Magic Middle School

Isaac turned his head at the sound, and the first thing he saw was, without a doubt, Hermione's enviable volume of hair.

In many cases, it takes a lot of hair for a person to reach that level of bushiness.

For someone like Isaac with fine, soft hair, achieving Hermione's level of frizz was truly impossible.

Caught under the simultaneous gaze of Isaac and the manager, Hermione couldn't help but blush.

Even if it wasn't intentional, eavesdropping on someone else's conversation and then reacting so dramatically to the content was, in the Granger household, an indisputable breach of etiquette.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you, but!" Hermione's speech was rapid and urgent.

"But, did you say you've already finished reading Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration?!"

Last time, at the Granger residence, after Professor McGonagall left, she was replaced by the somewhat gloomy-looking Professor Snape.

This professor seemed so unapproachable that when Mr. Granger tentatively tried to start a conversation, he stopped as soon as he realized Professor Snape had no intention of responding.

During their previous trip to Diagon Alley, the Grangers had only purchased the items on the school supply list under the guidance of Professor Snape.

Fortunately, they already knew the address of Diagon Alley and could visit on their own later.

The Grangers had intended to return to Diagon Alley the very next day, but Hermione had already been captivated by her Hogwarts textbooks.

For the past month, she had spent every day either reading the basic theory in her textbooks or attempting magic practice.

Yet, after a month, she had only gained some insight into the spells in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.

Persuaded by her parents, she had come to Diagon Alley today, intending to clear her head.

However, Hermione still dove headfirst into the bookstore.

The Grangers were long accustomed to their daughter's habits, so the two simply went to the ice cream parlor across the street to sit for a while.

And, incidentally, to experience the wonders of magic.

Just moments ago, Hermione had been drawn to Hogwarts: A History; everything recorded in that book seemed so fascinating to her.

She was reading intently when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.

It was the voice of a "prophet" whose authenticity she still couldn't verify.

She had asked Professor McGonagall the same question, and the result was that Professor McGonagall had left their home in a state of shock.

But when she asked Professor Snape the same question, it only earned her a hostile glare from him.

None of that mattered now; the point was, what had she just heard?!

What did he mean he had finished learning Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration?!

Hermione was a smart child, and she could clearly hear the subtext in the bookstore manager's words.

While she was still struggling with Transfiguration and obsessing over basic spells, someone had already finished learning the entirety of Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration?

One had to realize that Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration wasn't just for first-year students.

It was the textbook for first and second-year students at Hogwarts.

Similarly, Intermediate Transfiguration was the textbook for years three through five.

Advanced Guide to Transfiguration was the textbook for the sixth and seventh years.

For Hermione, Isaac finishing this book meant someone was two years ahead of her right at the starting line!

How could this be allowed???

Honestly, this nearly brought Hermione to tears, and Isaac hurriedly tried to comfort her.

"You heard right, I really did finish it. It's just Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, how hard could it be?"

As Isaac spoke, he glanced at the bookstore manager, seemingly seeking the manager's agreement.

The manager was very cooperative and immediately expressed his concurrence.

Whether or not Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration was difficult to learn when he was in school was beside the point; it certainly wouldn't be difficult for a "relative" of Dumbledore!

This Mr. Waldore was now a major client of their bookstore; even if he said Dumbledore couldn't perform magic, the manager would have to nod along.

Isaac himself might not have had much credibility in Hermione's heart due to the "prophecy incident" not long ago.

But Hermione had no choice but to believe the bookstore manager.

So, Isaac had actually finished in one month what an ordinary young wizard would need two years to learn?

The little girl was on the verge of tears.

Across the street, the Grangers noticed something was wrong with their daughter, paid for their ice cream, and hurried over.

The bookstore manager, perhaps feeling that bullying a young girl wasn't quite right, offered an explanation.

"Miss, if this is about your studies, you really don't need to worry so much."

"In the entire wizarding world, there are actually very few people with the talent of Mr. Waldore."

Hm?

Hermione immediately caught the blind spot in the manager's words.

"Mr. Manager, does 'not many' mean... there is more than one wizard with talent like Waldore?"

The little girl's voice was even slightly out of tune, and the bookstore manager realized immediately that his good intentions had backfired.

Oh no, why is this Muggle-born little witch so competitive?

As a senior manager of a bookstore, he understood the principle that trouble stems from a loose tongue.

He also knew that powerful wizards mostly had eccentric temperaments.

He could certainly comfort Hermione by saying Waldore's talent was one of a kind, but who could guarantee that this statement wouldn't reach the ears of other powerful wizards?

What if some wizard targeted Waldore, thereby provoking Dumbledore's hostility?

Good heavens, is a wizarding war about to start again?

He certainly didn't want to be the sinner who triggered a wizarding war.

The bookstore manager decisively acted as if he hadn't heard Hermione's question and turned to Isaac.

"In view of your talent in the field of Transfiguration, Mr. Waldore, I suggest you subscribe to Transfiguration Today and Transfiguration Monthly."

"These are relatively cutting-edge theoretical journals on Transfiguration."

"Additionally, I personally recommend you subscribe to Transfiguration Today: The Development and Prospects of Transfiguration, Bound Edition."

"This is a collection of papers that goes from shallow to deep, following the Advanced Guide to Transfiguration."

"It is a bridging work for you once you reach a profound level in the field of Transfiguration."

The bookstore manager's words were a mouthful, but Isaac understood.

Judging by the enrollment age and academic system of Hogwarts, Hogwarts was more like a middle school plus a high school.

It was also a place where young wizards could obtain knowledge cheaply.

Once they graduated from Hogwarts and entered wizarding society, they would discover that the knowledge they could easily obtain at school would cost them at least ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times more to continue learning in the wizarding world.

The gap between Muggle-born wizards, half-blood wizards, and pure-blood wizards only truly widened at this point.

The most fatal part was that once Muggle-born and half-blood wizards realized this, they would find that throughout the entire magical world, apart from this magical middle school called Hogwarts, there was simply no such thing as a "magical university."

If they wanted to obtain more profound knowledge, they could only grit their teeth and continue to pay an incomparably high price.