading at the table, suddenly perked up. A week had passed since he first successfully lit a fire.
Now, driven by his subjective consciousness, he could perform tricks like starting fires, breaking branches, or making flowers bloom early.
At first, he was a little proud, but later, Mr. Lucifer quietly told him that at this age, Uncle Howl's magic was already perfectly controlled, and he could cast spells with his entire body.
He used to lie in bed casting spells with his feet and breathing fire from his backside.
This instantly made Harry not know whether to cry or laugh.
Anyway, since then, he has felt even more how powerful Uncle Howl is…
"The first spell—Reparo." Howl opened "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" and pushed it in front of Harry.
[Reparo]
This spell can repair damaged items, returning them to their original state.
During this time, Harry had read many magic books, so he was naturally not unfamiliar with this spell. The book also had detailed annotations on the spell's intonation and wand movement trajectory.
He cautiously looked up at Howl and saw that triumphant cat face nod, confirming, "That's right, no wand, use your hand."
Well, as expected. Harry was not very disappointed; on the contrary, he was excited. He just wanted a definite answer.
"You can use your hand as a pointer and your glasses as a target," Howl said.
Harry's glasses were very broken; the temples and nose pads were taped together, and there were cracks on the lenses. They were the most suitable target for repair.
Harry nodded, took off his glasses, placed them on the table, and began to try repeatedly.
"Reparo!" Harry waved a finger in front of his eyes while chanting the spell.
The glasses on the table suddenly jumped gently twice, then returned to stillness.
"Don't rush, kid," Howl smiled, stood beside him, and extended his hand.
"Watch my movements," he instructed, then loudly chanted the spell: "Reparo!"
Swish swish—
The tape on Harry's glasses suddenly spun in circles, and tiny silver light burst open on the damaged parts of the glasses. The cracks on the lenses began to shrink and then merged into one.
In the blink of an eye, a brand new pair of glasses appeared. The metal rust on the temples had disappeared, and the broken parts had healed. The old tape had detached from the glasses and lay on the table.
"Wow!" Harry couldn't help but exclaim. This was one of the rare times he had observed spellcasting in such detail. The feeling of reality being rewritten deeply shocked him.
"Merlin is the founder of modern magic. He combined Runes, Latin, and the remnants of Ancient Greece and Egyptian magical texts, laying a solid foundation for modern magic," Howl slowly introduced.
"You tell me, what are the three elements of modern magic casting?"
"Gestures, incantations, and desire!!" Harry exclaimed loudly. The books he had read during this time were not for nothing. In addition to spells, Transfiguration, and Potions, he had also read many History of Magic books.
Howl's saying, "Learn from history, and befriend the ancients," had already been written on the flyleaf of his notebook.
"Where is the most fundamental difference from ancient magic?" Howl asked again.
This question made Harry think for a while, and then he said, "Desire!"
"That's right. Before the era of Merlin, except for some Dark Arts in Ancient Egypt that required malice, most ancient magic was an absolutely rational discipline. As Runes, formations, or spells that communicate with the world's origin, they absolutely could not tolerate any mistakes.
Rigor was the basic requirement to become an excellent wizard in that era.
And after Merlin, he innovatively combined various knowledge, simplifying spells and Runes, allowing people to successfully cast spells by merely chanting a single word or short phrase."
As he spoke, Howl's hand drew Runes on the table.
"These simplified spells and gestures act as a skeleton during the casting process.
And our desire to cast spells is used to drive the laws of the world, allowing them to follow the prescribed path of our skeleton and fill in the flesh and blood."
Harry nodded: "I understand."
Howl nodded, then waved his hand, and with a flash of silver light, the glasses returned to their previous broken state, and the tape wrapped back around them.
Facing Harry's surprised expression, Howl smiled: "There's no better practice tool than this, is there?"
Harry also gave a helpless, bitter smile in agreement: "That's true…"
Although Howl was encountering the magic of this world for the first time, his vast theoretical knowledge and spellcasting experience had already allowed him to master many simple spells.
However, he had not chosen to repair Harry's glasses before, nor had he dealt with many small damages in the Castle; he was waiting for this day.
Learning by doing, isn't it?
And he wasn't a nanny.
As he spoke, Harry began to practice again, chanting the spell over and over: "Reparo!"
This continued for a long time, but the glasses showed no change. Harry looked at Howl somewhat dejectedly, trying to get an explanation.
Howl smiled, took "A History of Modern magic" from the side, then opened it to a page and handed it to Harry.
"The answer is in the book," Howl said.
Harry was a little puzzled, but he still began to read word by word, trying to find the answer. Not long after, he suddenly discovered a sentence.
"…The fusion and development of Latin and English have undoubtedly also changed spells. It can be confirmed that all current spells are merely [imitations] of ancient spells.
And because modern spells are written using Latin letters that have developed over many years, this undoubtedly leads to discrepancies between the written record and the true pronunciation of the spells.
Therefore, in the study of contemporary spells, we need to abandon our everyday language habits and instead find the awkward rising and falling tones, pitch differences, and vocal modifications. Only then can we quickly master a spell…"
Harry's ears immediately felt a little hot. He had seen this page before, but at the time, he had paid no attention to such a record in the book, being completely captivated by the thrilling stories of history.
"Reparo—"
Howl slowly said, "Rise, fall, slow fall, rise. Use a low tone for L."
Harry nodded, then focused his gaze on the glasses, trying several more times. Finally, he concentrated on the crack on the lens.
He understood. If he couldn't repair the glasses all at once, he would do it step by step.
As he chanted the spell again, a tiny silver light suddenly appeared at the edge of the crack on the lens and began to move along the crack.
Wherever the silver light passed, that trace of a crack disappeared.
Harry held up the glasses and happily looked at Howl: "Uncle Howl, I did it."
Seeing this, Howl also nodded with satisfaction. To be able to do this bare-handed, if he were given a guide, he should be able to complete the repair of the entire glasses.
If he were given an amplifier, repairing some large items would also not be a problem.
"Not bad," Howl praised, then smiled: "But it doesn't count as truly knowing it yet."
"It doesn't count?" Harry was a little confused. He noticed the 'good fruit-like smile' on Howl's face.
"If you can repair those old objects in the Castle, then I'll believe you."