Chapter 18
Ron, whose name had been called, stumbled through his answes. He managed to explain only four dark creatures before he could go no further.
Lucian nodded and calmly announced, "Gryffindor loses one point."
After Ron, Lucian called on Harry amid the boy's desperate silent pleas.Whatever he feared most had come true and stood up resignedly.
His performance was on par with his best friend Ron's—six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Ron had recited four; Harry managed two, though with far fewer mistakes than Ron.
Lucian didn't correct Harry's errors. He simply listened expressionlessly as Harry stammered his way through for a long while before admitting he couldn't continue "Hm. Sit down. Gryffindor loses another point."
Harry didn't know how he survived that ordeal. When he sat back down, his cheeks were burning so hot he almost thought he had a fever, In his heart, he wanted to justify himself to some unknown presence.
It felt as though a little angel and a little devil were arguing inside his head.
"I'm not lazy—I just couldn't keep up. I have to prepare for Quidditch practice. Wood's gone mad, starting training at dawn on Saturdays. I'm utterly exhausted. Besides, I'm just not good at memorizing by rote. How is this method supposed to help with learning spells?"
"Oh, come off it, Harry! We all know what's really going on! You and Ron keep complaining about how terrible Professor Quirrell's teaching was, yet now you're starting to miss him, aren't you? At least Quirrell didn't assign this much homework. That way, you and your good buddy Ron could play a few more games of wizard chess in the common room!"
"That's not how it is—"
No one paid attention to Harry's inner monologue—at the very least, Lucian didn't.
Ignoring Hermione's persistently raised hand, Lucian called on another Gryffindor student. That student managed six, but still fell short of his requirements. As for Neville, who was huddled in the corner, shrinking and on the verge of tears, Lucian didn't even feel like calling on him.
"Gryffindor loses another point; and, that's enough for today's assignment check. Next, we'll review the key points for casting the Impediment Jinx. Please line up one by one."
Harry and Ron, having failed earlier, quickly rallied, determined to regain their dignity in this segment. The two of them dragged Neville along, somehow forming a quick alliance. They encouraged each other and lined up together in front of the podium.
Lucian used transfiguration to conjure training targets and watched the entire process with an expressionless face. Among the homework he had assigned, many students had used auto-quills to copy it automatically—clearly not written by the students themselves.
The first-years, having only recently enrolled, hadn't yet dared to pull such tricks. But the second- through fourth-years were a complete disaster zone.
Faced with this, Lucian simply deducted points with an impassive face—and all he did was just that.
From classroom performance, students whose handwriting was neat and who had clearly treated the copying assignment as something important—rather than scribbling carelessly to muddle through—performed noticeably better than the others.
This obvious difference caused the students who hadn't properly completed their homework to show thoughtful expressions.
It was only natural that this would happen; Spells don't lie.
The angle, force, and speed of the wand movement; the fluency of the incantation; the confidence gained from thoroughly completing the preparatory work; and even the sense of superiority from doing better than others—Every factor influenced the completeness of their spellcasting.
Yes, completeness—that was all.
At the level these students were currently performing, they were far from competing in terms of spell power, so talent wasn't even a factor yet.
In other words, as long as they fulfilled the details Lucian required, they could successfully cast a spell and achieve the intended effect.
There were exceptions, of course—both good and bad.
For example, Neville Longbottom. Although Lucian was certain he absolutely couldn't recall all ten dark creatures, when it came to the copying homework, Neville had undoubtedly completed it honestly and diligently.
Even so, when it came time to actually cast, he still appeared utterly clueless.
It seemed that in his mind, every instruction required a lengthy processing cycle before his body could begin to act the next second.
Stumbling and fumbling, he lost all confidence, and the spell he released naturally looked nothing like it should.
Hermione's situation was partially similar but entirely different. This studious girl had absolutely completed Lucian's homework seriously, but her casting was overly rigid and by-the-book.
That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but she herself seemed to mind it greatly.
The moment any of her movements or pronunciations deviated even slightly, Hermione would immediately notice the discrepancy and subjectively undermine her own confidence.
But that wasn't a major issue.
Lucian would give her the confidence she lacked, because for students with genuine initiative to learn, Lucian didn't mind spending a little extra time offering guidance.
Hermione's problem, however, was mainly psychological—a matter of perception.
Psychological issues weren't like solving problems on paper, where simply writing the answer suffices. They required the right moment, the appropriate timing.
Watching Hermione, who was both satisfied and dissatisfied with her own casting results, Lucian didn't rush to speak.
Then came the worst performer of the entire class; Ron Weasley—the red-haired boy with freckles across his face.
There was clearly something seriously wrong with his wand. The magical circuit was inconsistent, sometimes working and sometimes not, possibly accompanied by other unknown negative effects.
A wand like that was fundamentally unsuitable for spellcasting.
However, for students who didn't put in effort, while Lucian wouldn't stoop to despising or disliking them, he also absolutely wouldn't offer them a single shred of extra care.
Amid a wave of laughter, Ron, whose spell had failed, fled in shame to the back of the line.
"Weasley, Longbottom—the two of you need to replace your wands. The ones you have now are not suitable for you.This will not only affect the power of your spells but also your confidence, and most importantly, your learning progress."
Ron lowered his head even further after hearing this. Neville twisted his hands together, his forefingers circling endlessly, head bowed and unwilling to meet anyone's eyes.
Neither responded to Lucian's reminder.
Lucian nodded. Having fulfilled a teacher's duty, he didn't press the matter further. Amid Ron's complicated and subtle emotions, Harry stepped up.
Surprisingly, although his homework had been frantically copied at the last minute just like Ron's, his performance was noticeably far superior to Ron's—even extremely close to the best performer, Hermione.
This shocked the other students. They all knew how intense Gryffindor's Quidditch training was.
Lucian faintly overheard the words "Savior" being whispered.
Speaking of which—Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley. Those three were the protagonists, weren't they?
Now that he had unavoidably become part of the plot, should he try to influence its development to the greatest extent possible, or, as he had done before, avoid interfering with the relevant characters in any way and let events unfold according to history?
Hm. Neither option seemed particularly appealing.
Lucian didn't like playing babysitter, dragging two foolish kids who only shone in critical moments forward by force.
But he also deeply understood that after entering Hogwarts, many things were no longer under his control. Complete passivity simply wouldn't work.
'Fine. i'll take it one step at a time.'
After all, when it came to the Harry Potter plot, Lucian only vaguely remembered the general outline. He had completely forgotten when specific events were supposed to occur.
Watching an excited Harry return to sit beside a sullen Ron, Lucian moved on to the next phase "Alright. Now we begin practical training. Today's target will be Red Caps."
"Additionally, starting from this lesson, I will no longer tell you in advance what dark creature you'll face next time. Instead, its information will be hidden among the homework I assign. Likewise, starting next class, I will begin grading both your homework and practical results. The two students who perform best in both homework and practical sections will receive this alchemical objects I crafted myself."
Note : Drop Powerstones for an extra chapter!!