Adjusting His Pace, Checking His Status

"Will, you have plenty of time. There's no need to rush. At your age, even Voldemort had only just learned a few spells. You don't need to be so anxious."

Will climbed the stairs one step at a time, Dumbledore's words echoing in his ears. He couldn't deny that Dumbledore was right. He had no reason to be so anxious. He had always explored the mysteries of magic out of a hunger for knowledge. He could study hard, but he had never neglected himself or pushed himself too far.

Lately, though, he had become too focused on results. Even with the system, he couldn't unravel the mysteries of magic in a short time.

"When it comes down to it, I'm just a little Wizard who barely knows anything..." He knew where his anxiety came from. It wasn't only Voldemort. The more he learned, the more he realized how little he knew.

By then, Will had reached his physical limit. Exhaustion weighed on every part of him. He forced himself a few steps farther, then collapsed face-first onto his luxurious bed. After so many sleepless nights, he finally relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, in the Hogwarts dining hall, Dumbledore sat in the place of honor at the professors' table, enjoying a soft, freshly baked Pumpkin Pasty. Every so often, his gaze drifted to Quirrell not far away.

He had never imagined he would take such an interest in a young Wizard other than Harry. Will was remarkably clever and gifted. He had already begun learning Runes in his first year, and his mind was full of hazy thoughts that mingled basic magical knowledge with ideas of his own. He was proud, yet possessed a charm all his own. Dumbledore could see him becoming an important figure in the Wizarding World.

But without the right guidance, the boy might bring disaster to the Wizarding World again.

Dumbledore felt unequal to the task. He was 110 years old, after all, and raising Harry to stand against Voldemort already took more than enough of his energy.

Besides, he had little confidence in his ability to guide children. At that thought, he turned to look at Quirrell again.

Quirrell was hunched over his plate, picking at his Mashed Potatoes. He looked deathly ill. He hurriedly finished them and left the hall.

Quirrell had barely left when Will and Sylvia entered. For once, Will wasn't carrying his book chest. He chatted and laughed with Sylvia as they sat down at the Slytherin table.

Dumbledore looked his way. Will raised his glass of milk in greeting from across the hall, and Dumbledore's smile grew when he saw how much better the boy looked.

Over the days that followed, Will relaxed considerably. The other young Wizards still saw him as someone who studied harder than anyone, but he had recovered the outlook he'd had before enrolling. Rushing wouldn't help. He would have to earn experience bit by bit.

With his mind at ease, Will settled back into the quiet rhythm of life at Hogwarts.

Each day, he attended classes, sought extra instruction from his teachers afterward, then spent time alone absorbing what he had learned and earning experience.

Now, though, Will made a little time to enjoy good food and unwind. He rested by the Black Lake with Sylvia or occasionally got together with Hermione, Neville, and the others.

All the professors treated Will well. Even old bat Snape didn't mind giving him some guidance in Potions.

"If you call that lump of mixed ingredients a potion again, you can spend Halloween with the bat droppings!" Snape's manner wasn't always pleasant, though.

As for Quirrell...

Will had expected "Quirrell" to summon him to his office again. Instead, Quirrell stopped teaching altogether. He merely stammered his way through the textbook or told the young Wizards to read on their own.

Will wasn't disappointed. His experience rose more slowly, but that was better than having Voldemort keep him in mind.

Another month passed in a flash, and before he knew it, Halloween was nearly here.

That afternoon, Will and Neville practiced spells in the Room of Requirement.

"I heard you gave Professor Flitwick quite a surprise this morning, Neville." Will cast a Shield Charm over a training dummy, then attacked it with spell after spell.

Notifications occasionally flashed before his eyes. As his command of the spells improved, he began earning experience more slowly. With spells he knew particularly well, he sometimes had to cast them dozens or even hundreds of times to gain a single point.

