Fang nodded slowly, finally understanding the source of Alex's anger.
"You mean Harry, right? Yes, his physical health isn't great, but his magical sensitivity is surprisingly strong. Though his balance and reflexes aren't the best, he has a lot of potential. The only real issues are his strength and speed, which could improve with proper training."
"That doesn't excuse Dumbledore's negligence," Alex snapped, pushing his lunch plate aside in frustration.
He turned to Fang with a firm look.
"If I had adopted him earlier, would he be in this state? Listen, keep an eye on Harry for the next two weeks. I want to observe him closely. If things don't improve, I'll take him under my wing and handle his training myself. At his current condition, I seriously doubt he can keep up with the pace of the main army."
Fang nodded in agreement.
"Got it. What about Ron and Neville? Do you want them to join as well? They both have good potential and plenty of room to grow."
"Neville definitely has his flaws, and Ron's always been a bit impulsive, probably because he didn't get as much attention growing up," Alex mused, lowering his head to think.
After a moment, he made a decision.
"Here's an idea: let's have all the first-year students be observation targets. On top of that, we can pick out some other promising kids."
"Are you planning to give them some special treatment?" Fang caught on to what Alex was suggesting.
"It's more than just a little start," Alex replied with a slight smile. "I can imitate Professor Flitwick and set up a tactics club. We'll select some kids with the right qualities to train, mainly focusing on Harry, Luo, Neville, and the three of them."
"Got it," Fang said, unable to resist teasing him a bit. "Master, you're starting to sound more and more like a professor."
***The first day of the new school year flew by.
As first-years, Harry and the others only had a Transfiguration class in the afternoon.
After their morning physical exams, everyone got familiar with the layout of the main castle and their classrooms, so the day went smoothly.
Still, the freshmen's excitement was pretty low. After all, they knew Alex was waiting for them that night, but nobody knew exactly what he had planned.
As night fell at Hogwarts, Harry and his group stayed in the hall right after dinner, waiting for the meeting to start.
From chatting with older students, they learned that professors like Alex, who often called together prefects and students for meetings, were actually very rare. Some said they'd never seen anything like it before.
Lots of people whispered that Alex didn't act like a new professor at all; he didn't treat himself like an outsider.
No wonder he was getting some bad rumors behind his back.
On the first day, he made them get up early every morning, and no one liked that.
But no matter what anyone thought of him, they all still followed his orders without question.
By seven o'clock, the auditorium was already full, and, just on time, Alex appeared in the doorway.
Alongside him, the deans of the four colleges also arrived, but they remained quietly seated among the faculty, watching the proceedings like spectators.
"Prefect roll call! Is anyone missing," Alex called out as he hurried to the podium, his voice ringing through the hall.
"Slytherin should have 187 students, and there are 187 here, everyone's present!"
"Gryffindor should have 214, and all 214 are here as well..."
As Alex went through the numbers, several prefect representatives responded nervously, noting that the current student body was much larger than when Alex himself had attended Hogwarts.
After the recent term, many wizards had returned to England.
Aside from seniors who chose to graduate early or take on internships at Hogwarts, there were a total of 853 students.
Hufflepuff had the largest number, followed by Gryffindor, with fewer in Ravenclaw, and Slytherin remaining the smallest house as usual.
Seeing that everyone was accounted for, Alex skipped any formal introductions and went straight to the point.
"I've called you all here today not to organize any training, but to explain a few important things, so don't get too nervous."
Hearing this, the young witches and wizards in the auditorium visibly relaxed, relieved that the professor wasn't about to assign more work.
Smiling at their ease, Alex continued, "Before this meeting, your prefects should have told you to bring your 'nameplates.' Everyone, please take them out now."
Without hesitation, students reached into their pockets or pulled the nameplates from around their necks.
Though called nameplates, these items looked more like necklaces.
Instead of a decorative pendant, they bore a piece of metal resembling a Muggle army dog tag, plain and somewhat ugly.
Because of this, many style-conscious witches preferred to keep theirs tucked away in their pockets rather than wear them openly.
"Good," Alex said with a slight smile as he saw everyone comply. "Now, I'll explain what these are for. As alchemy items, these nameplates will accompany you throughout your academic journey here at Hogwarts."
"The most important thing is to keep this safe," Alex warned. "Each one originally costs 50 Galleons, and if you lose yours, you can buy a replacement at the Wilson's Arcane Alchemica, but there's no student discount on the first one."
"What?"
The students all blinked in surprise when they realized that the worthless-looking item in their hands was actually a piece of alchemy equipment.
Their eyes widened even more when they heard the price.
"Just a tiny piece of metal costs that much?" Ron muttered, flipping the nameplate back and forth in his hand, trying to spot anything special about it.
But no matter how closely he looked, it just seemed like a plain little piece of iron.
Alex smiled and said, "Don't be so surprised. These nameplates aren't activated yet, so you can't see what makes them special.
They're actually magical talismans, though I haven't officially named them yet. For now, you can just call them 'Wilson's Arcane Alchemica Talismans' or 'Wilson's Arcane Alchemica Nameplates.'"
He continued, "Now, I'll activate your Wilson's Arcane Alchemica amulets. Once they're activated, all you need to do is channel magic power into the nameplate to discover its abilities.
If you're a freshman and don't know how to use magic yet, don't worry. Just hold the nameplate in your palm and softly say 'Wilson's Arcane Alchemica' to activate it."
After finishing, Alex raised his wand and gently tapped the air.
Suddenly, hundreds of translucent, milky-white streams of light flowed from the tip of his wand, swirling through the rooms like soft winter catkins before entering each nameplate.
As the magical energy fused with the talismans, each nameplate seemed to awaken, glowing softly and revealing hidden magical patterns flickering across its surface.
The group of young wizards gasped in amazement.
They hadn't expected such a plain-looking piece of metal to hold such power, especially since many of them didn't have any alchemy tools yet.
Everyone was eager to activate their own amulets, and Harry was no exception.
He held his nameplate carefully in his palm and whispered, "Wilson's Arcane Alchemica."
Right after that, Harry noticed the Wilson's Arcane Alchemica talisman glow faintly before suddenly projecting a light curtain, much like a futuristic electronic screen, filled with lots of text.
He was surprised at first, but as he read through it, he became captivated by the information displayed: Name: Harry Potter Age: 11 years old / First Year Health Status: Malnourished? Personal Attributes?
Physique:* (Thin) Strength:* (Weak) Agility:* (Weak) Intelligence:*** (Outstanding) Lumen: 87 ticksCasting Ability? None? Study Results? None? Honors? None? Violation Record? None
"Wow," Harry exclaimed, staring in amazement at the values shown on the screen.
Though he didn't fully understand everything, it was clear to him that this was some kind of personal evaluation.
"Ron, did you see that? This... this is incredible," he said, his eyes wide as he looked over at his friend.
Ron nodded, equally impressed.
"Yeah, it looks like it shows our status, even our lumen levels."
But then he added with a bit of embarrassment.
"Though my evaluation is pretty average. Check this out!"
Ron flipped his screen toward Harry, revealing almost the same kind of information, though his own attributes were quite different: Name: Ron Weasley Age: 11 years old / First Year Health Status: Normal? Personal Attributes?
Physique:* (Normal) Strength:* (Normal) Agility:* (Normal) Intelligence:* (Normal) Lumen: 103 ticks
Harry looked over Ron's stats and saw that, indeed, they were much more "normal" than his own.