"You're already studying advanced Transfiguration?"
Hermione's voice rose, full of disbelief.
How could this guy be even more studious than she was?
Dylan looked over and saw it was the little witch speaking. He nodded. "Yeah. But advanced Transfiguration isn't easy. It takes time to really work through it."
Hermione blinked. He had to be showing off, right?
For some reason, she suddenly felt a strong urge to compete with him.
Advanced Transfiguration? So what?
Once she had a solid grasp of basic Transfiguration, she could push further into the subject too!
"Neville, when you're working through the Standard Book of Spells, pay attention to a few things. I saw some details in Selected Eighteenth-Century Spells and noticed a contradiction between the two in one section."
Dylan reminded him, "I'll ask the professors about it after term starts and tell you the specifics."
"Uh… thanks." Neville was still completely lost.
Standard Book of what, and selected what?
He was pretty sure Standard Book of Spells was one of their textbooks, but Selected Eighteenth-Century Spells?
He had never even heard of it.
When Dylan saw everyone had gone quiet, he just went back to eating.
Leaving a group of dazed Gryffindors staring blankly at this boy who clearly did not feel quite like one of them.
Once Dylan set down his fork,
Dumbledore gave another casual wave.
All the food vanished from the tables.
Dumbledore stood again.
"Everyone, as the new term begins, remember the off-limit areas I mentioned—especially the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor of the library. You must not go near it."
"And do not practice magic in the corridors between classes. It is dangerous."
"Lastly, the House Quidditch teams will be recruiting new players. If you're interested, speak to Madam Hooch, starting from the second week of term."
Dylan carefully jotted down all the forbidden areas Dumbledore mentioned in a little notebook.
It was not that he planned to sneak into them right away; he had simply long since forgotten exactly which parts of the school were off-limits.
Right now, he had no need to explore any of them.
What he needed to do was keep learning more magic, study magic, deepen his magic.
When the Welcoming Feast finally ended,
he and Neville followed Percy
as the new Gryffindors headed to the House tower.
Dylan and Neville were placed in the same dormitory.
"Great! We get to live together!" Neville beamed—
and then immediately realized Trevor was missing again.
"Oh no! Trevor!"
His excitement cut off at once.
Dylan could only shake his head. "Trevor, come here."
He cast the spell again.
Trevor soon came drifting back.
Just before the toad bumped into him, Dylan cut the magic off.
Neville did not mind at all and hastily scooped Trevor into his arms again.
Being assigned a room with Neville did not bother Dylan.
All in all, sharing with someone he was already familiar with was easier than breaking in a completely new roommate.
At his bed, the house-elves had already set down his mailed luggage.
He was just about to start unpacking when three more boys walked in.
"Hey, I'm Ron."
A red-haired boy bounced up in front of him.
Dylan gave him a glance. "Hi."
"Hello. Looks like we're roommates," Harry added as he came in.
"I'm Seamus. Nice to meet you," said the last boy.
Dylan looked at them and nodded. "I'm Dylan."
He had not thought much of it at first, but seeing his dormmates made him realize that Neville had originally shared a room with Harry.
Which meant his arrival had squeezed someone else, who should have been in this dorm, into another room.
"Whatever. A bed is a bed."
He did not bother thinking about it any further.
With six max-level Dark spells in his hands, he was not particularly concerned about whatever Harry's future plotline might bring.
Anyone who tried anything would get a Cruciatus first, then a Fiendfyre, and finally an Avada Kedavra to top it off.
His current magic reserves might still fall short of an adult wizard's,
but with a sneak attack, no one was going to shrug that off.
Dylan quickly unpacked the essentials and left the rest for tomorrow.
Before getting into bed, he gave his wand a light wave.
"Scourgify!"
He cleaned the entire bed and himself with a simple sweep,
then kicked off his shoes and climbed up.
His legs dangled for a second as he stretched with a long, satisfied yawn.
"Magic really is the ladder of human civilization."
Clean and fresh without even needing a shower, sheets spotless with no effort—
it meant no more hanging clothes to dry, no more socks pegged all over the racks.
He knew all too well how much of a hassle it was to clip pair after pair of socks onto the line.
Hang them, wait for them to dry, take them down.
Way too much work.
"I'm turning in. Good night, everyone."
The moment he lay down, Ron blinked. "You're not going to change clothes?"
Dylan glanced at his school robes, then shook his head with a little smile.
The next instant, something strange happened.
Under Neville, Harry, Ron, and Seamus's astonished gazes,
Dylan's robes simply vanished.
He slipped under the covers in one smooth motion.
"W-what kind of spell was that…"
"I've got a little spatial pocket."
Dylan turned over, back to the others, and closed his eyes.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look.
Both of them were more than a little envious.
Right then, a thought rose in Harry's heart.
"Magic. I have to learn magic properly."
The others tidied up just enough and got into bed.
They had only just met; no one was close enough yet to chat deep into the night.
The night passed quietly.
At dawn,
Dylan's internal clock woke him up naturally.
He sat up and stretched again.
From the items tab, he pulled out his robes, put them on, then glanced around at his dormmates.
None of them stirred at his movements. They were all sleeping soundly,
like the dead.
"Very peaceful."
He checked the time.
"Still early."
He decided to go visit the new owl he had bought.
Grabbing his textbooks and casting another quick Scourgify on himself,
he left the dorm.
"Oh, morning, dear. You're the first one up."
As Dylan stepped out of the Gryffindor common room,
the Fat Lady yawned and looked at him in surprise.
"Morning, Fat Lady."
He gave her a smile and headed straight for the Great Hall.
Food before owls.
He took a glass of milk and two slices of toast, slathered one with jam, and finished it in a few bites.
After washing it down with the milk, he turned toward the owlery.
"Hey, Luna! I'm here to see you!"