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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Challenge [Charms] – method; understanding; theory; law; problem; control; knowledge; power; science; library
Understanding Charms
Charms had always been Lily's strongest subject. Somehow the mix between outright transfiguration and practical Defense Against the Dark Arts was where she stood.
It really was extremely easy to do well in Charms. One simply needed to understand the theory and not just know it. The theory gave understanding of what you needed your magic to do. It required a fair amount of control not to overpower the charm but enough power not to underestimate the amount of magic needed. Even the library was limited in teaching control, it could instruct and give you the laws behind the concept but it could not teach you.
It was in some ways even similar to Potions, everything done had to be exact or the charm would most definitely go wrong. The only real difference between the two is that for Potions the ingredients can be changed and tested to work best, in Charms you only had two ingredients: your magic and your technique, only one could be changed and that change could affect the entire spell.
It was not easy though, even Lily had to practice and come to an understanding about each of the concepts before even attempting any charm. The only problem came in when Lily was expected to know how to do every single charm every single time that had required a vast knowledge on the general principles of charms as well as a method to find which principle applied to that particular charm.