Castlevania SotN help please!

What buttons do I have to press to use magic in Catlevania SOTN???? I’ve tried everything! Game manuals (on gamefaqs) says I only have to know the right button combination to use magic, not necessarily buy it. I’ve tried magic I have bought, and magic I haven’t bought. Nothing works! I’ve tried to press the button combinations in every possible way, I can’t get it to work.

My Castlevania game is a downloaded iso copy, so I’m beginning to suspect I’ve got a buggy one. Only no one else on the torrent said anything about it, and the rest of the game seem to work fine…

Please explain to me, thoroughly, as if you were trying to teach a monkey, how to use magic in that game!