Battle Training

Old Jack had a villa by the seaside, though he had no idea exactly where it was. It stood beside a towering column of rock rising from the shore and looked like a ruin from a distance. Up close, you would find that it really was a ruin.

With a "biu," the car appeared inside a cave open at both ends. Outside, waves and seagulls soared together beneath a vast blue sky. The air was countless times better than London's.

The two of them got out of the Rolls-Royce. The trunk opened by itself, and the suitcases flew out, floating in the air as they followed them out of the cave.

Outside the cave was a path built along the mountainside. After walking for quite a while, they reached the edge of a cliff. Jack drew his wand from his sleeve and gave it a wave. Countless enormous rocks flew up from beneath the waves and eventually formed a bridge.

At the other end of the bridge stood the ruined house beside the rock column. It had clearly once been beautiful, but now only its four walls remained. The inside was completely empty except for a wizard statue.

The two of them passed through a wall of rock and arrived in a magnificent, glittering hall.

Every time Charles visited, he glanced at the wall on the right. According to Jack, there was a tunnel behind it that led to a Gringotts vault. However, the tunnel had long since been completely abandoned, and not a single sound had ever come from behind it.

Upstairs, behind the hall, were quite a few rooms that had once been offices. They had now been converted into living quarters for the two of them.

Charles led his suitcase into his own room. It was completely empty, with nothing inside.

Two seconds after he opened the suitcase, the room contained a soft, comfortable bed, a wardrobe that reached a person's height, a beautiful desk and chair, and a lamp on the desk.

Jack had already finished arranging his own room and had even prepared the kitchen.

"What do you want for lunch?" Charles asked as he opened the food cupboard. It was packed with bread, meat, vegetables, fruit, jam, and other foods, as well as the two caramel puddings Petunia had brought that morning.

"Anything will do. I'll go get some water first," Jack replied.

A water tank from the top of the kitchen followed him outside. Charles was deeply impressed by Old Man's skill with the Accio Charm. Facing the sea, he cast "Fresh Water, Accio," and the water in the tank was as pure as filtered water.

Charles sliced some bacon made from meat whose origin he couldn't identify and cut up a cucumber. He fried the bacon and simply made several sandwiches. Once the water returned, he boiled it and brewed a pot of tea.

The two of them did not eat in the kitchen. Instead, they sat at the edge of the cliff. Dozens of meters below their feet, the waves battered the rock column without pause, while many seagulls circled over the sea in the distance.

After finishing a sandwich, Jack asked Charles, "What do you think is the essence of magic?"

Charles had pondered that question for many years, so he answered at once. "I think magic should be a kind of energy, something similar to electricity."

He was trying to understand magic in his own way. Jack, meanwhile, had been studying Muggle inventions such as televisions and computers in his own way.

It was just that Old Man's "Reparo" could not fix electrical appliances. Fortunately, Charles had mastered it fairly well after learning it and could repair them himself. Otherwise, the money they had earned from the 1986 and 1990 World Cups would not have been enough for them to squander.

"That's right." Jack pointed toward the path along the distant mountainside. "It was there that Professor Figo, my first teacher, told me that magic was essentially just a form of power. What mattered was how people used the power they possessed."

"If you possessed the most powerful magic in the world, what would you use it for?"

Charles thought for a moment, then looked at the sun in the sky. "Achieving controlled nuclear fusion."

Jack was already used to Charles occasionally spouting Muggle terms he didn't understand. Besides, his own memories were incomplete, as if part of them were missing, and he hadn't finished reading all of them himself. That was why he didn't understand many of the words.

Charles did not explain further. Ever since Old Man had broken a television and failed to repair it while Charles had managed to fix it, whenever Old Man failed to understand the Muggle things Charles talked about, he would sulk and refuse to listen as soon as Charles began explaining in detail. Then he would go ask the neighbors.

"Then you'll have to work hard." Although Jack had no idea what nuclear fusion was, that did not stop him from saying something encouraging.

