Chapter 74.6- Doom Days

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“Now what do you think is the most important part of a spell?” Nicholas began our spell learning session of the day with a question.

“Intent” I said instantly, it was based into us from a young age.

“That is the most important thing for casting the spell, yes, but does the intent constitute part of the spell?” He asked.

“What do you mean by parts of a spell?” I asked, trying to find what he was driving at.

“That is a better question. Can you make an attempt at answering it yourself?” He asked. There came that insufferable teaching method again. It was annoying, but perhaps the thing that made it most annoying was how effective it was. I wasn’t a slow learner or even someone with a bad memory by any metrics, but when Nicholas taught something, it just seemed to click in the way few things could.

“The incantation and the wand movement?” I asked. Those were the closest I could think of to what he’d mean by parts of a spell.

“Close but not quite. Can you separate them? The incantation and the wand movement?”

“Well, yes. Silent and motionless casting are a thing.” I said.

“Good. So how can they be parts of the spell if we don’t need them for every spell?” He askedd, and then he proved is post by holding his wand up. He said no words and made no movements but still a glowing specter of bright while light shot from his wand, forming into a familiar creature. Its human face was perhaps the most striking feature— that was Perenelle’s face. My lord. What an expression of pure love. For his patronus to take on her face. And the rest of the body was similarly, albeit to a lesser extent, notable. The lion’s body rested against the ground, the ethereal sinew and muscles were coiled like springs preparing to engage. The mane that framed Perenelle’s face was long and shaggy, reaching down the body up until it stopped at the wings. Large feathery wings that seemed to stretch to both sides of the room at the same time, making the massive space feel just a little more cramped. And then behind the wings lay the tail as it swung from side to side. A sphinx. Nicholas Flamel’s patronus was a sphinx.

So taken in by it, it took me a fair second before I could get my thoughts in order enough to say anything else.

“I— I don’t know”

“And that is because they cannot. So now tell me what is the most important part of the spell” he asked again. I stared at the lurking patronus as I racked my brain, but I kept coming back to my old answers. Intent, wand motion, and incantation. But his refutals had been both solid and logical, so I had to change tracks. But what else could it be?

“A trick question. A spell has no parts” I said it as the thought came and knew I was right. Nicholas’ smile was bright and pride, his teeth shining in the light of his patronus.

“Exactly. Rather, a better way to put it would be to say that a spell is nothing but intent. It is the means through which we the powerful exert our influence— our will unto the world itself. A spell is naught but intent” He pressed the point.

“Okay then” I accepted. It was an interesting way to see things, but I still couldn’t see what that had to do with anything.

“No. Not okay then. This is important”

“Why”

“Because it is the final step you need to take before you can make spells of your own” And I knew if I were a feline like the patronus on the floor, my ears would be standing on end.

A/N: And so we round things up here with a lesson that tells us how things will be going from here.