The autumn wind carried in a leaf, which spiraled through the window.
It landed on Basil's pert nose.
He opened his azure eyes.
His attention shifted away from 'magic power.'
A thought rode the autumn wind into his heart.
"Could the magic power that recharged like sunlight be this?"
With a thought, he shoved all of his 'magic power' into the gem slot in the upper-right corner.
Crash!
Gems: 2932.441 (+1)
"Is that all? Isn't this bullying an honest man?"
"Forget it! I'll get a Wand Appearance instead!"
He opened the wand inventory with his mind, and wand after wand appeared again.
He hurriedly reached for the Staff of Time.
For a moment, he forgot his earlier frustration.
This was time—the greatest power in the world.
Ding! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Wand wood mismatch. Not acacia wood. Consume 2,000 gems to materialize?
Basil's face crumpled into a little cat-like pout.
"Double the price! You're trying to kill me!"
He resentfully pulled back his hand. Gems were hard currency; he could not spend them carelessly.
He had inexplicably chosen Dragon Knight before. It was probably because the matching wand wood had attracted him.
"I'd better wait until I've made a name for myself, then rob Ollivanders Wand Shop." Basil rubbed his hands together like a fly.
"Hmm, maybe a secondhand wand shop would suit me better."
"No! The first option would cause a greater deviation in the timeline!"
The days passed, and soon it was August 31.
School started tomorrow.
As time passed, his gems broke through 4,000 once more.
Gems: 4624.442 (+0.001/s)
He had also grown used to sleeping alone, with no one to warm his bed.
During this time, he had not been idle.
He had fully refined the Fenrir Wolf Echo.
The eight spell bonus slots were: Killing Curse, The Killing Curse, The Cruciatus Curse, Alohomora, Disillusionment Charm, Horn-Growing Hex, Healing Charm, and Silencing Charm.
Basil was disappointed. It did not even have Dark Mist Flight, the signature ability of the Death Eaters.
He had discovered that by focusing his attention on a bonus slot, he could learn the corresponding spell.
Just as he could learn spells by reading books.
He had learned about Silencing Charm and Horn-Growing Hex, two spells never mentioned in the films or games, in this manner.
He learned that Silencing Charm was a Charm: a spell that altered the target's internal attributes.
It could conceal his breathing, body odor, body temperature, and the sounds he made while moving.
Its incantation was [Silence and Hide].
It should work well in combination with Disillusionment Charm.
Basil suspected that the reason he had not smelled Fenrir's disgusting stench at first—
Was probably this spell.
Horn-Growing Hex was a hex, a spell that kept its target in a negative state. It was the closest to Dark Magic, namely a Curse.
It could make the victim grow horns.
Cow horns, goat horns, deer antlers, or any other kind of horn—it was not restricted.
It depended on the caster's preferences.
Its incantation was [Roots Grow, Horns Rise].
When Basil first learned what the spell did, he shuddered in disgust for quite a while.
What kind of pervert would be most skilled at a spell like that?
Combined with Fenrir calling him little lamb, as well as Fenrir's horrifying atrocities, he understood the spell's purpose almost instantly.
It was worth mentioning that spells learned this way, as well as those learned directly from books, only required 100 gems to make into corresponding Spell Cards.
Of course, even without making a Spell Card, he could still use the spell.
But when casting it, he could no longer cast silently and wandlessly while discarding the wand, incantation, and wand movement.
He would also have to ensure the success rate himself.
These days, Basil had learned Disillusionment Charm, Silencing Charm, Alohomora, and Healing Charm through the Echo.
He had also mastered Lumos, Stunning Spell, Expelliarmus, Incendio, Aguamenti, Scourgify, Scourgify, Nebulus, Shield Charm, and Immobulus through reading.
These spells covered every aspect of household chores, combat, defense, concealment, survival, and healing.
However, he had only spent 1,000 gems to make ten Spell Cards.
Lumos, Scourgify, Scourgify, and Immobulus had been excluded.
