Over the weekend, Dylan spent almost all his waking hours in the library, aside from eating and sleeping.
Only by pushing himself like this did he barely manage to finish Precise Formulae for Advanced Potions.
Fortunately, he did not need to start brewing with Professor Snape immediately. There was still a full week before the next weekend, more than enough time to finish Safe Usage of Potions.
What he needed to do now was further consolidate his knowledge of advanced potions.
So that he would not make any embarrassingly basic mistakes in front of Professor Snape.
Another half week slipped by.
On Thursday,
Dylan woke up early as usual.
To his surprise, Harry and Ron were also sitting up.
The other two were still sleeping like the dead.
"Hey, morning!" Ron stretched.
Dylan had already flipped back his covers and gotten out of bed.
As he packed his bag, he looked at Harry and Ron in mild surprise. "How come you're up so early today?"
"Because we've got flying lessons today, of course! I barely slept all night!" Ron jumped off his bed.
Flying, huh?
Dylan did remember there was flying class today; it was one of the courses added in the second week of term.
Still, what was there to be that excited about?
"Being able to zoom around in the sky must feel amazing." Ron chuckled. "That's how my brothers always describe it!"
Harry climbed down as well. "Once we learn to fly, we can try out for Quidditch."
Quidditch, huh…
No thanks.
Instead of smashing into people in midair like some flying ox on a broomstick,
he would rather read a couple more books.
He had long since lost interest in crash-cars—
or in this case, crash-brooms.
"Dylan, have you studied flying spells? You can already fly, right?" Harry blinked at him.
Dylan shook his head and corrected him. "There's no such thing as a pure flying charm. Usually you need a magical item and the Levitation Charm together."
"Once you use Levitation to get the broom off the ground, then you can steer it. The speed depends on how good the broom is."
Even from that alone, it was clear that spells could be combined with magical tools.
Just like wands guided and amplified a wizard's magic,
flying brooms had to be made with all sorts of magical materials,
and crafted through complex steps,
so they could work together with applied spells and boost their effects.
That was why higher-quality brooms flew faster and handled more smoothly.
"When it comes to flying, it's better to have an adult supervising you. Trying it on your own can easily lead to unexpected danger."
Dylan made it clear he had never practiced flying at home.
"Merlin, there's actually something you can't do?" Ron stared.
"…If I tried flying around on a broom at home and someone saw me, wouldn't the Ministry of Magic just drag me off on the spot?"
Ron blinked, then it clicked.
Whatever else, he was a pure-blood wizard. Dylan was different; he was a Muggle-born.
The rules about magic in the Muggle world really were strict.
Harry went over to his bag. "I've heard a lot of kids in class say they've already practiced flying at home."
Just then, Seamus woke up.
Hearing that, he rolled over and sat up.
"I even heard somebody say their parents took them flying over the Giant Mountains on a broom!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "That's got to be Malfoy, that blowhard again!"
"The Giant Mountains? The environment there's awful. Nobody normal would choose to fly there," Dylan said with a laugh.
"More importantly, even in pure-blood families, most parents won't let their kids practice on brooms before they've even started school."
He looked at Ron. "Your parents wouldn't let you practice before term started, right?"
Ron nodded hard. "Exactly. George tried to teach me once, and when Mum caught him, she tanned his backside good."
Seamus froze. "Really? Then they were all lying?"
Dylan shrugged. "Maybe."
Young wizards had strong pride and a competitive streak.
Telling a few white lies to show off in front of classmates was normal.
Once his bag was packed, Dylan took out the notebook Professor McGonagall had annotated for him, holding it in both hands to read on the way.
He had not actually done any real flying with the Levitation Charm, so it was not maxed out yet, but it was already at level 7.
Either way, he had already mastered several max-level spells.
Even if they were Dark Arts, many branches of magic shared common ground.
Start from a point, draw a line, and spread it into a plane.
For Dylan, that made learning magic far less difficult.
Not to mention all the talent boosts his system had given him.
With everyone in the dorm essentially awake, Ron ran over to Neville and shook him.
"Up you get! Come on, breakfast!"
"Huh? What?" Neville mumbled, still half-asleep.
"Quit talking nonsense and get up!"
With Ron pestering him, Neville finally rolled out of bed.
He was obedient enough and had no morning temper to speak of.
They quickly finished getting ready and, for the first time, all left the dorm together for breakfast.
"This is our first time eating breakfast together," Ron said.
"Dylan always gets up too early. Even when I want to, I just can't wake up," Harry said, picking a relatively open spot to sit.
Dylan pressed his lips into a slight smile and sat down beside him, saying nothing.
Before long, Hermione walked into the Hall. Seeing them all clustered together, she came over.
Lately, Dylan had been earning points for Gryffindor in nearly every class, always performing outstandingly in practicals.
Hermione had been secretly competing with him the whole time.
But after a while, she realized Dylan seemed to have no concept of "free time." He was studying almost every waking moment.
On top of that, what he knew was miles beyond her.
What stung most was that the questions professors asked him, compared to the ones they asked her, were on totally different levels of difficulty.
She had tried answering some of the questions directed at Dylan, but…
The result was exactly what one would expect.
After taking a few hits like that, Hermione's mindset began to shift.
Instead of trying to compete with Dylan solely during class, she started quietly observing him.
(End of Chapter)
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