Chapter 194 - 194
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How much did I expect from my participation in Professor Flitwick's project? To be honest, I don't know. However, it turned out to be somewhat more prosaic.
The next morning after the Professor received the package, Hermione and I went for a run, and then for breakfast, after which Hermione went to her spells lesson, and I went to the Chamber of Secrets. There, in the tent, Delphine was actively drinking tea, still in her leather and obscure costume, and when she saw me, she immediately invited me to sit at the makeshift school desk - just the second table opposite.
"So," sitting at the table across from me, she spoke. "As far as I've learned, you've been doing physical training on your own and quite successfully, so we'll skip that point. Let's start your training with transfiguration, as your most underdeveloped discipline."
"And the rest?"
"Since I'm a master of transfiguration, chimerology, and healing magic, that's what I'll be teaching."
"What about combat magic?"
"A master of combat magic is a very broad concept. Its essence is the use of various skills in combat. There are very few masters in this field because you have to show master's skills in three different disciplines. Accordingly, the masters are different because the specifics of spells, tactics, and actions during combat are different. Each one is a master in his own way."
"In that case, may I assume that your speed is a product of healing magic and chimerology?"
"Exactly," Delphine nodded with a smile. "You'll figure it out as you go along, so I'll tell you a little. In a way, it's hard to call me human anymore. That's why I speculate about why Voldemort's strength is so high - I had the dubious honor of seeing him before he was disembodied. The only thing he had in common with humans was that he was a humanoid. Every wizard seeks his own path to power, but as a woman, I cannot accept such deep and harsh body modifications simply for the sake of magical power."
"The concept of magical power is somewhat unclear to me. It seems to be said that wizards are plus or minus equal in that regard. At least initially."
"Yes and no. You and Hermione are practicing sensing magic to consciously create magical structures, right?"
"Yes."
"And how did you start doing that? Did you figure it out on your own?"
"Professor Flitwick showed us."
"Oh, is he still messing around with his magic glasses? What a science enthusiast he is, after all," Delphine smiled again. "Then, one gap in knowledge must be filled. The average wizard has a limit to the amount of magic he can generate and release into the world per unit of time. However, there is practically no limit to the density of this volume. It is the density of magic in the structure of the spell that affects its power. Those who have special sensitivity can increase the size of the magic structure to increase the power, but there is a disadvantage here. It is highly desirable to form the structure of a spell in a certain amount of time. It varies for each individual spell in a very wide range. If you increase the size of the spell's structure, the time to create it stays the same, but the amount of magic needs to increase. Density also needs to be increased, but only slightly. As a result, sooner or later, the wizard, who increases the size of the structure for the sake of strength, will bump into the natural limits of his body. There isn't enough time to create the spell, and it fails."
"Well, that sounds logical."
"It's good that logic hasn't refused you yet. Not everyone can boast of this. Let's move on to the other issue: the oversaturation of a spell's structure by increasing the amount of magic. Many spells simply fail with unpredictable effects because the structure can't handle the amount of magic. Some, on the other hand, if the structure is properly formed, don't break but turn into something else. A prime example of this is your Stupefy. You're not the first who created a dozen controlled clots of Stupefy from a simple spell by trivial excess of volume. When you exceed the amount of magic in a Stupefy structure, it almost always and for everyone turns into such a thing. The only problem is that Stupefy's structure is very strong, and the average adult wizard will be pumping magic into it for a couple of seconds for this effect. You did it in combat in less than a second, giving off an amount of magic that many people don't have. To a knowledgeable person, of which there are few, this could tell you're not normal as a wizard, some kind of anomaly. It happens, but rarely. They like to call such anomalies Gifts, but in fact, this is a kind of mutation."
"I thought I was increasing density."
"No. Exactly the volume. The density of magic is hard to understand and feel. Hardly anyone can describe it in words. To answer this question accurately, tell me, do you have to keep the structure of the spell from disintegrating when you amplify it with magic?"
"Yes."
"So, Max, it's the amount of magic you're increasing - you're pushing more into the structure than it can take in, so you have to hold it back. When you increase the density, you don't have to hold back the structure, but you have to hold back the magic. It's hard to explain. It's different for everyone, but when you feel it, you'll understand. You'll find the key to this art.