July, in the midst of summer, the scorching sun shone brightly. The disturbances in Albania didn't affect the British Isles across the channel. The magical and non-magical worlds in England were as quiet as a dead pond.
The Minister of Magic and the Prime Minister had their own intrigues. Hacker was locked in a battle of wits with her cabinet secretary, while Bones was occupied with the Quidditch World Cup final and the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore had proposed some modifications to the project, which frustrated Bones, but there wasn't much she could do about it - he was Dumbledore!
Tom, on the other hand, continued to work at the alchemy shop as usual. Lately, he had been busy as Dawlish's order took up a significant portion of his time. But the effort was worth it; while carving the magical runes, he realized his understanding of them was deeper, and carving them became easier and more natural. The magical item was finished ahead of schedule.
It was a great relief.
Days passed quickly, and the agreed-upon time with Lucius Malfoy arrived.
"Mr. Malfoy, please take a look," Tom said as he placed a box in front of Lucius.
Lucius opened the box and saw the five-sided ring inside. The ring was made of pure silver and was sized to fit perfectly on his index finger. On the front, it bore the Malfoy family crest, while the other sides were intricately engraved with designs.
Lucius felt a strange excitement.
"Are the four spells attached to the ring, as requested?"
"Of course."
"Then I will test it." Lucius put on the ring and raised his hand. A Stunning Spell shot out from the ring.
Tom didn't draw his wand to defend himself; it was the perfect moment to test Dawlish's ring. He subtly moved his index finger, and on the silver surface of the ring, a flash of light appeared, forming a transparent shield that deflected Lucius's Stunning Spell.
Because Tom and Lucius were too close, Lucius didn't have time to draw his wand. However, he realized that his ring seemed to have the Protego Charm. Although he didn't fully understand the ring's mechanism, the spells on the ring were like bullets in a gun. The most basic was a single-shot weapon costing 20 Galleons, requiring a reload after casting a spell. The most advanced was Dawlish's custom model, which didn't require spell reload. Lucius's ring was somewhere in between, similar to a revolver; it could cast four curses and then required reloading. However, its four "bullets" were different in shape and size, so even though it required reloading, it was more expensive than Dawlish's ring.
Since the four spells were different, how would they be activated?
Tom, in a very human way, had given him two activation methods: manual and automatic. Manual activation involved rotating the ring's face with the corresponding spell forward so that when you waved your hand, the corresponding spell would be activated. Automatic activation was simpler; by constantly waving your hand, the spells would activate in order: Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, Impedimenta, and Protego. If a spell had already been used, a new hand movement would be required, similar to a revolver's mechanism, from which Tom had drawn inspiration.
However, Lucius didn't understand the intricacies of this. He simply took the ring naively and waved it.
In Tom's eyes, Lucius's actions were not friendly. Did he want to inspect the item? Of course, but could you wait until it's ready? Was this an ambush to snatch the ring and run away?
Of course, Mr. Lucius was a respectable man, and Tom trusted that he wouldn't engage in such vile actions. At this moment, his behavior was merely an unconscious act.
This didn't stop Tom from giving him a small punishment.
The rebounded Stunning Spell was Tom's punishment.
Lucius confidently waved his hand at the Stunning Spell heading towards him, but instead of the expected Protego Charm, there was a Petrification Spell.
Lucius watched as the Stunning Spell hit him in the chest, and after that, he had no idea what happened. He lay on the ground, peacefully unconscious. Because his body leaned backward after receiving the Stunning Spell, he managed to avoid the rebounding Petrification Spell.
Looking at Lucius on the ground, Tom shook his head.
"Rennervate!"
Lucius's eyelids fluttered, and he regained consciousness.
"Isn't your ring supposed to release the Protego Charm?" He questioned Tom as soon as he woke up.
Tom: ...
With patience, Tom explained to Lucius the sequence of casting with the ring, who furrowed his brow upon hearing it.
"This is different from what I imagined. Shouldn't you be able to use any spell that comes to mind? Why is the order fixed?"
Why? Of course, because Tom's skill level couldn't achieve that. Was his ring supposed to come with Legilimency? He was really making things complicated for Tom.
Tom clasped his hands together. "Do you want it or not?"
Lucius thought for a moment. "Can it be modified to allow freely setting the order of the spells?"
Tom: (｀Д' )!
Lucius hit the nail on the head with his request. Of course, it could be done! Modularization wasn't such a complicated task. Taking Lucius's ring as an example, Tom could remove the part with the four invocations and then fill the remaining cavity with some runic inscriptions. That way, his request to be able to freely organize the order of the spells would be fulfilled.
Although it was a bit cumbersome, Tom believed he could work it out in a few days. Once this modular magical item was created, his alchemical creations would truly resemble the firearms of Muggles.
He visualized in his mind the future scene of wizard duels: two wizards bowing to each other, one drawing a wand while the other pulled out a stick embedded with small cubes of magical silver.
Immediately, the traditional wizard would be riddled with advanced spells emitted from the stick, turning him into a sieve. The victor would empty the magical silver cubes that the empty spells had cast on the ground, then take out new magical cubes from his pocket, load them into the stick, and look down on the defeated opponent, saying:
"The times have changed, my friend!"
This scene was too magnificent, and Tom dared not think further.
Moreover, it seemed he could learn something from Muggles. If these spells could be cast automatically, even faster...
A magical machine gun?
But it seemed unrealistic.
First, the production of magic-resistant materials was insufficient, and second, a bunch of spells passing through a silver magical tube would make it explode. However, this line of thinking could be explored further...
"Cough, Mr. Seven?" Lucius, seeing that Tom remained silent for a long time, cleared his throat to recapture his attention.