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The tactical test officially began—
Various aggressive spells violently hit the rough, thick surface of the Dragon hide securely plastered on the stone pillars one after another. Just visually speaking about the sheer light effects, the magical impacts were incredibly colorful and undeniably quite lively against the pristine snow.
"Reducto!"
Remus's powerful Blasting Curse impacted the black scale, flashed brightly, and harmlessly bounced off into the snowbank.
"Diffindo!"
Severus cast a sharp Cutting Charm with a swift slash of his wand, but the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon hide didn't budge or scratch.
"Piercing Charm!... No, wait, that last one actually seemed to be a Weed-Killing Charm..."
Jacob Frye made a highly comical appearance, dramatically flourishing his wand, but his weak spell didn't even cause a single speck of dust to fall from the heavy stone pillar.
"Confringo!"
Sirius's explosive spell finally caused some actual, kinetic movement. The massive explosion of pure fire violently knocked over the heavy stone pillar covered with the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon hide.
Regulus had to physically move the heavy stone pillar directly in front of a massive oak tree and magically brace it with thick roots to ensure it absolutely wouldn't fall easily again.
"No wonder raw Dragon hide is traditionally so highly sought after for making protective combat gear," Lily said, her delicate brow furrowing in thought. "How exactly do the professional Wizards in the Dragon reserves even manage to work with them..."
Severus, who was quietly, intensely practicing the lethal 'Mors's Seven Stages' nearby, also fell into deep tactical thought—his sharpest spells had absolutely almost zero physical effect on the Dragon hide, not to mention the brittle limestone safely protected behind the Dragon hide.
Regulus also stepped forward and tried his own refined Cutting Charm, but the lethal spell only left two incredibly shallow, barely visible white scratches on the black Dragon hide.
The sheer physical toughness of this specific Dragon hide mathematically makes even Muggle diamonds look slightly inferior.
"I strongly feel like our tactical direction is fundamentally wrong." Sirius reached out and curiously poked the tough Dragon hide. "Aggressively attacking head-on like this is far too mathematically inefficient."
"Yes," Severus nodded in dark agreement. "This Dragon hide's natural magical defense seems to logically have absolutely no structural weaknesses to exploit."
"Is it pure magical reflection?" Regulus squinted his grey eyes, intensely observing the microscopic texture of the Dragon hide, and added in a low, calculating voice, "Or is the kinetic energy actively being nullified by the complex internal structure of the scales?"
It's truly, incredibly magical. It analytically seems vastly more rigorous experiments are needed.
The Little Wizards looked at each other in the freezing air, and their collective group morale visibly dropped slightly for a brief moment.
Just as Regulus was smoothly about to change the subject to lighten the mood, Hagrid, who had been silently watching the failed magical attempts, awkwardly scratched his messy head and stepped forward to politely ask:
"Um... can I try a crack at it?"
Regulus naturally nodded with a polite CEO smile to welcome him.
Hagrid shyly pulled out his battered pink umbrella, muttered something unintelligible for a short while, and then awkwardly waved his disguised wand:
"Diffindo!"
—It was utterly useless. The weak spell predictably bounced harmlessly off the thick scale.
Hagrid frowned deeply, thought for a tense few seconds, then suddenly, decisively rolled up his massive moleskin sleeves, his dark eyes flashing with eager anticipation:
"Um... can I try hit it with me fist?"
"Ah... please do."
As soon as Regulus finished speaking his permission, Hagrid strode heavily up to the braced stone pillar, violently swung his thick, tree-trunk-like arm back, and punched the Dragon hide directly on the stone pillar with absolutely all his immense physical might!
Whoosh!
This was the terrifying sound of heavy snow violently shaking loose and falling from the thick branches of the massive tree bracing the stone pillar.
Immediately after—CRACK!
Amidst the incredibly crisp, deafening cracking sound, a massive, jagged fissure suddenly appeared on the solid limestone directly behind the pristine Dragon hide. The deep crack rapidly extended all the way down to the base, and finally, with a heavy, crumbling "clang," the entire massive stone pillar violently broke into two uneven pieces.
The Little Wizards were utterly, completely dumbfounded. The freezing winter air was eerily, suffocatingly quiet for a long moment.
"Hiss—" Hagrid awkwardly shook his massive fist, wiggled his thick fingers, and grinned sheepishly. "That rock was really bloody hard!"
