Looking at the thoughtful faces throughout the Great Hall, Wizet offered a timely reminder. "Since fear is the first reaction we cannot avoid..."
"Then why must we fight it? Could we try another way... and make use of it?"
"Make use of it?" Wizet's unexpected suggestion sparked a wave of hushed but irrepressible discussion.
Wizet raised his voice slightly, his clear words steadily carrying over the murmurs. "The magical principles behind the 'Disarming Charm' originated from this kind of thought and exploration."
"Perhaps we can try a different path... instead of avoiding and resisting fear, we can calmly acknowledge it, accept it, and even... make it our own!"
"What we need to accept is not the despair and helplessness brought by fear, but the natural response our bodies make the instant it appears."
"As I just said, fear can make our hearts race and focus our minds to the utmost... That is what we need to seize!"
"Also brought about by fear..." As he spoke, he gave the blackboard a gentle wave of his wand.
The words [Survival Instinct] appeared beside [Fear], with a clear arrow between them pointing from [Fear] to [Survival Instinct].
"Perhaps you can think of it this way... Our souls are like a library, while all kinds of emotions, including 'fear,' are books sorted into different categories within it."
"When we cast magic such as the Patronus Charm or the Boggart-Banishing Charm, the process is often like opening those books—searching through them and drawing out suitable ways to respond..."
Hearing Wizet's analogy, one first-year could not help murmuring it to himself. "Like a library... and looking for books inside it?"
Another first-year's eyes lit up as she eagerly chimed in, "No wonder I always get so flustered when I cast magic! It turns out it