Chapter 23. Transfiguration and Herbs
Lynn's first day at Hogwarts passed by in a busy and fulfilling way.
As dusk approached, he successfully completed his homework for all three of his classes in the library.
During this time, he also encountered Cedric, who enthusiastically helped him understand the professors' grading criteria for student work and how to effectively choose books from the library to aid him.
Lynn even found a familiar feeling reminiscent of his high school days in his previous life in this routine.
In reality, most young wizards weren't nearly as busy as he was. They usually left their weekly assignments until the last minute, using their free time to play wizarding chess, fool around in the castle corridors, or play adventure games within the castle.
They would only remember their assignments near the weekend, then frantically borrow from someone who had already finished to copy, or hastily write something down, hoping the professors wouldn't bother them for it.
Unfortunately, these young wizards weren't very lucky with their gambles, often losing nine out of ten times.
Lynn, after all, possessed the soul of an adult; expecting him to play carefree games with a group of children was too much to ask.
After lunch in the Great Hall, Lynn returned to the Slytherin common room.
In the dormitory, the other three seemed to be getting along quite well.
The other two boys, named Mark Oliva and Michel Camilleri, were playing wizard chess, while Hubert seemed to be loudly instructing the weaker player on their next move.
Lynn's entrance shattered their cheerful atmosphere, like a cat suddenly appearing at a mouse gathering.
Hubert's gaze towards Lynn remained evasive, and the two boys playing wizard chess appeared quite uncomfortable, unable to predict the next move, prompting the pieces on the board to urge them on.
Lynn narrowed his eyes. His mind was racing. Seeing the scene in his dorm room upon his return, his ten years of experience living in dorms in his previous life told him that Hubert and his two roommates had been talking badly about him behind his back shortly before he came back.
And clearly, he had been ostracized by his three roommates.
It wasn't surprising that they had formed a friendship so quickly and were united in their hatred.
First of all, Lynn and they were not from the same group. Besides him, more than half of the freshmen in this year's class came from pure-blood wizard families, and the rest were half-bloods whose parents were wizards at least once. Their camp
was naturally opposed to Lynn's. Adding to this, yesterday's conflict—regardless of how it started, Hubert ended up on the weaker side, easily eliciting sympathy from onlookers.
Moreover, Lynn had barely had any contact with them all day, while Hubert had spent the entire day with them.
So, everything before him made perfect sense.
However, Lynn didn't care at all; this situation suited him perfectly.
He didn't want to get involved with these brats anyway; it was better for them to keep their distance from each other in the future.
Of course, he wasn't naive enough to believe that Hubert would be convinced after last night's lesson and would never cause him trouble again. Judging from Lynn's experience of two lifetimes, he would need at least two more lessons similar to yesterday's before he would truly behave.
Life at Hogwarts was relaxed, and Lynn had plenty of time to train him.
"Good evening,"
Lynn greeted his roommates, who were gradually drifting away from him, with a smile.
The three of them looked at him nervously, their lips moving, but no sound came out.
Lynn didn't expect any response from them. He leisurely put his things away and then sat down at his desk to flip through his Transfiguration textbook.
Isolation is something that only you don't feel the awkwardness and unease about; the one who suffers is the isolated person.
Lynn was playing that role at this moment, the troublemaker who made Hubert and the others uncomfortable.
Nothing happened that night.
The next morning, Lynn arrived at the Transfiguration classroom early. The moment he stepped into the classroom, his body suddenly stiffened.
"Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall." Looking at the tabby cat sitting upright on the podium, Lynn immediately recalled that embarrassing moment and stammered.
Professor McGonagall nodded slightly, looking at him without speaking.
Lynn immediately understood her meaning, obediently found a seat in the classroom, and quietly waited for class to begin.
Clearly, Professor McGonagall was going to give the new students a big surprise.
This class was a combined Slytherin and Hufflepuff class, and after yesterday's experience, no one dared to be late; everyone arrived at the classroom on time.
The cat on the podium attracted a lot of attention, but since there was also a Mrs. Norris at Hogwarts, no one showed any surprise.
Until the cat suddenly transformed into Professor McGonagall, almost every young wizard who saw this scene gasped in astonishment.
Just as Cedric had said that morning, Professor McGonagall taught the first lesson to the new students every year the same thing:
turning a match into a needle.
Lynn's talent for Transfiguration wasn't significantly higher than other young wizards, starting at only 2 points. After a bonus from the system, he now had 3 points, making his learning efficiency for Transfiguration not particularly high.
However, talent can be compensated for with diligence. Basic Transfiguration is something that anyone, unless they're a Squib, can definitely be learned with a few more practices.
Moreover, Lynn's talent was slightly higher than the average person.
Unsurprisingly, he once again earned five points for Slytherin in this class with an excellent performance, acquiring the two available Transfiguration points.
The afternoon Herbalism class was similar.
Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff, led the young wizards to the greenhouse behind the castle, teaching them to identify the first magical plant: Healing plant .
This knowledge simply required observation and memorization. Lynn received high praise from Professor Sprout for mentioning that besides its medicinal uses, Healing plant was also used by wandmakers as wand cores, earning Slytherin another five points.
Having only been at Hogwarts for two days, Lynn's stats had already received a significant boost:
[Name: Lynn Belloc]
[Title: The Despicable Kidnapper, the Newcomer.]
[Magic Index: 3]
[Free Points: 1]
[Magical Talents:
Dark Magic 6,
Transfiguration 4,
General Charms 4 ,
Herbalism 4, Offensive and Defensive Charms 3,
Potions 3, Alchemy 2 , Ancient Runes 2,
Divination 0 ...]
[Main Quest: Receive a commendation from the corresponding course professor.]
[Reward: +1 to the corresponding magical talent and effect.]
Basically, his talent in most mainstream magic spells had reached level 4, with his highest Dark Magic talent even reaching 6.
Although he hadn't learned a single Dark spell yet, he didn't know what a 6-point talent value represented.
But this morning, while practicing spells with Cedric, Lynn had already noticed the benefits of having 4 points in general spellcasting talent.
For some basic spells, like the unlocking charm which can be learned in first year, he only watched Cedric demonstrate three times before he could perfectly imitate the spell's pronunciation and wand-waving motion.
On his fifth attempt, he successfully cast this spell, which he had never encountered before.
Even Cedric couldn't help but marvel at how quickly Lynn was learning spells, almost as fast as he was.
Read 15+ advanced chapters ahead on Patreon!
patreon.com/Horizons685
(End of Chapter)