Magic Is the Miracle of Belief

Once the joy of recovering what had been lost had settled, Neville stared at Roger for several seconds and remembered that he had seen him before.

At St. Mungo's, when he had gone to visit his parents, he had happened to see a young wizard his own age. He had looked at him a few extra times, and the boy had turned around and given him a friendly smile.

Though he remembered now, Neville did not use it as an excuse to strike up a conversation with Roger.

Neville was a somewhat introverted child.

After stowing their luggage and once the train had started moving, Roger took out two books and began reading.

Seeing how absorbed Roger was, occasionally underlining, circling, and writing notes in both books, Neville felt too embarrassed to disturb him merely to pass the boring time on the train.

Even when the equally bored Hannah spoke to him, he answered quietly, afraid of disturbing Roger.

Until...

Roger lifted his gaze from his books, stopped writing, and looked toward the compartment door.

He had sensed someone watching him.

A pretty little girl with thick, curly hair stood at the compartment entrance, staring wide-eyed through the glass window in the door at Roger's books.

Neville, who had been watching Roger all this time, noticed Roger's movement and turned his head in the same direction.

He then stood, pulled open the compartment door, and asked the girl standing outside, "Excuse me, couldn't you find a seat?"

Neville's introversion merely meant he was not very good at dealing with people. He was warmhearted, always willing to help others through his actions, and brave.

"No, I was just curious about what that was. Is it a spell, a Magical Item, or..." The curly-haired girl raised a hand toward Roger.

"My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger. May I ask if you could tell me?" She had always been respectful when asking others for advice.

In her view, knowledge was precious, and she did not like treating it lightly.

Her respect for knowledge suppressed the instinctive nervousness she felt when interacting with unfamiliar young wizards.

"You mean this?" As Roger spoke, the book in front of him turned a page on its own without any wind.

"Yes!" Hermione's face was full of interest.

Hannah and Neville, however, had little reaction to the sight.

Like Roger, Hermione was a child whose parents were both Muggles, who had suddenly awakened as a witch and had never encountered magic before. Naturally, having suddenly entered an unfamiliar "new world," she was filled with curiosity.

Hermione had been a top student even in Muggle school, and in her view, the best way to understand an unfamiliar group was naturally through reading.

She had bought many books from Flourish and Blotts and read every day. Her fingers were often cut by the edges of pages. If she had Roger's ability to turn pages automatically, that would be much more comfortable... It was summer now, and gloves were too hot. She did not want sweaty hands.

Neville and Hannah, on the other hand, had been born into wizarding society. One came from a Pure-blood family, while the other also had some Pure-blood ancestry, so they found it unremarkable.

Forget books that turned their own pages—they had even heard of books that bit people.

Curious? A little. But they could not be bothered to get to the bottom of it. There were too many strange things and Magical Items in the wizarding world; they had long since become desensitized. Unless it was the kind of thing that made them think, This is way too weird. What even is this? they generally would not investigate.

Roger did not keep Hermione in suspense. Instead, he gave her a straightforward answer. "The Levitation Charm."

"Open Hogwarts's first-year textbook, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. It's the very first spell at the beginning. It's very simple, low-risk, and perfect for young wizards starting out."

"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa." As he spoke, Roger curled a finger, causing the book to float slightly, then made a swiping motion and turned the page.

Roger did not dislike answering people's questions. Imparting knowledge to others was also a way of organizing the knowledge he had already mastered, identifying gaps, and filling them in.

If you found that you could not teach your knowledge to others, there were generally two possibilities: either you had not fully mastered it yourself, or the gap in understanding or intelligence between the two sides was too great.

"You cast that? You... you didn't use a wand, and you didn't say the incantation!" Hermione, who had been a Muggle not long ago, had disbelief written all over her face.

"Wandless Spellcasting. During spellcasting, a wand greatly strengthens your ability to communicate with magic. For wandless spellcasting, you only need to invest more concentration into the process. A Silent Spell is a method of casting by silently reciting the incantation in your mind. It requires a deep understanding of the spell. And if your concentration and understanding of the spell reach the pinnacle, you would not even need to recite the incantation in your mind. A single thought would become magic."

Its specific manifestation was somewhat like the scene when Harry Potter went to the zoo with his cousin, and a burst of magic made the glass in front of the snake disappear.

However, it had little practical value in actual combat. Magic enhanced by both wand and incantation was certainly stronger. Even if it was only to conceal one's combat intentions, a Silent Spell was enough. Casting through pure intent was completely unnecessary.

"Of course, I haven't reached that level. What I used was merely a wandless Silent Spell, and the Levitation Charm is the only spell I can cast wandlessly and silently."

"???"

When Roger finished speaking, not only Hermione, but even Hannah and Neville were dumbfounded.

They both knew a little about wandless and silent spellcasting. Those were techniques that only a small number of exceptionally capable wizards could master! To them, Roger's words sounded like: Want to become a master musician? Just learn music theory, memorize the sound of the instrument, get a feel for the rhythm, and pour in your emotions to add tension.

Easy to say, but far too difficult to do! Seeing their expressions, Roger shook his head and continued, "Don't mythologize certain things too much. The power of magic is almost miraculous; it is connected to the mind."

"Believe in magic, believe in yourself, and unite knowledge with action. Magic will not let down those who love it."

"If you don't believe you can do it yourself, then you truly can't."

In Roger's view, the magic of this world was very special.

It was unlike cultivation or martial arts, which depended on innate talent and spiritual roots. Nor was it like certain forms of magic that required elemental affinity or spiritual attributes.

What it required was the power of the mind and will.

It was somewhat like the Haki in One Piece. If you believed you could do it, it could grant you miracles. If your will became dispirited, then, like certain embarrassing Seven Warlords whose strength had plummeted, you would get utterly thrashed by rookie pirates! Just like Snape: after "The Boy Who Lived" appeared, he lost his drive. The Half-Blood Prince, who had once charged ahead on the path of magic, became an ordinary Potions class teacher.

"If you intend to study magic in depth, I suggest you practice the Levitation Charm more." Roger shifted his gaze from Hermione to Neville and Hannah.

"This spell requires continuous casting, so it can greatly train your concentration on magic. Once you can cast it wandlessly, it becomes advanced 'weighted' training. Learn the silent Levitation Charm and incorporate it into your daily life, and it can also train your ability to control magic with precision."

After answering the question and offering his advice, Roger raised a hand, and the two books on the table floated back into his bag.

Hermione, having received her answer, thanked Roger thoughtfully, bringing this chance encounter to an end.

Of the two books Roger had put back, one was a first-year History of Magic textbook, while the other was a Muggle world history book. In his spare time, he liked comparing the two, then cross-referencing them with memories from his previous life and the knowledge hinted at in the books Professor McGonagall had given him.

Searching for the parts of those two histories that had been "altered" was like playing a puzzle game, and it brought Roger quite a bit of enjoyment.

"Neville, Hannah, I have a question for you." His reading had been interrupted, so Roger did not continue. Instead, he suddenly remembered something.

"After we enroll, we'll be sorted into the four houses. Which one do you want to join?"

The train was about to arrive at the station, and the Sorting Ceremony was just around the corner.

This Sorting Ceremony would have a considerable impact on Roger's academic life over the next seven years. Although he was already eighty or ninety percent certain, with the moment at hand, he still wanted one final confirmation.