Hogwarts: Transmigrated as the Top Student

After Charm class, on his way to the dining hall, Jon was still deep in thought.

Wizards in the Harry Potter world weren't like scholarly mages from a D&D setting—they were more like sorcerers, born with the innate ability to cast spells... And it was that same issue again: the effectiveness of magic depended on a wizard's emotions.

This was Jon Hart's biggest weakness as a wizard.

As someone with over a decade of scientific research experience, more than twenty years of modern education, and a mental age approaching forty... rational thinking was deeply rooted in him—something that couldn't be easily changed.

So, unlike his classmates whose minds were still blank slates, Jon simply couldn't let his emotions run wild or allow them to take over his thinking.

Unless a powerful wizard cast a Memory Charm on him...

But that was something Jon would never allow.

Roughly 80% to 90% of magic—including Transfiguration, Charms, Dark Arts, and their defenses—relied heavily on emotional expression. In these areas, Jon suspected he would have to put in several times the effort of others just to match their results.

Thankfully, his exceptional memory gave him a slight advantage, helping to close the gap a little so he wouldn't fall too far behind.

The remaining 10% to 20% of magic didn't depend on emotion. These more rigid, formulaic spells were Jon's strong suit.

Take the Petrification Spell, for example. If an experienced Dark Arts defense instructor saw Jon Hart cast it, they'd probably conclude that his grasp of the spell surpassed that of most sixth- or seventh-year students.

Suddenly, Jon remembered how the Sorting Hat had wanted to place him in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw during the Sorting Ceremony yesterday...

At first, he'd thought the hat had made a mistake. But the truth was, he simply didn't have the natural magical talent required to be a true Ravenclaw.

"What a depressing realization."

...

At lunch, Eloise Midgen and Zacharias Smith came over. Like Jon, they were both first-year Hufflepuffs.

Eloise had a face full of acne, which gave off a bit of an off-putting impression. Zacharias was tall, skinny, and had a hooked nose.

"Jon, you were amazing in Transfiguration today! You were the only Hufflepuff who got the match to change!" Eloise said enviously.

"Uh... I just read the book a few more times than the others, that's all," Jon replied, shrugging.

"Professor McGonagall is so biased... Why did she only give Ginny Weasley points and not you?" Zacharias blurted out loudly.

Jon quickly motioned for him to quiet down and changed the subject. Thankfully, no other students seemed to notice.

Zacharias grabbed a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth. "Hey, do you know Ron Weasley? That tagalong with Harry Potter!"

"Uh... tagalong? What about him?"

"This morning during breakfast, his mom sent him a Howler—man, we were all dying laughing!"

"So yesterday, Weasley and Harry Potter flew to school in a car!" Eloise whispered. "Sounds kind of cool…"

Jon listened as the two chatted and boasted while they ate.

"Hey, what do we have this afternoon?" he asked offhandedly as he set down his cutlery.

"Herbology, with Ravenclaw," Zacharias mumbled through a mouthful of food. "Professor Sprout teaches it... She's our Head of House, but I haven't met her yet!"

"Hannah told me Professor Sprout is really nice to us," Eloise added.

...

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Jon left the castle, crossed the vegetable patch, and arrived at the Hogwarts greenhouses.

Professor Sprout's arms were wrapped in bandages, and from a distance, Jon could see that many of the Whomping Willow's branches were tightly bandaged as well.

"Two naughty students damaged a very valuable Whomping Willow. I spent the whole morning treating it!" Professor Sprout's voice was gentle. She was a short, plump witch, wearing patched-up robes that were smudged with dirt.

"I hope none of you ever do something like that."

"Alright… now follow me to Greenhouse One!" she said, leading the way as the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first-years followed behind.

Contrary to Jon's expectations, there were no mandrakes—probably because they were too dangerous for first-year students.

Instead, Professor Sprout introduced them to eighteen types of mushrooms. Jon took just fifteen minutes to correctly identify all of them and successfully categorized them into poisonous and non-poisonous groups.

"Well done, Mr. Hart!" Professor Sprout said with a bright smile and awarded five points to Hufflepuff.

At the end of class, she even gave Jon a rare matsutake mushroom specimen—an ingredient with high value in potion-making.

...

The last class on the first day of school ended up giving Jon some trouble.

The final class was Potions, taught by Professor Severus Snape, and taken together by Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

Because Jon had followed Professor Sprout to collect the matsutake specimen and deliver it to the Hufflepuff common room, he was delayed. By the time he rushed to the Potions classroom, he was already three minutes late.

"...can even stop death itself—but only if you're not the dunderheads I usually deal with," came Snape's greasy, unmistakable voice from inside the room.

"I'm sorry, Professor!" Jon said, forcing himself to enter.

"Jon Hart?" Snape glanced at the class register in his hand, then gave Jon a cold stare.

Snape's eyes were lifeless and hollow, like two pitch-black tunnels.

"Yes, Professor." Jon nodded.

"Late to the very first Potions class of term. I believe that's a first in all my years of teaching," Snape sneered. "Even Mr. Potter—who wears his rule-breaking like a badge of honor—has never done something like this."