"Fifth element?" Harry was a little surprised; he had only heard of the four elemental theories, and they had already been gradually abandoned by modern Wizards.
After all, with Incendio and Aguamenti, anyone could conjure fire and control water.
"Ancient scholars considered earth, water, wind, and fire as the four elements that constitute the material world. Among them, wind is formless and intangible; fire is tangible but intangible; water, formless but tangible; earth, tangible and tangible!
And the combination of the four elements is — life.
From this, the so-called fifth element was born, which is our spirit."
As he spoke, Howl pointed to his own head.
"Do you remember Ollivander saying things like 'the wand chooses the Wizard' or 'wands also have people they like or dislike'?"
Harry nodded; this was unforgettable. Ollivander's demeanor and words were like those of an old madman.
Yes, although it might sound impolite, those remarks... were truly wild.
Howl's voice appeared again: "Actually, that's not wrong, it's just that the anthropomorphism is a bit too strong.
The meaning of this sentence is actually, which fifth elements different materials are suitable for — that is, what kind of spiritual qualities they are suitable for.
Just as ash wood suits the firm and loyal, and aspen wood favors the desire for dueling and martial arts.
As for golden apple wood, we can trace its origins in mythology to find its symbolic meaning in mysticism.
In Greek mythology, the golden apple symbolizes wisdom, specifically, the desire for knowledge and curiosity.
So we can boldly deduce that a wand made from it naturally suits more curious and rational scholar-type Wizards."
"So... Uncle Howl, do I need to change my thoughts to suit it?"
"What silly talk!" Howl laughed.
"You are a person; are you going to change yourself to gain the favor of a dead object? That would be putting the cart before the horse.
What you need to do is make it suitable for you. A wand isn't just made of wood, right?"
"Oh, I see." Harry nodded in sudden realization, "We need to know the properties of golden apple wood to change and neutralize it, not for us to accommodate it."
"Of course, otherwise it's like wearing ill-fitting clothes or getting a hairstyle that doesn't suit your face shape. It will never look good."
This analogy...
"And the characteristics of the golden apple branch actually suit you quite well," Howl said, "It just needs more subtle adjustments. So it involves magic pattern arrays and other materials.
Regarding the array, do you remember who guarded the golden apple tree in mythology?"
"Snakes!" Harry immediately replied.
"Exactly, so for the rune array and branch trimming, you can use several snake-pattern templates from the book I gave you.
Then, for materials, we prioritize minerals and powerful magical creature ingredients.
For magical animal ingredients, you can ask Hagrid; he knows a lot and can give you good advice.
As for minerals, various crystals don't need to be considered, because there are better choices."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of shimmering Orichalcum.
"Adamant is more rational, making people lack certain desires. Mithril strengthens spirituality, making one lose their soul. These two, combined with the golden apple branch, would only excessively amplify advantages, turning them into unnecessary disadvantages.
Orichalcum, however, is just right; while being sturdy and steady, it also carries the meaning of protection and defense.
It can serve as a good modifier for the golden apple branch, and it won't suppress a person's martial spirit."
"I see!" Harry nodded, feeling much more relaxed as the directions for the three major challenges had been clarified.
"Go on, if there's anything you're unsure about, you can always ask me." Howl handed the golden apple branch and Orichalcum to him...
However, the difficulty of this task still far exceeded Harry's imagination, consuming a large amount of time...
Knock, knock, knock—
"Come in." Harry didn't even lift his head, continuing to work on the combination of rune arrays on the paper.
It was like solving math problems, figuring out which formula to use and which template to apply in different places.
And these formula templates would undergo countless variations based on his data and needs.
It wasn't until he surprisingly smelled the scent of lemon at his nose that he suddenly reacted, looking up to find a pretty face rushing towards him.
"Ow!!"
Harry dazedly put down his pen, then smiled wryly, "You can't scare anyone with that flushed face, Hermione."
"Alright." Hermione rubbed her slightly hot cheeks; the temperature in Moonlight Fortress was quite a bit higher than outside, so it was indeed a bit warm.
She smiled helplessly, "I thought I could finally get revenge for what happened in the common room back then."
"Where's Mr. Chris?" Harry asked curiously.
"He and Mr. Jones are planting trees in the garden outside. My aunt sent two lemon trees, so he brought one over," Hermione replied, then curiously asked what Harry was doing.
Harry quickly told Hermione all the stories from this holiday, and the little girl's mouth didn't close once as she listened.
However, when the story was finished, Harry keenly noticed that Hermione's face was a little unnatural.
"What's wrong?" he quickly asked.
"No, nothing." Hermione shrugged somewhat reluctantly.
However, Harry just looked at her, saying nothing.
"Alright... Actually, after what happened before the holiday, I want to ask Mr. Jones to give me some special training. I feel... a bit useless."
"Useless?! Hermione, why are you having such thoughts?" Harry asked in confusion, "You're first in your year in academics. If that's useless, I don't know how many people would cry."
"It's not that kind of useless..." Hermione lowered her head, "It's... weakness. It's that I'm too bad, that's what I mean. Just like you said, I don't know any practical things, I just get some rigid knowledge from reading books."
"Isn't that enough...? Of course, I'm not against you asking Mr. Jones for special training, I mean you're not weak."
"Harry, don't try to fool me like I'm a little girl." Hermione puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms, her face flushed.
"I already know how useless I am. What did Mr. Jones say in the dueling class... a paramecium, capable of simple life activities, and nothing more."
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