What is magic?
Magic, incantations, gestures, emotions, thoughts, knowledge, wands, beliefs …
As his research progressed, step by step Felix eliminated unnecessary components and approached the essence of magic more and more truly. At a certain moment, Felix had the idea that magic is the basis for the existence of all incredible phenomena, the source of miracles, while the mind or soul points the way to miracles.
When the two are united, it allows the mind to do what it wants.
And the accidental magic riot of the little wizard is the closest thing to this description; they can do miracles without mastering a profound spell, only with the guidance of strong emotion – in other words, a power of the mind – to perform a high level of spell casting that many wizards would never be able to do in a lifetime.
This is, of course, referring to the complexity of the magic at work, rather than discussing the amount of power.
When young wizards are enrolled in school, they begin to systematically learn how to harness magic and learn how to move it so that it will work like a charm. This is in fact a shift from instinct to skill; from Wild casting to Rational one.
Magic naturally forms an essential part of a wizard’s cognition.
What would happen if one day this part of cognition is destroyed?
The scene unfolding in front of him seemed to offer an answer.
Felix gazed at the hysterical Professor Burbage, who, from his perspective, had magic inside her like he had never seen before – a mess, like a ball of wool torn haphazardly apart. But he is certain that she is definitely not a Squib.
There is a real Squib living in Hogwarts school, his name is Argus Filch, and he is the Caretaker of the castle. Felix’s eyes darted out towards the crowd, where Filch is standing in the doorway of the Caretaker’s office which is immediately adjacent to the entrance hall, the sound of a magical gramophone emanating from the unclosed door should be heard here if he wishes.
He is carrying a set of keys in his hand, looking stunned, and Mrs Norris is curled at his feet.
Felix withdrew his gaze as he once again got confirmation from Filch that the two had very different types of magic in their bodies. Of course, the Squibs have magic, but it barely can make any difference, because it can never be honed, neither the quantity nor quality is comparable to that of even a young magical-childrens. The magic in their bodies is idle beyond belief, like a secluded pool … or more accurately, like a small puddle of dead water.
“Professor McGonagall, it would be best to take Professor Burbage to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey examine her, she may have been struck by some weird curse.” Felix cautioned, which of course is an excuse, but there was no need to make some things public.
He couldn’t give an accurate conclusion at the moment either, so rather than saying the half-truth and leaving the students to speculate, he might as well keep his mouth shut for now.
After all, half-truths and rumours are no different; they are basically the breeding ground for rumours.
Professor Burbage heard this in a trance and, as if grasping the last straw, she said in a panic: “Yes, it’s a curse! Those books – the ones I brought back from the muggle world – they messed with my head! Oh, Merlin! There’s a wicked curse hidden in every word of that book …”
A loud intake of breath was heard throughout the entrance hall.
“Muggle books hide curses?” A student asked in a low voice.
“Possible, Mum told me to stay away from anything related to Muggles.” Another student said sagely.
“Nonsense!” Hermione said feistily, and that boy glared at her, before turning his face away in disbelief at the sight of the Prefect badge pinned to her chest and muttered under his breath, “My mum said that.”
“Charity, let’s go to the hospital wing, you’ll be healed.” Professor McGonagall gently whispered.
But Professor Burbage continued to repeat the same words, occasionally stopping to sniffle sharply, Felix shook his head slightly, his eyes flickered, and then the insane Professor Burbage slowly collapsed into Professor McGonagall’s arms without consciousness.
The crowd was awfully quiet as if the words she had just said are still floating in the air, manifesting themselves as horrific creatures and flaring their fangs and claws at them.
Felix was compelled to say aloud, “Everyone!” His voice reached a long distance, and the students in the room fixed their eyes on him in bewilderment, even the few professors who had just arrived, looked at him blankly, hoping for an answer.
It is simply because the news that came out of Professor Burbage’s mouth was so alarming: normal wizards turned into Squib? It is something that had never happened before.
