The Curse of Fear

Hermione's mouth fell open in disbelief. She remembered Ivan's inability to stabilize the Transfiguration Charm in her Transfiguration class yesterday. How had he become so powerful?

Ivan did not stay long after completing the transformation, leaving Hermione standing there in a daze.

Ivan was on his way back to his room with a book in his hand when he ran into Harry and Ron, who were flying wizard flags.

Ron's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Ivan's copy of the book, and the Knight in his right hand fell to the table with a loud crash.

The knight who fell from the sky had his armour smashed to pieces, and he cursed as he raised his toothpick-thick sword and struck Ron's left fingernail.

"Oh, it hurts." Ron's left hand shook violently, sending the Knight flying to the side, and then he looked at his cracked fingernails and angrily smashed the cup into pieces, throwing them all into the box to be repaired.

Ron then covered his thumb and spoke to Harry with a worried expression.

"Harry, do you think Ivan is going to end up like Hermione?"

"I don't think so, do you?" Harry wasn't so sure.

They both shuddered at the thought of two Hermione pointing fingers at them.

Returning to the dormitory, Ivan was unaware that Harry and Ron were discussing him in the break room.

Ivan's attention had long since shifted to the various changes in the system.

[Ivan Harls

Profession: Wizard

Spells: Level 1 (6/200), Level 1 (12/200), Level 1 (30/200), Level 1 (16/200), Level 1 (1/200)…

Knowledge Theory: Level 0 (435/500) Basic Charm Principle Level 0 (88/100)

Magical Item: Wand (Yew, unicorn hair, eleven inches and three-quarters of a length)

Magic: medium

Compatibility: 72.5%

…

GPA: 20]

In just an hour, the Academic Genius Experience Card had improved a lot. Ivan's Charms had basically been upgraded to the next level.

Since no one else was in the room, Ivan experimented with Levitation Charms and Disarming Charms using boxes, stools, and pillows.

"Wingadim Leviosa ~"

"Except your weapon~"

…

After a few minutes of self-amusement, Ivan was filled with a sense of accomplishment as he looked at the pillow that had been blasted to the end of the bed by the Disarming Charm, and the boxes and stools that were floating in the air.

This is the power of magic!

Few people could resist the allure of this mysterious supernatural ability, not to mention Ivan, who was lying in a hospital bed reading books on magic and fantasy before he died in his previous life.

Unfortunately, Ivan had not been able to successfully cast even the most basic spells in the few days since his transmigration. Now that he had cast several spells at once, he was naturally excited.

Whatever Ivan saw now made him want to throw a Transfiguration and Levitation Charm at it…

After ten minutes of experimenting, Ivan's head was spinning, a clear sign of magic exhaustion.

Over the course of his frequent casting of the spell, Ivan came to understand the limits of his abilities.

The first was the Levitation Charm, which allowed Ivan to suspend an empty suitcase in the air for up to forty seconds, or his bed for five seconds, at most thirty centimeters.

The second was the Transfiguration Charm, which could change the form and even nature of an object for a period of time.

This was Ivan's favourite charm, which, when practised to a certain extent, could turn inanimate objects into living creatures, as Professor McGonagall did.

He wondered if this Transfiguration Charm could be used on wizards. For example, when facing an enemy, a Transfiguration Charm could transform the enemy into a tree…a brick…a pig…a cow…a sheep?

It could also be used to turn an enemy wizard's front and back into a beast or trap, which could also be used to defeat the enemy in one blow.

Yvonne frowned at the thought, as she recalled how few people in the book did that.

Even Professor McGonagall, who was well-versed in Transfiguration Charms, did not use it on her enemies during the final battle.

Was it because ordinary Transfiguration Charms could not be used on living creatures? However, the Transfiguration Charm was powerful enough to transform non-living creatures into living creatures, so there was no reason why it could not reverse the process.

Hagrid also used a charm to make Dudley the Pudgy, the bully, grow a pig's tail, and Draco had a dark history of being transfigured into a ferret, indicating that Transfiguration Charms could be used directly on humans.

Was it the influence of magic? Did wizards have a certain resistance to Transfiguration? The more powerful the spell, the more resistance there was?

What exactly is that magic? Why are wizards capable of all kinds of incredible magic…

Yvonne considered that the only thing that could affect a powerful wizard was an Animagus, and that even such a powerful and difficult spell could only transfigure a wizard into a specific animal, rather than the desired form.

It was more like a solidified Transfiguration Charm, which allowed a wizard to switch back and forth between two forms with no flaws or time limits.

"Never mind. Why am I thinking about it now?" Ivan asked, rubbing his forehead. He was only a first-year wizard, and the only thing he could do with spells was cast them.

There's no point in dwelling on it…

After experimenting with the Levitation Charm, Transfiguration Charm, Illuminating Charm, and Disarming Charm, Ivan had a rough estimate of his strength.

They were generally considered to be among the more powerful first-year wizards.

After experimenting with ordinary charms, Ivan turned his attention to the Fear Charm, which was a Dark Magic.

This charm had been in the system since he arrived at Hogwarts, and Ivan had never used it before.

"Fear descends!" Ivan said, recalling the sequence of the spells he could remember and pointing his wand at her head.

A dull purple light flashed, and Marka tilted her head and looked at Ivan innocently.

"It didn't work?" Yvonne asked, baffled by the lack of reaction.

"Fear descends, fear descends…"

Ivan cast a series of spells, enveloping Marka in purple light, but she thought he was playing with her, so she grabbed the tip of her wand with her hooked beak and pulled.

Ivan reluctantly pulled his wand back or it would have been destroyed by the Marka, and then looked at the fear curse in the System's Magic Pane in frustration.

Logically speaking, he should be able to release the charm normally after reaching Level 1.

Or…

Yvonne suddenly remembered the memories that came to her when the Sorting Hat invaded her head…

"Fear…" Ivan closed his eyes and thought for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw a grey-black rat snoozing on Ron's table. After thinking for a moment, Ivan let go of his messenger, Marka the owl, and walked over with his wand.

Scabbers, on the other hand, was sound asleep. There were still bits of Polyjuice Beans in the corners of his mouth, and his small paws were divided into four fingers. Occasionally, he would unconsciously scratch the table as if he was having a pleasant dream…