Adjusting His Pace and Checking His Stats

"Will, you have plenty of time. There's no need to rush. When Voldemort was your age, he'd only just learned a few spells. You really don't need to be so anxious."

Will climbed the stairs one step at a time, Dumbledore's words echoing in his ears. Dumbledore was right. He had no reason to be so anxious. He used to explore the mysteries of magic out of a thirst 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 all the mysteries of magic in a short time.

"When it comes down to it, I'm just a young wizard who knows very little..." He knew where his anxiety came from. It wasn't just Voldemort. The more he learned, the more he realized how much he didn't know.

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

The next day, in the Hogwarts Dining Room, Dumbledore sat in the place of honor at the professors' table. He was rarely seen there, but today he was enjoying a soft, freshly baked Pumpkin Pasty, his gaze drifting now and then to Quirrell nearby.

He had never imagined taking such a keen interest in a young wizard other than Harry. Will was brilliant, gifted, and talented. He had already begun learning Runes in his First Year. Even his mind was filled with a fog of simple personal ideas mixed with magical knowledge. He was proud, yet possessed a distinctive charm. Dumbledore could foresee the boy becoming an important figure in the Wizarding World.

But if he wasn't guided well, he might bring disaster to the Wizarding World once again.

Dumbledore felt unequal to the task. He was 110 years old, after all, and raising Harry while opposing Voldemort already demanded enough of him.

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

Quirrell was timidly picking at the Mashed Potatoes on his plate, his face sickly pale. He hurriedly finished them and rushed out of the Dining Room.

Quirrell had barely left when Will and Sylvia walked in. For once, Will wasn't carrying his Book Trunk. 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 room, and Dumbledore's smile broadened at the sight of him.

Over the days that followed, Will relaxed considerably. The other young wizards still saw him as someone who studied relentlessly, but he had regained the outlook he'd had before coming to Hogwarts. Rushing wouldn't help. He had to gain experience bit by bit.

With his mind at ease, Will settled back into a peaceful life at Hogwarts.

Each day, he attended classes, sought extra lessons from his teachers afterward, then worked through what he had learned on his own and gained experience.

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

All his professors treated him well. Even Old Bat Snape didn't mind giving Will pointers on 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 through the textbook or told the young wizards to read on their own.

Will didn't regret it. His experience grew more slowly, but that was better than having Voldemort keep an eye on him for too long.

Another month passed in a blink, and Halloween eve arrived.

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 Dummy, then attacked it with a succession of spells.

Notifications occasionally flashed past. As his command of the spells improved, he gained 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. Your proficiency with a spell has improved. Charms experience +1]

[You have cast spells many times. Your proficiency with a spell has improved. Charms experience +1]

[You have cast spells many times. Your proficiency with a spell has improved. Charms experience +1]

He had also discovered that delving deeper into a subject and acquiring new knowledge earned him large amounts of experience. Clearly, the system wanted him to study magic in depth.

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

Watching Trevor fly around, Will could already picture the young wizards arriving next year finding a toad flying 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 Bonus Abilities.]

A. Master Orator: When you give a speech, you can influence 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 spot you quickly among others.

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

An ability that could influence minds with just a couple of sentences? How could he pass that up? Even the Imperius Curse cost Magic.

With that, Will's abilities stacked up once more. It was an all-around upgrade.

Host: Will Behrens

Talent:

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

Skills:

[Transfiguration LV3 (11/300)]

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

[Dark Magic LV3 (117/300)]

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

[Potions LV3 (29/300)]

(LV2 Bonus Ability, Discerning Eye: You can more easily distinguish changes in a potion's state; LV3 Bonus Ability, Potion Proliferation: Your potion yield increases by 5%.)

[Charms LV4 (200/400)]

(LV2 Bonus Ability, Spell Replicator: Depending on how you learn a spell, your spell-learning efficiency increases by 10% to 30%; LV3 Bonus Ability, Spellcaster: Your spells consume 5% less Magic; LV4 Bonus Ability, Spellpower Burst.)

[Astronomy LV1 (59/100)] (No Bonus Ability yet.)

[Herbology LV2 (113/200)]

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

[Runes LV2 (12/200)]

[LV2 Bonus Ability, Rune Dissection: You can more easily identify Runes within the structures of spells and Rituals.]

[Curse Studies LV1 (99/100)] (No Bonus Ability yet.)

[Stamina LV2 (23/200)]

(LV2 Bonus Ability, Stamina: Your maximum stamina increases by 10%.)

[Magic LV?] (Cannot be viewed for now due to this world's unique nature.)

[Charisma LV4 (118/400)]

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

[Cooking LV3 (223/300)]

(LV2 Bonus Ability, Heat Sense: You can clearly perceive changes in heat; LV3 Bonus Ability, Magic Tongue: Your sense of taste is more sensitive, and you can more easily identify magical ingredients in food.)

[Note: Abilities gain an ultimate bonus when they develop into a special state or reach their peak!]