{Harry's temporary room, Leaky Cauldron}
"There you go, Hedwig. Give it to the pretty brunette, okay." I stroked the regal-looking owl's feathers as I gave her the letter to bite. Hedwig turned around, her beady eyes staring at me.
'Why is she judging me?' I thought as she took off. I watched her go. I could have chosen a different name for her, but if there was someone who had always been with Harry till the end in the books, it was Hedwig.
As she disappeared into the clouds, I closed the window and walked back toward my bed. With that out of the way, I had finished my first errand of the day. I went to gringotts exchanged 10 galleons for 100 pounds, and walked back through the pub into Charing Cross Road.
It was a quick trip. I got a pen I desperately needed to write the letter, a notebook, a set of spare clothes, and grabbed necessities like a toothbrush and tissue paper. The rest of the shopping could wait for a later day, when I get some more muggle currency from Hermione later today.
With the free time that I now have, I looked into my trunk and picked up the first book that I saw. It was one of the standard books mentioned in canon: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, by Miranda Goshawk. The book had a dark cover with golden etching on the side, and the book title and author printed on the front.
I opened the book and began to read:
'''Cast magic is not solely a matter of pointing a wand and speaking a word.
The incantation and wand movement are only the visible portion of a spell.
Beneath every successful spell lies an interaction between the caster's intent, their magical power, a proper set of wand movements, pronunciation, visualization of the spell's effects, and finally the caster's control over the spell or mana.
A novice who memorizes a hundred incantations without understanding these principles will remain inferior to a competent witch or wizard who understands and has mastered ten spells.
The spells contained within this set of texts have been arranged according to their underlying principles rather than their apparent usefulness. The student who follows the progression faithfully should find that later spells become considerably easier once the foundations have been mastered.
A spell cast with excessive power is not necessarily a stronger spell.
It is often simply less controlled.
— Miranda Goshawk'''
I took a deep breath as I read through the opening excerpt of the book. In a few paragraphs, the author had broken down the core principles of how a spell is cast. Eager to learn my first spell, I moved on to the next page.
It had a long table of contents list, which I promptly ignored for now and moved on to the first spell.
'''The Wand Lightning Charm:
Incantation: Lumos
Classification: Charm
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Range: Depends on Mana
Duration: Needs a constant supply of mana
Prerequisites: None
The wand lightning charm creates a small sphere of magical light at the tip of the wand. The light produces negligible heat but can light up a reasonably large area.
Wand Movement: Raise the wand smoothly before finishing with a small upward flick.
Casting Method: The student should imagine a sharp light erupting from their wand. It is also helpful if you close your eyes to visualize being surrounded by darkness or trying to use the spell in a dark environment.
*Warning: Do not try to visualize a candle, as this can lead to producing a fire.
Common Failures and their reasons:
Dim glow: Insufficient intent on producing a light
Flickering: Poor concentration
No light: Incorrect wand movement.
Burst of light: Excessive magical output
A student is considered proficient in the spell when they can: Cast Lumos reliably, maintain it for at least a full minute, and adjust the brightness of the spell on command.'''
I read through the whole explanation of the spell two times before I grabbed my wand from my inventory. The sudden sensation of warmth flooded me again, and I closed my eyes. Before trying out the spell, I simply focused on trying to sense how the mana inside my body moved.
It was flowing along my veins with every beat of my heart, the source of my core. It also made sense why a Dragon's heartstring was a powerful conduit for making wands, but I pushed those wandering thoughts aside for now.
With my eyes closed, I took a deep breath to calm down my emotions and nervously twirled the wand in my hand. When I was ready, I first imagined what I wanted to happen: a bright light bursting from the tip of my wand, illuminating the room.
I flexed my wrist upward as I focused and immediately felt my mana rush from my fingers and channel into my wand.
"Lumos~" I almost shouted, and even with my eyes closed, I felt the change as the black darkness was replaced by the light brown/red of the blood under my eyelids. I opened my eyes, excited, and looked at the bright light that quickly flickered away as my concentration on keeping the spell active slipped.
'You're a wizard, Harry, ' I thought as the classic line from canon appeared in my mind. With excitement flooding me, I looked at the blue screen that had appeared in front of me.
...
[Spell Learned: The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 0(1/50)]
...
I focused on the spell name, and the window quickly expanded.
...
[The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 0(1/50)]
[Incantation: Lumos]
[Spell Cost: 1 MP/s]
[Spell success rate: 20%]
[Wand movements: Flick upward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to look at your surroundings when stranded in complete darkness]
...
The grin on my face slowly lessened as I looked at the additional stat listed in the spell: Spell success rate: 20%.
'Don't tell me this is a probabilistic game. I don't believe that a duel could be determined based on Luck.' I thought as I flicked my wand upwards once again and focused.
"Lumos~" I chanted once again, and another bright light appeared at the tip of my wand. This time, I focused on it, letting it glow for a while before I flicked my wand downward and said, "Nox~."
The light vanished, and I ignored the new window that appeared in front of my wand. I looked at my wand with a frown and cast the charm again, "Lumos~." A bright light appeared, and when I stopped my mana from flowing into the wand, it disappeared once again, without the need for the Wand-Dousing Charm that I had just learned.
As I got my mana ready to cast the charm once again, I paused as the tip once again glowed with a bright light without my need to chant or do the wand movement.
'Huh... I guess there is a reason Hogwarts exists,' I thought as I threw my ass into experimenting with the first two charms I had learned for a little while.
AN: Will explain the full workings of wanded magic in the next chapter.