Allen's first exploration of magical theory

The next day, Allen opened his eyes at his usual waking time and gently rubbed his forehead.

There had not been many letters to deal with the night before, and he should not have needed to stay up late. But his weekend was already fully booked.

Muggle classes, theoretical study, spell practice... and a certain founder of the serpent house urging him to take private lessons.

Allen was more than willing to accept Salazar's instruction, so he had to bring forward the coursework he had originally planned to finish over the weekend.

Besides, he already had private Potions and Transfiguration lessons scheduled for the following week.

His schedule was packed tight. Fortunately, Allen had lived this way for years and managed his time quite well, which was the only reason he could take it all on at once.

He lay in bed for a while, waiting for the slight dizziness to ease before sitting up, drawing back the bed curtains, and getting out.

Allen normally rose at six sharp. Back at the castle, he would wash and dress neatly, then organize the day's work and lessons as Triss gave her report.

After an hour of morning study, Allen would change into his Training Uniform and go for a run, then return and put on a smart suit before dining with Edward.

Afterward, the two would attend engagements together or go to their respective studies to work and learn.

After decades of the same routine, Allen's body clock could no longer be changed.

Although life at Hogwarts was more relaxed, with little for him to do, his body clock still woke him at six every day.

The haughty young master Malfoy, meanwhile, generally got up at seven and finished getting ready by seven fifty-the hair gel he insisted on applying every day took him a considerable amount of time.

Then he would head to the Great Hall with Allen for breakfast at eight and reach their classroom at eight fifty.

Allen was already used to finishing his morning study on his own before leaving with him.

Today, however, Draco had risen early for once.

Allen had just emerged from the bathroom when he saw Draco leap excitedly out of bed and greet him enthusiastically. "Morning, Allen!"

"Good morning!"

Before the blond Crown Prince had even finished speaking, the White Peacock had already dashed into the bathroom.

In less than ten minutes, Draco had finished grooming himself and run back out to put on the Training Uniform he had chosen the night before.

Looking at Allen, who had changed into a shirt and trousers and was studying at his desk, he urged, "Allen! What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Allen took a small sip of milk and reminded him, "It's not even seven yet."

He glanced down at his watch and added, "To be precise, it's only six forty-two. If I remember correctly, today's tryouts start at eight thirty?"

"Oh!"

Draco frowned and paced in circles, grumbling, "Lazy Flint!"

He ran back into the bathroom to carefully fix his hair in the mirror, then soon came out again and changed into his school robes.

"...Until I make the team, I absolutely cannot let Potter find out!"

Allen watched his frantic pacing with amusement, pleased that the little peacock had finally learned some restraint.

Even if he was probably just afraid of embarrassing himself by failing to make the team, it was still a big improvement, wasn't it?

Draco kept chattering beside him about the origins of Quidditch, famous teams, and the rules of the game, leaving Allen unable to think.

Allen spent half a second weighing the option of casting a Silencing Charm against having to soothe the little peacock once he noticed, then resigned himself to giving up his morning study.

After listening for a while, Allen, who had no interest whatsoever in Quidditch, decided to divert the trouble elsewhere. As though he had only just remembered, he asked, "Are Crabbe and Goyle up yet?"

That successfully redirected Draco's attention.

The little peacock stormed out and headed for another bedroom. An "Alohomora" opened the door, and he went in to wake the two boys, grumbling all the way.

Allen sighed in relief at the rare peace and quiet and the study time he had recovered, then returned to tackling the tough subject of magical theory.

Allen had already completed Professor McGonagall's assignment during his morning study sessions the previous week and had Tita deliver it. The essays other professors had assigned posed no difficulty either, and he had finished them long ago.

After Salazar's lessons on the Space Charm, Allen had keenly realized that a solid theoretical foundation played a truly decisive role in casting spells.

And cutting-edge Muggle research bore a striking resemblance to the theories of the magical world, as though different paths led to the same destination.

Take that seemingly unremarkable Space Charm, for example.

Its underlying principles could be explained and summarized through relativity-the folding and linking of spatial energy fields.

It could be used to make an ordinary spatial accessory, trunk, or tent, or to cut off an enemy's head in combat.

(Allen also decided to look into similar Time Spells.)

The speed of casting depended on confidence in the theory and the degree of proficiency.

Using spells flexibly placed even greater demands on the caster's theoretical understanding.

For instance, Allen had discovered that the simplest household magic in the Wizarding World essentially controlled objects to perform a particular action.

If he had to draw a comparison, it was rather like programming in the Muggle world-a program or spell made software or an object operate according to a predetermined pattern.

Taking that line of thought further, could the simplest household magic be modified to work on people?

Tarantallegra, for example, made someone keep dancing until the magic acting on them faded or was counteracted by the victim's own magic.

This discovery made Allen ponder why Dark wizards existed-

Since ordinary, unrestricted spells could achieve effects like these, why bother learning dangerous Dark Magic that disturbed the mind?

The blond Crown Prince reached a tentative conclusion: perhaps those wizards had not studied foundational theory well enough and thus could not master flexible ways of casting spells.

So Allen decided to mention this discovery during his meeting with Dumbledore the next morning, hoping for guidance from the old headmaster.

After all, the white-bearded old man looked perfectly reliable, didn't he?

Besides, Allen doubted that Dumbledore was unaware that something was wrong with Quirrell-

The headmaster had named a time when Allen was free, and it happened to fall right after the Muggle-born gathering.

How could there be such a convenient coincidence?

Edward had taught Allen that if he wanted to discern politicians' true intentions from the smallest clues, he must never overlook coincidences like that.

As the little peacock's disdainful complaints grew clearer, Allen gathered his thoughts and put the notes containing deductions only he could understand back into the drawer.