"Dragon Blood is selling for sixteen Silver Sickles an ounce? They've gone mad!"
"Look! It's the latest Nimbus 2000! I want one so badly!"
"Our basic cauldrons are made from the finest copper alloy. They're not only heat-resistant but also corrosion-resistant, ensuring your Potions stay in the best condition while brewing."
London.
Diagon Alley.
It was another bustling day.
At that moment, Devero was close to tears.
Snape had just whacked him again.
It was because he'd kept grinning foolishly at the other wizards while they were shopping.
Snape couldn't stand it and had taught him a lesson.
Devero wanted to say that he couldn't help it!
He'd made a discovery that he couldn't stop smiling about!
Traits could actually be fused and upgraded!
More precisely,
traits in the Entry Library could be fused and upgraded.
On Devero's panel,
there was something called the [Entry Library].
It recorded the number of traits of each tier Devero had currently loaded.
Once he reached a certain amount,
he could fuse and upgrade them.
And it wasn't a matter of fusing the same trait together.
Instead, the traits were fused based on the total number of loaded traits accumulated in the Entry Library.
Then Devero could choose which of his currently carried traits to upgrade.
After all, not every trait's effects were beneficial to him.
So the system thoughtfully let Devero choose which traits from the Entry Library he wanted to carry.
Of course, it wasn't a matter of switching them on and off at will.
When he first loaded a trait,
he could only choose once.
If he decided not to carry it,
he wouldn't be able to carry it later.
And if he chose to carry it, he still hadn't found a way to remove it.
As for the specific fusion rules:
One red trait could be obtained by fusing five gold traits.
One gold trait could be obtained by fusing ten purple traits.
One purple trait could be obtained by fusing a hundred blue traits.
One blue trait could be obtained by fusing a thousand green traits.
One green trait could be obtained by fusing ten thousand white traits.
Well...
That ten-thousand-trait requirement had certainly startled Devero.
But when he thought about it, it made sense.
Almost everyone had several white traits.
Things like buck teeth or freckles, for example.
Using those to fuse a high-tier trait
would certainly be difficult.
But he'd discovered that every wizard had at least one blue trait.
[Magic Ability: The potential to become a qualified wizard.]
As long as he loaded this blue trait from everyone he met,
with so many wizards in London,
getting a purple trait was practically guaranteed.
And once he got to Hogwarts, it would be even better.
There would be so many students waiting for him to load their traits. And every year, there were dozens or even hundreds of young wizards.
Just waiting for him to drain them dry!
Devero had never looked forward to going to Hogwarts this much!
"Besides, it's not as if everyone only has white, green, or blue traits. If I can collect higher-tier traits, I'll definitely grow even faster!"
That was why Devero had just been grinning at a wizard.
The man actually had a purple trait!
[Magic Cooking Expert (Purple): You have an extraordinary talent for cooking with magic. With only a little instruction, you can learn to make a whole table of delicious dishes.]
Devero really liked this ability.
But the cooldown on loading traits hadn't ended yet.
He could only grit his teeth and let it go!
He'd thought that at last he'd be spared from suffering through Snape's cooking.
Over the past year,
Snape had never actually let Devero go hungry.
But he certainly hadn't tried to make anything good, either.
Or rather,
Devero was still astonished that Snape could cook at all.
At first, he'd thought Snape was going to feed him Potions.
That was why Devero had been grinning so happily.
Oh, right.
There was something else that made Devero very happy.
Thanks to the Magic Prodigy trait,
he could learn spells just by watching.
And here in Diagon Alley,
plenty of adult wizards were casting all kinds of spells.
So—
[Cling!]
[New spell successfully added to the library!]
[New spell successfully added to the library!]
[New spell successfully added to the library!]
Before long, Devero's Spell Library was packed with spells.
[Spell Library: Levitation Charm (Proficient/Silent + Spoken), Summoning Charm (Beginner/Spoken), Alohomora (Beginner/Spoken), Scourgify (Beginner/Spoken), Reparo (Beginner/Spoken)]
In less than an hour in Diagon Alley,
Devero had already learned five spells just by watching.
The most commonly used and most basic one, the Levitation Charm,
had reached the proficient level without him practicing it even once.
He'd simply watched someone cast it.
"Oh, Merlin's beard, now this is what a Unique-tier trait is supposed to do!"
So Devero followed behind Snape,
sneaking glances at other wizards as they cast spells
and loading their white and green traits along the way.
It would take a lot to fuse and strengthen them,
but it was better than nothing.
He was so caught up in all this
that he couldn't even spare a glance at the many fascinating shops in Diagon Alley.
After that,
Snape took Devero to buy his school robes,
various school supplies,
and the books he'd need for the new term at Flourish and Blotts.
The moment Devero got his hands on the books, he could hardly put them down.
Especially the newly purchased Book of Potions.
It was a book about potion-making written by the wizard Sigmund Badge.
The Potions knowledge inside made him lose all track of time as soon as he started reading.
As a result, he stood in the middle of the street for ten minutes and got whacked by Snape again.
"You've never seemed this interested in Potions before. Are you putting on a show to get people to pay more attention to you?"
Snape said scornfully.
Devero knew very well that Snape hated arrogant, conceited people most of all.
He had to act especially humble around him.
"Of course not, sir. After studying at the Leaky Cauldron these past few days, I've finally realized that Potions is an incredibly profound, mysterious, and fascinating subject. I can't wait to learn more."
He only had to sing the praises of Potions in front of Snape,
and Snape's temper would ease a little.
"Oh? I thought I'd already taught you that in your very first lesson. I didn't expect you to take this long to figure it out."
Sure enough, this time Snape only said that much
before leading Devero toward their next destination.
If Devero hadn't said that just now,
Snape would have left him behind in Diagon Alley and gone on alone.
Devero believed he was perfectly capable of doing it.
As they walked,
Devero discreetly took out the Book of Potions and read it in secret.
With the Potion Prodigy trait,
even these difficult, obscure passages were fascinating to him.
He had to remember, before this, when he only had the Potion Perception trait,
reading Magical Drafts and Potions had felt like being stuck in prison.
And the Book of Potions was far more advanced!
Just think: Snape had shown this kind of talent since he was a child.
He'd been studying like this ever since.
Who knew how terrifying his Potions skills had become by now?
No wonder he was Hogwarts' youngest professor.
His skill was unquestionably top-notch!
After they bought one final cauldron,
they left the cauldron shop.
[Cling!]
[Your exploration progress in the Wizard Secret Realm—Diagon Alley has reached 30%!]
[Rewards have been issued!]
Devero eagerly opened his panel.
[Name: Devero Alexander]
[Age: 11]
[Identity: Incoming Hogwarts student, Potions apprentice]
[Spell Library: Levitation Charm (Proficient/Silent + Spoken), Summoning Charm (Beginner/Spoken), Alohomora (Beginner/Spoken)...]
[Carried Traits: Transmigrator (Unique), Magic Prodigy (Unique), Potion Prodigy (Gold)...]
[Entry Library: Unique (2), Gold (1), Purple (1), Blue (3), Green (51), White (235)]
[Pet: None]
[Item: Spell Proficiency Card]
[Number of Magical Realms Explored: 1]
[Secret Realm of Diagon Alley: Exploration 30.1%]
Although he really wanted to use this first item right away and see what it did,
Devero held back for now.
He'd already bought pretty much everything he needed for school,
except for the most important companion of every wizard—the wand!
Before you continue