In the blink of an eye, the date had arrived at July 4, 1991. A full year had passed since Eisen first began learning magic.
For Eisen, this year had been extremely fulfilling. After living in the wizarding world for a year, no one would mistake him for a fake wizard anymore.
As for learning spells, it had gone relatively smoothly for Eisen. However, he realized that the wizarding world had an abundance of spells. Aside from commonly used ones, there were many offensive and defensive spells.
Originally, Eisen had planned to specialize in a few fixed spells. For example, the Petrification Curse for offense, the Shield Charm for defense, and Apparition for escape and movement.
As the saying goes, master one skill and you can thrive anywhere. Eisen believed that by focusing deeply on these three spells, he could form a complete combat system.
However, as Eisen's magic power grew over time, he noticed that his overall physical abilities were also slowly improving. Not only were his strength and endurance increasing, but even his reflexes were steadily enhancing.
It was important to note that a wizard's combat ability wasn't just determined by the amount of magic power they had.
Reaction time was also a critical factor. In other words, if Eisen were to duel another wizard, he could react the moment their wand was pointed at him and counterattack swiftly. This would give him a significant advantage.
After careful consideration, Eisen decided to replace the Petrification Curse with the Disarming Charm for offense.
If his reactions were fast enough, the Disarming Charm would be more effective, as it could directly knock the opponent's wand out of their hand, rendering them powerless.
While the Petrification Curse could also give him an advantage, there was always the risk that the opponent might have protective magical items.
Therefore, targeting the wand directly was a more reliable approach.
For defense, Eisen still focused heavily on the Shield Charm, practicing it extensively. If mastered deeply, this spell could be incredibly powerful.
However, one confusing aspect was that in the original books, the Shield Charm couldn't block the Killing Curse, but in the movies, it could.
For Eisen, if his magic power continued to grow, the Shield Charm he cast would become increasingly stronger, and it might eventually block the Killing Curse. Still, to be safe, he also devoted some effort to studying Transfiguration. Whether in the books or the movies, the Killing Curse could be blocked by physical barriers.
For example, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter with the Killing Curse, moving statues blocked the spell. Although the statues were destroyed, Harry remained unharmed.
Of course, Dumbledore's immense power played a role, but at the very least, this method of blocking curses was effective. And the means Dumbledore used were clearly advanced Transfiguration. This demonstrated just how powerful Transfiguration could be.
Thus, to ensure his safety, Eisen not only studied the Shield Charm in depth but also dedicated himself to learning Transfiguration. Aside from this reason, Eisen also pursued Transfiguration because of its sheer versatility.
For instance, mastering advanced Transfiguration allowed one to transform objects like stools or rocks into living creatures for offense or defense.
Eisen even suspected that the upper limits of Transfiguration might allow for the free manipulation of elements like fire or lightning. If true, Transfiguration could easily become a wizard's core skill.
As for Apparition, Eisen was very eager to learn it, as it was a crucial skill for escaping danger. Unfortunately, he currently had no way to learn it. From what he knew, Apparition had to be taught at Hogwarts.
Therefore, over the past year, Eisen had mainly focused on learning and practicing the Disarming Charm, the Shield Charm, and Transfiguration. That said, he hadn't completely neglected other spells.
For example, he still spent some time practicing commonly used spells like the Summoning Charm, the Mending Charm, the Lumos spell, the Unlocking Charm, the Petrification Curse, the Disillusionment Charm, and the Cleaning Charm.
After waking up and washing up, Eisen practiced spells as usual before leaving his room and heading downstairs to the bar.
Compared to the comfort and tidiness of his room, the bar downstairs remained dim and shabby.
"Eisen, still studying Muggle society?" Tom greeted him as he came down.
"Yes, I find the subject quite fascinating. I'll have a steak and a cup of tea, please," Eisen replied casually, ordering his meal.
Having spent most of the past year at the Leaky Cauldron, Eisen had grown familiar with Tom, the bar's owner. Similarly, the bar's regulars knew about Eisen's interest in studying Muggle society.
In truth, the persona of a "Muggle Studies expert" was one Eisen had deliberately crafted. He genuinely intended to use this identity to apply for a position as the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts.
However, since he wasn't entirely confident about being accepted, he had also studied astronomy extensively.
After all, both Muggle Studies and Astronomy were low-profile subjects at Hogwarts, often treated as easy credits by students.
If his application for Muggle Studies failed, Eisen planned to apply for the Astronomy position instead.
For Hogwarts students, these subjects were just for padding their grades. But for Eisen, they were the perfect cover for his true intentions. With a thought, his golden finger appeared before him. Compared to a year ago, his character panel remained simple.
Character: Eisen Turner
Supernatural Talent: Magic (activated)
Magic Power: 3650 (increases by 10 points daily)
Supernatural Trait: Fine-grade Spellcasting Trait (compatibility 115%) (fused)
Miracle Trait: 1 (gains 1 annually)
After a year, Eisen had become much more like a real wizard. Having fused with the Spellcasting Trait, the common spells he had learned were now approaching the level of wandless and wordless casting.
For example, he had already mastered the advanced technique of casting the Shield Charm without a wand or incantation.
Externally, this meant he could shape the Shield Charm's armor into a full-body protective "bell." Additionally, due to his growing magic power, Eisen's physical abilities were now roughly twice that of an average person, with his reflexes similarly enhanced.
Thus, after perfecting the Disarming Charm, Eisen could now attack at even faster speeds. As for Transfiguration, he could freely transform objects of different sizes and even turn inanimate objects into living creatures. His next goal was to explore how to integrate Transfiguration into combat.
Overall, Eisen believed his proficiency in these three spells was on par with the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic. As for other commonly used spells, Eisen was only proficient in them. He could cast spells without a wand, but not silently.
Looking back on the gains of this past year, Eisen felt quite satisfied. However, what surprised him was the gradual enhancement of his physical attributes alongside his increasing magical power.
If this growth continued unchecked, Eisen wondered if he might develop abilities similar to "bullet time." If so, that would be truly remarkable.
But clearly, this was something that could only be verified in the future.
For now, Eisen's surface-level strength appeared quite formidable. His core abilities—mastery of wandless and wordless spellcasting—were fully developed, and he could proficiently use other charms as well.
Yet, this was all theoretical prowess. Over the past year, he had mostly self-studied and practiced, with no real combat experience.
To become a true powerhouse, he would need to duel other wizards.
From this perspective, only by becoming slightly entangled in the coming turmoil at Hogwarts would he have sufficient opportunities for real battles.
Of course, Eisen's primary motivation for wanting to enter Hogwarts was still to learn advanced spells like Apparition and the Undetectable Extension Charm.
Therefore, before the new batch of first-year students arrived at Hogwarts in 1991, Eisen decided to pause his intense studying.
He planned to write to Hogwarts to apply for the position of Muggle Studies professor. To be safe, he also applied for the Astronomy professorship. After all, these subjects posed no difficulty for him.