When Wizards Choose Magic, Magic Chooses Wizards Too

Professor McGonagall becoming Headmistress might have been a coincidence.

But there was no doubt about the power of Transfiguration.

In Roger's view, Transfiguration was the magic closest to being "divine"!

It could turn metal into cotton, toxins into nutrients, water and fire into a breeze. Even the "Conjuring and Vanishing" branches of Transfiguration could directly alter whether matter existed at all. With this one spell alone, nearly every non-magical means in the modern world lost its significance.

Calling it The Ultimate of Matter Manipulation was no exaggeration!

Even the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, such as "food created by Transfiguration cannot satisfy hunger," were fundamentally only caused by the fact that transformed objects became an inseparable whole that could not be broken down before the spell was lifted. As a result, nutrients could not be broken down and absorbed by the human body.

If a wizard transfigured matter particle by particle, then assembled it into bread, it could still satisfy hunger... It was the weakness of wizards that limited Transfiguration's potential, not any flaw in Transfiguration itself.

If there were a wizard whose Mental Power was almost godlike, one powerful enough to understand everything about magic, then relying on Transfiguration alone, they could simulate the effects of nearly every kind of magic!

It had the right to become the fulcrum that moved everything.

Moreover, Roger had received a systematic scientific education in his previous life, and he was not an especially emotional person. Compared to things that emphasized extreme feelings and spirituality, using "fantasy" to cast spells, magic like Transfiguration was closer to reason and more suited to casting through "conceptualization." It fit him better.

Among the theoretical books Professor McGonagall had lent Roger, aside from Ritual Magic is More Than Just Blood Sacrifice, there was another book Roger found rather interesting.

It was also this book that made Roger feel that, while he should stay away from Dark Magic whenever possible, Transfiguration was probably the magic best suited to his path toward Eternal Life.

Is Spellcasting Through Extreme Emotions a Wrong Path?

This book had been written in ancient Europe, during an era when bloody and terrifying Ancient Magic was rampant. Its author was an old wizard whose life was nearing its end.

In the era when the author wrote the book, the Modification Path, Ritual Path, and External Object Path had not yet undergone extensive verification and become the three great schools of learning later recognized throughout the world. They had not yet developed into the systems known today: Bloodline and Soul Modification, Transfiguration, and the vast, intricate systems of Ritual Magic, alchemy, potions, and more.

At the time, another school was prevalent among the wizards in the author's region who pursued power.

The Emotion Path! As everyone knew, emotions accounted for no small part of Mental Power. Extreme love, hatred, sorrow, joy, or the desire to protect others could often allow someone to unleash unimaginable power! Just like the Love's Magic Lily Potter had cast upon her son—Voldemort's Avada Kedavra had been unable to break through its defense.

Even after ten years, merely touching Harry slightly would still cause Voldemort tremendous backlash.

And extreme painful emotions had created dreadful monsters such as the Dementors of Azkaban.

Self-loathing and suppression, meanwhile, could breed a powerful Obscurus.

The phenomena different emotions could trigger, surpassing the power of ordinary wizards, were incredibly varied.

Ancient wizards of that era believed that manipulating emotions was the correct path to breaking through the shackles limiting Mental Power and allowing wizards to become gods.

The reclusive lifestyle of modern wizards, along with the reality that Ancient Magic had been replaced by modern magic, silently spoke of how those people had ended.

Most of Is Spellcasting Through Extreme Emotions a Wrong Path? was an old wizard, speaking kindly as death approached, reflecting on his life. It was a book somewhat like a personal biography and memoir.

What Roger found most valuable was the two theoretical hypotheses the old wizard mentioned in the book.

The Magic-Mind Echo Theory and the Magic Selection Theory.

When discussing these theories, the old wizard began with wands—the "starting point" of nearly every wizard.

"When I bought the first wand of my life, Mr. Ollivander told me that wizards choose wands, but wands also choose wizards."

"Do not set your eyes on those extraordinary wands of legend. You are not compatible with them. Even if you hold one, you will not become a legendary figure. You will only be rejected by the wand, unable to cast a single spell, and suffer backlash besides."

"This is your wand. It may seem unremarkable, but it will grow alongside you. Every choice you make will change you, and it will change it as well."

"A person's greatness stems from every choice they make."

—People and wands chose each other, and they influenced each other. Spellcasting was the same.

"Wizards choose magic, but magic also chooses wizards!"

Just as someone without happy memories could not cast the Patronus Charm, and someone without killing intent could not cast Avada Kedavra.

"Wizards influence magic."

The more a person rejected the outside world, the stronger their Banishing Charm would be. Those who loved the feeling of unrestrained freedom would be better at the Levitation Charm.

"Magic also influences wizards."

Those who spent years studying Dark Magic that required extreme negative emotions to cast successfully would become increasingly gloomy, full of malice toward many things around them, and quick-tempered...

"It is not only Dark Magic. This emotional influence exists in every spell!"

For instance, Protego made people lean toward conservatism, while the Patronus Charm made people inclined toward optimism... But this was not particularly important, because such influence followed fundamental rules.

The more will you poured into a spell, the more strongly the spell would influence you in return.

If you poured only a small amount of will and emotion into it, the effect on you would be negligible.

In other words, as long as you avoided casting through extreme will and emotion, and did not push yourself to the brink every time you cast, veins bulging all over your body as your blood pressure soared, it would not be much of a problem.

How many times in an ordinary wizard's life would they cast a spell at the risk of their life? A little influence could be smoothed away with time.

But if you insisted on using Dark Magic that could not be cast without extreme emotions? Then no one could save you.

...All of this not only made Roger more wary of Dark Magic and exploitative spellcasting, but also helped him understand just how important it was to choose a spell that suited him.

Harry Potter used Expelliarmus from beginning to end—was it because he did not know any other combat spells?

Wizards chose spells, but spells also chose wizards. A compatible spell could potentially produce an effect of 10 with the power of 1! Roger wanted to attain Eternal Life, and the path he had currently chosen was the Modification Path proposed by ancient wizards.

Wizards could not make this path work because they lacked a sufficient number of experimental subjects.

But Roger intended to use his Experimental Sacred Body, which could sense danger in advance, to forcefully crack the mysteries of life.

Roger did not know how long it would take him to accomplish his goal.

Perhaps a few years, perhaps decades, or perhaps he would fail to accomplish it even at the moment of death—like Kuafu chasing the sun, or Don Quixote charging at windmills, leaving behind a somewhat wistful legend for the world after his death.

But since he had decided to walk the path of longevity, Roger would never abandon any choice that could increase his odds of success!

After Roger's tests, Transfiguration not only possessed tremendous potential, but he was also quite compatible with it.

Naturally, when it came to something that concerned the fate of his life, Roger would not simply shut himself away and blindly work things out on his own.

"Professor McGonagall, what do you think of my idea?" After Transfiguration class ended, the other Gryffindor students left the classroom one after another, but Roger remained behind. He wanted to seek advice from this knowledgeable professor who had helped him so much before.