The Room of Requirement classroom.
"Ron, raise your wrist five centimeters higher—yes, keep your wand level."
"Well done, Harry. You seem quite skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Cast a little slower, and only point your wand tip after finishing the incantation."
"Hermione, as expected, you learn quickly. No issues—just keep practicing."
Lucien watched the three young students casting the Expelliarmus spell, correcting their mistakes one by one.
Each time they cast, he observed their movements, their wands, and—most importantly—their magic circuits.
At the center of Lucien's pupils, tiny black vortices slowly spun.
Their color was pure black, faintly bleeding outward, making his already dark green eyes appear even deeper.
Using the method of the Eye of Peering Magic, Lucien had already completed the transformation of his eyes.
From his current perspective, the magic circuits within Harry and the others were completely visible.
Each time they cast a spell, the flow of magic through those circuits was perfectly clear.
By having them adjust their posture and rhythm while chanting, and observing the corresponding changes in their circuits, he could give far more precise guidance.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and the black vortices in his pupils began to spin faster.
Hmm, indeed, even when using the same spell, the flow of magic varies slightly from person to person.
The differences weren't drastic, but they were still noticeable.
Moreover, aside from how the magic flowed, each wizard's magic circuits themselves were distinct.
Lucien carefully compared the circuits of the three young students.
In his current vision, a magic circuit resembled a great tree—with roots, branches, and even clusters that looked like fruit.
Since all of them were wizards, the overall structure was largely the same; everything that should be there was present.
However, when he focused on the finer details, the differences became numerous.
For instance, Harry's magic circuit had the most fruit-like clusters, though most were dim, with only a few glowing brightly.
Hermione's circuit had the fewest clusters, but countless thin, intricate branches.
As for Ron, both the clusters and branches were average, though his central trunk was noticeably thicker.
This was Lucien's first time using the Eye of Peering Magic to observe others, so he was still unfamiliar with how the traits of a person's magic circuit corresponded to their magical abilities.
Hmm… The Weasley family's magic book did contain information about magic circuits.
But this didn't match what he was seeing.
The image of the magic circuits he saw was clearly different from what was recorded in the Weasley family's magic books.
Lucien felt that neither the Eye of Peering Magic nor the Weasley inheritance was wrong—it was likely a matter of differing observation methods.
The Weasley family's research focused on mastering and developing one's own magic circuits to enhance spellcasting ability.
They had their own unique way of using magic to perceive their inner structure, but it was nowhere near as clear or vivid as what Lucien could see through the Eye of Peering Magic.
No need to rush—if he observed more subjects and compared the results, he would eventually find the correspondences and summarize the patterns.
After all, Hogwarts was full of wizards of all ages—
There were new students who had just awakened their magic, students still developing, and fully mature, even elderly professors.
There were plenty of reference samples.
Lucien continued observing the three young students, comparing their current magical performance with their future growth as he remembered it from the original story.
Hmm, at a glance, the number of clusters likely corresponded to the amount of magic power, while the number and thickness of branches might relate to spellcasting precision.
After all, in the early stages, Hermione's magic was definitely stronger than Harry's, and both had entered Hogwarts with no prior exposure to magic.
Hermione's strong learning ability was one factor—but later, Harry's magic level had soared dramatically.
The most likely reason lay in the difference in total magic—and perhaps also in the efficiency of magic output.
A wizard's magic grew with age, but both the rate of growth and the eventual limit varied greatly between individuals.
After committing the three students' circuits to memory, Lucien focused and began to "look" at himself.
This was a clever application of the Eye of Peering Magic—it allowed him to observe his own state from a third-person perspective, making it easier to fine-tune the precision of his spellcasting.
When he "looked" at the magic circuit within his body, even though he had seen it once before upon acquiring the Eye of Peering Magic, it still struck him as strange.
Like Harry and the others, his own circuit also took the form of a great tree.
However, the sheer number of clusters it bore and the fineness of its branches were astonishing—so intricate they almost defied description.
By his estimation, if the clusters represented total magic and the branches represented spellcasting precision, it made perfect sense.
After all, his magic reserves and innate talent were exceptionally high.
But what Lucien found most peculiar was the position of the tree's roots and trunk.
For Harry and the others, the roots were fixed—anchored in place like those of a real tree.
His, however… were soft and flexible, curving and twisting like tentacles, constantly writhing and waving—as if greeting him.
Moreover, looking further up, the surface of the trunk was covered with… eyes—arranged in a seemingly random pattern.
They were faint and translucent, without eyelashes.
What unsettled Lucien the most was that whenever he used the Eye of Peering Magic to observe the magic circuit within his own body, all those eyes would simultaneously turn to look at him.
Even when he shifted his perspective, their gaze followed.
After a few attempts, Lucien fell silent, deep in thought.
Judging solely by the appearance of his magic circuit… it seemed rather inhuman.
"Lucien, did your eyes just change color?"
The three had finished their practice, and Hermione was staring at Lucien's eyes, puzzled.
Lucien blinked, snapping back to awareness.
The vortices in his pupils had vanished, his eyes returning to their usual dark green.
"Maybe it's just the lighting," he said casually.
Seeing that Lucien's eyes were back to normal, Hermione assumed she must have imagined it.
"Ron, I'd like to ask you for a favor."
Hearing that, Ron immediately patted his chest confidently.
"No problem, what is it?"
"Can I borrow your Scabbers for a while?"
Ron scratched his head, sounding confused.
"You can, but Scabbers—well, he just sleeps all the time, eats a lot, and isn't very interesting."
As he spoke, Ron pulled Scabbers from his pocket. The scruffy rat was, indeed, fast asleep.
Lucien smiled.
"It's fine. I just want to experience what it's like to have a pet."
"Oh, right! Come to think of it, Lucien, you don't have a pet yet, do you?"
Lucien gave a noncommittal smile, took Scabbers from Ron, and immediately placed him into a small gourd.
"Lucien, what kind of pet do you want to get? Last time at the Magical Menagerie, I saw a really cute cat—a ginger Persian—"
Hearing Hermione's description, Lucien felt a flicker of recognition and quickly recalled it.
Uh… that cat—was it cute?
It was definitely ginger, and it was a Persian, but its face looked like it had run straight into a wall.
Or maybe he was misremembering… perhaps it wasn't the same one Hermione meant?
________
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