Chapter 2645 - Ch: 7-12

Chapter 7

The young wizards who had been waiting at the entrance for a long time immediately began to clamor, breaking into a noisy commotion.

Soren glanced around casually. Seeing no sign of the trio, he lowered his head and quietly followed Snape's lead.

After walking a dozen meters, he casually turned his head to look back.

Only to see Mr. Ollivander still standing at the shop entrance, gazing in the direction they were leaving.

The distance was too great for Soren to make out his exact expression, but he felt that look was deeply meaningful.

It seemed he had indeed bought a "very special" wand. He had to remember to keep it a secret in the future to avoid trouble.

As for the famous Harry Potter?

Ha! May he live a long life!

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 8 - I'm an Owl Owner Now, Too!

Having bought his wand, Soren's first trip to Diagon Alleywas drawing to a close.

He followed Snape all the way forward. It wasn't until he saw the path they had come from that he realized the man intended to take him back home the same way. But the problem was, he hadn't bought his pet yet, which was crucial to his subsequent plans.

Having no choice, he had to brace himself and speak up: "Snape, there's still one item on my list that isn't finished. Regarding the pet..."

Hogwarts school rules dictated that students could bring an owl, a cat, or a toad to school.

Snape, who had been slightly distracted, stopped in his tracks and turned his head. Even under the bright sunlight, his expression remained somewhat gloomy.

He glared at Soren a few times with a harsh look that could make lower-year students cry, and said impatiently, "Do you really need a pet? If I were you, I would save the remaining financial aid for a rainy day."

Soren agreed in principle with Snape's concept of frugality. But as someone who had been beaten down by society, he knew very well—money is just scrap paper when it can't be spent, only continuously depreciating. Rather than leaving it in a locker to gather dust, it was better to find a way to make use of it and start a small business.

Of course, he couldn't say this openly, as it would only invite Snape's merciless ridicule.

He decided to use the art of language, and win some brownie points in the process: "It's like this, Professor. I want to buy an owl so that it's convenient for me to keep in touch with Headmistress Brent and my friends at the Orphanage.

"I've been at the Brent Orphanage since I was born; it feels like home to me. Going away to a boarding school so suddenly, I'm a bit worried about everyone..."

Friends and... home?

Snape picked up on the key words, and his expression softened slightly without him realizing it.

It seemed this boy was still different from You-Know-Who. At least the latter had never regarded his childhood Orphanage as home, nor did he have any true friends.

Speaking of friends... Lily...

No, now was not the time to think about this!

Snape forcefully cut off his train of thought, turned around, and pointed to a spot on the street. "I recall there is a pet shop over there. Buy it quickly, don't waste time."

"Right away, Professor!"

Soren quickly agreed and took the lead.

The two walked back for a few minutes and came across Eeylops Owl Emporium.

If he remembered correctly, Harry would also come here to buy his owl in the future.

True to its name, this was a shop specializing in owls. As soon as he pushed open the door, he could smell the unique scent of birds. It was faint and not unpleasant.

The shopkeeper here was a cheerful brown-haired lady. Upon seeing Soren, she warmly introduced him to the types of owls for sale in the shop.

Soren's gaze swept across the neatly arranged owl display cases. At first glance, he saw a familiar large owl, the same kind as the Hogwarts messenger. Next to it was an even better-looking Snowy Owl, though he wasn't sure if it was Harry's.

Seeing his gaze linger on the shop's star attraction, the shopkeeper familiarly introduced the Snowy Owl, pointing out that it was a large owl living in the Arctic region and was very rare.

Soren glanced at the price tag and found that "rare" and "expensive" were indeed synonyms. The price tag of up to 20 Galleons was very unfriendly to a poor devil like him.

So, he looked at other species of large owls, most of which were priced between 12 and 15 Galleons. The small and medium-sized ones were cheaper, but they couldn't meet his need for delivering large packages.

Seeing his preference and his lack of funds, the shopkeeper led him to another owl display case to show him the pets on sale: "I see you seem to like Eagle Owls. How about this one? It's only 10 Galleons, and it comes with a boarding service before the term starts."

Soren was a bit tempted, but he felt this one was a little small: "The one that delivered my admission letter was also an Eagle Owl, and it felt much larger than this one."

"Mhm!" The shopkeeper nodded quickly, a smile on her lips. "That's because she has only just reached adulthood and is still growing."

She brought the Eagle Owl out to show Soren up close:

"Look, she's a beautiful little lady. We just measured her length yesterday, and she's currently 55 centimeters. If you raise her well, she might grow up to 90 centimeters in the future, which is even larger than a male Eagle Owl. This kind of large owl has a lifespan of over twenty years and can keep you company for a long time. She's definitely one of the best pets, and she can also deliver letters and packages for you.

Come, don't be afraid. You can pet her. She has a very gentle temperament, a real lady."

Encouraged by her, Soren hesitantly reached out his hand.

Having no experience with owls, he could only extend his finger in front of her like teasing a cat, wanting her to sniff it first.

The owl indeed had a great temperament. She tilted her head to look at him, then leaned forward to gently peck his fingertips a few times to show friendliness.

During this time, Soren also finished his visual inspection, confirming that this was a very healthy and beautiful owl. Especially the ear tufts protruding from both sides of her head, which added a touch of intellectual charm to her.

He was highly satisfied with this owl, which also meant his wallet was going to shrink significantly again.

Before paying, he politely inquired about the boarding service mentioned earlier.

The shopkeeper glanced at his clothes, clearly guessing he was a young wizard from the Muggle world, and explained:

"Some young wizards find it inconvenient to take their pets home for various reasons. So we've specially introduced a boarding service. We can help look after your pet and send them onto the Hogwarts Express when school starts, delivering them straight to the school to save the buyers any worries.

Of course, if you have the means to take care of her yourself, that would naturally be even better."

Having said that, she smiled at Soren, waiting for him to make a decision.

Soren looked at the conspicuous large owl, then thought about the environment of the Orphanage, and scratched his head helplessly.

Did he have the means?

He really didn't, at least not for now...

He probably wouldn't need owl post before school started anyway, so boarding her here was a good option.

Seeing his conflicted little face, the shopkeeper couldn't help herself and reached out to pat his head. After rubbing it satisfyingly a few times, she proposed a compromise:

"How about this? There are still five and a half weeks until school starts. Leave me an address, and I'll have your owl fly to your home every Friday, just to get used to the route. You can let her stay there for a day or two to bond, and then let her fly back on her own."

Soren wasn't sure if he had just sold his charms, but since his goal was achieved and it was even better than expected, he went along with it.

He paid, left his address, and interacted with his new pet for a bit. It wasn't until he could no longer withstand Snape's death glare that he politely said goodbye and left the owl shop smelling of birds.

"Is it finally finished now?" Snape had long since grown impatient, his tone carrying the intimidating drawl he favored in the classroom.

But Soren wasn't afraid of him at all. As a prophet with an expiration date of only seven years, he knew very well that Snape was just a pitiful, deeply devoted lover who spent his entire life living in his longing for Lily.

Harry could break Snape's composure with nothing but a pair of eyes identical to Lily's.

For such a tragic figure, Soren only wanted to pat him on the shoulder, buy him a drink, and write a giant, green word "TRAGIC" on his forehead.

Of course, currently he only dared to think this in his head. On the surface, he still had to maintain his good boy persona: "All the items on the list are done. Thank you very much for your help, Snape. I'm really looking forward to the start of term, so I can attend your Potion Class!"

Snape pursed his lips, turned, and walked away, leaving behind only one sentence: "Then you had better not be the sort of dunderhead I so frequently encounter."

AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 9 Snape: When in Doubt, Legilimency!

The shopping trip to Diagon Alley was successfully completed.

Soren was covered in packages of all shapes and sizes, clutching his own wand tightly in his right hand, playing with it affectionately.

Snape responsibly helped him carry the heaviest potion equipment, leading the way with an expressionless face.

Being forced to take on the job of guiding a new student had clearly exhausted the Potions professor's patience; he just kept his head down and walked straight back to Leaky Cauldron, ignoring Soren's pitiful glances as he wanted to buy ice cream from the roadside.

After returning to Leaky Cauldron, he didn't even pause, stepping into the fireplace first.

Soren was speechless, looking back longingly at the direction of Diagon Alley before tossing the Floo powder he held in his hand into the fire and clearly reciting: "Brent Orphanage."

Using Floo powder for the second time, his mindset was much calmer, and he stepped into the fire with composure.

The novel experience of spinning and turning played out once again.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the shaking scene before his eyes stabilized; through the doorway formed by the flames, he saw the familiar Headmistress's office again.

He stepped out, and the mellow scent of black tea rushed into his nose, causing his tense heartstrings to slowly relax.

