Chapter 53: The Vanishing Spell
Sometimes, tears do not necessarily signify sadness.
In fact, at certain moments, sadness can also be a “positive” emotion.
Feeling the emotions surging within him, Vaughn was momentarily speechless.
Hearing the meows of other cats, Guo Guo Cha, who was using the litter box, scrambled out in a panic.
Upon seeing the lazily coiled silver-blue translucent Maine Coon Cat at Vaughn’s feet, it immediately bristled with anger, crouched low, and let out a threatening hiss.
“Alright, alright, Guo Guo Cha, that’s my Guardian Spirit, don’t be jealous.” Vaughn hugged it and soothed it for a while, until Guo Guo Cha still angrily swiped at the Guardian Spirit twice. Seeing its claws pass directly through the “Maine Coon Cat’s” body, Guo Guo Cha then determined that this thing was magic.
The threat gone, Guo Guo Cha, regaining its confidence, disdainfully glanced at the “fool” that looked very much like it, then rubbed against Vaughn with a series of meows.
You scared me, the kind that can’t be appeased by a piece of dried fish!
With Guo Guo Cha’s interruption, Vaughn was able to break free from the intense emotions he had been experiencing, and the impact of successfully summoning his Guardian Spirit was somewhat beyond his expectations.
But this was only a one-time occurrence; through the attribute points on his System Panel, he had successfully awakened his long-forgotten memories of happiness and mastered how to conjure positive emotions.
He wouldn’t lose his composure like this again in the future.
Feeling the Maine Coon Cat at his feet, which had a close connection to his thoughts and spirit, Vaughn fell into thought.
The Wizarding World generally believes that a person’s Guardian Spirit usually reflects the deepest inner fantasy and persistence towards the concept of “beauty,” serving as an unchanging Pure Land within the chaotic hearts of wizards, an Mapping of their emotions and souls.
Therefore, the image of the Guardian Spirit also carries meaning; it represents the self and the most genuine personality traits.
“So, why is my Guardian Spirit a cat? Because cats represent capriciousness? Or, as legends in various storybooks of the Wizarding World say, do cats symbolize the Incarnation of magic?”
Connecting this to his own obsession with magic, Vaughn felt that the latter guess was probably closer.
As for why it took the form of a Maine Coon Cat…
It might be because he had a preference for Guo Guo Cha, after all, he had only ever raised this one pet in his two lifetimes.
Everything from his previous life was an irrecoverable past, and his love in this life, due to his adult mindset, was more reserved and restrained.
Only Guo Guo Cha, who both carried his longing for his past life and truly existed by his side.
Moreover, the specific form of a Guardian Spirit is not unchangeable; Snape is a clear example – when he completely fell in love with Lily Evans and considered her the most important person, his Guardian Spirit turned into a doe.
Otherwise, based on Vaughn’s understanding of the Professor, his Guardian Spirit would most likely have been a snake!
Feeling the details of the Patronus Charm once more, Vaughn dispelled the spell, and the silver-blue Maine Coon Cat dissipated into smoke.
His attention shifted to another spell that had leveled up to LV1… the Vanishing Spell!
This spell was one of the most dangerous spells Vaughn had encountered so far.
The function of the Vanishing Spell was to make a living or inanimate object disappear.
Not invisibility, not teleportation to another space, but true disappearance.
The first day Vaughn prepared to practice this spell, he specifically consulted Professor McGonagall, who said, “It can turn objects and life into Nothingness, into the most basic state of all things. Mr. Weasley, I don’t think this is something you should be learning about right now.”
The so-called Nothingness and the basic state of all things, in Muggle terms, was to decompose an object into Microscopic Particles!
This immediately made Vaughn abandon any thoughts of trying it.
LV0 spells represent beginner level; spell failures and loss of control are common at this stage （ This is also why Vaughn has always been afraid to practice Fiendfyre ）.
If, during practice, the spell simply failed, Vaughn would be fine; what he worried about most was the spell getting out of control.
Ordinary Young Wizards had weak Magic Power, so even if it got out of control, it would be difficult to cause serious consequences. Vaughn, however, was different; with his Magic Power, which was almost comparable to that of an adult Wizard, if a terrifying spell like the Vanishing Spell got out of control, the consequences would be very severe.
Although the Vanishing Spell, as a relatively conventional spell, also had a Counter-spell, no one knew what kind of results a spell that had lost control would cause.
Vaughn disliked situations he could not control.
“Even if the danger of the beginner level is resolved by adding points on the System Panel, this spell is still very difficult. Although it is a spell, a large part of it involves Transfiguration Studies knowledge, so its characteristics are similar to Transfiguration itself. Making inanimate objects disappear is the easiest; next come organic matter, simple life, complex life, higher life…”
Wielding his wand, he made a Pebble he had casually picked up while playing by the Black Lake disappear, Vaughn carefully experiencing the entire process of the spell taking effect.
“The Vanishing Spell skips the method of observing the material structure and projecting it into thought, which is often used in Transfiguration. Instead, it uses the mystery of Magic Power, emotion, and the spell to directly achieve the result of making this Pebble disappear – it dismantled the basic structure of the material, causing the Pebble to lose its macroscopic form.”
However…
Vaughn looked at the empty Table in front of him. As the caster, he could vaguely sense that the Pebble, decomposed into a microscopic state, had not truly disintegrated.
The remaining power of the spell still maintained its “existence.” As long as the Counter-spell was uttered, or the spell was dispelled, it would revert, transforming back from Microscopic Particles into a Pebble!
Of course, as it was only maintained by the residual power of the spell, this state was not stable and could easily be interfered with by Magic Power or other spells.
At that point, the Pebble would truly be gone forever.
Following that vague sense, Vaughn dispelled the spell, and without a sound, the vanished Pebble reappeared.
“It’s truly wondrous…”
Vaughn’s eyes sparkled. He suddenly wanted to find a living creature, such as a slug or other invertebrate – the LV1 Vanishing Spell could only affect such simple life.
He wanted to know what state a living creature would be in if it were made to disappear.
The Wizarding World viewed life as a duality: the physical body and the Soul.
If a life’s physical body disappeared, would its Soul be exposed?
Or would the Soul also split into countless parts upon the disintegration of the physical body, or exist in some superimposed state?
Various thoughts swirled in his mind, but Vaughn didn’t act immediately.
He hadn’t done much research on Souls yet and lacked the means to observe and perceive them. Even if he found a slug or a snail and made it disappear, he wouldn’t be able to “see” anything.
He could, however, make a note of this to be a research project after a new Potions was successfully developed.
Thinking of this, Vaughn felt a bit troubled: “Research into Souls is considered a Taboo in this world. The three Unforgivable Curses are not unforgivable solely because they lack a Counter-spell; they are also unforgivable because they directly affect the Soul…”
