As it grew later and later,
Professor McGonagall finally slowed to a stop.
She glanced at the time and even felt it had passed a bit too quickly.
A trace of unfinished enthusiasm flashed through her eyes as she smiled at Dylan. "Let's stop here for today. It's getting late, and you still have class tomorrow. Go back and rest."
Dylan nodded, still a little unsatisfied.
As expected of Professor McGonagall, the author of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration.
She could cut straight to the heart of many issues.
[Message]: Your Transfiguration proficiency has increased! Current progress: 50%!
Dylan checked his Transfiguration proficiency.
He had jumped another level—
straight to level 5.
"Nice."
His days of hard study had not been in vain.
He was constantly running to McGonagall's office.
Dragging the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts into giving him private lessons every day.
Each session lasted several hours at minimum, and if he could, he would have kept this older professor up all night lecturing.
"But even if I've basically got inanimate Transfiguration down, there's still a lot I need to fully absorb for living Transfiguration."
Transfiguration was an extremely vast and complex branch.
And the higher the level, the harder it was to advance.
Still, if he could grasp the right key insight, a single breakthrough might send his proficiency shooting up.
"Good thing I've got so many max-level spells. Even if the incantations are different, magic always has some shared logic. Once you understand the principle of one spell, you can apply it to others."
For instance, he had recently gone over Reducto and Bombarda again.
His learning speed there was insane.
Faster than watching a video class at double speed.
Those spells did not count as Dark Arts, but their underlying principles and nature overlapped heavily with several offensive curses in Dark magic.
He only had to skim them to quickly master and apply both spells.
And his proficiency had surged as well.
They had not shot straight to max-level, but his control was easily comparable to that of an adult wizard.
"Time to get some sleep."
After tidying up, Dylan said goodbye to McGonagall and left her office, heading back to his dorm.
When he stepped through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room and then into the dormitory,
the first thing he saw upon entering was Harry and Ron sitting on one of the beds,
heads together, whispering about something.
Seeing him come in, Ron called out a greeting.
Dylan nodded lightly.
Then he lowered his head and saw a black shadow streak off his bed in a blur.
"Coalball, good evening."
Dylan's smile softened when he saw his Shadow Wyrm.
Now that he had a license, he had taken some time at lunch to bring Coalball to the dorm.
He planned to keep it there most of the time,
and not let it wander.
Not even the other Gryffindors knew he was keeping such a creature.
Harry and Neville naturally would not mention it casually either.
Only Ron had nearly let it slip several times today, wanting to brag that Dylan was raising a Shadow Wyrm.
But Hermione and Harry had always managed to stop him in time.
After all, a Shadow Wyrm was not on the list of pets Hogwarts normally allowed.
On top of that, they were somewhat aggressive and quite capable fighters.
Even though Coalball was not fully grown,
it was more than capable of killing a young wizard who did not know many spells.
So Dylan had no desire to put Coalball in everyone's line of sight and invite trouble.
"Mrrow."
Coalball padded over with a graceful little trot, but when it was only a step away, it abruptly stopped.
The little creature tilted its chin, tail flicking lightly as it glanced at Dylan from the corner of its eye.
As if to say, "I definitely did not come over just to greet you."
But the moment Dylan walked straight over to the desk instead,
seeing no sign he meant to pick it up, Coalball's eyes widened and it darted after him, circling his legs.
Every so often it bumped its head gently against his shin—and paused deliberately each time.
Setting his bag down by the desk, Dylan crouched with a smile and scooped Coalball into his arms.
"Mrrow!"
Coalball rolled onto its back, turning its little head away with a huffy, tsundere cry.
Dylan chuckled and then cast a quick Scourgify on himself.
He was too lazy to wash up properly tonight; magic would do for one evening.
He took off his shoes and set them neatly beside the bed, changed into his pajamas, and climbed up.
Pulling back a corner of the blanket, he hugged Coalball with one arm and slid under the covers.
The instant he lay down, he could not hold back a long sigh of relief. His face softened, his eyes drifted half-shut, and a contented smile curled his lips.
"So comfortable…"
He gave his legs a little wiggle and snuggled deeper into the blankets, letting them wrap around him snugly.
He could feel Coalball wriggling in his arms, hunting for the perfect sleeping position.
The furry head nudged here and sniffed there; its paws lightly patted at him now and then.
Soon enough, the creature was satisfied and curled up tightly in a ball beside his chest.
Eyes closed, breathing slowly evened out and grew gentle.
Ron and Harry blinked on the other side of the room.
They exchanged a look.
"Wait, he's just… asleep already?"
"Looks like Dylan really never planned on coming with us to duel Slytherin."
"Maybe we ask him again later?"
"Won't that be too late?"
"Just ask."
Muttering softly, the two of them did a quick tidy, then jumped into bed without even changing.
Hours passed.
Until deep in the night,
Hogwarts fell completely silent.
The two of them sneaked out of bed again.
Just as they were about to slip out the door, Ron tugged Harry back, then led him over to Dylan's bed.
Like a mismatched pair of guardian statues, they stood there for ages, first Harry shoving Ron, then Ron shoving Harry, and in the end both just stood there staring at the sleeping Dylan.
Harry eventually gave in, letting out a silent but heavy sigh.
Resigned, he stepped forward, swallowed hard, stretched out a finger, and gently poked Dylan's cheek.
Whoosh.
Dylan's eyes snapped open and fixed straight on the two uninvited guests at his bedside.
Ron and Harry both jumped, and Harry yanked his hand back at once.
"Uh…"
He gave a dry little laugh and opened his mouth, but no words came out.
In the end, Ron managed to squeeze it all out in a whisper.
"Um, Dylan, we're about to go do the duel, so we just wanted to ask one more time—are you really not coming with us?"
As soon as Ron finished, both of them looked at Dylan hopefully.
But the moment they saw those two eerie, ghostly green gleams in his eyes,
their lips snapped shut, their faces tensed, and they forced out two very awkward, very sheepish smiles.
(End of Chapter)
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