“Something is wrong with Professor Burbage’s body, there is no doubt about that, the cause is unclear at the moment, so I need you all to remain calm.” He spoke calmly, slowly moving his gaze to encompass those present, a convincing power radiating from his body from the inside out.
“I don’t want you to forget my other two identities – muggle researcher and memory healer – so Professor Burbage’s trouble happens to be my area of expertise, so instead of rambling on, ask me, of course, after the session.”
He passed a glance towards Professor McGonagall, who understood and led Professor Burbage away hastily with her wand, several professors followed. Snape stood by the wall, his dark eyes flickered, as he also paced in the direction of the hospital wing.
The students looked at each other blankly –
“Oh – ahm – AHM,” Justin Finch-Fletchley hooted abruptly, startling everyone, and the companion next to him dashed to one side frightened, as he slapped his chest exaggeratedly. After a few seconds, Justin stated “I remember, it’s true that there are some cursed items in the Muggle world, but they’re all smuggled out of the magical world by dark wizards; Once Professor Hap had even helped me examine a vase made by a goblin!”
“There is such a thing?” His friend Susan Bones asked.
“I can testify about that.” Ernest Macmillan, a Hufflepuff student who had just been frightened, said with a straight face, trying to salvage his image.
The frozen air in the entrance hall melted away and the chatter heated up, with a fair number of the young wizards crowding around Justin to hear more clearly.
…
The Hospital Wing is packed with people.
Pretty much all the professors had arrived upon hearing the news, and there are even many students standing crowded in the corridor of the hospital wing, and Professor McGonagall had to go outside every few minutes to maintain discipline and keep the chaotic students quiet at bay.
Some people – like Hermione and Ron – were caught in the middle of it, running back and forth in the corridors to maintain order. In an atmosphere of chaos, Madam Pomfrey finished her inspection.
“This is simply the strangest case I have ever seen in a patient, everything about her body is normal, except for the magic. Usually, this is the most difficult condition to deal with, even if she had an arm missing I could fix it.” She kept shaking her head with a confused expression, “I can’t judge, but she is not Squib, but the symptoms-”
There was another clamour from outside and Professor McGonagall stood up in a huff, her chest heaving violently, “Can’t those students just look at the clock! I’ll make sure they get a point deduction!” She gasped and rushed to the door, opening it to see a tall, slim wizard standing outside.
Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief, “You’re finally here, Dumbledore. Charity she-”
“I know all about it.” Dumbledore nodded at her, looking around first, his gaze seemed like it held magic, soothing the restlessness in the Professor’s mind, then he strode over to the bed and bent down to examine Professor Burbage’s state, his silver-white beard trailing down to the bed sheet.
After a good while, he straightened up, and a hint of confusion tinged his eyes. “I can conclude that she has not become Squib, and it certainly is not some curse-”
“Headmaster Dumbledore is it possible that it could be an Obscurus, I’ve read about it in books and its characteristics are similar to the magic in her-” Madam Pomfrey asked.
“Absolutely not.” Dumbledore said with conviction.
He looked at the others in the room and Professor Flitwick said as he tip-toed, “I don’t see any hidden magic spells.” Snape stood in the corner and said with a blank face, “Nor is it the effect of a potion.” Professor Sprout chimed in, “She hasn’t made any recent contact with plants and herbs like sneezewort or Scurvy grass.”
“Maybe then it’s not the effect of magic.” Trelawney, who is wearing a pair of large glasses, peeked out from behind Astronomy Professor Sinistra and Care of Magical Creatures Substitute Professor Grubbly-Plank as she looked toward the sickbed.
“Thank you, Sybill.” Dumbledore said briefly.
He looked over at Felix, who had just opened his eyes and had an odd expression on his face as he looked at the other side of the bed, and asked softly, “How did you and Charity communicate recently?” The eyes of a few professors in the ward widened, staring at Felix’s face in unison, trying to discern something.
