The Two Who Were Treated Differently

Basil decided to set aside the "path to riches" for the moment.

What he needed to do was first distribute the class schedules to the other first-year students.

This was especially true considering he couldn't enter the girls' dormitory.

Fortunately, Hermione lived up to her reputation as the top student from the original story.

She was already awake at 7 o'clock.

She was preparing to go to the Great Hall for breakfast, and then read in the common room while waiting for Basil.

Thus, the issue of the class schedules was resolved.

Under Ron's dejected expression, Basil, with Hermione by his side, headed to the hospital wing on the second floor.

After that, they met up with Harry, who had already been discharged, and went directly to the Great Hall on the first floor.

Along the way, besides some casual chatter.

Harry also voiced his confusion: "I think Quirrell is very strange. You guys also know that I woke up when Hagrid carried me to the Great Hall entrance. I happened to see the look in Quirrell's eyes."

"But he wasn't relieved when Dumbledore intervened. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with despair, as if it were the end of the world."

No one could answer Harry's question.

Basil directly suggested, "Could it be that Voldemort is hidden inside Quirrell's scarf?"

He was desperate because he had considered telling Dumbledore about this.

Dumbledore's reaction made him realize he could only go down this path.

But no one believed Basil's 'guess,' even with his King Arthur-like demeanor.

Harry directly said that he might have misseen, and what Basil said was impossible.

If Dumbledore knew, he would definitely intervene.

Ron went further, saying, "Compared to Quirrell's scarf, Snape's oversized black cloak is more likely to hide Voldemort."

Hermione's eyes softened, taking Basil's words as a joke.

She giggled.

Basil could only dejectedly focus his attention on the castle.

But even so, along the way, he discovered something serious.

He would be troubled by this matter for the next few days.

Hogwarts' structural layout was too bizarre.

It wasn't just that the staircases moved around, disappearing halfway, as in the movies.

The main issue wasn't the staircases at all.

It was the doors and landmarks.

Compared to them, the staircases, with their one hundred and forty-two locations, some narrow and small, others shaky, with a step suddenly disappearing halfway up, were minor problems.

Firstly, the doors that weren't hidden behind sliding panels or hanging curtains, though they appeared openly, were actually full of tricks.

Each door had its own temperament.

They would only open if you handled them correctly.

Some required politeness, some needed you to poke in the right spot, some required rough treatment, and some needed you to tickle them. Some doors would open to reveal a wall, with ghosts waiting to scare you.

These were still considered good.

Some weren't doors at all, but walls that felt like doors, sounded like doors, and looked like doors.

After you remembered the locations of these doors and staircases.

Something even more outrageous happened.

Because everything in the castle moved.

The people in the portraits would visit each other, and the suits of armor would come alive at night and find new places to stand.

The landmarks you remembered would often change their positions overnight.

Basil ended up taking the wrong turn several times because of this.

He thought he was in the boys' lavatory, but it turned out to be the girls'.

Even more outrageous was that Professor McGonagall was next door.

If Basil hadn't suddenly summoned a Boggart, transforming it into a pseudo-Voldemort with Snape's face and Voldemort's body to create chaos.

Causing screams.

He would likely have been caught.

This was even with a complete projection of Hogwarts in his mind.

Well, he had panicked for a moment and forgotten he could apparate.

The result was that, under Snape's orders, Filch began a thorough search of packages to see if anyone had purchased Polyjuice Potion or its ingredients, such as African Tree Snake Skin.

The surprise inspection left many upperclassmen couples, who used it for a bit of fun, grumbling.

Aside from these issues, interpersonal relationships became another major problem for Basil.

Because Hermione was so strictly guarded, hardly any girl was willing to stay near him.

After that conversation in the Sorting waiting room got out, everyone assumed they were a couple.

He was locked in!

Thankfully, he was only in his first year.

Also, Basil now realized that before Hermione had even properly met him, she had already offended all the first-year students.

Even the new Ravenclaw students who shared common ground with Hermione were the same.

Only the upperclassmen would bother with her.

So, besides him, Hermione's only friends were Harry, Ron, and Neville.

No wonder in the original story, Ron complained that Hermione had no friends.

Logically, Hermione, who loved reading, should have at least made some Ravenclaw friends in the library.

So this was the reason.

Basil suddenly realized that judging solely by their performance upon entering school.

Hermione was like the protagonist in a typical "underdog overcomes adversity" story.

Lowly bloodline, hardworking, constantly proving others wrong, mastering anything she learned.

Harry, the original protagonist, was more like the villainous senior disciple.

Noble bloodline, with Ron as his sycophantic follower, admired by everyone around him, though not truly incompetent, he didn't live up to his reputation.

Basil wasn't planning to make any changes to his interpersonal relationships.

After all, Hermione was a world-recognized high-authority character, who gave Basil the golden [Sorcery Doctor] Echo.

If they really fell out, Snape, who shipped them, wouldn't let Basil off the hook.

He wouldn't receive preferential treatment in Potions class anymore.

You heard that right, preferential treatment.

In Friday's Potions class, Harry was still being criticized just like in the original plot.

But the difference was, when Harry couldn't answer a question, and Hermione kept her hand raised.

Hermione didn't receive another angry "Sit down."

Instead, it was, "Miss Granger, you answer."

After Hermione answered correctly, he said, "Potter, it seems your abilities don't match your fame. Gryffindor loses two points. You should learn from Miss Granger. Since Miss Granger answered the question correctly, Gryffindor gains one point."

In the subsequent lesson on brewing a simple scab cure potion.

Basil was surprised to find that his [Potions Mastery] talent had awakened.

Harry's status panel also changed, and after he began brewing his first potion.

His [Potions Mastery (Weak)] also awakened.

Next, Basil casually saved Neville, who, for some reason, was being intentionally intimidated by Snape and made a mistake.

He also earned a point.

Although Snape later deducted points from Harry.

"Not helping classmates. Harry Potter loses one point!"

After Potions class.

Ron was quite unhappy about it.

"Why didn't you guys lose points, you even gained some!"

Although Hermione pointed out that overall, Gryffindor still lost points.

But on their way to Hagrid's, Ron was still a bit indignant.

However, Basil's favorite wasn't Potions class.

Even though with his [Plant Affinity] and [Potions Mastery], he was very skilled at brewing potions.

The moment the Magic Field touched the boiling contents of the cauldron, he could control the reactions within.

But he still preferred Transfiguration.

Transfiguration was their first class after school started, on Monday.

Professor Cat didn't transform into a cat and deliberately sit on the desk as in the movie.

This greatly disappointed Basil, who had wanted to pretend he didn't know and pet the cat.

As indicated in his friend's data, Transfiguration was indeed more about rationality.

Although the principle was still based on his own reasoning.

But the thoughts during spellcasting were clear, distinct, and logical.

Take the matchsticks they were transfiguring in this class as an example.

To know the composition of a matchstick, wood, a small red tip (no need to be detailed here, it's made of oxidizer, catalyst, and flammable material).

Clearly define that you are changing it into a needle, visualize the needle's size, thickness, and color in your mind.

If you want to be more detailed, you can even visualize patterns.

Only then will the Transfiguration spell be realized.

However, more importantly, all Transfiguration spells are actually one spell.

At most, you just add what you want to change it into.

This caused Basil to immediately spend 100 Gems to create a new Spell Card: [Transfiguration].