Hermione's mouth hung open, her face a mask of disbelief. She clearly remembered that just yesterday in Transfiguration class, Ivan couldn't even stabilize a simple transformation spell. How had he become so skilled today?
After completing the transformation, Ivan didn't linger. He left a stunned Hermione standing there and returned to the Gryffindor common room alone.
Walking back to his dormitory with the book in hand, Ivan happened upon Harry and Ron playing wizard's chess. The two of them looked as if they had just seen a ghost.
Ron's eyes, fixed on the copy of A Detailed Explanation of Basic Spell Principles in Ivan's hand, were about to pop out of his head. The knight piece in his right hand fell onto the table with a clatter.
The knight's armor was shattered by the fall from such a height. It brandished its toothpick-sized greatsword and, cursing, swung it fiercely at the nail on Ron's left index finger.
"Ow, that hurts!" Ron's left hand jerked back, sending the knight flying. He then looked at his cracked fingernail, angrily grabbed a cup, and smashed the offending knight to bits before throwing all the pieces into the box to await their automatic repair.
Only then did Ron clutch his thumb and say to Harry with a worried expression.
"Harry, do you think Ivan will end up like Hermione?"
"That... probably not, right?" Harry wasn't so sure either.
The two of them couldn't help but shiver at the thought of two Hermiones bossing them around.
Back in his dormitory, Ivan had no idea that Harry and Ron were discussing him in the common room.
At this moment, Ivan's attention had long since shifted to the changes in his various stats within the system.
[Ivan Hals
Class: Wizard
Spells: Fear Spell Lvl 1 (6/200), Levitation Charm Lvl 1 (12/200), Transfiguration Lvl 1 (30/200), Disarming Charm Lvl 1 (16/200), Lumos Lvl 1 (1/200)...
Knowledge Theory: Magical Item Creation Lvl 0 (435/500), Basic Spell Principles Lvl 0 (88/100)
Magical Item: Wand (Yew, Unicorn Hair, 11 ¾ inches)
Magical Power: Medium
Wand Allegiance: 72.5%
...
Academic Points: 20]
The improvement from just one hour with the Scholar's Experience Card was undeniable. Almost all the spells Ivan knew had been raised to Level 1.
Since the other boys weren't in the dormitory, Ivan used chests, stools, and pillows to test the power of his Levitation and Disarming Charms.
"{Wingardium Leviosa}~"
"{Expelliarmus}~"
...
After a few minutes of self-entertaining shenanigans, Ivan looked at the pillow that had been blasted from the head of the bed to the foot by the Disarming Charm, and at the chest and stool slowly descending through the air. A deep sense of accomplishment filled his heart.
This was the power of magic!
Few could resist the allure of such a mysterious and supernatural ability, especially someone like Ivan, who had loved reading books about magic and fantasy while lying on his deathbed in his previous life.
It was just a pity that in the few days since he had transmigrated, due to various limitations, he hadn't even been able to successfully cast the most basic of spells. Now, having cast several spells at once, Ivan was naturally ecstatic.
At this moment, no matter what he saw, Ivan wanted to hit it with a Transfiguration spell followed by a Levitation Charm...
After about ten minutes of continuous experimentation, Ivan's head began to feel fuzzy, a clear sign of magical exhaustion.
Through this frequent spellcasting, Ivan had also come to understand the limits of his abilities.
First, the Levitation Charm. At most, Ivan could suspend an empty chest a meter in the air for nearly forty seconds, or levitate his bed for five seconds, though the height was only about thirty centimeters.
Next was Transfiguration, which could change the form and even the properties of an object for a period of time, turning it into something else.
This was the spell that interested Ivan the most. If practiced to a high level, he could even turn inanimate objects into living animals, just like Professor McGonagall.
He just didn't know if the spell could be used on other wizards. For instance, in a duel, could one just fire a Transfiguration spell and turn the enemy into a tree... a brick... a pig... a cow... a sheep?
Or one could transform the cover around an enemy wizard into a beast or a trap, which could also achieve a one-hit victory.
However, as Ivan thought about this, he frowned. He realized that in the original story, it seemed very few people did this.
Even Professor McGonagall, who was an expert in Transfiguration, didn't use it on enemy wizards during the final battle.
Was it because ordinary Transfiguration couldn't be used on living things? But the spell was powerful enough to turn non-living things into living things; it made no sense that the process couldn't be reversed.
Hagrid had used a spell to make the little fatty Dudley, who was bullying Harry, grow a pig's tail. Draco also had the dark history of being turned into a ferret, which proved that Transfiguration could be used directly on the human body.
Was it the influence of magical power? Did wizards have a certain resistance to Transfiguration? The stronger the wizard, the higher the resistance?
Then what exactly was magic? Why were wizards able to use all sorts of incredible spells...
Ivan thought about Animagus transformation, the only thing that could affect powerful wizards. Even such a powerful and difficult spell could only turn a wizard into a specific animal; it couldn't be used to freely choose any desired form.
It was more like a fixed Transfiguration spell, allowing a wizard to switch back and forth between two forms without flaws or time limits.
"Forget it, why am I even thinking about this now?" Ivan rubbed his forehead. He was just a first-year student, and his spellcasting was barely at a functional level.
Thinking so much was pointless...
After testing the Levitation Charm, Transfiguration, Lumos, and the Disarming Charm, Ivan had a rough estimate of his strength.
He was probably at a relatively skilled level among ordinary first-year students.
After experimenting with the normal spells, Ivan turned his attention to the Fear Spell, which was classified as Dark Magic.
This spell had appeared in his system ever since he transmigrated to Hogwarts, but Ivan had never used it before.
"{Metus Infesto}!" Ivan recalled the sequence for casting the spell from his memory and waved his wand, tapping it on Maka's head.
"Hoo, hoo~" A faint purple light flashed. Maka tilted its head and looked at Ivan innocently.
"It didn't work?" Ivan looked at the unresponsive Maka, feeling a bit strange.
"{Metus Infesto}~ {Metus Infesto}..."
Ivan cast the spell repeatedly. The purple light completely enveloped Maka, but the owl thought Ivan was just playing with it and started tugging at the tip of his wand with its hooked beak.
Ivan helplessly withdrew his wand before Maka could chew it to pieces. He then looked at the Fear Spell in his system's magic tab with frustration.
Logically, he should be able to cast the spell normally now that it was at Level 1.
Unless...
Ivan suddenly remembered the memory that had flooded his mind when the Sorting Hat was invading his brain...
"Fear..." Ivan closed his eyes and thought for a moment. When he opened them again, he happened to see the greyish-black rat dozing on Ron's desk. After a moment's consideration, Ivan spared his messenger owl, Maka, and instead walked over with his wand in hand.
At this moment, Scabbers was sleeping soundly, with crumbs of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans still lingering at the corner of its mouth. Its tiny, four-toed paws occasionally twitched unconsciously on the table, as if it were having a pleasant dream...