"...Hagrid..." James swallowed audibly. He logically couldn't even begin to imagine what the gruesome, fatal consequences would actually be if that massive punch landed squarely on a human person. "...You're incredibly, terrifyingly strong!"
"Uh, maybe." Hagrid scratched his messy beard and chuckled foolishly. "I honestly just wanted ter logically see if the Dragon hide could magically withstand a good solid punch—"
"Good thing the precious Dragon hide wasn't physically damaged by the impact, otherwise it would have been a right shame."
Hearing this casual observation, Regulus's calculating grey eyes suddenly lit up brilliantly.
He quickly stepped forward, elegantly squatted directly beside the broken stone pillar, carefully touched both sides of the intact Dragon hide, and intensely, analytically examined the deep, jagged cracks spreading through the ruined limestone.
"It's a fundamental problem with physical force transmission!" He clapped his gloved hands together suddenly, the realization dawning. "If a magical spell violently hits the surface of the Dragon hide, the magic will be immediately bounced off; but pure, blunt physical kinetic impact fundamentally won't have this exact problem."
"My initial tactical testing idea was completely, mathematically wrong—this specific spell penetration test absolutely shouldn't logically focus on physically damaging the outer Dragon hide—"
"You analytically mean—" Severus's dark eyes narrowed slightly, his brilliant mind rapidly catching on. "Should offensive spells also logically be designed to transmit kinetic force directly through the Dragon hide, exactly like Hagrid's physical fist?"
"Exactly," Regulus said slowly, his CEO mind rapidly working through the complex magical theory. "What we tactically need isn't to brute-force strengthen the spell's surface impact force on the Dragon hide, but to actively let the lethal magic creatively find an internal channel..."
"In short," Regulus said in a deep, authoritative voice, "it's absolutely not about uselessly hitting the tough surface, but—magically penetrating, acting directly on the vulnerable biological core."
Penetrating, but exactly how to magically penetrate— Massive question marks appeared clearly in the eyes of the young Wizards present.
Regulus smoothly waved his hawthorn wand, and a highly simple, glowing green stick figure of a long, strip-shaped serpentine creature quickly appeared drawn on the pristine snow.
"For tactical example, if we're aggressively facing a massive snake—I mean—a dangerous Dragon, it's mathematically, strategically pointless for us to stubbornly fight its incredibly thick hide head-on—"
It wastes both precious combat time and incredibly valuable snake hide.
"We absolutely have to actively logically find a reliable way to make the lethal spell violently explode directly from the inside of the creature."
"Then exactly how do you mechanically make a spell explode from the inside?" Sirius asked, leaning forward—he highly often discussed complex tactical problems with his brother and was naturally used to being his brilliant brother's sounding board 'rubber duck'.
"Let me analytically think," Regulus stared fixedly at the simple glowing Basilisk drawing directly in front of him and began to rapidly murmur to himself. "Magical resonance channel... kinetic spell transmission... If pure magic logically can't be continuously physically transmitted inwards exactly like a massive physical impact, then it mathematically needs to magically jump—is it theoretically possible that magic can actively skip the physical surface layer entirely?"
"How exactly does a spell jump?" Sirius stared fixedly at his brother's intense expression.
"I currently have exactly two tactical ideas," Regulus's grey eyes gleamed with cold logic. "Before Hagrid's demonstration, my initial idea was—"
Sirius's grey eyes narrowed sharply—had his brother actually, logically already envisioned such an incredibly extreme, dangerous combat situation as aggressively encountering a full-grown Dragon? Why?
Regulus didn't notice his brother's suspicion. Following his rapid inspiration, he continued speaking rapidly to himself:
"For example, suppose we desperately need to actively deal with a massive Dragon—its hide is incredibly thick and highly spell-resistant, and it moves incredibly quickly. It's mathematically difficult for conventional, slow-moving spells to hit them accurately head-on, and getting physically close is far too lethal—"
"I logically can take tactical advantage of it opening its massive mouth to roar or breathe fire, and actively cast the lethal spell directly into its unprotected mouth."
"The biological entrances and exits of a creature's digestive and respiratory systems are generally relatively biologically weak and absolutely not covered by heavy Dragon scales. As long as the combat timing is precise—you can flawlessly bypass its natural defenses."
