With the ability Memory Palace, Ted Epiphany could now practically claim to have a photographic memory. His learning efficiency had increased almost tenfold.
After all, he could first record the contents of a book perfectly, then return to his room in the evening and slowly digest the information at his leisure.
And now that he had become a Psion, he had also begun developing abilities related to psionic power.
The psionic path he had taken clearly originated from the world of Dungeons & Dragons, or rather from one of the many settings within that universe. Naturally, it also possessed its own list of psionic powers.
Aside from certain specialized branches, most abilities could theoretically be developed independently through experimentation.
But something strange puzzled Ted.
He had asked around in the Muggle world and discovered that this world had no such thing as Dungeons & Dragons, the classic fantasy setting. Even older works—such as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings—did not exist.
Not having Harry Potter made sense to him.
But no Lord of the Rings and no Dungeons & Dragons either?
Fortunately, he hadn't pursued his old dream of becoming a Wall Street tycoon.
It seemed the major historical events of this world remained unchanged, but the branches of culture and entertainment were completely different.
If he had tried the Wall Street route, relying on knowledge from his previous life…
He might have ended up not as a tycoon—but in debt.
A psion naturally needed to study the mind, so Ted had rummaged through Muggle bookstores and found two psychology books.
The first was Psychological Types: Individual Psychology by the famous psychologist Carl Jung.
Jung's writing style was direct and clear, yet full of hints and inspiration. His ideas encouraged personal growth and deepened one's understanding of others and the world.
The second book was Social Psychology by the renowned American psychologist Gordon Allport. This work was considered a milestone—it marked the moment when social psychology formally became a scientific discipline.
To be honest, Ted felt he had learned quite a lot from them.
But compared to the vast scope of knowledge within the books, what he had grasped so far was still only a tiny fraction.
If the opportunity ever arose, it would be best to attend a Muggle university and formally study psychology.
Still, even self-study had brought results—especially now that he had just awakened his psionic powers, a stage when mental abilities developed most rapidly.
Because of that, Ted had already developed three small abilities of his own.
The First Ability – Rapid Reading
The first was Rapid Reading.
This ability allowed any text he recognized or any image he could interpret to be instantly imprinted into his mind.
Psionic power accelerated his brain's ability to process visual information.
He could pick up a book, casually flip through it—and memorize the entire thing.
It was practically quantum wave speed-reading.
While it might not seem particularly useful on its own, when combined with Memory Palace, it became extraordinarily powerful.
For the past few days, Ted had been devouring books inside the bookstore, taking full advantage of the opportunity. The warehouse of Flourish and Blotts had become his favorite place.
Like a diligent little squirrel, he organized, read, and stored books inside his mind.
He even volunteered to work overtime outside of his shifts, which embarrassed the bookstore owner enough that he started considering giving Ted a raise.
Of course, it might also be because Ted's Charisma attribute had increased, making people naturally more fond of him.
The Second Ability – Affinity
Speaking of fondness, Ted's second psionic ability was Affinity.
By maintaining a calm and friendly mental state, he could subtly influence nearby intelligent beings to feel a slight sense of goodwill toward him.
A psion with a dark, hostile personality would never develop such an ability.
Instead, those types would typically awaken powers that caused others to avoid them instinctively—or even fear them.
Affinity was a passive ability, always active without requiring conscious activation.
The Third Ability – Conceal Thoughts
The third ability was an active skill.
Conceal Thoughts allowed Ted to use psionic power to shield his mental activity, preventing others from reading his thoughts or sensing his emotions.
With this ability active, Ted could probably sit through a lie detector test without the slightest worry.
Of course, whether it could resist a powerful Legilimency spell from an experienced wizard…
That remained uncertain.
Meanwhile, in terms of magic, Ted had started reading another book:
A Little Surprise for Your Enemies.
It was a book that taught what could broadly be called Dark Magic.
But there was no need to panic—the term Dark Magic covered a very wide range of spells, including jinxes and hexes.
A jinx was simply a spell cast with some degree of malicious intent. Even most prank spells fell into this category.
And that was exactly what this book taught.
From it, Ted learned the Engorged Teeth Hex.
The incantation was:
"Densaugeo!"
