Chapter 23 - Astronomy

"So what spell do you guys want to learn the most?" asked Casper throwing a pillow to Stephen.

"Incarcerous" A soft voice echoed in the room and a small rope flew in the air to the pillow. It wrapped the pillow up but didn't affect its momentum much. Although it deviated from its path a little, Stephen caught the pillow and hold it for a moment thinking something.

As if everything was normal, Stephen ignored the pillow and muttered "Patronus Charm.".

"Huh, right." Thomas rolled his eyes.

"I don't expect to learn it this year but it will be helpful for my future." said Stephen.

Alder took his eyes from the pillow and started looking sideways. Afterwards, he asked "Do you want to enter the ministry?".

Stephen nodded and his eyes lit up seeing someone who could understand him.

"And what's that spell got to do with the ministry?" asked Casper.

Meanwhile, seeing the rope released the pillow and vanishing slowly, Stephen threw the pillow towards Thomas.

"My dad said it creates a good image, but he also said it's a difficult charm. It probably shows how capable of a wizard you are." said Stephen seriously.

"Your dad probably left the rest to the school to explain. There is one more reason..." said Alder but raised his wand suddenly. "Incarcerous"

The pillow that was flying to him slowed a little bit because of the direction the rope came from and fell down to his bed.

Nobody cared about the pillow anymore, they were waiting for Alder's next words. "Although there is an exception for everything. Usually dark wizards and witches can't cast Patronus Charm. So it also shows your virtue."

"Why?" asked Casper confused.

"Most of the spells require adequate intention. Some even need strong emotions for it to be successful. And Patronus Charm is such a spell, it requires happiness. It is a well-known fact that only pure hearted people could cast the spell due to its characteristics, even though as I say there is an exception for everything." Alder grabbed the released pillow and threw it to Casper. "But most of the dark witches and wizards wouldn't even try casting it, because it can cause a terrible outcome. You will learn such a dark wizard, Ekrizdis, in your history lessons."

Casper caught the pillow absent-mindedly and nodded. "Alright. But can I use my pillow now? Why don't you continue casting that spell on your book or something?" While it was fun at the start, he got bored in time.

"I need to practise my aim. My future targets would hardly stand in their place."

"You sure are hardworking…" said Thomas.

While everything looked good on the outside…

The spell was too complicated for the current him. Although he had read the important parts about Conjuration, he had the knowledge of a third year at most on Transfiguration. Even casting the spell once posed problems for Alder. To make the skill shown in his panel, he had to try casting it for almost three hours. In the end a thin thread was summoned from the tip of his wand, and without wasting his time he raised the skill to Level 1 immediately. Thanks to the system, after increasing the level he gained enough knowledge to cast the spell properly. But lacking the knowledge in the area of Transfiguration effected his use of the spell. It was like he had a weapon he couldn't fully use.

"But it doesn't seem powerful, have you tried using it on anything alive? Like that bird spell of yours." said Thomas.

Alder shook his head. "I don't want to hurt it." Seeing the confusion on Thomas' face he continued "I know it's just a summoned creature but I sometimes feel like it has consciousness.".

"Do you think you're summoning the same bird every time?" asked Stephen.

Alder shook his head again. "Don't think so. It would get used to me or at least recognise me by now if that was the case. Besides, I don't think the spell is strong enough to contain anything alive for long."

However, the power of the spell was probably due to his Magic stat level being 1.

"You can try it on me." said Thomas.

"What, are you sure?" said Alder in confusion.

"Well, it is more interesting than any other magic we're learning right now." said Thomas. He was also interested in the spell, even though he didn't know how hard it would be.

"If you say so… I'm starting." said Alder. Seeing Thomas sit firmly on his bed, he said "Incarcerous".

This time a thicker rope came out of his wand and circled around Casper for a second. After that, it tied up Thomas around his torso.

Thomas looked the rope in interest and gave a little power to his arms and opened them. Rope was unable to hold him back and fell down to the bed.

"It really seems rather weak…" said Thomas.

"We're only first years, don't worry. It's already great that you're able to cast the spell." said Stephen consoling Alder.

Even though he had no expectations, seeing the result depressed Alder. It made no sense to learn a spell if you couldn't cast it in its full prowess. This made him thinking. Alder checked carefully the awards for the main quest.

'Five mind, three magic and one body stat points… I will take the same classes next year too, so magic will be behind mind for 4 points when I start my third year…'

He glanced at his 3 Free Stat Points and dumped them into the magic. Having made his decision, he tried to think positively to not regret anything. As soon as his Magic Stat hit 4 points, he felt a subtle feeling like his connection with the world and his wand got stronger. But he couldn't be sure about it since that vague feeling disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Having tried on Thomas, he decided not to cast the spell again. It would do no good for him to surprise them like that. Moreover, he did all he could for now.

Besides, he had no intention of confronting a werewolf directly with his novice magic. Maybe holding it for a second would do wonders in the right moment.

He casted the spell a few more times on random things in the room and after checking the time, they started preparing for their Astronomy class. He casted a final look on his skills and went his way to the Astronomy Tower.

--Incarcerous Spell: Level 1 (Experience: 656/1000)—

…

While they were climbing the spiral stairs of the tower, some students were yawning. Some were even grumbling about why there was even a class in midnight.

When they have reached at the top. A breath-taking sight was before them. The sky was clear as if welcoming their first class. The half-moon was bright and glittering stars were making them unable to take their gazes from them.

"Welcome to your first Astronomy Class. I'm Aurora Sinistra. Here you will set your eyes on the vastness of the universe. Some may think this class is not very practical. But I think turning a blind eye to surroundings will make your thinking shallow. You're seeing the sky every night, but I wonder how many of yours wondered what it contained. I won't even speak about Astrology which is quite different from our practise. Although we will not delve into it this year, I would like to show you the Orrery."

Then Professor Sinistra continued to introduce them about their solar system. Although she acted emotionless, one could imagine the consideration she had put into this class.

"Here, I also positioned a telescope for you to see Uranus today. Take turns to have a look and try not to touch it."

After taking their turns one by one, it was finally the time for their lesson today. Professor Sinistra was lecturing about Ursa Major today. She held the class as open-minded as possible, questioning them and answering them diligently.

Alder was also interested in this type of research. Magic could make one breath underwater and it could actually be possible to step outside their planet with magic.

Alder squeezed in the questions about the moon between his questions and learnt that the full moon is going to be on September 10.

"Professor, do you think there is magic outside our planet?" asked Alder.

"I think the magic surrounds us all and beyond, Mr Gray. I see no reason for it to be confined in our planet alone." said Sinistra.

"Then do you think there are other magical creatures in other planets? I heard there are still unknown creatures living in the most extreme environments." continued Alder with another question.

"It would be foolish to say it's impossible but we're yet to see any signs of that. The answer to your question is also one of the subjects I have been working on. Do you want to stay behind after the class to discuss it?" asked Sinistra, not explaining further to take other's time.

"Of course, I would be glad to do so, Professor." said Alder.