Ten black cards appeared in the air, each glowing with its own unique light as Wayne activated the draw.
Six white, three blue, one purple.
The white ones weren't anything special—basic rewards like a single Galleon or common potion ingredients. Depending on the value, the quantity varied, but they were all easily bought on the market. Wayne skipped right past them.
The three blue cards were much better—they each granted a spell:
Protego (Shield Charm)
Confringo (Blasting Curse)
Ventus (Flying Sand and Stone Charm)
Wayne had already mastered these spells. When he merged them through the system, he could feel his understanding of them deepen significantly.
Checking his stats, he found that all three had reached Advanced level.
Above that was only Master level.
Of course, that didn't mean reaching Master was the ceiling. After all, Harry had used nothing but Expelliarmus to duel Voldemort. The sheer power he unleashed with it far exceeded others—proving magic had no limits, only mastery.
Finally, it was time for the purple card.
As its violet glow faded, Wayne saw its contents and raised a brow.
[Innate Sorcery: Manaflow Band]
Manaflow Band?
Wasn't that a skill from League of Legends? You could get that here?
He looked at the description:
Manaflow Band – Sorcery Type – Passive Trait
For every spell that reaches Advanced mastery, permanently increases total mana and regeneration speed slightly.
Jackpot.
Wayne's face lit up.
Mana was a vague yet undeniably real concept. In the wizarding world, no one had figured out how to actively increase their magical power—people could only grow stronger over time, mostly through talent and age.
Put simply—it was all about innate talent.
Some wizards lived long but, lacking talent, barely improved. Even Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Moody) had said that if first-years tried casting the Killing Curse on him, at best he'd get a nosebleed.
Wayne, with SS-tier magical talent, already had a mana pool rivaling seventh-years. But who didn't want infinite mana mode?
Merging the trait, Wayne immediately felt a tangible increase in his magical capacity. And the more spells he mastered, the more this trait would scale.
Endless potential.
For a purple card, this was a massive win.
"Keep drawing!" Wayne said excitedly.
Second ten-pull: Another purple card—this time, it was one of the Unforgivable Curses, Imperius Curse. Not particularly useful.
Third ten-pull: A powerful defensive spell—Aegis, modeled after Zeus' legendary shield.
In Greek mythology, the Aegis was made from the hide of the goat Amalthea, forged by Hephaestus, imbued with Zeus's power, and later inlaid with Medusa's head. Eventually, Zeus passed it to Athena, who used it in her battles.
Any spell bold enough to borrow that name had to be mighty.
Protego could block most spells, but not the Killing Curse—and against powerful magic, even Protego could backfire on the caster.
But the Aegis could withstand even Killing Curses. As long as the caster had sufficient mana, it made them nearly invincible.
With this spell, Wayne's safety skyrocketed.
Fourth ten-pull: Got Weather Charm—allowed him to command wind, rain, and thunder.
Fifth ten-pull: Got a rare potion recipe—Cognitive Elixir, which enhanced thinking speed and mental clarity.
Wayne frowned a little.
"So I really had to hit pity to get a gold card..."
He'd been 60 draws away from a guaranteed gold reward. He'd done one ten-pull during summer, and two more just after starting school—now he was at 100.
"System, one more ten-pull."
A golden light burst across the screen, then dimmed. Among the remaining nine cards were two purples and three blues.
Wayne opened the golden card with bated breath.
Congratulations! You've obtained a high-tier reward: Observation Haki. Localized and optimized as: Dynamic Perception.
Dynamic Perception: Detect nearby life auras, greatly enhances observational ability. At Master level, allows brief glimpses into the future.
Not a spell or stat booster, but a support-type ability.
Yet Wayne didn't think it was any less valuable than a talent template.
Wizard duels weren't just about throwing spells head-on. Survival relied on reaction speed and awareness.
With Dynamic Perception, he'd be one step ahead—able to read movements, intentions, and sneak attacks.
