Draco Malfoy, who used to constantly get in Harry's face and provoke him, stopped appearing in front of them so often.
It seemed that due to the decline of the Malfoy family, the attitude of those around him changed—especially his two henchmen, who no longer followed him around all day.
He began to live a secluded life.
Only during Potions class, when he saw Snape sarcastically attacking Harry, would a faint smile appear on his face.
A ray of sunshine would seemingly return to his expression.
However, the most puzzling thing for Basil was Snape.
Because of the conversation in Hagrid's hut, Harry no longer cared about Snape's sarcasm.
Instead, he often looked at Snape with an expression of understanding, even sympathy.
He also worked much harder in Potions class.
But Snape persisted in his relentless verbal abuse of Harry.
To this end, he even gave up his cold violence towards Neville to focus fire on Harry.
Meanwhile, Quirrell's influence began to spread throughout the school.
Ravenclaw students even started mentioning which House Quirrell had graduated from (Ravenclaw).
Previously, they had avoided the topic.
In this century, there were very few famous Ravenclaw graduates.
Only Gilderoy Lockhart and Rita Skeeter were notable enough to mention.
Due to Dumbledore's brilliance and the bias of Hogwarts: A History...
Plus the fact that the Sorting Hat considered the students' own wishes...
A large number of students who originally fit the Ravenclaw criteria flowed into Gryffindor.
Only a minority of students—those who purely worshipped wisdom, loved reading, or simply thought of themselves as smart and barely met the criteria—entered Ravenclaw.
The minority among them, being too simple and passionate, were obsessed only with their own fields of interest.
They were more like weirdos.
Researching the magical effects of the Levitation Charm on troll boogers.
Spending days and nights in a corner of the common room smashing eggs and recording predictions of the future based on how the yolk fell.
The majority, however, weren't necessarily not smart.
But they just barely met the standard.
With the truly excellent students going to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw's academic performance wasn't actually dominant.
Basil was quite surprised when he realized this.
Although, it was similar to how Hufflepuff took all the students who didn't fit the other standards, leading some naive badgers to learn bad habits—becoming dishonest or obsessed with gossip.
Of course, Basil didn't care much about these things.
He cared more about his own progress and generating more World Deviation.
So, he asked bold questions in every class.
And gained a lot because of it.
In Transfiguration, because of his question, Professor McGonagall finally transformed into a cat in front of everyone.
She also answered his most pressing question: "Granger, no one can Apparate or Disapparate inside the castle. I can transform because I have Dumbledore's permission. If a wizard who has learned the Animagus transformation—an Animagus—sneaks into the castle... inside the castle, if they don't leave, they will remain in the state they entered in. Only by leaving the castle grounds can they transform back into a human or animal."
This disappointed Basil a bit.
He had asked this question deliberately to tempt Scabbers (in Ron's pocket) into taking a risk.
Then Basil could have used spatial displacement to teleport Scabbers directly in front of Dumbledore.
Inside the castle, Basil was invincible.
In Charms, Basil perfectly demonstrated the Softening Charm (Spongify) they learned.
He turned the contact surface of a hard wooden chair into a sofa-like texture for his butt.
After receiving praise and points from Professor Flitwick, he took the opportunity to ask two questions that other students might have considered radical.
"Professor, I've heard a theory that magic is like a muscle. Ordinary spells only exercise parts of it. Only advanced spells can engage the whole."
"I've also heard that our own Magic Field has resistance to spells, like dragon skin. So why can some simple Jinxes, or even Charms, overcome it?"
Hearing these questions, Professor Flitwick was so excited he fell off his stack of books.
Perhaps Basil had scratched an itch, causing Flitwick to talk a lot.
"A vivid and imaginative metaphor!"
"But the 'advanced spells' you refer to don't exercise the 'muscle'; they change its nature."
"In fact, I personally believe it's more appropriate to compare magic—which exists only as a concept—to our personality, thoughts, and equally ethereal mind. Or rather, they are effectively the same thing."
"If you frequently use spells with positive emotions, you will become sunny and cheerful. If you frequently use spells with negative emotions, you will become gloomy and withdrawn. These are often referred to as White Magic and Dark Magic. As your personality changes, your magic also gains a tendency visible to keen wizards. Using spells that match your emotional state increases their power; otherwise, it's half the result for twice the effort."
"This is like how a Dark Wizard cannot use the Patronus Charm; it would cause a backfire, and the summoned maggots would devour their body."
"And for neutral Charms, your spellcasting will also change. A harmless Stunning Spell, in the hands of a wizard with negative emotions, could take a life. To an ordinary wizard, it just looks like they got stronger."
"But in reality, as long as you use spells—whether common or advanced—the progress they bring to your magic level is equal. Advanced spells just make you accustomed to and better at using Mental Power. And give it a bias."
"Low-level spells—the regular ones learned in years 1-3—if you truly understand them, use them with the appropriate emotion, or drive them directly with a powerful self... they are equivalent to advanced spells."
"And Mental Power is the answer to your second question."
"The Magic Field is also a product of magic, but it leans more towards the physical. Unless you master the technique of injecting Mental Power into it... against simple spells without Mental Power added, it will partially or completely negate them based on its own strength."
(Basil: Got it. A Magic Field infused with Mental Power is true Magic Resistance.)
"As for the Jinxes you mentioned, the prerequisite for casting them is to have a heart of mischief and teasing in the spell."
Then the bell rang.
Hogwarts teachers didn't have a habit of running overtime. After assigning a 3-inch essay, Professor Flitwick left the classroom.
Leaving behind an excited Basil, a thoughtful Hermione, and confused students.
However, to Basil's disappointment, in subsequent Charms classes, Professor Flitwick rarely talked about knowledge outside the curriculum.
Especially when Basil asked about the title of "Grand Wizard," Flitwick stated directly that this wasn't something he should know yet.
It wouldn't benefit his future magical research and could lead to cognitive barriers.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, facing Quirrell (the avatar of Voldemort)...
Basil adopted a different attitude.
Direct and bold.
"Professor, what are the key points of the Killing Curse?"
"To curse someone, what materials are needed, and what's the best method?"
"Does being bald and having no nose increase one's power?"
"Can you teach us some useful Jinxes? If you don't mind, Hexes are fine too."
Facing these questions, even Hermione, who usually indulged Basil, couldn't help but advise him that he was crossing the line.
But Quirrell showed no emotional fluctuation.
Nor did he deduct points.
He either avoided these questions or pretended not to understand.
For the last request about Jinxes, he actually gave a recommendation.
A Jinx popular at Hogwarts in the 70s.
Like Aguamenti, it was named after its incantation: the Langlock Jinx.
The incantation was Langlock.
It glued a person's tongue to the roof of their mouth, rendering them unable to speak.
Very effective against wizards who couldn't cast silently.
Better than the Tongue-Tying Curse (Mimblewimble), which only curled the tongue and caused stuttering.
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(Author's Note regarding Anti-Apparition/Animagus rules: To prevent arguments, just like Apparition cannot be used in the castle, Animagi cannot switch forms either.)
> (Prisoner of Azkaban): "'He didn't Disapparate!' Snape roared, now very close at hand. 'You can't Apparate or Disapparate inside this castle! This has something to do with Potter!'"
(Note: The author interprets the anti-Apparition wards as also blocking Animagus transformations based on Snape's line about Sirius Black not being able to vanish/transform inside. This is a specific interpretation for this fic's lore.)
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