Magic Was Andy's Dream

Hearing the explosion, Andy no longer made a fuss like he had in the previous class.

He calmly turned to look and saw Seamus standing there blankly with his wand in hand. Black smoke still lingered above the table in front of him after the explosion.

Seamus, you really were a remarkable talent!

Andy was not being sarcastic. From an academic perspective, Seamus's situation was indeed highly unusual.

The reason this happened whenever Seamus cast a spell might have been that his magic was not stable enough, or perhaps he was too impatient while casting.

Of course, it was also possible that he simply liked explosions, and that preference affected his magic.

Any one of these three possibilities was worth researching.

Unfortunately, Andy and Seamus were not even acquaintances who merely nodded at each other, so it would not have been appropriate for him to abruptly ask about Seamus's mental state.

Andy glanced at Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall sternly reprimanded Seamus a few times, then gave him a new matchstick.

It seems Professor McGonagall doesn't consider Seamus's situation unusual.

Professor McGonagall had taught for decades and was certainly well-informed. Since she did not intervene further, did that mean Seamus's condition was actually normal in the Wizarding World? Andy withdrew his gaze and suppressed the urge to dissect Seamus.

After all, Azkaban was not exactly a proper school.

Until class ended, Andy kept secretly watching Seamus.

After his spell exploded and Professor McGonagall scolded him, Seamus became much more dejected.

He seemed somewhat afraid to cast spells. Only when Professor McGonagall looked his way would he raise his wand and wave it around for show.

Not only that, but Andy also noticed two interesting cases during this class—Ron and Neville.

Both of them had old wands that had previously belonged to someone else.

One class was not enough to observe much, but Andy still keenly noticed that Ron and Neville's spellcasting was not smooth.

Neville in particular seemed only slightly better than a Squib.

Neither of them had much confidence to begin with, and this difficulty with spellcasting only worsened that lack of confidence.

Andy could practically see their futures at a glance!

Caught in such a vicious cycle, they would surely end up at the very bottom of the Wizarding World once they became adults.

Yet that was not what happened.

Although Andy had only watched the first Harry Potter movie, he had still heard a thing or two about the names Neville and Ron.

They were important supporting characters in Harry Potter. Their futures could not possibly be so ordinary.

But why? Andy analyzed in secret.

And he also could not understand why the Sorting Hat had placed Neville in Gryffindor.

Ron had already proven himself in the chess scene from the movie. He had the courage to sacrifice himself for a just cause.

But what about Neville? Andy frowned.

If the Sorting Hat had never made a mistake, then perhaps it had placed Neville in Gryffindor in the hope that Gryffindor's courage would influence him and help him regain his confidence? The more Andy studied magic, the more he discovered that many factors could affect the success rate of spellcasting, and a healthy mindset was among the most important of all.

More and more examples proved that Andy's current research direction was correct.

The mind and magic had always been inseparable!

At three twenty, Transfiguration Class ended.

Andy and Hermione headed toward the Abandoned Classroom on the Sixth Floor.

Andy gave Hermione beside him a puzzled look. She seemed a little unhappy.

"What's wrong?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

Hermione said, "I just think I'm far too lacking."

During Transfiguration Class, she had managed to change the matchstick somewhat, putting her progress far ahead of the other Little Wizards, yet she was still dissatisfied.

Andy found that amusing. "Before school started, I practiced magic at home for more than a month. Your talent already far surpasses the other Little Wizards."

Yet those words did not comfort Hermione in the slightest.

When Hermione felt that she was "far too lacking," Andy finally understood what true madness looked like.

For three days straight, Hermione either practiced magic in the Abandoned Classroom or read in the library. After the library closed, she studied in Ravenclaw's Common Room until late at night.

She had practically given up all entertainment. She was even more extreme than Andy had been during his final year of high school in his previous life.

Of course, Hermione's desperate dedication to studying influenced Andy as well.

Andy was utterly obsessed with magic, an obsession no one in this world could possibly understand.

Not even Hermione.

Although Hermione came from the Muggle World, where there was no magic, she had encountered magic at the age of eleven, before her most fundamental worldview had fully formed.

Andy, however, had grown up in a world without magic. His ordinary life had often made him fantasize about mysterious powers.

And now, magic was Andy's dream! Studying alone for too long could become a little dull.

But when someone was there with you, that dullness did not seem so difficult to endure.

Especially since both Andy and Hermione loved learning, studying did not bore them at all. Instead, it brought them joy.

Two people meant twice the joy.

No matter what, a little girl was far more pleasing to the eye than the three smelly boys in his dormitory.

Andy had long since grown tired of dealing with them.

No adult would make friends with children, except for little girls.

Saturday morning, Andy and Hermione were eating in the Great Hall.

Flutter, flutter!

A flock of owls flew in through the Great Hall's windows. They passed over the long tables and dropped the items in their claws to the Little Wizards who were meant to receive them.

"Why is there one for me too?" Andy caught a letter that fell from above, looking slightly stunned.

He had received his family's reply as early as Wednesday. He had not written to them in the past two days, nor had he bought anything in Diagon Alley.

"Did you forget?"

Hermione sneakily glanced around, then tilted her head and leaned closer to Andy. Lowering her voice, she said, "Maybe it's Malfoy."

All right! They had been studying so hard these past few days that Andy had completely forgotten about it.

Andy opened the envelope. There was no signature on the letter, but the handwriting was indeed Malfoy's.

Andy was about to read it when Hermione swiftly stood up and looked around. She pretended to keep watch for Andy, startling him so badly that he hurriedly pulled her back down.

"Idiot! You're acting so suspicious that even a fool would know we have a secret."

Andy read the letter openly as he instructed her, "Eat! Act like usual, and don't look around either. This is just an ordinary reply."