Chapter 16: Improving Talent
According to the records on the parchment, Vaughn found his dormitory.
Slytherin dormitories typically house four students, adjusted based on the number of incoming students. Vaughn was fortunate that his dormitory was assigned only three people.
The other two didn’t deserve names, and Vaughn couldn’t be bothered with them. If they were sensible enough, they might move out soon.
As soon as he pushed open the dormitory door, a large cat, with a mix of orange-red and golden-yellow fur, leaped quickly towards him, its front paws landing on Vaughn’s chest, its furry head rubbing vigorously against his chin.
“Okay, okay, Guo Guo Cha, you clingy little thing, you’re too heavy!”
“Meow~”
“Starving, aren’t you? Sorry, pets can’t attend the feast in the Great Hall… Alright, stop rubbing, I’ll feed you some dried fish, and tomorrow morning you can have breakfast with me.” Vaughn soothed the affectionate big cat, smiling happily.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary office worker in a first-tier city, with no energy to keep pets. He bought Guo Guo Cha before because he saw how clever it was, hoping it could help him watch Scabbers.
But as they spent more time together, he grew to love this clingy, adorable creature more and more.
If cats are like this, how much more so his family in this life… While feeding Guo Guo Cha dried fish, Vaughn thought about the surprised Percy, Fred, George, and Ron when he was sorted into Slytherin Academy, and felt a bit of a headache.
He still didn’t know what Father and Mother would think!
But there was no other way; he was a transmigrator, always carrying the thoughts and ambitions of an adult.
Fortunately, he had received the Novice Gift Pack which contained a max-level Legilimency spell.
Otherwise, not to mention the secret of his transmigration being exposed, even just his adult thoughts might have scared the Sorting Hat.
Even if children are inherently cruel, their immaturity in knowledge and views makes them somewhat innocent and foolish!
Adults with mature worldviews are different; their actions can be bound by laws, but their thoughts cannot. The inadvertent wickedness in every thought of an adult is probably enough to get them a visit to Azkaban.
Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, Vaughn brushed Guo Guo Cha’s fur and silently recited:
“System, claim reward!”
A few lines of information popped up before his eyes:
【Claim Reward】
【Free Talent Points +1】
【Magic Power Scale +50】
The air trembled slightly; it was the fluctuation of magic power.
Guo Guo Cha noticed the movement and looked up at Vaughn. Seeing that he was fine, it went back to gnawing on the dried fish with relief.
Vaughn opened the System Panel.
【Host: Vaughn Weasley】
【Magic Power Scale: 432 (Normal Adult Wizard is 500)】
【Talent: Charms Mastery 7, Dark Arts 6, Transfiguration 7, Potions Mastery 10, Herbology Mastery 6, Divination Mastery 2 (Max is 10)】
【Spells: Legilimency LV5(MAX), Full Body-Bind Curse LV3(3/8), Disarming Charm LV2(2/4), Levitation Charm LV2(1/4), Petrifying Curse LV2(1/4), Fire-Making Spell LV2(2/4), Illumination Charm LV3(0/4)…】
【Potions: Felicity Potion, Stamina Potion, Blood Replenishing Potion, Softening Potion, Hair Growth Potion, Beauty Potion （Master Level, including various types of recipes ）…】
【Reputation Points: 17 points】
【Free Talent Points: 1】
【New Quest Updated, pending review】
Vaughn looked at his various stats. It had been about 2 months from receiving his acceptance letter to enrolling.
Compared to then, his Magic Power Scale had increased by 62 points, with 50 of those being the reward just claimed, and the extra 12 points being natural growth over these two months.
Previously, Vaughn had used the standards indicated in the system’s parentheses to guess the trend of natural magic power growth in wizards.
Because each young wizard’s magic power awakening and burst times varied, there was no universal template, but it could be determined that natural magic power growth was related to magical talent.
The higher the talent, the more magic power would naturally grow each month.
There was also no universal template for this, and Vaughn guessed that the main factors influencing magic power growth were Charms Mastery, Dark Arts, and Transfiguration talents, with other talents having lower weight.
This could also be affected by developmental cycles.
He had observed his older and younger brothers quite a bit over the years, yet he still couldn’t calculate an estimated value based on his own situation.
Magic power was not that simple, but improving talent was definitely the right move!
After all, it also affected the learning, mastery, and development of magic.
Vaughn felt the surge of magic power for a while, confirming he could still control it freely, and then turned his attention to talent.
He needed to consider where to allocate the newly added talent point.
“Based on past comparisons with Percy, Fred, and George, as well as my own experience learning spells, I can judge that a talent value of 7 is considered excellent.”
“Combining this with the original story, it’s probably similar to Hermione, maybe slightly higher… Well, for now, it’s enough for learning spells.”
“Although Dark Arts is a bit low, it’s hard to learn much Dark Arts in a short period.”
Thinking this, Vaughn frowned slightly.
Regarding Dark Arts, it wasn’t just difficult to learn; it also required gathering corresponding emotions when casting spells.
To cast Avada Kedavra, one needed intense killing intent and malicious thoughts.
To cast Cruciatus Curse, one needed sufficient cruelty and bone-chilling hatred.
Those dark wizards and Death Eaters who were mentally unstable and seemed crazy weren’t born that way; it was partly related to their misuse of Dark Arts.
Vaughn stroked his chin: “Before learning Dark Arts, I need to find a way to circumvent this problem. Dumbledore should have a technique. Before he believed in ‘the power of love,’ he was also a dark magic master. Unfortunately… with his personality, there’s no way he’d teach students to research dark magic.”
“Another person who can be a reference, is proficient in Dark Arts and hasn’t gone mad… Snape!”
This Head of House of Slytherin was not only a Potions Master but also a Dark Arts Master. He was able to research Sectumsempra during his school years.
As long as he could get on his good side, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
Brilliant!
“So, Dark Arts talent PASS, Herbology Mastery PASS, Divination Mastery… my biggest weakness, even if I improve it, it’s useless, PASS!”
“It has to be Transfiguration!”
Transfiguration is the most complex and vast discipline. It’s not just a few spells but a massive knowledge system intertwined with Charms Mastery, Dark Arts, and Potions Mastery.
From the simplest transformation of inanimate objects to living beings, and then magical and human transformations, it can be said that every improvement in Transfiguration is comprehensive!
It is also the only magic that does not require incantations from the very beginning.
Vaughn stopped deliberating and allocated the free talent point to Transfiguration.
The improvement of talent was silent and invisible, completely unlike the noticeable increase in magic power. But when Vaughn drew his wand and lightly tapped Guo Guo Cha’s dried fish.
A completely different sensation immediately flooded his mind—
Magic power flowed like a trickling stream into the dried fish, permeating and outlining its most subtle internal structures, which were then fed back into Vaughn’s consciousness.
The entire process was no longer as arduous and vague as before.
As Vaughn’s thoughts turned, he easily manipulated those structures in his mind, gaining sudden insights into many subtle techniques, adjusting and changing them as smoothly as silk, and then projecting his imagination into reality through magic power.
*Poof!*
The dried fish transformed into a lively mouse!
Guo Guo Cha’s eyes widened, and it immediately pounced.
According to Gamp’s Law of Transfiguration, the transformation of an object cannot change its essence.
In other words, Guo Guo Cha ate a mouse that tasted like dried fish…
Meow~
Double the happiness!
