Thursday night's Astronomy class was held in the highest Astronomy Tower of the castle.
The night sky in late September was clear, and the air of the Scottish Highlands was cold and transparent.
"Tonight, we shall learn to locate the ruler of the starry sky, Sirius." Professor Aurora Sinistra's voice was as gentle as the night breeze.
She was an older witch, her silver hair coiled neatly at the back of her head, her robes embroidered with tiny constellation patterns that seemed to carry starlight as she moved.
"Sirius is not only the brightest star in the night sky, but in a magical sense, it is also viewed as a symbol of guidance and loyalty; the positioning of many ancient navigational spells and long-distance communication magic relies upon its observation."
The students worked in pairs, operating telescopes mounted on brass stands; Regulus was paired with Alex Rosier.
Cuthbert claimed to have absolutely no interest in staring at a few points of light all night, and had long since huddled in a corner with several Slytherin boys, yawning.
"First, calibrate the level on the base," Regulus instructed the somewhat flustered Alex in a low voice.
"Right, get the bubble to stay in the center, then release the vertical lock, point the tube toward the southeast, at an elevation of about twenty degrees."
Alex did as instructed and looked through the eyepiece: "It's all a blur."
"That's because you haven't adjusted the focus." Regulus reached out and gently turned the knob on the barrel: "Take your time; look for a very bright star with a hint of blue-white."
Alex adjusted it for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed softly, "I see it! It's so bright, like a blue-white gemstone. It's really beautiful."
"That is Sirius." Regulus moved to another telescope himself.
He skillfully completed the calibration and focusing, and the star appeared clearly in his field of view.
Through the magically enhanced telescope, one could see an extremely thin halo surrounding it, pulsing as if breathing.
This was a sight absolutely invisible to Muggle telescopes; although there was no proof, the magical world considered this to be the magical glow radiating from the stars.
"Very good, Mr. Rosier." Professor Sinistra drifted over to them. "Now, record its position. Use the coordinate grid on the star chart and pay attention to the ecliptic reference line."
Once the professor had walked away, Alex asked in a whisper, "How are you so skilled? It's like you've done this many times before."
"We have a similar one at home," Regulus replied. The Black family did indeed possess an antique astronomical telescope, though he had never actually used it.
"So what is the actual use of Astronomy?" Alex muttered as he clumsily recorded the coordinates. "Aside from the stars looking pretty..."
"It has more uses than you think." Regulus looked at Sirius through the eyepiece, recalling what he had read in the family library.
"The preparation of many high-level potions requires precise lunar phases and stellar positions; for instance, many key ingredients for Felix Felicis must be harvested according to specific moon phases and astrological alignments.
The magical potency of certain variants of Ancient Runes fluctuates with the position of the constellations."
He continued, "Not to mention that many ancient magical contracts, family rituals, and even the castle's protective enchantments have their power fluctuations bound to the cycles of the stars.
Understanding the night sky is, in a sense, interpreting the hidden clock of the magical world."
Alex listened, somewhat dazed. "These things... aren't written in the textbook."
"Because that is higher-year content, or," Regulus said indifferently, "part of certain family legacies."
At that moment, Professor Sinistra clapped her hands to attract everyone's attention. "Now, shift your telescopes about fifteen degrees to the left and lower the elevation by five degrees.
You will see three bright stars arranged in an almost equidistant straight line; that is Orion's Belt. Record their positions and relative angles."
Regulus did as told, and when those three stars appeared in his field of view, his movements paused slightly.
Not only because of their beauty, but because of their alignment.
Three stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.
In Muggle astronomy, they were simply three stars hundreds of light-years from Earth, unrelated to one another, appearing in a line only due to visual projection.
But through the magically enhanced telescope, Regulus saw something different.
Even though they were so far apart, the magical glow emitted by the three stars was not entirely independent.
Extremely faint streams of magic, like spider silk, flowed slowly between the three, forming an incredibly thin triangle of energy.
He quickly recorded the coordinates of the three stars on his star chart, connected them with dotted lines, and noted the angles.
