Kill the Spiders

The next day, in the study.

Ryan flipped through Penelope's letter. It was as though nothing had happened; there were once again several magical questions that seemed simple to Ryan. At the end of the letter, Penelope mentioned that yesterday, rather than returning to Hogwarts, she had gone straight home from Hogsmeade Station for Christmas.

"Looks like it was premeditated." Ryan nodded slightly.

He picked up his pen, answered Penelope's questions from a lofty perspective, and briefly added his holiday wishes.

Once he was done, Ryan handed the letter to Jack and had him arrange for an owl to deliver it.

After hastily eating a few bites of breakfast and changing into a neat outfit, Ryan prepared to head to Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest again. This time, he would go in person.

He should have gone to scout the place yesterday, but a wonderful accident had occurred.

Still, it made little difference. Ryan had already explored most of Hogwarts while transformed into a phoenix.

There were several good options if he wanted to find a place in the Forbidden Forest with no "people" around.

In the forest west of Hogwarts Castle, there were three places rarely visited by anyone.

First was the rocky cliff near the centaurs' territory at the back of the mountain. As one of the Forbidden Forest's largest populations, no creature dared approach their territory. Skilled with bows and hunting, they had made even the sky forbidden ground for other creatures. The cliff at the back of the mountain was steep and difficult to cling to, covered in moss. Aside from birds such as Diricawls that could teleport short distances, large creatures like Augureys and hippogriffs could not even find a foothold. It was a natural barrier in itself, allowing the centaurs to guard only the front.

Second was the area around the Acromantulas' hollow. The dense trees blocked out the sunlight, leaving the forest dim even during the day. To reach it, one had to use a Great Sycamore Fig Tree beside Hagrid's Hut as a marker and walk forward. When the ground seemed to slope downward, one had arrived. Acromantulas were nocturnal, and their excessive breeding had driven away every creature except Hagrid, even during the day. The trees within this vast hollow had all been cleared away, and a mist-shrouded, hemispherical web covered the entire depression. It was filled with enormous black, hairy spiders, each as large as a carriage horse, with eight eyes and eight legs.

Third was beside the stream at the center of the Forbidden Forest, where large quantities of stinging nettles, yew trees, oaks, and dittany grew. It was home to powerful magical creatures with herbivorous diets or gentle temperaments, such as unicorns and Thestrals.

Fourth, in the deepest and darkest part of the Forbidden Forest, lived a community of werewolves. During the day, they hunted and stored food; at night, they rested. When the full moon drove them mad, they confined themselves within fences prepared in advance. They were the most isolated and least known werewolf community, never associating with any intelligent creatures and exiling themselves from the world. Only the occasional wolf howl from the depths of the Forbidden Forest revealed their existence.

Ryan intended to go to the cliff. There were several blind spots there that the centaurs could not observe. Though tiny, only about one square meter in size, Ryan had Martial Arts skills and could fly. It was the perfect place to practice, and he could also overlook the beautiful scenery of the Forbidden Forest from above.

Diffindo! Obstacle Curse! Reducto! Exploding Charm! Sectumsempra! Avada Kedavra! Ryan silently recited, and beams of magical light formed by the spells shot into the sky.

As his excitement rose, Ryan flashed into the air and hovered there. "Avada Kedavra!"

A dazzling green flash burst forth, so bright it hurt the eyes. At the same time came a jumble of noises, as though some invisible behemoth had flown through the air. Then a spider flipped over and lay on its back atop a rock, completely uninjured yet undeniably dead.

At dusk, Ryan finally came back to himself, still unsatisfied despite having long since stopped eating. Having cast spells continuously, he remained full of energy. Accompanied by a fiery red magical aura, Ryan vanished from the spot, leaving behind only spiders overturned across the rocky cliff.

"Jack, let's have crab for dinner." Back at the castle, Ryan adjusted his collar and spoke to the air.

"Yes, Master." The House-elf Jack appeared and replied.

Before long, Ryan ate noodles with crab roe, smacked his lips, and could not help sighing. "That felt amazing—the thrill of constantly unleashing power."

It was also the first time Ryan had truly recognized his own strength. Every spider struck by Avada could just as easily have been a wizard. If he acted on a whim, flashing about and casting Avada without pause, the Ministry of Magic would probably be slaughtered within an hour.

Raising his long, pale fingers, Ryan fell into a slight daze.

Should invincible me just wait four years for school to start? Ryan asked himself.

Why not? Wouldn't an immersive version of Harry Potter be more interesting?

Voldemort simply won't have the chance to harm another innocent life.

Honestly, my Avada hasn't truly reached Lv5 yet. I can't lower my standards just because the wizards of this era are weak. What kind of sights would Lv7 or Lv8 Killing Curses reveal?

"Master, serve crab vinegar?" Jack interrupted Ryan's thoughts in clumsy Chinese.

"No need." Ryan answered calmly, as though nothing had happened.

Returning to his pink-hued room, Ryan changed into pajamas and closed his eyes.

Before he knew it, three months had passed, and it was now 1988.

March 23 was Easter, followed immediately by a two-week holiday. It would have been nice if I'd had so many holidays when I went to school in my previous life, Ryan thought after receiving Kate's letter and learning that another break was coming.

Ryan suddenly thought of something and mischievously wrote back, mentioning that the end-of-year exams would be held in June. He advised her to study hard so her grades would not look too awful after the holiday.

This was a trouble only Kate would have. She was clever and mischievous, always unable to concentrate, and terrible at Transfiguration.

She could treat every professor normally, even Snape, but Professor McGonagall alone terrified her because of her abysmal Transfiguration.

Ryan imagined Kate's distressed expression after being reminded by him and broke into laughter.

But after sobering up for a moment, Ryan figured Kate would probably brush it off just like Ron. After all, there were still two months until the exams. Cramming was always the nature of poor students, along with that strange optimism.

"Hmm, I should send this letter to Penelope instead and give her a little push. Top students are probably the ones who care most about this. Penelope's next letter will likely be about study plans, and then Kate won't be able to escape either. Haha."

After revising the letter and finishing his last bite of food, Ryan compassionately straightened his back, made the sign of the cross over his chest, and prayed for Kate, who would have to study during the holiday.

Really, it was so, so, so... joyful—no, pitiful.

Ryan changed into a plain Wizard Robe and, as always, headed to the Forbidden Forest to practice. Spiders, your emperor had returned.