Andros

Tom gripped his wand, beginning to puzzle over the Levitation Charm and the Wand-Lighting Charm. This was different from his previous blind experimentation, where he had relied entirely on intent and raw magic to force results. Now, he had to follow the rules: recite the incantation, flick the wand—it was as tedious as memorizing textbook passages back in Muggle school.

He stared at Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, reciting the incantation word for word while mimicking the wrist movements shown in the diagrams. On his first attempt, the feather on the table did indeed wobble into the air, but when he tried to nudge it to the left, it simply flopped back onto the table like a deflated balloon.

Andros watched from the side, amused, finally feeling that his role as a teacher wasn't entirely in vain. He didn't rush to intervene; he waited until Tom had fumbled through another clumsy attempt before speaking languidly: "Tom, the steps in the book are just a reference. Since when does magic have such rigid rules? Everyone's situation is different. If you follow the book blindly, you'll at most know how to use a spell, not how to use it well. You have to make your own adjustments."

As he spoke, he casually conjured his own wand and demonstrated the Levitation Charm. "Look, the arc of my arm is about twenty degrees smaller than what the book prescribes. I'm larger and stronger; following the book strictly would lead to overkill, and the spell would collapse. You're young, your body hasn't fully developed, so your arc actually needs to be larger. As for how much is just right, you'll have to test that yourself. I can't do that for you."

Tom had an epiphany. Following Andros's advice, he adjusted his gestures and force bit by bit. After three or four tries, he finally found the rhythm. The feather finally obeyed, drifting back and forth according to his will like a well-trained sidekick, and the Levitation Charm became increasingly fluid.

The two spent nearly three hours in the study space before Tom bid Andros farewell and exited. Although the fatigue from the space vanished the moment he returned to reality, decades of ingrained habits couldn't be changed so easily; he still felt it was time to sleep. Besides, the hundred credits gifted by the system could only sustain him for fifteen hours at most, so he had to spend them sparingly—he didn't want to run out of funds right after unlocking his cheat, which would be far too embarrassing.

Early the next morning, the moment Tom opened his eyes, he pulled up the system panel and his eyes lit up: not only had his credits not decreased, but they had increased by eighteen points, and he had gained three achievement points. After flipping through the system logs, he realized that fully mastering the Levitation Charm, the Wand-Lighting Charm, and the Blinking Charm had rewarded him with thirty credits, while learning three new spells had granted him three achievement points.

Tom stroked his chin, muttering, "So this study space is a perpetual motion machine? The rewards for learning even a little something outweigh the consumption. I won't have to worry about running out of credits in the future." However, he was clear-headed: the biggest drain on credits was undoubtedly that "Transcendental State." With his current balance, he could only afford to activate it for ten minutes, and he didn't even dare to try—what if it turned out to be useless? That would be a pure waste. He let his imagination run wild: could the Transcendental State make a person float? Or make them smarter? The more he thought about it, the itchier he became, but the itchier he got, the less he dared to move. He was, above all, a penny-pincher.

He pondered this while getting up to wash, not rushing into the study space. He and Andros had tested it yesterday: after he exited, Andros would either sleep in the space or move about freely. If he were willing to spend credits, Andros could even borrow his eyes to see the outside world, acting like a tethered companion.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Tom: wasn't this just like a Jinchuriki? But it was even more convenient. He would buy all the textbooks, put them in the space for Andros to study first, and once Andros had mastered them, he would go in to "leech" the lessons. It would save both credits and time—a genius idea!

No sooner said than done, Tom headed out early, took a bus to the city center, passed through the Leaky Cauldron, and made a beeline for Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. He didn't know what textbooks the upperclassmen used, but the clerk would certainly know. Finding an unoccupied clerk, he got straight to the point: "I want the textbooks for all courses from first to seventh year at Hogwarts. All of them."

The clerk looked him up and down. "All of them? Kid, are you sure? Looking at you, you're at most a first-year freshman. There's no need to buy them all at once. Take Defense Against the Dark Arts, for instance—the professor changes every year, and the textbooks change with them. If you buy them now, you won't be able to use them later. It's a waste of money."

Tom chuckled inwardly: this clerk was far too honest; he was likely a Hufflepuff graduate. He shrugged. "Knowledge is mine once I've learned it. Even if the textbooks change, there's no harm in learning more. Rather than spending money on snacks and toys, I'd rather buy books. If I don't use them later, I can sell them as second-hand; it's no loss."

The clerk was stunned, not expecting such words from a child, and stopped trying to dissuade him, having done his duty. He pushed a small cart over and began helping Tom find the books. Looking at Tom again, he said with certainty, "Kid, you'll definitely be in Ravenclaw! Though I still think Hufflepuff is the best."

Tom nodded. "I also think Ravenclaw suits me. After all, I'm going to be a scholar; I can't go to Gryffindor to be a brute, nor to Slytherin to play those twisted games. Ravenclaw is just right."

Ten minutes later, the cart was piled high like a small mountain. Aside from the grade-level textbooks, there were several extracurricular books Tom had picked up at random. When he reached the counter to pay, Tom was dumbfounded—he didn't have enough money. Yesterday, the first-year textbooks had only cost fifteen Galleons, averaging two Galleons per book, but the upper-level books were absurdly expensive. A single High Magic Power: Self-Defense Guide cost seven Galleons—it was practically robbery.

He suddenly remembered Arman complaining that her son's university textbooks often cost dozens of pounds, sometimes over a hundred. At the time, he had thought Muggles were pitiful, but now he realized wizarding textbooks were even more of a scam. With no other choice, Tom had to make another trip to Gringotts, withdrawing two hundred Galleons to settle the bill. He spent another ten Sickles to have the bookstore send the books home by owl—he didn't want to carry this pile himself and end up half-dead from exhaustion.

After buying the books, Tom didn't linger in Diagon Alley, heading straight to the Muggle Waitrose supermarket. It was a high-end supermarket in the UK, and the goods were fresh and delicious. Although he was a poor student in the wizarding world, he had enough money to live comfortably in the Muggle world, and Tom never treated himself poorly. He usually burned a lot of energy fighting and exercising; without relying on magic, his fists alone were enough to protect himself and even collect "protection fees" from the bullies to subsidize his expenses.

Around three in the afternoon, three owls dragged a large parcel, thumping against the window. Tom put the new books into the study space but didn't enter himself; he wanted to test just how much worse learning in the real world was compared to the space.

By ten o'clock that night, Tom collapsed onto his bed, wailing weakly: "Phew, that was exhausting! Without the space buff, learning is such a chore. I'll just study in the space obediently from now on—why put myself through this misery!"