Professor Flitwick's Reminder

"Good evening, Professor Flitwick!" In the end, Zhang San brought Ron and Hermione to Professor Flitwick's office.

The small-statured half-goblin professor cheerfully invited the two of them and the ghost inside, thoughtfully pouring them fresh juice.

"Sorry, Silde, I don't know how you could drink juice..." Professor Flitwick said, spreading his hands.

Floating in midair, Zhang San smiled. "Thank you, Professor. I appreciate the thought. We came to ask you for help with some questions about magic."

Stroking his long beard, Professor Flitwick said approvingly, "It's been a long time since I've seen young wizards as thoughtful and eager to learn as you. I'd be delighted to answer any questions you have about magic."

Zhang San gave Ron a meaningful look, and the red-haired boy immediately understood that it was time for him to take the lead.

He took out the magical component that had caused the explosion earlier and asked Professor Flitwick, "Professor, today I tried an experiment in stacked enchantments, but it failed for some unknown reason and caused a magical explosion. What exactly caused that?"

Professor Flitwick cried out in alarm, "Merlin's beard! You were conducting such dangerous magical experiments at school? You're only first-year students. You shouldn't be studying such dangerous and profound magical techniques."

What surprised him even more was that Ron and Hermione had come to seek his guidance as though nothing had happened after causing a magical explosion.

The study of magic was always accompanied by danger. Every year, wizards were sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries because of magical research... and even more unfortunate souls never got the chance to be treated, dying outright in magical explosions.

Wizards were glass cannons with high offense and low defense. The destruction they could cause far exceeded their own defensive abilities. That was why Hogwarts' guiding principle was to teach only spellcasting techniques, not theoretical research—they feared some overly clever person insisting on delving deeply into magic and bringing about disaster.

Professor Flitwick truly had not expected his two favorite students to be studying stacked enchantment techniques in their first year. This was not a skill meant for children, because it involved many subtle spellcasting arts.

"Children, listen to me. Stacked enchantment is an extremely dangerous method of imbuing magic. Other than the enchantment of certain highly sophisticated magical items, it has almost no applications in everyday life," Professor Flitwick said earnestly.

Straightforward as ever, Ron said, "Professor, I want to make the best flying broomstick. We just dismantled a Nimbus 2000 today. That broom uses stacked enchantment techniques to achieve a perfect combination of speed and handling."

Professor Flitwick said with a troubled expression, "Child... I don't think I can teach you the techniques of stacked enchantment."

"Why, Professor?" Ron asked.

"Because I licensed this technique to the Nimbus Company. The contract is still within its confidentiality period, and if I taught it to you, I would have to pay the Nimbus Company an astronomical penalty for breach of contract," Professor Flitwick said sincerely.

Wasn't that why Hogwarts professors were all such big shots? The stacked enchantment technique that had given Ron and Hermione such a headache had actually been licensed and taught to the Nimbus Company by Professor Flitwick...

No wonder!

As a master of Charms and the longtime champion of dueling competitions, there was nothing strange about Professor Flitwick possessing such magical attainments.

No wonder Hogwarts professors were hardly ever short of money. Clearly, they all had unique techniques licensed to certain companies for royalty fees. Hogwarts' meager professor salaries could never provide them with a comfortable life; they had to make money elsewhere to live decently.

"Children, as long as you stop researching stacked enchantment techniques, I'm willing to give you a Nimbus 2000 flying broomstick..." Professor Flitwick then looked at Hermione. "Two, if necessary!"

For the Nimbus Company, giving up just two of their own brooms in exchange for eliminating a future competitor was surely a deal their boss would be happy to make.

Zhang San probed indirectly, "Professor, aside from stacked enchantment techniques, are there other ways to improve a flying broomstick's performance?"

"There are, actually," Professor Flitwick said. "What stacked enchantment improves is merely the number of magical effects that can be added per unit area. If you can increase the surface area available for enchanting on a flying broomstick, you can bypass the technical barrier of stacked enchantment and add more enchanted effects to the broom."

The magical contract only restricted Professor Flitwick from spreading or revealing stacked enchantment techniques in any form while the contract remained in effect. But Zhang San had merely asked about the general concept of improving flying broomsticks and had not touched upon the technical essentials of stacked enchantment, so he was not bound by the contract.

That was how product research and development worked. When faced with a technical barrier that was difficult to overcome, the only choice was to find a way around it.

Professor Flitwick truly was a master of Charms. With one simple sentence, he reminded Zhang San and the others that they did not need to stubbornly focus on enchantment techniques. To make a better flying broomstick, they could start with the hardware materials.

"Thank you, Professor!" Zhang San said gratefully. "We have a gift we'd like to give you."

Then he took the earthy yellow Auspicious Cloud from his pocket. "This is an Auspicious Cloud. You can ride it anywhere you want to go. You can even stand on it while teaching classes—it moves with your thoughts and is extremely flexible."

Professor Flitwick liked the cloud very much, so he happily accepted the gift.

As the three were about to leave, Professor Flitwick said seemingly casually, "Don't devote any more thought to stacked enchantment. Young wizards are still in a period of rapid magical growth, and before they come of age, their magical output isn't stable enough..."

Zhang San understood instantly.

A professor truly was a professor—there was artistry in his words. On the surface, he was advising Ron and Hermione not to continue their research, but between the lines, he had clearly explained why Ron's magical explosion had occurred.

—His magic wasn't stable enough.

Enchanting an object was already delicate work. The more magic added to the same object, the greater the danger and the more precise the magical output needed to be.

Only by skillfully stacking the magic added within the same space could one avoid triggering a magical explosion. Clearly, the core of the stacked enchantment technique Flitwick had licensed to the Nimbus Company was the construction model for multilayer enchantments.

Professor Flitwick's advice was to stay away from this technique until they came of age. If they truly wanted to try it, they should wait until they were adults and their magic had stabilized before researching it.

Giving Professor Flitwick that Auspicious Cloud for transportation had been more than worthwhile. A false master could teach volumes, but a true master needed only one sentence. Professor Flitwick's final advice was concise, yet worth a fortune.

After leaving Professor Flitwick's office, Zhang San said to Ron and Hermione, "We definitely can't continue researching stacked enchantment. A young wizard's magic can at most handle a single-layer enchantment."

Ron nodded helplessly, while Hermione said stubbornly, "Even without stacked enchantment techniques, we can still develop a better flying broomstick!"

"That depends on whether Ron's brothers can deliver," Zhang San said. "All the pressure is on the hardware team now. Let's hope materials science can bring us a miracle."