Changes in January, Eve of Term

High above the clouds, Rhine rode the Owl Flying Sword through the cloud layers and slowly descended.

Feeling the cool current of air continuously flowing through his body, Rhine's heart stirred, and a bronze-gold sheen surfaced across his skin.

Compared to a month ago, Rhine could clearly feel that, infused by spiritual energy, his Bronze Skin and Iron Bones Talent had grown stronger.

Whether it was his physical toughness or raw strength, both had improved by at least twenty percent over the past month.

Tearing tigers and leopards apart with his bare hands was no longer difficult for Rhine.

Even dangerous magical creatures that some adult wizards could not handle would be easily dealt with by Rhine using nothing but his body.

Naturally, Bronze Skin and Iron Bones Talent was not his only improvement over the past month.

Nourished by spiritual energy, his magical power had also risen considerably. From barely meeting Hogwarts' admission requirements, he had advanced beyond the average level.

He still could not compare to Harry Potter, who possessed extraordinarily powerful magic due to being born with a fragment of Voldemort's soul.

But compared with Hermione, Rhine felt that the gap between their magical power was already very small.

With the magical control and learning ability granted by the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart, calling him a magical genius would be entirely justified.

Moreover, his magical power could continue to grow through the Feast on Wind and Drink Dew Talent. Once he gained the Essence of Sun and Moon Talent in the future, the rate of improvement would increase even further.

Given enough time, surpassing a freakishly gifted person like Harry Potter—and even reaching magical power beyond Dumbledore or Voldemort—was not impossible.

Besides that, over the past month, he had basically studied through all the textbooks he had on hand and spent every day getting free secondhand books from Flourish and Blotts.

At the very least, Rhine had thoroughly mastered all magical knowledge that would appear in Hogwarts' first three school years.

Most commonly used spells were already second nature to him. Even if casting them with a wand was somewhat difficult, they posed no challenge for Rhine.

Even his wand-wielding martial skills had improved considerably with the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart assisting him, carrying a sense of having shed all excess and returned to simplicity.

A faint smile appeared on Rhine's lips.

"With this level of strength, the dangers I might encounter in my first year can hardly be called dangers anymore..."

"The Three-Headed Dog won't be able to bite through me. Once I unleash my martial arts, I'll show it what the Dog Beating Staff Technique is."

"Devil's Snare won't be able to restrain my Bronze Skin and Iron Bones either. As for that Transfiguration Chessboard and the Flying Keys, they're just children's games."

"The only thing with any real threat is that two-faced man. But judging by his reaction speed in the original story, Quirrell dragged him down far too much. He couldn't even deal with first-year Harry Potter, so he's not much of a threat."

"As for second year, if I encountered that Thousand-Year Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets now..."

He made a quick calculation in his mind.

There was no chance the basilisk could sneak up on him. Its body was far too large. Others might not notice it, but Rhine, with the Wind Riding Talent, could easily detect disturbances in the air and its fishy stench.

As for fighting with his eyes closed, that would not be a problem with Rhine's current martial skill.

And regarding the basilisk's attacks, as long as its venomous fangs did not bite him directly, ordinary blows and collisions would have no effect whatsoever on Rhine's Bronze Skin and Iron Bones.

Even if its fangs did bite him, Rhine felt that he could withstand it. He would not be pierced through outright, and the venom's effects on his body would be greatly slowed.

"In conclusion, if the Thousand-Year Basilisk met me now, it would basically just be beaten senseless."

"Hogwarts, safe!"

With confidence in his heart, Rhine's smile became even brighter.

His gaze fell on the system panel.

Current Connections: Uncle Bigan (Life-and-Death Friendship), Spirit Crane (Close Friendship), Young Deng Chanyu (Close Friendship), Yuan Hong (Casual Acquaintance), Artifact Forging Sect Leader (Casual Acquaintance), Beast Taming Sect Leader (Casual Acquaintance)

At first glance, there did not seem to be any change in the connections category.

But in his relationship with Hermione, the words Close Friendship had actually begun to fade, while the words Life-and-Death Friendship had become much more solid than they had been a month ago, nearly taking shape.

Perhaps with just one more opportunity, they could become true Life-and-Death Friends. The Five-Colored Stone Cultivation Method, capable of beating Immortal Gods black and blue, was already very close to Rhine.

Furthermore, Rhine's relationships with Ollivander and Warwick had almost reached the level of Close Friendship as well.

Control Fire at Will and the Spirit Beast Cultivation Talent should be within reach in the next day or two.

If an opportunity arose, it could happen even sooner.

Rhine narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and headed toward Diagon Alley.

"Term is about to begin. I need to take the initiative and get these two talents today."

Hermione was already sitting in the spot that she and Rhine had consistently occupied for the past month.

When she saw Rhine appear, Hermione smiled, her expression carrying both anticipation and nervousness.

"Rhine, the day after tomorrow is when we go to King's Cross Station. We're getting closer and closer to Hogwarts."

"I'm already getting nervous. Hogwarts: A History says that the Sorting Ceremony involves a special, mysterious test. I looked through so many books and asked lots of people in Diagon Alley, and they all said that test is extremely, extremely difficult."

"Good heavens, what could it be? Is it an exam, or practical magic?"

"Which subject should I focus on reviewing?"

Seeing Hermione so nervous, Rhine could not help but laugh.

It had to be said that the magical world strictly upheld its tradition of pranking young wizards, from the textbooks to every adult wizard.

Rhine remembered that in the original story, even the Malfoy family, who always saw themselves as aristocrats, had tricked Malfoy. Lucius and Narcissa had actually made Malfoy anxious and unsettled as well.

It was all about this: having been soaked by the rain yourself, you still had to tear up the next generation's umbrella.

Even the textbooks were deliberately vague about it, making it seem mysterious and unfathomable. No wonder Hermione was so nervous.

Rhine continued, comforting her.

"Don't worry, Hermione. If someone with your magical ability can't pass some Sorting test, then every new Hogwarts student might as well drop out and go home."

What he said was true.

Over the past month, with his guidance, Hermione had basically mastered all the first-year magical knowledge.

Compared with the original story, where she could only research magic on her own during this same period, Hermione in this life was unquestionably much stronger.

Rhine even had an idea. He could absorb spiritual energy through the Feast on Wind and Drink Dew Talent. If Hermione were beside him at the time, would part of that spiritual energy enter her body as well, thereby increasing her magical power?

If so, how high could Hermione's magical achievements rise?

But that was a matter for later. At least until their relationship reached Life-and-Death Friendship, Rhine had no intention of revealing his talent for increasing magical power.

After all, even Voldemort had needed repeated Dark Magic transformations and Horcrux creation to increase his strength, while Rhine could raise his magical power so easily. If word spread, who knew what trouble it might cause?

Rhine said to Hermione, "Term is about to start, so let's relax today. How about we don't study?"

"I'm going to say goodbye to Mr. Ollivander and Mr. Warwick first."

Hermione nodded, then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right. When I came to Diagon Alley today, I saw a dessert shop holding an event. I heard their honey lemonade is delicious, and there were so many people lining up."

"Go ahead, Rhine. I'll buy two cups of lemonade there so we can drink them together."

With that, Hermione left her seat.

Rhine let out a soft breath. A flicker of eagerness appeared in his eyes as he walked into Warwick's Magical Menagerie.