Volume 1 Chapter 47 Gravitation
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The desk in front of Jon flew up under the effect of the spell, but it was only twenty or thirty centimeters from the ground and there was no way to rise any higher.
Neville, who was studying the memory ball sent by his grandmother and chewing an apple, looked at Jon with a look of despair.
"It's been a month, a whole month! On average, you have to practice this spell more than a hundred times every day! I hear the sound of the levitation spell in my dreams every night. You are really successful enough, Jon! Professor Flitwick said last time that at least your level of levitation has reached the standard of most adult wizards. What you lack now is just your age and your magic power has not grown. You really don't need to practice anymore!"
Jon was still looking at the desk floating in front of him, thoughtfully.
"Yes, Professor Flitwick said that my skills in the levitation spell are high enough, and the rest can only rely on time to accumulate my own magic power and experience. But why is the best effect I can achieve now still only this?"
"That's all?" Neville stared with dead fish eyes, "What you used the spell to make fly was not a feather, not a parchment, nor a textbook, but a desk! How many people in this carriage besides the professor can do this?"
"It's not a question of whether other people can do it, but the levitation spell itself feels very problematic." Jon frowned.
Neville bit into the crisp apple and looked at Jon who finally stopped using the levitation spell. He was happy to chat with him for a few more minutes to reduce the torture to his ears.
"What could be wrong with a levitation spell?"
“The role it can play is a little too small.”
Jon was thinking, his fingertips subconsciously twirling the magic wand. In his previous life, he liked to twirl the pen when solving problems, and now he brought this habit into this world.
"Even Professor Flitwick couldn't make heavy objects fly with the levitation spell he used. This is not only because his magic power and willpower are limited, but also because the spell itself cannot produce this effect."
Neville no longer understood what Jon was saying. He could only nod his head in agreement, repeating "Yes, that's right," three times in a row.
"But the levitation spell has been created for such a long time, and many wizards in history have tried to improve and innovate it. What we have learned now is the limit of what it can achieve, the limit of magic controlling the flight of objects..."
"One is the limitation of the levitation spell, and the other is that the spell cannot be cast on wizards. These two unsolvable problems combined have led to the fact that wizards still rely on flying brooms and magic carpets to conquer the sky. These ancient magic tools have been used since the Middle Ages."
"But if broomsticks and magic carpets can fly so high, why is there a limit to the levitation spell?"
"I have a limit on eating apples. Two will make me full." Neville threw a clean apple to Jon. "Don't think about it yet. Try it. It's very sweet."
Jon, who was deep in thought, of course did not notice the apple flying towards him, and the apple hit him on the head as expected.
"boom!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I thought you could catch it."
Neville apologized hurriedly. After being hit, Jon was stunned at first, and then looked at the apple that had fallen to the ground with a strange expression.
"Neville, why do you think the apple fell on me?"
Neville was also stunned by Jon's question, and his eyes became even more nervous when he looked at Jon.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling dizzy? How about I take you to see Professor Slughorn?"
“Because the apples will fall.”
Jon's eyes were shining as he stared at the apple. He ignored Neville and gave the answer on his own.
" My thoughts have always been limited! This world not only has magic, but also science!"
"When you throw it out, you provide it with an upward force, but there is actually a downward force pulling it back to the ground!"
Neville had grabbed Jon's arm.
"Come on, hurry up, before you do anything stupid, let's let the professor see if you can still be saved!"
Jon slapped his hand away with a dark face.
"I wasn't hit by an apple and became stupid! I don't need the professor to treat me. I was just thinking seriously. Have you ever thought about what you were thinking about when you cast the levitation spell?"
Seeing that Jon didn't seem to be lying and seemed normal except for the nonsense he was talking, Neville answered hesitantly.
"It's just like what Professor Flitwick taught us in class. You have to have an unwavering belief that the target you point your wand at can fly, and then chant a spell and swing your wand."
"Knowing what it is but not why it is, this has always been the characteristic of magic." Jon's voice was calm, but one could tell he was extremely excited. "Just like when turning a match into a needle, professors don't teach us what kind of molecular structure changes will occur inside an object when it transforms from wood to metal."
"It's the same with the Levitation Charm! Professor Flitwick only told us to keep thinking that we can make the feather fly, but he didn't tell us what kind of principle is needed to do this. Then the Levitation Charm we used presented the simplest and most direct way of expression - it formed an upward force on the object itself. It's called flying, but in fact it's the power of magic that holds it up!"
"Magic is an intervention in the rules. Wizards propose the idea of change, but the way to change it is determined by magic itself!"
"But what if we actively choose when casting a spell and specify how the magic should interfere with the rules?"
Neville had no idea what Jon was saying, but he opened his mouth wide. Even though he didn't understand, he could feel that his roommate had obviously thought of something extraordinary!
"Do you know why the apple fell on my head?" Jon asked this seemingly silly question again.
Neville also gave a very silly answer: "Because I threw it at your head."
"More than three hundred years ago, a Muggle who was also hit on the head by an apple was thinking about this question, but he came up with the answer himself."
A smile appeared on Jon's face, it was the smile of standing on the shoulders of giants, looking down at the wizards who had no idea about the rules of the world.
"There is a force on the land we live on. This force pulls all objects on the ground, in the ocean, and even in the sky. The Muggle named Isaac Newton called this force - gravity!"
