Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already!

That afternoon, Wayne woke from a nap and waited for Hermione outside the Gryffindor Common Room. The moment he saw her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down from the tower.

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere fun," Wayne said mysteriously. Hermione was a little confused. "Weren't you going to teach me the Shield Charm? Where are we going?" "Just follow me and you'll see."

Wayne led Hermione straight to the Seventh Floor. Their hands never separated along the way.

Hermione lightly bit her lip.

How many times had this been now? Why did Wayne always like holding her hand when they walked? Was he afraid she would get lost?

By now, she was almost used to it.

After wandering around the Seventh Floor, they found the tapestry of The Troll Who Beat Barnaby Silly.

Barnabas had been a wizard who tried to teach a Troll ballet, only to get thoroughly beaten up by it.

The painting had existed since the founding of Hogwarts. For over a thousand years, several Trolls had never stopped beating Barnabas up.

Who knew what deep grudge the painter had held against Barnabas? After confirming this was the place, Wayne paced back and forth three times near the wall opposite the tapestry while silently repeating in his mind,

"I need a place to practice spells."

When Wayne passed by for the third time, an incredibly smooth door appeared in the wall, complete with a handle.

Without hesitation, Wayne pulled Hermione inside after pushing open the door. "What is this place?"

There was no source of light in the room, yet it was as bright as outside. It was spacious, and numerous wooden dummies and targets had been placed inside. Hermione looked around the room and its furnishings in surprise. "The Room of Requirement." Wayne was observing his surroundings as well.

But unlike Hermione, he wanted to see something deeper. Unfortunately, his strength was insufficient and the knowledge he had mastered was too limited. After observing for a long while, he still could not make sense of anything.

He could only determine that the Room of Requirement was similar to the Sorting Hat and possessed some degree of Legilimency.

"As long as you silently think of what you need and pace back and forth three times like I just did, this room will arrange itself into whatever you want.

"But if someone is already inside, the Room of Requirement won't appear unless your needs are the same."

"It's that amazing? I want to try too." Hermione's eyes lit up. She pulled Wayne out of the room so she could try it herself.

The moment they stepped outside, the smooth door vanished.

Hermione copied Wayne and walked back and forth three times. Sure enough, the door appeared again. When she pushed it open, the room was filled with rows upon rows of bookshelves, with quite a few books on them.

Seeing Hermione pick up a book and prepare to read, Wayne quickly stopped her. "There'll be plenty of time to read later. We agreed that today we'd learn spells first." "All right." Hermione reluctantly put the book back, and the two of them changed the Room of Requirement back to how it had been at first.

"Wayne." Hermione looked curiously at the boy. "How did you discover the Room of Requirement?"

"Night wandering, obviously." Wayne spoke as if it were only natural. "Didn't I tell you before? This castle has too many secrets. If you just attend classes obediently, you'll never discover this much fun."

Hermione fell into thought, and a sudden urge to try it herself rose in her heart. "All right, Professor Lawrence's little class is now in session."

Wayne pretended to clear his throat twice and even conjured up a pair of glasses for himself. Hermione burst out laughing when she saw him.

"Miss Granger, please pay attention in class, or your teacher will spank you." Hermione's face reddened slightly. "You wouldn't dare!"

Wayne stopped teasing her. Little girls were thin-skinned, and her bottom line was still quite high. He could slowly break through it later.

The Shield Charm was an extremely widespread protective spell in the Wizarding World. It could form an invisible barrier around the caster, resisting most offensive spells and even reflecting them.

Though it was one of the most common protective spells, that did not mean the Shield Charm was easy.

In fact, many Ministry of Magic employees had not mastered it, and proficiency with the Shield Charm was one of the most important parts of the Auror examination.

According to an Auror autobiography Wayne had read, the minimum requirement for becoming an Auror was casting the Shield Charm silently.

