Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already! Chapter 43

Dumbledore drained the tea Quirrell had not touched at all.

"If Tom cannot be dealt with completely, then even if Quirrell is captured, it will only make him hide again."

"I am old now. New people must step forward."

In Dumbledore's eyes, Tom and Quirrell were now whetstones, meant to sharpen Harry. Wayne could be one as well.

What he needed to do was control the hardness of those whetstones and make sure they did not damage the blade.

Dumbledore had never insisted on gathering a trio. He simply wanted Harry to have more friends and more helpers.

That way, when Harry truly faced Voldemort in the future, he would at least have reliable people by his side.

Wayne was the best candidate in his eyes.

If Wayne had been sorted into Gryffindor, things would have been much easier to arrange. Unfortunately, the little fellow seemed to possess more Hufflepuff qualities. Snape clearly knew what Dumbledore expected of Harry as well. He did not want Harry to be drawn into the storm, but there was nothing he could do.

What Dumbledore decided was no different from what Voldemort decided. No one could defy either of them.

Seeing Snape's displeased expression, Dumbledore chuckled and comforted him. "Severus, do not think too much about it.

"I will have to trouble you with tomorrow's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Let us wait and see what sort of surprise Quirrell brings us."

Ten.

Path.

The Power of the Heart, Incredible Luck! Legendary Talent

The final decision regarding Quirrell was quickly passed through the heads of the various Houses to each House's prefects, who then notified the other young wizards.

It could be considered an explanation for everyone.

Many people were disappointed that Quirrell had not been expelled. However, Dumbledore also made Quirrell's guarantee and reasons public. No further dissatisfaction arose.

Dumbledore's words were still highly convincing to the young wizards now. After all, he was the strongest White Wizard in the world.

The notification that the event in Wayne's mind had been completed sounded soon after.

The major event "Power of the Badger" had ended. Quirrell had paid a tremendous price. Event impact evaluation: Good.

Reward points +500. Tenfold critical reward generated and may be claimed at any time.

Wayne's expression did not change as he attended Transfiguration. With a gentle flick of his wand, the apple on the desk turned into a teacup.

Receiving a Good evaluation was already not bad, because Quirrell had remained at Hogwarts.

If he had truly been expelled or killed outright, the evaluation would have been higher.

Five hundred points. Including the points from before, he had gained nearly four thousand points from this event, almost half of a guaranteed reward.

Wayne did not claim the final tenfold critical reward immediately.

He planned to wait until late at night, find somewhere safe, and claim it then, lest it caused any commotion.

"Hermione, make smaller movements with your hand." "That is a wand, not a conductor's baton."

Granger shot Wayne a glare, but she still followed his advice and made her movements much more restrained.

"Mr. Finnegan, do not point your wand at Longbottom!"

While Professor McGonagall was instructing Neville and Seamus, Wayne leaned close to Hermione's ear. His warm breath brushed against the little witch's fair cheek.

"Go to the Room of Requirement tonight. Let me see how your studies have been progressing lately." Because of the reporting incident, Hermione had been treating him terribly these past two days. "Four Four Three."

However, Wayne understood that she was angry because she was worried about him. He planned to find a quiet time late at night to properly close the distance between them, or at least make Hermione calm down.

They were very close, and a faint blush appeared on Hermione's face. She did not refuse. "What time?"

"Ten-thirty. Do not come too early." The time Wayne gave made Hermione's expression change slightly.

"Isn't that already after curfew?"

"As long as we do not get caught." Wayne spoke as if it were only natural. "Gryffindor Tower is close to there, so there is no need to worry about Filch. He is more used to patrolling around the fourth floor."

In the end, Hermione did not refuse. Her bottom line had slowly been eroded away.

Compared to following school rules, she wanted to study with Wayne more.

Late at night, in the Room of Requirement.

Compared to the weekend, Hermione's Disarming Charm had become much more proficient. It was just somewhat weak. "Expelliarmus!"

A red light struck Wayne's wrist, and his wand flew away at once. Yet the next second, Wayne merely reached out slightly and caught it again.

Hermione felt a little embarrassed. The power really was too weak.

"Put more of yourself into it, and let there be fewer distracting thoughts." Wayne saw Hermione's problem at a glance.

"When casting a spell, whether you are facing a person or a practice target, treat it as a real enemy every time.

"You should learn from Harry in this regard. He is very talented in combat and can throw himself into it completely."

The Sorting Hat's recommendation that Harry enter Slytherin House had not only been due to Voldemort's influence. Just look at him.

Other than being reckless, Harry really was well suited to Slytherin. He had quite a temper.

He had argued with Ron countless times, blew up his aunt in third year, dared to yell at Old Dumbledore and smash things in the Headmaster's office in fifth year, and even used Sectumsempra on Malfoy in sixth year.

Cover up the name, and Wayne would never believe that was not a little snake.

Hearing Wayne say she was not as good as Harry, Hermione felt somewhat unconvinced and said troubledly,

"What you said is too abstract. Can you be more specific?"

"Forget it. I will demonstrate it for you." Wayne shook his head, summoned a puppet with a wave of his hand, assumed the most standard posture, and clearly recited the incantation.

"Expelliarmus!"

In that instant, Hermione felt Wayne's aura change. The red light struck the puppet and exploded, blasting the stone puppet into pieces that scattered across the floor.

"You..." The little witch even began to stammer. "Th-this is a Disarming Charm? You chanted the Disarming Charm, but used an Explosion Charm, right?"