The first contact with the Wizarding World had been completed smoothly and safely, and he had obtained crucial information and a wand; it was undoubtedly a very good start.

The only hidden danger was that his background was too similar to a certain notorious war criminal, making it easy for him to be caught in the crossfire innocently...

While Soren was distracted, Snape quickly exchanged words with Headmistress Brent to confirm that she had been informed of the common knowledge of the Wizarding World, then turned to the new student and began reciting the rules for new students in a flat tone.

Because Soren came from the Muggle world and severely lacked common knowledge, the rules became even more cumbersome, including the requirement not to reveal his wizard identity in front of Muggles.

Snape even "threatened" him, warning him not to use magic indiscriminately, and certainly not to practice spells or brew Potions in private; if this caused a serious accident, he could even be expelled and sent directly to a wizarding prison.

"Do not think I am trying to scare you; once a young wizard under 17 casts spells outside of school, the Ministry of Magic will immediately detect it and send officials to investigate; the lightest penalty is a warning!"

Soren nodded obediently, but in reality, he was completely unbothered.

He was, after all, a genuine "prophet"—

Not to mention that the "Trace monitoring system" of the Ministry of Magic was already full of suspicious points; it was hard to say if it even existed or if it was as effective as the Ministry of Magic claimed to the public.

Just based on the fact that he was a young wizard who had not yet enrolled, he could boldly guess that he should have a beginner protection period before enrollment, during which he could freely practice spells.

Furthermore, with a slapdash organization like the British government, using "Yes, Prime Minister" and "Yes, Minister" to understand the various actions of the Ministry of Magicwas not necessarily an incorrect way of thinking.

Following this line of thought, the real purpose of the Ministry of Magic publicizing the reliability of the Trace was likely—to make wizards believe they were being monitored so they would not dare to act recklessly...

Soren was not sure if his guess was correct, but considering that he had been practicing magic privately for four years and the Ministry of Magic had never come knocking, there was definitely something fishy going on.

After patiently fulfilling his teaching duties, Snape licked his dry lips uncomfortably and handed a small booklet to Soren: "This is the Hogwarts 'New Student Handbook,' which also includes important legal information such as the 'International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy' and the 'Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.' Read it more yourself, and do not act recklessly."

"I understand, Professor, thank you for your guidance."

Soren took the handbook with both hands and stuffed it into the package containing his textbooks.

"Hmm, there is nothing left for you to do here; go and tidy up your personal belongings first." Snape nodded lightly to Headmistress Brent, "I have discussed this with your guardian; in order to avoid other children noticing your oddities and exposing the existence of magic, we will assign you a single dormitory later so you can preview your textbooks and prepare for the start of school."

Hearing this arrangement, Soren was more than willing, and he quickly thanked him again.

Seeing that Snape intended to send him away and seemed to want to have a detailed talk with the Headmistress, he hesitated for a moment and asked one last question: "Professor, I would like to know, does Hogwarts have any work-study programs that lower-grade students can participate in?"

Seeing a look of inquiry in Snape's eyes, he quickly explained: "You know I am an orphan; in our Orphanage, most children use their spare time to help people deliver newspapers or walk pets to earn some pocket money for emergencies."

Headmistress Brent nodded on the side, backing up his statement.

Snape did not suspect much, and after pondering for a few seconds, he shook his head decisively: "No. School rules state that first and second-year students are not allowed to leave school privately, and there is basically no need to spend money inside the school."

"But I have a pet to raise..."

"Owls can live in the Owlery, exchanging service by delivering mail for the school for food and shelter, so no extra expenses are needed."

"But—"

"There are no 'buts.' You must know that first and second-year novice wizards have limited abilities and are still in the foundation-building stage. Magic is a very magical, but also very dangerous subject; letting young children like you abuse magic is irresponsible to your own safety."

Before Soren could continue struggling, Snape summarized quickly, blocking his little plan.

Although he had guessed this early on, Soren was inevitably a bit depressed; he said goodbye to the two adults in disappointment and turned to leave the Headmistress's office.

Snape was silent for a while, and after confirming that he had walked far away, he turned to look directly into the Headmistress's eyes: "Ms. Brent, the process of guiding the new student is about to be completed. Before ending, I would like to confirm the various information about Soren Reed again; I hope you can cooperate."

"A background check? Of course, no problem. The children in our Orphanage are all very obedient, especially Soren; he... he... ah..."

This request was reasonable, and Headmistress Brent had no reason to refuse. She sincerely raised her head and looked directly into his eyes, then her whole body trembled, and her heartbeat skipped a few beats.

In her line of sight, those pitch-black eyes were bottomless, as if possessing the power to capture souls. With just one look, her mind was taken, and her expression became dull and sluggish.

Without a doubt, this was Legilimency, Snape's specialty.

There were many suspicious points about Soren; in order to obtain true information, he had to resort to this strategy, using magical means to obtain the truth.

"Do not be nervous, Ms. Brent; let us continue." Snapeslowed his speech, using words to assist the subject in thinking while peeking into her memories, "Let us start with the first question: in your impression, what kind of child is Soren, and what is his personality like?"

"Soren is both smart and hardworking, and also very brave; his grades have always been first in his grade, and he is very popular in school and in the Orphanage..."

"Very good. How is his relationship with the other children in the Orphanage? Does he have any good friends here? He said he regards this place as his home; from an adult's perspective, do you think he is telling the truth?"

"Soren... he sometimes has conflicts with other older children, but this is only because those older children are naughty and unruly, liking to form gangs and bully smaller children. And he wants to set rules for the other children to correct their bad habits."

"He has a very good friend, a poor child who lost her parents and only transferred to the Orphanage at the age of eight, named Ayla. He takes good care of that girl and does not let others bully her."

"As for whether he regards this place as home, I think there is no need to doubt it. He is willing to stay in the Orphanage and has refused adoption many times for this reason."

"In my heart, he has always been a smart and sensible child who rarely makes others worry. I and the other staff at the Orphanage all like him very much."

Headmistress Brent remained in a dazed state, telling her innermost thoughts one by one.

Chapter 8

Snape confirmed once again that the Legilimency was working correctly, and proceeded to ask about Soren's behavior and character from other angles.

It was a full quarter of an hour before he stopped casting the spell and raised his hand to gently rub his temples.

Judging by the Headmistress's words, Soren Reed was indeed a good-natured child. His background shared many similarities with that of You-Know-Who, but he had not gone to extremes or fallen into evil ways during his childhood.

With proper guidance after his enrollment, he would likely become an outstanding wizard of the new generation.

Being so intelligent and eager to learn, he would very likely be sorted into Ravenclaw.

No, considering he dared to practice magic in private at the age of seven and even stood up to stop the older children's bad behavior, this quality—hard to define as bravery or recklessness—might also get him sorted into Gryffindor.

In any case, it was unlikely to be Hufflepuff; the results of his wand test had already made that clear.

As his thoughts drifted, Snape was the only one who did not consider his own Slytherin House. After all, Soren was a young wizard from a Muggle Orphanage, and it was almost impossible for him to be pure-blood.

As for half-blood...

He thought of the one who must not be named again, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over his left forearm, as if he could still feel the phantom pain of the past in a daze.

It couldn't possibly be such a coincidence. If it really were, someone would be pulling out his beard in worry again...

In the end, Snape drifted away with a detailed investigation report. Before leaving, he erased the magical mark cast on the fireplace—a temporary privilege that could only be applied for from the Floo Network Authority during the new student enrollment period.

With a modified memory implanted in her mind, Headmistress Brent sensed nothing amiss and politely saw him out the door.

With that, there were no more obstacles to Soren's enrollment at Hogwarts. All that was left was to head to the legendary Platform 9 3 on September 1st to begin a brand new journey!

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 10 - The First Step to Becoming a Wizard: Start Reading!

Walking out of the Headmistress's office, Soren floated lightly toward the dormitory.

Once he was far from the floor where the Headmistress's office was located, the depressed look on his face melted away like snow under a fierce sun, and he entered a dreamlike, dazed state.

In this state, the weight of his parcel seemed to vanish entirely, and even the Orphanage children he met along the way disappeared completely from his perception.

To his consciousness, it seemed like only a few breaths had passed before he was back in his dormitory.

Only when a familiar scent drifted into his nose did he realize he had arrived, his body not feeling the slightest bit of fatigue.

Pushing aside any idle thoughts, he tried his best to suppress his excitement and quickly packed his personal belongings.

As an Orphan who had "practiced" for nearly four and a half Kun-years, he did not actually have many personal belongings, mostly just some clothes, school supplies, and daily necessities.

Other items for entertainment, psychological comfort, and household appliances were all shared.

He dug out two second-hand suitcases donated by a charity group from the storage room, stuffed everything inside, and finished his packing.

