Hogwarts: This Wizard is Unscientific 8

Chapter 8: Snape’s Gossip and [Spellcasting: 4]

September 2nd, 2023

Chapter 8: Snape’s Gossip and [Spellcasting: 4]

Late August approached, and the Hogwarts school year was drawing ever closer. Andy never imagined he’d actually look forward to going to school.

“I’m clearly a terrible student,” he muttered.

In his bedroom, Andy closed his *Intermediate Transfiguration Guide*, placing it with his other textbooks.

This past month had been the most fulfilling period of Andy’s reincarnation. He’d spent time with family, exchanged Hogwarts intel with Ron, George, and Fred. And most importantly, he now had a wand, allowing him to practice magic without restraint.

Speaking of Hogwarts intel, Andy suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Let’s rewind to a month ago.

Hogwarts was on holiday. Andy wrote Ron a letter, inviting him and the twins to play Quidditch.

Incidentally, and purely incidentally, Andy wanted to glean some information from the twins about the Hogwarts professors’ personalities. After all, in any world, having a good relationship with your teachers is always beneficial.

Things went smoothly, and he gathered his intel.

Most of the professors were fine, but the current Slytherin Head of House and Potions Master, Severus Snape, was, in the twins’ words, the biggest villain at Hogwarts.

The kind of villain who wouldn’t even be satisfied with a Killing Curse.

Andy vaguely remembered Snape from the *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone* film; Snape seemed to target Harry Potter. But when Quirrell jinxed Harry’s flying broom, Snape seemed to cast a counter-curse.

In short, Snape appeared to be a professor with a terrible personality, favoring his own house. He would deliberately pick on Gryffindors, but he wouldn’t stand idly by if a student was in danger.

With a touch of doubt, a touch of curiosity, and eight parts gossip-mongering, Andy asked his mother, Helen, about Snape’s past.

Helen had been a Gryffindor in her school days.

They say your enemy knows you best, and Gryffindors and Slytherins were arch-rivals. Andy thought Helen must have known Snape quite well.

And so, Andy heard the story of how the Hogwarts F4 bullied Snape (incorrect).

And so, Andy heard the story of Snape taking on the Gryffindor four-some single-handedly.

In Helen’s account, Snape was gloomy, with a cruel expression, obsessed with Dark Arts, and displayed immense magical talent upon entering Hogwarts, even joining a Death Eater youth training program.

Not only that, but Snape had also attempted to woo a Gryffindor girl, aiming to fracture Gryffindor’s unity and lure her to join the Death Eaters.

Luckily, the Gryffindor four-some banded together to oppose Snape, preventing his scheming from succeeding.

“If that’s the case, why did Snape become a professor?” Andy asked at the time.

“Dumbledore vouched for him. If you ask me, Slytherins are like that; they’ll side with whoever has the advantage, whoever is stronger. Maybe Snape hedged his bets,” Helen said.

Normally, the matter would have ended there.

But to uncover more Hogwarts secrets, Andy informed the Weasley twins, exchanging this information for news of a secret passage.

But the twins’ audacity exceeded Andy’s expectations.

When Andy heard their plan, he broke into a cold sweat.

Fortunately, the twins promised they wouldn’t betray Andy even if things went wrong, which relieved Andy.

“Whew—”

Taking a deep breath, Andy stretched, leaning back in his chair.

During this time, Andy had finished *Basic Spells: Beginner*, *Intermediate Transfiguration Guide*, *Dark Arts: A Self-Defense Guide*, and *Theory of Magic*.

Moreover, whenever he had free time, Andy would practice magic, asking Kyle and Helen for help when he was stuck. In just a month, Andy felt he could jump straight into second year.

Kyle had lamented more than once that if he had been as diligent as Andy back then, he wouldn’t be a Dark Lord, he’d be Dumbledore’s successor, or at the very least, Minister of Magic.

Too bad he couldn’t go back.

Hard work did pay off. To say he felt a huge increase in power would be a lie, but bullying Isabelle was still a breeze.

Previously, bullying the little girl required physical force, but now, with a flick of his wand and a spell, Andy could be happy all day.

Of course, that wasn’t the most important thing.

“System!”

Opening the system interface, the data, [Potential Points: 4], caused Andy’s mouth to curve into a grin.

This was the data updated last night. Now the orb inside was empty of red liquid, not a single drop.

“System, add points!”

When [Spellcasting: 3] became [Spellcasting: 4], Andy felt like he had undergone a transformation.

This wasn’t an illusion.

Andy truly felt subtle changes in his body.

Casting spells became easier, learning spells became easier. Previously incomprehensible theories suddenly became clear as day.

This feeling…was like being a genius.

Actually, Andy had had this feeling before; his talent in Transfiguration was clearly stronger than in Spellcasting.

Kyle and Helen had both called Andy a magical genius, but that was due to his self-discipline and effort, as well as the understanding of an adult.

Apart from those factors, Andy was just average.

By now, Andy had a general understanding of the system’s data.

1 is Ogre, 2 is Mediocre, 3 is Average, 4 is Outstanding, 5 is Genius, 6 is Super Genius, 7 is…

Alright! Andy didn’t think that far ahead.

Currently, Andy’s Spellcasting and Transfiguration talent both reached the ‘Outstanding’ level. Coupled with Andy’s head start, and the self-discipline and understanding unique to adults, dominating first-years at Hogwarts should be no problem.

“So next…is to attend classes as usual and learn more magic.”

These days, Andy had been watching the changes in the orb on the system interface.

When first learning a spell and practicing diligently, the red liquid inside the orb would increase rapidly.

But once Andy mastered the spell, the rate of increase would slow down and eventually stop.

In short, the increase in red liquid wasn’t related to hard work, but to Andy’s progress.

Without magical improvement, no amount of hard work would have any effect.

“Learn more magic, then add points to improve talent; the improvement in talent will make magic stronger, thus further improving talent.”

This was a virtuous cycle.

“I’m clearly suited to Snake-san’s path.” (Referring to Orochimaru, a character from Naruto known for his relentless pursuit of power)

“If Snake-san had this system back then, there would be no Naruto and Sasuke rivalry in the ninja world!”

It’s time to dance a tango with Lord Voldemort.

(End of Chapter)

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