"Do not worry about those details." Wayne waved his hand. "Did you understand the state I was in just now?"

"I think so." Having witnessed that change with her own eyes, Hermione naturally gained some insight with her intelligence.

"Then give it a try."

Wayne summoned another puppet. This time, Hermione did not hold back. She imagined that it was a bad person who had stolen her books, and that the teapot in its hand was one of her books.

Her emotions surged. Red light shot forth, knocking the puppet back nearly ten meters. The teapot also flew rapidly back toward Hermione.

"Beautiful." Wayne applauded. "That is the feeling. The incantation, the hand movements, and your mental state are all processes of strengthening focus and stirring your emotions." "When the three become one, then are continuously simplified, that is the standard process for learning most magic."

In this idealistic world, a wizard's strength was not fixed. When emotions reached a certain point,

even an ordinary wizard could unleash astonishing power.

Like Molly Weasley. Was her objective strength really greater than Bella's? Obviously not.

As Voldemort's trusted and capable assistant, Bella was extremely powerful.

But to protect her family, Molly directly blasted Bella away with a Shattering Curse, not even leaving behind a scrap.

Hermione nodded happily. She realized that she had found the key.

When they began training again, her progress was obvious. Another half hour later, Wayne took the initiative to stop and pulled the still-unsatisfied Hermione back to sleep.

After seeing Hermione to The Fat Lady, Wayne returned to the Room of Requirement. "System, claim the event reward."

Gift pack opening. Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Legendary Talent, Thunder Lord's Decree!

Buzz—

An ancient red stone talisman appeared out of thin air. It spun rapidly and flew toward Wayne's brow.

At the same time.

Rumble!

Rumble!

Dark clouds rolled across the pitch-black sky, gathering above the castle. Crack!

A bolt of lightning tore apart heaven and earth, followed by an unending series of heavy thunderclaps.

The enormous noise woke many young wizards from their sleep. Not knowing what had happened, Hermione, who had only recently lain down, jumped out of bed as well.

Headmaster's Office.

The window stood wide open as Dumbledore gazed out from it.

The thunder continued, and flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the oppressive night sky. Such a scene was far too abnormal to be naturally formed. "Fawkes, has a Thunderbird come to visit Hogwarts?"

As the spirit of all birds, the Phoenix could sense other birds as well. Fawkes landed on Dumbledore's shoulder and tilted his head. "Chirp chirp!"

"Not one?" Dumbledore murmured softly.

He had not sensed any magic within the thunder, so he first ruled out the possibility of human involvement.

After pondering for a long time without discovering anything, Old Dumbledore shook his head. He merely treated it as some strange natural phenomenon and stopped paying attention to it.

Inside the Room of Requirement.

Wayne closed his eyes. The ancient rune had already vanished. His body floated into the air, radiating red light.

Red arcs of electricity coiled around him like little snakes. Wayne absorbed the massive amount of information brought by the rune. Thunder Lord's Decree. It had another name. Electrocute.

After completely fusing with the rune, Wayne had established a connection with lightning.

Not only had lightning-based magic been greatly enhanced, but the power of lightning could also be attached to other magic.

Even his body was becoming stronger under the stimulation of electricity. It could be said that he was now a controller of lightning. Hoo!

With a casual wave of his hand, lightning burst forth and blasted several stone puppets to pieces. This talent was simply too powerful. Wayne opened his eyes.

"System, are the rewards after a tenfold critical hit this generous?"

The base reward had a ninety-seven percent chance of Purple Quality and a three percent chance of Golden Quality.

Host's luck has exploded. The original reward was the Golden Talent Thunderbird Bloodline. After enhancement, it became the Legendary reward Thunder Lord's Decree.

Seeing the system's explanation, Wayne could not help sighing. I really am favored by fate!

He then checked his current status panel.

Host: Wayne Lawrence

Magic Power: SS+

Charms: SS-

Defense Against the Dark Arts (White Magic): SSS

Dark Arts: S

Transfiguration: S+

Potions: A+

Alchemy: A-

Special Talents: Memory Palace, Innate Holy Spirit (greatly increases Patronus power and grants bonuses to Defense Against the Dark Arts), Wandless Casting (easier to master Wandless Casting techniques and increases the power of Wandless Casting), Thunder Lord's Decree (controls countless bolts of lightning, strengthens lightning magic, and can attach lightning attributes to other spells)

Manaflow Band, Dynamic Perception.

Overall Evaluation: SS+, Legendary, one step away from you.

Compared to before, Wayne's magical talent had risen by one minor rank, while his Defense Against the Dark Arts (White Magic) had leapt directly to SSS rank.

Even his Dark Arts had reached S rank.

Unfortunately, his overall evaluation remained stuck at SS+, but Wayne was not too disappointed. The higher one's talent rose, the more obvious the gap became.

This was what people meant by, "Sometimes the gap between people is greater than the gap between a person and a dog." "System, there is only a talent evaluation. Is there no strength evaluation?"

After a moment, the system's notification sounded.

Strength attribute panel generated. Special notice: Strength rankings in the Wizarding World are vague. The system's evaluation is for reference only.

In a true wizard duel, anything can happen. As the voice faded, Wayne's strength panel appeared before him.

Host: Wayne Lawrence

Magic Power: 0.8 Snape

Mastered Spells: Shattering Curse, Aegis Shield, Disarming Charm, Patronus Charm, Unforgivable Curses. (Omitted)

Strength Evaluation: Professor level (full talent activated) / Elite Auror level (normal strength)