Chapter 5: Is There Any Room for Ordinary Wizards?
The trio finally managed to rush into the classroom just before class started.
"I bet those stairs were deliberately trying to make us late!" Ron rubbed his still slightly red nose as he stepped into the classroom first, glancing at the empty lectern and finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"It seems we aren't too late after all; the professor hasn't arrived yet." Harry also felt relieved and glanced at Ivan, thankful they had woken up early today. Otherwise, they would have definitely been late.
"No, I think the professor is already here", Ivan ignored their comments and looked at the spotted cat on the lectern before quickly returning to his seat.
Harry and Ron were confused, but as they sat down, they saw the spotted cat leap down from the lectern, its form twisting and transforming. When it landed, it had become a middle-aged witch—Professor Mcgonagall!
Harry and Ron were stunned, finally understanding what Ivan had meant. But they couldn't figure out how Ivan knew the cat was Professor Mcgonagall.
Professor Mcgonagall was equally surprised. She had transformed into her Animagus form to observe the new batch of young Wizards and to introduce the Transfiguration class with a transformation, but she hadn't expected a student to recognize her.
She nodded approvingly at Ivan and began the first Transfiguration lesson.
"Before we start, I want to remind you that Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous Spells you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone who misbehaves in my class will be expelled immediately and never return!"
Professor Mcgonagall waved her Wand, turning the lectern into a pig. The young Wizards gasped in amazement as she transformed it back into a lectern.
Ivan, sitting in a front row, watched the entire process clearly.
Precise, quick, and flawless.
Turning a wooden lectern into a sentient being was akin to altering the structure of matter and temporarily bestowing intelligence on an inanimate object. The mystery and power of magic were evident in that moment.
While the Wizarding world's magic might be slightly less destructive, it had its unique strengths and was comprehensive and complete!
Professor Mcgonagall's demonstration immediately piqued the interest of the young Wizards. After explaining the techniques and methods of the Transfiguration Spell, she distributed a Matchstick to each student, with the goal of turning the Matchstick into a Silver Needle.
As Professor Mcgonagall began her explanation, a notification echoed in Ivan's mind.
[Ding, you listened attentively to the professor's lecture and found the content somewhat difficult to understand. Your Transfiguration Spell proficiency has slightly increased.]
Ivan checked the information panel and saw a new line in the magic section.
[Transfiguration Spell Level 0 (6/100)]
Seeing the content as he had expected, Ivan felt a sense of joy. This meant that no matter what kind of magic, as long as he practiced repeatedly and increased his proficiency, he could learn it quickly.
However, after half a class of repeated practice, Ivan realized it wasn't as simple as he had imagined.
"Ivan Hals!"
"Mr. Hals!"
A stern and loud voice echoed in the closed classroom, drawing the attention of the other young Wizards.
It wasn't until Professor Mcgonagall turned her head sharply that the young Wizards reluctantly returned to their seats, each struggling and focusing on their Matchstick, trying to make even the slightest change.
Professor Mcgonagall scanned the room and saw a scruffy-haired young witch whose Matchstick had already shown significant changes, somewhat resembling a needle. She relaxed her tightly pursed lips and showed a satisfied expression.
After warning the students who were still slacking off with a stern look, Professor Mcgonagall turned her gaze to the slightly dazed boy in front of her and spoke sternly.
"Mr. Hals, I believe I should have reminded you that casting Spells is very dangerous and requires concentration before you begin!"
"Additionally, repetitive mechanical practice won't help much. You need to focus and imagine the Silver Needle."
"Yes, Professor Mcgonagall, I will pay attention", Ivan Hals nodded politely, focusing his mind under the witch's gaze. He waved his nearly twelve-inch Wand in the air with a precise frequency.
On the black-gray wooden table, the Matchstick seemed to be driven by an invisible force, twisting and transforming, slowly changing shape under the influence of magic.
