Speaking of raw power vs skill: how rapidly does an increase in skill allow one to tap into reserves of raw power? Alex seems to develop extremely quickly in Book 2 and Book 4. The former development is to be expected: she is practicing with her seniors and betters, so she's bound to learn faster. Alex's growth in Book 4 is more of a mystery: she acquires an ability to summon lightning bolts and can overpower several experienced duelers. How much of that is raw power, how much adrenaline and how much, dumb luck? By the way, I distinctly remember two scenes in AQATTC when Alex wished to hex the Rashes and Ms Shirtliffe with crawling worms. In case of Rashes, she seemed to actually conjure something in their nostrils, but it died out: "She imagined big, fat worms wriggling out of the older boy's nostrils. He looked cross-eyed for a moment, then snorted, wiped at his nose, and glowered at Alexandra. "What did you just contrive?" he said, gritting his teeth and stepping closer until he towered over her.
Ms Shirtliffe blocked this feeble worm-hex mid-air: "Shirtliffe held her wand up at an angle, and for a moment something twitched and roiled in the air, like a barely-visible squirming mass, and then it faded." What exactly did Ms Shirtliffe do, did she block it? If so, then why was if briefly visible? Was it because it was not a proper spell, but a conjuration manifested by sheer force of Alex's raw talent?
If Alexandra seemed to improve too quickly in book four, it's because I failed to show how much she had learned in that book and the preceding one.
Adrenalin does have something to do with it - we know from canon that even child wizards can perform impressive feats of magic when in danger (e.g., Harry Apparating onto a roof).
What exactly did Ms Shirtliffe do, did she block it? If so, then why was if briefly visible? Was it because it was not a proper spell, but a conjuration manifested by sheer force of Alex's raw talent?
Alexandra cast the spell, but Ms. Shirtliffe was able to counter it.
Yes, she blocked it, but I wondered why it was briefly visible in air: normally, this does not happen. Was Ms Shirtliffe assessing Alex's potential by "visualizing" whatever Alex was trying to conjure?
You could think of it as the spell temporarily taking on a physical (visible) manifestation, before being dispelled. Ms. Shirtliffe stopped it before it actually struck her.
I think it was mentioned that the lightning bolt spell was something she had learned from Max but never used (not implausible, it's a very lethal spell and she almost never deliberately uses lethal force before The Stars Above) as for overpowering the experienced duelists, I interpreted that as more of a combination of element of surprise, speed, and tactics than power or magical skill. It's hard to deny that she fought very intelligently in Dinetah and that pays off, especially in such small engagements.
By the way, I distinctly remember two scenes in AQATTC when Alex wished to hex the Rashes and Ms Shirtliffe with crawling worms. In case of Rashes, she seemed to actually conjure something in their nostrils, but it died out:
"She imagined big, fat worms wriggling out of the older boy's nostrils. He looked cross-eyed for a moment, then snorted, wiped at his nose, and glowered at Alexandra. "What did you just contrive?" he said, gritting his teeth and stepping closer until he towered over her.
Ms Shirtliffe blocked this feeble worm-hex mid-air:
"Shirtliffe held her wand up at an angle, and for a moment something twitched and roiled in the air, like a barely-visible squirming mass, and then it faded."
What exactly did Ms Shirtliffe do, did she block it? If so, then why was if briefly visible? Was it because it was not a proper spell, but a conjuration manifested by sheer force of Alex's raw talent?
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Adrenalin does have something to do with it - we know from canon that even child wizards can perform impressive feats of magic when in danger (e.g., Harry Apparating onto a roof).
What exactly did Ms Shirtliffe do, did she block it? If so, then why was if briefly visible? Was it because it was not a proper spell, but a conjuration manifested by sheer force of Alex's raw talent?
Alexandra cast the spell, but Ms. Shirtliffe was able to counter it.
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