NOVEL WEB Chapter 35: I Came All This Way, and This Is What You're Letting Me See?
Hermione, who was planning to discuss the various uses of the Transfiguration Charm with Ivan, caught Ivan looking at her with increasing enthusiasm.
"Ivan, what is it?" Hermione asked, feigning calm.
"Come with me, I'll explain later!" To the shock of Harry and Ron, Ivan grabbed Hermione's wrist and ran.
Hermione didn't even know what was happening as Ivan dragged her along, and Harry and Ron, recovering from their shock, followed suit.
Along the way, Ivan's popularity attracted a large number of people to identify him, and the fact that he was holding Hermione's hand as they ran caused many wizards to gossip.
Big news!
After all, the news of Ivan saving Hermione from the troll last night had spread far and wide, and the sight of it made their imaginations run wild. Some of the younger witches looked disappointed, but they followed suit out of curiosity.
George and Fred even whistled excitedly and gave Ivan a big thumbs-up when he and Hermione passed by.
As the crowd grew larger and larger, Ivan became more and more confused, and Hermione, who had been dragged along by Ivan, became aware of the stares she was receiving. Her cheeks were flushed, and her mind began to wander, although she had a vague feeling that the road was becoming more and more familiar.
'It seems to be the way to the library?'
As expected, the door to the library soon came into view, and Ivan, in a rare show of disregard for the tradition of silence, hurried Hermione to the sitting area, where he handed her an unfinished copy of Basic Potions and Herb Analysis, and pointed to a section.
"Hermione, this book, chapter three, verse seven is about the contrast between the properties of the Black Blood Grass and the Rat Li, but why should many potions be brewed with the same ingredients…"
"Um… huh?" Hermione woke up from her daze, her cheeks still flushed, and she realised that she had misunderstood. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide in a pile of books. When she realised that she had read the book Ivan had forced on her, she calmed down and got into character.
"That's because the Black Blood Grass's medicinal properties are too strong, so it's usually added to counteract the effects of the other herbs, but the milder rat plums have a neutralised effect…"
When Hermione finished speaking, Ivan continued to flip through the pages of the book, using the excuse of learning to communicate with each other.
This was the scene that greeted Harry, Ron, and the rest of the gang when they arrived.
"They're… they're here to learn?" As a member of the gossip party, George wondered if he was hallucinating.
God, what was wrong with the world?
The others found it hard to accept as well. They came all the way here just to show them this?
"I think I'll just go back to playing Wizard's Chess," Ron said dazedly.
"I'm sure Wood would like me to practice Quidditch now, too." Harry nodded in agreement; they didn't want to waste their time in the library.
George and the others were determined to stay and see how things were going, but the large group of people blocking the door soon attracted the attention of Madam Pince.
"Silence! If you want to read in the library, be quiet, or go away!" Madame Pince snapped impatiently.
Seeing that Madam Pince was planning to chase them away, the young wizards dispersed in disappointment.
At this moment, Ivan was so immersed in learning that he did not notice this at all. Instead, he looked at the rapidly increasing proficiency in the system column and felt extremely comfortable.
As long as it was basic theoretical knowledge, regardless of subject, there was little Hermione did not already know, effectively omitting Ivan's steps of checking up on other books.
This, coupled with the fact that the young witch's comprehension skills were far superior to Ivan's in his normal state, resulted in her learning becoming much more efficient.
Hermione's existence was like a learning accelerator, and compared to his reading efficiency when he did not have an Experience Card, his proficiency had more than doubled!
After a dozen pages, Hermione looked nervously up at Ivan, afraid that she had said something wrong.
It could not be helped. After witnessing Ivan's easy kill of the troll and his remarkable Transfiguration Charm, Hermione had come to think of Ivan as far superior to her own abilities.
"Eh? Why did it stop?" Yvonne, who had been listening to Hermione's explanation, suddenly stopped talking and turned her head in surprise to find Hermione looking at her nervously.
Ivan thought for a moment and understood what was going on.
"You were very good in there… as it happens, so am I."
"Here, too. Just as I thought…"
"I have a different understanding here…"
…
Ivan and Hermione spent the next few hours studying and discussing.
Ivan was able to maintain a relatively equal status during the discussion, thanks to his previous half of the term and his accumulated knowledge.
Before he knew it, Ivan had already re-read several of the books that he had previously read but had not fully understood. His reading progress had also been pushed to 100%!
[Ding, reading progress of Basic Potion Formulation and Herb Analysis reached 100%. Rewards: 5 achievement points]
[Ding! 'Advanced Transfiguration' has reached 100%. Rewards…]
…
The number of achievement points he had gained from reading a large number of books, combined with his previous rewards and spells, had once again exceeded the one-hundred mark.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ivan struck while the iron was hot, found a few difficult books, activated the Academic Genius Experience Card, and read through them quickly while explaining to Hermione how she had helped him.
Yvonne expected this to significantly slow her learning efficiency in the card, and was surprised when he merely explained his views, which she immediately understood.
The ability to learn and remember really made Ivan sweat…
However, unbeknownst to Ivan, Hermione was under a great deal of pressure. Within moments, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, and she had to move her brain at full speed to understand Ivan's increasingly abstruse explanations.
This caused Hermione, who had been discussing the matter for some time and believed herself to be in a slightly better position than Ivan in terms of theoretical knowledge, to become slightly frustrated.