After the three "old schemers" had plotted for a while, Cedric didn't come to find Kyle for the next month to discuss training or integrating with the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Perhaps they had great confidence in his flying skills. Since they didn't come looking, Kyle decided to pretend the matter didn't exist.
Anyway, he didn't really need to coordinate with the other players. Those scrub teammates were pretty much the same whether they were there or not.
He had one tactic, and only one—shoot down all the opposing Quidditch players.
After shooting them all down, as long as Cedric, the Seeker, didn't catch the Golden Snitch to end the match immediately, they could farm as many points as they wanted in the remaining time.
As long as they racked up a few thousand points in the first game, even if they went on a losing streak for the entire rest of the Quidditch season, it would be hard for any team to surpass them in total score.
Meanwhile, over in Gryffindor, Harry—who carried heavy expectations—had to attend Quidditch practice three nights a week.
Cedric couldn't wait to see the collision of these two first-year Quidditch rising stars on the pitch.
Of course, it would take some time to see that happen.
It was currently only Halloween Eve, still a week away from the first match of the Quidditch season.
And according to past tradition, the opening match of every Quidditch season was a face-off between the two old powerhouses: the Lions and the Snakes.
After all, the other two houses were too weak. If they played the opener, the excitement level would be...
Ahem, so Kyle's first appearance was still a long way off.
Today, Hogwarts students woke up early to the smell of sweet and tempting baked pumpkin wafting through the corridors.
A festive atmosphere filled the student body, with the first-years being particularly delighted.
After two months of learning spell-casting techniques, Professor Flitwick finally announced that they could attempt to learn the Levitation Charm.
However, Kyle couldn't muster any happiness. He had mastered a simple spell like the Levitation Charm long before enrolling.
The reason he wasn't happy now was purely because he was stuck on a difficult problem in Alchemy.
Enchanting was a crucial component of Alchemy.
If Kyle wanted to add magical effects to the large stockpile of firearms in his bottomless bag, he couldn't bypass the step of enchanting.
There were many methods to choose from when enchanting equipment.
One of the most widely used methods was inscribing magic runes on the equipment.
This was the standard approach, and also the most suitable for beginners, so Kyle had chosen this method as well.
But inscribing magic runes on equipment brought up another unavoidable issue—the mastery of the runes themselves.
Generally, the characters used for magic runes were ancient scripts passed down from antiquity, such as Ancient Runes.
This was a huge challenge for Kyle. Back when he first crossed over into this world, he nearly worried himself bald just trying to master English, not to mention the struggle of learning foreign languages in his past life.
His talent for language learning was simply not that great.
In Charms class, Professor Flitwick divided the class into pairs to begin practicing the Levitation Charm.
Only Kyle didn't participate; instead, he was absent-mindedly writing and drawing on a piece of paper.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing! Swish and flick!"
Professor Flitwick stood on his pile of books as usual, squeaking instructions.
"Remember, saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo standing on his chest."
After Professor Flitwick demonstrated the essentials of casting the Levitation Charm, he told everyone to try it themselves.
Ron waved his wand blindly, looking as if he were trying to use all his strength to fan the feather on the table into the air.
"Wingardium Leviosa~" The sound coming from the Gryffindor side made Kyle put down his quill in irritation.
They had been learning casting gestures and incantation pronunciation for two months; how come Ron still hadn't learned a single thing?
Kyle didn't even need to look to know that Ron absolutely wouldn't be able to cast the Levitation Charm.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! You're going to take someone's eye out."
Hermione stopped Ron's incorrect casting in time and corrected his pronunciation.
"You're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever!" Ron said indignantly. "Go on, go on."
Hermione chanted the spell flawlessly, her wand swishing and flicking.
Not just the feather, she even made the desk in front of her float.
She had learned the Levitation Charm a month ago, and by now she had nearly mastered all the spells in the first-year Charms textbook.
Hannah's progress was slightly slower than hers, but still far beyond the other young wizards in the same year.
After controlling the desk to hover about a meter in the air, the little beaver put the heavy wooden desk back in place.
She held her head high, glancing sideways at Ron as if to say: Are you convinced?
Professor Flitwick was delighted that another highly talented student had appeared among the young wizards he was teaching.
"Splendid! For Miss Granger's wonderful performance! Ten points to Gryffindor!"
For the entire rest of the class, Ron's mood was practically at rock bottom.
However, this had nothing to do with Kyle. While emptying his mind in class just now, he suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.
Why did the runes used for enchanting equipment have to be the specific Ancient Runes taught in the curriculum?
Magic is driven by intent and understanding. The symbols are merely a medium to channel that power.
The reason Ancient Runes were difficult for him was that they were an entirely foreign concept, a language he had no connection to.
But what if he used a script he already understood perfectly?
In his previous life, he had been fluent in a logographic script where every character held deep, structural meaning. Unlike phonetic alphabets, these characters were symbols of concepts in themselves.
If magic requires a clear mental image and precise intent, using a writing system he knew by heart would be infinitely more effective than struggling to memorize the shapes of Ancient Runes.
Why force himself to decipher a dead language when he could use a "runic system" that was already etched into his soul?
It made perfect sense. If he treated these familiar characters as his personal magical runes, the flow of magic should be seamless.
He didn't need to study new texts; he just needed to recall the calligraphy he had practiced in his former life. It was certainly easier than failing at Ancient Runes.
Thinking of this, Kyle took a stack of fresh parchment from the small backpack he carried with him, along with some basic alchemy paint used for rune inscription, and began to draw on the paper again.
He dipped his brush and focused his intent.
If anyone familiar with Eastern scripts were here, they would see that what Kyle wrote on the parchment was the character for "Explode".
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