Chapter 12.
The third week of the new semester begins.
While the first-year students are still enjoying campus life, Soren has been racing against time, spending every spare moment and weekend in the library, greedily absorbing every piece of knowledge that can enhance his strength according to the reading list he planned over the past two weeks.
Only five minutes before the library closes does Soren reluctantly leave his seat, borrowing at least ten books under the watchful gaze of the librarian, Miss Pins, and then continues his frenzied reading journey in the quiet of his room using the time sand hourglass!
Soren's strange behaviour finally caught the attention of Miss Pins.
She had been silently observing the boy, very curious about how a first-year student managed to finish more than thirty books a day while maintaining this astonishing reading speed day after day. Moreover, more than half of those books were advanced magic books meant for seventh graders, covering various fields like Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
While Miss Pins was observing Soren, little did she know that he was also observing her. In Soren's eyes, this seemingly ordinary Miss Pins was not simple at all. Soren had the ability to see through others' magical powers, and as his experiences broadened, he had already formed a rough judgment on everyone's magical power levels.
On the day of the entrance ceremony, he noticed that the one with the highest magical power in the school was none other than Headmaster Dumbledore, whose magic burned hot like fire and was potent; following him were the four house heads: Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout, all of whom possessed significantly stronger magical power than Lucius; as for Madam Hooch from Flying class and Professor Sinistra from Astronomy, their magical power was even weaker than Lucius's.
Miss Pins's magical power was just slightly inferior to the four house heads, but her magic had a peculiar quality, giving Soren a cold and strange sensation. This discovery made Soren decide not to provoke Miss Pins casually, and his desire for the restricted section could only be suppressed for now.
Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. Halloween was approaching, and according to the plot, Professor Quirrell's first move of the first year would happen on that day.
After two months of relentless studying, along with occasional real battle training against Dobby in his room at night, Soren had changed significantly compared to the beginning of the semester.
With Soren's deliberate time management and the extra four hours every day from using the time sand hourglass, he practiced spells for at least ten hours each day during these two months, ten times the time a normal student devoted. Now, the hard work was finally paying off.
Not only had Soren mastered many advanced spells, but he had also successfully learned the occlumency Spell. When it came to this Spell, Soren initially believed it would be quite difficult, after all, in the original story, Harry had worked hard and still failed to master it.
However, to Soren's surprise, the Occlumency Spell posed little difficulty for him. After carefully reading through the "the Mind Study Guide" he found in the library, he successfully entered a somewhat calm state on his first attempt by carefully following each step he had noted down.
Not understanding why, Soren searched for a pile of materials about mind magic in the library and discovered that the difficulty of this magic varies from person to person, with the strength of each individual's soul being the primary reason for notable differences in mind control ability.
[Occlumency Learned!]
With a mindset of giving it a try, Soren attempted to learn the most basic mental spells like the Confundus Charm, and many more and he successfully managed to cast them on his first try, leaving Dobby, the test subject, drowsy one moment, confused the next, then excitedly jumping around, and finally laughing foolishly...
Now, Soren sensed that something was amiss. this mental magic is an extremely profound branch of magic; even the simplest spells, such as the the dancing jinx, belong to the curriculum of third-year students.
Soren was well aware that while he had an extraordinary talent for mastering spells, age and the amount of magical power within him were limiting factors. Even the most capable student wizard wouldn't be able to master such complex spells on the first try. Soren vaguely sensed that perhaps this was due to the hidden special abilities in his bloodline power, "Eye of Magic," which remained to be explored.
On Halloween Eve, Professor Flitwick announced in the Charms class that he believed they could start making objects fly. Ever since the first flying lesson when Soren used this spell to save Neville, the students had been eagerly hoping to try this spell themselves.
Professor Flitwick divided the entire class into pairs to begin training. Draco partnered with Pansy, Daphne with Meredith, while Soren, already adept at this spell, did not need a partner and could instead assist a few students, resembling a little teaching assistant.
