The morning sun gently illuminated the Gryffindor Tower.
"Allen, Allen! Wake up!" Ron's voice came from outside the curtains.
Allen struggled out of bed and replied, "Okay! Getting up now!"
As he answered, he skillfully checked his body.
Alas! The wings were indeed gone! Allen instantly felt a great loss of security.
Though those wings were quite a nuisance! Allen thought silently.
Allen quickly found the organ that had been randomly transfigured today—a pair of horns had grown on his head.
He lightly pulled back the curtains, jumped out of bed, and ran barefoot to the only mirror in the dormitory, carefully examining his new "decoration."
"Allen, those horns look so cool!" Allen's shoulder was heavily patted; it was Harry's voice.
"Of course, it depends on whose head they're on!" Allen was in a good mood today. He then realized that today's horns seemed to be from some kind of cattle, which was a good transformation, having very little impact on his life, making his mood even better.
"Good morning!" Harry also leaned in to look at Allen in the mirror.
Allen suddenly felt like a Tauren from the game "World of Warcraft" he used to play, and a mischievous idea popped into his head. He solemnly replied to Harry, "May the Earthmother guide you!"
Then he ran off laughing, leaving Harry utterly bewildered.
Then he saw Allen say to Neville, who had just entered, "May the wind guide your path!"
Neville also looked at Allen with a blank expression as he laughed and ran into the washroom.
"What is Allen saying?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"I don't know either, but this is the first time I've seen Allen so lively! Before, he was..." Harry thought for a moment before finding the right words, "Gloomy and made people feel distant!"
"I like him now!" Ron shrugged.
...
Great Hall (Dining Hall).
Allen sat at the long table, studying this week's timetable.
He used a quill to write and draw on the timetable.
First-year courses at Hogwarts included: Herbology, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, Flying, and Charms.
Allen assigned star ratings to these courses based on their importance to him:
Five Stars: Transfiguration (no choice, this affects his life and safety);
Four Stars: Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts;
Three Stars: Potions, Herbology;
Two Stars: History of Magic;
One Star: Astronomy, Flying.
It wasn't that Allen wouldn't study the lower-starred courses diligently. He would study all courses seriously and complete his homework carefully after class. However, he found that the teachers' requirements for them were not very high.
But Allen, who vaguely knew some of the plot, couldn't make such demands on himself. After all, a great magical turmoil was approaching, so he had to prepare early. He demanded that he achieve mastery in certain subjects.
First-year classes didn't take up much time, and Allen had a lot of free time, so he categorized these courses to better allocate his spare time.
The higher the star rating of a course, the more effort he would put into it during his free time to achieve mastery.
For high-starred courses, scoring 100 was not Allen's goal; Allen's goal was to score 100 because the test only had 100 points.
Additionally, after this period of study, Allen found that his magical talent was not that strong, at least still a long way from the legendary wizards in the history of magic, but it was still considerably higher than that of ordinary young wizards.
His biggest advantage was having a mature soul—he was far more capable of sitting still than those 11-year-old young wizards, less easily distracted by external things, and able to practice magic with single-minded devotion, which was a huge advantage.
But his biggest disadvantage was also having a mature soul—his thoughts were too chaotic, unlike the pure thoughts of 11-yearold young wizards. When he cast spells, strange ideas (here, he wanted to call out Pig Dingding) always popped into his mind. These strange ideas always prevented him from concentrating and could even lead to failed spellcasting.
So he had to better allocate his spare time to achieve his learning goals.
What made Allen hesitate now was whether to change Defense Against the Dark Arts to 5 stars. Originally, his plan was to study discreetly at school, but his plans were mercilessly shattered by one event after another, forcing him to re-evaluate his strategy.
He clearly remembered a short video he had watched before—Malfoy and Professor Dumbledore's deaths were closely related!
Malfoy was ultimately going to become a Death Eater, and his conflict with Malfoy had already reached this point. Later, if he had the chance, Malfoy would definitely not let him go. If it was just Malfoy alone, it would be easy to deal with, but if he brought other dangerous Death Eaters, Allen wouldn't be able to handle it! Allen calculated in his mind.
It seems increasing practice time for Defense Against the Dark Arts is imperative! Allen secretly made up his mind.
Then he started getting a headache again. He thought of Professor Quirrell, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Every class was full of jokes, and while it was quite amusing, he didn't learn much in the end. This wouldn't do!
Unlike other young wizards, Allen had quite a high opinion of Professor Quirrell.
First, although Professor Quirrell stammered and often made jokes, he had a certain engineering-minded aura, which made Allen, also an engineer, feel a sense of affinity.
Then, the scenes of young wizards bullying and teasing Professor Quirrell reminded him of his own childhood when he was mocked by his classmates, which made him feel some empathy for Professor Quirrell.
Furthermore, Allen observed that Professor Quirrell had a relatively severe social anxiety disorder, which made Allen, who had mild social anxiety in his previous life, deeply empathize with Professor Quirrell's behavior and feel a strong sense of connection.
Moreover, Allen had heard several older wizards say that Professor Quirrell used to be an excellent person and was liked by many, so his professionalism seemed good. Allen generally had a good impression of professional people.
Finally, although Professor Quirrell's classroom always smelled of garlic, Fred and the others said it was to deter vampires. In Allen's eyes, this was a highly professional act:
To maintain such high vigilance in a safe place like Hogwarts, and to not forget to use methods to guard against evil magical creatures, how professional and diligent is that! Allen, who had always lived in a safe country in his previous life, considered this the quality he most lacked, and he also desired this spirit of constant vigilance.
Based on the above, Allen had such a high opinion of Professor Quirrell!
"It's just that I don't seem to learn anything in Professor Quirrell's class! The young wizards always disrupt his teaching rhythm, and he can't maintain classroom discipline due to his stuttering caused by social anxiety." Allen mused, putting the blame on the young wizards.
"No, I can't be like other young wizards, carefree and just playing around in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I still need to find a way to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts well!" Allen thought, troubled.
"Should I help Professor Quirrell maintain classroom discipline? No, that would be too high-profile! And doing so might make Professor Quirrell even more nervous." Someone thought, without any self-awareness, that he had never been low-key since arriving at Hogwarts.
Suddenly, Allen thought of his high school life in his previous life, when he would chase after teachers after class to ask questions.
"Can I do that too?" Allen excitedly slapped his thigh, "Yes! That's it! I'll go find Professor Quirrell alone after class. When it's one-on-one, he definitely won't be so socially anxious, and no one will mock him. He'll definitely teach me everything he knows! Yes! That's it!"
Allen finally made up his mind. Learning this subject well would be a huge help for his self-preservation in the future!
So he no longer hesitated and changed the star rating of Defense Against the Dark Arts on his timetable to five stars!
He looked at his timetable and smiled happily...