HOGWARTS - HARRY

Harry, Ron, and the others stood frozen, their mouths slightly open, expressions of horror clear on their faces. But after blinking a few times, Ron finally asked, "What are these things you're talking about?"

Dylan sighed. "Some magical creatures—aggressive and not particularly pleasant to look at."

Hiss!

Ron sucked in a sharp breath. Dylan glanced at him.

"So, do you still think learning spells is just a casual thing?" Dylan asked, enunciating each word carefully.

"The reason why Professor McGonagall reprimanded you so harshly is that she doesn't want you to be careless or lazy. Transfiguration is not a game—it could cost you your life."

"If something goes wrong while you're transforming, you won't just turn into another creature; you might not even survive the transformation. You could end up as nothing more than a pile of… well, let's just say, something unrecognizable."

"Oh my god!"

Dylan's words sent a shiver down everyone's spine. Several of the first-years glanced at their plates, their faces turning slightly pale at the sight of the various cuts of meat before them.

Ron swallowed hard, hesitated, then finally admitted in a small voice, "I understand now. I was wrong."

Dylan smiled. "As long as you understand the seriousness of Transfiguration and know that learning magic is not easy but dangerous, that's enough."

Harry took a sip of water, his brows furrowed. "Dylan, I tried the whole class, but I couldn't even turn my matchstick into a small iron rod. I couldn't even change its material. But you—how did you manage to turn yours into a needle?"

Ron quickly added, "And not just a needle—you turned it into a brooch!"

They could have asked Hermione, who had also successfully transformed her matchstick. However, while Hermione was undeniably knowledgeable, her attitude often put them off. She had a tendency to flaunt her achievements, and they didn't want to deal with that right now.

Dylan, on the other hand, was different. Despite excelling in class and earning ten points, he never showed off. He was approachable, which made it easier for them to seek his help.

"How did I do it?" Dylan tapped his chin in thought. "Well, I just raised my wand, recited the spell, focused my magic, and—boom—it worked."

After a brief pause, he continued, "But why don't you tell me how you understand the Transfiguration Spell? How do you use it?"

Harry was the first to respond. "I just chanted the spell Professor McGonagall taught us and tried to picture the matchstick as a needle in my mind."

Ron nodded. "Same here."

Dylan scratched his head. "Well, that's not entirely wrong. In fact, I did the same thing at first."

Ron perked up a little at the shared experience, but Dylan's next words made his excitement fade.

"But after trying it twice, I realized it wasn't going to work."

Ron sighed dramatically. "Figures."

Dylan grinned and then proceeded to explain the key points of the Transfiguration Spell to his friends.

A Day of Classes

Lunchtime passed quickly, and soon, the group made their way to the Charms classroom.

The first spell they learned was the Levitation Charm.

Dylan had already reached Level 6 in the Levitation Charm, a level far beyond what a first-year student should have. Professor Flitwick couldn't hide his amazement and praised him in front of the class.

As the lesson continued, Professor Flitwick allowed students to ask questions. Dylan took this opportunity to ask some particularly difficult and insightful questions, which surprised even Flitwick.

Dylan's understanding of the Levitation Charm was far beyond his peers—even Hermione couldn't keep up.

In fact, after answering Dylan's questions for nearly half an hour, Flitwick had to cut their discussion short.

"We'll continue this another time, Dylan," Flitwick said kindly. "I don't want to take away from the rest of the class."

Dylan nodded in understanding.

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

The next day, they attended Herbology. Dylan's progress in this subject was more average compared to his other classes, but that didn't bother him.

Neville, on the other hand, was thriving. Sitting beside Dylan, he scribbled down notes with intense focus, his enthusiasm for the subject evident.

Dylan was a little impressed.

In the afternoon, they had History of Magic.

Unlike Charms and Transfiguration, Dylan wasn't as excited about this subject. But unlike Harry and Ron—who struggled to stay awake—he managed to keep himself engaged by taking notes and reading ahead.

Still, Professor Binns' monotonous droning was unbearable.

Dylan found himself reminiscing about his previous life, where his history teacher had made lessons lively with passionate storytelling. Compared to that, Binns was just reading from a script, with no effort to make the subject interesting.

So Dylan decided to self-study instead, flipping through the textbook and summarizing the key points.

A Reputation Among Professors

As the days passed, Dylan developed a reputation among the professors.

Apart from attending regular classes, he often visited various professors' offices to ask questions.

Soon enough, most of the Hogwarts faculty knew about the studious, hardworking, and highly intelligent first-year named Dylan.

Dylan, however, didn't think too much of it.

His magical talent was decent, but he wouldn't call himself a prodigy—at least, not yet.

Now, if he started learning Dark Magic, that would be a different story altogether.

Friday Morning

On Friday, Dylan joined Harry and Ron for breakfast in the Great Hall.

Ron looked at him, puzzled. "Dylan, you didn't wake up early today?"

Dylan grabbed a plate of pasta, drizzling tomato sauce over it. "No need. Luna already sent me a letter. Plus, I've pretty much finished summarizing all the material we covered this week. So I figured I'd rest today."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks.

"Not waking up early is your idea of rest?" Harry asked incredulously.

Dylan twirled some pasta around his fork and took a bite. The chewy noodles and the rich, tangy taste of the tomato sauce spread across his tongue. He had long since gotten used to British food, so eating with a fork felt natural.

"Dylan, what class do we have today?" Ron asked between bites of toast.

"Why don't you ask me?" Harry grumbled.

"Alright," Ron said. "So what class do we have?"

"Uh… no idea."

Harry turned back to Dylan expectantly.

Dylan thought for a moment. "It should be a full day of Potions. I think we have it with Slytherin."

Harry and Ron groaned simultaneously.

And with that, their day began.

(End of Chapter)

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