Kevin Goldsmith woke up to find himself lying in bed. When he opened his eyes, he saw the familiar ceiling of the Hospital Wing.
"You're awake?" He was greeted by Hannah's relieved smile.
"You look really cool. Is this some kind of light armour version of a Paladin?"
"That makes perfect sense, since protecting only the critical areas can lead to greater agility." Hannah was very happy.
It sounds perfectly fine; after all, D&D also shows that the lower the AC, the higher the defence.
"Did you knock your brain out? Why are you focusing on the Paladin look after almost dying?" Hermione complained weakly.
Kevin Goldsmith turned his head and saw Hermione lying on the hospital bed next to him. Her thick brown hair was completely hidden by bandages, and there were even more bandages on her chest.
"What happened after I was knocked down? Are you all alright?" Kevin thought for a moment but decided not to tell them about how his health points had been depleted in that one hit.
(In D&D, a character with zero health doesn't die immediately, but enters a near-death state. Every six seconds, the near-death character loses one health point until their health reaches minus ten.)
"We thought we were all dead," Hermione recalled, still shaken by the memory.
"But a dazzling flash appeared, and Headmaster Dumbledore and his Phoenix stood in front of the Troll."
Hermione then looked at him strangely, almost wanting to laugh, but she suppressed it with a look of reverence.
"Our eccentric Headmaster takes Halloween very seriously; he wears a dark grey robe, a pointed hat, and inexplicably carries a beautiful sword."
"I know who that is. Our Principal is more interesting than I imagined," Kevin couldn't help but chuckle.
"Then he drew his sword and shouted, 'You shall not pass!'" Hermione mimicked Dumbledore's tone in a drawn-out voice.
Kevin suddenly felt a little worried that he might say the same thing to himself during the final exam.
"He turned the Troll into a stone statue without even using a wand. Later, Professor Flitwick moved the statue to the courtyard, where it's currently being watched by students."
"As for you, you looked like you had died at the time, but fortunately, the tears shed by Fawkes the Phoenix were a powerful healing agent. It was very anxious and stayed by your side for a long time."
"Of course, Hannah was just as anxious," Hermione winked. "She was crying and shouting—"
"Let's eat something first," Hannah said, pushing a cart full of food over. "This is good stuff from the Halloween dinner, have a taste."
"Professor McGonagall said that your display of Gryffindor heroism just offset the points for blowing up the washroom and hallway," Hannah decided to change the subject.
"Of course, besides your powerful Explosion Spell, Miss Granger's performance also helped a lot."
"When Professor Snape thought you were responsible for the explosion, Miss Granger said in a surprised and very innocent voice, the kind of innocence a good student has when he points out a teacher's mistake (and hopes the teacher will be embarrassed).
She told everyone how helpless she felt when she was suddenly attacked by a monster, and how fortunate she was that several classmates stepped forward to help her. She said how heartbroken her parents would have been if Kevin Goldsmith hadn't taken the fatal blow for her, after all, they had personally handed their daughter over to Hogwarts.
"It's not as exaggerated as you say, but overall it's been very effective. The Professors didn't hold anyone accountable; in fact, they thought we deserved praise," Hermione added.
"How are you feeling now?" two voices asked at the same time.
"I've never felt this good," Kevin said. "It's not just good. It's like… I can take on Ghouls or arm wrestle with Goblins without using spells. It's like I… am omnipotent."
"Phoenix tears can indeed produce a certain euphoric feeling. But I'd better call Madam Pomfrey to come and check your head again," Hermione said with some concern.
"My head's fine, I just levelled up!" Kevin exclaimed excitedly. "Let me see, which skills should I choose?"
Hermione and Hannah exchanged a glance, their worries seeming to deepen.
"Was he like this before, or did it happen after he was hit on the head?" Hannah asked.
"I'm not sure, I might have been a little... crazy before, but it's gotten worse now."
As a Level 5 Mage, Kevin can choose one of a range of metamagic feats or item crafting feats as his bonus feat.
(Actually, he could have chosen it at Level 3, but he decided to wait and see if he could learn a similar skill in the Hogwarts courses before making a choice.)
Considering the abundance of magical materials at Hogwarts, it would be a shame not to choose item crafting.
Kevin Goldsmith can now expend his own power and experience points to create magical items, with the experience points consumed equal to one twenty-fifth of the item's price.
If he wants to craft a +3 Protection Ring worth eighteen thousand Galleons, he must spend seven hundred and twenty experience points and nine thousand Galleons (or equivalent materials) in material costs.
Creating magical items usually requires laboratories, magical workshops, special tools, and so on. But these facilities are not hard to find at Hogwarts.
Harry and Ron visited Kevin and the others, and Ron stammered to Hermione that he shouldn't have spoken ill of them.
They, the Gryffindor students, enthusiastically publicised Kevin and Hermione's heroic deeds. Although, according to Ron, it was initially they who cleverly restrained the Troll, giving Kevin the opportunity to cast a powerful Explosion Charm. Later, it was portrayed as him single-handedly fighting the Troll for three hundred rounds before casting a Petrify Charm, turning it into an eternal statue.
Kevin and Hermione had to spend the weekend at the Hospital Wing. Many Gryffindors, and even a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, came to visit them.
Of course, their main reason for wanting to hear for themselves what had happened was to bring more flowers, candy, and Wizard Cards. Kevin was forced to collect all four of Professor McGonagall's cards. He didn't understand why Magical Girl McGonagall was the rarest; wasn't the current McGonagall clearly stronger?
Also, where did these Wizard Cards come from? There are no shops in the castle, and the students can't leave freely.
"Could it be that some kind of dark ritual called duelling is being secretly held among the students, and the soul fragments of the losers are being made into Wizard Cards?"
"Owl Express," Hermione replied, "and third-year and older students can go to Hogsmeade a few times a year."
"This isn't magic," Kevin was greatly disappointed.