Felix hesitated for a moment, “Albus, you’d better see it for yourself.”
Dumbledore met his gaze calmly, his blue eyes drifted for a moment under his half-circle glasses, and then he found himself in a strange world of vibrant colours: there is no way to tell up from down, no place to land underneath his feet, and he is surrounded by an empty, dark landscape as if he is in the space. Dumbledore surveyed his surroundings with interest as a coiled double spiral structure formed a golden staircase that stretched from near to the end of his sight at infinity. This is followed by a large ball of blue light that sparkled like lightning, radiating a bright white current that filled only part of the void. The gold and blue intertwined with each other clearly and distinctly, forming a large obscure and indeterminate shadow of light at the edges where they made contact with each other.
“This is …,” Dumbledore slowly said.
“Professor Burbage’s dream world.” Felix replied briefly.
As he spoke, a familiar voice rang out from nowhere, it belonged to Charity Burbage, her voice much more Ethereal than usual, with echoes as if it came from the open plains, and her tone filled with confusion and fear, as it sounded from all directions, “Why … why is there no magic in this …”
Dumbledore, with a solemn expression, spoke up and explained, ” During the summer holidays Charity had been involved in an accident, she visited a dozen Muggle biologists in quick succession, and on the last visit, she became very agitated and possibly at that point her body developed this problem, her wand warned her, but unfortunately, the Muggle professor she was talking to suspected she was hiding a gun and rushed up to knock her out and report it to the police. She was quite distracted when I brought her out …”
“Minerva and I talked about it.” Felix showed a reminiscent look, “At the International Conference on Muggle Studies two years ago, Professor Burbage had shown curiosity in biology knowledge, but what she was studying at the time is very basic, a level roughly similar to a first-year Levitation Charm? Her presentation was interrupted due to an accident when Ilvermorny students attacked the Hotel … I have paid little attention to her area of research and progress since then, and it is apparent that Professor Burbage has not given up, and her research has gotten deeper and deeper in the past two years.”
Dumbledore gazed at the strange dreams of Charity Burbage, “She is unable to comprehend that new knowledge?”
“Worse than that – she understood it, but couldn’t incorporate it into what she already knew.” Felix said.
Dumbledore pondered for a moment, oblivious to the echoing voice of Professor Burbage drifting around the dream, “Is it another system? One that conflicts with magic?”
“Magic and science.” Felix said lightly, “The two are like two circles, each has developed a very different system over the millennia, if you look at them in comparison: magic is sentimental and versatile; science is rational and rigorous, and they have grown increasingly distinct from each other, forming two brilliant flowers of civilization … ”
“But unfortunately, our Professor Burbage has discovered the intersection of the two by mistake.” Dumbledore said with emotion.
“That’s right,” Felix said, “her cognition is too inclined towards wizardry, and as a witch, she is undoubtedly well-qualified, but on the other hand – pardon me for saying this – her scientific knowledge is pathetically low, but she is under the delusion that she can use the wisdom she has accumulated through her life to understand another logically rigorous behemoth, and that is very difficult to accomplish without clearing many problems.”
“So that’s the case.” Dumbledore exhaled softly and looked at the dreamscape before him, “Now that we know why, it becomes easier to solve Charity’s current troubles – there are more than one way to solve it, and we can let Charity choose exactly which one to use when we go out.”
Felix nodded, as he thought of the same.
The most straightforward way to fix it is by making Charity Burbage forget the memories involved, then treating her as a newly enrolled young wizard, and letting her reorganize her magic knowledge all over again. The whole process is not that difficult, but of course, she may not be happy about it.
The other method is more difficult, instead of erasing her memories, she must rediscover the magic and solidify her cognition despite the presence of disruptions.
But either way, I’m sure Dumbledore would warn her to stay away from such a ‘dangerous’ knowledge for a short time.