After packing his personal items, he went to the washroom to get a broom and a rag, cleaning his locker and furniture so they would be ready for the next Orphan to move in.

When the staff member sent by Headmistress Brentarrived, what they saw was a clean and tidy bed, in stark contrast to the other areas.

"Soren, dear, you are always the one who causes the least trouble~"

The plump Caretaker Alisha smiled warmly, sparing no praise. Then, stretching out her thick, powerful hands, she lifted the two large suitcases Soren had intentionally left for her, as effortlessly as if she were carrying two plates.

Soren politely thanked her and followed her to his new quarters.

Thanks to Snape's careful arrangements, Headmistress Brent assigned him a private room originally used for sick children to recuperate.

Spurred on by Soren's praises, Caretaker Alisha worked at full throttle, tidying up the room in no time and changing him into fresh bedsheets and duvet covers.

The rest of the unpacking was left to Soren. Caretaker Alisha had to go elsewhere; in the vast Orphanage, there was always endless work waiting for the caretakers.

Soren politely said goodbye to her. Once she was far enough away, he immediately shut the door and quietly locked it.

Turning around, he surveyed his "private mansion," and the burning sensation in his chest finally turned into a deep breath, exhaled heavily through his nose and mouth.

Eleven years had passed since he was reborn into this world.

And a full four years had passed since he awakened his magic and obtained the system.

His legendary journey had finally taken its first step, in a way that was... slightly different from what he had imagined.

But in any case, he had successfully crossed the boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary, and was about to step onto a much grander stage.

"Life—"

Soren couldn't help but sigh, "is always full of surprises and unexpected turns!"

Walking slowly to the window, he looked up at the sunny sky, feeling that the white clouds were more beautiful than ever, and the distant horizon seemed right before his eyes.

The occasional bird flying past added a touch of life to this picturesque scene, causing the corners of his mouth to curve up slightly.

Clearing his mind, Soren admired the scenery for a brief moment before cautiously drawing the curtains, turning on the overhead light, and laying the parcel containing his textbooks flat on the desk.

Taking a deep breath, his fingers trembled slightly with excitement as he gently unwrapped the package.

A thick stack of books appeared before his eyes. On the very top was one with large, gilded letters on its cover—*magical theory*, by Adalbert Waffling.

Just by looking at the title, one could tell the book's status in the Wizarding World was roughly equivalent to *Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica* in the Muggle World, which laid the foundation of physics.

The "Father of Magical Theory" had recorded his life's work within it, laying a solid foundation for young wizards newly introduced to magic.

Opening the pages, the paper of the second-hand book was slightly yellowed, emitting a faint scent of ink, as if it carried the magical charm settled over time. The text inside was not ordinary print, but written with a special magical ink that remained as clear as new despite the passage of time.

Between the lines, every letter seemed to possess a life of its own, dancing and guiding the reader into a brand-new magical world.

The book's prologue briefly explained the origin, nature, and laws of development of magic.

It touched upon everything from the iterative evolution of Ancient Magic and modern magic, to complex magical principles and applications, and even legendary anecdotes, only glossing over parts deemed unsuitable for young wizards to delve into.

Soren greedily absorbed the knowledge from the book, feeling that it was not just a theoretical text, but more like a magical encyclopedia, providing a comprehensive and systematic framework of knowledge for novice wizards.

He held the book with utmost care, reading with rapt attention. He knew that from this moment on, his magical journey had finally gotten on track, and his destiny was held more firmly in his own hands!

Reading—

Understanding——

Thinking————

Time quietly slipped away as Soren immersed himself entirely in his studies, oblivious to all external changes.

Inside the room, the rustling sound of fingertips brushing against pages became the sole melody.

In the quiet hours, the sunlight stealing through the gaps in the curtains fell upon the reading boy, gilding him with a warm, golden edge.

His brow furrowed at times and relaxed at others, completely immersed in the joy of seeking knowledge.

As time went on, the light shining into the room from outside slowly slanted westward, and the summer heat quietly departed hand in hand with the sunshine.

At some point, a slightly warm evening breeze blew the curtains, and a corner of the plain curtain happened to land on the open page, startling the fully engrossed reader.

Soren suddenly snapped out of his deep study and looked up alertly. When he saw that it was just a gentle breeze outside rustling the curtains, he breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly realizing his eyes were dry and tired.

Casting his gaze toward the wall clock, he saw it was already seven in the evening.

A full eight hours had passed since he started reading. During this time, he vaguely remembered going to the washroom a few times, but had no clear recollection of it.

"Grumble..."

It was fine when he wasn't paying attention to the time, but once he realized how long had passed, his stomach began to rebel, letting out a loud growl.

According to the Orphanage's schedule, he had not only missed lunch but also dinner, successfully unlocking the achievement of starving twice in one day...

"Why did nobody call me..."

Soren closed the book in frustration, poured a glass of water from the kettle, drank it in one gulp, and walked toward the door.

Unlocking the door, he pushed it outward.

The bottom of the door frame suddenly bumped into something, making a slight clatter.

He poked his head out to check, only to find a tray full of food placed outside the door, with a small, handwritten note pressed under the cutlery.

The truth was revealed: it wasn't that no one had called him, but rather that he had been so engrossed in his book that he hadn't heard a thing.

Fortunately, Headmistress Brent had made special arrangements for him, sparing the future Supreme Wizardfrom going to sleep on an empty stomach.

Soren gratefully picked up the food tray and returned to his room. While eating, he brought up the system to check what he had gained from his first contact with knowledge of the Wizarding World.

[achievement system]

[Wizarding World Achievement Page]

[Important Notice: Information regarding the Wizarding World has been collected, and new sub-items are being constructed in an orderly manner. Please read the books carefully to obtain more Wizarding World information and help the system complete its update.]

"..."

The moment he clearly read the system prompt, the food in his mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

Soren was speechless for a long while, numbly swallowing his bread. "I knew I shouldn't have expected too much from you. But you are really a bit too useless. The books are right here; can't you even actively collect information on your own?"

The system did not respond, like a lifeless object devoid of emotion.

"Sigh... you useless piece of trash..."

Life is hard, Soren sighed.

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 11 - The [Ambitious] Soren Reed

Complaining aside, life had to go on.

After absentmindedly finishing his dinner, Soren did not rush to study. Instead, he leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes, and seriously did some eye exercises.

In his previous life, he had started wearing glasses early in junior high school, and his prescription had spiraled out of control. He didn't want to repeat that mistake in this life.

While massaging his eyes, he opened the achievement system.

The Wizarding World Achievement Page was still under construction, and currently only the Muggle World page was available to view.

Looking at it, countless achievement sub-items were arranged in an orderly fashion, with many related achievements connected by golden threads, together forming a mysterious tree diagram.

The closer to the top of the tree, the greater the difficulty and the stronger the buffs, and vice versa.

Currently, he had only unlocked one golden achievement, hanging high at the top of the achievement tree. The other low-level filler achievements were all at the very bottom, like a sparse clump of roots.

He had to declare in advance—this was definitely not due to a lack of effort on his part, but because the conditions for unlocking achievements were extremely harsh, not something an Orphanage child could easily achieve.

For example, below the dark-gold achievement "The Richest Man in the World," which was the top achievement in the wealth sequence, there were the golden achievement "Multi-billionaire," the silver achievement "Billionaire," the purple achievement "Millionaire," and so on.

At the very bottom of the sequence was the level Soren currently belonged to—the gray achievement "Pauper."

[Pauper]

[Description: Exactly as the name suggests, you are a penniless Pauper who can't even scrape together 400 pounds. The only benefit is that you don't have to worry about being robbed.]

[Buff: None]

[System Evaluation: This is an achievement anyone can easily accomplish. You didn't really expect to get a buff from it, did you?]

Similar to this, there were several other gray achievements:

[Orphan]

[Description: You are an Orphan, abandoned at the entrance of the Orphanage since infancy. No one knows your true origin, except for a slip of paper tucked under your swaddling clothes, with the name your parents gave you written on it—Soren.]

[Buff: None]

[System Evaluation: There are countless Orphans in this world, and you are just one of them. On the bright side, you have no weaknesses; you are a naturally invincible person.]

[Orphanage Overlord], [Genius Child (Elementary School)], [Three-Good Student (Elementary School)]...

There were more than twenty achievements of this kind, all of which were low-level achievements with either no buffs or negligible ones.

The only exception was the exclusive talent achievements.

At the very beginning of the achievement system, it gave him an opportunity to choose and unlock a talent of his own, obtaining a powerful buff.

Soren sifted through a multitude of golden talents and finally locked onto an optimal choice—

[Ambitious]

[Description: Innate ambition is rooted deep within your soul. You are destined to never settle for being second best, and you long to achieve unparalleled greatness. Nothing can stand in the way of your burning, infinite ambition!]

