Anduin's chosen focus, the Shield Charm, Protego, had quickly been re-categorized in his mind. The school textbooks described it simply: "A quick cast of the Shield Charm can deflect incoming spells or block an opponent's line of sight for a brief duration. An essential piece of magic for any duelist."
However, through his rigorous, disciplined testing, Anduin discovered the spell was far more versatile. The incantation Protego manifested not merely as a temporary, shimmering shield, but as a dense, invisible magical construct—a Barrier—that could be shaped, moved, and sustained with focused intent.
"Barriers are fundamentally about magical shaping and density control," Anduin concluded, standing in his small, now designated training room at the Leaky Cauldron. He cast the spell, and a large, invisible, rectangular wall sprang up across the narrow space.
His immediate goal was to quantify the magic—to treat it as an engineering problem.
Phase One: Physical Quantification.
Anduin approached the shimmering, unseen construct. He placed his hands on it. "The feel is incredibly dense, like compressed air or fluid, yet rigid. It appears to be less than an inch thick, but completely impenetrable from either side."
He retrieved the heaviest of his dumbbells from the trunk and slammed it against the invisible plane.
THWOOMP!
The sound was not the clang of metal against stone, but a deep, resonant thud, like a high-velocity projectile impacting a body of water.
"The acoustic signature is anomalous," he noted, his gaze sharp. "Not metallic, not crystalline. It suggests extreme kinetic energy absorption, not simple rigidity."
He discarded the dumbbell for a more sensitive test: his own fists. He struck the barrier with a series of quick, powerful martial blows.
PUMPH! PUMPH! PUMPH!
The force rebounded, confirming the structure was at least as durable as a thick stone wall. But the effect of sustained impact was telling. The surface, instead of cracking like glass or crumbling like masonry, began to soften.
"The integrity is degrading not through fracture, but through kinetic energy dissipation, draining the ambient magic holding the shape," Anduin calculated, his knuckles slightly reddened.
After a dozen more powerful strikes, the central area of the invisible wall finally breached. But even the breach did not signify total failure. Anduin discovered that while the hardened barrier was gone, the residual magic still acted as a powerful cushioning agent.
He slowly pushed his body through the area where the wall had been. "It behaves like a non-Newtonian fluid—rigid under rapid force, yielding under slow pressure. Except it lacks viscosity. A magical buffer field," he summarized, exiting the space as the residual magic dissipated entirely.
Phase Two: Magical Quantification.
Anduin moved two meters back and targeted the remaining, intact portion of the invisible wall with an aggressive, well-aimed Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus).
The jet of red light hit the invisible surface. As expected, the charm was blocked. However, instead of simply being absorbed, the spell's kinetic aura fragmented. Some of the magic shattered directly, dispersing harmlessly, while the remainder ricocheted wildly across the invisible surface before losing its charge and dissolving.
Anduin repeated the experiment from various angles, even crossing the room to cast from the rear. He found the barrier was truly directional—blocking magic from both sides, an incredible defensive asset.
"The angle of approach is everything," he recorded. "A direct, forceful hit is simply dispersed. An oblique hit is deflected. This suggests a core principle: redirection. The charm's true power lies in the wizard's ability to precisely control the angle and density of the magical field."
Phase Three: Strategic Reclassification.
The Shield Charm was obsolete. Anduin now knew he was manipulating raw magical geometry.
"This is far too versatile to be limited to defense," Anduin determined. "This is the Shaping Charm of kinetic force. It is not a shield; it is a magical construction tool."
He mentally defined the four critical areas of mastery:
Casting Speed: The speed at which he could raise the barrier instantly.
Intensity Control: Fine-tuning the density, from the hard, solid wall to the slow, viscous field.
Kinetic Throwing: Turning the barrier into a moving projectile, controlling its velocity and force.
Free Shaping: Moving beyond simple walls and rectangles into complex, targeted forms—the Invisible Fist.
For the next ten days, Anduin lived in a state of hyper-focused dual training. Mornings were devoted to academic absorption—devouring his textbooks, learning new spells, and visiting Flourish and Blotts.
He needed deeper knowledge. Magic books, however, were brutally expensive. Even basic tomes cost several Galleons, and advanced works were prohibitively priced at ten to twenty Galleons—rivaling the cost of complex alchemical equipment.
From his current funds (his scholarship and exchange money), he selectively chose three volumes, investing twenty-two Galleons in this new pursuit of theory:
Seven Methods of Spellcasting by Barnabas Finkley (A fundamental guide to efficiency).
The Origin of Spells - An Introduction to Ancient Runes (A necessary foray into magical roots).
Fine Steps in the Dueling Tournament (A detailed guide to tactical magical combat).
Armed with theory, his afternoons were dedicated entirely to the Barrier Charm.
He was a sponge, his powerful spirit and unique magical capacity allowing him to accelerate through learning curves that would take peers months or years. His raw power, the total volume of magic, was simply superior, giving him a higher ceiling for all spell effects.
The training was relentless. He used the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom was too frightened of the current climate to venture. Anduin spent hours casting, reshaping, and launching his invisible constructs.
One evening, in early August, the results of his dedicated labor were dramatically evidenced.
In the secluded courtyard, Anduin stood facing a cluster of old, discarded wooden chairs he had set up as a target. He raised his Ebony Wand, Dark Picture, his face a mask of cold, intense concentration. He bypassed the incantation entirely.
His mind focused on the core magical structure. The invisible energy was not manifested as a wall, but was compressed into a kinetic sphere.
With a focused, silent thrust of will, he hurled the structure.
BA-BOOM!
The impact was loud, sharp, and kinetic. The target chairs shattered violently, exploding outward in a spray of splintered wood. The invisible projectile—a dense, highly compressed sphere of pure, kinetic magic—hit with the force of a cannonball.
Anduin approached the wreckage calmly. He raised his wand over the broken furniture and, focusing on the powerful structure of the Reverse Charm, he spoke the incantation.
"Reparo Structura!" (A customized, powerful version of the basic Mending Charm).
The pieces of wood zipped backward, assembling themselves seamlessly until the chairs stood whole again.
He assessed his progress, tapping his chin. "Good. The projectile shaped by the Barrier Charm can now be reduced to the approximate volume of a large basin, and the velocity is steadily increasing. The launch animation is still slightly sluggish, requiring a detectable effort. The next phase must be to reduce the size further."
In Anduin's imagination, the ultimate tactical goal was to shrink the invisible projectile to the size of a man's fist, a concentrated, high-velocity bullet of pure force.
"Once it's fist-sized, silent, and near-instantaneous, I can rename it. We shall call it the Air Ball," Anduin decided, the name sounding perfect for a powerful, subtle finishing move. The Doctrine of the Invisible Fist was taking shape.