Like a Sixth-Year

Noah was in poor spirits during Potions Class today, and his face looked especially grim when he saw Professor Snape.

Professor Snape had utterly crushed him yesterday. Noah swore that he would never fucking ask to be beaten up again!

He knew how terrifying Professor Snape was, but he had never expected him to be this horrifying when he actually made a move!

Noah was nearly at the first-tier level, but before Professor Snape, he was still like an infant.

Professor Snape had not even used an Unforgivable Curse, yet Noah had been thoroughly put in his place. It made Noah realize that he had better behave himself.

Kate and the others, meanwhile, looked at Professor Snape with even greater reverence in their eyes.

Clearly, Professor Snape's terrifying strength had frightened them badly as well. They did not have Noah's level of skill, so they truly did not dare overestimate themselves and seek out professors for training.

They had been finding upper-year students instead. It had to be said that those students were indeed quite skilled, and they could hold their own against them.

But after they had Noah deal with a fifth-year student, they began to question their lives.

Noah dealing with that fifth-year Slytherin was practically the same as Professor Snape dealing with Noah!

Of course, it was not quite that exaggerated. Snape had not exerted himself at all when dealing with Noah, while Noah had gone all out against that fifth-year. Though the results were similar, everyone understood the gap between them.

Because of this, Noah and the others respected Professor Snape even more, which surprised Professor Snape somewhat.

Still, he did not show it, even though he did have a bit of goodwill toward these brats carrying his notes.

Today, Gryffindor had class with Ravenclaw, and Harry was in equally poor condition.

Last night, he had encountered an unimaginably terrifying person, and he had more or less confirmed that it was Voldemort!

His mind was a complete mess. Thinking back on what Noah had said, he finally understood what Noah and the others had meant!

While this made him admire Noah immensely, it also left him even more confused. What was he supposed to do now?

Noah could perfectly guess what Voldemort was thinking, but that did not mean he was willing to face such a terrifying person!

Moreover, he had basically decided that Snape was the one helping Voldemort steal the Philosopher's Stone, so he had even less energy to listen carefully in this class.

As a result, his "outstanding" performance caused Gryffindor to lose another large number of points, deepening his resentment toward Snape even further.

After class, he was the first to get up and leave. He was clearly furious.

"What's wrong with him?" Noah packed up his things, glanced curiously at Harry, then turned his gaze toward Hermione.

Although this girl had not been interacting much with Harry and the others, she was still a Gryffindor. She certainly knew more than Ravenclaws like them.

"Who knows? Damn it, he and Ron caused Gryffindor to lose a hundred points last night, then they apparently went to the Forbidden Forest as punishment. And today, Gryffindor lost more than ten points because of him again. It's infuriating!"

"He went to the Forbidden Forest?"

Noah rubbed his chin. It seemed that kid had encountered Voldemort.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Otherwise, how could he have changed so drastically all at once? Still, Noah was not particularly interested. It was all just minor stuff anyway.

Voldemort was indeed terrifying, but at this moment, his strength had probably fallen to its lowest point!

It would have been one thing if Professor Lockhart were powerful, but sadly, Rocky was no formidable figure. Noah had learned from the system that he was only close to the second tier.

Besides, they had a fatal weakness: they feared the magic on Harry.

Of course, it was not an innate ability Harry possessed. It was magic his parents had once cast upon him. Voldemort was exceptionally weak now, and he could not withstand the curse that had once killed him, even if it was no longer as powerful as before.

That was precisely why Dumbledore had been willing to let Harry face all this. His purpose was to give Harry enough courage to face an even more powerful Voldemort in the future.

But none of that was Noah's concern, nor was he in the mood to care about it.

The second half of the school year was longer than the first. It ran from the beginning of January to the end of May, and final exams were held this term as well, so the coursework was quite demanding.

But that was not a problem for Noah and the others at all, including Ernie, who had only recently joined them!

After joining, he spent roughly a month finishing all the knowledge he was supposed to learn that term, with dedicated teachers explaining it to him as he studied!

Afterward, he began constantly learning new material and practicing all kinds of magic with Noah and the others.

It had to be said that Noah's guess had been correct. Perhaps the effects had not been obvious at first, but after two months, they were amazed to discover that their magical power had actually risen by an entire level!

This was far faster than waiting slowly for their magical power to increase naturally!

After that, they no longer doubted what Noah had said, and they became even more enthusiastic about this kind of training.

What wizard would not hope to possess terrifying magical power and mental strength while also having limitless knowledge?

Unfortunately, the magical power of many scholastic wizards really was lacking, which was why they became theorists.

But now that Noah had discovered this wonderful training method, they no longer had to worry about lacking magical power in the future!

However, they had not spread the method around. After all, doing this required sufficient training facilities, and that alone stumped nearly every student in the school!

After all, not everyone was lucky enough to find the Room of Requirement or join its owner's group!

"God, I feel like my magical power is almost at the level of a third-year now! This is incredible!" one evening, after Ernie finished training, he sensed his magical power and cried out happily.

"Fourth-year? That's pretty good. I feel like I'm nearly at the fourth-year level," Luns said with a smile as he sat nearby.

"I feel like I'm around the third- or fourth-year level too. It feels wonderful. Evan, Hermione, what about you?" Kate laughed as well. The feeling of increased magical power was truly great.

"We're about the same, probably around third- or fourth-year level too." Hermione directly took over the conversation, though she did not look particularly happy.

"Guys, think about Noah. Professor Flitwick said during the first half of the school year that aside from insufficient magical power, he was basically at fifth-year level already. And he was the first one to discover this training method. We should learn from him."

"Comparing ourselves to him?" Evan sighed, but his curiosity had indeed been stirred. He turned to look at Noah.

He was not the only one. Everyone turned their eyes toward Noah, curious about what level he had reached now.

Naturally, Noah noticed their gazes. He scratched his head, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Maybe... around sixth-year level? My magical power has caught up already."