Hermione, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly perked up and said, "Me too! I want to take all the courses!"
"But won't the class schedules overlap?" Harry asked as he flipped through the list in confusion. "How could you possibly manage that?"
"If Percy could take twelve subjects, the school must have a solution—maybe private tutoring or something like that," Hermione replied, tossing her hair nonchalantly. "Anyway, I want to study everything."
"Hermione, that's not surprising," Michael said, turning to Wade. "But why are you choosing all the courses? I thought you weren't interested in Divination."
Looking at the chart, it was clear that aside from the advantage of being easy to score in, Divination had little going for it.
The most frequent descriptors were "pointless," followed by "waste of time," and "made-up nonsense." Everyone they knew seemed to have a poor opinion of the Divination professor.
"I want to understand different systems of magic," Wade explained. "It'll help with my studies in alchemy."
Neville and the others nodded, though they only half-understood.
Staring at the chart, they gradually gained clarity about what they wanted to study in the future.
"Thank you, Wade," Theo said suddenly. "Since you're taking all the courses, you didn't really need to analyze the pros and cons of each one, did you? I know you spent time on this just to help us."
A few slower-to-catch-on people—like Harry—only realized this now. He quickly stammered his thanks, feeling oddly flustered and even a bit embarrassed.
Wade shook his head and said, "Since these decisions affect your future, I want you to choose what's best for you. Besides, I didn't do much; I just came up with a way to summarize and compare things."
...
A few days into the holidays, everyone at the Umbrella Room had made their decisions and filled out their course selection forms.
Wade's chart spread among the students, and was quietly exchanged and discussed. Even those who had been blindly choosing or those from Muggle-born families adjusted their options.
During the break, the two Head Boy took the lead and gathered one or two prefects from each house to organize a maze challenge among students.
Like professional event planners, they prepared everything in just a few days, formally appointing referees and medics.
Naturally, the students were enthusiastic. Many invited the top-performing students to join their teams.
"Wade, let's form a team too!" Michael said excitedly. "If we join forces, we're sure to win the championship!"
"Sorry," Wade said, spreading his hands. "Our Head Boy, West, told me I'm banned from participating to keep the competition fair."
--- If I were to participate, Wester would likely impose several restrictions on me, such as no Disillusionment Charm, no use of the insect army, and preferably avoiding Confundus Charms as well.
"What?!" Michael was instantly furious. "This is blatant favoritism! I'm going to protest to the judges! They're sabotaging the team most likely to win the championship!"
"Let it go. I have other things to do this holiday," Wade said, patting Michael's shoulder. "You'll just have to rely on yourselves—good luck!"
"Other things?" Michael asked.
"Yeah." Wade smiled with a hint of anticipation in his expression, and said, "Remus has been keeping an eye on the Muggle weather channel. He says there's a good chance of a storm in the next few days."
Michael's eyes lit up. "Does that mean... your Animagus transformation is almost complete?"
"That's right." Wade placed a hand over his chest as if sensing a faint second heartbeat and said, "If all goes well..."
...
The Easter break was two weeks long. On the third day, Wade applied for permission to leave school, and Lupin was waiting for him at the school gates.
"Oh, Remus," Hagrid said, waving as he escorted Wade out. "Harry's not here—he's busy with the competition!"
This holiday, almost all the students had stayed at school to participate in the maze challenge.
"I know. He mentioned it in the book to me," Lupin replied with a smile. "It's a shame the competition isn't open to the public; it would've drawn a full house."
"Exactly!" Hagrid scratched his bushy head and grinned. "I'm serving as a referee tomorrow! The kids think I'm fair and invited me to judge."
In truth, Hagrid's towering presence made him ideal for spotting problems in the maze and easily subduing any magical creatures. Plus, many professors were away for the holidays, making Hagrid the students' top choice.
It was also undeniable that the gamekeeper, once avoided by most students, had grown significantly more popular.
Sometimes, while watering his vegetable garden, students would go out of their way to greet him, and others would bring leftover chicken legs for Fang (Hagrid's dog).
Wade often suspected this trend had been started by the Weasley twins—they'd long been scheming to "bribe" Hagrid and Fang so they could roam the Forbidden Forest freely.
After some idle chat, Hagrid said goodbye, and Wade and Lupin set off down the path to Hogsmeade.
The spring air was still chilly, so they wore heavy black cloaks. The road was deserted, and all around, only blades of grass struggling to push through rocks and soil were visible.
Beneath their feet were scattered blades of grass, while in the distance stretched a lush green carpet.
"You were asking me about your new professor, Sierra Abigail," Lupin said. "I actually know her. She was part of the joint investigation team previously and was employed by Ilvermorny, the American wizarding school."
"Employed?"
"Yes. Although she graduated from that school, she isn't a member of Ilvermorny's staff now. She's more of a freelance mercenary, and she's quite well-regarded in this field."
"If she didn't take up a position at her own alma mater..." Wade mused, "why would she come to Hogwarts to teach?"
"Maybe it's precisely because it's her alma mater that she didn't accept," Lupin speculated.
"She's a very adventurous person. She's traveled to many countries, faced legendary dangers, and visited several other magical schools. Ilvermorny might feel too familiar to her and has lost its appeal."
Wade recalled Professor Abigail's earlier remarks and asked, "She's also been to Uagadou?"
"Rumor has it that she worked there as a teaching assistant for six months and even learned some African languages during that time," Lupin said in an admiring tone.
"And now... she's come to Hogwarts," Wade said.
"Hogwarts is the best magic school. The chance to serve as a professor here for even a few months would likely be very enticing to someone like Abigail," Lupin replied.
"And since she's American, she might not take the idea of the curse all that seriously."
Wade looked at him for a moment and then suddenly asked, "Remus, do you like her?"
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +219 Chapters
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