Hogwarts' Regulus: Lord of the Starry Sky
Chapter 466

Geralt Talks About Adventures

2,158 words7 min read4 views1mo agoSource
Next

Regulus didn't take out his wand. He pointed his right index finger forward, and a beam of Silver Light shot out from his fingertip, curving in mid-air before closing and condensing into a transparent sphere.

The sphere is about the size of a human head, suspended a foot above the table. Its walls are so thin that you can see through them and watch Aberforth wiping glasses behind the bar.

The two brothers moved closer to the table; Fabian's eyes widened, Gideon frowned slightly.

The fastest

Regulus glanced at them.

Neither of the Prewett brothers was annoying; Fabian was quick-witted and enthusiastic, but not offensive, Gideon was quiet, composed, but not indifferent.

The little Pruitt at school is nowhere near as good as these two.

"Reverse application of the Shield Charm," Regulus's voice rang out, his index finger tracing a line on the surface of the sphere, Silver Light rippling along the path of his fingertip. "Condensate into a shell, seal."

The shape is determined by the Spellcasting's intention; wrapping the human body is the most common use, but it can also be used as a container.

Shield Charm, Wandless Magic, Variant Applications.

Fabian opened his mouth, and Gideon raised his eyebrows.

Regulus flicked the little finger of his other hand, and a tiny hole appeared on the top of the sphere. He flicked it again, and a miniature Airflow Charm swirled around the opening, beginning to pump air in.

The surrounding air began to move slightly, and the candlelight on the table shifted slightly.

Fabian reached out and felt the airflow drawing the sphere in; the hairs on the back of his hand stood on end, and when he pulled his hand back, his eyebrows were almost touching his hairline.

Gideon didn't reach out; he just stared at the air distorted by the airflow at the opening.

"Airflow Charm, pump air in, increase air pressure," Regulus explained casually, "Pump it up to the normal limit of the Shield Charm, then compress it further. The more you compress, the greater the power when released."

Aberforth put down his glass, poked half his head out from behind the bar, his blue eyes fixed on the small ball on the table that was gradually emitting a faint glow, and opened his mouth as if about to shout something.

Dumbledore stopped him, placing his hand on Aberforth's arm, his blue eyes peering at the ball through his Half-moon Spectacles, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Aberforth glared at Dumbledore with an unfriendly expression, pulled his arm back, and remained silent.

This operation was very slow, much slower than before outside the Castle.

He kept the airflow rate of the Airflow Charm to a minimum, and the bluish-white light inside the sphere lit up almost sparsely, changing from transparent to misty, and from misty to slightly white, churning inside the shell.

Aberforth watched from behind the bar for a while, then sneered, "Is that all you're going to do? Slowly smoke? If you did that on the battlefield, the enemy would kill you eight hundred times over."

Regulus glanced at him, grinned, and replied, "Well, you're not dead, are you?"

Then switch back and continue operating.

Aberforth choked for a moment, tossed the rag over his shoulder, and muttered, "Ungrateful wretch."

Fabian leaned forward and could feel a slight breeze blowing towards the sphere on his face, making his hair flutter.

Gideon sensed it too, his gaze shifting from the silver sheen of the sphere's surface to the bluish-white mist inside, his brow furrowing even more deeply.

Both of them understood that the Shield Charm and the Airflow Charm were not difficult in themselves; any adult wizard with a bit of skill could do them.

However, the Shield Charm's reverse sphere maintains and controls the orifice's precision, as well as the synchronizing effect of the Airflow Charm, both require stable Magic Power output and extremely fine Magic Manipulation.

This goes beyond the scope of ordinary Spellcasting; it involves doing two things simultaneously that require extreme concentration.

"Enough." Regulus withdrew the Airflow Charm, and the small hole at the top of the sphere closed.

A sphere the size of a human head hung above his two fingers, its interior gleaming with a bluish-white light.

It was several shades darker than the ball that blew up the Castle, but the feeling of being compressed to its limit and expanding was still palpable.

The air near the sphere's surface distorted slightly, casting a wavy shadow of the candlelight beside it.

Fabian swallowed hard. "Is this the one that exploded before?"

"Of course not," Regulus shook his head. "This is too small, and it's not convenient here."

He turned his head to look at the two brothers, a smirk playing on his lips. "I'll get you an even bigger one someday."

Aberforth slammed his hand on the bar counter from behind: "You dare—"

"Not here," Regulus gestured with his chin, his tone innocent. "Outside, in the open."

Aberforth stared at him for a long time, then pointed two fingers at his eyes, and then turned his hand over and poked those fingers towards Regulus.

Regulus had already turned his head away.

Gideon glanced at Aberforth, then whispered, "Bigger than the one that bombed the Castle?"

Regulus grinned, said nothing, and nodded.

Fabian gasped, and Gideon fell silent for a moment before exchanging a glance.

Regulus began to manipulate his Magic Power, causing the Shield Charm sphere's walls to slowly loosen.

Compression cannot directly dissipate this substance. It is not a purely Magic product. Removing the spell will not make it disappear on the spot, but will only cause the sphere's walls to crack, causing the high-pressure gas inside to explode. Therefore, it will slowly leak out.

He controlled the sphere of the Shield Charm to slowly open a crack from the top, and high-pressure gas leaked out through the crack.

Hiss hiss hiss hiss.

The pale blue light gradually dimmed as the air pressure decreased, the sphere slowly shrank, the hissing sound grew fainter and fainter, and finally it became a wisp of almost inaudible airflow and dissipated.

Aberforth muttered another curse from behind the bar, "All he did was fart."

