Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 136 135. The Essence of Wizarding Law and Learning Apparition

"I just know it's convenient," Harry shrugged. "The books in the Hogwarts library only mention the effects of this spell, how it was invented, and how it developed."

This spell is not even recorded in the book "The 100 Most Commonly Used Spells".

"Hahahahahahaha," Mr. Weasley burst into laughter. "Of course the Ministry of Magic will not allow students to learn Apparition secretly on their own. It's not because the Ministry wants to control wizards, but simply because this kind of magic is very dangerous. Even adult wizards who have already learned it are likely to encounter accidents when performing it, let alone students."

"Yeah, so the second half of the book is all about failure cases, and it even has pictures. The people in the pictures are really scary for students," Harry nodded and said.

"Separation, yes, that is indeed very terrifying," Mr. Weasley affirmed, "Once separation occurs, even pain is the least of the problems."

"I've read in a book that Hogwarts will offer a course on Apparition for sixth-year students. It will last for twelve weeks, with one class per week for one hour each time." Harry continued, "In addition, there is a registration fee of twelve Galleons. I am willing to pay -"

"Oh no no no! Harry, I won't take your money!" Before Harry could finish, Mr. Weasley waved his hands and interrupted him, "I said, I want to thank you, understand?"

"Okay, then I won't insist," Harry said with a smile, "So it's settled?"

"Of course not," Mr. Weasley laughed and said, "You almost tricked me, kid. You have to know that Apparition is a very advanced magic. Even if you have learned this magic, you have to pass the test of the Department of Magical Transportation before you can perform this magic freely."

"I know that, Mr. Weasley," Harry sighed, "but I really can't wait until sixth year to learn this kind of useful magic."

"Well, you didn't seem to care about the Department of Magical Transportation exams at all," Mr. Weasley choked.

"Of course I care." Harry pointed to his right and tried to suppress his smile. "Just like that car."

Mr. Weasley's eyes widened. He and Harry looked in that direction. Under a shed, a brightly polished Ford car had half of its trunk sticking out from the edge of the shed.

"The car... well, dear Harry, although you may not believe it, the car is indeed not illegal. Uh, maybe I should say that I did not break the law?" Mr. Weasley laughed dryly and put his arm around Harry's shoulders and said, "If you look carefully, you will find that as long as I don't plan to use the car to fly, the fact that the car can fly does not actually violate the law."

"Really?" Harry said. "If a flying and invisible car isn't considered misuse of Muggle items, then what is?"

"Of course not," Mr. Weasley said confidently, "As long as the modification is not for the purpose of use, then it is not illegal."

"That's true, but as far as I know, Mr. Weasley, you are the director of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, and you introduced a new Muggle Protection Act at the beginning of this year." Harry's expression became subtle. "Ron was particularly happy when he wrote to tell me about this... So you deliberately left a loophole when you made the law?"

This should be considered breaking the law knowingly, right?

"Ahem, Ron should be happy indeed. After all, with that law, I can legally search Malfoy Manor." Mr. Weasley began to look around, "But these are two different things, um, two different things."

"There's no need to be so nervous, Mr. Weasley." Seeing that the man beside him had begun to rack his brains to come up with an excuse, Harry comforted him, "I already know how casual wizards are."

"Uh, really?" Mr. Weasley paused, "I hope you don't have any misunderstandings about wizards... well, you know what I mean."

"Of course I understand," Harry shrugged and said, "So I just want to learn Apparition for the purpose of studying magic, and I don't plan to use it outside - is that okay?"

"…As far as I know, the laws of the Department of Magical Transportation do not currently have detailed regulations in this regard." Looking into Harry's eyes, Mr. Weasley said word by word.

"That is, they didn't ban it," Harry added.

"Very good, Harry." Mr. Weasley patted Harry's shoulder and said, "It seems that you have learned the essence of wizard law. If what Dumbledore and Percy said about you is not exaggerated, then I can't seem to find any reason to stop you."

"Like I said at the beginning, Mr. Weasley," Harry raised his hand and said, "I think I already have the foundation to master this magic."

As Harry spoke and moved, a shovel that was stuck diagonally into the ground in the Weasley family's garden suddenly bent its wooden pole and pulled itself out of the ground. Then, two rusty legs grew out from both sides of the shovel. It quickly ran in front of the two people and performed a tap dance. After a farewell gesture of spreading its hands and bending over, it supported itself on the wall next to it with one hand, and then once again turned into its original appearance - still that shovel.

