{Harry's room, Leaky Cauldron}
It's been three days since I started living on my own, at least in this life. The Muggle money has helped a lot. I found a gym yesterday and even paid in advance for a month-long focused course with a trainer to get me into proper shape.
'My arms still feel a little sore, but I can feel my mana rushing to the injuries, and they are feeling a lot better than when I woke up,' I thought as I showered. The first session was a bit brutal for my frail body, but I persisted. Thankfully, I didn't vomit, even though the trainer admitted it would be okay.
'Still, it would have been better to be trained by a female trainer, but unfortunately I'm in the wrong era for that.' I thought, it's not like there were no women training at the gym, they just didn't take up being a trainer as a profession.
I rinsed off the soap, grabbed a towel from the stand next to me, dried off, and changed into a comfy white T-shirt and pajamas. According to Hermione's letter, she should arrive today, as Emma is supposed to drop her off at the Leaky Cauldron, and then pick both of us up for dinner at the Granger house.
My plan had worked. There was no way Hermione could have resisted the temptation to learn spells, and, to be honest, bouncing ideas off her would help me develop theories much more easily.
I sat at the small table and chair, grabbed my spellbook, and dove into my egg-focused breakfast. I had one sunny-side-up egg, two boiled eggs, and one piece of egg sandwich. As I ate, I focused on my progress over the past two days.
...
[The Wand Lightning Charm Lv 2 (27/150)]
[Incantation: Lumos]
[Spell Cost: 0.4 MP/s]
[Spell success rate: 40%]
[Wand movements: Flick upward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to look at your surroundings when stranded in complete darkness]
...
...
[The Wand Dousing Charm Lv 2 (13/100)]
[Incantation: Nox]
[Spell Cost: 0.4 per cast]
[Spell success rate: 40%]
[Wand movements: Flick downward and point]
[One of the most basic charms and the countercharm to the modern version of the illumination charm that can be used to stop the Wand Lightning Charm]
...
...
[The Levitation Charm Lv 1 (12/100)]
[Incantation: Wingardium Leviosa]
[Spell Cost: Variable (>1 MP/s)]
[Spell success rate: 25%]
[Wand movements: Swish and a flick]
[One of the most rudimentary forms of magical manipulation: the ability to make an object rise from the ground and remain suspended in the air. The charm lets the caster hold an object at a desired height and position as long as they maintain concentration and magical power.]
...
...
[The Repairing Charm Lv 1 (3/100)]
[Incantation: Reparo]
[Spell Cost: Variable (>1 MP)]
[Spell success rate: 30%]
[Wand movements: An inward clockwise spiral]
[One of the most basic restorative charms. It repairs damaged or broken inanimate objects by restoring their physical structure to its previous state. The complexity and extent of the damage greatly affect the spell's difficulty and mana used.]
...
...
[The Cleaning Charm Lv 0 (23/50)]
[Incantation: Scourgify]
[Spell Cost: 2 MP per cast]
[Spell success rate: 20%]
[Wand movements: A smooth, flowing motion like the letter 'S' followed by a gentle flick at the target mess.]
[A basic cleaning charm that removes dirt, grime, and other unwanted substances from an object or surface. The spell can be controlled to clean a specific area without damaging the material beneath it.]
...
...
[The Knockback Jinx Lv 0 (14/50)]
[Incantation: Flipendo]
[Spell Cost: 5 MP per cast]
[Spell success rate: 20%]
[Wand movements: An elongated 'V' followed by a horizontal S-shaped swish.]
[A basic offensive jinx that produces a concentrated burst of magical force on impact, knocking the target backward. The strength of the knockback depends on the caster's magical power, control, intent, and accuracy.]
...
The number of spells that I know has increased from 3 to 5. I could have learned a few more, but with the limited mana I have, I could only learn so many spells. Plus, the more difficult a spell is, the more mana it requires, so I'm hoping that I level up a couple of times and then gain more mana. I would focus on those spells.
'Still, I wanted to learn the shield charm, but it is not listed in this first-year book.' I had already looked at the list of spells, and most of the remaining spells were common and wouldn't really help me in combat much.
'Well, considering that Harry had to teach everyone the shield spell in his 5th year, I don't think I'm getting to that anytime soon.' I thought.
As I finished my breakfast and was about to call Tom to deal with the plates, I heard a couple of knocks on my door.
'Is she here already? That's early.' I looked at the clock, it showed 9:30 in the morning.
"Scourgify~" I focused and cast, and felt the telltale signs of rough scrubbing on my skin. The spell should not be used on sensitive areas, but cleaning your hands with it was fine.
I opened the door and froze for a second, taking in Hermione's figure. She wore the black lace, high-necked dress she had bought 3 days ago when we went shopping. She also wore light makeup, moderately high heels, and stockings.
"Hi," I managed to say as she blushed, clearly aware that I was checking her out.
"Sorry, you look beautiful," I continued as her blush deepened, and I opened the door wider. "Come on in. I just had breakfast. Do you want anything?" I asked.
"No, thank you. Mom already made breakfast." Hermione replied as she walked in, her eyes going around the room, taking everything in as I quickly grabbed the leftover plates and placed them outside the door.
I quickly rang the bell on the nightstand and spoke to it, "Tom, I have placed the plates outside my door. Can you clean that up, please? Thank you."
My action clearly surprised Hermione as she walked in closer and peered curiously at the bell. "What is this? Did you order room service with a bell?"
"I don't know. It just works... a spell or something else, perhaps." I shrugged as I sat down on my bed.
"So did you learn any spells?" Hermione asked, the topic of magic bringing her out of her shyness as she eagerly placed her bag on the bed, sat down, and grabbed her books. "I have already finished reading the book, but I haven't tried anything yet." She pulled her wand from a pocket sewn into the side of her dress.
'Has that always been there, or did she modify the dress?' I thought.
"Yeah, I learned a few spells," I replied, then reached to grab my wand from my inventory to show her my progress and froze. Yeah, I had become too used to the convenience of a pocket dimension.
I paused for a moment, which made her look at me in confusion, so I had to make up some bullshit: "I left my wand in the bathroom."
Okay, not the best excuse, as that brings up so many questions, but that was the only concealed place in the room. "I was cleaning the dishes with a spell when you arrived," I said as she nodded, and I swiftly walked into the bathroom, reached into my inventory, and pulled my wand out.
'Alright, I need a quick and impressive distraction.' I thought as I walked back out and sat on the bed, my eyes locked on the cup I had been using to drink water.
'That will do.'
"Alright, check this out," I said to her as I cast the levitation charm, "Wingardium Leviosa~"
AN: 24+ extra chapters on P.atreon: P.atreon.com/AndreaHodges