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The final decision regarding Quirrell was quickly communicated from the major deans to the prefects of each house, who then informed the other young wizards. This was meant to give everyone an explanation. Many were disappointed that Quirrell was not fired, but Dumbledore explained Quirrell's assurance and reasons. This settled any dissatisfaction. Nowadays, Dumbledore's words are still very convincing to the young wizards. After all, he is the most powerful white wizard in the world.
The sound of the system notification echoed in Wayne's mind.
[The big event "The Power of the Badger" ended. Quirrell paid a huge price. Event impact evaluation: good.]
[Reward points +500. Ten times critical hit reward has been generated and can be claimed at any time.]
Wayne, who was taking a Transfiguration class, kept his expression unchanged, waved his wand gently, and the apple on the table turned into a teacup. Receiving a good evaluation was already a good result. The sender still stayed at Hogwarts; if Quirrell had been fired or died, his evaluation would have been higher. He gained a total of nearly 4,000 points from this incident, which was close to half of the required points.
Wayne decided not to claim the final ten-fold critical strike reward immediately. He planned to wait until it was quiet at night and find a safe place to avoid making any noise.
"Hermione, grip your wand a little lighter. It's a wand, not a baton." Miss Granger glared at Wayne but still followed his advice, reducing her movements. "Mr. Finnigan, don't point your wand at Longbottom!" Seeing Professor McGonagall teaching Neville and Seamus, Wayne leaned toward Hermione's ear, his breath warm on her fair face. "Meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight, and let me know your recent study progress."
Due to the report, Hermione had been noticeably upset with Wayne these past two days. But Wayne knew it was because she was worried about him. He planned to find a quiet time tonight to mend their relationship and calm Hermione down.
They were very close, and a blush appeared on Hermione's face. She didn't refuse: "What time?"
"Ten-thirty. Don't come too early."
"Isn't that already past curfew?" Hermione's face showed slight concern.
"Don't worry. We won't get caught," Wayne said confidently. "Gryffindor's tower is very close to the Room of Requirement. Filch usually patrols the fourth floor anyway."
In the end, Hermione didn't refuse. Her bottom line had been slowly worn away. She wanted to study with Wayne more than obey school rules.
Late at night, in the Room of Requirement, Hermione was much better at the Disarming Spell compared to the weekend, but she was still a little soft.
"Expelliarmus!" A ray of red light hit Wayne's wrist, and his wand flew away. But in the next second, Wayne merely stretched out his hand and retrieved his wand. Hermione felt a bit embarrassed; her spell was indeed too weak. "Focus more and have fewer distractions," Wayne said, identifying Hermione's problem instantly. "When casting a spell, treat it as if you are facing a real enemy every time. This is something you should learn from Harry. He's very talented in fighting and is always fully committed."
Harry's potential for Slytherin is evident even beyond Voldemort's influence. Though reckless, Harry has qualities fitting for Slytherin: a quick temper, numerous arguments with Ron, blowing up his aunt in third grade, shouting at Dumbledore and smashing things in the principal's office in fifth grade, and casting Sectumsempra on Malfoy in sixth grade. Saying he's not a little snake wouldn't be believable.
Hearing Wayne compare her unfavorably to Harry, Hermione felt dissatisfied. "What you said is too vague. Can you be more specific?" she asked, distressed.
"Let me demonstrate," Wayne said, summoning a puppet and casting the spell with perfect form. "Expelliarmus!" Wayne's aura changed instantly. The red light struck the puppet and caused it to shatter. Hermione stuttered in disbelief: "This... is this the Disarming Spell?"
"Don't worry about the details," Wayne said, waving his hand. "Did you understand the focus I had?"
"I think so," Hermione replied, her intelligence allowing her to grasp the concept quickly.
"Then try it," Wayne encouraged, summoning another puppet. This time, Hermione imagined the puppet as the villain who stole her book. Emotions heightened, she cast "Expelliarmus!" and the puppet was pushed back nearly ten meters. The teapot in the puppet's hand flew quickly towards her.
