Ron's Progress

Hogwarts was a semi-closed boarding vocational school for magic. Aside from Astronomy, where the stars could only be seen at night, all other classes were scheduled during the day.

The time after dinner and before bed was free for students to use as they pleased. They could read in the library, study in the study hall, play cards or chess and make friends at clubs, or sit blankly on a sofa in the common room...

Ever since Ron took the lead in forming the "Broomstick Research Group," his free time had been filled with all kinds of reference materials and technical manuals.

At the suggestion of Charms professor Flitwick and his father Arthur, Ron embarked on a frantic reading spree. Wizards needed a substantial accumulation of magical theory before they could magically modify broomsticks.

What Ron wanted to do was technical research, not technical training. The former was the work of magical engineers, while the latter was the business of magical technicians. Their levels of ability were absolutely incomparable.

Studying was not an easy or enjoyable thing. So, adhering to the principle that men and women working together made the work less tiring, Zhang San invited Hermione Granger to join the research group as a researcher.

Hermione truly loved this sort of job, where she could both read and earn money. She could learn things and receive research funding... Though she had to study along the research direction Zhang San proposed, studying was ultimately something that made people happy... wasn't it?

To find enough research material for everyone, Zhang San went to the Room of Requirement. If one repeatedly walked past the corridor while thinking, "I want a room filled with old things," then opened the door in the wall and entered the Room of Requirement, one would find mountains of junk piled inside.

Junk was merely resources placed in the wrong location. Zhang San dug out a huge pile of discarded old broomsticks from the mountain of rubbish to use as research materials.

Although some of these broomsticks were so old that they could no longer fly, studying them would help them better sort out the developmental path of broomsticks and gradually catch up to the Nimbus Company's technological level.

When theoretical support was lacking, researching early products held even greater significance.

"Levitation Charm, Flight Charm, Control Charm, Acceleration and Control Charm, Balance and Stability Charm..." Hermione carefully broke down the spells on the old broomsticks, while Ron rapidly organized and recorded everything beside her.

Ron and Hermione were responsible for researching the broomsticks' software technology—enchantments—while the Broomstick Research Group's other two members—the Weasley Twins—were responsible for research in the hardware field.

For example, selecting and treating broom materials, enchanting and installing the broom handle's core... These areas involved magical alchemy, which the twins were better at, making them well suited to tackle the technical challenges.

Originally, Ron had thought broomsticks were simply the result of wizards adding various spells to ordinary brooms. But after dismantling several broomsticks, they discovered that broomsticks actually had the same structure as wands.

The broom handle that wizards rode was merely the outer casing that carried the enchantments. Within that casing was a broom core made of advanced magical materials.

The main core material of agile broomsticks was unicorn hair, while the main core material of speed-oriented broomsticks was dragon heartstring.

The research group did not lack materials. Zhang San, who handled logistics, was the mountain god, land god, and water god of Hogwarts. The castle, the Forbidden Forest, and the Black Lake were all his territory.

If he wanted any magical materials, he could simply look for them in the Forbidden Forest. Even if Zhang San could not find them himself, he could mobilize the animals and plants in the forest to find them for him.

Through their continual technical breakthroughs, Ron and Hermione's grasp of magical theory improved rapidly. Then, by using theory to guide practice, they both became top students in Charms and Professor Flitwick's favorite pupils.

While students in their year were still struggling with spell pronunciations and casting gestures, Ron and Hermione had already begun researching more advanced magical enchantments.

Zhang San had not been idle during this time either. Since the little temple was not open from Monday through Friday, the bored-out-of-his-mind Zhang San occasionally went to the library to read.

Through his deeper understanding of magic, Zhang San roughly divided magical proficiency into five levels:

Being able to cast magic through gestures and incantations was level one; being able to cast nonverbal spells or wandless magic was level two; being able to cast magic both nonverbally and wandlessly was level three; being able to stably attach magic to objects was level four; and being able to break through the upper limit of magical power through one's own ability was level five.

Most ordinary students were at level one. Outstanding graduates could reach level two. Ordinary professors and elite Aurors could reach level three. Powerhouses at the level of the four Heads of House possessed level-four proficiency in their respective specialties.

Wizards who reached level five were legends in the magical fields they specialized in. For example, the legendary alchemist Nicolas Flamel, the legendary Transfiguration master Dumbledore, and the legendary dark wizard Voldemort.

Of course, Zhang San's classification standards were particularly broad and did not cover talented specialists in certain fields. For instance, assembly workers at the Nimbus magical broomstick company could train the specific spells they were responsible for to above level three, but be an utter mess with every other spell... Those were all special cases, and there was no need to generalize them.

It was no simple matter for Ron to handcraft a broomstick he liked.

He and Hermione needed extensive study and training to raise the spells attached to the broomstick above level three; Fred and George needed to prepare suitably made broom handles, broom heads, and broom cores, as well as design the broom's shape.

Ron did not want some piece of junk that could merely fly. He wanted something as good as the Nimbus 2000 in Harry Potter's hands.

"If you're unwilling to spend money, then you have to put in sweat," Zhang San concluded. "You can't refuse to spend money while also wanting a top-tier broomstick..."

Ron shook his groggy head and said dejectedly, "I feel like my brain is about to explode from being stuffed with knowledge. Compared to Hermione, I feel as stupid as a pig."

"Don't put yourself down. Haven't you noticed that your grades are already among the best in the first year?" Zhang San consoled him.

Ron scratched his head. "How would I have the energy to pay attention to that? Researching these spells alone is enough to give me a headache... I don't just have to know how to use them; I have to keep trying to improve them. It's too hard, really too hard!"

"Look on the bright side. Every spell you master and every bit of performance you improve will make the broomstick you build that much better. The Nimbus 2000 isn't so easy to surpass. You wouldn't want the broomstick you painstakingly build to be worse than a Cleansweep Seven, would you?" Zhang San asked teasingly.

Ron shook his head hard and declared firmly, "I'm going to use the best materials, the best design, and the strongest enchantments to make the best magical broomstick at Hogwarts. Then I'll ride it and lead the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch Cup."

"Keep it up, I believe in you!" Zhang San said happily, using his wand to flick Ron's freshly completed homework into the air.

There was still a whole school full of starving refugees with unwritten homework waiting for their savior, Zhang San, to rescue them.

The fake Savior of Hogwarts—Harry Potter, who defeated Voldemort and saved the wizarding world.

The real Savior of Hogwarts—Third Zhang, who provided homework templates for pitiful children who had not done their assignments.

Dear~ Want top student notes? All you need to do is light a distress incense stick in the incense burner in the common room, and a homework elf will naturally come to your side and save you from your predicament.