The trio barely made it into the cssroom just before the lesson began.

  “I swear! Those staircases are out to get us. They’re trying to make us te on purpose!” Ron grumbled, rubbing his still-reddened nose as he stepped into the room first. He scanned the empty lectern and let out a breath of relief.

  “Looks like we’re not too te after all. The professor isn’t even here yet,” Harry said, exchanging a thankful gnce with Ivan. Good thing they got up early today—any ter, and they’d have definitely been te.

  “No, I think the professor is already here,” Ivan remarked, ignoring their chatter as his gaze nded on the tabby cat perched atop the lectern. Without another word, he swiftly made his way to his seat.

  Harry and Ron were puzzled until they sat down and witnessed the cat leap gracefully from the lectern. Mid-air, its form twisted and shifted. By the time it nded, it was no longer a feline but a stern-looking middle-aged witch—Professor McGonagall!

  Harry and Ron gawked in shock, finally understanding what Ivan had meant earlier. But what they couldn’t figure out was how Ivan had known the cat was actually Professor McGonagall in disguise.

  Professor McGonagall herself was equally surprised. She had chosen to observe the first-year students in her Animagus form, both to assess them and as an introduction to Transfiguration. She hadn’t expected to be recognized so quickly.

  Shooting Ivan an approving nod, she turned her attention to the css and began her lecture.

  “Before we begin, let me remind you: Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous branches of magic you will learn at Hogwarts. If anyone in my css is foolish enough to treat it as a joke, they can leave right now and never come back!”

  With a flick of her wand, the lectern in front of her transformed into a pig, drawing gasps from the young witches and wizards. Another flick, and the pig seamlessly returned to its original form.

  Sitting near the front, Ivan observed the entire transformation process up close.

  Precise. Fast. Fwless.

  To change a wooden lectern into a living, conscious creature was no small feat. It was essentially restructuring matter, even temporarily bestowing intelligence upon an inanimate object. In that moment, the true depth and power of magic became unmistakably clear.

  Wizarding magic might not always focus on raw destructive force, but it had its own unparalleled strengths—comprehensive, versatile, and uniquely intricate.

  McGonagall’s demonstration had the css brimming with excitement. After expining the fundamentals of casting Transfiguration spells, she handed out matchsticks to each student, instructing them to transfigure them into silver needles.

  As she began her expnation, a mechanical voice echoed in Ivan’s mind.

  [Ding! You have attentively listened to the professor’s lecture. You find the content somewhat obscure, but your Transfiguration proficiency has slightly improved.]

  Curious, Ivan pulled up his status screen. Sure enough, under his magic skills, a new line had appeared:

  [Transfiguration – Level 0 (6/100)]

  Just as I expected! Ivan’s heart leapt with excitement. This meant that as long as he practiced repeatedly, his proficiency would increase, allowing him to master any spell through sheer repetition.

  However, after half a lesson’s worth of practice, Ivan realized things weren’t as simple as he’d imagined.

  “Ivan Hals!”

  “Mr. Hals!”

  The sharp, authoritative voice reverberated through the cssroom, drawing the attention of the other students.

  Professor McGonagall’s stern gaze swept over the room before briefly softening upon noticing a bushy-haired girl’s matchstick—her Transfiguration attempt had clearly taken shape, resembling a needle. Satisfied, she turned back to Ivan, who was momentarily dazed.

  “Mr. Hals, as I have already emphasized, spellcasting requires focus. Careless, mechanical repetition will do little to help you. You must concentrate and visualize the silver needle in your mind.”

  “Yes, Professor McGonagall. I’ll keep that in mind.” Ivan nodded politely. Under her watchful gaze, he steadied himself, lifting his nearly twelve-inch wand and flicking it with practiced precision.

  The matchstick on his desk began to distort, slowly morphing under the influence of magic—only to suddenly snap back to its original form as if something had interrupted the process.

  McGonagall didn’t seem surprised. She merely nodded, offered a curt, “Keep practicing,” and moved on. After all, most first-years struggled with their initial attempts.

  Ivan let out a small sigh. “So it’s not as easy as just grinding proficiency…”

  His earlier excitement had already dimmed. At first, his skill level had risen quickly, but now the growth had slowed significantly. Worse yet, not every attempt resulted in an increase.

  Through careful observation, Ivan realized that rather than increasing his skill through practice, his proficiency system was merely quantifying his natural ability.

  By the end of the lesson, he still hadn’t managed to achieve a stable transformation.

  Just as he was brooding over this, he felt a few taps on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Harry grinning excitedly, pointing to an object on his desk—its ends were now pointed, gleaming faintly.

  “Hey, Ivan, look! I did it! I actually did it!”

  “Yes, Harry. You’re amazing—you’ve got real talent,” Ivan said, gncing at the partially transformed needle. For a first lesson, achieving visible and stable transformation was an exceptional feat—far beyond his own.

