Anduin's eyes meticulously tracked the glowing silver script outlining the research mandates on the slate. His initial, slightly condescending assumption—that the club was merely an advanced tutorial for existing spell work—vaporized immediately.
This was not a class; it was an active arcane research lab, focused entirely on pioneering new applications and fundamentally unsolved problems in the field of Charms.
The sheer ambition of the projects thrilled him, but it was the seventh mandate that anchored his focus: Techniques for measuring and increasing magical sensitivity. The professor hadn't just been polite; he had immediately translated their highly specific, private conversation into an official, academic challenge, validating Anduin's entire philosophy of training.
This wasn't just studying magic; it was studying the mechanism of the wizard. The implications for quantifying and replicating magical mastery were staggering, easily making it the most potentially world-altering topic on the board.
"Magical sensitivity? That's… almost metaphysical," a familiar voice murmured beside him. It was Vanessa Greengrass, her perfect, aristocratic brow furrowed in skepticism.
"How can one study a concept so abstract? It sounds closer to Divination than Charms. Honestly, I have no intention of wasting time on something so theoretical when there are tangible, structural problems to solve."
Anduin smiled subtly. He understood Vanessa's pragmatism—she preferred the measurable and the practical. But he knew exactly why Professor Flitwick had added the topic, and the conversation that inspired it was private. He offered only a non-committal response.
"Perhaps the professor intends to bridge the gap between abstract talent and quantifiable technique, Senior Greengrass. It seems like a logical next step for mastery."
Professor Flitwick moved swiftly into the administrative phase of the meeting, his efficiency a stark contrast to his usual amiable teaching style.
"These are the research mandates for this academic year. As is our tradition, topics that yield publishable results will be removed from the board, while those that remain unsolved will be carried forward. I will, of course, add new research directions as breakthroughs and inspirations arise," Flitwick announced, his gaze sweeping the room before landing briefly, knowingly, on Anduin.
"Everyone is now required to choose their own research direction. You must choose at least one direction, and you are encouraged to take on more if your academic load allows. You will be expected to source relevant materials yourself, conduct independent experiments, and submit a concise research report on your findings every week."
The surrounding older wizards immediately began pulling out parchment and quills, recording the topics with focused determination. Anduin did the same, meticulously copying every line.
He mentally assessed the assignment structure. Independent research is highly inefficient, he concluded, with the cold objectivity of his military background.
If this were a true R&D team focused on rapid results, the topics would be broken down, and students would be assigned to collaborative groups based on complementary skills—a group for Runic research, a group for Wandless theory, and so on. Group work is geometrically faster.
However, he understood the professor's true intention: this was not a quest for efficiency, but a process of academic filtration. Flitwick was testing not just intelligence, but initiative, resourcefulness, time management, and raw talent—all qualities essential for a true pioneer.
Since he was a newcomer, and an anomaly at that, Anduin kept his tactical insights to himself. His immediate priority was to prove his worth within the professor's established system.
Flitwick cleared his throat, bringing the copying process to a halt. "Okay, I trust everyone has taken sufficient notes. Note that studies 1, 2, 5, and 6 are our long-term, foundational studies, having been ongoing for many years. Groundbreaking, conclusive results may be difficult to achieve quickly, but any results that enrich our source database are invaluable. Studies 3, 4, and 7—the temperature, acoustic, and magical sensitivity mandates—are new topics added this year. I hold great hope that the combined energy of the Circle will lead to significant, perhaps even groundbreaking, advances in these fresh fields."
"This concludes our discussion of the year's research agenda. Now, before we adjourn, we have a very special presentation. Please join me in congratulating Vanessa Greengrass on the successful publication of her article in the highly respected journal, Century of Spellcasting!"
Flitwick's voice rang with genuine pride. The journal, Century of Spellcasting, along with Today's Transfiguration and Potion of the Millennium, represented the absolute pinnacle of academic achievement in the magical world.
Publishing an article here was a feat usually reserved for veteran professors or career researchers; for a Fifth-Year student to achieve it was nearly unprecedented. A wave of fervent, respectful applause filled the room, the envy in the senior students' eyes now mixed with genuine awe.
Vanessa stood up, her cheeks tinged with colour, acknowledging the praise with a confident nod toward the professor. Anduin watched her, a new layer of respect settling over his initial wariness. His 'master' was not just a powerful duelist; she was a serious academic, committed to rigorous, published research.
"Vanessa's article, 'The Multifunctional Application of the Targeted Extraction Charm,' details a series of innovative modifications to a lesser-known spell," Flitwick explained, raising his wand. From the ceiling, a heavy canvas screen rolled down with a soft thud. With a flick of his wrist, the contents of Vanessa's paper—diagrams, rune layouts, and complex wand movements—were projected onto it using a subtle projection charm.
"Vanessa proposes combining the Targeted Extraction Charm with alchemically prepared storage tools enchanted with the Unseen Stretching Charm—creating a perfect, portable vacuum. More significantly, she details the necessary techniques for accurately applying the charm to specific components within a mixture, such as extracting only moisture from humid air, or—as she will now demonstrate—extracting specific dissolved particulates."
