Chapter 9: Beyond Incantation
Magic performed without words – not nonverbal magic, but simply magic without any reference whatsoever – doesn't show up, because it's not an actual spell! And wandless magic won't show up, either.
Meaning…as long as all of our dirty work is done using nothing but willpower…
…we can get away with basically anything!
And we can do basically anything, too, even if we don't know the spell for that!
We can fake spells, too! Like, point a wand at a book and say "Wingardium Leviosa" but don't actually mean it, and watch everyone's faces as it tap-dances across the desk instead!
We can even invent things that don't exist!
Hell, we can just make shit up and publish a book! "Everyone, if you say 'Alfa Kenny Buddy' when you point your wand at a book, it will tap-dance!" Oh my god, I can totally see their faces now! This will be priceless!
"Alfa…Kenny…Buddy…?" Is that another one of your weird futuristic references?
…Maybe.
What does it mean?
I can't tell you.
Why not?
You'll find out later!
Let me guess: it's related to MY future specifically, and it'll cause some weird paradox if you tell me? And why are you laughing?
...Sure. Totally. You know what? I can totally see it happening.
What?
Listen. Your dad might be a Muggle, but thank the gods of genetics you got his physical appearance.
What does that have to do with anything? We were talking about spells!
Nothing. You'll find out when you're older.
Tell me!
I will. Eventually.
Well, you're no fun.
Oh, that's what YOU think.
After some more wasted minutes of nagging, to no avail, Tom gave up on wheedling the answer out of Jerry and went back to testing the unwritten rules of magic that none of these goddamned wizards ever bothered to write down.
More specifically, none of them probably tried to question it. Or, if they did, then they probably gave up after seeing the sheer uselessness of it all and ended up ramming their own wands through their ears.
September 1st wasn't for another two weeks, and his world had already begun. Whatever plans Tom had made to sneak back into Diagon Alley to exchange the first-year books for second-year ones were thrown completely out the window.
It had been a pretty good plan, too. One, make copies of the originals, so none of the teachers would question him for not having his textbooks, because apparently normal people didn't have the ability to memorize textbooks or master new skills that quickly, and revealing the extent of his intelligence this early in the game would be rather dangerous as it would cause him to be labeled as either a threat or a cheat.
And then, two, pretend that last time he came the shopkeeper had taken one look at him, automatically assumed that he was a first-year, and given him the wrong set all because he was naturally short.
But now he didn't even have to walk all the way to the Leaky Cauldron again.
He didn't need any of that incantation business. Hell, it would probably even slow him down because the transition from verbal to nonverbal spells was a lot harder than the other way around – and why do things the hard way?
Then again, he'd probably have to memorize the spells anyway. Just to keep up appearances and whatnot, you know?
He'd burn that bridge when he got there, too.
In any event, by the time the summer had come, at the end of two weeks of nonstop testing, Tom had determined the following:
- A wizard doesn't need to know a spell in particular as long as he knows the end result. Given, of course, that he has the intelligence and willpower to follow through.
- There is no visible energy difference between using a spell and simply wanting something to happen. For most people, however, there is a visible difference in effort between learning the spell and learning how to do something without a spell.
- And apparently it's possible to conjure things that don't exist yet as long as you know what they're supposed to do and how they work. Cue: an integrated circuit in 1937. (Note: it still takes a lot of time and concentration to build because you have to visualize how to form all the internal components properly.)
- On the other hand, making the magical version of something is relatively easy as long as you vaguely know what you want it to do. You don't even have to know what it looks like on the inside, as long as you can form the interface. Cue: an iPhone in 1937. (Of course, if someone tries to take it apart, you're in trouble.)
- Historically, the Goblins have a magical contract with the wizards that gives them a monopoly over copper, silver, and gold, which is used to make Wizarding currency, which is why people don't (or maybe can't) just randomly conjure it. They also have control over other valuable items like platinum and precious gems.
- But nowhere does it mention that they have control over the market for highly dense graphite, which can be made into diamonds with a few extra pressure spells. It's not illegal! And they won't catch us if we put it into Muggle markets!
- And none of the above will ever show up if there is no incantation.
- BUT WE STILL DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE FOOD. (Or medicine, after that failed attempt to make the cure for polio.)
Wizards. Don't. Make. Sense!
No. No, they don't.
Still, apart from the entire "ingestible materials" debacle (which was really, really, really getting on Tom and Jerry's nerves), most of the loopholes they had figured out about the nature of magic itself was pretty useful.
Given the rather clueless nature of most wizards, Jerry doubted that any of them even knew about these special rules (or, if they did, were too ingrained in tradition to attempt it), and Tom had to agree.
The only downside to all this new knowledge was that they currently could not use it to their advantage – simply accumulate it. (Well, maybe that was a good thing – it would earn them points in the "thirst for knowledge" category, which would definitely help them convince the Sorting Hag to put them in Ravenclaw, which would be a lot more beneficial to their Dark Lord conspiracy in the long run.)
But the point was, Tom could not go around as an eleven-year-old marketing an iPhone when he had no idea how it worked, or selling diamonds when he had no titles to any mines for his name and end up getting arrested for stealing by Muggle authorities.
He'd have to learn how to properly mind-control people first, so he could use middle-men as puppets to sell the product for him. And that was a lot harder than it sounded.
The human mind was a delicate thing, and though willpower alone was enough to make random things appear out of thin air, Jerry didn't want to risk accidentally permanently damaging the minds of anyone around them.
The Ministry probably could only tab actual spells, not this willpower thing, but still – if random people in the orphanage where Little Tommy lived started behaving weirdly like they were brain-damaged, there would be inconvenient questions. Maybe the Ministry wouldn't figure it out, but Albus Dumbledore certainly would.
Little Tommy the orphan about to go to Hogwarts practicing spells in his bedroom to catch up to the other kids – whatever. Little Tommy the orphan practicing Confundo, which is a rather advanced spell,on Muggles – not okay.
Ugh. Why did things like rules have to exist?
But they didn't have the time to wander around on the cold, gray streets of London, and the matron wouldn't let an eleven-year-old boy go off on his own, anyway.
Tom would have to wait until Hogwarts to practice and perfect his mind-controlling abilities without getting caught, and maybe later he could "persuade" the matron to let him wander about come second year without rendering her an unresponsive vegetable.
Some of the older teenagers, she ignored, but the younger children who still had a chance of getting adopted (the number was still very low, as Tom had unfortunately been born right before the Great Depression hit) had to be kept safe – or at least innocent enough to look good in front of potential families.
"Alfa…kenny…"
…I don't get it.
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