Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 111, Section 110: The Hardcore Game Continues
For ordinary wizards, the talent they display in magic is extremely important. A talented wizard can grasp things instantly, while a wizard without talent cannot succeed by hard work alone.

The wizarding world doesn't emphasize hard work. Hermione studies hard, but everyone praises her for being "very talented" rather than "very hardworking" when it comes to her good grades. She is indeed a genius who learns everything quickly, and hard work is just icing on the cake.

This means that unlocking new spell domain titles is more important, as it directly enhances Sheen's spell talent.

After unlocking titles and improving talents through the other three expert-level spells, grinding proficiency in other difficult spells will be much more efficient.

This is called "first the liver, then the other liver".

Sheen silently crossed out the Disillusionment Spell in his notebook and instead wrote down the Whisper Spell.

Thus, the magic combination for getting to expert level in the first row of the notes becomes "Stop Cursing" and "Whispering Curse".

While Sheen practiced the Whispering Charm on the Biting Vine, three more little wizards gradually joined the classroom.

Mr. Owl let them in, hooting, "Little wizard! Silly little wizard!"

"I heard that there are huge milk jelly balls in Hogsmeade, and when you suck on them, your feet will rise a few inches off the ground."

Justin smiled and took out a notebook labeled "Spells" from a sky-blue wooden bookshelf not far from the entrance, while putting his "Herbal" notebook back in his bag.

"Hmm, I'm actually interested in one of the sweets sold at Honeydukes Candy Shop in Hogsmeade—Fluffy Tooth Mints. They say that when you put them in your mouth, they clean your teeth like dental floss. Sounds pretty good."

Hermione naturally took the "Herbal" notebook and then put the notebook labeled "Defense Against the Dark Arts" inside.

Sheehan's notes were widely used in the classroom, thanks to his strong ability to summarize and synthesize information and his scientific and precise descriptions. His notebooks almost kept up with those vague books that even the writers themselves might sometimes find confusing.

With just one glance, the young wizards would toss aside their old books, as if the original textbooks weren't in English.

If it is, then why can't the young wizards understand it?

"Oh—I really wish we could get to third grade soon,"

Justin remarked with a sigh,
"Perfect timing—Sheen, is it still the Levitation Charm today?"

"Ah."

Sheen nodded, and the two began their daily spell practice. Justin practiced the Levitation Charm, while Sheen practiced the Stop Charm.

[You have practiced the "Spell Stop" skill to an expert standard once, proficiency +50]

[You have practiced the "Spell Stop" skill to an expert standard once, proficiency +50]

……

The small wooden board on the table spun slowly twice before stopping, and Justin caught it in his hand.

Sheen silently waved his wand without chanting a spell, and a form with several people's headshots on it flew into his hand.

He wrote "Expert" in the Justin Levitation Spell section, then put it back on the bookshelf near the entrance, in the most easily accessible spot.

Justin excitedly took the form, muttering, "Great, I've finally reached the proficiency level..."

Below the [Expert] Floating Spell are the [Beginner] Spell of Immediate Stop and the [Beginner] Spell of Clear Water Like a Spring.

Hermione casually glanced over, then walked away with her nose in her hand. —She was already an expert.

In the magical world, there is no clear grading system for wizards' spellcasting skills. Only in the OWL (Ordinary Wizarding Level Examination) are they classified into levels such as Excellent, Exceeding Expectations, and Good.

However, this is obviously a comprehensive evaluation, and the differences in proficiency with different spells among different wizards may be too great to be compared.

However, the Ministry of Magic's education system cannot assess the individual spellcasting proficiency of wizards one by one—it would be a laborious and futile undertaking.

Perhaps because spells are inherently influenced by the wizard's state, their strength fluctuates. In the end, young wizards find it difficult to judge the level of their spells, making it hard for them to develop an interest in practicing.

But Sheen had clearly optimized this step, and the source of all this was actually his exploration of the spell "Curse Stop"—he wanted to know which spells of different proficiency levels could be ended by "Curse Stop".
But it unexpectedly produced excellent results. His evaluation criteria were based on his own performance with spells at different levels of proficiency, making them exceptionally accurate. The novel division of spell mastery stages immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the young wizards.

They felt like a boss with a health bar that had been activated, and it seemed like they would be doing a disservice to their wands if they didn't cast a couple of spells.

"For spells or curses of equal difficulty, the Curse Stopper can be dealt with very easily at the same level of proficiency."

Sheen silently wrote a line in his notebook, then added later,

"The effect of higher-level spells will be significantly worse, and some difficult and powerful spells cannot be ended by a single spell stop."

Maintenance is always more difficult than release, and it requires more magic power; simply stopping the flow of magic power is not feasible.

Sheen guessed that this was why some powerful spells required corresponding counterspells to eliminate them.
For example, the Polymorph spell and the Revert spell, or the Divine Strike and its corresponding counter-spell.

The sky gradually darkened again, taking on a hazy, faint purple hue.

The chill was still biting. Sheen put away his wand by the warm fireplace, and the level of his spells increased from (2200/3000) to (2650/3000).

It increased my proficiency by a full 450 points, so it looks like I'll be able to unlock the expert-level Curse Stop tonight.

Unlike the difficulty of learning the Silent Levitation Spell, the Silent Suspension Spell is much easier to learn now.

The difficulty with silent spells lies in the fact that a wizard accustomed to chanting spells will feel very awkward when trying to use a silent spell.

He would have a strong, physical urge to pronounce the word, so he had to suppress the urge with great willpower, which resulted in his lips tightening or moving silently—this in itself was a distraction.

But Sheen had already overcome this when he practiced the Levitation Charm. Besides, the Silent Charm requires three things: emotion, unwavering will, and the correct incantation.

These are not difficult for Sheen.

Therefore, when he stood there silently, gracefully and deftly waving his wand to knock down and remove Justin's Clear Water Curse, Hermione couldn't help but watch for a long time.

As for Neville, his mouth was wide open, looking like it could fit a goose egg inside.

Looking at his pitiful "Beginner" levitation spell on his form, a long-lost enthusiasm swept over Mr. Longbottom's heart.

"This is what a wizard should be like..."

Justin's praise was always sincere and heartfelt.
"However, it's time to hand over the responsibilities to the senior students. Sheen, shall we head out now?"

(End of this chapter)