"Alright, don't forget the subtle wrist motion we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed as usual from his pile of books, "A wave and a flick, remember, a wave and a flick. It's also very important to pronounce the spell correctly; don't forget about the Wizard, who said 'f' instead of 's', and found himself lying on the floor with a wild bull standing on his chest."
Over the past two months, under Soren's guidance, the Slytherin students had made considerable progress, particularly Draco, Daphne, and Meredith, who improved the most, certainly due to Soren's biased treatment.
As for Goyle and Crabbe, Soren didn't think much of them. Crabbe wasn't as docile as he appeared; in the original story, he quietly learned dark magic, including the Fiendfyre curse. His current role as Draco's follower was merely a matter of circumstance, and should anything go awry with the Malfoy family, Crabbe would undoubtedly reveal his ambitions.
In Soren's view, the reason Draco went astray in the original story and almost fell into a wrong path was significantly influenced by these two troublesome friends.
Under Soren's guidance, Draco was the first to successfully cast the levitation charm, causing a feather to float in mid-air, followed closely by Daphne and Meredith, each earning 5 points for Slytherin.
The fourth success was a girl with long black hair from Ravenclaw, whose refined looks were complemented by an elegant and composed aura. With her black-framed vintage glasses and neatly styled hair, she radiated a scholarly charm, exuding a unique intellectual beauty.
Even for Soren, who was used to seeing beautiful girls, this one was striking, stirring an inexplicable impulse within him to approach and get to know her. Although he hadn't interacted with any Ravenclaw students yet, his remarkable memory allowed him to recall the girl's name mentioned during the Sorting Ceremony—Moray McDougall.
The other young witches and wizards attempted the spell over and over again, but the feather remained motionless on the floor. One boy from Ravenclaw—Soren remembered him as Michael Corner, a self-proclaimed handsome playboy—was eager to showcase his skills due to Slytherin's excellent performance. He waved his wand vigorously, resulting in—
With a bang, the feather exploded. Although the explosion wasn't powerful, it still burned a regrettable hole in his sleeve...
The levitation charm is actually a simplified version of the complex gravity-reversing magic created through numerous modifications by predecessors. It's not difficult to succeed in casting it—just a simple pronunciation of the spell and the correct wand movement are required. However, Soren sought more than just making the feather float.
Soren understood that the Hogwarts curriculum would only teach the basic principles and applications of these spells, but all charms trace back to a myriad of more complex theories and advanced applications. For example, in the original story, the Patronus Charm could only repel Dementors, yet Dumbledore was able to use it to communicate over long distances and even conjure multiple corporeal Patronuses.
Through analysis, Soren discovered that the levitation charm consists of four components: "levitation"—to negate the effects of gravity on the target object; "hover"—to suspend the target object at a specified location in mid-air; "movement"—to move the target object according to the caster's will; and "descent"—to allow gravity to return to the target object, or even increase the gravity's effect.
Easily, Soren made the feather before him float up, allowing it to gently move according to the direction of his wand, even hovering mid-air while spinning and turning, and finally, under Soren's watchful eye, it floated into the feather box on the professor's desk in a perfect arc.
Such performance was nothing new to the Slytherin students, but the Ravenclaw students present felt immense pressure—with Soren in Slytherin, it seemed that winning the House Cup was basically hopeless this year. Professor Flitwick greatly appreciated Soren and awarded Slytherin an additional 10 points—now Slytherin was 30 points ahead of the second-place Ravenclaw, while bottom-ranked Gryffindor trailed by a full 60 points.
After class, Professor Flitwick asked Soren to stay behind and requested him to write a paper on his insights regarding the Levitation Charm, to submit to "Spell Innovations," while also inviting him to join his Charms Club under the pretext of this assignment.
Soren had already decided to use his own strength and reputation to revitalise his family, so he was more than willing to accept these opportunities that could enhance his fame.