"Evan, what you did tonight was fantastic!" After everyone had left, Harry, who had been squeezed to the fringes of the crowd, came forward and gave Evan a big hug.
"Perhaps," Evan shrugged, then explained, "You really shouldn't have exaggerated it so much, though. It took quite a bit of effort to deal with that troll."
It wasn't false modesty on Evan's part. The story had already become somewhat distorted. In one version he'd heard, the twelve-foot troll had somehow grown to twenty feet!
Such embellishment was never a good thing...
"Hey, come off it, you're a hero of Gryffindor now! We only saw you save Hermione, then take down the troll with such swiftness, my God, that was fast," Ron punched Evan lightly in the chest, laughing.
"Besides, we only mentioned it a bit, who knew it would spread like this?" Harry expressed that they were not taking the blame.
"Right, where's Hermione?" Evan inquired.
"I don't know, she was just here a moment ago," Harry was also puzzled.
"You saved her, and she can't even say thanks now," Ron said indignantly.
"She must have had to leave for something," Evan shook his head. Hermione wasn't like that.
Since Hermione had nobly taken all the blame for them earlier, Harry and Ron had changed their opinion of her and thus accepted Evan's explanation.
Then Harry and Ron, with an air of secrecy, led Evan to see a package containing a brand-new Nimbus 2000, delivered that morning by Professor McGonagall. Evan, having been in the library at the time, had missed it.
Though uninterested, Evan complimented the broom, seeing Harry and Ron's excitement, then quickly sent them off to bed.
Finally alone, Evan had time to examine the reward he had received for slaying the troll.
[Ancestral Fusion Potion (Potion Recipe)
Required Materials: Dried nettles, Bouncing Bulb, Valerian sprigs, Mistletoe berries, Aconite petals, Rat spleen, Bat's keratin, Powdered moonstone...
Special Ingredient: 150 ml of active blood from a magical creature (Note: The activity of the blood significantly decreases if it's been removed from the body for more than three days)
Prerequisite: Level 6 in Potions (Note: Level 4 in Potions required under the experience card state)]
Evan felt dizzy looking at the long list of required materials. And many were advanced potion ingredients, frightfully expensive. Even if he risked being caught to buy them in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, he wouldn't have enough Galleons.
The prerequisite of Level 6 in Potions made Evan frown even more. Climbing from Level 3 was slow progress, and each level became increasingly difficult to achieve.
Thankfully, the note about Level 4 in Potions gave him some relief, as it was attainable with effort. It was surprising that the experience card mode also offered a bonus for potion brewing.
The most accessible item for Evan was the blood of a magical creature. Despite the limitation of its activity decreasing after three days, Evan knew Hagrid would soon be hatching a dragon.
An adult dragon was beyond Evan's capability, but a newborn? That was fair game.
If he could just get everything else prepared before the dragon was sent away, drawing some blood would be easy...
Thud, thud... thud, thud...
Lost in thought, Evan heard a faint tapping at the window. Turning his head, he saw a dusky grey owl pecking at the glass, a letter tied to its leg.
"Gurrah?"
A name popped into Evan's mind. Perhaps it was the owl's name.
He opened the window, and the dusky grey owl flew in swiftly, shaking off the chill of the night air. With everyone at Evan's welcome party, the poor creature had been left to endure the cold.
Evan's attention, however, was fixated on the envelope tied to its leg, clearly addressed to Evan Halse.
He untied the envelope, holding it in his hand but hesitating to open it. His expression shifted, and with a sigh, he conceded to the inevitable.
He had known this day would come, just not so soon.
After a moment, Evan opened the envelope. To his relief, the letter's contents were mundane, simply inquiring about his welfare at Hogwarts and which house he had been sorted into. At the bottom was the signature of Asia Halse, his mother.
Included were three Galleons and a note saying he could write back if he needed more money.
The more caring the letter appeared, the guiltier and more worried Evan felt...
Guilt went without saying. Though he hadn't chosen to replace someone's child in this world, he couldn't just accept it without qualms.
His concern stemmed from Dumbledore's ambiguous comments about his mother and the prominent Unforgivable Curse, the Cruciatus, in his system panel.
Considering the Cruciatus Curse, Evan felt somewhat speechless. What kind of mother would teach such a dangerous curse before school, and not in a cheerful, peaceful way? Otherwise, Evan wouldn't have felt such fear in his flashbacks. Clearly, his mother had wanted him to experience true fear as a shortcut to learning.
These unknowns unsettled Evan; he urgently needed to gain enough strength to protect himself before returning home.
The quickest way to increase his power was to brew the Ancestral Fusion Potion he had just obtained. So, despite the Galleons feeling like hot potatoes, he pocketed them. He needed the money...
