"Huh? Hermione?"
"What are the odds?"
On the moving train, Shawn's voice blended with the roar of wind outside.
The endless plains had vanished; sunlight now fell in dappled fragments through dense branches—the train had entered a vast yew forest.
Hermione's ears reddened slightly. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came. The silence only deepened Shawn's confusion.
"Oh! She was just saying—it's incredible that you can already perform Transfiguration!"
A cheerful voice broke in. It was Justin. Quickly stepping in to fill Hermione's silence, he pointed toward the silver needle gleaming on the tabletop.
"How did you manage that? Hermione said that's a really difficult spell."
Nervous now, he hoped the boy opposite wouldn't take offense.
"The incantation is Transfiguration. The break is between Trans and figura.
The stress falls on fi. More importantly, when you swing your wand left to right, do it quickly—no hesitation."
Shawn recapped his process carefully, thinking through each key motion as he spoke.
"And of course, you have to picture the desired form clearly in your mind. That's right there on page five of Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration."
The train emerged from the forest then; the compartment brightened again, sunlight reflecting emerald-green in Shawn's eyes like polished jade.
"So my failure was because of hesitation… I see. Anyway—nice to meet you. You probably didn't hear earlier, but I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley."
Justin exhaled in relief after saying it.
"Hermione Granger," she added quickly, her cheeks still faintly flushed but her voice firm.
"Shawn Green," he replied simply. Hermione still seemed oddly flustered, but Shawn had no time to puzzle over it.
More important things awaited his attention.
In the quiet of the compartment, Shawn appeared to be reading Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, but in truth, his eyes were fixed on his proficiency panel.
"Let's see," he thought. "Just how talented am I in Transfiguration?"
Scrolling down slowly, he felt his pulse quicken—far more than it ever had during online gaming draws in his previous life.
This was real power now—a talent that could shape his entire future.
[Title: Transfiguration Apprentice]
Minor increase to transfiguration perception and aptitude.
As expected. He held his breath and looked further.
[Wizard: Shawn Green. Transfiguration Talent: Light Purple (boosted by Apprentice Title). Note: Standard wizard aptitude = Green.]
[Assessment: You are a true prodigy in the field of Transfiguration. With guidance, you will become a leading master in this branch of magic.]
A purple-tier Talent?!
A grin tugged at his lips.
So I really am a Transfiguration genius!
He could almost hear trumpets in his ears and a chorus singing "good fortune arrives!"
After having started as white-tier trash, he understood how precious this felt.
"With proper training… I could become a master."
Suppressing his excitement, Shawn made a quiet vow to cling to Hogwarts for all seven years—and beyond if he could.
But to reach that goal, he needed strategy.
Transfiguration and Charms were already decent strengths; but his standing in other fields would matter just as much.
This distinction between talents confirmed something important: Magical aptitude in the wizarding world wasn't uniform.
Different witches and wizards shone in different areas.
Neville, for instance, excelled in Herbology but struggled elsewhere. Hermione was brilliant in nearly every subject but weaker in Defense Against the Dark Arts and downright terrible at Divination.
For Shawn, achieving "Outstanding" in seven courses meant brute-forcing his way through the subjects he lacked talent in.
Moreover, difficulty varied by discipline—and by professor.
"Just like in universities," he mused, "the syllabus might be fixed, but how much you enjoy a course—or survive it—depends entirely on the teacher."
By that logic, the toughest subject must be Potions.
It was led by Professor Snape, a strict perfectionist. The content was dense and detail-heavy, filled with volatile experiments—and every class required a graded potion and an essay after.
Just picturing Snape's perpetually sour expression weighed on Shawn's heart.
Getting an Outstanding in Potions under him… not easy.
"I just hope I have some natural knack for it," he whispered. "Even a little would help."
Next in difficulty: Defense Against the Dark Arts— high danger level, unstable teachers.
Few could rival the complexities of a cursed position with occasional two-headed professors.
Another hard course.
Shawn rubbed his temples and steadied his gaze.
"Nothing can stop me from studying. Not even Voldemort."
His thoughts organized themselves into neat tiers of challenge:
Tier 1 (most difficult): Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts
Tier 2: Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms
Tier 3 (manageable): History of Magic, Astronomy
The last two were mostly memory-based—time-consuming but straightforward. For him, not a problem.
"Transfiguration and Charms—I should be fine. Astronomy and History—just memorize what's needed. That leaves Potions, Defense, and Herbology as my bottlenecks."
Having mapped his academic battlefield, he began outlining how to attack each one.
That was when noise flared outside the compartment.
He'd ignored it for a while, but words like "Harry," "Harry Potter," and "Merlin's beard!" began surfacing distinctly through the chatter.
Then—a loud BANG!
Startled, Shawn lifted his head right as his eyes met Justin's—and Hermione's—again.
Justin quickly looked away, feigning normalcy.
"Hey, Shawn—look! Isn't that amazing? The Levitation Charm!"
He pointed toward Hermione's wand. A feather hovered gently in the air.
Smiling, the girl tilted her chin proudly.
"This is just a simple spell," she said. "I learned it from Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. Not hard at all—I mastered it after just a few tries."
Shawn, who had spent five hundred tries on the same spell, quietly disagreed: not quite.
"Justin, you try it next," Hermione urged. "It's one of the first spells young wizards ever learn!"
"Then guide me, please," he said eagerly, wand at the ready.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather didn't move.
"You need to flick your wrist," Hermione corrected.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather wobbled faintly.
"No! Firmer pronunciation! If you hesitate, it fails!"
Strict but patient, Hermione drilled again. Justin focused hard.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
At last—the feather floated!
"Ha! I did it! Thank you, Hermione, you're a fantastic teacher!" Justin grinned brightly.
"You were right—it's really not that complicated!"
Across from them, Shawn smiled faintly to himself—knowing that simplicity was always relative.
(End of Chapter)