Over the past decade, our understanding of solar flares has grown, but capturing detailed links between fast-moving changes in the Sun’s lower atmosphere (the chromosphere) and bursts of energy high above (the corona) remains difficult. We tackled this by studying 51 flares—from small B-class hits to powerful X-class blasts—using the Dunn Solar Telescope between 2019 and 2025. With sharp, rapid-fire cameras and specialized spectrographs, we tracked how flare “kernels” light up and dim at tiny scales in space and time. By measuring how quickly these brightness spikes rise and how strong they get, then comparing them to standard X-ray flare measurements, we found a clear pattern: stronger flares drive faster chromospheric reactions. We also saw small ribbon-like features and jets that pop up even in mid-level flares. Our work provides new, high-detail benchmarks for models and helps improve space-weather forecasts.