After all, if they could not even protect themselves, how could anyone expect Aurors to capture Dark wizards? "You should know the incantation: Protego.

"When you say it, put emphasis on the 'te,' and connect it closely with the 'go.'" Wayne carefully summarized the technique for Hermione. "Remember, when casting it, your wrist needs to tilt upward, and your wand should preferably be perpendicular to your body."

As he spoke, he demonstrated the most standard movement once.

"At the same time, you need to focus and imagine an indestructible shield in front of you."

"The Shield Charm's defensive power is not only related to magical power, but also to the firmness of your will."

"Magic is subjective. Willpower and imagination play a major role. Never imagine it with a Muggle mindset. This shield must be magical, miraculous."

Wayne spoke eloquently, while Hermione kept nodding her little head and memorized every point he made.

"Come on, try it yourself."

After explaining, Wayne had the little witch practice it herself.

In fact, Hermione was quite talented when it came to learning spells. Wayne had only explained it once, yet she remembered every key point and cast the spell meticulously according to his instructions.

In less than an hour, she could barely manage to cast it.

However, after sensing it, Wayne found that this Shield Charm was dry and rough, utterly lacking in smoothness.

He could not resist wanting to fiddle with it.

Then something went wrong the moment he did. Pfft!

The sound of a balloon leaking was especially obvious in the quiet room, leaving Wayne dumbfounded.

Was this a Shield Charm or a Balloon Charm? It broke with a single touch! Hermione's cheeks seemed to be steaming as she stammered, "Th-this is only because I just learned it. It'll... it'll get better later."

Wayne did not say anything.

While unfamiliarity was certainly part of the reason, the fundamental problem was that she had too little magical power.

Those families who insisted on pure-blood supremacy were not entirely without reason.

Most pure-blood young wizards did indeed possess considerably more magical power than Muggle-borns like Hermione.

Malfoy and Harry were examples.

If they possessed Hermione's talent for learning as well, their magical power would certainly be enough to support a complete Shield Charm.

"...What are you thinking about?"

Hermione asked carefully, thinking her performance had disappointed Wayne. "Nothing." Wayne came back to his senses. Seeing the little witch pouting as if she were about to cry, he smiled and comforted her. "You've already done very well. This isn't your fault.

"Wait another year or two. Once your magical power grows, you'll naturally master the Shield Charm."

Hermione said nothing. Wayne took the opportunity to rub her fluffy head, wearing an expression of pure satisfaction.

He had wanted to do this for a long time, but their relationship had not reached that point before, and he had never had a suitable opportunity.

Now was the perfect time to take advantage of her vulnerability.

Sure enough, Hermione did not show any disgust. She even moved slightly closer to Wayne.

"What do we do now?" the little witch asked dejectedly. "If I have so little magical power, what magic can I still learn?"

"It's not little. It's just average," Wayne corrected. "Normal young wizards only master the Shield Charm in their fifth or sixth year."

Hermione raised her head. "What about you?"

"Me? I learned it before I even started school." As Wayne spoke, an invisible barrier gently pushed Hermione away.

That move was not merely wandless, silent casting. It also displayed his extraordinary control over the spell.

"Well? Was that cool or not?" Wayne raised his brows and showed off smugly.

Hermione was so irritated that her teeth itched. She was feeling sad, yet Wayne was still rubbing salt into her wound.

"That's not fair! We're both Muggle-born, so why is your talent so good?"

Because I'm cheating, Wayne silently explained to himself.

With SS+-ranked talent in Defense Against the Dark Arts, there were probably not many people throughout history stronger than him.

Although the system had not given specific ratings for other people, Wayne estimated that only legendary figures like Gryffindor, Slytherin, and even Merlin could reach SSS rank. Even Old Dumbledore could not.

With talent like that combined with card draws, Wayne's Shield Charm had already reached Advanced level, and he could use it with complete ease.

Since Hermione could not learn the Shield Charm for the time being, Wayne could only teach her other spells.

