Scotland,
Hogwarts castle,
2nd October 1965.
The awkward stares from the previous day were still in mind as I woke up today trying to keep the article out of my mind. I had been staying away from the general public for the better part of my time since the final battle against Grindelwald and his forces in Berlin.
My only focus has been towards the various fields of magic in which I had gained mastery certificate till now. The reason was precisely these kinds of articles. Due to my isolationist lifestyle I don't have a habit of being gawked at throughout the day by other wizards.
Bracing myself for day full of being started at, I went to the Great Hall for breakfast. As it was just the second day at Hogwarts for everyone after two whole months of holiday, the daily life at Hogwarts has not picked up pace yet and the Great Hall was still empty in the mornings. Students too usually only ate the first meal of their day at 11 AM.
Having the breakfast I moved back to the classroom to welcome yet another year for the first class of their year. It was the 6th years this time for their first theoretical class with me which will be followed by fifth years again for their first practical class of the year.
Soon the clock on the wall of my classroom struck 7:50 AM and the students started filing in the class and by 8:00 AM all the students were here, which I confirmed with a quick roll call and started my class and that didn't take much time as even when all the houses combined took this class only 14 students were here, even less than when I used to have classes here in first year with one house per class in Transfiguration.
"Welcome, Sixth Years, to a new chapter in Defence Against the Dark Arts. My name is Marcus Starborn, which you no doubt know already so without any further ado let's start the class. Todays class will be focused to introduce you to non-verbal spell casting.
This year, we transition from the study of counter-curses to the mastery of practical, immediate defence, which begins with Non-Verbal Spellcasting. Up until now, the verbal incantation has been the scaffolding for your magic, providing focus and definition. Moving forward, you will learn to replace that external sound with intense mental discipline and an unwavering clarity of intent.
This skill is not about silence; it's about speed, subtlety, and surprise, giving your adversary no warning of the spell you are about to unleash. Non-verbal casting is significantly more demanding, requiring you to hold the spell's full complexity in your mind, but it is an essential step toward becoming a truly accomplished witch or wizard capable of defending yourself effectively in unpredictable, high-pressure situations. Prepare to sharpen your minds, for the true power of your magic lies not just in your wand, but in the strength of your will."
"Non-Verbal Casting is an advanced magical technique that requires the wizard to internalize the Incantation, effectively substituting the spoken word with a precise mental projection of the spell's components. In elementary stages, the verbal incantation acts as a crucial focus, providing a definitional formula that structures and directs raw magical power alongside a specific wand movement. Non-verbal casting, however, demands that the caster hold the complete magical formula which is, the incantation, the necessary wand movement, and the exact desired outcome, perfectly and simultaneously within the mind. This necessitates extreme mental discipline and a formidable force of will to channel and focus magical energy through the wand.
The primary benefit of this subtle art is the element of surprise, as eliminating the verbal cue deprives an adversary of precious reaction time, providing a critical split-second advantage in a duel. It also allows for a more rapid and fluid succession of spells. However, non-verbal casting is significantly more difficult, requiring greater magical maturity due to the risk of misfire or failure from even a slight lapse in concentration. Furthermore, for many intricate or powerful spells, the non-verbal version is theoretically less potent than the full, shouted incantation, suggesting the vocalisation adds a resonant amplification to the magical output. Finally, the success of non-verbal casting is often influenced by wand sensitivity, with certain woods being inherently more attuned to the caster's internal mental discipline than others."
"These are all the points I will be covering for today, and as seeing there is still some time before the end of the class you can ask questions to clear any doubts you have about what I have said." By the time I finished speaking less than quarter of the time was left for end of this session, and my mouth was parched, which I corrected with a sip of water provided by the thoughtful elves.
Soon the scratching of quills stopped as the students completed writing down the notes and started raising there hands to ask me some questions. I pointed to a boy with specs on the front row form Gryffindor house.
"Sir how would we go on to practice non-verbal spell casting?"
"That my adventurous fellow will be taught in your practical class next week." At that more than half of the hands went down. Next I pointed to the girl with braids from Ravenclaw house, at the second row.
She got up and asked, "Sir, as you said that non-verbal spell casting requires high level of magical maturity on the wizard's of witch's part, my question is what is magical maturity when do we know that we are magically mature?"
"Ah yes, that is one concept not talked about much in context to actual magic. Ordinarily when one talks about being magically mature they refer to the age when a wizard or with becomes a legal adult. But in our context it is directly not related to a wizards age."
"You see a magical human, as we are known as in technical terms, goes through various stages of magical development. The first is generally from the age of 3-7 and often times 8-9 when a magical child start showing accidental magic, by the age of 11 most of them are magically settled which leads to lower and lower accidental magic until it completely stopped."
"From the age of 16 to 21 a magical human's magic completely matures which makes controlling it an easier task. There are further stages of magical maturity which defines the quality or quantity of a magical human's magic improves, they occur at the ages like 49 which is important number in magical numerology."
"Anyways this is not a thing related to your studies as sixth year or any year it's just an obscure theory." There was no time left till the end of the class, so I said, "Any other questions can be asked in the next class." With that the students got up and left for there next class.
Soon it was time for the next class with fifth years being a practical one. I gathered the students in the next class and addressed them.
"Welcome back students for your second Defence against the Dark Arts class. This session will be a practical one at the end of which I will ask you to hand in the assignment I assigned to you yesterday. And as promised I have arranged for a partially magically controlled ghoul to attack you while you defend yourself." The students cheered as one at that even though there were some sour expressions at being asked about the assignment which I chose to ignore as I would allow them to delay it till the next theoretical class.
I had trapped the ghoul in a hut and asked the students to form a line before the entrance to the perimeter of the hut. One by one they took upon the task to face the ghoul after I explained the methods of doing so to them for security. The class was a lively one with spells like incendio flying one after another forcing the poor ghoul back in the hut time and time again.
After the class I collected the assignment of those who could submit them and informed those who could not, to submit it at the next theoretical class. After giving the ghoul some food for its trouble I locked it in the hut and went out to Great Hall for a quick lunch. And as the stares had not yet subsided I came back to my office to pass off the remaining day by grading the already submitted assignments and chilling about in it.