[You have cast spells many times. You have become more proficient with a spell. Charms experience +1]

[You have cast spells many times. You have become more proficient with a spell. Charms experience +1]

[You have cast spells many times. You have become more proficient with a spell. Charms experience +1]

But he had also discovered that studying a subject in depth and gaining new knowledge earned him large amounts of experience. The system was plainly urging him to delve deeper into magic.

"It's thanks to you teaching me the Levitation Charm last week. Trevor, Accio!" Neville waved his wand. Above his head, Trevor the toad flew back and forth. Each time Trevor reached Neville, he kicked his legs and scrambled away, and Neville used the Summoning Charm to bring him back.

Watching Trevor fly around, Will could already picture next year's first-years arriving to find a toad soaring through the common room every day.

"No need to thank me. We're friends."

[Someone feels grateful to you. Charisma Experience +1]

[Someone feels grateful to you. Charisma Experience +1]

[Your Charisma has reached LV4. You may choose one of the following additional abilities.]

A. Master Orator: When you give a speech, you can sway others' minds to a certain extent. (This ability stacks with Art of Persuasion.)

B. Radiant Charm: Your Charisma Experience gain increases by 10%.

C. Moonlight Radiance: You draw attention like the moon in the night sky. You will never be lost in a crowd; most people can quickly pick you out of one.

Will raised an eyebrow. Aside from the rather strange option C, both A and B were good. After weighing them briefly, he chose A.

If a few words could sway someone's mind, how could he pass up an ability like that? Even the Imperius Curse cost Magic to cast.

With that, Will's abilities stacked up once more. He had improved across the board.

Host: Will Behrens

Talent:

1. Wizard's Eye: You can activate "Sight" at will to see the flow of Magic and the forms it takes.

Skills:

[Transfiguration LV3 (11/300)]

(LV2 additional ability, Thirst for Knowledge: Transfiguration experience gain increases by 10%; LV3 additional ability, Form Speed: Your Transfiguration casting speed increases by 10%.)

[Dark Magic LV3 (117/300)]

(LV2 additional ability, Mental Resilience: Your mind is highly resilient, making the negative effects of studying Dark Magic less likely to affect you; LV3 additional ability, Unrelenting Malice: The duration of your Dark Magic effects increases by 10%.)

[Potions LV3 (29/300)]

(LV2 additional ability, Discerning Eye: You can more easily identify changes in a potion's state; LV3 additional ability, Potion Proliferation: The yield of potions you brew increases by 5%.)

[Charms LV4 (200/400)]

(LV2 additional ability, Spell Replicator: Depending on the source you learn from, your spell-learning efficiency increases by 10% to 30%; LV3 additional ability, Spellcaster: Your spells consume 5% less Magic; LV4 additional ability, Spellpower Burst.)

[Astronomy LV1 (59/100)] (No additional ability yet.)

[Herbology LV2 (113/200)]

(LV2 additional ability, Herbology Affinity: You can care for magical plants more easily.)

[Runes LV2 (12/200)]

[LV2 additional ability, Rune Dissection: You can more easily identify Runes within the structures of spells and rituals.]

[Curse Studies LV1 (99/100)] (No additional ability yet.)

[Stamina LV2 (23/200)]

(LV2 additional ability, Stamina: Your maximum stamina increases by 10%.)

[Magic LV?] (Cannot be viewed for now due to the special nature of this world.)

[Charisma LV4 (118/400)]

(LV2 additional ability, Star of Attraction: You draw more attention, and others' likes and dislikes toward you intensify to a certain extent; LV3 additional ability, Art of Persuasion: Your words are more convincing; LV4 additional ability, Master Orator: When you give a speech, you can sway others' minds to a certain extent.)

[Cooking LV3 (223/300)]

(LV2 additional ability: Heat Sense, which lets you clearly sense changes in cooking heat; LV3 additional ability: Magic Tongue, which makes your sense of taste more sensitive and lets you more easily identify magical ingredients in food.)

[Note: When an ability develops to a special state or reaches its peak, it will receive an ultimate bonus!!]