Anyone struck by the spell would have their front teeth grow as long as carrots—so long they could prop their mouth wide open.
To practice the spell, Ted had caught a rat and taken care of it with food and water for two days.
Yet when he finally released it, the creature scurried off chittering angrily, clearly furious.
If Ted could have understood what it was saying…
He probably wouldn't have let it go.
After learning this prank hex, a new entry appeared in Ted's skill list:
Dark Magic Lv.1
Old Tom had begun to look at the young errand boy he had kindly taken in with new respect.
Every single day, Ted worked four part-time jobs, then stayed up at night studying textbooks and practicing spells under borrowed light.
And he had kept this up for more than twenty days.
Such discipline and perseverance would be impressive even in a grown adult.
And Ted's magical talent was extraordinary—truly extraordinary.
Old Tom had personally witnessed Ted teaching himself:
the Scouring Charm
the Repair Charm
the Water-Conjuring Charm
and the Engorged Teeth Hex
For a Muggle-born wizard to reach this level through self-study alone was nothing short of astonishing.
"Perhaps it's true what they say," Old Tom muttered to himself one day. "Children from poor families grow up faster. He'll be starting school this year… maybe I should introduce him to Hannah."
Soon after that, Ted noticed his meals improving significantly. Occasionally he was even given meat or a small cake.
A few days later, he met Old Tom's granddaughter—
Hannah Abbott.
In just one month, the two of them would be classmates at Hogwarts.
Ted's first impression of her was a cheerful girl with rosy cheeks and two golden braids.
He couldn't help thinking to himself:
Hannah Abbott!
What a pity.
Even the ironclad traditions of the old wizarding families hadn't preserved the pure bloodlines in this world.
But the real surprise was Neville Longbottom becoming the Chosen One.
That had been completely unexpected.
However, something even more shocking happened later.
On the last day of July, Ted finished processing potion ingredients at the apothecary. With some time to spare, he wandered through Diagon Alley, continuing to increase the progress of his exploration quest.
It had already reached 87% completion.
Only a handful of shops remained unexplored.
Whenever he had time, Ted would wander into different stores just to make acquaintances.
At this point he practically looked like a street loafer.
He was currently standing outside the headquarters of Floo-Pow, the company that sold Floo Powder. He was studying its large front door—which he had never once seen open—when he suddenly heard a man's voice nearby.
"Harry, what do you think of this Nimbus 2000? Shall I buy you one? Of course, it won't count as your birthday present."
"No thanks. I don't like flying broomsticks, and I don't like Quidditch either. Give up already."
Harry?
Ted's heart jolted.
He quickly turned around and saw a well-dressed middle-aged man with long hair and a neat mustache. Beside him stood an elegant, gentle-looking woman.
With them was a girl about Ted's age, wearing glasses.
Although she wore glasses, the girl's expression was lively and energetic. She clearly wasn't the quiet, obedient type.
Something felt off.
Very off.
Before Ted could think it through, he heard a clerk from the broom shop address the man as Mr. Black.
Black?
Sirius Black?!
And that girl—
Was she Harry?
No…
Harriet?!
The realization hit Ted like a bolt of lightning.
A butterfly's wings…
No, this was more like a solar storm.
The Celestial Convergence was one thing.
But Harry had become Harriet!
No wonder Voldemort hadn't chosen her.
With Voldemort's personality, there was no way he would believe his destined rival could be a girl.
Wait…
Did that mean Voldemort was sexist?
Where were the activists when you needed them?
Someone go after him!
While Ted's mind was spiraling into complete chaos, something else was happening nearby.
Sirius Black seemed to have begun exchanging sarcastic remarks with someone.
Looking closer, Ted saw a father and son standing opposite the three of them.
Both wore expensive robes and carried themselves with the arrogant air of high-born aristocrats. Their hair was a pale platinum blond.
Sirius grinned with his usual carefree expression.
"Oh? Malfoy. You're doing your own shopping today? Don't tell me you're out collecting rent from your tenants."
The elder Malfoy maintained his aristocratic composure despite the mockery.
"I am, at the very least, your cousin-in-law," he replied calmly. "Is that how you speak to family, Black? Whatever happened to your manners?"
There was no doubt about it.
The people arguing with Sirius were Lucius Malfoy and his son.