I Want to Roam the Sea of Knowledge

At exactly twelve o'clock, the two-hour Potions Class finally came to an end.

All the little wizards fled the Potions Class Classroom as if for their lives. Only after they had gotten far away did they collectively let out a sigh of relief and gulp down the fresh air outside.

"That was terrifying. I didn't dare look at Professor Snape at all. He was standing right beside me—I felt like I was about to die." A Hufflepuff little wizard wore the expression of someone who had survived a disaster.

Everyone else looked equally convinced.

"The good news is, we don't have Potions Class again this week!" a Ravenclaw little wizard said cheerfully.

That really was good news.

Especially since they were about to have lunch. After hearing that, they felt as if they could eat an extra bowl.

"Hmph! It's too much for them to talk about him like that."

Hermione and Andy walked side by side behind the others. Hermione said indignantly, "Professor Snape is clearly so conscientious and responsible. He goes to all the trouble of pointing out their mistakes. He may be a little strict, but they still shouldn't say things like that!"

Andy glanced at Hermione.

Good thing you didn't go to Gryffindor, or you might have burned Snape's robes.

"You think so too, don't you?" Hermione tried to recruit an ally.

"Ah, yeah!"

Andy replied somewhat absentmindedly, "Don't be angry. Once they grow up a little more, they'll understand how good Professor Snape is."

"You're right!"

Hermione nodded in agreement, then looked at Andy curiously. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Andy said, "Let's hurry up and eat. After lunch, I'm planning to go to the library and read for a while."

"I want to visit the library too. I heard Hogwarts has the largest collection of books in all of Britain." At the mention of the library, Hermione's face filled with longing.

"Not just Britain—the entire European Wizarding World."

Andy explained, "Hogwarts was the first magical school established in the Wizarding World. It has more than a thousand years of history."

"It has the largest collection of magical books in the entire Wizarding World."

Hermione asked curiously, "Are there many magical schools around the world?"

"Of course!"

Andy said, "I don't know much about the specifics, but there are over a dozen prestigious schools alone, along with many less well-known magical schools."

As they spoke, Andy and Hermione arrived at the Great Hall on the first floor.

"Hi, Andy."

Ron and Harry were sitting at the Gryffindor table playing Wizard's Chess. Ron spotted Andy at once.

"You got out so early?" Andy walked over, looking surprised.

"We didn't have class this morning."

Ron said, "But this afternoon, we have Herbology Class with Hufflepuff, and tonight we have History of Magic."

Harry asked curiously, "What class did you have this morning?"

What he really wanted to ask was what it felt like to attend classes at a magical school, but he was a little embarrassed—after all, he and Andy were not that familiar with each other.

"We had two Potions Classes this morning," Andy said.

"Snape's class!"

Ron wore the expression of someone with a huge secret. "I heard from George that Snape is really biased toward Slytherin. He didn't do anything to you in class, did he?"

"It was all right!"

Andy did not want to lie to him. "I think Professor Snape is strict, but he's also extremely knowledgeable. Maybe George was just trying to scare you. They do that all the time."

Ron was somewhat convinced, but Harry felt that Professor Snape did not seem to like him very much. On the day of the Sorting, the way Snape had looked at him had been very strange.

"All right, I'm going to eat. I still need to go to the library and read for a while afterward."

Andy waved at the two of them, then turned and headed toward the Ravenclaw table.

Ron shrugged. "Andy has loved reading since he was little. We're neighbors. Every time I went over to see him, he was reading in the study."

Harry turned to look at Andy, only to find that he had already sat down at the Ravenclaw table and was talking to a brown-haired Little Witch.

Ron followed Harry's gaze, but he was not surprised at all. "They're the same type of people—I mean, they both love reading."

At the Ravenclaw table, Andy chatted with Hermione about all sorts of things in high spirits.

Andy had originally been rather troubled.

Since he knew Ron, how was he supposed to quietly distance himself from the Golden Trio after arriving at Hogwarts?

Until just now...

Children often found it difficult to hide their emotions. While talking with Ron just now, Andy had keenly noticed that Ron clearly preferred talking with Harry.

That made sense. A poor student and a top student lived in two entirely different worlds.

One only cared about playing, while the other only cared about studying.

As soon as lunch was over, Hermione could not wait to go to the library and broaden her horizons.

Andy readily agreed, since his time was extremely precious.

Seven years sounded like a long time, but reading every book in Hogwarts's collection was probably an utterly impossible task.

Since he had been fortunate enough to come to the magical world, Andy naturally wanted to devote all his energy to researching magic.

This was what Andy wanted, and it also concerned his system.

Only by working hard to improve his talent could Andy become stronger within the limited time he had.

Hogwarts's library was located on the Second Floor of the castle. It held the most comprehensive collection of magical books in the entire European Wizarding World. From ordinary books for entertainment to all sorts of profound forbidden magic, it had everything one could possibly want.

On his first visit to the library, Andy was stunned by its enormous collection.

The library had thousands of bookshelves and hundreds of narrow aisles. Every shelf held thousands of magical books. Here, one could find any magic one wished to learn.

Andy was already eager to roam the sea of knowledge.

"What book are you planning to read?" Hermione asked.

Andy and Hermione strolled one behind the other through a narrow aisle between two bookshelves. There were simply too many books here, and neither of them knew where to begin.

"Something related to Charms, I suppose!"

Only by improving his abilities in five areas—Charms, Transfiguration, Dark Arts, alchemy, and Divination—could Andy gain Potential Points from the system.

Dark Arts were out of the question for the time being.

Britain's Wizarding World had only just endured Voldemort's ravages, and the atmosphere here was extremely hostile toward Dark Arts. Anything associated with Dark Arts would be deemed evil.

Even if Andy wanted to learn Dark Arts, he could only research them secretly by himself and could not let anyone discover it.

Besides that, alchemy was rather advanced, while Divination... Andy's talent in that area was zero. Even if he wanted to learn it, he would have to add talent first.

By comparison, Charms came in countless varieties. Through diligent practice, he could improve his own strength while also gaining Potential Points for the system. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

"What do you think of this book?" Hermione asked as she pulled out a book.