Fourth-Year Assignments

What did a timid young wizard lack most?

The answer was confidence.

Neville Longbottom was probably the same. His grandmother, who was also his guardian, was far too domineering, and perhaps coupled with some innate shortcomings, he had previously heard other professors discussing Neville in the Professors' lounge.

Apparently, when he was little, he had nearly been mistaken for a Muggle-born with no spellcasting ability.

Well then, that was another reason for his lack of confidence.

To make someone confident, either their pockets had to be full of money.

Or their heads had to be full of knowledge.

Neville's academic performance...

Potions was somewhat abstract, while Charms involved a certain degree of mental influence when casting magic. For a poor child like Neville, who had little confidence, it would have been strange if he were good at it.

His Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts were similarly mediocre. He did have some talent in Herbology, but that was no use. His cheat did not provide any blocks related to Plant Magic. After all, he had not even gathered all the original blocks yet, and whether this cheat even had mods was another question entirely.

"Neville... Neville..."

Just as Kayson leaned against his desk, lost in thought, someone suddenly knocked on the office door.

"The door isn't locked. Come in."

A small figure walked in, his arms stuffed full.

Kayson took one look and saw that it was Neville, whom he had just been thinking about. Neville was carrying a huge pile of snacks.

Unfortunately, they were all sweets.

"Neville... may I call you that?" Kayson asked.

"Of course, Professor."

"Mm-hm. You're always welcome to visit my office."

Neville walked over and dumped the huge pile of snacks from his arms onto Kayson's desk.

Then the child stood in front of the desk without moving or speaking...

"Uh... what are these?" Kayson pointed at the snacks on his desk. Though he had already guessed they were meant to thank him, what if? What if Neville had simply been unable to carry them any longer and had set them down here to rest his arms?

"These are all gifts for you. Thank you, Professor Kayson," Neville said, blushing.

"Thank you very much. I'll accept them," Kayson replied.

"Thank you, Professor." Neville bowed to Kayson again, then stood where he was and thought for about a second. He really did not know what else to say to Professor Kayson and was wondering whether he should simply leave.

But Kayson stopped him.

"Neville, if you encountered something like this again, would you choose to fight back?"

Neville immediately halted his departing steps and asked tentatively, "Fight back?"

"Yes. Would you choose to fight back?"

"Professor, I... I want to fight back, but how should I do it?" Neville looked at Kayson with longing, as though he had found a lifeline and desperately wanted to grab hold of it.

"How you fight back is simple. I only need to know that you want to fight back. What curses do you know?"

Neville was at a loss for words.

"It doesn't matter if you don't know any curses. What spells do you know?"

Neville still said nothing.

"That isn't a problem either. You just learn more slowly than others. You only need to promise me that if anyone tries to hurt you again, you'll fight back. Even if you don't know any spells, use your fists. Can you do that?"

"Yes!" Neville answered firmly.

"That is enough. Come back to my office after you successfully fight back next time."

"I will... Professor, actually, I've learned a spell."

Kayson smiled.

"That's good. At least you won't need to use your fists. What spell is it?"

"The Levitation Charm. But it doesn't seem very useful."

"Everything and everyone in this world is useful. Who says the Levitation Charm can't hurt people? You can make them fly up, then slam them hard onto the ground."

Neville thought about it and nodded. "I will, Professor."

"Mm. Go on. Remember, you must fight back. Being weak isn't frightening. Being cowardly is."

Kayson did not know whether Neville heard those final words.

Because the child ran quite fast.

Neville's favorability +10

Neville's trust +10

Neville's favorability +10

Neville's trust +10

After seeing Neville off, Kayson became free once more. His earlier mental strain had completely vanished after confirming that Neville, that foolish child, had the desire to fight back.

His life returned once again to the routine of the Great Hall, office, library, and Professors' lounge.

Though most of his time was spent in the library.

A vast amount of alchemical knowledge was absorbed into his mind, and his classes no longer felt like the bluffing and muddling through they had before.

At the same time, he began trying to analyze his MC abilities through the methods of alchemy.

The conclusion was that they were absurdly overpowered.

The Philosopher's Stone, also called the Magic Stone, had material transmutation as its most powerful trait. Yet in his eyes, this jewel of alchemy was merely a basic attack.

As for the magic that supposedly extended one's lifespan, that was Potions' work next door. To scholars of alchemy, which studied transformations at the microscopic level of matter, extending one's lifespan was merely a byproduct of alchemy. Compared to material transmutation, it held no appeal whatsoever.

It could be said that his work from now on was simply to integrate MC's various traits into alchemy as thoroughly as possible, then teach Alchemy 2.0 to these young wizards.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the second Tuesday since the start of term. The assignments he had given the fourth-year students the previous week had all been graded.

He had graded them very carefully, since he had no classes on Monday.

Strictly speaking, he should have had a third-year class, but in order to let the young wizards consider whether they should choose elective courses, Hogwarts had suspended all elective classes for third-years during the second week. This allowed them to balance their private time and studies, find a proper balance, and then make a well-considered choice.

As a result, Kayson had an entire day off. Well, only half a day, really. He had spent the other half grading assignments.

As for the assignments, it had to be said that the fourth-year students were already quite skilled. They had conducted detailed examinations of the Enchanting Table's emitted magic, surface patterns, and internal structure.

Not only were the submitted essays substantial, but they had even turned in a replica Enchanting Table.

The entire class had participated. For example, the Slytherin students came from wealthy families and were responsible for supplying the raw materials: Obsidian and diamonds.

Ravenclaw was responsible for the precise design and assembly.

Gryffindor handled processing the raw materials, while Hufflepuff provided constant logistical support.

Thus, a simplified but functional Enchanting Table, powered by densely packed Ancient Runic circuits, sat before Kayson.