Jack picked up another sandwich and ate as he spoke. "In my experience, once you learn a few spells, you'll be safe and sound at Hogwarts."

Charles smiled and asked Old Man, "Does that include the Avada Kedavra?"

His attitude toward the Three Unforgivable Curses was both terrified of death and eager to court it. He was curious and wanted to learn them, but he was also afraid of going to Azkaban and becoming food for the Dementors. All things considered, it was better to keep his distance.

"Of course it does," Jack answered seriously. "Besides Avada Kedavra, there's the Levitation Charm and the Projectile Charm."

The corner of Charles's mouth twitched. He said flatly, "I don't want to go to Azkaban yet."

"It's fine." Jack spoke casually. "I know the place well. I can have the Dementors arrange a luxury suite for you."

Charles grabbed all the sandwiches remaining on the plate and gnawed on them as he said, "Then I'll eat a good meal first."

Jack rubbed his head. "I'll go buy you some spider legs later."

Charles immediately nodded. Whenever Old Man went out to buy groceries, he brought back things that could not be found in supermarkets. Spider legs were among the ingredients he could most readily accept. Even the neighbors, including the Dursley couple, enjoyed eating them as long as they did not see the raw ingredients.

After the two of them had eaten their fill, they began their magic training in the atrium of the ruins.

Jack waved his wand and shaved a rock he had brought down from the mountain into a stone man. Then he said, "When I was at Hogwarts, Professor Hecate told me that in fierce combat, the simplest things were often the most useful."

Charles nodded in agreement.

Jack cast a spell at the stone man, waving his wand much more slowly than usual. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The spell struck the stone man. A purple Light Pillar rose from the ground and lifted it twenty meters into the air.

Jack said to Charles, who was staring up at it, "This is the Levitation Charm I learned when I was a student."

He then dispelled the magic. The purple Light Pillar vanished, and the stone man immediately fell.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Just as the stone man was about to hit the ground, Old Man completed his spell.

The stone man floated up once again, but unlike the previous time, there were no special effects.

"This is the modern Levitation Charm," Jack said to Charles. "The spell has been improved over the years, and the technique has changed slightly. After optimizing it and removing the unnecessary parts, it consumes much less energy."

As he spoke of the technique, he deliberately raised his hand and demonstrated the final flick of the wrist used when casting the improved Levitation Charm.

"I further optimized it according to the principles behind the improved version." This time, Jack cast the spell at Charles. "Jangle Wingardium Leviosa!"

Charles suddenly felt the gravity around him disappear, and his entire body floated into the air. There was nothing around him to support himself against.

After Jack lowered him back down, he said, "In battle, the Levitation Charm can control an enemy and restrict their movement. You can hold them in the air and take your time aiming."

Charles nodded in agreement. "That really is a good method. It can also indirectly control a person's movements."

Jack asked him again, "Do you know what a counterspell is?"

Charles thought for a moment before asking, "Do you mean another spell that cancels the effects of a spell?"

Jack shook his head and cast a spell at Charles. "Drop Dead!"

Charles collapsed onto the ground in an instant. It felt as if an incredibly heavy mountain were pressing down on him, leaving him unable to move even a finger.

After dispelling the spell, Jack explained, "This is magic I learned while traveling. In Muggle terms, 'Wingardium Leviosa' means reducing gravity, while 'Drop Dead!' means increasing gravity."

"I call two spells with the same underlying principle but opposite effects counterspells. The kind you mentioned is called a dispelling spell."

After Charles climbed back to his feet, he said irritably, "You never told me. How was I supposed to know?"

"I understand what you mean now. These two spells both control gravity, and in battle, you can even lift an enemy up and smash them down with force."

"Exactly." Jack helped brush the dust off him. "There are plenty of other counterspell combinations as well. Once you've learned this one, you can move on to the combination technique using the Accio Charm and the Projectile Charm."