Even Voldemort would be useless if he couldn't hit his target.
"Can't beat me? At least I'll tire you to death," Wayne thought smugly.
He closed his eyes and absorbed the information.
It was a state-type spell, like the Light Body Charm—low mana cost, but difficult to master.
Thanks to the system, he instantly reached Intermediate mastery.
But to push it further, he'd have to train on his own.
Casting it on himself, Wayne could suddenly feel the wind outside, hear the chatter of over a hundred students in the common room, and even spot a mosquito flapping its wings on Toby's suitcase.
Sight, hearing, intuition—all heightened.
In a world where most spells required incantation, being able to anticipate enemy actions was nearly equivalent to precognition.
"This is insane," Wayne muttered, his grin stretching wide.
Only then did he remember the remaining cards.
Of the two purple cards, one gave him Felix Felicis, the other the black magic curse Fiendfyre.
Sixty pulls, and Wayne had come out of it significantly stronger.
He had ten-plus spells upgraded to Advanced, which activated Manaflow Band, increasing his mana pool.
He gained powerful spells—black magic, Aegis—and the game-changing Dynamic Perception.
Wayne was dying to test it all out.
An idea popped into his mind.
The Gryffindor dormitory.
It was already 11:30 PM.
Hearing Seamus and Dean snoring, Harry opened his eyes and whispered:
"Ron, are you still awake?"
"Of course. I've been thinking how we'll handle Malfoy later."
Ron was already changing clothes.
"Maybe we should just punch him before his spell even works?"
"Why not go lower? I'll kick him right where it hurts," Harry said with a smirk.
"That's evil, Harry. Old Malfoy would kill you for that."
Both boys changed quietly, trying not to wake their roommates, and snuck out to the common room.
The normally lively space was now eerily silent—only the fireplace crackled in the corner, casting a warm glow.
No one else was there.
They relaxed, heading toward the exit—
"Neville? What are you doing here?"
A bundled-up figure in the corner startled them both, causing them to jump.
They froze—then relaxed when they saw who it was.
"Thank Merlin. Did you come to find me because I wasn't in the dorm?"
"I forgot the common room password and got locked out," Neville said tearfully.
Harry and Ron froze.
"Sorry, but... we actually didn't notice," they thought.
"The password's 'Pig Snout'—but it won't help now," Harry said, pointing at the empty frame.
"The Fat Lady probably went for a stroll. Even if you knew the password, you couldn't get in."
"What do we do then?" Neville asked, panicking.
"Come with us," Ron said.
After all, Malfoy had two goons. If they didn't play fair and brought backup, at least Neville could help out.
Although he highly doubted Neville's spellcasting abilities, at the very least, he could serve as a decent meat shield.
The chubby boy blinked in confusion. "Where are we going?"
"No time to explain! If we don't leave now, we'll be late," Harry blurted out, grabbing Neville and rushing downstairs.
Along the way, when Neville found out they were heading to a duel, his mouth opened wide enough to fit a whole cauldron.
"That's against school rules! I can't let you go—you'll be expelled!"
Harry hadn't expected the usually timid Neville to explode like this. He paused mid-step, then suddenly remembered something he had once overheard Wayne say to Hermione.
Harry cleared his throat. "Neville, you wouldn't want your gran to find out you forgot the common room password, would you?"
That shut Neville right up. With a dejected face, he followed the two behind. More than breaking the rules, Neville feared his grandmother the most.
By the time they arrived at the Trophy Room, Malfoy had already brought Crabbe and was waiting.
Seeing three people show up, Malfoy's expression twisted.
"Potter! You dishonorable cheat! We agreed on one assistant!"
"We just ran into Neville on the way," Harry said between gasps, "Ron is my real backup."
Malfoy seemed slightly mollified by that.
The tension mounted. Both Harry and Malfoy drew their wands.
"I'll count to three, and then you can cast," Ron said. He'd been reading up on dueling etiquette lately and took on the role of referee.
"Three—!"