"Gurrah," the owl hooted impatiently, having waited while Evan dawdled. It pecked at his head, reminding him to write back.
Roused from his reverie, Evan served Gurrah some of his own owl's food to buy some patience, ignoring his owl's protests, and picked up a quill, deep in thought.
After much deliberation, he penned a letter recounting some recent amusing incidents at school.
He initially planned to mention the troll incident but decided against it before sending the letter. Evan figured his mother's first reaction to him defeating a troll would be horror and a confrontation with Dumbledore, not pride.
It was better to keep a low profile and avoid stirring up trouble...
After several revisions, Evan sealed the envelope and sent Gurrah back on its way.
By the time he finished, dawn was breaking. Exhausted, Evan crawled into bed.
As he drifted off, a thought struck him: which was Dumbledore's surprise, the welcome party or the letter?
...
The next morning, having slept less than two hours, Evan reluctantly got up for class, joined by a yawning Harry and Ron.
Seeing each other's dark circles, they couldn't help but laugh, which perked them up a bit.
Overnight, the news of Evan's troll-slaying had seemingly spread throughout the school, causing whispers wherever he went.
Evan quickened his pace until they reached the Transfiguration classroom, where the whispers subsided a little.
Hermione had arrived earlier, quietly sitting on the right, flipping through a textbook. The seats around her were already taken.
A few Gryffindor girls chattered about something, occasionally asking Hermione, who looked rather impatient. However, her expression brightened when she saw Evan and she started to come over.
"Alright, children, class is starting, back to your seats!" Professor McGonagall entered just then, frowning at the disordered classroom.
Evan, Harry, and Ron quickly found three empty seats, and Hermione had to return to hers reluctantly.
McGonagall gave Evan a meaningful look, then cleared her throat and addressed the seated students.
"I believe I mentioned at the beginning of the term that Transfiguration will be one of the most complex and dangerous forms of magic you will learn at Hogwarts. With diligent study, it can solve many of the problems you may encounter."
"You must have all heard by now. Just yesterday, Mr. Halse relied on his excellent Transfiguration spellwork and sharp intellect to defeat a troll in the corridors of Hogwarts!"
"For this, Professor Dumbledore has awarded Gryffindor House a full twenty points!" McGonagall concluded.
A buzz of discussion erupted among the students as Evan suddenly became the center of attention.
Many had heard the news from Harry and Ron, but now it was officially confirmed by a teacher.
But Evan couldn't quite share in the excitement. From experience, he knew there was usually a 'but' following such praise, which would align with a typical teacher's speech pattern.
Sure enough, McGonagall continued.
"But... I must warn you all that trolls are extremely powerful and dangerous creatures, not something an unfinished wizard should face! Mr. Halse is an exception, and even your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, fainted from shock during the Halloween feast!"
Her gaze sharpened as she went on.
"If I hear of anyone engaging in such dangerous activities, I will strongly recommend to Professor Dumbledore that they be expelled."
"And even for Mr. Halse, defeating a troll was not as easy as you might think." After a pause, she glanced around the silent room and nodded at Evan, signaling him to speak up.
Evan stood promptly, his expression serious, his tone grave.
"Yes, Professor, I swear, that troll was the most formidable opponent I've faced in all my eleven years... without a doubt!"
Laughter rippled through the classroom as Evan finished. Many astute students caught the hidden meaning in his words.
As a first-year, just eleven years old, the troll was likely Evan's first and therefore most challenging opponent.
McGonagall was dissatisfied with Evan's perfunctory response. She had hoped Evan would talk more about his fear and the harrowing experience to deter these impetuous children.
Evan merely shrugged noncommittally, while inwardly admiring McGonagall's clever approach.
She used his victory to motivate the students to study Transfiguration, set an official tone to the story to stop the exaggerations, and prevent students from thinking they could do the same.
Lastly, she managed to downplay his reputation, ensuring he wouldn't become arrogant after his triumph.
Poor Quirrell, used as a foil to demonstrate the troll's strength, was likely to become Hogwarts' laughingstock.
Evan, mentally far older than eleven, guessed McGonagall's intentions in seconds.
He wouldn't have minded playing along if he could, as staying under the radar was always best. But there were too many questions about his defeat of the troll, and the more he spoke, the more discrepancies would appear.
Otherwise, McGonagall might ask what he intended with those sharp iron thorns.
Thus, McGonagall's carefully prepared introduction achieved only half its goal with Evan's lack of cooperation.
This led to her sternly reminding Evan before the lesson that if he answered out of turn again, she might consider using a Silencing Charm to give others a chance to speak.
Evan, with his scarce academic points and Potion skill far from leveling up, grudgingly acknowledged he might take her "valuable" advice to heart and try to participate more democratically.
Tips:
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