[Buff: Extraordinary Energy.]

[Effect: Ambitious people are always energetic, requiring very little rest to fully recover their state. They can throw themselves into endless struggle, chasing dreams and success.]

[System Evaluation: Ambition is a spark that can start a prairie fire, yet it is also a double-edged sword turned against oneself. While others sleep soundly in their beautiful dreams, your soul is forever burning—this fire will help you shatter all shackles, but it will also gnaw at your sanity in the dead of night when no one is watching.]

[And the true test lies in this: when your ambition swells to the point where even the old world can no longer contain it, will you be qualified to become the lighthouse that guides the new world?]

Comparing the two, one could easily see the insurmountable chasm between golden achievements and gray achievements.

Chapter 9

To unlock this talent achievement, Soren Reed tortured himself for a full half-year.

Relying on theoretical knowledge and countless practices, he struggled to master deep sleep, breath control, and meditation techniques, continuously compressing his sleep time until he successfully unlocked the Ambitiousachievement.

After that, he only needed to sleep for four hours a day to maintain a state of full energy for the entire day.

If he gave himself a small holiday—a thirty-minute nap—he could also gain a clear-thinking buff, improving his learning ability.

It was by relying on these advantages that he was able to lead by a cliff-like margin in school, achieving full marks in all subjects!

Thinking about it carefully, he really suffered a lot back then to unlock the achievement...

Comforting himself in his heart for a few seconds, Soren Reed shook his head slightly, a hint of sorrow appearing on his face.

Being Ambitious is good in every way, but it is somewhat disadvantageous for him to attend Hogwarts.

As everyone knows, Hogwarts has its own rules, mainly focusing on "labeling first, then categorizing."

The Sorting Hat strictly follows the standards of the four founders, sorting the new young wizards into the four houses according to their traits and characteristics.

He vaguely remembered the sorting standards—

Gryffindor believes that the bravest people should receive the highest rewards;

Ravenclaw feels that the smartest minds are always the most successful;

Hufflepuff feels that the most diligent and hardworking are the most qualified to enter the house;

And the power-hungry Slytherin likes those Ambitiousyouths the most.

The key point is here—ambition.

He, Soren Reed, not only has ambition but even has an extra suffix—"Ambitious" in full.

According to the standards of the four founders, Slytherinmust be very fond of him.

The problem is, Slytherin House is the stronghold of pure-bloods, a gathering place for noble young masters and misses.

And what about him?

Soren Reed was pessimistic about his background; he felt that he was unlikely to be a pure-blood, and it was hard to say about being a half-blood, with the greatest possibility being that he was a Muggle-born wizard, just like Hermione.

If the Sorting Hat sorted him into Slytherin, he, a new student who came out of a Muggle Orphanage, would become an alien in the eyes of many Slytherin students, and might even be bullied.

"The road ahead is so difficult..." Soren Reed sighed softly.

Another fatal point is that his background is extremely similar to Lord Voldemort's, and if he were to enter Slytherin, how would the world's number one person today—Dumbledore—view him?

Before school has even started, he can already foresee all kinds of difficulties and targeting; once school actually starts, he doesn't know how many rotten things will be waiting for him.

But wanting to change the decision of the Sorting Hat is also an almost impossible thing.

Even someone as special as Harry Potter was actually already destined for Gryffindor.

Don't look at the fact that the Sorting Hat gave him other options, but Soren Reed is sure that it was just a formality, or perhaps even a test, and the result was already destined when the hat confirmed his temperament.

Hogwarts is the castle of the four founders, and the standards they set leave absolutely no room for negotiation.

"Slytherin... Slytherin... Slytherin..."

Soren Reed muttered the house name, the irritability in his heart turning a few corners, and suddenly he smiled freely: "Slytherin it is. They respect the strong and practice pragmatism. Once I beat those brats into submission, I will naturally gain sincere friends and move towards glory."

To ensure this goal is successfully completed, what needs to be done right now is—reading and studying.

"Ah~~ Studying, studying makes me happy!"

Soren Reed opened his eyes, perked up his spirits, and sat down at the desk again.

It is 7:30 PM now, too early; let's set a small goal and study for another seven and a half hours.

How did that slogan before the college entrance exam go...

I remember now—

As long as you don't study yourself to death, just study to death!

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 12: Talent Not Recorded by the System

On the wooden desk full of signs of use, the book containing precious knowledge was spread open again.

The basic rules, laws, and mysteries of magic leaped off the page, leading the reader into a dreamy and hazy fairy tale world.

In extreme concentration, Soren Reed entered a mysterious state of forgetting both himself and the world; all the noise around him seemed to be isolated in another world, with only the ancient wisdom flowing between the pages quietly circulating in his heart.

The book "magical theory" did not record specific spells and casting techniques, but like an encyclopedia, it revealed the operating logic of magic.

As the reading deepened, Soren Reed felt his soul resonate with this knowledge, and a warm force surged within his body, stimulating his unprecedented potential.

The previously intangible and formless magic seemed to have the most basic context, allowing him to further master his own power.

At this moment, he suddenly understood that the key to casting magic lies not only in the mastery of techniques but also in a deep understanding and perception of the rules of the world.

He was immersed in this joy, completely forgetting the passage of time.

Outside the window, the night quietly descended.

The children who had been playing wildly outside all day returned to the Orphanage, gathering in twos and threes after dinner to share interesting anecdotes.

Today's hot news was none other than—"Dark Wizard Soren Reed mysteriously moved out of the dormitory, suspected of being adopted."

According to the children who stayed in the Orphanageduring the day, a middle-aged man in black clothes, with a gloomy face, who didn't look like a good person at first glance, visited the Orphanage today.

Then Soren Reed carried big and small bags of luggage to the dormitory and moved away his personal belongings.

Everyone thought he must have been adopted.

In fact, there was nothing to be surprised about; orphans are often precocious, and everyone knows that orphans who are as smart, good-looking, and healthy as Soren Reed are truly hot commodities.

In the past, whenever a family came to adopt an orphan, the first one they would definitely pick was Soren Reed, and later, Ella was added.

It's just that they didn't want to be adopted themselves and insisted on staying in the Orphanage.

The bully of the Orphanage was about to leave, and the other orphans, besides being envious and jealous, also felt a bit happy.

Without Soren Reed raising the psychological expectations, the families who come to adopt later should be willing to choose them, right...

Among all the children, only Ella seemed absent-minded.

Although she was in the small group of girls, her expression was quite trance-like, and there was an indescribable emotion churning in her heart.

Soren Reed is leaving...?

If he is adopted, it will be hard to see him again in the future...

She hadn't realized it before, but the boy who would take the initiative to talk to her and protect her actually carried such weight in her heart.

Human joys and sorrows are not connected, and the noise of the orphans was naturally not taken to heart by Soren Reed.

At this moment, studying was his only true love.

He was immersed in the classics, falling in love with knowledge, with his heart focused on nothing else.

Time was like a discarded mistress, sadly exiting the stage in the night.

I don't know when, but the noise in the Orphanage was submerged by the staff's patrol.

The dormitories turned off their lights in an orderly manner, preparing to welcome a carefree sleep in the summer night.

Only the office and work areas still had lights on, like starlight scattered in the night sky.

As the night continued to spread, gradually, even these lights went out one by one, and the Orphanage was shrouded in a peaceful night.

"Da..."

"Da..."

"Da..."

1:00 AM.

In the dark corridor, there came the sound of intentionally softened footsteps.

Headmistress Brent, with her hair in a classic British updo, walked slowly to Soren Reed's door, lowered the lantern in her hand slightly, and illuminated the neatly placed tray.

On the tray, most of the food had been eaten, but there were still quite a few baked beans in tomato sauce left.

"Still such a picky eater..."

Headmistress Brent condemned the habitual picky eater in her heart, then shifted her gaze to the left and saw the light shining through the door crack.

It's so late, and that diligent little guy is still studying.

She raised her hand towards the wooden door, wanting to remind him as the Headmistress that he shouldn't neglect rest for the sake of studying, as that would only do more harm than good.

But the second before she was about to knock, her movement stopped in mid-air.

As a very experienced Orphanage headmistress, she knew very well the situation of orphans in this era—they have no family support, no relatives to rely on, and wanting to gain a foothold in society is much harder than for ordinary people.

In every batch of orphans, there are those children who try to take shortcuts but go astray, or who give themselves up as hopeless after being hit by reality.

But Soren Reed was clearly different from them.

He was smart, hardworking, and knew how to restrain himself, possessing a toughness and rationality that did not lose to adults.

Now, he had also received an invitation letter to a magic school.

Headmistress Brent's thoughts were in turmoil.

Finally, she bent down, picked up the tray, and turned to leave quietly.

She had figured it out; for a child with such strong opinions as Soren Reed, not disturbing him might be the best help for him.

