The Charms classroom was located on the seventh floor of the castle. Its windows faced east, and when the morning light slanted in, one could see dust motes floating in the air.
Regulus sat in the second row of the Slytherin section. To his right was Avery Cuthbert; to his left, separated by an empty seat, was Alex Rosier.
The latter was nervously flipping through The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, muttering the pronunciation of the Levitation Charm under his breath.
"Relax, Rosier," Avery glanced at him, his tone mocking. "Professor Flitwick isn't going to eat you."
"I just... want to ensure my pronunciation is accurate," Alex whispered.
The classroom door creaked slightly as it was pushed open. Professor Filius Flitwick almost floated in; he was so short that he had to stand on a pile of thick books to see over the lectern.
But when he stood still and his bright eyes swept across the room, everyone quieted down.
"Good morning, children!" Flitwick's voice was squeaky but clear. "Today, we will learn the most basic magic, the Levitation Charm! A spell that seems simple, yet contains the essence of magic!"
He waved his wand, and a white feather floated out of a box on the lectern, hovering in the center of the classroom.
"Now, repeat after me!" Flitwick raised his wand. "Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sa!
Pay attention to three key points: the swish and flick of the wrist, the long 'o' in Leviosa, and the light exhale on the final 'sa'."
There was a feather on every desk, and the sound of uneven chanting filled the room.
Regulus raised his wand lightly. "Wingardium Leviosa."
His voice was steady, his gesture precise. The feather rose slowly, as stable as if suspended by an invisible line. It hovered before Regulus, motionless.
"Perfect! Five points to Slytherin!" Professor Flitwick almost jumped off his stack of books. He scurried over to Regulus's desk, looking up at the feather.
"Look at this stability! No wobbling at all! Mr. Black, have you practiced this before?"
The same question Professor McGonagall had asked.
"I just listened carefully to your explanation, Professor," Regulus said modestly.
"Good! Very good!" Flitwick waved his small hands excitedly.
"Mr. Black, perhaps you could demonstrate for the other students?"
"Of course." Regulus bowed slightly to Professor Flitwick. He let the feather fall, then cast the spell again. "Wingardium Leviosa."
Under everyone's gaze, the feather floated up slowly once more, reaching the exact same height.
Professor Flitwick called out to the others, "Watch the wrist movement! Pronunciation is important, but the gesture cannot be ignored. Remember, it's an arc!"
Regulus let the feather slowly settle back onto the desktop. He looked at Flitwick. "Professor, I have a question."
"Ask! My boy, ask away!"
"Professor, I was wondering, when the Levitation Charm acts on an object, does it strip away its weight, or does it use magic to build an invisible support for it?
If it's the former, does the object's mass remain? If it's the latter, is the magical support distributed evenly, or concentrated on a specific part of the object?"
The classroom instantly fell silent as students turned to look at him.
They only thought about how to make the feather fly; they had never considered the principles behind it. For them, it was enough that the spell worked.
Regulus's question seemed to aim at uncovering the very essence of the spell.
Professor Flitwick adjusted his small round glasses, a gleam of appreciation in his eyes. "What a brilliant question! Rarely does a first-year student think about the nature of spells."
He waved his wand gently. A feather on the lectern floated up, paused in mid-air, and then slowly drifted down. "The answer is: both, but the core is the balance between magic and the object's mass.
The Levitation Charm doesn't truly strip away weight. Mass is the essence of an object; just as our souls cannot be separated from our bodies, magic cannot erase it."
"What we do is apply magic to the object." His wand tip pointed at the floating feather, and a faint ring of silver light appeared around it.
"A wizard's magic repels gravity while evenly wrapping around every corner of the object, like dressing it in a lightweight cloak woven of magic.
The support points are dispersed; this ensures the object hovers steadily without tilting or flipping."
Regulus nodded slightly and pressed further, "Then what if the object's mass changes?