For example, the Boy Who Lived's happy spell—the Disarming Charm.

It was simple and practical, consumed little magical power, and flew quickly enough to be extremely difficult to defend against.

For most wizards, once they lost their wands, they were no different from Muggles.

With a wave of Wayne's hand, a nearby wooden dummy floated over, holding all sorts of miscellaneous objects in its hands.

"First, improve your casting success rate. Remember to control the direction in which the enemy's wand flies. Then practice your accuracy. Speed and range come last." After arranging Hermione's training, Wayne sat to one side and read.

At the same time, he was wondering whether he could find an opportunity to draw some item that could increase Hermione's magical power.

But now was not the time to give her anything. He would wait until she was properly raised and he was sure she would not run away.

Inside the Room of Requirement, the sound of Hermione chanting spells never stopped. She was holding back a breath of frustration, determined to prove to Wayne that she was not useless except at rote memorization.

By five in the afternoon, Hermione's throat had become hoarse and she could not squeeze out any more magical power before finally stopping.

Wayne took out a bottle of Focus Potion and handed it to her.

"Drink this, and go to bed early tonight, or you might not be able to get up tomorrow." Wayne instructed, "When you practice privately, don't push yourself as hard as you did today. Always leave yourself some magical power, understand?"

Hearing Wayne's concerned words, Hermione's heart warmed. She smiled like a blooming flower and carefully hugged the potion to her chest. That bad guy is actually pretty considerate.

Wayne smiled too. He reached out and rubbed the little witch's fluffy head once more.

So soft!

Yesterday's saved chapters were drained dry, so today there are three updates totaling fifteen thousand words.

This little author has done their best. I'm a slow typist, after all. Please support me with some data. Thank you!

Ho-Oh's shock for Snape, Voldemort's coveting

After returning to the common room, Wayne noticed that something was wrong.

Quite a few people were sitting in the room, but the atmosphere was unusually quiet. Everyone was deep in thought.

"What's going on?"

Wayne sat in the empty chair beside Cedric and asked curiously.

Cedric wore a complicated expression. "Your two roommates are too smart. They asked two questions no one can answer. Everyone is thinking about them."

Wayne looked like Cedric had to be joking.

His two roommates were practically a pair of fools, and Toby had even been called an idiot on Neville's level by Snape.

"Toby, what exactly did you two ask?"

"Oh, Wayne." Toby looked up at him and asked very seriously, "Tell me, if laxatives have expired, do they still work?"

Norman chimed in as well. "Does riding a broomstick after drinking count as drunk driving?"

Wayne: "..."

"You two should transfer schools. Tiny Hufflepuff can no longer contain you. Hurry up and go plague Ravenclaw instead."

A new week began.

Harry entered the Great Hall with Ron, looking utterly listless.

Their injuries had not fully healed yet. They had dark circles under their eyes and several large bumps on their heads. Whenever other students asked, they claimed they had missed a step and fallen down the stairs.

But no one believed them. Who could fall down the stairs and end up with two black eyes?

As if fated, Malfoy, who was eating, looked up just as Harry passed by. Their eyes met.

"Humph!"

Harry and Malfoy snorted coldly at the same time. Malfoy did not look much better either. His once-neat blond hair had several chunks missing, making it look as if someone had bitten pieces out of it.

The bruise at the corner of his mouth was especially obvious. Malfoy bared his teeth in a vicious expression, just about to mock Harry.

Yet Harry started laughing first.

"Ha ha ha! Malfoy, why are you missing a tooth?"

Ron started laughing too. The two of them mocked Malfoy without restraint, and the blond boy's face visibly turned green.

"Potter, do you want another fight?"

Malfoy gritted his teeth, and his words leaked air slightly. He had only discovered after returning that night that one of his teeth had been knocked out.

After thinking back carefully, he realized that idiot Crabbe had accidentally injured him.