King of Lightning [HP FANFIC]

Meanwhile, Professor Slughorn was preparing several glass potion bottles for Anduin, allowing him to take his finished products and encouraging him once again. He awarded 10 points to Slytherin; after all, he would naturally show some favoritism toward a student from his own house.

After class, Anduin was carrying five bottled calming potions. He took out two, intending to give them to Vivian, as they had brewed the potion together.

"Oh no, Anduin, these potions are all your hard work. I feel like I didn't help at all," Vivian refused, too embarrassed to accept them.

"Then just take one. After all, you're my partner, and in today's Potion class, I didn't let you get any hands-on experience," Anduin said as he handed the potion to Vivian, casually offering an excuse to comfort her.

"Hehe . . . you really know how to talk," Vivian said sarcastically, listening to Anduin's rather heartless way of comforting her.

"By the way, the weekend is coming soon. Can I borrow your mahjong set to play? I've got a few girlfriends and I'd like to . . . " Vivian rubbed the fingers of her right hand together, mimicking the motion of drawing a tile, and looked at Anduin with a smile.

This girl . . . why does she pick up bad habits faster than good ones? Anduin looked at her speechlessly. Lately, he had been holed up in his room studying those spells, and apart from classes and meals, he had barely seen Vivian at all.

Upon returning to the common room, Anduin dug out the mahjong tile box he hadn't touched in a long time. After handing it over to Vivian, he returned to his room to resume his grand mission of spell study.

Anduin began reviewing the courses from his first week at Hogwarts.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was incredibly forgettable. As old as a dry bone, he basically read straight from the textbook during class, which was unbelievably boring and lacked any practical content. It was said that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts had been cursed by lord Voldemort, and no professor ever lasted a full year. Anduin was quite worried during this class, fearing that the professor might drop dead at any moment.

Anduin was able to keep up with the Transfiguration course. He discovered he had a rather good talent for it. In the first lesson, Professor McGonagall had them turn a matchstick into a needle. Anduin succeeded perfectly after just over thirty minutes of practice. For this, Professor McGonagall awarded Slytherin 5 points. Although he had a strong interest in Transfiguration, Anduin still prioritized other studies. After all, everyone's time is limited, and this kind of transformation spell, which required a great deal of practice, had to be set aside for now. He planned to improve at it once he made more progress in Charms.

Today's Potion class made Anduin realize something important: this subject suited him very well. He could master the brewing of potions in a short period of time. He planned to prioritize learning and producing potions, focusing on mastering more recipes. He already had a few ideas in mind.

Anduin was planning to earn income by selling potions in the future. Gringotts only allowed a total exchange of 100 Galleons—not annually, but in total. He wasn't about to sit idle; the money Sirius had given him wasn't free, as it had unwittingly led him to provoke two Death Eaters.

As for Herbology, Astronomy, and History of Magic, his basic goal was simply to keep up with the coursework.

At present, his time was mainly divided between Charms and researching Lily's Amulet. For that reason, he prioritized both and had crafted a detailed plan.

First, he would learn new spells using old textbooks he found in the Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms. Currently, Anduin was still in this phase, with the goal of learning all the core spells from years 1 through 7, aiming to cast them fully. He didn't demand perfect execution—just learning them was enough for now. Naturally, he skipped a few of the more difficult ones for the time being, like Apparition, since a mistake while casting it could result in splinching.

Second, he would practice and develop self-defense spells. This would require selecting a set of suitable spells for focused training once the learning phase was complete, and then building a corresponding tactical system.

Anduin classified all spells into four levels: Entry, Mastery, Instinct, and Transcendence.

The ability to successfully cast a spell fell into the Entry level. His first requirement for himself was to bring most of the spells to that stage.

Mastery referred to being able to skillfully control the spell, cast it quickly and precisely, even under harsh conditions, and without making mistakes.

Spells that had been fully internalized and could be cast silently and without a wand fell under what Anduin called the Instinct level. His Levitation Charm and Impediment Curse were basically within this category.

As for Transcendence, it was a level envisioned by Anduin. In his vision, a Transcendent-level spell was one that, on the basis of complete integration, involved developing unique casting techniques or unleashing power far beyond that of the original spell. A Transcendent spell was no longer the original—it was something new. In his view, Vanessa's Extraction Curse had the potential to reach that level, although at present, in his classification, it was a bit above Mastery but had yet to reach Instinct. Still, with further development, it might achieve Transcendence.

He had also considered whether he could evolve his Impediment Curse and Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa) to the Transcendent level, but for now, he had no clear path forward.

At the same time that he was learning defensive magic, he also needed to study Lily's Amulet and attempt to create other alchemical items.

Currently, his idea was to practice several spells to at least the Mastery level and create practical alchemical tools to enhance his strength—such as replicating the Amulet—to collectively construct his tactical system. Anduin had a deep fear of lacking firepower and hated the idea of his safety being out of his control, so he studied new spells day and night.

Then there were the research topics from Professor Flitwick's Charms Club. He planned to begin investigating those after learning most of the standard spells, with the exception of silent casting, wandless magic, and magic sensitivity. He could achieve the first two through intensive training, and he already understood how to improve his magical sensitivity.

Anduin concluded that there are three main elements related to magic and spellcasting: magical reserves, magical intensity, and magical sensitivity.