"That's it!" Wayne applauded. "Whether it's a spell, a gesture, or a mental state, it's all about focusing your emotions. Combine these elements, then simplify them – that's the standard step for learning most magic."
In this world, wizard strength isn't constant. Even ordinary wizards can show great power when the mood strikes, like Jasmine Weasley's display against Bella, although Bella was technically stronger.
Satisfied with her progress, Hermione continued to train, showing marked improvement. After half an hour, Wayne suggested stopping and escorted Hermione back to sleep.
Returning to the Room of Requirement, Wayne commanded, "System, claim event rewards."
[Gift package is opening...Congratulations to the host. You've obtained the legendary talent, the Thunder Lord's decree!]
A simple red stone talisman appeared out of thin air, spinning and flying towards Wayne's eyebrows.
At the same time, dark clouds gathered above the castle, and a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, followed by loud thunder, waking many young wizards. Hermione also jumped out of bed.
In the principal's office, Dumbledore stood looking out the open window. The thunder and lightning illuminated the oppressive night sky. Such conditions seemed unnatural. "Fox, has any Thunderbird come to Hogwarts as a guest?" Phoenix, as the spirit of birds, could sense other birds. Fawkes landed on Dumbledore's shoulder and tilted his head.
"Chirp!"
"So, it's not that..." Dumbledore murmured. He didn't sense any magic from the thunder, so he ruled out the possibility of a magical effect. Shrugging, he decided it was just a strange natural phenomenon.
In the Room of Requirement, Wayne closed his eyes. The ancient runes disappeared, and his body floated, emitting a red light.
The red electric arc was like a small snake, lingering around the body.
Wayne accepted the vast amount of information brought by the runes.
The Thunderlord's decree—it even has a name: Electrocution.
Completely fused with the runes, Wayne had established a connection with thunder. Not only had his thunder and lightning magic been greatly improved, but other spells could now be imbued with the power of thunder. Even his body was growing stronger under the stimulation of thunder and lightning. It could be said that he was now the controller of thunder and lightning.
With a casual wave of his hand, lightning exploded, and several stone puppets were blown to pieces. This talent was truly powerful. Wayne opened his eyes.
"System, the reward after Tianbei's critical attack is so valuable?"
[The basic reward has a 97% probability of being purple quality and a 3% probability of being gold quality.]
[The host is extremely lucky. The original reward was the golden talent Thunderbird Bloodline. After being amplified, it became the legendary reward Thunderlord's Decree.]
Seeing the system's explanation, Wayne was filled with emotion. I am destiny! He then looked at his current panel.
[Host: Wayne Lawrence
Magic: SS+
Charm: SS
Defense against Dark Arts (White Magic): SSS
Black Magic: S
Polymorph: S+
Potion: A+
Alchemy: A
Special Talents: Memory Palace, Natural Holy Spirit (the power of the patron saint is greatly improved, and defense against black magic is enhanced), Wandless Spellcasting (it is easier to master wandless spellcasting skills, and the power is improved) Thunderlord's Decree (controls all things thunder, thunder spells are more powerful and can be attached to other spells)
Thin Ribbon of Mana Flow, Dynamic Perception.]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: SS+, legend, one step away.]
Compared to before, Wayne's magic talent had been upgraded slightly, and his defense against black magic (white magic) had jumped to SSS. Even his black magic had reached S. Unfortunately, the overall evaluation was still stuck at SS+, though Wayne wasn't too disappointed. The higher the talent goes, the more obvious the gap becomes. This is the so-called "sometimes the gap between people is larger than between people and dogs."
"The system has only a talent evaluation but no strength evaluation?"
After a while, the system beeped.
[The strength attribute panel is generated. Reminder: the positioning of strength in the magic world is vague, and the evaluation provided by the system is for reference only.]
[In a real wizard battle, anything can happen.]
As the voice fell, Wayne's strength panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[Host: Wayne Lawrence
Magic: 0.8 Snape
Has mastered the spells: Shattering Curse, Shield of Equith, Disarming Curse, Patronus Charm, Unforgivable Curses...(omitted)
Strength evaluation: Professor level (full talents) / Elite Auror level (normal strength)]
[System strength classification: student, adult wizard, elite wizard, Auror, elite Auror, professor, archmage, legend, myth...]
