Study Days at Hogwarts

“Thank you for the umbrella, Hagrid.”

As she knocked on the wooden door of the hunting hut, Alice returned the umbrella to Hagrid, and after noticing the old man's gaze, she introduced Daphne with a smile, “This is Daphne.”

“Oh, come in.”

Hagrid let them both in.

“Albert was worried you wouldn’t find friends at school, but it seems his worries were completely unnecessary.”

“Honestly, Dad, how could I not find friends!”

Alice glanced around the empty hunting hut and suddenly asked, “Hagrid, where's Fang?”

“That's right, Fang was very old, passing away is a kind of relief.” Alice was a little lost, but cheered up again and looked up at the elderly man beside her.

“Hagrid, have you ever thought about getting another dog?”

“Hmm, I haven't decided yet.”

“Many people in Avalon raise Shelties. They're not picky eaters, not traitors, and they're very cute, and their lifespan is longer than ordinary dogs.”

“Cough, a friend said he was going to give me a dog last time.” Hagrid coughed lightly, changing the subject, “I heard everyone is calling you a genius now.”

“Alice is indeed very amazing, she learns everything instantly, it feels like she's just playing.”

Daphne, who hadn't been able to interject until now, naturally picked up Hagrid's words.

Alice had only been at Hogwarts for a few days, but the title of genius had already spread among the professors and students.

It can only be said that some things cannot be concealed. Even if Alice never deliberately showed her talent and ability, she still inadvertently revealed her extraordinary nature to the people around her in her daily interactions.

In Daphne's own words:

Until I met you, I didn't know what a genius was.

Perhaps, you don't need to come to class at all.

Daphne was right, Alice came to Hogwarts just for show.

At least that's what she thought.

If possible, Alice didn't want to go to Hogwarts at all, especially after attending a few days of classes, the feeling of discomfort like a middle school student going to kindergarten became more and more obvious.

However, what made Alice most uncomfortable was the conflict in the understanding and concept of magic.

Being able to use magic does not mean understanding magic.

Hogwarts never cultivates wizards who “understand magic,” but a group of tool people who can use magic.

From Albert's educational philosophy, Hogwarts' completely inflexible curriculum is not cultivating students with thinking abilities, but defining geniuses and ordinary people in a range, creating more “mediocre people.”

Perhaps, a small number of geniuses will gradually stand out, but once the way of thinking is fixed, it is difficult to break it again, which will completely lock the upper limit of most geniuses.

“Aren't you a genius yourself?”

“My matchstick still can't turn into a needle.” Daphne ridiculed herself, “There is no such genius in this world.”

“You're much stronger than most of the other first years.”

Alice felt that if she and Daphne switched places, she wouldn't be much stronger.

No matter how strong the talent, it needs a good education to realize it.

“Your only problem is that your understanding of magic is not enough.”

Alice was undoubtedly lucky. Albert had already completed her wizarding cognitive education when she was young, helping her to directly jump out of that mental loop.

Although this made her seem out of place in the vast Hogwarts, Ravenclaw never lacked "weirdos."

Hagrid suddenly understood why Alice was able to find friends so quickly after school started.

“Oh, tell me about it.” Daphne was very interested.

“The most important thing in learning magic is to have a flexible mind, and creativity should be cultivated from an early age.”

Take herself as an example. Before entering school, she had created several magical little spells on her own under Albert's care.

“That's a really high requirement. If an ordinary wizard like me, who needs to study a spell for a long time, were to learn from you, I'd probably drop dead immediately.”

If it were in the ordinary world, Daphne could indeed barely be considered a genius, but this is the world of wizards, and she can only be considered an ordinary wizard.

“The way you learn spells is the problem, or rather, the way Hogwarts teaches freshmen is the problem.” Alice hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke her opinion, shocking Hagrid beside her.

“So, there really is an easy way to learn magic?” Daphne's eyes lit up, and she became interested in the genius education Alice received since she was a child.

“There are four key points to learning magic.” Alice seemed to return to the time when she helped take care of children, and said in a very gentle voice, “The spell must be pronounced correctly, the casting posture must be correct, the attention must be focused enough, and you must have enough confidence in yourself.”

“These four points are actually to strengthen the control of one's own magic, so as to cooperate with the wand to successfully use magic.”

“It is actually very normal for young wizards who have just entered school to not be able to control their magic well, but it is very problematic that Hogwarts does not conduct special training in this area.”

“Their solution is to let students gradually master it in the process of learning magic, which takes a lot of time to train spells. As a result, many freshmen can only barely sharpen one end of the matchstick in the second Transfiguration class.”

“So, it's actually because the foundation is not solid.” Daphne immediately thought of the key point, “Then how do you improve your control over your own magic?”

“Through meditation.” Alice didn't intend to hide anything, and said directly, “Take some time to meditate every day, even if you can only barely get started, you can improve your concentration.”

“Can meditation really effectively improve the control of one's own magic?” Daphne expressed doubts about this, but she didn't think Alice would lie to her.

“Yes.”

“But why… ….”

“No one noticed?” Alice chuckled, “Because most people don't have much patience!”

“Meditation takes only a few days to get started quickly, and a month for the slow ones. There is no effect at the beginning. How many wizards do you think can persist?”

“How many years have you been meditating?” Daphne was even more curious.

“Almost five years, I remember learning it when I learned yoga with my mother.” Alice also felt that it was incredible that she could persist back then.

“How are the results?”

“Didn't you guess it?”

Saying that, Alice raised a finger and whispered a spell, “Lumos.”

A faint ball of light appeared on Alice's fingertip, a scene that almost made Hagrid's jaw drop.

“Wandless magic.”

Hagrid said weakly, he finally realized the value of this genius.

“I dare say Albert couldn't do this when he first entered school.”

“Dad didn't have anyone to teach him magic back then.” Alice extinguished the light on her fingertip.

“How long do you think it will take me to do what you do?” From Hagrid's reaction, Daphne also realized that casting spells without a wand was a very remarkable thing.

“If you work hard, you should be able to use some simple magic without a wand at the latest before you graduate from school.” Alice gave a more conservative estimate.

“Seven years?”

Daphne's eyes widened.

“That's already very remarkable. In the vast British wizarding world, there are only a few wizards who can skillfully use wandless casting.”