However, as the Matchstick slowly transformed, it seemed to be interfered with and instantly reverted back to its original form.
This situation didn't seem to surprise Professor Mcgonagall. After seeing it, she simply nodded, told them to practice more, and walked away. After all, most of the newly enrolled young Wizards were at this level.
Ivan Hals was left behind, muttering to himself with a sigh.
"It seems that accumulating proficiency isn't as easy as I thought."
After trying for most of the class, Ivan's initial excitement had long faded.
The rate of proficiency increase, after a rapid surge at the beginning, had slowed down, and not every attempt resulted in a rise in proficiency.
After some experimentation, Ivan felt that this was more about presenting his current level of skill in terms of proficiency rather than actually improving it through practice.
After most of the class, Ivan couldn't even maintain the Transfiguration Spell for a long time.
Just as Ivan Hals was daydreaming during the Transfiguration class, he was suddenly poked a few times.
Turning his head, he saw an excited Harry pointing at a shiny, slender object on the table, shouting loudly.
"Hey, Ivan, look, I did it, I did it!"
"Um, yes, Harry, you're very talented and skilled!" Ivan glanced at the object on the table and nodded. Being able to significantly change the shape of a Matchstick and maintain it for a long time on the first Transfiguration class was already at the upper level for young Wizards. At the very least, it was much better than he could do.
"Right? I didn't expect it. After all, my aunt and uncle are all Muggles, and I was always doubtful about whether I could cast magic before I enrolled."
With Ivan's affirmation, Harry began to pour out all his previous concerns and worries.
Before entering the magical world, Harry was just an ordinary eleven-year-old boy. Suddenly, he became the savior in everyone's eyes. While he gained unimaginable attention and glory, he also bore unimaginable pressure.
Harry had even considered the embarrassing scenario of not being able to learn magic, but fortunately, things didn't turn out that badly.
Ivan wasn't surprised by Harry's quick mastery of magic. After all, the Sorting Hat had clearly stated that he was brave, kind, and extremely talented when he was sorted into his house.
The Sorting Hat had even suggested that Harry join Slytherin House. In his third year, he used the Patronus Charm, which he had just learned, to drive away or eliminate over a hundred Dementors.
If it weren't for the overly relaxed education at Hogwarts, this exceptionally talented savior would likely have at least the strength of a professor by graduation.
Ivan didn't envy him at all, not one bit.
After all, talented young Wizards were few and far between.
Ivan glanced around and found that most of the young Wizards were at his level, which relieved him a bit. But then, he heard Professor Mcgonagall's loud voice again.
"Very well, Miss Granger! Everyone, take a look. Miss Granger has successfully transformed a Matchstick into a Silver Needle. Gryffindor gets five points!"
A few steps from Ivan's seat, Professor Mcgonagall was holding up a Silver Needle, showing it to the surrounding young Wizards.
Miss Granger, with her bushy brown hair messily falling over her shoulders, was sitting upright, her head held high, accepting the amazed and surprised looks from the other young Wizards.
Ivan, who had just adjusted his mindset, was once again thrown into chaos by the sight of the Silver Needle.
Is this even fair for ordinary Wizards?
"Damn it, it was just a little more! If I had practiced a bit more, Professor Mcgonagall would have praised me", Ron poked the table with his Wand, glaring at Hermione, seemingly upset about the lost glory.
Ivan glanced at the object on Ron's table, which had lost its magic and reverted back to a Matchstick. He thought that even after a few more classes, Ron wouldn't reach Hermione's level.
Not that he was much better, and in fact, he was even worse.
Ivan sighed slightly, feeling somewhat helpless. What about the common tropes in novels, like having a talent report after crossing over, or the significant increase in mental power due to soul fusion?
None of these common tropes applied to Ivan. He now understood how accurate the Sorting Hat's evaluation of his talent was.
