The atmosphere in the compartment was unusually strange, with Will ignoring the others.
"Regarding the nature of curses, the current Wizarding World has many theories; however, the mainstream understanding in Egypt is the 'legitimacy' of curses, meaning that curses have a legitimate meaning in a magical sense.
This is a right bestowed upon them by 'deities,' and therefore many Egyptian curses are long-lasting, capable of enduring for thousands of years; while curses in other regions are relatively short-lived."
"It's just my personal opinion that the so-called 'deity bestowal' still has questionable points; the current European Wizarding World also generally believes that the essence of curses is nothing more than a variant of magic, and in essence, it is closer to a small-scale ritual magic; moreover, in my years of curse-breaking work, every excellent curse Wizard or curse-breaker I've met has had exceptional insights into ritual magic, some even being half a ritual magic Wizard themselves."
"In my curse-breaking work, I also frequently need to rely on various rituals to break curses."
Will nodded noncommittally. Ritual magic, a major branch of ancient magic, has a long history across the global magical world, for example, rain-making and sacrifices in China are typical examples of ritual magic.
Will thought of examples he had seen in the "Brief History of Eastern magic" and "Mysterious Asian magic" he had read before: Zhuge Liang borrowing the East Wind, which was also a large-scale ritual magic.
"Gugugu~" It wasn't until Will's stomach rumbled that he closed his book; for Will, good food was also a great love, and although knowledge was spiritual food, he couldn't just fill his spirit.
Will pulled out… several metal lunchboxes from his trunk.
When Will opened the lunchboxes, the food was still steaming hot; curry beef, stir-fried snow peas, and the British famous Coronation Chicken; along with a box of white rice; the portions of the dishes were not large, but the entire compartment was filled with the aroma of the food.
This scene made the three people around him stare with wide, astonished eyes; Sylvia and Hermione even gasped in surprise.
"You brought food?"
"Your food is still hot, is this magic?"
Sylvia and Neville were shocked that Will had brought food onboard, while Hermione was focused on how the dishes, despite being in ordinary metal lunchboxes, were still steaming hot after a morning, which most likely meant magic had been applied.
Will's stomach was quite empty, and after a bite of curry beef, he answered their questions.
"Yes, after all, I heard it wouldn't be until evening that we would arrive at Hogwarts; these dishes have a Warming Charm applied to them; oh, Warming Charms are in both 'Feast for a Table' and 'The magic of Cooking.'"
Listening to Will casually rattle off those book titles, Hermione felt a hint of impatience; she had never even heard of those books.
It seemed Will had read many magic books, and she felt like he had once again outdone her.
Will looked at the three of them, waved his wand, and transformed a few toothpicks next to the lunchboxes into spoons.
"Do you want some too?"
[Someone has developed a good impression of you, Charm EXP +1] x 3
Will's lips curled up; even a small mosquito is still meat.
"Transfiguration? You've already learned Transfiguration? I tried several times following 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration,' but I never succeeded.
How did you do it?" Hermione's focus was always on this aspect.
Of course, Will knew she was afraid of falling behind, afraid that students from Wizarding families had already mastered too much magical knowledge, while she was just entering the Wizarding World; however, these worries were ultimately unnecessary, as there was no magical primary school in the Wizarding World, and most young Wizards studied at home before entering Hogwarts.
Mixed-blood families might send their children to Muggle primary schools, while pure-blood Wizarding families, if less affluent, would teach their children themselves, and more affluent noble families might hire private tutors.
"It's not difficult, is it? Are you sure you don't want to eat some?" Seeing that none of the three reached for a spoon, Will didn't press them and put a piece of Coronation Chicken into his mouth.
Neville, at this moment, had a long face: "Of course it's difficult.
I haven't mastered a single spell yet, I haven't even really looked at those books.
Merlin's beard, will I be expelled from Hogwarts? I just knew I had no talent."
"Don't be silly, Longbottom, I've never heard of anyone in your family being expelled.
In fact, I've never heard of any Wizard being expelled for lack of talent, though some people have been expelled during their schooling for other reasons, such as that magical creature expert, Newt Scamander." Sylvia's tone was slightly cool, but Neville seemed somewhat encouraged.
As a member of the Lestrange family, Sylvia had specifically learned about Newt.
"You mean that zoologist was an expelled Hogwarts student?" Hermione was incredulous.
In her current worldview, expelled students were all incorrigible scoundrels, useless failures, essentially equivalent to what she considered losers; Newt Scamander was a famous British magizoologist, traveler, travel writer, and the author of the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
She remembered that this was the textbook for Hogwarts's Care of Magical Creatures Class.
"Yes, so Hogwarts isn't an absolute authority." Will swallowed his food and expressed his opinion. "Moreover, in the current Wizarding World, there are still some Wizards who don't go to any school at all, but instead follow a teacher, learning through an apprenticeship system, though this method of learning has significant drawbacks."
"How do you know so much? Is your family also a Wizarding family?" Hermione finally asked what she wanted to know.
Will's demeanor was more like that of a child from a Wizarding family than Neville's, but it was an undeniable fact that he was her primary school classmate.
"Of course not, everyone related to me by blood is a Muggle; I just read a few more books."
Hermione felt a lot of pressure; she had indeed been outdone by this classmate again.
She secretly resolved that she needed to work even harder; she couldn't let him surpass her again.
"Oh my, Berens, you truly are a born Ravenclaw." Neville exclaimed sincerely, "I might only be able to go to Hufflepuff."
"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, you know, Newt Scamander came from Hufflepuff; and Hufflepuff has produced many famous Wizards, such as Grogan Stump, who served as Minister for magic of the British Ministry of Magic from 1811 to 1819; or Professor Silvanus Kettleburn of the Care of Magical Creatures Class; and for example, Hengist of Woodcroft on the Chocolate Frog cards, who founded Hogsmeade Village.
These Wizards are all extremely excellent Wizards, there's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, they are upright and down-to-earth, and can be said to be the best people to befriend."
Will had seriously considered going to Hufflepuff; the little badgers wouldn't disturb his peaceful life, and he would be closer to the kitchen; he could study and eat without interruption, and his Charm skill might level up quickly in the badger house.
Hearing Will's explanation, Neville seemed touched: "It seems there's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff after all."
"I think while Hufflepuff is good, the best house should be Gryffindor, you know, Dumbledore graduated from Gryffindor." Hermione stuck to her opinion.
"So, which house do you want to go to, Sylvia?"
"Most of my family are in Slytherin," Sylvia said faintly, as if she already knew she would definitely go to Slytherin.
"It seems this compartment has students from all four houses?"
Will shoveled his hot rice, not refuting anything, but he still couldn't be sure where he would go, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?
He didn't want to be with the reckless young Wizards in Gryffindor; huh, ostracizing top students? What on earth were those people thinking?
As for Slytherin, he didn't think he would get along well with those "pure-blood nobles" who were arrogant and rude to Muggle Wizards.