**Chapter 9: Fear Charm**
Hermione's mouth hung open, her face a picture of disbelief. She clearly remembered that in yesterday's Transfiguration class, Ivan couldn't even maintain a stable Transfiguration Spell. How had he become so proficient now?
After completing the transfiguration, Ivan didn't linger. Leaving a stunned Hermione standing there, he left alone and returned to the Gryffindor common room.
Carrying the book, Ivan was on his way back to the dormitory when he ran into Harry and Ron playing Wizard's Chess. The two of them looked as if they'd seen a ghost.
Ron stared at the *Detailed Explanations of Basic Spell Principles* in Ivan's hand, his eyes nearly popping out. The knight piece in his right hand clattered onto the table.
The armor of the knight, who had fallen from a height, shattered. Cursing, it brandished its toothpick-sized sword and slashed at the fingernail on Ron's left hand.
"Ow, that hurts!" Ron's left hand jerked, sending the knight flying. He looked at his cracked nail, angrily picked up a cup, smashed the offending knight into pieces, and tossed them all into the box to await automatic repair.
Then, holding his thumb, Ron said to Harry with a worried expression, "Harry, do you think Ivan might end up like Hermione?"
"This... probably not, right?" Harry sounded uncertain.
The mere thought of two Hermiones bossing them around made both shiver involuntarily.
Back in his dorm room, Ivan was unaware of Harry and Ron's discussion about him in the common room.
His attention was now completely focused on the changes in the various values within his system.
**[Ivan Harus
Occupation: Wizard
Spells: Fear Charm Level 1 (6/200), Levitation Charm Level 1 (12/200), Transfiguration Spell Level 1 (30/200), Disarming Charm Level 1 (16/200), Wand-Lighting Charm Level 1 (1/200)...
Theoretical Knowledge: Magical Item Crafting Level 0 (435/500), Basic Spell Principles Level 0 (88/100)
Magical Item: Wand (Yew, Unicorn Hair, 11 ¾ inches)
Magical Power: Medium
Compatibility: 72.5%
...
Academic Points: 20]**
The improvements from just one hour with the Top Student Experience Card were substantial. Most of the spells Ivan knew had reached Level 1.
Since his roommates weren't around, Ivan used items like his trunk, a stool, and a pillow to test the power of the Levitation and Disarming Charms.
"*Wingardium Leviosa!*"
"*Expelliarmus!*"
...
After a few minutes of playful experimentation, Ivan looked at the pillow blasted from the head to the foot of his bed by the Disarming Charm, and the trunk and stool slowly descending from where they had been floating, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.
*This* was the power of magic!
Few could resist the allure of such mysterious, supernatural abilities. Moreover, before his illness and death in his previous life, Ivan, confined to his hospital bed, had loved reading all sorts of fantasy and magical books.
Unfortunately, in the first few days after his transmigration, due to various limitations, he hadn't even successfully cast the most basic spells. Now, having cast several in a row, Ivan was naturally thrilled.
At this moment, he felt like casting a Transfiguration and Levitation Charm on everything he saw...
After experimenting for over ten minutes, Ivan's mind began to feel fuzzy—a clear sign of magical exhaustion.
Through frequent spellcasting, he also roughly understood his limits.
First, the Levitation Charm: Ivan could at most suspend an empty trunk about a meter in the air for nearly forty seconds, or levitate his bed for about five seconds, though only to a height of around thirty centimeters.
Next, the Transfiguration Spell: It could change an object's form and even properties into another object for a period.
This was the charm that interested Ivan the most. Mastered to a high level, one could even transform inanimate objects into living animals like Professor McGonagall.
He wondered if this spell could be used on wizards. For example, in a duel, hitting an enemy with a Transfiguration Spell, turning them into a tree... a brick... a pig... a cow... a sheep?
Or transforming the obstacles around an opposing wizard into beasts or traps could also achieve a one-hit victory.
However, thinking of this, Ivan frowned. Recalling the original story, he realized that few people seemed to do this.
Even Professor McGonagall, an expert in Transfiguration, didn't use the Transfiguration Spell directly on enemy wizards during the final battle.
Was it because ordinary Transfiguration couldn't be used on living beings? But Transfiguration was powerful enough to turn non-living matter into living creatures. Surely the reverse should be possible?
Hagrid had used a spell to make the bully Dudley grow a pig's tail, and Draco had that infamous history of being turned into a ferret, proving Transfiguration *could* work directly on humans.
Was it due to magical influence? Did wizards possess a certain resistance to Transfiguration? The stronger the wizard, the greater the resistance?
Then what exactly *was* magical power? Why could wizards perform such incredible feats of magic...?
The only thing Ivan could think of that significantly affected powerful wizards was Animagus transformation. Even such a powerful and difficult magic only allowed a wizard to transform into a *specific* animal, not any form at will.
It was more like a permanent Transfiguration, allowing the wizard to switch between two fixed forms seamlessly, without flaws or time limits.
"Whatever, why am I thinking about this now?" Ivan gently rubbed his forehead. He was just a first-year student; his spells were barely at a functional level.
Overthinking was pointless...
After testing the Levitation, Transfiguration, Wand-Lighting, and Disarming Charms, Ivan had a rough estimate of his strength.
He was probably at a relatively proficient level among ordinary first-year students.
Having tested the common spells, Ivan turned his attention to the Dark Magic spell that had appeared in his system since his arrival at Hogwarts—the Fear Charm. He hadn't used it before.
"*Timor Venit!*" Recalling the spellcasting sequence from his memories, Ivan waved his wand, pointing it at Maka's head.
"Hoot, hoot~" A dim purple light flashed. Maka tilted its head, looking innocently at Ivan.
"No effect?" Ivan looked at Maka, who showed no reaction, feeling puzzled.
"*Timor Venit! Timor Venit!*..."
Ivan cast repeatedly. Purple light enveloped Maka, but the owl thought Ivan was playing and began tugging at the tip of the wand with its hooked beak.
Ivan helplessly retrieved his wand before Maka could damage it. He then looked at the Fear Charm entry in his system's spell list, feeling frustrated.
In theory, once a spell reached Level 1, he should be able to cast it normally.
Unless...
Ivan suddenly remembered the memories that surfaced when the Sorting Hat probed his mind...
"Fear..." Ivan closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he spotted the greyish-black rat dozing on Ron's desk. After a moment's thought, Ivan spared his messenger owl Maka and walked over, wand in hand.
Scabbers was sleeping soundly, crumbs of Every Flavour Beans at the corner of its mouth. Its tiny, four-fingered paws occasionally twitched unconsciously on the table, as if having a pleasant dream...