Why Did the Magic Power Dwindle?

You won't know until you try, and you'll be surprised when you do.

Very few students were able to successfully float the object. Although this was partly due to the fact that there were only a dozen minutes left for practice, those students who failed to float the object were noticeably more obedient and no longer dared to make fun of Evans.

Fortunately, Edmund didn't have to be so embarrassed. This body's magical aptitude was indeed quite good. Although he didn't want to use his past experience to cheat, he still possessed knowledge and learning abilities far beyond his peers. Therefore, he successfully levitated the textbook in front of him and even played a prank on James by using a levitation charm to float Gryffindor's robes.

Hey! You bastard—

Jaime was getting a little annoyed. His spell, which hadn't been working very well before, suddenly responded, successfully making an ink bottle float up. Jaime was both surprised and delighted, and with a wicked grin, he manipulated the spell and threw it at Edmund.

Edmund easily blocked the projectile with a wave of his hand and then handed it to Pollyanna, who was standing nearby. This left the little witch, who had also successfully launched her quill, speechless.

Fortunately, it was almost the end of get out of class, and Professor Flitwick was guiding the visibly upset Avery and the others on the other side, not bothering to argue with Edmund. Otherwise, even if the two insisted it was a joke, both houses would probably have lost points.

In fact, Professor Flitwick was also a bit overwhelmed. He never expected that this classroom game would turn into a surprise quiz.

Even though he repeatedly emphasized, "My God, children! This is only the first lesson—it's perfectly normal that you can't use this spell!", some people still acted as if they had lost their parents, taking the ability to use the Levitation spell in the very first lesson extremely seriously.

There was nothing that could be done about it. For Avery, Mulseber, and others who had previously mocked Lily Evans as a despicable "Mudblood," if they couldn't even match her in terms of spellcasting, wouldn't they be even worse than Mudbloods?

For the person who successfully cast the spell, the feeling is quite different. They might not become completely elated, but they'll certainly feel a surge of confidence, believing they have a real talent.

The Levitation Charm isn't difficult, but the more competitive you are, the less patient you become. Many young wizards brandished their wands like they were wielding a machete, while the more humble ones approached classmates who had already succeeded and asked them for advice.

Travers sidled up to Edmund, asking him to float the stationery items in front of him one by one. Sophia Wolper wanted to ask Carlo for help, but he ignored her completely. Instead, Pollyanna silently demonstrated for her a few more times.

After a Charms class, it seemed that not only talent but also interpersonal skills were being tested. When Professor Flitwick announced the end of class, his voice was eight octaves lower, and he looked even more obedient than the students.

Even so, Edmund wasn't about to let him off the hook. Holding the book he'd borrowed from the library, "Fly, Fly, Fly! An Exploration of the Spell of Flight," he walked toward Professor Flitwick, only to find someone following him. Turning around, he saw it was Snape.

The two Slytherins exchanged a glance. Snape snorted as if he was about to let out a cold snort, but he held it back in the end.

Everyone in Slytherin knew that Edmund was a favorite of the Headmaster and the Prefects, and most people wanted to befriend him; no one wanted to offend him.

Although Snape was one of the few people who didn't want to associate with Edmund—the two of them hadn't exchanged more than five words since getting off the Hogwarts Express—it was precisely because of this that they actually had no conflict whatsoever.

Edmund nodded to Snape, who responded by slightly nodding his head before looking away and continuing forward with a frown, clearly also having questions for the professor.

"Severus, I'll be waiting for you at the door!"

Lily Evans shouted, but this time no one was in the mood to laugh at how closely the two of them were sticking together—Snape and Evans both successfully cast the Levitation Charm. Once you actually tried it, you would find that Lily Evans had a very strong control over the spell; no matter what she floated, she was fast and steady.

"..."

Pollyanna glanced in Edmund's direction but ultimately didn't say she'd wait for him at the door. Travers seized the opportunity to speak first, but who would be truly delighted to be waited for by him?

Edmund, anyway, wouldn't.

Professor Flitwick, with several chairs floating around him, turned to look at them and smiled warmly.

"Mr. Soman, Mr. Snape, what's wrong? You both seem to have done a very good job. Do you have any other questions?"

"Yes, Professor." "That's right, Professor."

The two spoke in unison, then couldn't help but turn and glare at each other. Edmund, seeing that the other was unwilling to back down, and also curious about what Snape wanted to ask, simply took a half step back, signaling the other to ask first.

But Snape hesitated again, pursing his lips and refusing to speak.

Professor Flitwick was very confused, and Edmund was also somewhat displeased.

"Why are you making things so difficult, Severus?" Edmund drawled, mimicking Lily's form of address. "If you have any personal questions that involve privacy, you can let me go first. I'll leave after I'm done."

Snape frowned in disgust the moment Edmund called his name. Edmund's next words stung him like a pin on his shirt. The sallow-faced boy glared at Edmund with his dark eyes, then raised his chin and said haughtily:

"No, this isn't a privacy issue. It's just... I'm just really curious."

His affected manner was inexplicably strange. Edmund took a moment to realize that Snape might be imitating Lucius.

"Professor Flitwick, you once said in class that our magic absorbs the nourishment of knowledge and grows stronger. But I... I've read examples of the opposite in the books. Um, I mean,"

"If a wizard—and you mean a wizard, not a Squib—originally possessed considerable magical power, something he could be proud of, but over time gradually lost his magic… how could that happen?"

Snape had done his best to appear nonchalant. But both Edmund and Professor Flitwick could see through his lie.

In fact, Snape's acting skills were always quite good, and he was indeed naturally aloof and eloquent. If it were just a small lie, he wouldn't have acted so clumsily, but this fact was indeed closely related to him.

"...Oh, child." Professor Flitwick carefully chose his words, looking gently at the boy before him, as if he had already guessed something. "If this wizard hasn't performed some mysterious ritual that violates wizarding law, hmm..."

"That leaves only a few possibilities: he hasn't used magic in a long time and has become rusty, or his wand has been damaged, which has distorted his spells."

"Otherwise, there's only one possibility left."

Professor Flitwick paused.

"He may have experienced some changes that made him disappointed with his magic, and as a result, he no longer wanted to possess this power."

"When you reject magic, magic will reject you. Alas, it's cruel... but that's the truth about magic. You must believe in magic to use it."