After Charms class, Basil mentioned his theories to Harry and the others.
(Excluding the part about why Slytherin students might turn bad.)
Hermione shook her head like a rattle-drum. "The books don't say anything like that. It's better to stick to the textbook."
Ron had a different view. "What you said actually makes sense. I've seen it in some old books at home. But they also say, 'If you successfully cast a spell, forget about the intonation or how you wave the stick—remember that feeling! That might be the casting method best suited for you!'"
"I think maybe Harry just found his personal style right away."
Harry nodded along.
He considered himself very ordinary.
How could he have such high Magic power?
Ron's explanation sounded much more plausible.
"Alright then." Basil shrugged.
Believing in oneself is a form of mental power too.
Just like how wizards excellent at Transfiguration can ignore incantations and wand movements.
If Harry wanted to think that way, it was fine.
When learning advanced spells later, he could totally use that mindset.
Just like what Seamus did in the Great Hall at lunch today.
"Eye of rabbit, harp string hum, turn this water into rum." It wasn't even a real incantation.
Fred and George had tricked Seamus into believing it could turn water into alcohol, just like they tricked Ron.
However, this joke spell actually worked.
Under Seamus's frustrated wand waving...
The water instantly took on the aroma of fruit.
Although it tasted more like fruit juice because Seamus had never drunk alcohol, it was still impressive.
This is the power of belief.
Unfortunately, Seamus couldn't analyze or replicate the feeling, making it a fleeting glimpse of genius.
Subsequent attempts only resulted in explosions.
The other classes that week didn't give Basil much inspiration.
Herbology (three times a week) was slightly boring since Basil could invade the greenhouses anytime via his mental Hogwarts map to take photos secretly.
In fact, after Herbology on Tuesday afternoon, he crafted a batch of Summon Cards.
[Chinese Chomping Cabbage], [Mandrake], [Bubotuber], and [Venomous Tentacula].
It cost him 2000 Gems.
Heaven have pity on him! He hadn't even had time to craft his Echoes yet!
Among these Summon Cards, Basil felt [Mandrake] and [Venomous Tentacula] were the best value.
> [Magical Plant: Mandrake]
> Level: 1
> Mana Cost: 4
> Effect: Summons a Mandrake. When an enemy unit enters the fan-shaped area in front, the Mandrake screams loudly and crawls slowly toward the target. When attacked, the Mandrake can burrow into the soil to avoid damage.
> Special: Mandrake Scream damage is non-magical and non-physical; Player Unit Magic Resistance cannot fully negate it.
> Health: 50
> Damage: 10
> DPS: 3
> Weakness (Fire): -10% Defense
> Attack Interval: 3s
> Range: 3m (Damage decays by 1 point per meter beyond 3m)
> Target: Ground, Air, Underwater
> Underwater Note: Range decays to 2m; damage becomes 0 beyond 1m.
> Movement Speed: Slow
>
>
Although the [Mandrake] had very low Health for a plant...
It was more resistant to fire.
And its scream could be lethal.
It wasn't magic, so Magic Resistance couldn't block it.
But because it was infused with magic, it wasn't purely physical either, so "thinking really hard" (Willpower) couldn't fully avoid it.
Given that normal wizards have less than 10 Health due to human biology...
Unless they covered their ears immediately, it was a death sentence.
> [Magical Plant: Venomous Tentacula]
> Level: 1
> Mana Cost: 4
> Effect: Summons a Venomous Tentacula. When an enemy unit enters the circular area around it, it extends vines to pull them in and injects venom with its spikes. Venom causes paralysis and continuous damage.
> Special: Venom damage is non-magical and non-physical; Player Unit Magic Resistance cannot fully negate it.
> Health: 140
> Weakness (Fire): -50% Defense
> Tentacle Damage: 3
> DPS: 1
> Attack Interval: 5s
> Range: 3m
> Target: Ground
> Movement Speed: Immobile
> Venom Damage: 10 (1 DPS)
>
>
From the stats, it looked like a poisonous Devil's Snare.