He barely got the first word out when both boys raised their wands simultaneously, as if reading each other's minds.
"Densaugeo!"
"Rictusempra!"
Both spells hit straight on.
Malfoy's front teeth shot out of his mouth and kept growing until they touched his chest. Harry doubled over laughing, unable to breathe, let alone cast another spell.
But they both had so little magical power that the effects only lasted less than a minute before fading.
Harry recovered first. Seizing the chance, he flung his wand aside and charged, landing a vicious kick squarely—
"OHHHH!"
Malfoy let out a soul-wrenching shriek and collapsed, accidentally smashing his forehead into Harry's chin, making Harry bite his own tongue.
Chaos ensued. The magical duel was over—it had devolved into a messy brawl.
Ron, afraid Harry would get overwhelmed, took the opportunity to land two solid kicks on Malfoy, which Crabbe noticed. He joined the fray, and the two started fighting.
Crabbe was at least twice Ron's size, but Neville, sobbing, finally jumped in. Using sheer body weight, he managed to pin Crabbe down.
Now five boys were tangled in a chaotic scrum. Cries echoed through the corridor—it was impossible to tell whose tears were whose, or whose sweat was whose.
Just then, Filch's unmistakable voice echoed through the hallway.
"Who's there?!"
Instantly, all five froze.
Harry scrambled up and pulled his hand out of Malfoy's mouth. "Ron! Neville! RUN! It's Filch!"
Even Malfoy didn't care about revenge anymore. He shoved open the doors and bolted.
One group ran upstairs, the other downstairs. Filch yelled after them:
"Stop right there! I saw your faces! Stop now and I might go easy on you!"
No one listened. After a moment's hesitation, Filch decided to chase the upstairs group.
Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms were too close to the dungeons—he'd never catch them in time. But the tower? That gave him a longer chase.
Naturally, Harry and the others knew Filch was after them. They ran blindly, ducking into a random classroom to hide.
Unfortunately, just their luck—they ran straight into Peeves the Poltergeist.
He was scribbling random graffiti on the blackboard, and when he saw the three first-years, he perked up with glee and tossed his chalk aside.
"Well, what do we have here? Three naughty first-years wandering the halls at night!"
"Please," Harry begged, "Filch is looking for us. Keep it down."
"It's for your own good, yes indeed," Peeves cackled. "What will your punishment be, hmm? Maybe I should go fetch Filch and find out?"
"Shove off!" Ron snarled, giving Peeves a push.
That was a huge mistake.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves howled at the top of his lungs, trying to lead Filch right to them.
The trio bolted again, fleeing the room in full sprint until they slammed into a locked door.
"We're screwed!" Ron yelled. "It's locked!"
"Do you know any spells? Open it!"
"I only know the Unlocking Charm, but I haven't learned it yet!"
The sound of footsteps grew closer. Peeves' shouting didn't help either.
The three were growing more desperate by the second. Neville was already imagining life after expulsion.
Maybe he could stay home and garden... that didn't sound so bad.
Ron furiously yanked on the handle, trying to break it off.
Click—the door swung open.
"Get in, now!" Harry barked. All three tumbled inside—only to be met by an annoyed voice in the dark.
"I mean... if you're going to sneak out at night, could you at least not wake the whole castle?"
"No, we were just..." Harry began reflexively, then froze. Wait.
Why was someone here?
And why did that voice sound so familiar?
"Wayne? What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd take a walk to digest," Wayne stepped out of the darkness.
All three of them stared at him—no, not at him. At something behind him.
"Wayne! Look out behind you!"
Behind Wayne stood a hulking, three-headed dog glaring at them.
Neville nearly wet himself.
"Don't worry. Fluffy's had enough exercise tonight."
With a snap of Wayne's fingers, the lights in the room flared on.
He looked at the trio with amused eyes.
They hadn't even learned the Unlocking Charm?
Without Hermione, they really were just two useless blokes and one walking accident.
~~----------------------
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