Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 16 Drawbacks

Merlin once said that the best way to solve troubles is to sleep, and once you're asleep, all your troubles will disappear.

When Ike woke up again, it was already evening.

He rubbed his neck to relieve the soreness caused by the stun spell before he fully came to his senses.

I glanced out the window, then at the clock on the dormitory wall; it was almost eight o'clock. Stuart and Terry hadn't returned yet; they were either in the common room or the auditorium.

Sure enough, as soon as they arrived at the common room, they saw Stuart and Terry having a heated discussion with Michael and Anthony about today's match. The two sides were debating whether Harry's broom was broken or if he had been cursed.

Seeing that Stuart and his companion were about to fail because they thought the broom was broken, they quickly called out when they saw Ike appear, "Ike! Good heavens, you've been sleeping in the dorm all this time!"

"Yeah, I've been really tired lately." Ike was still a bit listless, and waved his hand as a greeting.

"I'm going to go find something to eat. You guys continue."

The dinner at Hogwarts starts at six o'clock and ends at eight o'clock. If you miss dinner time, you'll have to find something to eat in the kitchen.

Arriving at the basement, past the entrance to Hufflepuff's lounge, Ike stood before the painting of a silver platter filled with fruit. He reached out and scratched a pear in the painting, which laughed and turned into a handle.

Grab the handle and pull, and an archway appears before you. Passing through the short archway, you see several Hufflepuff upperclassmen sitting around a table laden with desserts: chocolate muffins, jam donuts, and various flavors of pudding and ice cream. Ike also sees two German sausages on a plate in front of one of the Hufflepuffs.

The location of Hogwarts' kitchens is no secret to the Hufflepuffs, since most of the house-elves in the castle today are descendants of those taken in by Lady Helga Hufflepuff, and they have a natural affinity for the badgers. Lady Helga Hufflepuff is best known for her food-related spells.

Many dishes at Hogwarts banquets still come from Lady Hufflepuff.

Therefore, it's not surprising to see badger cubs in the kitchen.

It would be strange if Ike, a Ravenclaw, were here.

Ignoring the strange, probing looks, Ike went straight to sit down at another table next to him.

As soon as he sat down, a house-elf dressed in tattered curtains appeared beside Ike. The house-elf cautiously looked at Ike, clutching its rags, and whispered, "Young wizard, what kind of Omega can I do for you?"

Ike smiled and replied, "I missed dinner. Could I have something to eat, Omega?"

"It is Ome's honor to serve the young wizards." Ome hurriedly bent down, snapped her fingers, and a series of delicious dishes appeared on the table in front of Ike.

Roast beef, steak, boiled potatoes, potato chips, spaghetti, macaroni, mini sausages, and desserts like those on the badgers' table next to it, piled the table high with food.

Seeing that the table was almost overflowing, Ike quickly said, "Okay, okay, Omega, that's too much."

"Just leave me some roast beef, a steak, two small sausages, half a plate of macaroni, plus a mango pudding and a glass of pumpkin juice."

Omega snapped her fingers again, and only the food that Ike had mentioned remained on the table.

"Is this... enough for you?"

"That's enough, Ogilvy, thank you."

"Oh!" Omega screamed and disappeared as if she had been provoked. Ike was stunned for a moment before he realized that house-elves consider serving their masters to be their most important task, and they become extremely excited when praised, sometimes even to the point of self-harm.

"Omega... she shouldn't hurt herself, right..." Ike didn't think much of it, forked a piece of roast beef with his right hand and put it in his mouth. The tender and juicy beef stimulated Ike's taste buds, making Ike hum involuntarily.

To the astonishment of the badger cubs, Ike devoured everything on the table in a flash, let out a satisfied burp, smiled and nodded at the cubs, and then left the kitchen.

Returning leisurely to the Ravenclaw Tower, Stuart and the others had vanished again. Ike sat down on the sofa that was now assumed to be his, casually picked up a notebook from the bookshelf beside him, opened it, and read it absentmindedly.

After a good night's sleep and a hearty meal, Ike finally recovered, and his intelligence once again took over.

Comparing his own reactions to practicing spells with other young wizards and what he had seen in the notes of his seniors these past few days, Ike suddenly had a guess in his mind:

Perhaps what happened to me has a lot to do with my useless notepad system.

For a novice wizard, learning spells is a continuous process of improvement, gradually mastering them through repeated practice. Initially, spells may not work as expected, but with practice and a deeper understanding of the spells, proficiency will gradually increase.

For Ike, as long as he successfully casts a spell once, the system will display his Lv1 level. After that, he can continuously practice and cast spells to increase his spell level. Naturally, he will be able to cast spells silently and without a staff, which is equivalent to infinitely shortening or even replacing the long practice stage that other wizards go through.

However, the effects of magic on people do not disappear as a result. Instead, the lack of that practice, or the gradual adaptation process, allows those negative effects to accumulate and even erupt simultaneously.

Garbage system!

The more Ike thought about it, the more he felt that this was the truth of the matter. Otherwise, it was impossible to explain why others could release explosive spells without any problems, while he had to turn into a destroyer after releasing a few.

Especially the continuous barrage of spell levels that followed almost caused Ike to unleash an Avada Kedavra.

God knows if Ike would have gone mad if the wand hadn't saved him; he didn't want to become Azkaban's youngest prisoner!

"I was too hasty," Ike said, rubbing his temples.

It's already quite clear; all that's left is to adjust the plan.

The Disillusion Charm remains the top priority, but after it, the practice of other spells must be stopped, and energy should be focused on the study of magical theory and Transfiguration.

Then, learn the Guardian Charm!

If Ike's conjecture is correct, the Guardian Charm's negative effect on itself will negate the negative effect of the Attack Charm.

As one of the oldest and most powerful defensive spells, the Patronus Charm's power and difficulty are undeniable; it will be an even more challenging learning process than the Illusion Charm. However, it is one that Ike must master, otherwise he would never dare to practice offensive spells such as the Explosion Charm, Fire Charm, or Split Charm.

Not to mention black magic.

(End of this chapter)