"What about the second, newer idea?" Severus pressed eagerly, his Slytherin ambition ignited.
"The second idea is exactly what I just thought of—we logically have Apparition!"
The Wizards present immediately became even vastly more confused: What on earth does Apparition have to tactically do with magically penetrating Dragon hide?
Regulus showed a brilliant, calculating smile: "The fundamental magical essence of Apparition is highly complex spatial magic involving precise substance exchange—"
"This specific process not only involves the Wizard's physical spatial change but also the incredibly precise jumping of pure magic through physical space. Magic can logically travel through space."
"So, you specifically mean—" Remus said hesitantly, his amber eyes wide, "to actively make the offensive spell itself 'Apparate,' jumping directly into the target's internal body?"
"But isn't the internal space also technically protected by the external Dragon hide?" James scratched his messy head with a deep frown. "The physical problem is mathematically right back again."
"No," Sirius said decisively, his aristocratic mind grasping the concept, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. "Not absolutely everywhere is physically protected by Dragon hide."
"Regulus," Severus's dark gaze sharpened into a deadly glare. "Are you tactically thinking of—magically Apparating the lethal spell directly into the Dragon's internal body through its open mouth or a similar biological orifice?"
"Yes," Regulus nodded firmly. "Wizards logically can Apparate their physical bodies. There's absolutely no theoretical reason a concentrated spell logically can't."
"Speaking of which," Sirius looked directly at James. "The basic Summoning Charm is actively also somewhat mathematically similar, using pure magic to seamlessly achieve the spatial transfer of physical objects."
"Just completely without the complex jumping process," James added thoughtfully.
Regulus nodded, his grey eyes sparkling with intense intellectual fire:
"Theoretically, I strongly think it's absolutely feasible!"
"For tactical example, Sirius's massive 'Big Bang' spell just now, if successfully detonated entirely inside the Dragon's unprotected biological body, would surely mathematically cause vastly more efficient, lethal damage!"
Internal detonation and such gruesome tactics sound explosive enough.
Moreover—the complex academic topic of "Magic Transference and Space Warping" is absolutely just too incredibly Asimov-esque sci-fi for his gamer brain to resist!
The fundamental basis of Apparition is precisely spatial magic, and Wilkie Twycross is also officially coming to Hogwarts to strictly guide the senior students very soon.
—And he, Regulus Black, has highly exclusive, private lessons officially scheduled with Professor Twycross!
Heh heh.
"We logically can actively try to extract a working theoretical model directly from the complex spell structure of standard Apparition, and then mathematically combine it closely with magic field positioning and magic resonance line theory..."
A massive, incredibly complex bunch of highly advanced academic terms that left the Little Wizards completely, utterly confused rapidly came out of Regulus's mouth.
Hagrid swallowed nervously beside him, deeply intimidated by the sheer intellect.
"I actively need to go directly to the restricted section of the library to find some specific reference materials, formally write a letter to Uncle Al for resources, and perhaps smoothly consult the Headmaster..."
He rapidly muttered to himself, his aristocratic voice getting lower and lower as he plotted.
"Research the actual magical feasibility..."
...
Looking at the black-haired young man's incredibly focused and deeply absorbed look exactly as he logically thought, Evie Frye suddenly remembered exactly what Regulus had profoundly said to her at the Gryffindor party last year—
"I have a fundamental idea—what truly binds us isn't magic, but a lack of imagination and willpower."
She beautifully curved the corners of her mouth into a proud assassin's smile.
If it was Regulus Black, she firmly believed he logically could definitely, absolutely do it!
...
Regulus, deeply lost in his CEO tactical thought, suddenly actively noticed that the snowy surroundings were incredibly, strangely quiet.
The Little Wizards were tightly circled entirely around him, watching him intensely. Some had brightly shining eyes full of awe, some had awkwardly twitching mouths, some were highly confusedly shaking their heads, and some were secretly, successfully stifling quiet laughter...
He was violently startled for a brief moment, quickly rubbed his nose, and smoothly showed an uncharacteristically embarrassed, boyish smile:
"Uh... right. Today is officially Valentine's Day. Let's physically play in the snow first—"
Studying the Basilisk raid mechanics, exactly one single day logically doesn't make a massive difference.
He smoothly waved his hawthorn wand again, and the glowing green stick figure flawlessly disappeared from the pristine snow.
...
...