Felix regretted a little that he hadn’t given out his Christmas present yet, but he didn’t dare give anything related to the Muggle world now, who knew if it would touch her nerve. The incident had also woken him up to the problems that are in the middle of his goal; he had been secretly trying to promote the integration of the wizarding and normal world in the past, and now it seemed he had a long way to go.
Perhaps a buffer zone should need to be created in between the two, somewhere between the opening and closure of the wizarding world, a careful balancing point…
A limited degree of openness? Felix mused.
Dumbledore sighed, “She is supposed to be the wizard who will push this area of knowledge to the limit in centuries.”
“She is indeed a pioneer.” Felix agreed.
“And what about you?”
“Me?”
“Your achievements in the field of Muggle studies are equally admirable,” Dumbledore said softly, “I have read your book, which contains a considerable amount … of scientific knowledge, and as far as I know: one can only formulate something through the words if they have an idea or deep knowledge about it.”
“You are thinking that I have studied it more deeply than Professor Burbage?”
“That is what puzzles me most. You have never seemed to be troubled by this? And you also managed to apply that concept in the company you founded – Future World is said to spend a significant portion of its expenses on muggle items, but those employees aren’t as … well, the only difference I can think of is that the areas of research are different.” Dumbledore said in a tone that explored the truth.
“There are indeed reasons for that.” Felix said, “The development strategy I have for the company – at least the preliminary research – is to draw on the ideas and purposes of Muggle technology products before trying to replace them with magic. I didn’t ask them to master the principles behind it, and it’s especially important to note that -” he crossed his fingers, “the concepts of mechanics, physics, chemistry … are either available to wizards themselves. Or are still blank and do not seriously conflict with their cognition. Unlike Professor Burbage, she has touched the most essential and radical problems.”
“As for the fact why I am personally unaffected, I think it may have something to do with my origins, which have made me hold both magic and science with equal regard, as well as the fact that I don’t think I can easily master the power of both with my own hand.” Felix said.
Dumbledore smiled, “Ah, a marvellous vision is born in me, as your job advertisement in the paper stated – what kind of sparks would come from the combination of Muggle wisdom and magic?”
“That’s right, I’ll wait in anticipation to see what will happen.”
“You are too modest, Felix, and if I had to find one word to describe this, I would say: fruitful.” Dumbledore said. In the dream world, Charity’s voice rang strong and weak, as if she had been wandering through the dream world, begging for answers over and over again.
“Genes … DNA… Evolution … Why is there no place for magic in it?”
“Have you thought about how to deal with this?” Dumbledore asked thoughtfully.
Felix magically understood what Dumbledore meant: Dumbledore hadn’t demanded an answer itself, that wasn’t realistic or immediately available. He simply wanted to know how to deal with this type of conflict of ideas and concepts if wizards and normal people are destined to merge.
“Haven’t thought about it before.” Felix said bluntly.
“And now?”
” Have a little idea!”
Dumbledore looked at Felix with a smile. Felix seemed to have the illusion that he had gone back three years ago as if they are sitting in that circular headmaster’s office, and he is being interviewed for a serious job, rather than exploring issues in a professor’s bizarre dream world.
“In the short term, magic to magic and science to science, with an artificial buffer zone drawn to give each other plenty of time to adjust.” He said seriously.
The voices in the dream world suddenly fell silent, as if Professor Burbage’s subconscious mind is also listening at the side, and there was a terrible silence around them as the blue ball of light and the golden spiral structure parted a little, revealing a large black area in between.
“Limiting the communication to a certain level?” Dumbledore nodded, “Good thinking, so who will be the bridge in between?”
Felix hesitated for a moment before voicing his thoughts, ” The Ministry of Magic was unintentionally doing this before, now it is Future World Company who is actively promoting it, in the future, it will be all the young wizards from Muggle families working together …”
Dumbledore made no comment on that as he simply said, “Let’s get out of here, the people outside should be waiting impatiently … Speaking of which, I wonder if Charity has any chance of being on the Chocolate Frog card? And what will her introduction look like?”
“It’s really something to look forward to.”
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