The line connecting the three stars of the belt was nearly perfectly straight, but there was still a negligible curvature, a deviation insignificant on a cosmic scale, but potentially vital in magical application.
Regulus could construct precise geometric models of constellations in his mind, simulate the positions of stars, and even calculate their trajectories.
Just now, he had subconsciously deduced their relative positional changes one hundred years hence, based on their current positions and known proper motion data.
He thought rapidly: stars are in motion. Although slow, the three stars of Orion's Belt had their own directions and speeds within the Milky Way.
Was this motion also part of their magical nature?
He immediately made a decision: he would use absolutely precise calculations and spatial imagination to incorporate the true movement of the constellations into his meditation.
Just then, Professor Sinistra's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I see that many students have already completed their records.
Remember, the significance of Astronomy lies not in memorizing the names of a few constellations, but in understanding the eternal rhythm contained within the movement of the stars.
Class dismissed."
Eternal rhythm. As Regulus packed away his star chart, the phrase echoed in his mind.
In the early hours of the morning, the dormitory was silent.
Regulus sat cross-legged inside his four-poster bed; the curtains were drawn, and a Silencing Charm had quietly taken effect.
Closing his eyes, he sank deep into his consciousness.
He conducted his magic guidance cycle and starry sky meditation simultaneously.
Inside his body, magic flowed like a gentle stream, beginning to cycle along familiar paths, nourishing every inch of flesh and blood.
This was the tempering of the physical body, the foundation of foundations.
At the same time, at the highest level of his consciousness, he constructed a model of Orion's Belt.
Based on the astronomical data in his memory, the subtle deviations he had observed, the calculated trajectories, and the motion of the stars themselves, he endowed these three points of light with an extremely slow tendency to move in specific directions.
A static framework, and a dynamic trend.
Then, he began trying to make the rhythm of the magic cycling within his body match the dynamic trend of the three light points in his mind.
It did not go smoothly at first; the cycle of magic within the physical body was a concrete and perceptible flow.
The movement trend of the stars, however, was an abstract and nearly static tendency; the two seemed to exist in different dimensions.
But Regulus had patience. He focused his entire mind on that dynamic model, feeling the movement tension that was almost non-existent yet undeniably real.
Then, he began to make minute adjustments to the speed of the magical cycle within his body, causing a subtle shift in the fundamental tone of the entire cycle, making it more solemn, slower, and more constant.
Time passed in silence: ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes.
Suddenly, a kind of alignment occurred.
It wasn't that the magic was actually tracing the pattern of the constellation within his body.
It was a deeper synchronization; the state of existence of the internal cycle had reached a harmonious resonance on a spiritual level with the essential nature of the stellar model's movement in his mind.
In that instant, Regulus felt two distinct improvements occur simultaneously.
The originally warm and nourishing cycle of magic seemed to be infused with a more solid, heavy texture.
Wherever the magic flowed, it brought not only nourishment but also a wondrous sense of compaction, as if his muscle fibers and bone density were being strengthened more effectively through this synchronous resonance.
A brand-new sense of power rose slowly from the depths of his limbs and bones.
Moreover, maintaining the dynamic model was already an exercise in extreme mental focus, but the moment he truly synchronized with the trend of the stars' movement, he felt his consciousness become anchored, growing clearer and more stable.
The cluttered thoughts of daily life, the chaotic whispers of magic omnipresent in the castle, and even the alienation and loneliness buried deep in his heart as a transmigrator, all were soothed by a grand and tranquil image.
His soul seemed to have found a solid pedestal, becoming more composed and unshakable.
This was a qualitative change.
Regulus remained in this state, carefully observing every subtle change.
With magic cycling in this synchronized state, not only did his recovery speed increase, but the magic itself seemed to become more condensed and tame.
He realized that he might have inadvertently touched upon some deeper magical truth.
Body, mind, and magic, they were never three isolated elements, but could be unified to promote one another and sublimate together.
He named this integrated new method in his mind: Star Orbit Guided Meditation.
Physical tempering and mental meditation would no longer need to be practiced separately; instead, they became a complete practice, treating the self as a whole and actively seeking synchronization.
Thus, the foundation was established.