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Inventing a new spell; a most tricky and daunting proposition. Beyond most wizards. Lupin flattered himself by thinking he had a chance, but if pressed, well, he had helped with the Marauder's Map, had he not? He knew a thing or two about Defense Against the Dark Arts, and this was not dissimilar.

Besides, what did it hurt to try? (Besides the very real chance of an injurious backfire.)

Lupin came to the City, seeking out a place by the river where he (probably wrongly) thought no one would venture close enough to be harmed by his experimentation. Once there, he sat down on the grass without much regards for his dignity, and began writing on the book he had liberated for such a purpose.

"Protego Minutiae," he began, writing the words down as he spoke them.

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"Close enough, and most likely very inaccurate," Lupin said. He wrote a moment more before looking up with a smile. "The base spell is Protego, so this spell is drawing from that name. In this case, it is intended to protect against comparatively small forces. It may not work... developing spells is a tricky business on the best of days."

Terry furrowed his brow. "Spell? As in, like... magic?" While he understood that magic probably existed, both from meeting a few people on the ship and based on things Bruce had told him, he still wasn't quite sure if he could wrap his head around it. Superpowers, sure. Ghosts and magic and other supernatural stuff? No.

"Yes. I am a wizard." From a pocket of his robes, he drew out his wand, which he then pointed off to the side. "Protego!"

A shield coalesced in midair, a strong shimmering barrier. "That is the Shield Charm. Very useful, very capable against a large number of magical or even physical threats, but entirely unsuited to ward off the sort of small changes I'm concerned with at the moment."

"And you use a wand." Terry said incredulously. Weren't magic users supposed to just use their minds, or say phrases backwards or something? A wand just felt like something out of a video game, or a cartoon his brother would watch.

"So... what kind of small changes are you worried about?" It must be important enough to need magic to deal with it, but Terry had a hard time fathoming what sort of thing a person need to go to such lengths protect themselves against, if it wasn't large physical danger.

"A wand is a witch or wizard's companion, the means through which their magic is done. Or at least," he said, tucking his wand back away, "that's how I always understood magic until I woke here. Since then I've seen so many varieties of different magic I can't begin to understand how it all works, as if anyone ever could in the first place."

He picked the quill back up from the parchment, but merely tapped it against the page absently. "Forces, and beyond that it's hard to say. The same sort of forces that make the sun rise and set."

"Okaaay," Terry said, still not buying it. Though, it's not like he had room to judge. A wand made as much, if not more, sense as dressing up as a giant bat. "Yeah, things tend to be... weird here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no offense, but I'm pretty sure that the forces that make the sun rise and whatever are, like... the rotation of the Earth. Not magic." Yes, be a snot to the magic user when you have no powers of your own. That's a good idea.

"And something the ship can also use, since the cycle I'm trying to prevent also happens on it in some way," Lupin said, still quite pleasantly. Of course a Muggle would not properly understand magic, but that was no cause to take offense. "What I want to do may be entirely impossible, but that's no reason not to try."

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