Penelope

"Hey, little brother, is this any good? It's not sweet at all." A pretty blonde girl who looked to be in her teens struck up a conversation.

Hey, hey, hey, the owner's right here. Are you really going to complain about it right in front of him? Ryan grumbled inwardly. "Don't you think ice cream these days is all too sweet? Besides, if you want to maintain a good figure, low-sugar ice cream is a good choice too." Seeing that he could not get rid of her, Ryan answered irritably.

After giving the flirtatious blonde beauty an impatient reply, Ryan suddenly sensed something.

This girl was no ordinary person. That was a trace of magic. Let Old Sun take a look.

Race: Wizard

Strength: 6 (The limit for ordinary people is 10)

Constitution: 19 (The limit for ordinary people is 10)

Magic Power: 15 (The limit for ordinary people is 10)

Skills: Charmcraft lv1 (9%), Potion-Making lv1 (5%), Transfiguration lv1 (3%), Herbology lv1 (1%), Astronomy lv1 (2%), Defense Against the Dark Arts lv1 (1%) (Common skills such as Reading and Cooking have been omitted)

Those stats were stronger than Ryan's had been when he had first transmigrated, but a wizard's magic power in this world mainly depended on age before anything else. She was older than Ryan, so it was normal enough.

It was also only natural that her strength was lower than Ryan's. Aside from half-giants, no one in the magical world could match Ryan in strength. That was not something wizards pursued, though perhaps a few rare schools of magic involved it.

But judging from Constitution alone, wizards were probably tougher than ordinary humans. The same went for mental strength, or magic power. Strength alone, however, did not seem any different.

Based on some of Smith's books and the memories of his past life, a wizard's Constitution was more apparent in magical resistance and vitality. But their weaknesses were the same as ordinary humans': if their hearts or heads were damaged, they would still die. Ryan, with the system, developed comprehensively in physical resistance, magical resistance, vitality, and everything else.

As for agility and speed, those mainly depended on the combination of Strength and Constitution.

At the same time, the girl's face flushed slightly. "How much longer are you going to stare?"

Ryan could not help blushing in embarrassment. He was not someone willing to lose in a verbal exchange, so he bit back, "You're a Hogwarts student, right? Hmm, a first-year who hasn't enrolled yet? As far as I know, Hogwarts starts on September 1st every year. There are only two days left until school begins, yet instead of studying properly, you came out to tease a little kid."

"How did you know? Do I look like a witch? Are you from a magical family? I mean, are there wizards in your family? Uh, sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself yet. My name is Penelope Clearwater. Just call me Penelope." Penelope asked curiously.

So this was Penelope, Percy's future girlfriend.

That made sense. They were in the same year, and prefects were fifth-years.

Harry Potter was the same age as Ryan. When Harry enrolled, Percy officially became a prefect. That meant Percy was four years older than Ryan, and Penelope was as well.

Still, Ryan remembered that from Harry's perspective, Penelope had been described as a girl with long curly hair. He had not expected her to be blonde. She was pretty too, and as expected of a Ravenclaw, she was already studying in advance.

"I saw you in Diagon Alley," Ryan pretended, then immediately changed the subject. "My name is Ryan, Ryan Smith. I'm from a wizarding family. I'm curious—since school is about to start, have you tried casting any magic? How many spells can you use?"

"I tried a few simple spells at home, just for practice, and they all worked." Penelope said shyly.

After that, Ryan steered the topic toward Diagon Alley, patching up the final hole in his lie. They also agreed to meet here again over the next two days to discuss magic.

When he got home, Ryan could not help thinking that, despite being a shut-in in his past life, he was actually quite good at chatting.

Still, something was strange. In the seventh book, when Hermione used a fake name and pretended to be a witch from a wizarding family, she had used Penelope's name. Had she and Harry simply made it up at random, like Vernon Dursley?

Hermione should not have been that careless. Was Penelope also from a Muggle family?

Surely she had not just made it up to start a conversation?

Right, in Harry's second year, hadn't Penelope been petrified after being attacked by the Basilisk? Only Muggle-borns had been attacked by the Basilisk, right? Probably?

It could not have been accidental, could it?

Ryan searched through his memory palace and found that there had been no direct description of her blood status in the original story.

Whatever. In love, first come, first served. Percy, your girlfriend is gone.

