Professor McGonagall was there to greet them.
She stood at the entrance, stern and dignified.
The moment Devero saw her, his eyes nearly popped out of his head!
He'd been longing to get the entry for this lovable and admirable professor from the original story.
He was sorely lacking in Transfiguration talent.
He'd asked the system about it before.
Why, when he was already a Magic Prodigy,
and could learn all kinds of spells with ease,
was he struggling so much with Transfiguration?
The system's answer left Devero speechless.
It said his talent for Transfiguration was simply too poor.
Magic Prodigy worked so well with spell-based magic
because Devero had decent talent in that area to begin with.
Entries couldn't solve every problem.
The fact that he could barely manage Transfiguration at all was already the result of Magic Prodigy doing its best.
If he wasn't satisfied,
he should go find more entries and give it an even bigger boost!
What?
Could a Transmigrator really have such terrible talent?
Devero felt utterly dejected.
Compared to Harry, a super child of destiny covered in golden entries,
his own background really was nothing to write home about.
He might be on Ron's level.
Or even worse—maybe he belonged at Neville's table.
That was why Devero craved high-quality entries so desperately!
But at last, Devero had finally met the goddess who'd occupied his thoughts day and night.
Professor Minerva McGonagall!!
"First-year students, Professor McGonagall,"
Hagrid said to Professor McGonagall.
Clearly, even he was a little intimidated by this highly respected lady.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here."
Professor McGonagall nodded.
She looked sternly at the noisy crowd of first-years.
The venerable old professor had a way of making everyone fall silent
without saying a word.
Under her gaze,
no one spoke.
Professor McGonagall turned around.
She pulled the door wide open.
Inside, blazing torches lined the stone walls.
The ceiling was so high that its top was almost impossible to see.
A magnificent Marble Staircase stood directly ahead,
leading to the upper floors.
Devero was still some distance from Professor McGonagall.
There was no way he could inspect her entries.
He was so anxious he could barely stand still.
But there was nothing he could do.
There were too many people.
At that moment, Devero wanted nothing more than to whip out his wand
and blast every little wizard blocking his way out of the path.
In the end, he had no choice but to do what everyone else did.
They followed Professor McGonagall along the stone floor.
Just then,
a familiar voice rang out.
[Beep!] [Wizard Secret Realm discovered. Exploration function activated!] [Current Wizard Secret Realm: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry] [Exploration progress: 0.01%]
Just as Devero had expected,
Hogwarts was a Wizard Secret Realm.
But what he hadn't expected was
that Hogwarts would be this huge!
What did an exploration rate of 0.01% even mean?
Did that mean the long walk he'd just taken
counted as only one ten-thousandth of the whole school?
That was ridiculous!
When he'd just climbed up the cliffside stairs,
Devero had already been stunned by the sheer size of the school.
He hadn't expected the system to estimate this place as being even larger than he'd imagined.
No wonder the Weasley Twins hadn't managed to explore the entire school
even after a whole year.
There was simply no way to get it all done in one school year!
Devero couldn't help feeling pleased with his own foresight.
Luckily, before coming to school,
he'd already used a Silent Spell as bait
to recruit Fred and George, the two notorious troublemakers who had all of Hogwarts quaking in their boots,
as his tour guides.
On his own, he probably wouldn't have explored even thirty percent of the place in seven years.
Still, Devero didn't think that would be enough.
Hogwarts had a long history.
There were probably plenty of places like the Room of Requirement that even the twins had never found.
If he relied on them alone,
progress would probably still be slow.
He would have to depend on himself.
Devero thought it over.
If he was going to rely on himself,
as a first-year student,
he was still restricted in all sorts of ways.
There were plenty of places he couldn't go.
The Forbidden Forest, for one.
And the Restricted Section, for another.
In the original story, Harry's Invisibility Cloak really was a marvelous thing.
With that,
he could go wherever he pleased in the entire castle, couldn't he?
But then again,
the Invisibility Cloak was one of the Deathly Hallows.
Dumbledore was bound to keep a close eye on it.
Even if Devero tried to borrow it, he'd probably be watched.
Devero frowned slightly.
He didn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention.
That would only hold him back at every turn.
In the end,
he would still have to rely on himself.
Devero had two options now.
One was the Disillusionment Charm, which appeared in the original story.
The other was becoming an Animagus.
But for now, Devero had no idea where he could learn the Disillusionment Charm.
That left only the Animagus.
Which meant
Professor McGonagall's entries were incredibly important!
--
After walking for a while,
the little wizards were led into a cramped stone chamber.
It was too small.
Several of them complained aloud.
But to Devero,
it was a wonderful place.
He had finally gotten within three meters of Professor McGonagall.
He immediately checked Professor McGonagall's panel.
[Name: Minerva McGonagall] [Age: 55] [Spell Library: Animagus (Mastery), various Transfiguration Spells (Mastery),...] [Entries: Transfiguration Prodigy (Gold), Magical Talent (Purple), Good Mentor (Purple)] [Transfiguration Prodigy (Gold): Your talent for Transfiguration is at its peak. You are exceptionally meticulous and diligent—two of the most important qualities for Transfiguration! You are destined to achieve great things on this path!] [Magical Talent (Purple): You possess greater magical talent than the average wizard and learn spells faster than most. You are also somewhat creative.] [Good Mentor (Purple): You excel at teaching knowledge and skills, guiding your students' moral growth, inspiring their potential, and positively influencing their personal development. You are very likely to become a beloved teacher!]
Wow!
Devero's eyes were practically bulging!
No wonder she would become Hogwarts Headmaster.
Her entries were every bit as impressive as Snape's!
They might even be more useful to Devero!
He was practically climbing the walls with impatience!
He'd loaded Harry's Gold and Purple entries at the station earlier.
They were both on cooldown now.
He could see the entries right in front of him,
but he couldn't load them.
It was almost more painful than being killed!
"Devero, what's wrong?"
Neville asked worriedly from beside him.
By now, Harry and his three companions had reunited with Devero.
They were standing together.
"Have you ever been dragged off the toilet halfway through?"
Devero asked, his face ashen.
Neville shook his head in horror.
"That was exactly how I felt."
Devero said listlessly.
Their whispered conversation earned a glare from Professor McGonagall.
Neville immediately straightened up.
Devero, meanwhile, hung his head, looking utterly dispirited.
"Welcome to Hogwarts."
Professor McGonagall waited until the hall had fallen silent before speaking.
"The opening feast is about to begin. But before you take your seats in the dining hall, you must first be sorted into your respective houses."
She went on at length about the significance of the Sorting.
Devero barely listened.
At that moment, all he wanted was for time to speed up!
Why was this cooldown taking so long?!
Before you continue