  “Right? I can’t believe it! I mean, my aunt and uncle are Muggles. Before Hogwarts, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to do magic.”

  Harry, buoyed by Ivan’s praise, excitedly rambled about his pre-Hogwarts fears.

  Ivan, however, wasn’t surprised at all. The Sorting Hat had already made it clear—Harry was brave, kind, and incredibly gifted. It had even considered pcing him in Slytherin. By his third year, he would be summoning a fully formed Patronus to ward off hundreds of Dementors.

  If Hogwarts had a stricter curriculum, Harry Potter—this so-called “Chosen One”—would probably graduate with professor-level skills.

  Not that Ivan was jealous. Not at all.

  After all, gifted students like Harry were rare.

  Or so he thought—until McGonagall’s voice rang out again.

  “Excellent, Miss Granger! Everyone, take a look—Miss Granger has successfully transfigured her matchstick into a silver needle! Five points to Gryffindor!”

  A few seats away, Hermione Granger sat primly, her bushy brown hair slightly disheveled. She lifted her chin proudly as whispers and impressed murmurs spread through the css.

  Ivan, who had only just comforted himself with the thought that most students were struggling, felt his fragile ego shatter.

  Do ordinary wizards even stand a chance anymore?!

  “Damn it! I was so close! If I’d just practiced a little longer, Professor McGonagall would be praising me instead,” Ron groaned, prodding his matchstick dejectedly with his wand, clearly frustrated at losing the spotlight to Hermione.

  Ivan gnced at Ron’s desk, where his matchstick had long since reverted to its original form. He doubted Ron would catch up to Hermione’s level in any number of lessons.

  Not that Ivan himself was doing much better.

  With another weary sigh, he mented, Where’s my overpowered transmigrator’s talent boost? Where’s my insane soul fusion mental power increase?

  Turns out, the Sorting Hat’s assessment of his talent had been brutally accurate.

  As the lesson ended, another notification rang in Ivan’s mind.

  [Ding! You have completed your first Transfiguration css. Keep up the hard work.Css performance rating: AverageEvaluator: Minerva McGonagallReward: 5 Academic Points]

  Ivan stared at the notification in disbelief.

  Wait, I can earn points just for attending css?

  This was starting to feel suspiciously like his old university days

  It looks like the professors are responsible for evaluating students.

  Could it be that the final exams also come with corresponding rewards and penalties based on performance?

  Of course, grumbling aside, Ivan was still quite pleased to discover another function of the system. The only question was—what could these Academic Points be used for?

  Ever since the system panel first appeared, Ivan had noticed the existence of Academic Points.

  Perhaps because he hadn’t earned any before, the reted functions had remained locked. But now, after finally accumuting some points, he quickly found a newly unlocked exchange option in the panel.

  To Ivan’s disappointment, the entire exchange menu contained only one lonely item—a Schor Mode Experience Card, which required 100 Academic Points to redeem. Its effect? A significant boost to learning efficiency for one hour.

  Where were the powerful spells? The forbidden magic? The game-breaking abilities he had imagined?

  Was this system seriously pnning to force him to study to the bitter end?

  Ivan gnced at his meager five Academic Points, earned from an entire css session, and suddenly felt a wave of despair. Hogwarts only had three to five csses per day.

  At this rate, he would need to grind for a full five days just to redeem a single hour of boosted learning!

  This was a scam, right?

  What could he even learn in an hour?

  But as, there was nothing he could do about it. Aside from this exchange system, he had no other means to improve his painfully slow learning efficiency.

  What else could he do?

  Study hard, obviously.

  After Transfiguration css ended, the next subject was the dreadfully dull History of Magic. The lesson was taught by Professor Binns, a rigid and ancient ghost who droned on endlessly without a single gnce at his students.

  This put Ivan in a tough spot. It was clear that Academic Points were tied to how professors evaluated his performance in css, but with Binns’ teaching style, there was no opportunity for him to make any impression at all!

  As expected, after an entire period of mind-numbing lectures, Ivan received another “Average” rating and five more Academic Points.

  But soon, he realized that History of Magic actually had its perks.

  Because in the next css—Charms, they were learning how to apply magic steadily onto objects to influence them, essentially ying the groundwork for the Levitation Charm.

  However, thanks to the interference of his wand, Ivan struggled the entire lesson before barely managing to cast the spell successfully—after blowing up his practice props three times in a row.

  His performance? Just slightly better than Neville’s.

  Meanwhile, Miss Granger had mastered it in just three attempts.

  Naturally, Ivan received a low rating for the css, earning a measly two Academic Points.

  The only good news was that after a few days of wandering around aimlessly, his "Explore Hogwarts" mission had reached 30% completion. For every 1% progress, he had earned two Academic Points, meaning he had already accumuted 60 points in total—far more than what he got from attending csses.

  At st, he could see a glimmer of hope—the dream of gathering 100 Academic Points and redeeming that Schor Mode Experience Card was no longer out of reach!

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