"Da..."

"Da..."

"Da..."

The footsteps faded away.

In the Orphanage, only Soren Reed's room light remained on, like a candle in the night.

Time continued to flow.

As if a century had passed, and as if it were just the blink of an eye, fatigue and eye soreness found Soren Reed, pulling him out of the state of absolute concentration.

Soren Reed suddenly came to his senses and found that the night outside was deep; it was already the darkest time.

He turned his head to look at the wall clock.

The hour hand pointed straight to the right, at 3:00 AM.

No wonder he was so tired; it turned out it was time to sleep.

The magic of the biological clock is so magical; when he realized it was time to sleep, a thick sense of fatigue surged in like a tide, and he yawned several times in a row.

Looking down at the book that he had read less than a quarter of, Soren Reed shook his head, still wanting more, and gently closed the pages.

The most basic knowledge is often the most important; those obscure technical terms and abstract descriptions were truly a test for a young wizard like him with zero foundation.

Every few pages he read, he had to stop and think, verifying it with the insights he had explored on his own over the years, which was why it took so much time.

No, that's not right to think; it should be such a short amount of time.

In the foundation-laying stage, no matter how much energy and time is invested, it is not a loss; after reading it once, he must definitely read it a second time, a third time, countless times, truly reading the book a hundred times before he can be at ease.

Thinking that there were less than six weeks left until school started, he felt an urgent sense from the bottom of his heart to sit down and continue struggling.

He remembered seeing a popular science article somewhere, saying that people wouldn't die if they didn't sleep for a long time, and the limit was probably a few weeks?

Just as he was eager to move, a yawn opened his mouth again, protesting strictly to him.

"Ha—ah..."

"Fine, studying is a brain activity after all; too much is as bad as too little..."

Soren Reed no longer hesitated, walked quickly to the washroom, brushed his teeth and washed his face simply, then changed into pajamas and went to bed.

Ordinary people might suffer from insomnia when changing environments, but he possessed the system-certified rapid sleep technique; as soon as he lay on the bed, turned off the light, and closed his eyes, before all kinds of distracting thoughts could cause trouble, his brain had already entered deep sleep.

Outside the window, the night, which had been waiting anxiously, finally swallowed the last ray of light in the Orphanage.

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 13: Troll System, filling in values with feet!

As soon as he closed and opened his eyes, the night passed in a flash.

Chapter 10

Early in the morning, when the first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds and most children were still lingering in their dreams, Soren Reed was already dressed and standing by the window, breathing in the fresh air.

His extraordinary energy was as reliable as always; with only four hours of deep sleep, he was fully recovered, his mind as clear as a mirror.

A moment of reflection brought yesterday's acquired knowledge to the forefront of his mind, no less impressive than a photographic memory.

At this rate, he could memorize all the textbooks before school started and still have plenty of time to practice spellcasting, mastering the spells required for first-year students in advance.

Potions was the only exception; he lacked the necessary ingredients and dared not experiment blindly, so he could only commit the theoretical knowledge to memory for now.

With his review finished, his thoughts returned to reality.

Soren spent half an hour reviewing and consolidating what he had learned yesterday, then got up and left for the dining hall to have breakfast.

For some reason, he received an unusual amount of attention today; all the children were sneaking glances at him. However, his thoughts remained in the magical world, oblivious to the outside attention.

He finished his "vitality maintenance meal" like chewing wax and hurried off to the Headmistress's office.

Not far behind him, Aila, who had originally wanted to talk to him, was a step too slow. She could only watch helplessly as he walked away quickly, her heart, which had just begun to calm down, tightening once again.

Soren was completely unaware of the changes in the outside world, and even if he knew, he probably wouldn't have cared.

He went straight to the Headmistress's office, and after a brief report, he sincerely made a request:

"During the time before school starts, I would like to focus on studying in my room. Headmistress Brent, could you please have the staff leave my three daily meals at my door? I promise you, once I have achieved success in my studies, I will definitely repay the Orphanage."

The Headmistress watched him quietly, observing his mental state. After confirming that he was full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue like dark circles, she advised him gently:

"Soren, I know you are a child with your own ideas. Once you have made up your mind, you won't listen to what others say. I just hope you can remember one principle—all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

"I know, Headmistress, thank you for your guidance and reminder." Soren bowed his head and saluted with a sincere smile on his face, "But I must say, the act of learning magic itself is far more interesting than playing."

"Hehe..."

The Headmistress chuckled softly and nodded slowly: "Very well, as you wish. By the way, I wish you a smooth journey of knowledge, future great mage~"

"To be precise, it should be 'wizard,' that is the standard term, Headmistress."

After a small bit of trivia, Soren politely said goodbye and returned straight to his room.

Back in his room, he quickly checked his simple alarm measures, confirmed that no one had entered his room, and breathed a sigh of relief.

You have to understand, this is an Orphanage, not a detached house for ordinary citizens; there are quite a few children with sticky fingers or who are simply naughty and like to play pranks.

He had taught more than one of them a lesson before, so he had to be on guard.

After checking, he locked the door again, drew the curtains, and sat down at his desk impatiently, opening that precious magic book he hadn't finished reading.

As a native Muggle-born wizard, he really lacked common knowledge about the magical world, so he had to make good use of this time before school started.

Only by establishing an image as a top student from the start could many of his ideas have a chance of being realized.

That settled it—his first small goal was to steal Hermione's top-of-the-grade and "know-it-all" titles, and continue being a top student at Hogwarts!

Once the general direction was set, Soren's life became simple and regular.

[Schedule]

07:00 AM — Wake up & Wash.

07:00 ~ 08:00 — Review & Breakfast.

08:00 ~ 12:00 — Study.

12:00 ~ 13:00 — Lunch & Nap for 15 minutes.

13:00 ~ 18:00 — Study.

18:00 ~ 19:00 — Dinner & Indoor exercise.

19:00 ~ 02:00 — Study.

02:00 ~ 03:00 — Wash & Daily summary & Sleep.

Studying deeply for sixteen hours every day, with his mind filled with knowledge from books the rest of the time, Soren's life was extremely fulfilling, albeit with harmless debuffs like not distinguishing day from night and feeling dizzy.

After several days like this, he finished reading "magical theory" and felt he had gained a lot.

Compared to a mature magic system, his previous self-exploratory way of learning was akin to blind men touching an elephant, full of omissions and misunderstandings.

But this did not mean self-study was useless; many of his whimsical ideas found subtle echoes between the lines of "magical theory." What's more, they faintly exceeded the framework of this book.

For example, the "telekinesis" he had tinkered with himself—was this not a sophisticated form of "non-verbal, wandless magic"?

Although its power was currently average, it had the advantage of being unexpected and unrestricted, so he imagined it would definitely give those wizards from orthodox academic backgrounds a "surprise."

After finishing one magic book, Soren didn't rush to open the next one, but instead summoned the achievement system, preparing to whip it into shape as a form of relaxation.

Unexpectedly, the system seemed to have changed its personality this time.

On the magic world achievement page, a series of unlockable achievements had appeared.

His eyes instinctively locked onto the very top, but then he suddenly realized the difficulty of gold achievements and cautiously lowered his expectations, choosing to start from the basic section.

Green Achievement · I Love Reading.

Huh?

Should I say it's worthy of being a magic world achievement?

It skipped gray and white right from the start, looking quite impressive.

Looking closely at the description—

[I Love Reading (Locked)]

[Unlock Condition: Seriously study one hundred magic books, master the effective knowledge and information within, and reach at least a 70-point level.]

[Description: Within books, there are houses of gold; within books, there are bushels of grain; within books, there are faces as fair as jade.]

[Buff: Reader's Focus.]

[Effect: For those who truly love reading, as long as you open a book, you can enter a state of focus anytime, anywhere. In this state, your thinking is more active, your memory is clearer, and your learning ability is significantly improved.]

[System Evaluation: Study hard and make progress every day. For you, who are new to the magical world and have no foundation, what investment could be more cost-effective than reading and studying?]

Umm... feels... not bad!

Soren turned his head and glanced at the bookshelf. The booklist for Hogwarts first-year students only had eight books, which was far from meeting the requirements to unlock the achievement.

The good news was that there were countless free books in the school Library, which would absolutely meet the need.

This "Reader's Focus" effect was also quite powerful, very friendly for students.

Looking further up, there were the subsequent achievements—

[Learned Sage (Locked)]

[Unlock Condition: Seriously study one thousand magic books, master the effective knowledge within, and reach at least a 70-point level.]

"..."

He didn't even need to keep reading; Soren was suddenly stunned.

One thousand books... directly increased by 10 times!?

This difficulty curve is toxic!!

[Buff 1: Sage's Focus.]

[Buff 2: Drawing inferences about other cases from one instance.]

