Chapter 42: The Pressure Charm

On the afternoon before Halloween, Tver strolled towards the classroom humming a tune.

Last night, he managed to defeat Percy at Wizard's Chess, winning consecutive games throughout the evening.

As a reward, the training dummies were postponed for another month to continue their practice.

He distributed the usual test papers to the students.

The first-year students had already covered quite a bit of material and were starting to adopt the same pace as second and third-year students, revising their knowledge before class.

Half an hour later, Tver collected the test papers.

"I heard something during lunchtime in the Great Hall. You started practicing the Levitation Charm during your morning Charms class, didn't you?"

The students responded excitedly.

This was essentially the second formal spell they had learned; the Lumos spell being the first.

With a wave of his wand, forty pieces of parchment crumpled up and flew to each student's desk.

"Alright, first, I need to confirm your proficiency with this spell. Can you see the parchment in front of you? If you can levitate a feather, you can levitate a piece of parchment as well. Don't be disheartened; this is a prerequisite for our next step. I believe you all remember the duel from over a month ago? After you've all mastered the Levitation Charm completely, I'll teach you an advanced application of this spell, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary!"

Now, the students were not only devoid of any despondency but became even more excited. They remembered every detail of that duel, well, not every detail. The duel happened so fast; anyone who could discern the general actions was considered exceptional...

But some spectacular moments were repeatedly mentioned, leaving a profound impression on them.

Unexpected transfigurations, Disarming Charms in the form of birds, golden Shield Charm, and so on.

Most importantly, these spells weren't particularly advanced magic. Once they learned the advanced applications mentioned by the professor, they could cast them too!

Their faces were filled with longing, eager to learn that spell right now. However, one minute later, the students encountered their first stumbling block. Except for a few, no one managed to successfully levitate the parchment.

"This won't do," Tver pretended to shake his head in disappointment, "This isn't Charms class, and we don't have time for you to practice the Levitation Charm. If none of you have mastered it in ten minutes, I'll find another opportunity to teach you this lesson in the future."

The young wizards' faces were instantly filled with anxiety, and those who had already mastered the spell hurriedly guided their classmates. The chant of "Wingardium Leviosa" echoed continuously as they waved their wands with greater force.

A flash of red light, and Tver quickly cast a golden Shield Charm, encapsulating the red light securely inside.

"Boom."

After a muffled sound, the Suit of Armor Charm gradually dissolved into white light.

"Mr. Finnigan, the effect would be better if you could relax a bit."

Tver couldn't help but marvel at this explosive genius's ability. Even a mispronounced spell could have considerable power. If he focused solely on practicing high-powered magic, wouldn't he become like a human cannon?

Meanwhile, Ron wasn't as fortunate. Using an unsuitable wand and having spent the morning quarreling with Hermione, he couldn't even get the parchment to move.

"I said 'Wingardium Leviosa,' not 'Oh-sa.' Why can't you get it right?" Hermione's little face puffed up with anger.

Ron disdainfully pursed his lips, "I thought you weren't going to talk to me anymore?"

"Do you think I want to talk to you?" Hermione glanced at the professor's position, "If it weren't for the professor's class, I wouldn't waste my time guiding you!"

"Well, thanks."

Ron responded dismissively, but he also realized that if he was the only one lagging behind in the class, causing everyone to miss out on learning advanced magic, he would be inundated with blame!

Moreover, he also wanted to learn that spell. So, even if he was unhappy with Hermione's attitude, he had to obediently follow along and learn.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Ron's parchment slowly floated into the air, making him ecstatic.

"Very good, the last student in the class has successfully mastered the Levitation Charm. Now, it's time for the highlight of this lesson."

The students held their breath, their eyes fixed on him without blinking.

Tver's wand was aimed at Ron's floating parchment — "Wingardium Leviosa." The parchment seemed to be flicked by an invisible hand, swiftly descending and tightly adhering to the desk, then instantly smoothing out.

The crumpled parchment, like a shirt ironed by a mother, had not a single wrinkle.

"See that?" Tver levitated the parchment above everyone's heads. "By applying the opposite controlling force, the Levitation Charm can be transformed into the Pressure Charm."

Seeing this scene, they instantly recalled a legend — third-year students had been subjected to a spell by the professor, which could pin people to the ground, rendering them immobile.

So, was this the spell they were going to learn?!

The young wizards' faces were filled with longing, their eyes fixed on the parchment until they could hardly hold back their excitement, their fiery gaze almost igniting the parchment.

"Everyone, please pay attention. The two spells are essentially the same, meaning the incantation, the technique, and the magical output are all identical. The only difference lies in applying opposite controlling forces. So, you need to understand how the force was applied when casting the Levitation Charm just now, and then reverse it."

The incantation of the Levitation Charm echoed through the entire classroom once again, but this time it wasn't as successful as before.

"Don't rush. If you don't know how to release the force, just imagine yourself upside down—"

"Hey, Mr. Longbottom, it's imagining, not actually turning yourself upside down!"

Tver chuckled as he watched the young wizards try all sorts of methods to reverse their powers.

Ron "cleverly" switched hands, but couldn't produce any magical output.

Harry learned from his mistake and swung his wand downwards, successfully hitting his own left hand, and leaving a trail of blood.

Ravenclaw's Padma Patil made a very clever improvement—she turned her wrist upside down, and surprisingly succeeded once by accident.

"Congratulations, Miss Patil, for being the first successful student, but I don't recommend everyone doing this. I don't want you all to twist your arms and then blame me for being scolded by Madame Pomfrey."

The students laughed, but secretly twisted their hands.

In terms of simply learning this, the Levicorpus Charm was relatively simple, unlike other advanced applications that changed the incantation to become another spell.

However, simplicity is relative. For first-year young wizards, this spell could be considered the most difficult they've encountered this school year.

Hermione looked at Ron twisting his arm irritably. "The professor said flipping your wrist won't work."

"But that's what Patil did. You're so smart, show us the correct version!"

Ron felt like he had said these words in the morning. A second later, he confirmed that he did say such things before because Hermione once again slapped his face. The parchment was pressed onto the desk, unmoving, but it wasn't smoothed out like Tver had done.

"You... why not completely flatten it?!" Ron turned his head away, stubbornly retorting.

Hermione's eyes reddened with frustration. "How could I possibly achieve that level all at once?"

"Well, it's still not working..." Ron muttered under his breath.

As soon as class ended, Hermione hurriedly grabbed her books and left the room, not even hearing Tver's final words—

"If there's a chance, I'll find you an opponent to experience the feeling of a real battle."