Huh?
Wait—what?
So the favor she just owed him… was being repaid this quickly?
Hayden Trist was momentarily stunned.
She suddenly realized she might have dug a hole for herself.
But when she saw the boy's sweet smile, her thoughts shifted.
Thinking about it carefully, working with such a handsome and polite boy didn't sound bad at all.
Not to mention—he had a aptitude comparable to the famous Newt Scamander.
Someone like him would probably be great with magical creatures.
And just like that, Lewis secured his first job—
Working at the Magical Creatures Shop.
Since it was only part-time, he worked about three to five hours a day, as long as he completed his tasks.
His daily wage: three Sickles.
The wizarding world's currency system was absurd.
1 Galleon = 17 Sickles
1 Sickle = 29 Knuts
Who came up with this nonsense? Did they have a thing for prime numbers?
Considering the general mathematical ability of wizards…
Lewis strongly suspected this was some elaborate prank designed to torture them.
Still, for a child laborer, the pay wasn't bad.
At that rate, he could earn 5 Galleons and 8 Sickles in a month.
Two months—and he'd have made back the cost of his wand.
"Alright, let's start with cleaning the animals' cages."
Hayden demonstrated, raising her wand and pointing it at a cat's cage.
"Scourgify."
Instantly, fur and waste flew out of the cage into a bucket. The cage looked spotless.
"Give it a try, Mr. Green," she said, lowering her wand. "At first, you might only manage small areas. But stronger wizards can clean entire rooms."
Lewis nodded and pointed at another cage.
"Scourgify!"
With his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, he succeeded on his first try.
Hayden stared at him, stunned.
"Y-You learn fast… Have you used this spell before at home…? Well, anyway—next is the Sweeping Charm. Unlike Scourgify, it's better for handling liquid waste…"
…
Since it was his first day, he needed guidance and demonstrations.
By the time he finished, it was already four in the afternoon.
Back at the Leaky Cauldron—
"How was your day, lad?" Old Tom asked kindly.
"Great, Mr. Tom! I found a job," Lewis said cheerfully.
"That's wonderful!" Tom nodded, handing him a mug of butterbeer. "On the house—to celebrate your first job."
"So, what are you doing?"
Lewis took a big gulp before answering.
"I'm working part-time at the Magical Creatures Shop."
"Magical creatures, eh? Sounds good. What kind of work?"
"Feeding them, grooming them, cleaning… mostly cleaning their cages. These little guys are incredibly messy. One moment of carelessness and they're covered in their own droppings."
Tom shook his head.
"That doesn't sound like a pleasant job."
"For a wizard who hasn't even started school yet, it's more than enough. I've already learned quite a bit about magical creatures—and even picked up a few spells."
Lewis raised his wand.
"Scourgify."
A previously dirty table was instantly spotless.
"With this, cleaning here will be easy too."
Ah, this kid even remembers helping me.
Tom found himself growing fond of Lewis.
So young—yet mature, optimistic, and proactive. He faced difficulties head-on without complaint.
This boy would go far.
And so, Lewis's part-time life began.
Working at the Magical Creatures Shop was tedious and demanding.
There were all kinds of creatures—giant color-changing snails, fire crabs, black rats, owls, ravens, cats of every color, Puffskeins, Transfigured rabbits…
Each species had different habits, diets, and care requirements.
For most people, just memorizing everything would be a nightmare.
But one of the byproducts of Heaven-Defying Comprehension—
Was perfect memory.
Remembering what a few animals ate was trivial.
And if needed, he could simply ask them.
After all, who knew better than the animals themselves?
Before long, Hayden was full of praise, believing his abilities rivaled those of adult wizards.
But Lewis wasn't satisfied.
He could finish his work in two to three hours.
The remaining time could be used for more.
Compared to the highly developed Muggle world, the wizarding world still functioned like a small, familiar society.
In such a system, reputation wasn't built on records—but on recommendations.
And now, Lewis was benefiting from that.
With Hayden's endorsement, other shops gradually lowered their barriers.
Soon, he found additional work at Flourish and Blotts—and Slug & Jiggers Apothecary.
His daily income rose to eight Sickles.
More importantly, he gained knowledge no textbook could provide.
At the apothecary, he learned the basics of potion-making:
Processing ingredients—slicing, grinding, extracting juices…
He even learned the Cutting Charm.
After this summer, he was confident he wouldn't be an easy target in Potions class.
He also encountered advanced ingredients—
Bicorn horn, Jobberknoll feathers, African tree snake skin…
Of course, he didn't dare handle those personally.
With his current wages, one mistake would cost him a year's salary.
Overall, the apothecary was just as messy as the creature shop.
Every time he left, he carried strange smells—snail slime, plant juices…
He often had to cast Scourgify multiple times just to clean himself.
Compared to those two, working at Flourish and Blotts was much cleaner.
Most of his tasks involved organizing books—
Fetching titles from storage, arranging shelves, or searching for obscure books requested by customers.
Simple work.
And in his spare time—he could read.
But for Lewis, this job brought the greatest rewards.
Because here, he awakened several new spells:
[Copying Spell: Replicates a document into another book.]
[Read Magic: Allows comprehension of magical text.]
[Comprehend Languages: Understand spoken and written languages. Ineffective against inherently magical scripts.]
[Scholar's Touch: Absorb knowledge from books through touch, as if read once.]
All of them were learning-oriented abilities.
Comprehend Languages allowed him to understand any ordinary language.
So-called polyglots? Nothing special anymore.
Read Magic let him decipher magical texts—perfect for struggling students.
Scholar's Touch let him store knowledge instantly.
True "quantum reading."
Of course, it was only storage. True understanding still required time.
But it was enough.
With Heaven-Defying Comprehension, these spells were even passively integrated—just like Charm Person.
They required no active casting.
From then on, Lewis treasured his time at the bookstore even more.
A single touch—
And an entire book entered his mind.
It was the ultimate way to "borrow" knowledge for free.
He spent his days circling shelves like a scanning machine, trying to absorb as many books as possible.
He even considered quitting his other jobs.
But with plenty of time left before school, he decided against it.
And just like that—
Time flew by.
Before he knew it—
The school term was about to begin.