According to the parchment record, Vaughn located his dormitory.
Slytherin typically housed four students per room, though the arrangement could shift depending on the size of the incoming class. Vaughn was lucky—his dormitory had only three occupants assigned.
The other two weren't worth remembering by name, and Vaughn had no interest in doing so. If they were smart, they'd take the hint and move out sooner or later.
As soon as he opened the dormitory door, a large orange-gold striped cat leapt at him, placing its front paws on his chest and rubbing its fuzzy head against his chin.
"Alright, alright, Hexby, you clingy little thing—you're way too heavy!"
"Meow~"
"Hungry? Sorry, pets weren't allowed at the banquet in the Great Hall... okay, okay, stop rubbing! I'll feed you some dried fish now, and you can have breakfast with me in the morning." Vaughn coaxed the spoiled cat and chuckled warmly.
In his past life, he'd been a typical working staff in a Metro city—too busy and too tired to own a pet. He'd bought Hexby thinking the cat was clever and could help keep an eye on Ron's rat.
But after so much time together, Vaughn had genuinely grown fond of the clingy, affectionate feline. If even a cat could be this lovable, then what about his family in this life...?
While feeding Hexby dried fish, Vaughn thought of Percy, Fred, George, and Ron's shocked expressions when he was sorted into Slytherin—and felt a headache coming on.
He couldn't begin to imagine how his parents would react!
But there was no helping it. He was a transmigrator, with the mindset and ambition of a grown adult. Thankfully, the starter gift package had unlocked full-level Occlumency.
Otherwise, even if the secret of his transmigration wasn't exposed, the sheer adult intensity of his thoughts might've frightened the Sorting Hat.
No matter how vicious children might be, their thinking and values were still immature, innocent, and naive to some extent.
But adults were different. Their behavior might be bound by law, but their minds weren't. A single stray thought from an adult could be dark enough to land them in Azkaban.
Shaking off those thoughts for now, Vaughn gently combed Hexby's fur and silently said: "System, receive the reward!"
Several notifications popped up in front of him:
[Reward received]
[+1 Free Talent Point]
[+50 Magic Scale Points]
The air around him trembled subtly, rippling with magical energy.
Hexby paused, looked up at Vaughn, then went back to gnawing on the dried fish once he confirmed he was fine.
Vaughn opened his system panel.
[Host: Vaughn Weasley]
[Magic Scale: 432 (Average adult wizard: 500)]
[Talents: Charms: 7, Dark Arts: 6, Transfiguration:7, Potions: 10, Herbology: 6, Divination: 2 (max 10)]
[Spells: Occlumency LV5 (MAX), Shield Charm LV3 (2/8), Disarming Charm LV2 (2/4), Levitation Charm LV2 (1/4), Petrification Charm LV2 (1/4), Fire-Making Charm Spell LV2 (2/4), Illumination Charm LV3 (0/4)...]
[Potions Known:Happy Potion, Refreshing Potion, Blood Tonic, Hair Softener, Hair Growth Potion, Beauty Potion (Master level, various recipes)]
[Reputation Points: 17]
[Free Talent Points: 1]
[New Quest Update — Review Required]
Vaughn studied the stats. It had been nearly two months since he'd received his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
His magic power had increased by 62 points since then—50 from this new reward, and 12 from natural growth.
In the past, Vaughn had speculated about the natural growth curve of magical power in young wizards, based on the system's benchmarks.
Since the age at which each child awakened their magic and experienced their first burst varied, there was no universal growth template. But one thing was clear: magical growth was talent-related.
The higher the talent, the faster the magic accumulated each month.
Even this wasn't linear or absolute. Vaughn guessed that the three talents most closely tied to growth were Charms, Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. Others had less impact.
Development stage likely mattered too.
Despite observing his siblings for years, Vaughn still couldn't calculate a clear model from his own growth.
Magic wasn't simple, but raising his talent was never the wrong choice. After all, talent also affected how quickly and thoroughly one learned, mastered, and innovated spells.
Vaughn took a moment to feel the magic pulsing in his veins. Satisfied that it remained stable and under his control, he turned his attention to talent allocation.
"Based on comparing myself to Percy, Fred, and George, plus my spell learning curve, I'd say a talent level of 7 is already excellent."
"In the original story, that's probably comparable to Hermione... maybe a bit higher. Anyway, it's more than enough to learn standard spells."
"Dark Arts is a bit low, true—but there's little chance to practice them anytime soon." He frowned at that thought.
Dark magic wasn't just rare and difficult—it demanded the right emotions to cast. To perform the Killing Curse, you needed real murderous intent and deep malice.
To cast Cruciatus, you had to feel cruel hatred.
Dark wizards and Death Eaters often seemed deranged, but that wasn't just a coincidence. Their frequent use of Dark Arts likely twisted their minds over time.
Vaughn rubbed his chin. "Before diving into dark magic, I need to find a workaround. Dumbledore probably figured it out. Before he started preaching about 'the power of love,' he was a Dark Arts expert himself."
"Unfortunately... his personality means he'd never teach that kind of thing to a student."
"There is another candidate—Snape."
Slytherin's Head of House, Severus Snape, was not only a potions master but also a master of the Dark Arts. He'd even created the legendary 'Half-Blood Prince' spell arsenal while still in school.
If Vaughn could get on Snape's good side, it'd be a win-win.
Perfect!
"So: Dark Arts—PASS. Herbology—PASS. Divination—my weakest subject, and even if raised, it's useless—PASS!"
"Only one viable option left—Transfiguration!"
Transfiguration was the most complex of all magical disciplines. It wasn't a simple category of spells—it was a vast system that overlapped with Charms, Potions, and even Dark Arts.
From inanimate object transformation to animal and human transfigurations, every improvement in this field was comprehensive. It was also the only subject that didn't require verbal incantations from the start.
Vaughn stopped wavering and applied the free talent point to Transfiguration.
The boost in talent was silent, not as dramatic as a surge in magic power. But when Vaughn took out his wand and tapped the dried fish Hexby had been eating,
He immediately felt the difference—
Magic streamed into the dried fish like water, tracing the tiniest structural details within and feeding the information back into his mind.
The process was no longer vague or difficult.
With a single thought, Vaughn effortlessly restructured those components in his mind. The mechanics became clear. He adjusted and refined the patterns with silky ease, then projected them into the world using his imagination and magic.
Poof! The dried fish turned into a lively mouse! Hexby's eyes widened. With a pounce, the cat gave chase.
According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, an object's transformation couldn't change its fundamental essence.
In other words, Hexby just ate a mouse that tasted like dried fish...
Meow~
Double happiness!
--