Harry Potter: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me from Studying

Wade returned to his dorm to find an unexpected visitor: a house-elf in a tea towel, standing in the center of the room, staring at him with unblinking, grey-green eyes, startling him out of nowhere.

Wade nearly cast a spell but relaxed when he recognized the house-elf. "Zoe? What are you doing here?"

House-elves usually consider it an honor not to appear before their masters, so aside from seeing them in the kitchens, Wade had never seen a school house-elf in his line of sight before.

Zoe wrung her long, slender fingers, clearly nervous. She squeaked, "Wade Gray did not eat dinner. Zoe was a little worried. Zoe knows she should not appear, but Zoe came anyway. Zoe wanted to know if Wade Gray was feeling unwell."

"I'm fine," Wade said, crouching down. "It's just that the troll smelled so bad, I've lost my appetite."

Zoe said earnestly, "But not eating is bad for the body. Wade Gray gave Zoe a gift. Zoe likes it very much and cares about Wade Gray's health. Zoe does not want him to go hungry."

House-elves spoke in a peculiar way, always referring to themselves and others in the third person, even when speaking face-to-face.

Wade looked at Zoe. She still had a tiny pumpkin carriage hanging at her waist, its lantern blinking.

"Alright," he sighed. "Could you please bring me some fruit? Not jam or pudding, just fresh fruit. I'll eat some after my shower before I go to bed."

"Yes, sir!" Zoe nodded happily and vanished from the room with a pop.

When Wade emerged from the bathroom, still steaming from his shower, he found a basket of fruit on his table—apples, pears, bananas, a few strawberries, and a bunch of sparkling green grapes, all washed clean and still beaded with water.

Wade picked up an apple, bit into it, and found it plump and juicy. A wave of emotion washed over him.

In his previous life, his mother was a firm believer in healthy living, convinced that one should eat twelve different foods daily for proper nutrition. Vegetables and fruits were paramount, sometimes with a month passing without a repeat.

After his rebirth, although Hogwarts food was much more abundant than at home, it consisted mostly of roasted meats and sweets. The variety of vegetables was scarce, and the cooking methods monotonous. Fresh fruit had never appeared on the Great Table.

In that moment, Wade made a decision: after graduation, he wanted to see the East. Magic was the wings of miracles, but the future lay in the East.

Moreover, in this world, there were also mystical powers there, and he might even discover more wondrous sights.

Padma's inclusion into the SSC was very smooth; no one raised any objections. After all, she was not only intelligent and generous but also very beautiful, with deep, expressive eyes that made Theo and the others blush slightly without realizing it.

Hermione, meanwhile, was spending more and more time studying, as Wade put significant pressure on her. In their most recent Transfiguration class, Wade successfully turned a mouse into a beautiful little teapot, with lines so delicate it looked like a freshly crafted artifact. Professor McGonagall loudly praised Wade's Transfiguration skills, even saying that his current level would earn him an "O" on his final exam.

Hermione also knew that Wade's owl had brought him a complete set of The Standard Book of Spells and Intermediate Transfiguration from Diagon Alley. So, even though Hermione was already the most outstanding first-year student in Gryffindor, she still felt like she was falling behind. She studied every day, growing irritable, and snapped at Ron several times. However, ever since she'd knocked out the troll, Ron had stopped complaining and gossiping behind her back.

Now, Ron even hoped Hermione would give him pointers because he realized Hermione was always right. But Hermione had finally corrected her habit of being overly didactic; she tried to overlook the Gryffindors' various rule-breaking activities, which slightly improved her popularity within the house. Especially with Harry, they were practically friends.

Wade heard Hermione complain almost daily: "They had a whole weekend to do homework, and they only wrote a title! Then they panic when it's due, saying, 'Hermione, please let me copy your homework!'"

"And did you let him copy?" Wade asked, writing as he spoke.

"Of course not!" Hermione wrinkled her nose, disdainfully. "What good would copying homework do? But I did promise to check it for him once he's finished!"

"But Hermione—" Padma asked, puzzled, "Wouldn't that be more trouble for you?"

Hermione looked at her incredulously: "That's how you learn!"

The two girls exchanged glances, and after a moment, they tacitly skipped the topic.

When Padma finished her homework, only Neville was still biting his quill, diligently working. She stuffed her parchment into her bag and lightly skirted around the partition wall. To prevent those practicing spells from disturbing students doing homework, Wade had recently added a sky-blue partition wall in the Umbrella Room, dividing the space into two areas, a one-to-three ratio, with a Silencing Charm in between.

On the other side, two rows of targets stood in the classroom. Most were quite battered, beyond repair even with a Mending Charm, but they were still usable. The entire far wall was lined with mirrors, which Wade said helped them correct their movements at any time.

Michael repeatedly used Incendio to light the targets, then Aguamenti to extinguish them. Theo alternated between Diffindo and Reparo to torment his target. Hermione was using a Dancing Feet Spell on a spider, its long, slender legs wildly gyrating in the air.

Ryan murmured, "Petrificus Totalus!" at a curious gray mouse in front of him.

The mouse's body suddenly stiffened, only its tail twitching slightly. A moment later, it darted off and, with a thump, transformed into a small twig in mid-air.

"For the Petrification Charm, when you draw the circle, keep your wrist as the center, and the turns should be quick and sharp."

Wade waved his wand, and the twig floated in the air. He then tapped it with the tip of his wand, and the twig changed back into a mouse.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Wade demonstrated once, and suddenly the mouse's paws and tail pressed tightly against its body, stiff as a board, its inky black eyes seemingly filled with terror.

It fell to the ground with a thud, completely like a stone.

Wade lifted the charm, told Ryan to keep practicing, then walked over to Padma and asked, "Do you want to learn Slippery Surface first, or practice other spells?"

"Um—" Padma stuck out her tongue, embarrassed. "Actually—my Mending Charm is still hit-or-miss—"

She expected Wade to look like this was a "big problem," but he merely tapped the nearby target with his wand, and the wooden target immediately split down the middle.

Wade said, "Then let's start with the Mending Charm. Let me see your skill first."

As Padma raised her wand, her arm trembled slightly.

—She suddenly realized that she might have made the most correct decision since starting school.

She was sure to learn a lot here!

"—Reparo!"