The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

"Professor Flitwick said that if we continue to develop in this direction, we should be able to develop a lot of illusion magic, which, when combined with shapeshifting, can even create a very realistic illusion. This is one of our main development directions at present."

Seeing Ryze's ability to control light, Sirius couldn't help but sigh in amazement, and at the same time, he wanted to try casting magic in Ryze's way.

However, he has only just begun to learn these skills and is still quite inexperienced, making some stumbling movements when using them, but he still seems very enthusiastic.

"This visual illusion is indeed fatal in a duel. Under such interference, even the calmest Auror is more likely to make mistakes in judgment than usual."

“Actually, this move has a deeper purpose, but it’s still in the experimental stage,” Ryze shrugged, then gestured for Sirius to pay attention to his wand.

Rizz cast a simple disarming spell again, and red light shot out from his wand.

When the light passed through a specific area, the originally bright red light strangely dimmed and became almost transparent. Only a faint sense of distortion in the air indicated that the spell was still progressing.

The light only reappeared after the incantation had flown a few more meters.

"Are you preparing to develop a traceless spell?" Sirius narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming more serious. He knew very well what this meant.

In wizarding common sense, most spells are accompanied by a relatively obvious color the moment they leave the wand.

Red disarming and stun spells, green death spells... these lights are manifestations of magic, and only a very few extremely profound or insidious black magic spells can achieve true undetectability.

Sirius and Rupin exchanged a glance. They remembered the spell Snape had developed in their sixth year called "Shadowless," a spell that had no trajectory or trace.

Those invisible cuts and unpredictable attacks almost cost them dearly several times.

Ryze nodded: "You can call it that. Our goal is to make all the spells disappear without a trace, and we need to make them more stable so that they don't fluctuate due to changes in the surrounding environment."

"However, this technique is quite difficult because it involves concealing the light along the trajectory of the spell. Currently, I can only conceal half of the trajectory during flight. Professor Flitwick is currently discussing this technique with Principal Dumbledore to see if we can perfect it by next week. If we can complete the concealment of the entire spell, it will greatly change the spellcasting skills of wizards."

"Is Dumbledore also studying this technique?" Sirius was somewhat surprised, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense. It would be strange if Dumbledore wasn't curious about such a spellcasting technique.

After all, wizard duels these days are still more serious, involving countering each other's moves.

If you see that the opponent has used the Disarming Spell, then use the counter-spell of the Disarming Spell.

If you see the opponent's wand start to glow green, try to find something to cover yourself or a substitute creature to block the spell before it hits.

"Before this, the advanced spellcasting techniques of wizards included two techniques: silent and wandless. Now it seems that soon there will be another technique: invisible spellcasting," Sirius commented on the skill that Ryze had developed.

He knew very well what this meant.

In the past, wizards who mastered silent and wandless spellcasting were already powerful enough. They could cast spells with just a wave of their hand, making it difficult for their opponents to predict their moves through spells and actions.

Now, if this "seamless casting" is added, the nature of the duel is completely changed.

In that situation, the opponent can't even tell whether you've cast a spell or not, let alone distinguish between a disarming charm and a stun charm.

Faced with such an attack that is completely invisible, even dodging becomes somewhat awkward, because you simply don't know which way to hide.

“If that’s the case, future wizard duels will be full of psychological battles,” Lu Ping added quietly from the side. “In order to avoid being defeated, opponents will be forced to spend a lot of energy maintaining those complicated high-level protective spells.”

Sirius continued thinking along the lines of Lu Ping's words.

A strange image involuntarily surfaced in his mind: in a future wizarding duel, two wizards stood on a platform, waving their wands wildly into the air.

The audience below the stage couldn't see it either; they could only hear the sound of the wand cutting through the air.

The two people on the stage were sweating profusely. One of them might have just made a feint, while the other had used up a lot of magic power to reinforce the protective spell because of his paranoia.

Finally, one of them made a mistake in their experience and judgment, used the wrong defensive measures, and was inexplicably knocked to the ground by an invisible spell.

“That sounds really insidious…” Sirius couldn’t help but say, but then he gave a wicked grin. “However, I like this kind of insidiousness. It’s much more interesting than those rigid, reactive tactics.”

Chapter 183: Reform of Spells

Compared to Sirius's fondness for these underhanded techniques, Lu Ping's attitude was much more serious.

Because he had been living on the fringes of the wizarding world for the past ten years, he had witnessed many unknown secrets and was very clear about the dark side of the wizarding world.

“Ryze, it is indeed a brilliant idea, but I must also remind you that this technique is a double-edged sword,” Lupin said softly. “If this kind of seamless casting falls into the hands of those dark wizards, it may also lead to an increase in the casualties of the Aurors.”

The reason why dark wizards are dark wizards is because they have completely abandoned their bottom line in pursuit of power.

They are capable of anything if they can gain power.

This technique of casting spells without leaving a trace is naturally very tempting to those dark wizards.

As soon as this technique is revealed, dark wizards will inevitably try to master it.

Hearing this, Sirius's smile faded a bit, and he nodded in agreement: "Remus is right. If this technique gets out, those guys in the Ministry of Magic will probably have a terrible headache."