"Merlin's beard!" Mr. Weasley couldn't help but exclaimed. He couldn't believe what he saw. "Is this, Transfiguration? No, that's not right, no, it seems to be right - you didn't even take out your wand!"

For the wizards in this world, being able to perform any of the wandless and silent magic is already a sign of great magical power. Most wizards cannot even make a noise once their wands leave their hands.

To master this unique way of casting spells, it requires not only the wizard's own powerful magic, but also an extremely deep and detailed understanding of the spell, which is extremely difficult.

"Wait, am I forgetting something?" Mr. Weasley suddenly fell into deep thought. "Oh, right! Casting spells outside of school is strictly prohibited - Aha! It's obvious, and you found another loophole, right?"

Mr. Weasley let out a long sigh.

"So I should have the ability to study the Apparition spell, right?" Harry asked with a blink.

"Of course." Mr. Weasley laughed again. He put his arm around Harry's shoulders and said, "If even with this level of magic, they can't learn Apparition, then 99% of the wizards in this world should be banned from using this magic. How about the morning after tomorrow? It happens to be a weekend, so we have more time."

"No problem," Harry agreed without hesitation, "I'm ready anytime."

"That's settled then. I hope Ron won't blame me. After all, he has wanted to play with you for a long time." Mr. Weasley shrugged and suddenly added as if he remembered something: "By the way, when you are learning about Apparition, remember -"

"Keep it a secret," Harry continued seamlessly, "I promise that no one will know that I learned this spell from you."

"Well, there's no need to be so serious," Mr. Weasley scratched his head and said, "Actually, what I want to say is that you just don't let Molly know about it. After all, this matter is somewhat... well, because of the car incident, she has already scolded me for a long time today."

When he said this, Mr. Weasley looked frightened.

"Haha, okay, I'll keep it a secret," Harry said, trying to hold back his laughter. He could more or less understand from whom Fred and George inherited their love of pranks and their inability to change despite repeated warnings.

"That would be great," Mr. Weasley nodded with satisfaction. ………………………………

The Burrow, although it does look like a house put together by magic and is not very pretty as its name suggests, the interior of the house is not simple at all and is full of homely warmth.

Just like their hair color, the Weasley family all have fiery, warm personalities, including the youngest Ginny, who adores Harry and who, with the company of her mother, was able to muster up the courage to talk to Harry the next day.

Well, although Ginny still had a red face when she spoke, she was indeed making rapid progress.

Just as Mr. Weasley had expected, Ron was a little unhappy when he learned that Harry was going somewhere without him - fortunately, Harry left his suitcase behind, so Ron, who had entered the suitcase world, didn't care so much.

At the foot of a hillside on the north side, away from the Weasley family, there was a grove of trees that could provide enough shade for the two people who were about to start practicing.

"Honestly, this is my first time teaching someone. If you feel that I haven't explained something clearly, remember to ask me immediately, Harry. Don't bear it." Mr. Weasley said cheerfully while standing on the empty lawn.

"Okay, Mr. Weasley," Harry said seriously.

The most taboo thing in learning magic is to pretend to know something when you don’t, and then cast a spell without knowing the consequences.

"Well, let me think... According to what Bo said... I should first explain to you why the people in the Department of Magical Transportation only send employees to offer Apparition courses to sixth-year students." Mr. Weasley looked up at the sky and said slowly, as if he was repeating the memory in his head: "Sixth-year students are actually close to adulthood. This is the most important reason."

Harry found that when he got serious, Mr. Weasley was quite reliable... It was obvious that he had consulted his colleagues in the Ministry for today's class.

"...When young wizards are underage, their magic power will continue to develop, which will cause them to be unable to accurately control the power of the spells they cast," Mr. Weasley explained in detail. "When you are about sixth grade, this growth of magic power will tend to stabilize, and the total amount of magic power will reach a level that can stably cast some difficult spells."

"Of course, what I said are all general situations, Harry," Mr. Weasley added urgently, "Obviously you are an exception... Well, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. In short, in addition to the magical requirements, sixth-grade wizards will also have a more mature mind. At least their will will become more resolute and their attention will be more focused - and this involves the fundamental elements of the Disapparation spell."

