Well, technically, the circle shaped and channelled a wizard's magic the same way a wand does, it just requires more attention to do it. But damn were they complicated. It took two weeks for the Potter scion to reverse engineer the telekinetic push he had cast previously, and he finally understood the limitations of magic circles. Well, the more you understand how it works, the less magic it uses. It's like a combination of the crest and raw magic filling in the gap to cast it without knowing what it is. So, an untrained wizard would consider using magical circles to be a waste of magic, but one that understands it could make it more specific and also alter it to suit his purpose at a whim.
It took all of Harry's impressive intellect and his Arcane magic to learn a single spell properly. It was like a combination of a puzzle and a riddle using a runic language that he hadn't seen anywhere in his life, that he needed to solve and give the answer in some kind of mathematical poetry. So, yeah, it was as much an art as a science, and if it wasn't for the crest helping him understand the language, he wouldn't have been able to do anything.
But now, he had mastered the single spell, and it was somewhat handy since he didn't need to use his hand to materialize the circle. He could use it to push himself, alter the power of each push, and even make platforms to send him in the air from the base of his feet. It was fun jumping around the Room of Requirements with it, to be honest. But Harry knew that he had a long way to go, still. This was only a single spell of only a fraction of what was really inside the crest.
He still had a lot to do, but he decided to spend the day hanging out with his friends. To be perfectly frank, Harry needed to take a breather, to shut off his brain for a little while. He spent weeks doing nothing but focusing on complex arithmetic problems and alchemy arrays. He needed a small break to not overwork himself too much. Plus, his friends already made the effort of joining the Dueling club just to spend time with him and it would be inconsiderate to ignore them. So, yeah, after classes, Harry decided to forgo his usual training and just spend time with them in their common room.
They seemed somewhat surprised, but glad at the same time. They laughed and joked around until it was time for the first Dueling Club session of the year. So, they made their way to the Great Hall to meet with Flitwick. His welcome speech was around the same with a broad definition of duelling, and the schedules. The biggest change was the fact that only Harry's year mates were there. It was probably because of the sheer size of the class. For some reason, Harry's own inclusion in the club the year prior made it a commodity of sorts. Harry and his friends were the only ones from Slytherin, but Su Li and both the Patil twins and Seamus Finnigan were there. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot were the only Hufflepuffs around. That is a total of ten students from just this year, compared to the five that made up the third-year group. That was like a quarter of their entire year.
Did he do things differently at the beginning of the year? Harry didn't know but after giving away their schedule, the half-goblin said something that he hadn't revealed the previous year, "Now, here's the kicker. The truth is that Dueling isn't for everyone. No matter how much you like the sport, if you don't have a modicum of talent or you don't even try to improve yourself, you're more likely to be wasting both my time and yours for no reason. I will be investing in every single one of you and if you decide to make a career out of dueling, I will do my best to give you sponsors and the best trainers around. That is a privilege, not a right. Your entire first semester here will be a test of sorts. During the progression of these sessions, I will be making remarks about your progress. If you show a smidge of potential, I will let you go to the second semester. If you don't, well, I will not be inviting you back and you will be kicked out of the club."
That tone was so different from the jovial one he had during lessons. He had this seriousness and intensity to him that Harry didn't know the man could express. But the test thing did surprise Harry slightly, he didn't know about it at all. Although it did explain why people were pretty angry with him when he joined on a whim. He didn't go through the test and that screamed of favoritism. At least, that was until the Professor said that he was a probationary member and that he would be tested. They must have assumed that he had the test as well, only it was accelerated.
Of course, the other students had questions. Padma Patil was the first to raise his hand, "Is this something new? Because I never heard of this when I asked about the club."
The professor shrugged, "It's not a secret, but people tend to be ashamed when they leave the club, so they don't really brag about it. Either way, I have been doing this for over a decade so there are no special circumstances. It's also why each year group is often smaller than the number of people joining."
"So, how many of us will stay?" Susan Bones asked.
"You could all stay if you are all talented, or you could all be kicked out. It depends on your performance. But I found that around half of the second-year members are eliminated."
Everyone's eyes widened, "Half!"
It was pretty rough, to be honest. The idea of only half the people passing an exam was alien to them. However, in Harry's previous life, there were university courses that just had a high failure rate. It was worrying the first couple of times, but you got used to it.
Of course, Seamus Finnigan couldn't keep his mouth shut, "What about Potter? It's not fair that we have to do our exams, but not him."
"Mr Finnigan, whatever gave you the illusion that Harry Potter didn't pass the test last year. He did, and he was the best student at his level. The only reason that I chose to make him stay is because you are his year mates and the competitions, that I'll be signing you in, will be often based on age, so it would complicate things. But if it's a demonstration you desire, then it will be one you will get. Mr Potter, how about we have a little practice duel to show your classmates what they should expect to learn? I always like to start these things with a little demonstration."
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