[Effect: Omitted...]

"... Huh? Two buffs!"

Soren's eyes widened, and he carefully read the effect description. After finishing, he suddenly felt that this difficulty wasn't completely unacceptable.

One thousand books, at worst, he could just live in the Library during his spare time, and he would eventually reach the quantity after a few semesters.

The premise was that the achievements further down shouldn't be too—

[Read Ten Thousand Books (Locked)]

[Unlock Condition: Seriously study ten thousand magic books...]

Ah, this—

Soren felt his scalp tingle and hissed at the system: "What kind of ghost design is this! The demand multiplies by ten each level; can the host's experience be good!? I don't agree! Take it back and rewrite it!!"

[...]

The system remained silent, not understanding human sentiment.

Soren sighed up at the sky. Even though "Read Ten Thousand Books" had three powerful buffs, it still couldn't suppress the frustration in his heart.

Ten thousand books!

Reading one a day would take ten thousand days, about 25 years, and he couldn't just skim through them.

Efficiency was too low...

Rote learning was definitely not the way; he had to change his thinking and solve the problem with magic...

What should he do? Thinking about the original plot, he remembered that Hermione seemed to have used that thing... a Time-Turner?

Could he create a time loop and then hunker down inside and read until he died?

"Knock, knock, knock."

Just as he was pondering, a light knocking sound rang out, interrupting his train of thought.

Soren looked at the wall clock; it was two o'clock in the afternoon.

Who would come looking for him at this hour? Headmistress Brent?

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 14 Soren's Memoirs: That day, an angel descended before my door

"Coming, wait a moment."

Soren got up and walked to the door, unlocked it, and gently pushed it open.

The bright afternoon sun shone through the window directly facing the door, spilling onto his face. The sudden change in light made him squint slightly, looking at the visitor who wasn't on his appointment list.

In his blurred vision, his heart skipped a beat, and his left hand hidden behind his back gripped his wand tightly.

This subconscious action wasn't out of fear, but merely out of surprise.

For a moment, he even thought he saw an angel—draped in golden light, descending before his door.

She was so beautiful and pure, possessing both the innocence of a child unexposed to the world and the poetic sentiment of a young girl just growing up. Those deep blue eyes matched her delicate features so well that she looked too beautiful to be of this mortal world.

Of course, she wasn't an angel from the Bible. Soren recognized her and called her name—

"... Aila?"

"Mm."

In the hallway, the nervous-looking girl responded softly.

Her gaze also fell on Soren's face, seeing his slightly squinted eyes, his nice-looking eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth that curved upward even when he wasn't smiling—that lazy demeanor like a cat. She couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then moved away as if electrocuted.

"It, it's me..."

Aila couldn't explain why she had come either, but she just couldn't control herself, and muddledly followed the gossip circulating among the children to find Soren's new residence.

In her heart, there was an answer she wanted to know no matter what.

"Soren... I heard..." She stammered, her speech intermittent, "It's just... you were adopted... are you planning to move away?"

"Huh?"

Soren was confused, "Where did you hear that rumor? How come I didn't know I was adopted..."

"Eh!? Bu, but everyone says so—"

Aila's voice raised involuntarily, but her low mood improved instantly, and she only felt the whole person relax, trying hard to calm her excited emotions. Immediately, she remembered another rumor that many children were also spreading.

"Then... are you being grounded? Why won't the Headmistress let you go out, and even have the caregivers leave your meals at your door. Ah—you, you aren't sick, are you? Is the illness serious? Are you taking your medicine on time?"

Soren was stunned by her rapid-fire questions, and only after a pause did he answer with a wry smile:

I've only been inside for a few days, how did things get so blown out of proportion? Don't worry, I haven't been adopted, nor am I grounded, and I'm perfectly healthy. I've just been studying in seclusion before school starts, planning to continue being the top student at my new school."

"Oh… so that's it…"

Ella let out a long sigh of relief, then blushed, suddenly unsure of what to say.

It turned out to be just a misunderstanding. She had thought she would never see Soren Reed again, which was why she had come over without a second thought. Now, how was she supposed to wrap this up…

The courage born from that misunderstanding dissipated, and she felt flustered, her cheeks burning, not daring to lift her head.

However, the girl's shy embarrassment and hesitation had long since been taken in by Soren Reed.

He wasn't truly a "little boy," and besides, this was Great Britain, where the social atmosphere was more open; naturally, he understood what needed to be understood.

A young girl's heart — this was normal. Europeans and Americans generally matured quickly, both physically and mentally, and Ella was just about at the age of blossoming affection.

Furthermore, Soren Reed often felt that he was always too outstanding, making him incompatible with others and standing out from the crowd.

He mischievously enjoyed the girl's shy state for a moment longer, thoughts turning in his mind.

Truth be told, he had to admit that he had a bit of a superficial tendency—he liked good looks—and that was one of the reasons he had taken the initiative to approach Ella in the first place.

Now that she had come to him on her own, it would be too stupid to push her away.

Since that was the case — "Thank you for your concern. Since you're already here, why don't you come in and sit for a while?"

Soren Reed calmly put away his wand, turned to the side, and gestured elegantly with his right hand, making an inviting gesture.

"Eh—?" Ella hadn't expected this turn of events and began to hesitate again.

Yet her feet seemed to have a will of their own; before her brain could give the command, they were already walking into the room on their own.

As they brushed past each other, due to the close proximity, Soren Reed caught a faint scent from the tips of her hair—a wonderful fragrance that seemed to be a mix of citrus and her own natural scent.

Looking down, the girl's lithe figure flashed past his eyes, a beautiful silhouette lingering in his vision.

He remembered people in his past life always saying: "Clothes make the man." But Soren Reed now felt this was biased—someone who was good-looking, even with a bare face and wearing only a white camisole dress, was still breathtakingly beautiful.

After letting her into the room, Soren Reed closed the door behind him, creating a space for the two of them to be alone.

On the other side, Ella finally regained her senses. Too busy to scold her feet for acting on their own, she began to curiously observe Soren Reed's room.

It was a small room, estimated to be about twenty square meters, with simple and minimalist interior decor.

There was only a single bed in the room, the quilt folded neatly, and the sheets were smooth without a single wrinkle. Not far from the bed was a single desk and an old armchair, right next to the window.

The curtains were drawn at this moment, blocking out the scorching summer sun.

Soren Reed's personal belongings were mainly concentrated near the desk. Apart from the bookcase filled with books, there were only a few unopened packages piled in a corner of the room.

This room fit her stereotype of Soren Reed perfectly—simple, capable, and everything orderly.

After finishing her tour of the room, Ella turned around hesitantly, not knowing what to say.

Soren Reed thoughtfully pointed to the only chair in the room: "I didn't expect any guests, so I didn't prepare an extra chair. You sit there first."

"... And you?" "Me? I'll just sit on the bed. It's fine, there's no need to be so reserved."

Soren Reed, of course, wouldn't tell her that there were actually folding chairs in the storage room. That would be too boring and wouldn't help create a comfortable atmosphere for conversation.

Seeing Ella hesitating, he suggested, "Or we could swap? I'll take the chair?" "Ah! No, no need… This is fine."

Ella quickly rejected this slightly inappropriate suggestion. Given the choice, she had no option but to sit in the chair.

A moment later, both of them sat down, with a distance of about two meters between them—neither too distant nor too close, allowing them to relax.

After a series of complex psychological shifts, Ella managed to regain her composure and took the initiative to bring up recent news from the Orphanage to reduce her tension.

Soren Reed wore a smile, acting as the best listener and providing feedback at the right moments.

The two were already good friends, and as the conversation flowed, the subtle atmosphere that had permeated between them slowly dissipated.

Seeing that Soren Reed didn't seem to have noticed her unusual behavior, Ella finally let her heart rest. Her hands stopped clutching the hem of her skirt, and she returned to her usual calm demeanor.

While chatting, her gaze swept across Soren Reed's desk, wanting to see if there was a school name on his textbooks.

If possible, she wanted to go to the same middle school and even university as Soren Reed, but she didn't know if her grades were good enough. Soren Reed always got full marks, which really made her feel desperate…

Inadvertently, the sight that caught her eyes made her slightly stunned.

On the spine, gold-stamped letters shimmered slightly under the light, clearly stating the title—magical theory, by Adalbert Waffling.

"…" magical theory? She recognized all those English words, but put together, they felt completely out of place. Soren Reed… what kind of book was he reading?

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 15 Soren Reedand Ella

Once her attention drifted, the idle chatter automatically ceased. Ella turned her head to look at the book on the desk, her face, still retaining some baby fat, filled with confusion, looking indescribably cute and dazed.

Soren Reed unabashedly admired her profile, a hint of deeper meaning quietly creeping into the smile in his eyes.

