Before School Begins (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

With two weeks left before leaving for Hogwarts, Jon finally moved into the Old Manor that belonged solely to him. Moving in with him were his textbooks, clothes, Owl, cousin Bella, a pile of old books bought for two Galleons at a bookshop in Diagon Alley, several magical items taken from the Smith Family vault at Gringotts and now displayed in Jon's study, and his House-elf, Kaledi.

The slave mark on this House-elf had been transferred to Jon, but the first time he saw it, he felt that it had not been treated well by its previous owners. It was thin and tiny, silent and withdrawn. Jon had gone to great lengths before getting Kaledi into a state where it could communicate normally.

Such a precious magical creature as a House-elf was wasted as a slave.

So, aside from doing the housework and preparing three meals a day, Kaledi also served as Jon's sparring partner for magic practice.

Jon knew plenty of spells, but his casting ability was disastrously weak. Spells looked simple enough, yet actually casting them was extremely difficult.

Whether magic worked properly depended heavily on the wizard's own ability. Jon had followed nearly all the key points in the books perfectly, with Bella guiding him beside him, yet he still could not cast even the most basic Levitation Magic.

Just how had Hermione Granger mastered most first-year magic in a single month?

With his head full of questions, Jon trained even harder, nearly losing himself entirely in magical practice.

Fortunately, effort always paid off. The learning ability cultivated in his previous life gave Jon a talent on another level. Once he got the hang of a spell, he would never fail to cast it again. He could even draw inferences from it and experiment with different applications of the spell in different environments.

Just like Ron using the Levitation Charm to knock out the troll in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Thank goodness for exam-oriented education.

In just half a month, through Jon's tireless efforts, he finally mastered most of the spells taught in the first year. He had also gained a certain degree of proficiency in Transfiguration and Potions.

Bella was somewhat puzzled by his diligence. As a Ravenclaw student, she had never had any problems with studying. Even though her grades were only average, she had never struggled academically.

So Bella simply could not understand why a Young Wizard who had not even started school yet was practicing spells so hard. Was he afraid he would not graduate?

Naturally, Jon would not reveal his true reasons. He was only preparing for the dark age that would soon arrive. What if he got killed by Death Eaters before Harry Potter could defeat Voldemort?

Cousin Bella was two years ahead of him. In the year Voldemort returned, she would happen to be graduating from her seventh year. If she just stayed hidden at home then, she would naturally be in no danger.

Jon knew very well that his maternal grandmother, Carolina Yang, was an exceptionally powerful witch.

There was another reason as well. What he remembered was dangerous to him too. To be safe, he had to learn Legilimency as quickly as possible. He also needed to learn the Disillusionment Charm, an essential spell for Night tours.

His life was so hard!

Jon's Steel Pen paused over the paper, bleeding a blot of ink across it. He sorted through his tangled thoughts, tore the stained page from his notes, and tossed it into the wastebasket.

His study was protected by Protective spells. Aside from him and Kaledi, it was difficult for anyone else to enter.

This was also to prevent Bella from seeing certain magic books. Without exception, those books all involved the Unforgivable Curses.

Whenever the House-elf helped him clear away rubbish, it would use magic to destroy everything completely, so that no one would discover anything Jon had written down.

Even if it was written in simplified Chinese.

If things had gone according to Jon's wishes, starting at Hogwarts now would not have been particularly ideal.

After all, he knew little about Harry Potter's fellow first-years. The person he knew best was Cho Chang, the Asian girl who dated Harry Potter, so he would have to be careful around his classmates to avoid letting anything slip.

Thus, an image emerged in Jon's mind: a withdrawn Young Wizard with strange habits, a fondness for bizarre books, and mediocre grades.

Wait? Wasn't that the image of a witch from his previous life?

Jon silently sighed and stuffed his notebook into the small suitcase as well.

This small suitcase had been enchanted with a Space-Expander Charm and a Featherlight Charm. It already contained everything he would need for school, along with several sets of casual clothes suited for movement. It was not heavy to carry, sparing Jon the trouble of hauling a huge trunk to school. Bella had an identical suitcase, while Jon's had belonged to his mother when she was young.

It was an LV suitcase, extremely durable, and its design had not gone out of style.

School would begin in two days. Jon still felt somewhat excited.

Putting aside those irritating matters from earlier, Hogwarts was undoubtedly a holy ground for learning magic.

The library and the Room of Requirement both held vast quantities of magical books, and every professor teaching at Hogwarts possessed profound magical attainments—except for Gilderoy Lockhart, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during Harry Potter's second year. He was nothing but a fraud who could only cast Obliviation.

Still, anyone who could make such a success of being a fraud must have something exceptional about him. Jon did intend to ask that professor about Obliviation. Every type of magic involving memories was exceedingly profound and difficult to learn on one's own.

Of course, that was something to worry about two years later.

After checking everything he needed to bring once more, Jon stuffed several books from his collection and a set of old Cauldrons into the ring on his finger. This ring was a treasure from the Smith Family vault. Its effect resembled the storage rings in Chinese novels. The silver ring had an extremely small Hidden compartment, and with a Space-Expander Charm and a Featherlight Charm, it contained a space of roughly one cubic meter. It was very convenient for carrying small items.

"Jon! Are you packed? We have to go!"

Bella's voice came from downstairs. She had come to call Jon out. That evening, they would return to Greenwich through the Floo Network, then travel from Greenwich to King's Cross Station.

"All packed. I'll be down in a moment."

Jon locked the study door, glanced at Bella downstairs in her chiffon dress, and seriously went over the precautions for while he was away with Kaledi beside him.

For example, preventing Muggles from entering, preventing anyone from entering the magic practice room or study, not even his parents.

Kaledi solemnly promised that it would not disappoint its master, then watched Jon leave.

This was the night before Jon departed for Hogwarts. Five years remained before the storm in the magical world descended.