[Host: Devero Alexander] [Age: 11] [Identity: First-Year Hogwarts Student, Potions Apprentice] [Spell Library: Levitation Charm (Mastery/Nonverbal + Verbal)...] [Carried Entries: Transmigrator (The Unique), Magic Prodigy (The Unique), Potion Spirit (Red), The Boy Who Lived (Red), Wand-making Prodigy (Gold)...] [Entry Library: The Unique (2), Red (2), Gold (3), Purple (6), Blue (70), Green (881), White (9372)] [Pet: Eld (Magic Pouch Toad)] [Items: Entry Upgrade Card X1, Spell Proficiency Card X1, Wand (Rosewood)] [Wisdom of the Sages: Venerable Jueyin's Zen Meditation Method] [Secret Realm Explorations: 3] ...
Devero was leisurely eating in the Hogwarts dining hall.
While he was at it, he took a moment to review his status panel.
He'd asked the system about it earlier.
At last, he'd figured out a few things.
He hadn't expected the Magic Spirit Body entry to be a magic-type entry.
His own Magic Prodigy entry was its absolute superior entry!
All spellcasting entries
were subordinate entries to it.
When loaded, they automatically merged with similar entries.
So Devero didn't need to regret failing to copy the entry earlier.
In other words,
everything about his body was already as well suited to casting spells as it could possibly be!
Well...
Still, Devero felt like Magic Spirit Body sounded more powerful.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was that this red entry had a full month-long cooldown!
Damn it!
Dumbledore's other red entry was just sitting there,
and Devero couldn't get it for a whole month!
It was torture.
Fortunately, the cooldown for copying purple entries had just reset.
So his top priority was to get Hermione's [Exam Prodigy (Purple)].
Although Dumbledore had confirmed yesterday that Devero had received some significant privileges,
he still had to take the exams according to procedure.
For the end-of-year reward for coming first in his year,
and to make the rest of his time at school more comfortable,
he had to get this entry.
That was why Devero had deliberately gotten up early
to wait for Hermione here.
But just then,
an unwelcome guest showed up.
"What? Why's he still here?"
It was Malfoy and his two lackeys.
The three of them had walked into the dining hall chatting and laughing,
planning to find a good place to sit.
Then, as if they'd seen a ghost, they spotted Devero eating in a corner of the hall!
"Impossible. Wasn't he gone all night yesterday?"
"Yeah, the Head of House took him away. How come he wasn't expelled?"
The three whispered among themselves.
Watching them, Devero couldn't help laughing.
Honestly,
those three kids were pretty slow on the uptake.
He'd gone back to his dormitory last night.
Sure, he hadn't turned on the lights,
but he'd still made plenty of noise, hadn't he?
And none of them had noticed!
Well, Goyle and Crabbe were one thing.
They didn't look especially bright.
But Malfoy, you look so sharp and clever—
did your intelligence take a hit too?
Devero ate his breakfast,
then took out some toad feed he'd bought in Diagon Alley and gave it to Eld.
Yesterday, when he'd attended the Sorting Ceremony in the Great Hall and later demonstrated his spell-learning abilities to Snape and the others,
he hadn't brought Eld along.
Like the rest of his luggage,
Eld had been taken to the dormitory by a Hogwarts caretaker.
Of course, Eld was so small that he could only really be carried.
The reason Devero hadn't taken him along
was that he'd considered how there would be lots of children around,
and Eld's appearance was, frankly, hard to look at.
So he'd left him on the train.
Now it was time to give him a proper treat.
Malfoy and the others were staring at Devero as if he were a ghost,
and he was getting a little impatient.
But even Malfoy had made it to the dining hall,
and Hermione, his target, still hadn't shown up?
Devero frowned slightly.
He checked the time.
It was getting pretty close to the start of class.
Devero shoveled down the rest of his breakfast
and decided not to wait any longer.
He'd talk to her after class.
Following the route he'd planned,
Devero didn't get lost like Harry and Ron had in the original story.
Perhaps it had something to do with his Magic Prodigy entry.
He could sense
the emotions of the staircases around him.
So he tried to take the staircases that seemed to be in gentler moods.
That got him to the classroom without a hitch.
It was also Devero's first class at the school.
Transfiguration!
Devero walked into the classroom.
It wasn't yet nine o'clock.
The morning sun had just risen,
and the scenery outside the window had come alive.
Leaves swayed gently in the breeze.
Sunlight danced among them.
A tabby cat with brown fur was lying on the teacher's desk.
Devero could tell at a glance
that it was Professor McGonagall in her Animagus form!
Ah!
He really wanted to pet her!
But he held himself back.
She was the Head of House, after all.
He had to show some respect!
That was when Devero noticed
that Hermione had already arrived!
Apparently, long before Devero had decided to get up early,
Hermione had already gotten out of bed,
eaten breakfast,
and come to wait for class.
No wonder she was such a good student—an Exam Prodigy. Devero couldn't compare.
Hermione looked full of energy.
She sat by the window,
sunlight spilling through a gap in the curtains and falling across her face,
giving her a golden glow.
She was studying her Transfiguration Textbook with great concentration,
apparently reviewing... or maybe previewing the material.
Well, it was Hermione, after all.
She might have already memorized the entire book.
Most of the students around her looked sleepy, as if they hadn't yet recovered from the previous night's exhaustion.
The contrast between them and Hermione was striking.
As Devero watched her,
Hermione stretched.
She looked up from her book
and saw Devero looking at her.
She smiled and waved.
The early morning sunlight streamed through the window,
falling across her hair.
Its golden glow complemented her lively smile.
Devero felt a warmth in his chest,
along with a sense of closeness unlike anything he'd felt before.
"Good morning, Devero!"
Hermione's voice was clear and sweet.
Even Devero's sluggish morning spirits perked up.
Since class hadn't started yet,
Devero walked over to Hermione.
"I didn't expect you to be sorted into Gryffindor. I thought you'd definitely end up in Ravenclaw."
Devero casually started a conversation about the Sorting Ceremony.
"Yeah, the Sorting Hat couldn't make up its mind. But you're the one who surprised me. I thought you'd definitely end up in Ravenclaw, since you were so sure of it. I never expected you to be in Slytherin..."
Hermione sounded disappointed.
"You said you wanted to respect the students' wishes. If you respected them, why did you end up in Slytherin?"
Devero was now within three meters of Hermione.
[ Ding! ]
[ Entry loading! ]
Devero smiled slightly.
"I actually asked the headmaster about that yesterday."
As soon as he said it,
Hermione's eyes widened.
"You talked to the headmaster yesterday? What did he say?"
Devero took a step back and leaned against the wall.
[Entry copied successfully!]
All right!
He'd got the entry!
Devero immediately felt like his brain was working better!
The books he'd memorized to get through his final year of high school in his previous life seemed vivid in his mind again!
But when he heard Hermione's question,
Devero replied with a wry smile.
"He said I was born to be a Slytherin."
Hermione twirled a lock of hair around her finger, unable to help herself.
"Huh? I think you're quite different from those Slytherins..."
Clearly, Malfoy's insults had already given Hermione a deep prejudice against the house.
But Devero had to give Hermione's judgment a thumbs-up.
He thought so too.
Before you continue