As for other spells, such as Transfiguration, Professor Cat had said that it was the most dangerous spell. He had no intention of teaching himself that.
As for Dark Magic—whether minor jinxes, moderate hexes, or the most serious curses—he had no plans to touch any of it yet.
Spamming Killing Curses in games was cool, sure.
But every book stated clearly that Dark Magic would twist its user's mind.
He planned to wait until he had mastered the only explicitly positive magic mentioned in the films—the Patronus Charm—before dealing with those things.
Besides, with the Grimoire, as long as he practiced, his cards would level up once their proficiency was full.
Once Expelliarmus reached max level, could he not use it like a Killing Curse anyway?
Disarming someone to death was no joke.
All in all, he now had eleven cards.
Ten Spell Cards and one Summoning Card.
His Grimoire had also leveled up accordingly.
ID: 000000001 Grimoire Level: Level 2 (1000/300) Name: Ryan Smith / Basil Granger Race: Wizard Enrollment Date: 1991/07/27 Health: 10+10 (Echo Bonus: 1000 False Life: 132·231) Magic Power: 7+6 Luck: 3~7 Family Traits: Dragon Blood of Red Dragon (Awaiting Ignition), Plant Affinity (Awakened), Potions Mastery
Disillusionment Charm, Silencing Charm, Alohomora, and Healing Charm were at Level 4 thanks to the Echo.
Using both types of magic power at once could bring them to Level 5.
If he used a wand as well, together with the Wand Appearance bonus, their power would probably be even greater.
But without any data to support it, Basil had no idea how far it would go.
All the remaining cards were uniformly Level 1.
As for the Summoning Card, Basil, with his Plant Affinity talent, could enhance the summoned plants, allowing their health to regenerate, increasing their damage and attack speed, and shortening their attack intervals.
He should have sought out more Magical Plants and made Summoning Cards.
But Summoning Cards could not provide extra magic power like Spell Cards could to increase damage.
Their magic power consumption was fixed. Supplying twice the magic power would only let him summon one additional Magical Creature.
Moreover, the Magical Creatures required for making Summoning Cards could not be learned from books like spells.
Even something as useless as Bubble Pods or gnomes would cost 500 gems, just like Devil's Snare.
And near his home, that redwood was too expensive.
Dittany's effect also overlapped with Healing Charm.
He planned to look for materials in Professor Sprout's greenhouse after school began.
"Professor Sprout's greenhouse... that would be amazing! How deadly would a Mandrake's lethal cry be after being made into a card?"
Basil could not help sinking into fantasy.
Until—"Ouch!"—he kicked a cauldron.
Only then did he remember what else he needed to do.
Pack everything into his trunk.
"Pack!" Basil shouted, sweeping his wand across the floor in a broad arc.
Under the power of Scourgify, books, clothes, a telescope, and scales floated into the air and flew chaotically into the trunk.
"Hmm, it's still not very neat."
"Should I spend 100 gems to make a card?" Basil bit his finger, hesitating.
His image-like memory made it easy for him to find the right book—Handy Tips for Everyday Magic.
He also found the corresponding page and line.
Please note: if you want objects to arrange themselves neatly, even folding socks on their own—
After sweeping your wand broadly across the floor, you must also give it a light, swift flick.
Most importantly, you must have actually done housework yourself—and done it well.
Full of hope, he flicked his wand.
A sock wriggled limply, then fell back onto the messy pile inside the trunk.
"Sigh, forget it," Basil said, slamming the trunk shut. "At least everything's inside."
"No wonder Molly Weasley could solo Bellatrix."
"Household spells might seem simple, but using them well was not necessarily easier than casting Killing Curses."
"While she had always been busy with housework, her magic had also been constantly trained."
"Meanwhile, Bellatrix had spent so long in prison."
An extra chapter.
Before it goes premium, I usually update once a day so I can build up a backlog.
After all, I might be transferred to a new department in a while, and I'll be rather busy then.
P.S. Thanks to Agonie_Ce and Tai Shi Corn Silk for the monthly tickets, as well as everyone else for the recommendations.
Before you continue