He certainly knew that inviting someone into his room casually might expose the secret of magic, but he did it anyway, because this was the result he wanted to achieve.

Snape had warned him to keep secrets, the school's handbook for new students also reminded him to keep secrets, and even the International Confederation of Wizards had legislated that wizards must keep the secrets of magic.

But he had no intention of following the rules!

What kind of amateur organization the Ministry of Magicwas, he, the "prophet," knew better than anyone.

To put it bluntly, whether it was rules or laws, they were merely tools used by those in power and rulers to maintain their own advantages and achieve long-term rule.

If the rules were to his advantage, he would naturally be willing to follow them. If the rules were to his disadvantage, then it was time to break them.

Proactively exposing the existence of magic on a small scale and using information asymmetry and the magical effects of magical items to open up the situation—this was the new policy Soren Reed had established in the last few days.

As a Muggle-born wizard without any foundation, he knew well how difficult it was to build his own power in the Wizarding World, but if he changed tracks and first established an organization in the Muggle World that supported him, it would undoubtedly be much simpler.

In the past, Lord Voldemort discriminated against Muggle blood and even took pleasure in abusing small animals and other Muggle orphans. Soren Reed, on the contrary, felt that these helpless and destitute orphans had quite a bit of strategic value.

And Ella was the one he was most satisfied with among all his potential collaborators.

She was beautiful, kind, and intelligent, and she could listen to the advice of others. Most importantly—she had a good impression of him, and he also appreciated her; the two could completely forge a closer relationship.

Therefore, letting her know the existence of magic and becoming his spokesperson in the Muggle World to carry out his will would be a key move to connect the "two worlds."

Thinking of this, he introduced it with a gentle tone: "That is a book I have been reading recently; it records a lot of precious magical knowledge."

"... Magic?" Ella turned back and looked at him again. "Magic."

Soren Reed's tone was firm. He raised his left hand, which had been hanging by his side, revealed his wand, and waved it elegantly at the book.

Under the amplification of the wand, magic power surged out in an incredibly obedient posture, steadily lifting the book.

magical theory opened from the middle, the two pages flapping like wings, flying in circles around the room with leisure and ease.

From a distance, it looked exactly like the parted hair of a certain old acquaintance fluttering in the wind while playing basketball.

Ella was deeply attracted by this dreamlike scene, staring intently at the flying book, her small hands covering her mouth, afraid of crying out.

After a long while, she finally came to her senses and looked at Soren Reed, who was waving his wand as elegantly as a conductor, with a shocked expression: "You… you really can do magic!"

"Yes, I'll tell you a secret: I've even used magic to teach Sean and the others a lesson and play pranks on them."

"That means they weren't lying before?" "Yes, it's just a pity that no one believed them~"

When saying this, Soren Reed almost laughed out loud. Sean was the leader of the naughtiest group of boys in the Orphanage, and before Soren Reed's sudden rise, they were at the very top of the children's social circle.

But ever since Soren Reed gained magical abilities, these bullying brats became his primary targets, and they suffered quite a bit at his hands.

What was even funnier was that when they went to the caretakers and the director to complain, because of their long history of bad behavior, no one believed them at all.

The aggrieved expressions they had back then were something Soren Reed could laugh at for a lifetime.

Ella also sighed for them, then cast the plight of those bad children to the back of her mind. This was magic! Wonderful magic!!

"So amazing—!" Her eyes seemed to be shining, and she looked at Soren Reed with admiration, "In that case, are you going to a magic school?"

"That's right. I was blindly exploring before, but this time I can finally learn magic systematically. When I come back during the winter and summer holidays, I'll bring you some interesting magical items as gifts."

"Okay, okay! Winter and summer… holidays?" Ella suddenly realized something, "Is it… that kind of boarding school?"

Soren Reed nodded: "That's right. I don't know the specific location, but it must still be within the territory of the UK."

Although he said this, the smile on Ella's face dimmed, and her excited mood felt like it had been doused with a bucket of ice water.

Soren Reed… was still going to leave. Although he would come back during the winter and summer holidays, she definitely wouldn't be able to see him during the usual times.

Ella felt that heart-wrenching feeling once again. If she had been somewhat ignorant last time, this time, she probably understood why she had this feeling.

She seemed to… no, she should just like Soren Reed, only she hadn't realized it before.

Ten-year-old Ella naturally had no romantic experience, and she couldn't hide anything in her heart; all her thoughts were clearly written on her face.

After struggling for a long time, she thought of the best solution: "Then do you think… I could go to that magic school?"

As long as she also became a student at that school, she wouldn't have to be separated from Soren Reed.

"As for you —" Soren Reed didn't answer immediately, pretending to think, "I'm not sure about that. I only received the admission invitation letter when I was eleven years old and preparing to enter middle school, just a few days ago."

This was half-true and half-false. In fact, he was pessimistic about whether Ella could go to Hogwarts.

The reason was simple—with Ella's such outstanding appearance, if she had entered Hogwarts, she should have at least been a school beauty on the level of Ginny; there shouldn't be a complete lack of mention of her.

Moreover, if she had experienced magical outbursts, she shouldn't be so shocked that magic actually existed.

It was just… shattering a little girl's fantasy like this was too cruel. He would stall for now; let it be a white lie.

Hearing such a vague answer, Ella was indeed mixed with joy and worry, her sapphire-like eyes covered with a layer of mist.

Soren Reed didn't want to make her cry, so he hurriedly changed the subject: "You don't have to be so sad. Even if we can't meet during the usual times, we can keep in touch through letters. It just so happens that today is Thursday, and my messenger will come tomorrow. I'll introduce you to each other then."

"When I leave for school, this room and the textbooks and lecture notes I've used can all be left for you. We can also write to each other and be pen pals for a while, what do you say?"

"Pen pals?" Ella was successfully distracted. Writing letters to each other to keep in touch, it felt… so romantic.

"Yeah, I think that works too. After a year, I'll go to the magic school to find you!"

"Okay." Soren Reed smiled gently, not bursting her beautiful dream, "Then you must study hard this year. As far as I know, magic schools don't teach basic courses; you have to build a good foundation yourself."

"Yeah—!"

Chapter 12

Ella responded loudly, her mood brightening once again.

After that, the two chatted for quite a while longer before Ella realized that pestering Soren Reed would affect his studies, so she reluctantly said her goodbyes.

Before leaving, they agreed to meet after lunch tomorrow.

"Click."

The sound of the door closing shut out the noise from the outside world.

Soren Reed turned his head to check the time—three-thirty in the afternoon.

Damn it, he hadn't done anything, just chatted casually, yet over an hour had already passed!

Falling in love really does affect one's studies...

No, he had to work hard to make up for the wasted time—

Honor Student Mode, ON!

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 16 Fantastic Beasts Are Here—The Winged Owl!

Swimming in the ocean of knowledge, time flew by quietly.

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday, the day everyone loved and adored.

After lunch, Ella arrived early for their appointment.

Soren Reed invited her into his room and, with an embarrassed look, told her the unfortunate news—his personal messenger hadn't arrived yet, and she might have to wait a little longer.

Their last trip to Diagon Alley had been too rushed; he had forgotten to agree on a specific time with the proprietress. He only knew the owl would come today, but not exactly when...

Ella didn't mind at all and was very happy to stay in Soren Reed's room.

On a summer afternoon, a boy and a girl just entering puberty were alone in a room wearing summer clothes, but an ambiguous atmosphere... did not exist.

Ten-year-old Ella had absolutely no awareness of such things; her entire focus was on those wonderful tools of Soren Reed's.

Soren Reed certainly couldn't let her play with things like cauldrons. After thinking about it, he simply opened the bookcase, took out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and handed it to Ella, who was looking at him eagerly: "You can read this book; it's full of popular science knowledge about magical creatures."

In his impression, most children liked illustrated books, not to mention that this was a moving-picture version made using magical printing technology.

Sure enough, as soon as Ella got the book, she sat on his bed and became completely immersed in it, oblivious to the outside world.

Soren Reed watched her with amusement for a few moments before sitting back down at his desk to continue burying himself in his studies.

Inside the room, the two did not disturb each other, yet a warm atmosphere silently spread.

"Swish..."

"Swish..."

In the quiet space, the soft sound of turning pages became the only melody.

Outside the window, the midsummer sunlight turned from scorching to gentle. A messenger from afar circled above the Orphanage, and after searching several times, its wise eyes locked onto the target, tucking its wings and diving down.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

The sound of a hard object tapping against the glass window seemed particularly abrupt.

Soren Reed's heart stirred, and he stood up to pull back the curtains.

He saw a beautiful Eagle Owl perched on the railing, tilting its head, watching him with brown-yellow eyes, and letting out a "coo-coo" sound.

"Ah~~ You're finally here."

Soren Reed smiled to welcome it and gently pushed open the window.

