Harry Potter: I Cast

"Well then, it's time to begin, isn't it?" Flitwick said with a jovial smile that made his whole face light up. He stood atop his stack of books, practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

The classroom buzzed with anticipation. I sat between Penelope and Bell, taking in every detail of the room - the way the light hit the brass instruments on Flitwick's desk, the slight squeak of his boots on the wooden platform, even the particular way he gripped his wand. My mind automatically cataloged everything, storing it away like pages in a book.

"I'm going to start with something simple," Flitwick began, his voice carrying surprising authority for someone so small. "You see, more important than the casting is to understand what charms actually are. The reasoning is simple: charms are spells that either give or take away properties from an object."

As he spoke, I noticed several students already reaching for their wands, eager to begin. A few Gryffindors in the back weren't even trying to hide their impatience, tapping their wands against their desks in rhythmic patterns. Bell sat perfectly still beside me, her eyes fixed on Flitwick's lips as she read every word.

"For example," Flitwick continued, "with the levitation charm - the very first charm you are going to learn - what we are doing is simple enough. We're just taking away gravity's control over said object. Though we still keep a connection to it through our magic so we can actually control where it levitates to. Without that, all you would have is an object that stays half a meter above ground."

"And while this is all well and good, I think charms have something else that most other subjects of magic don't really have, except maybe potions. With charms, everyone has a little more leeway. In fact, you'll learn how to use chantless magic in your future years, showing that leeway I'm speaking of. It also allows for much more creativity because of this."

As he said this, he walked around the classroom, tapping the table of each student and having a feather grow from it.

"For this first class, I'll be teaching the very spell I was talking about - the levitation charm. 'Wingardium Leviosa' - you pronounce it 'wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa.' As for the wand movement, it's like this."

With a flick of his wand that looked like a squiggly line, all the feathers rose from our tables. I heard some "oohs" and "aahs," probably from some of the Muggleborn wizards. Bell herself looked fascinated with the feather, touching it with her wand.

"Okay then, let's begin, shall we?"

With those words, people started to cast Wingardium Leviosa. None seemed to get it right at first, which I couldn't really blame them for. 

Bell, however, looked a bit embarrassed and raised her hand.

Flitwick quickly walked over to her table, which was next to mine. Honestly, I wanted to bombard him with questions, but I remained quiet.

"Yes, dear, what seems to be the problem?"

She grabbed a notebook and pen, quickly scribbling, which honestly made her look adorable, especially since she had puffy cheeks. She then showed what she had written.

"I'm deaf. How can I cast it without talking for the first time?"

"Hmm, quite the conundrum. I've never had a deaf student before. I guess I'll just have to teach chantless from the get-go. It will take longer, but in the end, you will-"

He suddenly stopped talking, looking at both me and Rebecca, as we were both staring at him.

"What are you doing? This is a private conversation - get on with your own practice. As I was saying in the end you will be able to cast magic better than anyone in this class if you promise to practice."

Bell nodded her head at Flitwick's words.

Rebecca and I however began to actually practice casting Wingardium Leviosa.

Rebecca simply did as Flitwick had shown or what said in the book I however thought of something else.

I thought about what Flitwick had said about charms having leeway and chantless magic and wondered if I could cast my weird magic chantless. Things to practice later - as for this, I was actually going to learn the school spells. I mean, why not? They were a lot more circumstantial plus required weird wand movements, but more spells meant more magic.

I could hear Rebecca muttering "Wingardium Leviosa" at my side while Flitwick explained something to Bell. 

I, however, sunk into my memory. I thought of the beginning of the class, my mind flipping back to it. I began to reread, remember Flitwick's wand movement, his pronunciation, even the way his muscles moved to his wands movement - everything.

I took a deep breath and muttered low, "Wingardium Leviosa."

I immediately felt the magic move within me, though it was weird. It wasn't like when I used my "I Cast" magic. No, this one was moving in a specific manner. In fact, as I felt the magic flow through me, I could see the shape that it formed - it was a streak following my wand movement.

With the flick of my wand, the feather levitated upward. I flicked my wand down, the squiggly line of my magic turning down, and the feather followed - left, it went left; right, it went right.

Then I heard Flitwick's voice in front of me. "You managed it on your first try - 5 points for Ravenclaw."

Rebecca murmured at my side, "Hey, how did you do that?"

I didn't answer her, my mind quickly flipping back to the movement of the magic through my body. I placed the feather on the desk once more. Reading how the magic formed in my body, I quickly repeated the same thing, this time without a chant.

I performed the squiggle; the feather trembled slowly before lifting itself up. A smile crossed my face - this was so easy compared to my "I Cast" magic.

Flitwick, however, who was still in front of Bell trying to teach her, suddenly stopped. His voice rising again, "10 points for Ravenclaw for casting it chantless."

I felt a few stares on me, but I didn't mind them. Instead, I began to document the differences between the different magics in my mind. 

There were only two things that differed from the other. For traditional magic, as I had just decided I was going to call it, words and pronunciation made the magic move in a certain way. You mimicked the way it moved through the wand, thereby focusing it. 

However, as long as you could form the way the magic moved, you didn't need the chant, and I was beginning to think that you also didn't need the wand. However, my "I Cast" magic didn't work like that - I just had to picture something to kind of awaken my magic and focus on it, then I had to speak it into existence. 

I didn't need a wand; however, words seemed necessary. But then again, I hadn't needed words in the Louise Incident, so I wondered how exactly it changed the magic. So many questions.

"Hey, can you cheat - I mean teach me?" Rebecca muttered at my side.

"Oh yeah, sure."

But before I could do so, I felt a tug on my robe. Bell was there; Flitwick had already left to another student. I looked at my watch - 9:35. Okay, so I took time to actually picture the squiggly line in my magic and form it.

Bell signed, "Please help."

I quickly signed back, "Sure."

Then I turned to Rebecca. "Umm, sorry, but I'm going to help her for the remainder of the class. What is your question so I can answer it?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," she said, then turned back to her feather. "Wingardium Leviosa."

The feather floated in front of her. Yeah, she didn't need my help though I wondered what her question was, maybe it had something to do with chantless magic.

I turned back to Bell before signing, "Can you feel your magic?"

She tilted her head. "Feel my magic?"

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