"Standing in a horse stance strengthens the stability of your lower body and enhances core strength. Consistent practice is also an excellent exercise for your willpower," Alan explained, demonstrating the posture for Charles. "In my spell practice, I've found that willpower and emotion are crucial factors that influence a spell's power. If you want to strengthen your magic, tempering your resolve is the simplest method."
"Alright, if you say so." Seeing how highly Alan recommended the technique, Charles mimicked his posture.
Alan observed Charles's form and stood up to correct it. "Pay attention: hands clenched into fists, extended forward, arms straight. For your lower body, tuck your tailbone and keep your hips engaged for support. If you dump all the pressure onto your feet, you'll ruin your knees."
Alan used a small stick to point out the flaws, continuously refining Charles's alignment.
"Is this right? What's next? What do I do?" Charles asked nervously, his muscles already beginning to protest.
"Next? You maintain it. Hold it for as long as possible. We'll start with five minutes," Alan said expressionlessly.
"Maintain it? Just like this? It's exhausting!" Charles complained.
"How can you temper your will if it isn't tiring? Don't worry, it's good for you," Alan replied.
Under Alan's watchful eye, Charles began his ordeal. Less than two minutes in, his body began to rebel. It wasn't just his legs; his extended arms began to ache, shaking uncontrollably from fatigue. He groaned in misery, but since Alan had assumed the same posture directly in front of him—standing perfectly still as a personal demonstration—Charles found it impossible to quit.
By the fourth minute, Charles's hands were trembling violently and his lower body was screaming with soreness. He felt as if he might tip over at any second. Seeing Alan as steady as a statue, he could only grit his teeth and persevere.
Finally, the five minutes were up. Alan signaled for him to stop. Charles was so stiff he could barely stand, and Alan had to help him limp back to the cabin to rest.
"Do you really train like this every day? Are you even human?" Charles panted, slumped in a chair.
*Can't anyone find a different adjective?* Alan wondered.
"It's hard at the beginning, but if you persist, you'll see the benefits. This is just the start," Alan said. "From tomorrow, we increase the time by one minute each day until you can hold it for thirty minutes. After that, we'll practice magic delay exercises while holding the stance, followed by footwork, first aid, and combat drills. We'll take it one step at a time."
Alan lived by the principle that good steel is forged by hammering. Charles nearly fainted at the prospect; if five minutes was this grueling, he couldn't imagine thirty.
While Charles rested, Alan prepared dinner and eventually walked his exhausted friend back to Gryffindor.
Over the following days, Alan supervised Charles's progress while quietly collecting data on his magic sensitivity. His delay-training method was proving effective; Charles's spellcasting was becoming more powerful and precise, and spells he once struggled with were becoming easier to master.
Meanwhile, Alan's own work with Professor Bones continued. The Professor was helping him draft a formal thesis on the Echo Spell while teaching him advanced applied runes for alchemy. These runes—Swiftness, Enhancement, Silencing, and Stress Response—didn't have spoken incantations and had to be enchanted into objects to function. Alan felt his repertoire expanding rapidly.
A week later, Charles arrived with news: Senior Glenda Chittock was back at Hogwarts. At Charles's request, she had agreed to share the incantation for the Wave-Dispelling Charm. Her price? A set of mahjong tiles. Apparently, the graduating senior was a dedicated member of the Mahjong Club. Alan was slightly baffled that his casual introduction of the game had created such a loyal following across the houses.
Once he had the spell, Alan began his tests. He filled a large basin with water, threw in a stone to create ripples, and cast the Wave-Dispelling Charm. The incantation was long and clearly unoptimized, suggesting it was a relatively recent invention, but the effect was undeniable: the water surface flattened instantly.
Next, Alan tested it against sound. He donned his monocle, cast an Echo Spell, and then fired a Wave-Dispelling Charm into the air.
"It's as I suspected," Alan noted, watching the blue lines through his lens. "It has an expulsion effect on sound waves, but the intensity is too low. I need to study the underlying runes. Optimizing an existing structure will be much faster than building a counter-spell from scratch."
Alan used magic phonetics to reverse-engineer the spell. Usually, reproducing the specific structure of a mature spell is difficult, but since this one was unoptimized, the data was easier to extract. Within two days, and with the help of Professor Bones—a master of rune decryption—the components of the Wave-Dispelling Charm were laid bare.
"So that's the secret. It uses Expulsion, Elimination, and Stabilization runes," Alan analyzed, his mind racing. "It's designed for wind and water. If I swap some components to specifically identify and target sound frequencies, I should be able to eliminate my own infrasonic feedback entirely."
<><><><><><><><><><>
POWERSTONES are greatly appreciated. It helps me push this story
For Advanced chapters.(+40)
[patreon .com /daydreamer7] (no blank space)
If you are not capable no worries-you'll get the chapters soon enough. Appreciate you being here!