The Eagle Owl moved aside, and once the window was fully open, it hopped lightly onto the windowsill, bringing its head close to Soren Reed, its brown-yellow eyes full of anticipation.

Soren Reed naturally wouldn't disappoint the young lady messenger; he raised his hand to gently stroke the ear tufts on both sides of its head, which were both handsome and elegant.

The Eagle Owl enjoyed his petting very much, its eyes squinting shut.

The friendly interaction between the boy and the owl caught Ella's attention. She tiptoed over, looking at the super-large owl with surprise: "Soren Reed... what is this?"

"My young lady messenger, I told you about her yesterday." Soren Reed turned to the side, leaving space for her. "If you want, you can pet her too. Of course, you'd better go through the procedure first—say hello to her and seek her consent."

Of course Ella wanted to pet it; what little girl wouldn't like a round, fluffy, cute owl!

She excitedly squeezed to Soren Reed's side and looked at the big owl, but then her movements stopped, not knowing how to proceed.

Soren Reed just said to say hello and seek consent, but how exactly should she do that? Should she just talk to it? Would it understand?

Seeing her cute, hesitant appearance, a scene from the original book suddenly came to Soren Reed's mind. A long-lost urge to play a prank surged in his heart, causing the corners of his mouth to lift slightly.

"Don't be nervous, Ella, let me teach you how to greet the Eagle... the owl. First, you have to make eye contact with it and don't blink—if you blink too often, it won't trust you."

In his carelessness, Soren Reed almost slipped up and quickly tried to cover it.

This was the first time Ella had heard of such a way to greet an animal.

But she had just been reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and knew that many magical creatures existed in this world, so she easily accepted this premise.

Thus, she obediently followed Soren Reed's instructions and made eye contact with this "Eagle Owl" that she suspected was also a magical creature.

The young lady Eagle Owl glanced at her little master in confusion, but in the end, she satisfied his wish and played the staring contest game with the other human cub.

The confrontation between human and owl began.

Unfortunately, what Ella didn't know was that an owl's eye structure is very special; it can sleep with one eye open and one closed, and it can also go for a long time without blinking.

A lack of intelligence would undoubtedly lead to defeat.

Ella's eyes soon began to ache, and she felt like she was about to tear up, but the young lady owl still had wide, round eyes, looking completely at ease.

Soren Reed really couldn't bear to keep bullying the ignorant little girl, so he decided to quit while he was ahead: "That's enough, Ella. Now, bow to it; this is the last step of saying hello."

"Oh... oh!"

Ella responded vaguely and obediently bowed.

After pausing for a few seconds, she straightened her back and looked at the owl with anticipation.

However, the owl remained in that same posture, staring at her with wide eyes.

Ella panicked instantly, thinking she had done something wrong, and immediately cast a look of help towards Soren Reed.

Soren Reed was in a bind and hurriedly winked at the young lady messenger, seemingly unintentionally hinting: "Hmm... your steps are fine. Generally speaking, if an owl agrees to interact with you, it will respond."

The young lady messenger had a very high IQ; she seemed to understand Soren Reed's words, and a hint of human-like helplessness flashed in her eyes.

Then, she spread her wings, leaned her upper body forward, and performed an action similar to a bowing return greeting.

With the formalities concluded, Ella successfully gained the approval of the "Winged Owl".

Soren Reed immediately breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn't messed it up.

Ella also happily reached out her hand, carefully stroking the owl's feathers and body. The sensation from her fingertips was exactly as she had imagined—fluffy and soft, with a comfortable warmth.

The large owl, with a body length of 55 cm, leaned obediently in her arms, seemingly enjoying this intimacy as well.

Letting them interact for a while, Soren Reed finally spoke up to remind Ella to bring the young lady messenger inside first, not to keep the window open, so as not to let in mosquitoes and insects.

"Bring her in? Okay, okay, let me do it, I can!"

Ella readily agreed and tried her best to pick up the large owl, which was comparable to a medium-sized dog, struggling to move it onto the bed.

On the other side, Soren Reed closed the window again, pulled the curtains tight, and turned to look at them.

Before he could speak, Ella asked first: "Soren Reed, what is this Eagle Owl's name? We can't just keep calling her 'owl', right?"

"Uh... she is an Eagle Owl, also known as a large owl."

"Eh? Isn't it an Eagle Owl?"

"No, I just misspoke earlier, don't worry about those details." Soren Reed activated his high-speed speech to avoid exposure and skillfully changed the subject, "As for a name, let's call her—Brigitta."

Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 17 The First Magical Pet—The Owl Messenger, Brigitta.

"Brigitta?"

Ella sat on the bed, holding the large owl like a stuffed doll, stroking it while thinking, "I feel like I've heard this name somewhere, but I can't quite remember..."

"Brigitta, a more common name is Brigid." Soren Reedexplained to her, "The goddess of fire, poetry, and wisdom in Celtic mythology. Do you remember now?"

Mentioning mythology, Ella, who was at a child's age, quickly had an impression.

Soren Reed continued, "I originally wanted to call her Athena, but that's a goddess in ancient Greek mythology, so I simply changed it to the localized Brigitta, which also has the metaphor of a goddess of wisdom."

He stepped forward a few paces and gently stroked the owl's crest feathers with the back of his hand, "How about it, Brigitta, do you like this name? Bri-git-ta?"

The beautiful female Eagle Owl tilted her head to look at him, her long ear tufts suddenly shaking, as if sending a signal of agreement.

"Very good, then from now on you will be called Brigitta, my goddess of wisdom. May you share some of your wisdom with me."

Soren Reed petted the owl's head and finalized the name.

Although the listening Ella didn't have naming rights, she tried hard to obtain another right— "What does Brigittalike to eat? I still have some nuts, and there should be pork sausages for dinner today!"

"Pork sausages..." Soren Reed looked troubled, "I'm afraid that's not suitable for her. The food humans eat has too much salt and seasoning, which is harmful to animal health. Nuts won't work either; owls are carnivorous birds of prey, they mainly eat meat."

"Raw meat?"

Now it was Ella's turn to look troubled; as an orphan, it was really hard for her to get fresh meat.

Soren Reed smiled: "Don't think about it too complicatedly. Mice, birds, insects—there is plenty of food in nature."

He checked the time and made an inviting gesture to Ella: "Let's go, ladies. At this time, the children are all out playing wildly, so let's go take a tour of the barn. I dare say, Brigitta will definitely like it there."

"The barn?" Ella's eyes lit up, "Mice!"

"That's right, free mice, always stealing the Orphanage's food. Getting rid of them will make Headmistress Brentvery happy."

Being able to play and not get criticized—this plan was exactly what Ella wanted!

She hugged the large owl and stood up—

Didn't stand up...

The large owl's round body wasn't too heavy, but its large size made it really block her view when held in her arms.

Soren Reed held back his laughter and reached out a helping hand to her.

Just like that, Soren Reed carried the large owl, Ella walked in front to lead the way, and the two happily headed towards the barn located behind the Orphanage.

— — Completely forgetting that Brigitta could fly by herself.

On the way, they occasionally ran into a few children staying in the Orphanage. As soon as they saw the majestic large owl, their eyes lit up, and they couldn't wait to come over and take a look.

Thanks to the notoriety Soren Reed had accumulated over the years, he was able to stop them with a look, not letting them come over to be third wheels.

Walking out of the main building of the Orphanage, the scent of grass and flowers rushed towards them.

They laughed all the way through the small garden and sports field, arriving at the secluded barn.

Don't ask why there would be a barn in the Orphanage, because its predecessor was a family farm.

After being converted into an Orphanage, this tall, single-story barn, which had fairly good moisture-proof effects, was preserved and used to store dry grains and durable vegetables.

Usually, the barn door was locked because there were always children who didn't learn their lesson after being beaten and wanted to go in to explore.

Today was obviously no exception.

But this couldn't stop Soren Reed; he was a noble wizard!

He struggled to hold Brigitta with his left hand and left arm, freeing his right hand to use his wand: "—Alohomora!"

Silently, the old-fashioned iron lock pointed at by the wand lit up with red light. Magical energy circulated inside the lock, and with a soft click, the lock opened automatically.

Alohomora, the beloved of thieves and burglars, was revealed for the first time.

"Ah—"

Ella gasped, covering her mouth with both hands to suppress the exclamation that had slipped out inadvertently.

Soren Reed noticed the look of admiration she cast at him, lowered his wand with satisfaction, and hid his achievements and fame.

Ah~~ Now it was finally comfortable.

If he learned magic but couldn't show it off, wouldn't his magic have been learned in vain!

In order to show off today, the second magic book he studied was The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, and he had crash-studied a few commonly used spells.

"Normally, I should say—ladies first. But there are mice in the barn, so let me go first."