Professor Sprout spoke faster and faster.
"Could we teach students to sense the emotions of a highly poisonous plant?
When is it hungry? When is it satisfied? When is it frightened and about to attack?"
"To sense their condition through magic, just as we use the Mindscape Mirror to look into a person's heart! Rather than waiting until it has already wrapped its tendrils around your neck before casting that damned Incendio!"
"That's... that's madness, Pomona!"
Flitwick exclaimed.
"You mean having students empathize with... a poisonous mushroom?"
"Analyze!"
Professor Sprout corrected him at once, her choice of words unconsciously taking on a measure of Douglas-style precision.
"Just like the Tactical Incantation you mentioned! This isn't an outpouring of emotion, but a precise analysis of the target's condition! It provides the most accurate intelligence for the next action, whether that means soothing it, going around it, or attacking!"
"From how to defeat it to how to understand it! Oh, Merlin, this could cut the accident rate in the Greenhouses by at least half!"
Both professors' eyes shone with passion, the kind of light that only appeared when educators discovered an entirely new path.
They excitedly traded ideas, discussing how to incorporate these new concepts into their respective syllabuses.
"I could even design a special sensing charm that would let students hear the distinctive sounds of the magical fluctuations different plants emit in different states!"
"Excellent idea! And I could apply the concept of Minimal-Movement Spellcasting to stirring techniques in Potions! Different states of mind, different stirring rhythms-perhaps they could bring out different potential in the ingredients!"
Without either of them realizing it, their discussion had come to revolve entirely around the novel teaching framework Douglas had constructed.
From the Mindscape Mirror to tactical intent, from cognitive warfare to breaking out of