When Ian and the others arrived at the hall, it was already time for the kitchen to serve lunch. He then pulled Hermione to sit at the long table belonging to Ravenclaw.
Ian tapped the empty plate with a spoon, and bacon, muffins, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, French fries, and a bowl of hot pumpkin porridge instantly appeared in front of him.
"Hermione, what classes do you have this afternoon?"
Ian was also chatting idly while eating.
"One History of Magic class and one Potions class, but I'm more looking forward to Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. That will have to wait until Wednesday. By the way, Ian, are third-year Potions classes difficult?"
Any topic related to class always piqued Hermione's interest.
"Ha, it seems I forgot to tell you that I'm currently taking classes with first-year students to make up for the basic knowledge I missed."
"The professor told me that if I didn't do that and went straight to the third-year course, it would be a mystery to me…"
After a short pause, he continued, "By the way, if you don't mind, we could exchange notes and study together. What do you say?"
Ian found an opportunity to express his inner thoughts. After all, he was in urgent need of increasing his strength, so Hermione's help was indispensable.
"Oh my goodness! I didn't know that. Notes are, of course, fine, and we can even agree to go to the library together to do our homework."
Hermione spoke excitedly, looking forward to something.
She was a little arrogant, but that didn't mean she was stupid. She could clearly feel the alienation between herself and the Gryffindor freshmen of the same grade, which made her even more proud.
In fact, she had been looking forward to having a friend who could accept her, but she had always been troubled by her inability to deepen her connection with Ian. Now that she knew that Ian and she were in the same first-year course, she was extremely happy.
Because the rest time was limited, after having lunch with Hermione, they returned to the common room. After a short rest, they prepared for the afternoon class.
…
The days passed slowly, and half a month (15 days) went by in a flash.
During this period, apart from attending classes as scheduled, Ian spent his remaining free time either in the library or in abandoned classrooms practicing magic and preparing simple potions.
Ian didn't plan to deal with the Room of Requirement for the time being, not because there was a Crown Horcrux there, but simply because the entrance was on the eighth floor.
It took more than ten minutes just to climb the stairs back and forth, which was both physically demanding and time-consuming, so it wasn't worth it.
Moreover, he didn't have any so-called "achievement check-in system," so the most cost-effective option was to find an abandoned classroom nearby in the castle during breaks.
Of course, Ian was not unconventional in interpersonal relationships. He just adhered to Ravenclaw's "nerd" personality and tended to be quiet.
…
On the third floor of the castle, in an abandoned classroom, this was where Ian often practiced magic alone.
"Petrificus Totalus"
A ray of white light suddenly shot out from the tip of his wand and flew straight to the desk in front of him. With a "bang," the abandoned desk began to petrify rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Finally, it succeeded. Ian, who had been sweating profusely, now closed his eyes and carefully felt the flow of magical power in his body after successfully casting the spell.
"If anyone says that magic is all subjective, I promise not to beat him to death..."
The hard practice during this period finally made him understand one thing: the so-called "idealism" was limited to Transfiguration and increasing the power of emotional spells, but it was not helpful for the first release of magic.
As for the release of magic, Ian concluded that there is only the first time and the countless times.
After the first release is successful, it is basically burned into the soul. It becomes very easy to release it again in the future, so for wizards, the first time is often the most important.
After countless attempts, he was finally able to successfully cast the petrification spell today, which made Ian visibly relieved.
Silently looking at the countdown of the hourglass in his mind: 73 hours, 44 minutes, and 15 seconds.
"We have the ability to protect ourselves. The next step is to stock up on supplies. It's also time to ask Dumbledore for help."
…
"Scourgify!"
After half a month of diligent and unremitting practice, Ian had mastered some simple magic.
He could easily perform relatively simple magic that was obviously related to life, such as fluorescent flashes, clear water like a spring, the unlocking spell, and the levitation spell.
After using a spell to clean the dust off his body from practicing magic, Ian planned to go to the headmaster's office on the eighth floor to talk to Dumbledore again.