Its grip wasn't as strong as the Devil's Snare.
But it had poisonous spikes, and the venom damage increased every second.
And the venom damage condition was injection.
So unless an antidote was taken within 10 seconds, or a Siphoning Spell was used to extract the venom...
It brought death.
Although wizards, with their bodies housing magic, had an immunity that could be considered a passive, constant spell, protecting them from regular toxins...
This venom wasn't purely magical damage, so it couldn't be resisted or reduced by Magic stats.
And because it was magically enhanced, the wizard's natural immunity couldn't flush it out.
According to Ron, Professor McGonagall's ex-husband died from a Venomous Tentacula bite.
As for the [Chinese Chomping Cabbage] and [Bubotuber], they were just filler.
The former was picked because it had "Chinese" in the name. Damage-wise, it couldn't even break the base physical defense of a human (which wasn't even listed on the panel). Though, for people with... strange fetishes, maybe it was worth a try? It did have a mouth.
The latter was picked because its diluted pus could cure acne.
Good for making money.
Aside from pushing Basil's [Magic Book] EXP to 900 and adding another card to the collection, they had no other use.
Astronomy class (every Wednesday midnight).
Aside from the romantic atmosphere on the tower top under the stars... the content was extremely dry.
History of Magic, which Harry and the others detested, wasn't actually hated by Basil.
Although Hogwarts history classes were limited and couldn't visit museums like his junior high classes in his past life...
It was still okay. A ghost teacher!
How rare is that!
Especially since he didn't care what you did. His lectures were great ASMR for sleeping!
Defense Against the Dark Arts.
This course was exclusive to Hogwarts and Ilvermorny. In it, students learned how to resist various types of Dark Magic, including Dark Creatures, Dark Spells (Curses, Hexes, Jinxes), and Dueling.
Logically, everyone should look forward to such a cool class.
But the whole class, including Basil, had lost faith in it.
Basil lost faith because he had seen the movies and knew what Quirrell was like.
Other students lost faith after looking up the professor following the Opening Feast incident.
However, everything exceeded their expectations.
For first-years, they mainly learned about dangerous magical regions.
And various survival methods.
Like using the Red Sparks spell (Periculum) to signal for help.
Every Ministry of Magic worldwide recognized this spell as the distress signal. It was the wizarding equivalent of a universal emergency hotline.
Quirrell taught this content logically and without stuttering.
It only took half the lesson.
For the rest of the time, he focused on the Black Forest in Albania.
The Magical Field there was exceptionally chaotic.
Unless you lived there for years or had extremely high magical cultivation, you couldn't cast spells normally there.
Even a Seer's Inner Eye would be blurred.
Because of this, the forest was teeming with dangerous dark creatures and fugitives.
By the end of the lesson, most students looked at Quirrell with new respect.
Even the lingering smell of garlic on him didn't seem so offensive anymore.
According to older students, Quirrell had unique insights into dealing with Dark Creatures and Dark Magic, and his Silent Casting was incredibly powerful.
A single Protego of his blocked several Stunning Spells.
But Basil wasn't moved by this.
He cared more about Quirrell's behavior.
Quirrell seemed to have stopped pretending entirely.
He was gloomy and sullen, more Snape-like than Snape.
Only when lecturing did he show a bit of passion.
Luckily, this plot change counted towards Basil's influence. It added about 5000 Gems.
This was why he felt generous enough to spend Gems on Summon Cards that night after Herbology.
As for Flying Lessons, rumor had it they would have to wait a few more weeks.
Overall, in this first week of classes, the only useful ones for him were Transfiguration and Charms.
But now, he had to perk up.
Ron was still complaining about the morning's Potions class as they walked.
He, Ron, and Hermione were following Harry to Hagrid's hut.
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