"Uh… what I mean is… You know, we haven't seen each other in a few days…" Harry's voice sounded incredibly awkward. He had originally meant to offer Ivy some emotional encouragement, telling him not to dwell on temporary setbacks or get lost in pain and sorrow.
But of course, it wasn't easy to address such matters face to face, and Harry, who had always been on the receiving end of support, didn't have much experience offering comfort to others. So now, he hoped his best friend, Ron, would notice the situation and step in to help.
"Ivy!" Ron whispered, still clearly shaken from the two senior students who had been escorted out earlier. "Your quill is writing your essay by itself! And it's a Transfiguration essay!"
Well done, Ron!
Harry silently cheered for Ron in his mind. Children from large wizarding families were indeed different.
"What brand of quill is that? Wizard's Quill? Or from Diagon Alley's stationery store?" Ron's attention was completely caught by the quill that was doing its work. His eyes didn't even flicker toward Harry. "I'd trade anything for it!"
"It's probably unique." Ivy raised a finger, and the quill, which had been writing nonstop, paused and floated gently into his hand. "This is a quill I created with magic. No one else can use it. And it isn't automatically doing my homework. It's just recording my thoughts."
Having helped Snape in the Potions classroom, Ivy had accumulated enough experience to level up his "Bookbinder Mage" class by two levels.
That's why Ivy began using the Mage's Quill to help him handle the somewhat complicated assignments that first-year students had to complete.
Honestly, Ivy had never heard of a school that required 11-year-old kids to write essays other than Hogwarts.
"Oh!" Ron clicked his tongue. "Could it be an ancient magical artifact? If you opened a quill shop, I'd shop there. Imagine how many students' problems that would solve!"
"I understand." Ivy nodded. He could tell what these two were after. Their main target was his Transfiguration essay. "So, Transfiguration gave you some trouble?"
"Maybe not just a little," Harry joined the conversation. "Apart from Hermione, I don't know who else gets praised by Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration class. No matter how hard we try, the matchstick hasn't changed at all. We've had two lessons already!"
"Maybe I can offer some advice?" Ivy gave a knowing smile, putting the question right back in Harry's court.
"Just lend us your homework as a reference!" Ron grabbed his quill, dipped it in the ink bottle, and continued writing on his parchment.
"Hey! Ron!" Harry protested, "We didn't come here for that!"
"It's fine." Ron didn't look up, making his letters appear larger so they could take up more space on the parchment. "I think with Ivy here, you'll be fine. As for your homework, just copy mine later."
Thinking about the extra free time he'd have over the weekend for fun, Harry couldn't help but agree with Ron's suggestion in his mind.
"Uh… how about we continue talking about Transfiguration?" Harry remembered what Ivy had said earlier and hoped to get some advice from the ancient magician with over a hundred years of experience.
"Simply put, Transfiguration is a very precise magic. Before casting the spell, you must have a comprehensive mental image of the target you want to transform. If possible, no detail should be overlooked. Besides that, trust your magic. Strong confidence is the key to successfully casting any spell." Ivy didn't continue after that. He gestured subtly with his head toward Madam Pince, signaling Harry to look back.
"Perhaps… we shouldn't discuss this in the library." Harry didn't say anything more and quickly lowered his head, pretending to focus on his studies, because he saw Madam Pince was holding a feather duster in her hand.
Ron also noticed Madam Pince's actions and quickly shifted the Transfiguration essay, which belonged to Ivy, closer to Harry.
Ivy snapped his fingers, and the multicolored Mage's Quill began working again, squeezed between Harry and Ron.
He then opened the Grimoire of Destruction again, continuing to search for a spell he liked.
Since his "Bookbinder Mage" class had reached level 2, he could now choose up to 10 first-circle spells. There were quite a few spells to choose from, and Ivy had nearly been overwhelmed by the options.
But some spells just seemed great by description alone, so Ivy had already added a few to his spellbook.
First was Mage Armor, which could give a wizard, wearing just a cotton robe, an invisible armor almost as strong as full metal armor. It could also strengthen over time, depending on the caster's level. Simple, easy to understand, and effective.
Then there was Scholar's Touch, which allowed Ivy to instantly read and memorize the contents of a book. This was the perfect spell for scanning through the valuable magical texts in the Hogwarts library.
It was also perfect for exams—Scholar's Touch could be cast before an exam, easily bypassing the Ministry of Magic's anti-cheating measures.
Additionally, Ivy chose Comprehend Languages and Disguise Self.
The first allowed him to read magical texts written in other languages, and the latter allowed him to transform flawlessly into someone else. He thought he might use this to sneak into the Restricted Section and get some interesting books.
Although the Awakened Grimoire now worked, changing a spell's damage type, Ivy wasn't interested in first-circle damage spells. He didn't even bother selecting one.
Now, he was debating whether to choose Find Familiar.
This first-circle ritual spell could summon a small animal as a familiar and allow Ivy to share some of the familiar's senses.
Although playing with a cat or dog was a pleasant idea, Ivy wasn't too eager to take care of the little pet. He hated cleaning up after any creature.
Back when he had magical creatures in the House of Requirement, there were house-elves to clean up after them. Ivy only had to occasionally scratch their chins for a bit of psychological satisfaction.
Now that the magical creatures and the house-elves had disappeared, Ivy wasn't too keen on handling the mess himself.
"But maybe magic can solve these problems," Ivy said, looking at his silver limewood wand. Wizards had a great grasp of utility magic, and dealing with a cat's waste would be simple with magic.