#64 - Gift

“This is the rune combination for the Levitation Charm, and now we'll test it.” Lily tapped the rune with her wand, and the rune, composed of several runic characters, lit up. М

Then, she channeled a stream of magic through her wand, passing it through the rune and towards a quill. The quill then floated up. Anduin could clearly sense that Lily wasn't using the Levitation Charm; it was merely the magic passing through the rune and then acting on the quill that produced the effect of the Levitation Charm.

Anduin was amazed. This was much more intuitive than learning runes from a book.

But that wasn't all. Lily continued, “Many spells and rune effects are very dangerous, or can't be tested directly on the workbench. Some skilled wizards can conjure runes through silent casting and then test them. But ultimately, there aren't many wizards who can master silent spells. So, what if you can't cast silently?” Lily took something that looked like a small crystal ball from the side of the workbench and brought it close to the rune. The rune was then sucked into the crystal ball with a whoosh.

Anduin noticed that there were two whole rows of crystal balls on the side of the workbench. At first, Anduin thought they were decorations, but he didn't expect them to be used to store runes.

“Like this, by preserving the runes, we can test them in other places.” Lily explained the use of the rune workbench to Anduin with a smile.

Anduin's eyes were opened, and he couldn't help but develop a strong interest in rune research.

“You can borrow this workbench for the next few days you're staying here. There are many characters recorded in it. You can study them by referring to the Runic dictionary. I will also explain some common rune combinations to you, including the protective and reactive runes in my amulet.” Lily saw the light in Anduin's eyes and knew he liked the workbench, so she said to Anduin.

Anduin was overjoyed and excitedly said to Lily, “Really? Thank you so much!”

Lily nodded with a smile. Next, she explained to him how to use the rune workbench to work, and Anduin also had a great time playing with it.

During this time, the Christmas gifts his friends had sent him also arrived. Because Anduin had changed his residence, the gifts arrived a little late.

Although Vivian verbally condemned Anduin's behavior of directly asking for gifts, she still thoughtfully sent him a set of 'Collection of Magical Glyphs'.

Charles sent Anduin a poster of 'Ludo Bagman' and stated in the greeting card that he was very happy to receive the mahjong tiles. His family had basically been taught how to play mahjong in the past few days, and he also sent out his beloved poster. Ludo Bagman was the star beater of the Wimbourne Wasps team and Charles' idol, but Anduin could only say that he appreciated the gift.

Professor McGonagall sent Anduin a scarf, said to be Professor McGonagall's favorite Appleby Arrows team scarf. The scarf was light blue overall, with a silver arrow embroidered on each side. Anduin no longer had any expectations for what special gifts Quidditch fans would send.

Anduin even specifically looked up the Quidditch team that Professor McGonagall liked and found that the team's most glorious record was defeating the then-European champion Vratsa Vultures in 1932. That game lasted for 16 days. Anduin even specifically confirmed it again. A game lasting 16 days, wasn't this a joke?

Professor Flitwick was very thoughtful and sent Anduin a copy of 'Quintessence: A Quest', and stated in the greeting card that it was actually a sixth-year textbook, but he believed that with Anduin's current progress, he could already do some learning. Anduin was very happy with this gift, which was also Anduin's favorite gift besides Vivian's.

When Anduin opened Professor Slughorn's gift, he couldn't help but laugh, because he was too familiar with this gift. It was a bottle of Felix Felicis. Anduin guessed that his head of house must have brewed a lot of Felix Felicis to give away as gifts in batches.

Hagrid's gift was very simple, a fur cushion made of unknown fur, which was very comfortable and warm to sit on. Anduin immediately took it out and used it.

After checking the gifts from several friends, Anduin sat on the fur cushion sent by Hagrid and continued to study 'Occlumency'. This magic and 'Legilimency' seemed to be complementary. After learning 'Occlumency', 'Legilimency' would be easier to master.

In books such as 'Magical Theory of Defense' and 'Mysteries of Magical Defense', there are records of this magic. This magic has certain requirements for the learner's willpower and psychological quality. During practice, you need to empty your mind and always maintain a calm and peaceful psychological state. Then, operate and control magic power, integrate your thoughts with magic power, and use the fused power to wrap your brain. This way, you can defend against many mind-reading and thought-sensing magics.

This kind of magic that doesn't require incantations is very difficult for most wizards, because it requires good self-control. The simplest way to learn this magic is to ask a Legilimens master to cooperate, constantly perform Legilimency on the learner, and passively try to defend. Through continuous training, the learner can familiarize themselves with the process of closing the brain while defending against Legilimency.

But Anduin didn't plan to do this. First of all, he didn't know any Legilimens masters, and secondly, he didn't want people to peek into his thoughts at will.

In the various magic books that Anduin had read, several methods were introduced, including the potion practice method, the passive practice method, and the self-imagination method, etc. The passive practice method was to let the Legilimens master invade the brain, and then feel the process in passive defense. This method had been passed by Anduin. The potion practice method required drinking a tranquilizer in advance and then trying to practice. This method could be considered. Anduin also had tranquilizers.

Finally, the most difficult method was the self-imagination method, which Anduin himself called the visualization method, that is, after emptying the mind, imagine another self in the brain, and can give himself various shapes, like in 'Magical Theory of Defense', it is recorded that someone imagined himself as a dragon, and then tried to use magic to immerse himself in his consciousness.

Anduin considered for a while and decided to try the visualization method first. After all, his magic control ability was very strong, and his consistent practice of meditation also gave him his own experience in regulating his thoughts.