Upon discovering the reason, Wade was eager to improve the other cabinet.
However, considering he had classes tomorrow, he resigned himself to returning to the dormitory to sleep.
The morning started with Transfiguration class.
Transfiguration was a type of magic Wade could quickly master even without using his eyes.
Perhaps because he had been practicing Occlumency, Wade's thoughts were much clearer than his past self's. The mental images he formed were more concrete and distinct, and his magical guidance was fluid and stable.
This allowed him to succeed at Transfiguration in just one or two tries, even in the initial learning phase.
Moreover, Lupin was also an excellent Transfiguration teacher.
His three companions had successfully become Animagi, and Lupin's own understanding and mastery of Transfiguration theory were enough to call him a master.
His guidance to Wade was always profound yet easy to understand, hitting the core mechanisms, and Wade's progress in Transfiguration could be described as rapid.
It was also Lupin's assessment that Wade's current level was ready to begin preparing to become an Animagus.
The first step was to hold a fresh Mandrake leaf continuously in one's mouth for an entire month, without swallowing it or taking it out.
This process was undoubtedly difficult, as people eat and drink every day; they also unconsciously chew and swallow in their sleep.
So, although it was said to be one month, it was not uncommon for this process to be repeated several or even a dozen times. Those who couldn't persevere naturally had to give up.
However, the Mandrake leaves were currently seedlings. Professor Sprout said it would be at least another month before the picked leaves could be used.
For now, all he could do was continue practicing and improving his Transfiguration.
Because Wade's learning progress far exceeded the curriculum, Professor McGonagall granted him special permission to practice independently in class. During her rounds, she would come over to guide him a few times.
Transfiguration class ended relatively early, after which Wade went to the Astronomy Tower to continue learning Bio-Alchemy with Professor Morray.
As the tutoring session neared its end, a chess piece finally moved.
The white knight moved around the chessboard a few times, drew its long sword, and swung it, as if fighting an invisible enemy.
Then it stood, gripping its sword with both hands, and said in a low voice, "Evil is evil, there are no big, small, or medium versions!"
Professor Morray laughed, "Looks like quite a character... What kind of thought did you give it?"
Hearing this, the white knight suddenly looked up.
"Based on your first impression of me, I don't like your attitude, but I will listen to what you have to say."
Wade said, "I read a short story in a magazine earlier, about a witcher. I found it very interesting, so I gave it similar thoughts."
"Interesting... Most people only tell chess pieces what they should do; personalities are usually imbued unintentionally."
Professor Morray said, then asked the chess piece with interest, "Are you a knight of the Eight Virtues?"
The white knight was silent for a moment before saying seriously, "No, I am not a knight, but a witcher!"
"A witcher?" Professor Morray almost laughed. "Do you hunt demons and vampires?"
"Mock me all you want. I know how difficult it is for people to understand each other."
The white knight said solemnly, "Perhaps you'll find it unbelievable, but even in sunlit places, there are shadows that the sun cannot reach."
"What if I told you to fight the chess pieces on the other side?" Professor Morray asked.
The white knight looked at the mindless black chess pieces, shook its head, and said, "I will not harm innocent people!"
"But you are a chess piece; this is your mission."
Professor Morray actually began to argue with it.
The white knight said disapprovingly, "I do not accept the mission you impose on me. I know what I must do... even if my path is destined to be solitary."
Seeing Professor Morray enjoying himself, Wade decided to leave the chess piece there, said his goodbyes, and departed.
The afternoon was Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Ryan and Harry said their Defense Against the Dark Arts class yesterday was an absolute disaster."
During lunch, Michael recounted the news he'd heard from the Owlry: "Professor Lockhart brought a cage of Cornish Pixies, made a complete mess of the classroom, and then ran off."
"More than that," Padma chimed in. "Several people were bitten or scratched, and Madam Pomfrey was furious."
Lisa said incredulously, "I heard that before class, they actually took a quiz! All the questions were about Lockhart's favorite color, Lockhart's achievements, and things like that."
Anthony Goldstein quietly gathered the second-year Ravenclaw students into a small room behind the Great Hall, then handed each of them a piece of paper.
He said, "Honestly, I think these questions Professor Lockhart asks are worthless, and there's no need to read books for them."
"These are the questions and answers I found out. You all can look at them beforehand and just get through the class."
"Oh, and don't take out any cheat sheets during the exam. After all, he's a professor; he might have some way of detecting cheating."
"Got it," Terry said, unfolding the paper and glancing at it. "I really don't want to flatter him this way."
"Making a good first impression is still necessary," Anthony advised him. "After all, he's a professor, and sometimes we need to get passes from him. Plus, if your grades are too bad, he might give you detention."
Terry said nothing more.
A group of students looked at the papers, muttering, quickly memorizing the answers.
While Ravenclaw students weren't to the point of photographic memory, few had poor memories.
Some students, after reading it once, remembered most of it—they weren't aiming for a perfect score anyway—and put the paper down;
Other students—especially most of the girls—read it repeatedly two or three times.
Wade was also silently memorizing the answers.
He wasn't interested in Lockhart, but he knew that getting passes to the Restricted Section from him would be easy.
So Anthony was right; making a good first impression was indeed important.
But he couldn't get a perfect score.
If his score was too high, this professor might think he was some kind of fervent admirer and drag him up to perform ridiculous skits every class, which would be quite unbearable.
After finishing their memorization, the students all incinerated their papers to avoid being discovered by the professor that they had cheated collectively.
Upon arriving at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Slytherin students were already inside. As the Ravenclaws settled down, Lockhart entered, beaming, carrying a stack of quizzes.
"Excellent, children, it seems you are eager for class to begin. And since you've all purchased my complete works, I'm sure you've read about my various glorious deeds within them."
Lockhart's voice was high-pitched and joyful as he said:
"Perhaps some students might be thinking—"
He mimicked a high-pitched girl's voice, saying, "Oh, when will I be as powerful as the great Professor Lockhart—Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts League, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—"
He displayed a so-called "most charming smile" and said, "—that powerful?"
"Don't worry, children. All I can say is, don't rush." Lockhart encouraged. "As long as you study as hard as I do, you too can become a magnificent wizard one day."
"Hmm... Now let's see how well you've all learned..."
He handed out the quizzes.
Wade took a look.
The content was exactly the same as what Anthony had found out; Lockhart hadn't even bothered to change a single question.
The Ravenclaws exchanged knowing glances, a smile on their faces, and then began writing furiously.
The Slytherins, however, showed greater variety.
Some were disdainful, some frowned, some were admiring, and some, like the Ravenclaws, seemed to have gotten the answers beforehand and began writing without a second thought.
Quill pens scratched across parchment, making a "shush-shush" sound.
Today, Lockhart was destined to receive a result that would greatly surprise him.
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