49: Study Session
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"Let's get started, Neville. Your goal is to master the first spell taught by Professor Flitwick in class: the Lumos spell."
Ivan selected the basic spells from the textbook and carefully broke them down, explaining the principles behind them and offering tips on casting spells to Hermione and Neville, based on his own understanding.
The little witch was truly brilliant. She noted down everything Ivan said, and whenever something wasn't clear, she asked questions immediately.
Ivan noticed that Hermione had an impressive finesse when it came to controlling magic.
This wasn't due to willpower but rather a demonstration of her high level of thinking.
However, compared to Hermione, who grasped things almost instantly, Neville's situation was far more challenging than either of them had anticipated.
To be honest, teaching Neville was making Ivan feel the weight of the task.
"S-sorry, Ivan," Neville mumbled, his head hanging low as tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm just... too stupid."
Ivan glanced at the time—it was already 8 o'clock in the evening.
Three hours had passed, and apart from guiding Hermione at the beginning, Ivan had devoted almost all of his attention to Neville.
While this process did help Ivan identify gaps in his teaching, the lack of progress was starting to give him a headache.
"There's no reason to be sorry," Ivan muttered to himself.
Ivan wasn't upset; he was very patient and didn't dislike Neville's struggles at all.
A transparent light shield, faintly glowing, enveloped the three of them, shielding the dormitory from any potential damage caused by their spell practice.
This was something Ivan had specifically prepared for Neville.
Its prototype was derived from the Protego spell, and Ivan had mixed it with elements from the Protego Totalum and the general protective charm. It was the most complex spell Ivan had created so far.
He called it the "Body Protection Spell," also known as "Exorcism and Body Protection."
The spell's upper limit wasn't particularly high, but its strength lay in its sustainability and adaptability.
For instance, right now, Ivan had divided the practice area into two sections, like two bubbles touching each other—one side for him and Neville, the other for Hermione.
Without this precaution, Ivan wouldn't have felt confident or safe allowing the two to cast spells inside the dormitory.
"I need to think about it carefully. Neville, you should look over the Herbology material for now," Ivan said, temporarily stumped on how to help Neville. Neville obediently took out his books, showing no discouragement and following Ivan's instructions without hesitation.
"What's going on with Neville?" Hermione asked quietly. Ivan frowned and replied, "I think he might have been affected by a crude version of the Obliviate spell when he was younger, which damaged his cognitive abilities."
"Oh My! What can be done about it?" Hermione asked with concern.
Ivan had already shared with Hermione the six basic attributes he had defined.
Thinking, as Ivan described it, included factors like reaction time, body coordination, spell control, memory, and calculation ability.
4 points in Thinking doesn't mean that all subcategories need to reach 4 points.
In fact, if any of the subcategories reaches 4 points, the Thinking attribute can be considered 4 overall.
Take Harry, for example. Ivan believed Harry had a Thinking attribute of 4, just like Hermione, but their strengths were different. Harry's high Thinking score was reflected in his quick reaction time, giving him an unparalleled advantage in Quidditch and combat.
Hermione's Thinking was reflected in her learning, but when it came to physical skills, she was no different from an average person.
"Let me think about it some more," Ivan said, feeling somewhat helpless regarding Neville's struggles.
The one thing he was sure of was that Neville's potential wasn't lacking, and his future held promise.
The reason Neville was having difficulties might have been due to his young age and his current lack of mental maturity.
"I'll try my best to help Neville build a strong foundation," Ivan finally decided. He resolved to help Neville practice spell manipulation as much as possible, helping him develop muscle memory.
There wasn't much else Ivan could do for now.
Neville's memory was truly poor, whether it came to recalling information or grasping understanding.
And so, the three of them studied together into the night.
Although Ivan spent most of his time teaching Hermione spellcasting techniques, Neville managed to pick up a few things as well.
Well, at least before he forgot the knowledge, Neville felt like he had mastered it.
So, he went to bed, and the next day...
Neville: Hey? What did I master?
...
Ivan and Hermione were eating breakfast in the Great Hall, secretly holding their foreheads and feeling helpless about Neville's forgetfulness.
Fortunately, neither of them was the type to give up easily.
They didn't resent Neville for his struggles, and this kindness touched the shy boy deeply.
From childhood to now, aside from his family, Ivan and Hermione had been the kindest to him.
Neville wasn't lacking in perseverance. He genuinely worked hard and listened carefully.
However, his memory was terrible. He thought he had memorized many things, but would forget them not long after.
Neville could only repeat the lessons over and over again to make sure Ivan and Hermione's efforts weren't wasted.
"In this class, we will learn how to turn a match into a needle."
The Transfiguration class officially began, and the first thing they had to learn was how to transfigure a matchstick into a needle.
In class, Ivan didn't even need to use his wand. He simply waved his hand, and the matchstick on the desk transformed into an extremely thin silver needle.
Not only that, but Ivan also engraved patterns on the silver needle, bit by bit, making it even more intricate.
"Beautiful Transfiguration!"
Professor McGonagall immediately noticed Ivan's performance.
No wand, no sound, and precise casting. Even though Professor McGonagall was mentally prepared, she was still amazed by Ivan's skill and talent.
"Gryffindor gets 5 points for Mr. Ambrosious' outstanding performance!"
Soon after Ivan, Hermione also successfully transformed her matchstick into a silver needle, and Professor McGonagall awarded Gryffindor an additional 2 points for her achievement.
This delighted Professor McGonagall for the better part of the class, until our resident explosion expert, Mr. Seamus, once again demonstrated his unique ability to turn every spell into an explosive one.
"Hold your wand firmly and clearly picture the shape of the needle you want to transform the match into."
Ivan sat in a row with Hermione and Neville, with Harry and Ronald on his other side.
At that moment, Harry was asking Ivan for advice on the technique for transfiguring a matchstick into a silver needle.
Ivan didn't hold back and explained the key principles of Transfiguration to Harry, based on his current understanding.
"I—I did it!!"
With Ivan's guidance, Harry quickly grasped the trick. He held up his matchstick, which now had one pointed end, and was ecstatic. "Thank you, Ivan, you're amazing!"
The slight change in the match seemed small to Ivan, but it was a crucial first step for Harry.
As for Ronald...
"Well, I think you should consider getting a new wand."
Ivan really couldn't offer much advice to Ron. He had no ill will toward him, but no particularly strong feelings either.
So, he straightforwardly told him that the problem wasn't necessarily with Ron himself, but with the wand he was using.
The old wand was not compatible with Ron's magic at all.
In addition, Ron's basic attributes were very mediocre, which meant that he was destined to have a hard time achieving great success. . .
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