For instance, if a water droplet falls onto the floating feather, will the magic adjust automatically, or does the caster need to guide it again?"
"A splendid extension!" Professor Flitwick's voice grew even more impassioned. "Magic is connected to the caster. When the object's mass changes, the magic perceives the change immediately and adjusts automatically.
But this requires the caster to maintain focus and not break the connection with the magic."
He looked at Regulus with a warm smile. "If the focus isn't strong enough, the magic will dissipate, and the object will either fall or be dragged off course by the extra weight.
That you can think of this shows you haven't just mastered the spell, but are thinking with your heart and mind. This is the key to becoming an excellent wizard."
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick. That was very enlightening," Regulus said sincerely.
Professor Flitwick looked up at him. "Keep thinking like that. Another five points to Slytherin!"
The Slytherins whispered excitedly among themselves, and the Ravenclaws cast frequent glances his way.
Regulus knew well that Professor Flitwick's explanation was the traditional understanding in the wizarding world, but from his perspective, it seemed more like the interaction between a magical field and a gravitational field.
He just couldn't use those terms to express it.
Professor Flitwick went to inspect the other students. The classroom was filled once again with the sounds of "Wingardium Leviosa." White feathers jerked upward, drifted crookedly, or remained stubbornly still.
Alex Rosier had already tried seven times.
His feather either just trembled a few times or shot up suddenly to hit the ceiling before falling helplessly.
On the last attempt, the feather even emitted a small wisp of smoke.
"Stop for a moment," Regulus said.
Alex jumped in fright. "W-what's wrong?"
Regulus walked over to him. "Professor Flitwick said to draw an arc, but you're shaking it up and down. Look."
He moved his wrist, guiding the wand in a gentle curve. "Magic should be effortless, but you look like you're forging iron."
Alex blushed. "I-I was afraid I wasn't using enough force."
"The Levitation Charm doesn't need force; you just need precision." Regulus lowered his hand. "Try again. The movement must be fluid and smooth, without breaking."
Regulus kept adjusting his posture. Alex wasn't stupid; he was just nervous.
Perhaps it was the discomfort of a mild-mannered branch of a pure-blood family mixing into a den of orthodox pure-bloods?
Regulus mused inwardly. He needed people like this, moderate pure-bloods.
Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sa."
This time, his wrist traced a fairly complete arc. The feather wobbled, lifted two inches off the desk, hovered for three seconds, and then fell.
"I did it!" Alex's eyes lit up.
"Not bad," Regulus nodded. "But the magic is still obstructed because you weren't firm enough when casting. Keep practicing."
Alex nodded vigorously, looking at Regulus with gratitude.
Maybe Black isn't so scary after all?
He sat back down. Avery leaned in and whispered, "You're too patient with him."
Regulus glanced at Avery. "Cuthbert, do you know why on the Black family tapestry, next to the names that have been burned off, there often remain some inconspicuous names?"
Avery frowned. "...Because they are side branches? Not important enough?"
"Because when the main line acts foolishly, it's those side branches that preserve the family bloodline," Regulus said calmly.
He looked around the room as if picking out the fools. "And you can't guarantee the main line won't produce fools."
The pure-bloods nearby who heard this snickered, while the half-bloods and Muggle-borns looked strangely at the people laughing for no apparent reason.
Avery fell silent.
"Besides, thirty years from now," Regulus's voice wasn't loud, but it was just enough for the nearby students to hear.
"When we look back on Hogwarts, we won't just remember who made the feather fly the highest or who rode a broom the steadiest. We'll remember who attended class with you, who copied homework with you, and who talked about dreams with you after lights out."
This sentence drifted to the ears of Professor Flitwick, who was making his rounds.
The diminutive professor stopped in his tracks. He looked up at Regulus, something flashing in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he simply tapped the lectern lightly with his wand.
"It is best to do your own homework, Mr. Black."
The classroom erupted in laughter.