Chapter 213: Where Magic Gets Interesting [bonus]
Regulus sat cross-legged on the floor, turning a word over in his mind.
Ritual.
His understanding of ritual magic was broad but shallow. It wasn't something a single spell could accomplish. Multiple steps, specific conditions, sometimes offerings, contracts, an entire framework of magic far more complex than ordinary casting.
The feedback was usually powerful. The cost, usually steep.
Animagus transformation qualified as standard ritual magic. Fixed sequence, long-term steps, specific materials, celestial alignment, environmental conditions. Succeed, and you gained an animal form with full consciousness intact. Fail, and you were trapped forever between human and beast. No reversal.
Voldemort's resurrection counted too. Bone of the father, flesh of the servant, blood of the enemy. Three components, each essential. Willingly given, unknowingly taken, forcibly seized. Three different methods of acquisition, each carrying a different magical meaning. Success meant a fully restored body, stronger than before. Failure... failure probably meant an explosion.
The Unbreakable Vow was another. Once sealed, it became an absolute magical contract. Break it and you died. No negotiation, no loophole. A binding etched into the soul itself.
The Fidelius Charm? Hiding a secret permanently inside a single person's soul, accessible only if the Secret-Keeper chose to reveal it. That fit the pattern too.
And the oldest of them all: Sacrificial Protection. A willing death as the price, love as the medium, creating a shield against death itself for another person. What Lily had done for Harry. That was ritual magic at its most fundamental.