Vanessa stepped forward onto the open floor with the poised confidence of a seasoned lecturer. She explained her initial motivation for focusing on the Charm's specificity, the challenges of achieving perfect magical separation, and then prepared for the demonstration.
Professor Flitwick began by casting a spell that generated a dense cloud of pure white smoke in the center of the room. He then used a second charm to vaporize several bottles of black ink, mixing the resulting thick, dark, black-grey fog into the white smoke.
To increase the complexity and prove the principle of specificity, he constantly stirred the massive fog cloud with his wand, ensuring the smoke and ink particles were completely, indistinguishably emulsified.
At that moment, Vanessa took the stage. Her posture was flawless, and her wand movement was sharp, precise, and utterly confident—a performance of technical excellence. With a low, focused invocation, she cast her Targeted Extraction Charm into the turbulent, dense fog.
The result was immediate and spectacular. The black-grey cloud began to visually clarify. Slowly, smoothly, the dark coloration receded. The entire cloud of fog soon returned to its pristine white state. Simultaneously, a perfect, viscous sphere of pure, jet-black ink coalesced at the very tip of Vanessa's wand, suspended by an invisible field of magic, proving the flawless separation.
The crowd erupted in a spontaneous, appreciative round of applause. The performance was not just powerful; it was the ultimate proof of surgical precision in Charms work.
"What a magnificent demonstration, Senior Greengrass! That level of directional separation is truly outstanding," Anduin offered his congratulations sincerely as Vanessa returned to her seat, a faint but visible blush of pride on her cheeks.
"Thank you, Anduin," she replied, the academic respect momentarily softening her competitive edge. "Work hard here, and I have no doubt you will soon be developing your own techniques."
Anduin's mind was already racing, tearing apart the spell's mechanics and analyzing its potential, filtering the glamour of the performance through the cold lens of strategic application. He spent the remainder of the professor's final announcements running simulations in his head.
He immediately saw the spell's enormous utility potential—far beyond simple laboratory extraction.
Engineering and Construction: The spell could act as a perfect, non-mechanical pump or filter. It could instantly purify massive amounts of water by extracting silt, contaminants, or toxins. In large-scale construction, it could be used to extract specific minerals or metals from unrefined ore or rock—a non-destructive form of magical mining. Vanessa's mention of weather-related large-scale castings suggested it could even be used to extract humidity from storm systems or target pollutants from the atmosphere.
Medical and Surgical Applications: This was the most intriguing, non-combat use. Imagine a non-invasive surgical procedure where a tumour, a foreign body, or a specific infection could be isolated and extracted from the body without incision. It was a perfect, magical form of microsurgery, providing a massive advantage on any battlefield or in a remote medical scenario.
Combat Application: The Dark Path. The immediate and most potent application flashed through his mind, cold and sharp. If the charm could separate ink from smoke, it could separate blood from flesh, or water from muscle tissue, or even calcium from bone structure. The charm, if aimed at a living organism and cast with sufficient power, was conceptually a terrifying, instantaneous attack, capable of stripping an opponent down to their essential, non-biological components. It was, in its purest theoretical form, a killing curse far more precise and gruesome than the blunt, brute-force magic of Avada Kedavra.
This dark thought immediately forced him to confront the spell's critical limitation—the flaw that prevented it from being an instant, widespread weapon of terror.
Anduin mentally attempted to cast the charm, not against the static air, but against the velvet curtain hanging near the window, which slightly billowed in an imaginary draft.
He quickly recognized the necessary magical components. The complex, layered targeting required a degree of focus and magical will akin to the Deliberation and Determination required for advanced Apparition, which he had studied in the Seventh-Year textbooks.
To achieve that kind of specific extraction, the caster had to hold the exact molecular structure of the target component and its precise location within the whole in their mind simultaneously.
Targeted Extraction Charm: Perfect for inanimate objects, useless against a resisting will.
Against the static ink in the fog, the target was fixed and offered no resistance. Against a large, inanimate wall, it would work perfectly. But against a living, breathing, and magically-aware wizard actively resisting the charm's penetration, the necessary Determination would spike exponentially.
The slightest movement from the target—a twitch of the arm, a half-step—would break the Deliberation required to lock onto the blood or bone structure, causing the spell to miss or, worse, extract the wrong, benign element, like surface moisture.
In a high-speed duel, the charm is a liability, he concluded, his gaze hardening. Its power was conditional. It was a weapon of ambush or surgical incapacitation, not a tool for direct confrontation.
The magic world was safe from this becoming a common combat spell, not because of a moral code, but because of the sheer, impossible degree of focus required against a moving, resisting soul.
The meeting broke up shortly after, leaving Anduin with a profound new respect for Vanessa's academic rigor and a concrete, immediate research goal: he needed to fully decode the Targeted Extraction Charm's core mechanics, not just for utility, but to understand precisely how to defend against it. He looked forward to a week of intensive theoretical work.