Chapter 9: The Fear Curse

Hermione stood there with her mouth wide open, her face full of disbelief. She clearly remembered that during Transfiguration class yesterday, Ivan could barely stabilize his Transfiguration spell. How could he be so powerful today?

After completing the transformation, Ivan didn't linger. He left Hermione standing there, still in shock, and returned alone to the Gryffindor common room.

As Ivan walked back to his dorm with a book in hand, he bumped into Harry and Ron, who looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Ron, staring at the book "An In-Depth Guide to Basic Charms" in Ivan's hands, looked like his eyes might pop out. The knight in his right hand fell with a loud thud onto the table.

The knight, which had fallen from a great height, landed in a crumpled heap. Muttering, it raised its sword, which was as thick as a toothpick, and swung it down hard on Ron's left thumbnail.

"Ow!" Ron's left hand jerked, sending the knight flying across the room. He then glared at his cracked nail, angrily grabbed a cup, and smashed the knight to pieces, tossing it into the box to be repaired automatically.

Only then did Ron clutch his thumb and, with concern, turn to Harry.

"Harry, do you think Ivan might end up like Hermione?"

"Probably not?" Harry said, though he wasn't entirely sure either.

The thought of two Hermiones bossing them around sent a chill down their spines.

Back in the dorm, Ivan was unaware that Harry and Ron were discussing him in the common room. Instead, his attention had already shifted to the changes in the system's stats.

[ Ivan Hals 

Occupation: Wizard 

Spell Types: Fear Curse Level 1 (6200), Levitation Charm Level 1 (12200), Transfiguration Charm Level 1 (30200), Disarming Charm Level 1 (16200), Lumos Charm Level 1 (1200) 

Knowledge Theory: Magical Item Creation Level 0 (435500), Basic Charms Theory Level 0 (88100) 

Magical Items: Wand (Purplewood, Unicorn Hair, 11¾ inches) 

Magic Power: Medium 

Affinity: 72.5% 

Grade Points: 20 ]

The one-hour "Top Student Experience Card" had yielded a significant boost. All the spells Ivan knew had been upgraded to level one.

Since the other dorm mates weren't around, Ivan decided to experiment with the Levitation Charm and Disarming Charm using various objects like boxes, stools, and pillows.

"Leviosa!" 

"Expelliarmus!"

After several minutes of self-entertainment, Ivan looked at the pillow that had been blasted to the far side of the bed by the Disarming Charm, and the box and stool slowly floating down from the air. He felt a great sense of accomplishment.

This was the power of magic!

Few could resist the allure of such a mysterious, supernatural ability. Besides, back in his past life, before he died from illness, Ivan had always enjoyed reading books about magic and fantasy.

Unfortunately, in the few days since Ivan had crossed over to Hogwarts, he'd struggled with casting even the most basic spells. Now, having successfully cast several magic spells at once, he was overjoyed.

Everything he saw now made him want to throw a Transfiguration and Levitation spell on it.

After ten minutes of experimenting, Ivan's mind started to feel a little foggy. This was clearly a sign of magical exhaustion.

During this frequent spellcasting, Ivan had also begun to understand his magical limits.

First, the Levitation Charm. Ivan could lift an empty box one meter into the air and keep it floating for nearly forty seconds, or he could levitate his bed for five seconds, but the height was only about thirty centimeters.

Next, the Transfiguration Charm. Ivan could change an object's shape and even its properties temporarily, turning it into something else.

This was the spell Ivan was most interested in. With more practice, he could even transform lifeless objects into living creatures, much like Professor McGonagall.

However, Ivan wondered if the Transfiguration Charm could work on wizards. For instance, when facing an enemy, could he use a Transfiguration spell to turn them into a tree, a brick, or even a pig or cow?

Perhaps he could also turn obstacles in the way of his opponent into wild beasts or traps, which could be a powerful combat tactic.

But as Ivan thought about this, a frown appeared on his face. In the original story, it seemed that no one ever used Transfiguration in such a way.

Even Professor McGonagall, a master of Transfiguration, didn't use it on enemy wizards during the final battle.

Was it because ordinary Transfiguration couldn't affect living creatures? But then again, Transfiguration was powerful enough to turn inanimate objects into living creatures, so it should be possible to reverse the process.

Hagrid had used magic to turn Dudley into a pig's tail, and Draco Malfoy had been turned into a ferret at one point, showing that Transfiguration could be used on humans.

Could it be the influence of magic power? Did wizards have some resistance to Transfiguration? The stronger the resistance, the more it stacked?

What was magic power, exactly? How could wizards perform such incredible magic?

Ivan thought of the Animagus transformation, a form of magic that could only affect a wizard's transformation into a specific animal. Even such a difficult spell couldn't grant a wizard the ability to freely choose any shape they wanted.

It seemed more like a fixed transformation that allowed a wizard to switch between two forms seamlessly, without weaknesses or time limits.

"Forget it, what am I thinking about this for?" Ivan gently rubbed his forehead. After all, he was just a first-year wizard with basic magic skills. There was no point in overthinking it.

After trying out the Levitation Charm, Transfiguration Charm, Lumos Charm, and Disarming Charm, Ivan had a rough sense of his magical ability.

He was probably at the level of a more capable first-year student.

After experimenting with ordinary spells, Ivan turned his attention to the Fear Curse, a dark magic spell that had appeared in his system since his arrival at Hogwarts, though he hadn't used it before.

"Fear, arise!" Ivan recalled the memory of casting the spell and pointed his wand at Maca.

A faint purple light flashed, but Maca tilted his head, looking at Ivan with an innocent expression.

"It didn't work?" Ivan was a little puzzled as he looked at Maca, who seemed completely unaffected.

"Fear, arise! Fear, arise!"

Ivan repeated the spell, the purple light enveloping Maca, but Maca still thought Ivan was playing with him. The owl grabbed the tip of Ivan's wand with its hooked beak and started tugging on it.

With a sigh, Ivan pulled his wand back before Maca could chew it up, and looked at the system's magic list in frustration.

Logically, after reaching level one, he should be able to cast the spell properly.

Wait...

Ivan suddenly remembered the memory that flooded his mind when the Sorting Hat had invaded his brain.

"Fear..." Ivan closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, just in time to see Ron's gray-black rat napping on the desk. After a brief thought, Ivan spared Maca, his messenger owl, and walked over to the rat instead.

The rat, Blan, was fast asleep, its mouth still covered in crumbs from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Its small paws, divided into four fingers, occasionally scratched at the table in its sleep, seemingly having a pleasant dream.