Rizz shrugged: "Yes, after I proposed this idea, Professor Flitwick had the same idea, which is why Professor Flitwick contacted Principal Dumbledore to involve him in the research of this technique. We certainly won't use these techniques outside of our circle until they figure out how to deal with them."

They won't use this technique in at least this wizarding duel, and the earliest they'll use it is in the next wizarding duel.

After hearing Ryze's words, Sirius spread his hands helplessly: "It's not finished developing yet. We have to wait for the anti-curse to be developed before we can use it. Doesn't that mean it can only be popular for a short time?"

Aside from using it to shock opponents in the Wizarding Tournament, it's estimated that Hogwarts will reveal the countermeasures to this technique to the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic after the next Wizarding Tournament.

Once countermeasures are developed, the effectiveness of this visual interference magic will naturally be greatly reduced, and even now, these light magic spells can be found to have flaws.

“You can’t think like that, Sirius,” Rhett shook his head, correcting Sirius’s thinking. “It’s true that many spells in the wizarding world have been abandoned after their anti-spells were developed, but that doesn’t mean they’ve reached the end.”

"Everyone knows that the counterspell for Flashing Light is Knox. Knox can counter even Ultimate Flashing Light with its hundreds of derivative spells, but the Ultimate Flashing Light Spell that I developed based on Ultimate Flashing Light cannot be countered by Knox."

“Muggle technology and theories are constantly innovating on the basis of existing theories. When the original theories and technologies are countered, they will also try to come up with new methods, and then continuously iterate and update the technology. I think this spirit of research should also be applied to magic.”

"As long as we continue to develop and reform spells, the development of spells will not stop. Even if a counter-spell is discovered, it will be a driving force for the creation of new spells, not the end of a spell."

After listening to Rez's words, Lupin pondered for a while, then smiled and said, "Rez, you are indeed an excellent student of Ravenclaw, pursuing the truth and always maintaining the motivation to progress."

Ryze smiled but didn't reply.

After studying at Hogwarts for half a year, Rhett could clearly feel this sense of antiquity.

For example, the textbooks they use in school, especially those for lower grades, can be used for over a hundred years without any modifications.

It can be said that the wizarding world still maintains the traditions of the last century, and even its concept of money is not much different from that of the 19th century.

In the late 19th century, the average monthly salary in Britain was only a few dozen pounds, but a hundred years later, the average British wage is over 3000 pounds.

In the wizarding world, a hundred years ago, a wizard could earn a hundred Galleons a month, and their standard of living was obviously far above that of ordinary people.

As a result, wizards still earn a few hundred Galleons a month. Apart from the help of family magic, most ordinary wizards probably do not live as well as the middle class in Britain.

To this day, the biggest reform in the British wizarding world is still the Hogwarts Express introduced by the Ministry of Magic more than a hundred years ago, and there is nothing else to say about it.

Grindelwald may have foreseen the crisis posed by this stagnation, which is why he wanted to ensure that wizards would always maintain their status above Muggles.

Unfortunately, his choice to use violence at the time failed to spark a new magical revolution in the wizarding world.

However, there's no need to go into too much detail about these things with Sirius and Rupin.

For him now, the safest approach is to gradually guide the seeds of this "magical innovation" through the upcoming Wizarding Duel Tournament and the Wizarding Auto Chess game currently under development.

"Alright, let's not talk about these heavy topics anymore," Ryze ended the conversation and returned to the topic of Auto Chess. "How's the development of Auto Chess going? Those two I introduced to you should be working pretty well, right?"

"Those two Weasley boys?" Sirius nodded. "Although I haven't had a chance to meet them yet, Remus, you met them last month."

When George and Fred were mentioned, Lu Ping also toned down his previous serious expression.

He recalled the two identical boys: "I met them a few times here last month. Those two kids are indeed full of all sorts of strange and wonderful ideas. It feels like the two of them combined have as many ideas as the four of us back then. Without their help, the development of Auto Chess wouldn't have been as smooth as it is now."

"Basically, most of the pieces were their ideas. After we got them, we just needed to do some screening to simplify or eliminate the pieces that were too complicated. Now they are constantly testing various issues in the game."

Lu Ping spoke with a slight sigh.

They are indeed more mature now than they were in their student days.

However, they also lost much of the boundless creativity they had during their student days as they grew older.

For the past ten years, he has been wandering around, taking on jobs wherever he can to make a living.

As for Sirius Black, his ten years in prison had made his mind quite rigid.

In terms of thinking speed, they are indeed no longer as fast as they were in their student days.

Looking at the Wesley twins now is like seeing their past selves.

Chapter 184: Easter Holiday Arrives

“Since they have this talent, then I’ll trouble you to take good care of them,” Rizz said to Lupin in a serious tone. “George and Fred’s ideas are very good, but their current level of magic is not enough to fully understand the principles of this Wizarding Auto Chess game, which is why they come up with those ideas that are difficult to implement.”

"Once they understand how those pieces are made, they will be more adept at designing them. Once their skill level improves, they can be entrusted with the subsequent updates to the Wizarding Auto Chess content."