The next two days passed quickly for Ryan. Whether in his past life or this one, Ryan had always hated crowded places. He had forced himself to visit the cold drink shop before mainly for the food, and secondly to raise the proficiency of his Detection skill.

But now, Ryan felt that it was because of friendship. He was still young. Penelope had probably only become friends with him because he was cute, well-read, and knowledgeable about the magical world.

"Ryan, I'm a little worried. I've never learned magic before. What if—"

"Penelope, you don't need to worry. Most young wizards in the magical world aren't as outstanding as you think. Don't judge them by me. I'm a special case," Ryan quickly interrupted. "Young wizards in the magical world all start school at eleven, and there's no such thing as primary school. Most of them depend on their families, and they aren't allowed to own wands. Unlike Muggles, who receive a complete education, they only start coming into contact with things like math and language some time after school begins. Most of them can barely write a complete essay."

"Okay, I understand. I read in Hogwarts, A History that Hogwarts is divided into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. What does it use to sort students?" Penelope's face reddened slightly.

"It looks at personality. Gryffindor's emblem is a lion, and it wants young wizards with courage and fearlessness in their hearts. But what most Gryffindor students actually display is recklessness, impulsiveness, and causing trouble every day."

"Hufflepuff's emblem is a badger. Publicly, it claims to want honest and hardworking young wizards, but in reality, it welcomes children of every personality and accepts everyone. Most gossip starts in Hufflepuff and spreads from there. They're closest to the kitchens, and their common room is the most comfortable too."

"Ravenclaw's emblem is an eagle. It wants smart and wise young wizards, and it's very selective. I'd say Penelope, you're definitely suited for it. But in another respect, among the three houses—what three?—aside from Slytherin, because Slytherin draws too much hatred..."

"Mm, mm." Ryan cleared his throat and deliberately interrupted himself.

"Back to the point. Ravenclaw comes across as somewhat unsociable, and relationships within the house are rather sparse and cold. Most of them like reading by themselves. The other houses also call it the house of bookworms."

"And then there's our grand finale, Slytherin. Its emblem is a snake, and it wants young wizards of pure blood and ambition. That has led to a terrible atmosphere within the house. Most Slytherins value results above all else and will stop at nothing. They're regular residents of Azkaban, almost on par with Gryffindor."

"Though Gryffindor students can generally only be considered day students at Azkaban. They usually commit small offenses without stopping."

"Ravenclaws have fewer of them. Most are, well, in Muggle terms, economic criminals, or people whose experiments caused relatively serious magical accidents."

"Hufflepuff is half and half. They have the most students, but they still can't compare to Slytherin when it comes to producing Dark Wizards."

"Merlin, I've never read so much of this in any book." Penelope exclaimed.

"Some things can't be written in books. Slytherins are all old families in the magical world. In their own words, they're pure-blood aristocrats."

"Of course, that's only what they claim. There are no aristocrats in the magical world. They control most of its means of production and are generally quite wealthy. Coupled with their willingness to do anything, aside from those who accidentally end up in Azkaban, they have considerable influence in the Ministry of Magic. After all, few people can turn against gold."

"And the higher-ups in the Ministry of Magic all come from the four houses. Naturally, books cannot mention certain facts that would tarnish their houses, especially the three houses with relatively positive images."

"Though if you look through reports from the past few years and extract the data, you'll know." Ryan was getting a little tired from talking, so he took a bite of his ice cream.

He could not help secretly rejoicing. While Penelope still did not understand the magical world, he would tell her the truth first, so their values would not clash later and make it difficult to develop things further.

It was a little strange, though. Penelope always managed to pick up the conversation at exactly the right moments. But she had probably already read the relevant books, considering she was a Ravenclaw.

Heh heh. Fortunately, he had managed to steer the topic away from his age.

Perhaps their progress was so fast because Penelope was beautiful and had a good personality.

In his previous life, he had insisted on not dating until graduating from high school, thinking that he would find a sweet romance once he entered university.

But his sudden transmigration had ruined everything.

Love, the strongest magic in this world—what kind of power did it possess?

After that, Ryan and Penelope talked about some lighter topics until the sky had grown fairly dark.

Only then did they decide to head home.

They also agreed that once Penelope enrolled at Hogwarts, they would write to each other often.

In the days that followed, after Penelope left, Ryan gradually stopped going to the cold drink shop as well.

On the few occasions he went afterward, he could still hear the owner complaining that business had plummeted after Ryan left, compared to when he was around.