Harry listened carefully without saying anything. He even took out a notebook and a ballpoint pen and began to record the key points. Knowing the origin of a spell and the conditions for casting it can also enhance your understanding of the spell.

The most important thing is that these things are not available in the Hogwarts library. In order to prevent students from learning them secretly and then doing whatever they want, the Department of Magical Transportation has indeed cleaned the library very well.

"So, the necessary conditions for this spell are sufficient magic power, a firm will, and enough concentration," Harry concluded, "It has the same conditions as many spells I learned before, which is not surprising."

"Oh, it's not surprising to you, Harry," Mr. Weasley said with a smile, "I have no doubt about that, but you have to know that it is very difficult for other little wizards to achieve these three points - even for many adult wizards. It's a bit difficult."

"There are many adult wizards who, even though they have learned this spell for many years, are always at risk of splitting when they perform Apparition." Mr. Weasley sighed and said, "The illustrations in the book are nothing, Harry. I have seen a person split into two with my own eyes. It was so miserable... It was unbearable to watch."

"I'll be careful, Mr. Weasley," Harry said with a smile, "and this place is open enough, at least I don't have to worry about sending myself into the wall."

"Yes, this open lawn is a great place to practice," Mr. Weasley said admiringly. He waved his wand, and a circle of wooden boards appeared on the open space to Harry's left.

"Aha, that's the secret," said Mr. Weasley cheerfully. "Even after all these years, the method the Department of Magical Transportation uses to teach students how to Apparate has not changed at all... It saves me from having to learn it all over again."

"Goal, determination, calmness, the three D principles, Harry, you just need to remember this." Mr. Weasley turned around and said, "Apparition is actually composed of two spells. One is Apparition, which will make you disappear from your original place, and the other is Apparition, which makes you appear where you want to appear."

"When you use Apparition to disappear from the world and have not yet reappeared using Apparition, you must strictly abide by the three D principles - damn, what nonsense am I talking about, you should have abided by them from the moment you prepare to cast this spell."

This was the first time Harry had seen such a serious expression on Mr. Weasley's face since they met, not even when he was scolded by Mrs. Weasley.

"First, the target. You need to focus on your target, which is the circled area you can see now. As for the targets you can't see, they are things you should try after you have mastered this spell."

"And the second one, determination, requires that you must be determined to occupy that space, that place, that area, and let that desire flood every smallest part of your body - including your toenails."

"Then there is the last step, calmness. You just need to spin on the spot and let yourself enter a state of relaxation. The movements must be natural, relaxed, and calm. Do you understand?"

"This spell does require a higher level of awareness than other spells." Putting down the pen in his hand, Harry nodded and said, "I remember it."

"Very good, then let me demonstrate it to you next," said Mr. Weasley with his head held high and his chest puffed out.

Probably to allow Harry to see every step clearly, Mr. Weasley worked very slowly, and even shouted "Apparition" while casting the spell - you know, according to Harry's previous experience of being Apparated by Lucius, wizards cast this spell silently, without shouting out anything.

There was a crackling sound, and Mr. Weasley appeared on the enclosed piece of grass.

"Look, Harry, that's it," Mr. Weasley said cheerfully, turning around. "It's very simple. Although I would like to describe it to you in more detail, this spell, uh..."

"I understand," Harry nodded, "Those who can do it, can do it, and those who can't can't explain it."

"It's great that you understand," Mr. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief. "Anyway, all you need to do next is practice. That's all the theoretical knowledge. Once you've mastered it, you should be able to do it to my level."

After saying that, Mr. Weasley returned to his starting position amid a series of popping sounds, and then reappeared in the wooden circle after waiting for two seconds. The whole process was very smooth.

Harry keenly noticed that when Mr. Weasley demonstrated the final few completed Apparitions, he did not have an obvious rotation movement in the third step as he did in his initial teaching demonstration.

Instead, one second the person was still in the same place, and the next second the person was already in another place... So this is a change after becoming proficient? Can some steps be omitted, or simplified?
"Cool!" Harry couldn't help but exclaimed: "Can Apparition be used continuously like this? This is so convenient in battle."

From now on, in order to demonstrate to himself, Mr. Weasley has Apparated four or five times in a row, and the interval between each Apparition is less than three seconds.

(End of this chapter)