Although Lupin and Sirius both sensed the potential of Wizards Auto Chess, they obviously couldn't spend too much time on it. At most, they would have to wait a year or two until George and Fred grew up, and then they and the other Hogwarts students could take over all of this.

After receiving Lupin's nod, Rizzi then inquired about whether Wizard's Chess could be released during the Easter holidays.

Sirius patted his chest, appearing very confident.

"Don't worry, Ryze, the chess pieces are all finished, and most of the mass production issues have been resolved. Easter is still two weeks away, and with Lupin overseeing things here, there shouldn't be any problems."

As Sirius said this, he seemed to have thought of something: "The Wizarding Tournament is being held in France this year, right? I'll go with you then; I'm planning to get some exercise there."

Reiz was slightly taken aback.

He had heard Sirius say before that he wanted to go with him.

At the time, he thought Sirius was going to cheer him on, but now it seems Sirius is planning to participate in the competition.

"Sirius, do you mean you want to participate in the competition too? Isn't that a bit too much to ask?"

Sirius nodded casually: "No pressure. Speaking of which, James and I both thought about participating in this competition back in school, but those were the years when Voldemort's power was at its peak. We've been at odds with those Death Eaters since our student days, and we're always very careful when we go out. Going out to participate in a competition would be too obvious, so we've never found an opportunity."

"But the wizarding world is pretty peaceful right now. Voldemort is half-dead, and Dumbledore is keeping an eye on things at school, so I'm quite at ease. I'll take this opportunity to participate in the tournament and see if I can win a prize or something. After all, I'll be too old for the next wizarding duel tournament."

Over the past few months, Sirius Black has maintained correspondence with Dumbledore and knows that Dumbledore wants to test Harry, the prophesied savior, this year.

Although Sirius disliked these prophecies, he trusted Dumbledore and acquiesced to them, only asking Dumbledore to ensure Harry's safety.

The adult division of the Wizarding Duel Tournament is open to wizards aged 17-35. Sirius Black is already 33 years old, and in two years he will indeed be over the age limit.

Although Sirius has just been discharged from the hospital and his magic level is roughly the same as when he first came of age, he is already at the level of an elite Auror.

While it might be difficult for him to win the championship in this kind of duel, making it into the main tournament shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"But the registration period for the duel tournament ended in January this year. You didn't register right after you got out of prison, did you?" Ryze asked curiously.

Sirius waved his hand dismissively: "Don't worry too much about the registration deadline. The Wizarding Tournament organizing committee isn't entirely clean. The Black family's name still has some use at this point, and the limelight surrounding me, this 'innocent prisoner' who's spent ten years in jail, hasn't completely died down yet. They'll be happy to let me join the competition, just to have me help with the publicity."

No wonder Sirius couldn't wait to duel him as soon as he was discharged from the hospital; he really was trying to get back into the swing of things.

However, Ritz didn't seem to care too much about Sirius's participation, since Sirius had been recuperating at St. Mungo's for three months and was now fine.

Given Sirius's ability, he shouldn't be eliminated in the first round. As long as he makes it to the main tournament, he won't lose face.

After that, Ryze and Sirius had a serious sparring session for a while.

Even without using those light magic spells, Sirius's strength is still enough to overwhelm Ryze, who would be at a disadvantage against even the seventh-year students.

It would take him and Ellie together to hold out against Sirius for a little longer.

However, Ryze, the mad scientist, adapted to this pace of the game quickly and learned a lot of new tricks from Sirius.

Moreover, Lupin, an excellent teacher, would also provide reminders from the side, and the two of them even demonstrated a duel between adult wizards in front of Ryze.

Time flies when you're busy practicing, and a week is over in the blink of an eye.

As the Easter holidays approached, the atmosphere inside Hogwarts Castle became quite restless.

Professors began assigning a lot of holiday homework, while students discussed where to go for the holidays.

At this moment, Rez, along with Anthony and the other participating students, stood at the entrance of the auditorium checking their luggage.

They have received permission from Professors Flitwick and McGonagall to travel to France a day early to participate in the junior division preliminary rounds of the Duel Tournament.

“I envy you, Ritz,” Harry said, looking somewhat dejected as he stood at the entrance to the Great Hall. “I also want to go to France to see that match, even if it’s just to watch one or two matches and then come back.”

He already knew that Ryze and Sirius would be participating in the Wizarding Duels during the Easter holiday.

One of these two men was his friend, and the other was his godfather, so naturally he wanted to go to France with them.

Unfortunately, Rez and his team will be staying in France for more than half a month afterward, and the Easter holiday is not that long.

Therefore, it was only natural that Professor McGonagall rejected Harry and his friends' application.

Ron remained quite calm about this.

Even if his application is approved, he doesn't have the money to stay in France for that many days.

Hermione earnestly stated that she would help organize the class notes to ensure that Ryze wouldn't fall behind in his studies when he returned.

Before setting off, Ryze waved to the three of them: "Thanks in advance for the notes. I'll bring you some French specialties when I get back. But you can play some Auto Chess at school during this holiday."

Chapter 185: The Key

Compared to the wizarding duels in France, Ron seems more interested in the upcoming Wizarding Auto Chess.