Hermione's mouth hung open, her face a tapestry of disbelief. She remembered clearly from yesterday's Transfiguration class, Evan could barely stabilize a transfiguration spell, and now he was performing magic like a seasoned pro?
After completing the transfiguration, Evan didn't linger; leaving the still-dumbfounded Hermione behind, he returned to the Gryffindor common room alone.
Carrying the book, Evan encountered Harry and Ron on his way back to the dormitory. They were playing wizard's chess and looked as if they had seen a ghost upon seeing him.
Ron gaped at the "Fundamentals of Basic Spell Principles Detailed Analysis" in Evan's hand, his eyes nearly popping out. The knight he was holding in his right hand dropped onto the table with a clack.
The armor of the fallen knight was smashed to pieces, and it cursed as it wielded a toothpick-thin sword, chopping down on Ron's fingernail.
"Ouch," Ron winced, flicking the knight away, then looked at the crack in his nail with fury, smashing the offending piece with his cup and tossing it back into the box to magically repair itself.
Then, nursing his thumb, Ron turned to Harry with a worried expression.
"Harry, do you think Evan's going to end up like Hermione?"
"I... I don't think so?" Harry was equally unsure.
The thought of having two Hermiones bossing them around sent shivers down their spines.
Back in the dormitory, Evan was oblivious to the discussion about him in the common room.
His attention had already shifted to the changes in the system's statistics.
[Evan*Halse
Occupation: Wizard
Spell Category: Fearful Curse Level 1 (6/200), Levitation Charm Level 1 (12/200), Transfiguration Spell Level 1 (30/200), Disarming Charm Level 1 (16/200), Lumos Charm Level 1 (1/200)....
Knowledge Theory: Magical Item Crafting Level 0 (435/500), Fundamentals of Basic Spell Principles Level 0 (88/100)
Magical Items: Wand (Hawthorn wood, unicorn hair core, eleven and three-quarter inches)
Magical Power: Medium
Compatibility: 72.5%
...
Academic Points: 20]
The Study Prodigy Experience Card, even if just for an hour, had significantly improved Evan's abilities. The spells he knew had mostly advanced to level one.
With no one else in the dormitory, Evan took the opportunity to experiment with the Levitation Charm and the Disarming Charm using a chest, a stool, and a pillow.
"Wingardium Leviosa~"
"Expelliarmus~"
...
After a few minutes of self-entertaining spellcasting, Evan looked at the pillow that had been disarmed from the headboard to the foot of the bed and the chest and stool that were floating down slowly, feeling a deep sense of accomplishment.
This was the power of magic!
Few could resist the allure of such mysterious, supernatural abilities, especially Evan, who, before his illness and death in his previous life, loved reading all sorts of fantasy and magic-themed books.
Unfortunately, due to various limitations in his first days after arriving at Hogwarts, he hadn't successfully cast even the most basic spells. Now that he had managed to cast several, his excitement was palpable.
Everything he saw now, Evan wanted to hit with a Transfiguration and Levitation spell...
After about ten minutes of continuous experimentation, Evan's head began to feel heavy—a clear sign of magical exhaustion.
During the spellcasting, he also got a sense of his limits.
For the Levitation Charm, Evan could keep an empty chest suspended one meter in the air for nearly forty seconds, or levitate his bed for about five seconds, albeit only thirty centimeters off the ground.
As for the Transfiguration Spell, it could alter the shape and even the nature of an object for a period of time.
This was the spell that fascinated Evan the most. With enough practice, one could even transform inanimate objects into living creatures, just like Professor McGonagall.
But could this Transfiguration Spell be used on wizards? For example, in battle, could one cast a spell to transform an enemy into a tree... a brick... a pig... a cow... a sheep?
Or transform the objects around an enemy wizard into fierce beasts or traps to achieve a swift victory?
Yet, as Evan pondered, he frowned, recalling that in the original story, few seemed to do this.
Even Professor McGonagall, adept at Transfiguration, didn't use it on enemy wizards in the final battle.
Was it because the standard Transfiguration Spell couldn't affect living beings? Yet, the spell was powerful enough to turn non-living objects into living ones, so it seemed unreasonable not to reverse the process.
Hagrid used a spell to give Dudley, who was bullying Harry, a pig's tail, and there was an incident where Draco was transformed into a ferret, indicating that Transfiguration could be directly applied to humans.
Was it a matter of magical influence? Did wizards have a certain resistance to Transfiguration? The stronger they were, the more resistance they had?
What exactly was magical power? Why could wizards perform such incredible spells...
Evan thought of the Animagus transformation, which could affect powerful wizards. Even such a strong and difficult spell could only transform a wizard into a specific animal and not any chosen form.
It seemed more like a fixed Transfiguration spell, allowing wizards to switch between two forms without flaws or time limits.
"Forget it, why am I thinking about this?" Evan rubbed his forehead. He was just a first-year wizard, and his spells were barely passable.
Thinking too much was of no use...
After testing the Levitation Charm, Transfiguration Spell, Lumos Charm, and Disarming Charm, Evan had a rough estimate of his own strength.
He was probably on the higher end of the spectrum for a regular first-year wizard.
After experimenting with the effects of ordinary spells, Evan turned his attention to the Fearful Curse, classified as dark magic, which had appeared in his system after arriving at Hogwarts but which he had never used before.
"Fear Descend!" Evan recalled the order of casting spells in his memory and pointed his wand at the head of his owl, Maca.
"Coo-coo~" A dim purple light flashed, and Maca tilted its head, looking innocently at Evan.
"It didn't work?" Evan, puzzled by Maca's lack of reaction, tried again.
"Fear Descend! Fear Descend..."
Evan cast the spell repeatedly, the purple light enveloping Maca, but the owl seemed to think it was a game and started tugging at the wand's tip with its hooked beak.
Reluctantly, Evan pulled back his wand before Maca could damage it, then glared at the system's magic column, frustrated with the Fearful Curse.
Logically, after reaching level one, he should have been able to cast it properly.
Or was it...
Evan suddenly remembered the memories that had flooded his mind when the Sorting Hat had invaded his brain...
"Fear..." Evan closed his eyes for a moment, then, upon opening them, saw Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, napping on the table. After some thought, he spared Maca, his messenger owl, and moved towards the rat with his wand in hand.
Scabbers was sleeping soundly, remnants of a jelly bean stuck at the corner of its mouth. Its small paws, divided into four digits, occasionally scratched at the table involuntarily, as if it was dreaming of something delightful...