He turned and yelled at Dumbledore, "The men you bring are all troublemakers! That one with half a burnt face came three times, and each time he burned a hole in my table! Look at my table! Albus!"

A gleam of pleasure flashed in Dumbledore's eyes as he earnestly replied, "Your table already had a hole in it, Aberforth."

"That's my hole! I burned it myself!" Aberforth slammed his hand on the bar, making a glass bounce. "I burned it myself, and I did it willingly! What about him burning it? You pay for it!"

Dumbledore -factly, "I have no money."

"You've been a damn principal for nothing!"

"The principal's salary isn't high, Aberforth."

"And what about all your titles? Chief Warlock? Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot? President of the International Confederation of Wizards? The most valuable head in the entire UK Wizarding World, with a bunch of titles, is telling me you have no money?"

Dumbledore moment, then said in his usual lighthearted tone, "Most titles don't come with a salary."

Aberforth stared at him for a long time, his expression shifting from disdain to mockery, then tossed his chin toward Geralt: "You trained that guy?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes narrowed slightly, his smile remaining gentle, "I can't teach that."

"That's unorthodox," Aberforth muttered, withdrawing his gaze. "Even more frightening."

Dumbledore didn't reply, but picked up his glass, took a sip of wine, and his smile deepened.

Once the gas was released, the spherical shell dissipated.

Fabian stared at Geralt's fingers for a long time, then looked at the wand in his own hand, rubbing his fingers on the handle a couple of times.

He raised his eyes, his tone serious, the playful smile gone, "Using the Shield Charm in reverse, we can practice that. The Airflow Charm is no problem either. Magic Manipulation, running multiple lines simultaneously, that takes practice."

But besides these, what else?

Gideon added, his voice even more steady. "That's all?"

Regulus leaned back, the front leg of his stool raised again, his posture relaxed. "Air itself has power; compress it to its limit and then release it—you've all seen the effect."

Ultimately, it's just a combination of basic spells, very simple, nothing to hide.

He thought for a moment and added, "It can be used as practice, to control precision, and to operate on multiple fronts simultaneously, which is also beneficial for Spellcasting themselves."

Then he shook his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "But to achieve the power to blow up Castle— "

The two brothers exchanged a glance, Gideon nodded first, followed by Fabian, without asking any further questions.

Geralt has said so much, he's been quite frank, but he's clearly still holding back the most crucial thing.

Fabian placed his wand on the table, leaned back in Geralt's posture, and his eyes lit up again. "Just practicing this is quite exciting. That little ball from earlier, just looking at it looked amazing."

Gideon nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Fabian spoke again, this time in a different direction, his eyes still bright. "Geralt, where did you go on your adventures before?"

The stool leg clattered to the ground. He leaned forward, sizing Geralt up and down—his long, silver hair and short vest, then his amber, vertical pupils—a curious smirk playing on his lips. "This name doesn't sound like a local's. Norse? Mediterranean Sea?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow and casually made up a story. " In Norse, during the frostwolf migration season, they spent two months crouching on the ice plains."

He certainly hadn't been to Norse, and I suspect neither of the brothers had either.

But he had read Newt Scamander's * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, which mentioned the habits of the frostwolf: they live in packs, are nocturnal, and their fur turns silvery-blue in the moonlight—that was enough for him.

Fabian leaned forward and pressed on, "Two months? How did you manage? There's nothing on the ice plains, right?"

"More or less." Regulus's tone was casual as he traced a winding path on the table with his finger.

"After tracking a stray mother wolf for three days, covering over two hundred miles, they finally entered a Troll's cave, where they discovered a litter of newly hatched frost wolf pups."

He vividly described the icicles and frozen bones in the cave. "The mother wolf went back to protect her cubs, Troll has probably had its den taken over by the frost wolves. It's squatting deep inside the cave, and it has a terrible temper."

Gideon listened quietly, holding a glass of water and occasionally taking a sip. His expression was serious, but his brow was slightly furrowed, and some details seemed to contradict what he had read.

He didn't say anything.

"Troll?" Fabian's mouth dropped open. "How did you get out?"

"I sealed the cave entrance with Slowing Charm, then lit a fire to smoke out half of the cave. The Troll couldn't stand the smoke and escaped through the back door. I wrapped the frostwolf cubs in my robe and brought them out to release them back into the pack."

Fabian listened intently, almost slumping onto the table. "What about the Mediterranean Sea? Have you ever been to Greece?"

Regulus continued composing.

"Last summer, I chased a Gorgon in the Greek Isles. It was hiding in an abandoned temple and had dragged all the sheep from a nearby fishing village into the water to eat them. I used goats as bait."

"Goat." Aberforth snorted loudly again from behind the bar, so loudly that the whole room could hear it.

Regulus pretended not to hear and continued, "After crouching on the cliff for two nights, the siren finally surfaced on the third night. A Reducto shattered the stone beam above its head, and a landslide buried it."

Fabian pressed, "What do sirens look like?"

"Their scales are dark green, and their eyes reflect moonlight," Regulus's description grew more specific, his tone becoming more composed. "When they emerge from the water, their eyes light up first, like two green lamps."

It's actually a combination of the illustration of the siren from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and the eyes of the Giant Squid from the Black Lake, but the details are so good that it sounds just like the real thing.

Gideon had been listening quietly, and when he heard this, he asked, "You dealt with the Frostwolf and the Siren all by yourself?"

Regulus shrugged. "Sometimes there are local helpers."

Gideon nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

It's confirmed, it's all made up.

(And there's more!)

End of Chapter
Prev
NovelSummaries
Next

Comments