In other areas, Wayne had no doubts and found this evaluation reasonable. The two talents of dynamic perception and thunder lord significantly impacted actual combat. With his current physical fitness, even a few professors at the college couldn't do anything to him because their spells couldn't hit at all. The only thing that made him feel speechless was this magic power. What the hell is 0.8, a magical version of Kakashi?
I teach. It's shameless!
In the basement, Snape, who was studying the Phoenix King's tears, sneezed.
The next day, the little wizards were still discussing the lightning and thunder that had happened late the previous night.
"There must have been a thunderbird passing by Hufflepuff," a confident Hufflepuff student said. "I once went to Arizona in the United States with my grandfather, and the valley there was exactly the same as the lightning last night."
"I heard Dumbledore is practicing magic," another young wizard opined.
A Ravenclaw retorted, "Impossible, how could there be such a terrifying weather spell?"
"Maybe it's some other powerful magic."
Wayne listened to their discussion and drank his oatmeal silently, with no intention of participating. From what he had heard, he knew it was most likely his own doing. Unexpectedly, hiding in the Room of Requirement caused strange phenomena outside. He realized he must be more careful when drawing cards in the future, as he had to go there every time to draw. Thinking back to his recklessness in drawing cards in the dormitory, Wayne felt lucky. Fortunately, he hadn't obtained the talent of the Thunderlord's Decree there. Otherwise, he would have sent Toby and Norman into oblivion.
His two roommates, on the other hand, looked confused. "What are you talking about?" "Did it thunder last night?"
Justin Finch-Fletchley looked at Toby doubtfully: "Didn't you hear that?"
"No," Toby said blankly. "It was dawn when I woke up. I didn't know anything about thunder and lightning."
Norman also echoed, "Me neither. I don't feel it at all. How about you Wayne?"
"I did see it, but it disappeared after a while, and I went back to sleep," Wayne said, burying his head lower. To let his two roommates sleep more soundly, he had added two drops of Living Hell Decoction, or the water of life and death, to their bedtime drinks. This was a powerful sleeping pill. There was no difference between falling asleep and dying. But Wayne controlled the dosage, and two drops gave Norman and Toby just eight hours of sleep.
As class approached, they stopped discussing it. The little Hufflepuffs went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor. Coincidentally, the last class Quirrell had attended before being reported was theirs. The first class after his return from sick leave was still theirs. Many people were looking at Wayne. If Wayne was still not satisfied, would he continue to report?
Wayne, sitting by the window, said helplessly, "Don't look at me. I won't deliberately cause trouble for the professor."
"Hehe," Hannah smiled happily. "Wayne, if you still want to report, you must call everyone."
Everyone nodded in unison. Feelings can be addictive.
The school bell rang, and Quirrell walked in, looking no different from usual, wearing the same wide turban and smelling of garlic. This disappointed the little wizards. The classroom became slightly noisy.
"Since class is already in session, don't discuss irrelevant matters."
Shockingly, Quirrell stopped stuttering and raised his head instead of looking at his book. "I'm sorry to have delayed everyone's time for a month due to my personal health. But with Dumbledore's help, I feel better now. Let the class begin."
The classroom became silent. Everyone noticed that Quirrell was really different. Wayne sat up slightly and looked at him carefully. Quirrell rarely opened the curtains, letting sunlight shine into the room, and said in a calm voice:
"If you want to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, you must understand why we need to learn this type of magic."
"Is it for defense?"
"Yes and no." "Learning Defense Against the Dark Arts allows you to use magic to protect yourself from dark wizards and black magic. But essentially, it's an offensive discipline."
Tap, tap, tap!
The wand tapped on the blackboard, and three words appeared on it.
"Defend, counterattack, defeat the enemy."
In just a few words, all the little wizards were intrigued by Quirrell, whose words carried an unspeakable charm. Wayne understood that with such abilities, Quirrell was not speaking on his own. Then the person giving the lecture could only be...
Tom!