After the conversation with William and Elena on Christmas Eve, Bell stopped worrying about those matters. He trusted that his parents could handle them better than he could.
Bell spent most of his time at home with his sister. As for William's requests to take Bell to certain social events after Christmas, Bell mostly declined them. He only attended important events when he couldn't avoid it, and he did so by bringing Shanna with him.
Unbeknownst to him, it had been over half a year since the Christmas Party. Although Bell spent his days playing with his sister, he used his free time to study magic and practice spells.
After so much time studying and reflecting, Bell had developed his own understanding of magic and magical power.
In many magic books, Bell had come across a recurring question: "What is the nature of magical power?"
Many powerful wizards had deeply pondered this question but had never arrived at a definitive answer.
Bell found this very perplexing. It was such a simple question. Why did people complicate it so much? What else could the nature of magical power be?
Let's imagine someone asking you, "What is the nature of a human being?"
The answer, of course, wouldn't be "a repeating machine," let alone "a delightful scent." To answer that question, you would simply need to show them a mirror and tell them to look at themselves. What? Don't you understand? Well, then, better forget about the cure. Actually, the brain isn't all that great. You can be quite happy without it.
So, the nature of magic is, of course, "magic." Or perhaps it can be expressed in more detail as a type of power called "magic."
And wizards are humans who control this type of power.
From Bell's perspective, what is commonly understood as wizards is not the same as conventional wizards he had seen in novels and anime from his previous life. And magic is also not like mana, spiritual power, elemental power, or arcane power used by conventional wizards.
If he had to find a similar type of power in his memories, maybe he could say that magic is more like... the Force?
When Bell uses magic, he doesn't need to construct any kind of spell model, communicate with external energies or elements, or even consciously direct the magic within his body.
All he needs to do is keep his thoughts clear, hold firm to his beliefs, and transmit them to the magic within himself. Then, magic will respond to his request and carry it out.
This also explains why many spells require wizards to experience strong emotions when casting them.
For example, transfiguration. Transfiguration could be considered one of the first and simplest forms of magic that wizards learn. In the first-year student transfiguration textbook at Hogwarts, "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," Chapter One explains how to turn a matchstick into a needle.
However, it's entirely unrealistic to expect a group of 11-year-old wizards to analyze the structure of wood, sulfur, metal, and other materials to perform a transformation. So, how is transfiguration actually achieved?
Bell doesn't know for sure, but the truth is that it just happens.
Performing a transfiguration spell is actually quite simple. All that's needed is to have a clear idea of the "needle" in mind and to remember that idea while performing the transfiguration spell, which allows transforming a matchstick into a needle.
However, success cannot be guaranteed, and even if the transfiguration is successful, the speed of the transformation will be very slow. As for the quality of the transformed needle, its material cannot be guaranteed, and even two successive transfigurations of the same matchstick may result in needles with different shapes and materials.
To increase the success rate of transfiguration and speed up its execution, it's necessary to have a more detailed knowledge of the "needle" concept.
Simply take any needle, touch it, lick it, look at it, and prick your own finger several times. The more you understand the needle, the higher the probability of success and speed in transfiguration. This is because the magic will receive more precise thoughts.
Of course, the best way to improve transfiguration is to analyze the structure and properties of the "needle" using magic and record the results in the mind. This way, it ensures that an identical needle can be instantly produced.
However, this is not simple. With Bell's current level, even for a simple "needle," he cannot perform a comprehensive analysis and requires more rigorous training.
In Bell's superficial understanding: "Learning transfiguration is to analyze the world; learning spells is to consult the experiences and lessons of others from the past." Therefore, for a wizard to become powerful, they must continually use magic.
At the same time, Bell also realized why wizards need wands: "Magic can only receive thoughts from the wizard when it is inside the wizard's body."
For magic to fulfill the wizard's wish, it must change shape and nature. For instance, if the wizard wants to conjure fire, magic must change its nature according to what the wizard understands as the concept of "fire." And this process must take place inside the wizard's body.
A wizard is not a fire-breathing dragon, and having flames appear inside their body would not be a pleasant experience. Therefore, wizards need wands to aid in spellcasting.
The wand can be considered an extension of the wizard's body. Wizards can transfer transformation processes that usually occur within their bodies to their wands, enabling the successful casting of many spells.
To cast spells without a wand, at least two conditions must be met.
First, exceptional control over magical power.
Even when magic transforms within the body, with precise control of magic, one can avoid damaging the body.
Second, a strong physical body.
Strength here doesn't refer to physical strength or agility but to the ability to adapt and tolerate magic.
As a wizard constantly uses magic, it pulls on the magic and circulates it continuously within their body. The flowing magic passively strengthens the wizard's body. When this strength accumulates to a certain point, even if magic transforms within the body, it will no longer harm the body.
Due to his experiences from previous years, Bell has surpassed most wizards in magical control. Now, he only needs to continue his daily training. Therefore, Bell has focused his attention on strengthening his body. Passive strengthening is too slow and passive for him. He decided to actively drive magic to strengthen his body, and this will be his primary area of research in the future.
"Brother... brother..."
The call of his younger sister, Shanna, interrupted Bell's thoughts.
The two siblings were in Shanna's room. Bell was sitting on the floor, reading a book, while Shanna was quietly lying back against her brother, playing obediently with her teddy bear. This had become their daily routine, and everything felt so cozy.
"What's wrong, Shanna?"
Bell affectionately stroked Shanna's head, not at all concerned that his thoughts had been interrupted.
"The teddy bear's head fell off."
Shanna pouted and handed her brother the teddy bear she had in her hands.
Bell took the teddy bear. It seemed that the toy's head had come off accidentally.
Taking his wand, Bell used a silent spell technique to cast a repairing spell and reattached the teddy bear's head. He then returned it to Shanna.