Of course, the inability to stabilize the Transfiguration Spell was, according to Ivan, partly due to his lack of talent, and partly due to the reduced compatibility of his Wand caused by the soul replacement.
If magic is equal to electricity, and the Wand is like a plug and wiring, then Spells are various appliances.
Now, if the wiring occasionally experiences short circuits, the light bulb will naturally flicker on and off.
However, Ivan couldn't solve the problem with his Wand in the short term, and he would probably have to use it for an entire semester.
After struggling with a Matchstick for a while, the first Transfiguration class finally came to an end. Ivan never managed to stabilize the transformed form of the Matchstick.
Instead, he discovered a rather useless little trick: by releasing magic chaotically through his Wand, he could form a thin beam of magical light. Its only use was to revert an unstable Transfiguration back to its original form.
Ivan discovered this by accident after failing to cast the Transfiguration Spell for the Nth time, nearly blowing up the Matchstick. Apart from using it to tease Ron during Transfiguration class, it had no other practical use.
Just as Professor Mcgonagall announced the end of the class, another voice echoed in Ivan's mind.
[Ding, after the host's tireless efforts, the Transfiguration class has ended. Please keep up the good work.
Overall class evaluation: Average
Evaluator: Minerva Mcgonagall
Reward: Academic Points * 5]
Seeing the information suddenly appear in his mind, Ivan was caught off guard.
You can get rewards for attending class?
Ivan was somewhat surprised, especially when he saw the words Academic Points. It felt like he was back in university.
It seems that the evaluations are done by the professors of each subject.
I wonder if there will be corresponding rewards or punishments for doing well or poorly on the Finals?
Of course, despite his complaints, Ivan was happy to discover a new function of the System. He just didn't know what the Academic Points could be used for.
Ever since the System panel was triggered, Ivan had noticed the Academic Points. Perhaps because he hadn't obtained any before, the related functions hadn't been activated. After this, it didn't take long for Ivan to find the new exchange option in the panel.
To Ivan's slight disappointment, there was only one lonely Scholar Experience Card in the entire exchange list. It required 100 Academic Points to exchange, and its effect was to significantly increase learning efficiency for one hour.
Ivan had imagined being able to exchange for powerful magic or Curses, but none of those options were available.
Is this pushing learning to the extreme?
Ivan glanced at the five Academic Points he had earned from one class and felt a bit hopeless. Hogwarts only had three to five class periods a day.
At five Academic Points per class, it would take five days to accumulate enough for one hour of the Scholar Experience Card.
That's too much of a grind.
What can you learn in one hour?
But with no other options, Ivan had no choice but to accept it. Besides, he had no other way to improve his low learning efficiency.
What else can he do?
Just study hard.
After the Transfiguration class ended, the next class was the dull History of Magic, taught by the old-fashioned ghost, Professor Binns. For the entire class, he droned on without any regard for the young Wizards below.
This made Ivan somewhat uncomfortable. The acquisition of Academic Points was clearly related to the professor's evaluation of his performance in class, and the teaching method of History of Magic left no room for improving his evaluation.
By the end of the class, Ivan once again received an average evaluation and five Academic Points.
However, Ivan soon realized the benefit of the History of Magic class.
In the next Spells class, they learned how to apply magic steadily to objects and influence them, which was the foundation for learning the Levitation Charm. Due to the interference from his Wand, it took Ivan the entire class to barely succeed, and he blew up the casting prop three times!
His performance was only slightly better than Neville.
On the other hand, Miss Granger succeeded after just three attempts.
As a result, Ivan inevitably received a poor evaluation and only two Academic Points.
The only good news was that after a few days of aimless Wandering, the progress of the Quest Tree task Explore Hogwarts had reached 30%. On average, he gained two Academic Points for each percentage point, earning a total of sixty Academic Points, which was much faster than the rewards from daily classes.
It finally gave Ivan hope of gathering 100 Academic Points to exchange for a Scholar Experience Card.
(End of Chapter)
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