Huh?
That's Hermione?
What were the odds?
On the train, Sean's voice mingled with the rushing roar of the wind.
Outside the window, the wide open fields had vanished at some point.
The sunlight broke into dappled patches, drifting across the compartment.
The train had entered a stretch of yew forest.
Hermione's ears slowly turned pink. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something—
but her mind went completely blank.
That only made Sean more confused.
"Oh! She was just saying it's incredible you can already do Transfiguration!"
Another voice cut in. It was Justin.
He jumped in to answer on Hermione's behalf, quickly pointing at the silver needle on the table and drawing both their gazes to it.
"How did you manage that? Hermione says it's a really advanced bit of magic."
The second he finished, he regretted it, and could only pray the boy across from him hadn't heard the "advanced" part.
"The incantation is Transfiguration, you break it between Trans and figura,
and the stress is on fi…"
Sean thought back over his practice, picking out what really mattered. That was how he always studied.
"More importantly, when you sweep your wand from left to right, you have to be fast. Don't pause."
He added, as naturally as breathing:
"And you need a clear picture in your head of what you want the object to become.
You can see that on page five of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration."
The train burst out of the yew forest, light flooding the compartment again.
It caught in Sean's green eyes, making them gleam like polished emerald.
"So my problem was the pause, then… I mean, it's really nice to meet you.
You probably didn't hear me introduce myself earlier; I don't mind saying it again. I'm Justin. Justin Finch-Fletchley."
Justin exhaled in relief after Sean finished.
"Hermione Granger."
Hermione's face still held a faint blush, but her voice was loud and clear.
"Sean Green."
Sean still felt there was something odd about her,
but puzzling it out wasn't as important as what he had to do next.
In the compartment,
it looked like he was still turning the pages of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
In reality, his eyes were already focused on the proficiency panel in his head.
All right, let's see just what level of Transfiguration prodigy I am.
His gaze slid slowly downward.
Sean admitted—even compared to drawing gacha in his past life—he was nervous.
At least a hundred times more nervous.
Power in a game was fake.
This, however, was real—his actual talent, and his actual future.
[Title: Transfiguration Apprentice]
[Slightly increases sensitivity to Transfiguration. Slightly improves Transfiguration talent.]
Just as he expected.
He held his breath and kept reading.
[Wizard: Sean Green
Transfiguration Talent: Light Purple
(with "Transfiguration Apprentice" title applied; original talent rating unknown)
Note: Average witch or wizard talent in a field is Green]
[Evaluation: You are a true prodigy in the branch of Transfiguration.
With proper instruction, you will become a master of Transfiguration, influential in the field.]
Purple. Epic.
I really am a Transfiguration genius?
Sean could practically hear someone banging gongs and drums next to his ears,
singing something along the lines of "good fortune has arrived".
Anyone who's experienced being labeled "white-tier trash" would treasure a purple epic that much more.
With proper instruction, I can become a Transfiguration master…
He smothered the excitement in his chest and made a decision:
For the next seven years, he was not leaving Hogwarts.
Not if he could help it.
And to make that happen, he had to think things through.
The contrast between his Transfiguration talent and his Charms talent proved one thing:
In the Harry Potter world, magical talent was not a single, flat stat.
Different witches and wizards had different strengths.
Like Neville—average at most classes, brilliant at Herbology.
Or Hermione—outstanding at nearly everything,
but weaker than Harry in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and a complete disaster in Divination.
If Sean wanted Outstandings in all seven subjects,
then in the areas he wasn't gifted, he'd have to work twice—or ten times—as hard.
And Hogwarts subjects… weren't all equally difficult, either.
That wasn't just a matter of the material.
More importantly, it depended on the professor.
Just like at a Muggle university—the syllabus is the same,
but whether you suffer or thrive depends entirely on who's teaching the course.
Going by that logic—
The hardest core subject should be Potions.
Not only did it come with Professor Snape,
its knowledge points were detailed, dense, and unforgiving.
There were dangerous practical elements in nearly every lesson.
You had to hand in whatever you'd brewed by the end of class,
and the essays were notoriously long.
The moment he pictured Snape's sallow, cold face, Sean felt his heart sink.
Getting an Outstanding in Potions under Snape was… not going to be fun.
All I can do is hope I've got at least some talent in Potions.
Just a little. Just enough.
Second toughest, in Sean's opinion, was Defence Against the Dark Arts.
High risk, unstable teaching staff.
Professors with two heads did not come along every day.
Another headache of a subject.
Sean rubbed at his brow, his gaze turning sharper.
Nothing was going to stop him from studying.
Not even Voldemort.
With a rough plan forming in his mind, Sean kept sorting things out.
Below those two, taking all factors into account,
the third tier of difficulty should be Herbology, Transfiguration, and Charms.
None of those could be brute-forced.
They all required innate magical aptitude.
The lowest tier, comparatively speaking, would be History of Magic and Astronomy—
subjects where the focus was on memorizing defined facts and patterns.
Those didn't scare Sean much.
"Transfiguration and Charms… I'm probably already at a decent starting point.
Astronomy and History of Magic… grind the pages, grind the points. I don't need to worry too much."
He summarized under his breath.
"So that leaves the real problems: Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology."
Now that he had targets, the real question was how to tackle them.
Just as Sean was thinking about concrete steps,
the noise outside the compartment, which had been going on for a while, got louder.
He kept catching snippets of "Harry", "Harry Potter", and "Merlin's beard!"
Then came a bang loud enough to rattle the door.
Dragged out of his thoughts, Sean looked up slowly—
and once again ran straight into Justin and Hermione's eyes.
Justin jerked his head down at once, pretending he'd done absolutely nothing.
"Sean, look—that's the Levitation Charm. Isn't it amazing?"
Sean followed his gaze.
Above Hermione's wand tip, a feather was floating gently in the air.
The girl tilted her chin up.
"Actually, it's just a simple spell. I learned it from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
It's not very difficult—I only had to practice a few times."
Her voice carried a distinct note of pride.
Sean, who had needed five hundred attempts to learn it:
Actually, it is.
"Justin, you try it too. It's only a basic charm. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 says it's often one of the very first spells young witches and wizards learn."
Hermione turned toward Justin, sounding very earnest.
"You'll have to coach me then,"
Justin said, not refusing in the slightest, eyes bright with anticipation as he raised his wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather didn't move.
"You need to give your wrist a little flick."
Hermione corrected him immediately.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather shivered, lifting the tiniest bit.
"You did it wrong again! You have to speak decisively. If you hesitate, you'll fail!"
Hermione scolded him, a bit severe.
Justin only grew more serious.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
…
"I did it! Hermione, that's brilliant—you're a great teacher!"
Justin was beside himself with excitement, genuinely grateful.
"You're right—it really isn't all that difficult after all!"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon