After dinner, Damon returned to the Common Room and began writing letters.
The first was to Sacred Heart Orphanage, letting the director know he was safe.
The second was to Flourish and Blotts, asking them to deliver the books he had previously ordered to the school.
The third was to Slag Giggs Pharmacy, placing a large order for basic magical ingredients, including venomous snake fangs, toad skins, snake gall, frog eyes, marigolds, water snake skins, and more.
He also ordered magical containers, special additives, protective and regulating items, and two custom potion kits.
After writing the letters and sealing them with wax, Damon took the three letters to the owlery. He fed Chachabarton two owl nuts, gave her a few affectionate strokes, then handed her the letters.
"A bit of a load. Sorry to trouble you."
"Hoot."
Chachabarton lowered her head and hooted, grabbed the three letters in her claws, and flew away.
Watching her receding figure, Damon suddenly remembered that he had not yet upgraded his animal affinity.
So he simply raised it straight to Level Four. It only cost him ten thousand Magic Points, after all.
Magical Creature Affinity—LV1 (Beginner)—Magical Creature Affinity—LV4 (Expert)
With a little time, you can communicate with nearly all magical creatures and, when necessary, guide them through complex tasks or combat.
Good grief, wasn't this talent practically on par with Newt Scamander's?
"Hoot hoot hoot hoot hoot!!!"
The moment Damon finished upgrading it, a sudden commotion erupted in the owlery. The owls that had been somewhat indifferent toward him before underwent a dramatic change in attitude, eagerly hopping onto his shoulders and even his head, hooting without end.
"Watch where you crap, guys."
Damon gently lifted the owl from atop his head and, under its disgruntled stare, placed it back on the owl perch.
What Damon did not notice was that, within the shadows around the stairwell corner, a pair of eyes was quietly watching him—watching this boy surrounded by and beloved by owls.
His gaze was deep and tranquil, like a still pool in spring.
After watching in silence for a while, Dumbledore quietly departed.
Minerva had mentioned this child to him before, with surprise and gratification in her voice, but he had not paid much attention at the time.
After the Sorting Ceremony, he learned of the child's conduct on the train. Combined with his performance at the ceremony, the boy was indeed quite impressive.
Still, he needed to observe him longer.
The more gifted the seedling, the more that was necessary.
After all, talent was often a double-edged sword—it could guide someone toward glory, or push him into the abyss.
Damon played with the owls for five minutes, never realizing that Dumbledore had watched from behind him for those same five minutes.
But even if he had known, he would not have cared too much. At worst, the old bee would scheme against him for the Greater Good. Damon believed he could handle it, and besides, there was still Harry, the Chosen One.
After leaving the owlery, Damon did not leave the Seventh Floor. Instead, he searched along the corridor, because the Room of Requirement—a must-have for any transmigrator—was here.
He passed through the corridor and quickly found his target.
A huge tapestry depicting The Bludgeoning of Barnaby stood opposite a stretch of blank wall.
Damon walked from the window at one end of the blank wall, turned around, then walked back to the waist-high vase at the other end. As he did so, he muttered to himself:
I need a place to practice Charms. I need a place to practice Charms.
When he turned around for the third time, a remarkably smooth door had appeared in the wall.
Damon smiled, decisively gripped the brass handle, pulled the door open, and stepped inside.
The space beyond the door was extremely spacious.
A row of magical targets stood in the distance directly opposite the entrance. They varied in size, ranging from ordinary circular targets to complex target forms that could almost simulate the movements of different Magical Creatures.
The surfaces of the complex targets were covered in a gleaming silver sheen. They looked capable of withstanding all kinds of magical attacks, and seemed to carry a faint magical protective barrier as well.
On the left side of the room stood a long wooden table, already supplied with ink and magical quills. Along the wall was a row of wooden bookshelves holding thick, parchment-covered books. Damon casually pulled one out and discovered that it concerned Charms training.
On the right was an enormous mirror, apparently meant for checking one's movements while casting.
"It has not only the facilities, but even all the supporting books. Where did all this stuff even come from?"
Damon clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked over the room's furnishings.
Then he went to the table and drafted a simple plan.
Charms training—primarily focused on the stability of magical power output.
He could begin with the Lumos Charm, ensuring that the diameter deviation of the light spot stayed within one millimeter and that it could remain fixed on the center of a target without wavering.
There was also magical power recovery training. Normally, after a spell was lifted, some magical power remained within the caster's body. A wizard had to consciously reclaim all of the remaining power.
He could train this with a teacup under a Levitation Charm—before the floating teacup landed, he would withdraw the magical power sustaining it early, causing the cup to fall ahead of time.
His total magical power would continue to rise so long as he kept breathing. What he needed most urgently now was to improve his control.
Potions training:
Ingredient processing: process one hundred portions of different magical ingredients each day, with ten portions per type.
Improve the precision of ingredient processing by sorting fragments in increments of 0.5 millimeters.
Temperature control:
Try to control the heat precisely and improve the stability of potion brewing. He could adjust the flame every fifteen seconds to keep the rate at which bubbles burst around the cauldron's edge constant, observing the bubble frequency with his eyes while using a thermometer to ensure accurate temperature control.
Additionally, he could use beakers at different temperatures to strengthen his hands' perception of heat and improve gradually.
As for actually brewing potions, that was far too lengthy and tedious. For now, he still wanted to spend most of his time improving his strength.
Transfiguration training plan:
He would begin by transforming very small inanimate objects into other inanimate objects, improving step by step. After each transformation, he would perform a reverse transformation and try to restore the object.
"That should do for now."
After finishing the plan, Damon casually Transfigured an iron nail and hammered it into the tabletop, then began practicing Lumos at the targets.
It was such a basic spell that it could not have been more basic. With Damon's current expert-level Charms Mastery, it was more or less child's play.
Charms Mastery—LV4 1/1000000 (Expert)
You can quickly master how to control the power and effects of magic. Your control over magic in both body and mind will reach an extremely high level, and advanced spells will no longer be difficult for you!
But the reason a foundation was a foundation was because it formed the cornerstone of everything.
Recklessly pursuing high-level spells just because he had talent was not Damon's style—one step at a time, with experience and gains in every step. That was what he sought.
Otherwise, he suspected that he would soon fall into a state of having no desires or ambitions.
"Then, let's begin."
Damon looked at the distant targets, an excited smile appearing on his face.
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