By the time Professor Flitwick left, the sky had already grown dark.
Will closed the door behind him, and the warmth on his face vanished, replaced once more by his usual indifferent expression.
Returning to the living room, his gaze fell upon the framed photograph hanging on the wall.
The woman in the picture was beautiful and elegant.
The young boy in her arms wore an awkward, forced smile.
Will’s thoughts drifted back to the past.
…
On May 16, 1980, a baby boy was born in a private room at St.
Mary’s Hospital in London.
His mother, Dorothy Behrens, named him Will Howard.
The surname was no coincidence.
At the time, the Duke of Norfolk was Miles Fitzalan-Howard, and Will’s biological father was Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke’s son and the Earl of Arundel.
Eleven days later, on May 27, Dorothy Behrens’ dream of marrying into the aristocracy came to an end.
The Earl never married her.
Nor did he allow their son to bear the Howard family name.
Under his influence, the child’s name was legally changed from Will Howard to Will Behrens.
Two months later, Dorothy received a house in London for herself and her son.
To his credit, Edward was not completely heartless.
A generous monthly allowance arrived regularly to support them.
The arrangement came with one condition.
Dorothy had to sign an agreement promising never to reveal Will’s true parentage.
Unfortunately, that was far from enough for her.
After repeated attempts to negotiate for more ended in failure, she gradually became bitter, drinking heavily and smoking almost every day.
Young Will never understood why he was often locked inside a dark room.
Bruises and scars slowly accumulated beneath his clothes.
Over time, he became withdrawn, timid, and afraid of everything.
Until his accidental magic manifested.
One day, while crying alone in the darkness, his emotions triggered a violent burst of accidental magic.
For a brief moment, Will felt as though he had left his own body.
He floated above himself as a white phantom, looking down at the child lying unconscious in the dark room.
He was too young to understand what had happened.
He didn’t know that, for an instant, he had stood on the threshold of death.
Afterward, everything became different.
It felt like a dream.
Another world.
Another life.
When he finally opened his eyes again, he was no longer the frightened child who had endured endless abuse.
Nor was he the ordinary young man from another world whose memories had merged with his own.
He was simply…Will Behrens.
A wizard born with an extraordinary gift.
Someone capable of seeing the flow of magic itself.
Later, after discovering that one of his classmates was named Hermione Granger, he deliberately began searching for the wizarding world.
Eventually, he found it.
The money he quietly took from his drunken mother’s purse was enough to exchange for Galleons at Gringotts, allowing him to purchase magical books without difficulty.
His greatest secret, however, was the system.
Every bit of knowledge he learned translated directly into measurable growth.
Studying magic rewarded him immediately, making every spell he mastered feel tangible.
For Will, pursuing knowledge was no different from breathing.
Watching magic flow through his body, shaping itself according to a spell’s structure before being released into the world, gave him a satisfaction unlike anything else.
Learning had become a basic instinct.
Even while Dorothy was still alive, Will spent every spare moment secretly studying magic.
The beatings never stopped.
Neither did the punishments.
But those things gradually ceased to matter.
Without a wand registered to him, there was no Trace to monitor his magic, and more than once he had considered using a Memory Charm or even a Muggle-Repelling Charm on his own mother.
He simply never found it necessary.
A year and a half ago, Dorothy died in a car accident.
Will felt almost nothing.
There was an old saying: The debt of giving birth can’t be repaid.
In his mind, he had already repaid that debt.
Every bruise.
Every scar.
Every sleepless night.
Those had settled the account.
After her death, Will devoted himself entirely to magic.
He immersed himself in study so completely that he often forgot to eat or sleep.
His progress was astonishing.
In just over a year, he had already mastered much of the Charms curriculum taught through the third year at Hogwarts.
Subjects that relied on memorization posed little challenge either.
Beyond standard textbooks, he purchased every magical book he could afford.
His natural talent only accelerated his progress.
Because he could perceive the flow of magic itself, he could also observe, to a certain extent, how it transformed during spellcasting.
To Will, spells resembled a programming language.
Magic was the underlying source code.
Spells provided the instructions that shaped raw magic into specific effects before releasing them into the world.
Leaving his memories behind, Will entered his study.
He slid aside a concealed bookshelf, revealing shelves packed with magical books.
Among them were titles such as Eccentric Wizards, Occlumency: Protecting the Mind, Secrets of the Darkest Art, Moste Potente Potions, The Dark Arts: Theory and Practice, Herpo the Foul and His Greatest Creation: Horcruxes, Are Werewolves Born or Made?, and Soul Transfer: Myth or Reality?
Professor Flitwick had not been mistaken.
Will’s interests covered almost every field of magic.
He pulled out Secrets of the Darkest Art and began reading with complete concentration.
[You have acquired new Dark Arts knowledge.]
[Dark Arts Experience +1]
[You have acquired new Dark Arts knowledge.]
[Dark Arts Experience +1]
[You have acquired new Charms knowledge.]
[Charms Experience +1]
[You have acquired new Charms knowledge.]
[Charms Experience +1]
…
[Charms has reached Level 4.]
[Choose one additional ability.]
[A. Spellcasting Speed — Permanently increases spellcasting speed by 20%.]
[B. Spell Power — Permanently increases the effectiveness of your spells by 10%.]
[C. Spell Perception — Greatly enhances your ability to perceive the flow of magic within spells.]
All three choices were excellent.
Will immediately dismissed the third option.
He could already perceive the flow of magic naturally, making the ability largely redundant.
Would Spellcasting Speed also affect nonverbal magic?
The thought crossed his mind for only a moment before he reached a decision.
“Option B.”
[You have acquired the Charms ability: Spell Power.]
A faint smile appeared on Will’s face.
His greatest gift had never been his magical talent.
It was the progress panel that allowed him to turn every hour of study into tangible strength.
Host: Will Behrens
Talent:
[Wizard’s Eye] — You can actively activate ‘Vision’, allowing you to perceive the flow of magic and its manifestations.
Skills:
Transfiguration Lv.2 (151 / 200)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Eager for Knowledge] — Transfiguration experience gain increased by 10%.
Dark Arts Lv.3 (13 / 300)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Mental Fortitude] — Your emotions are highly resilient, making you far less susceptible to the negative effects of studying the Dark Arts.
[Lv.3 Additional Ability: Unceasing Malice] — The duration of your Dark Arts spells is increased by 10%.
Potions Lv.2 (17 / 200)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Eye of Discernment] — You can more easily identify changes in a potion’s condition during brewing.
Charms Lv.4 (1 / 400)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Spell Replicator] — Increases spell-learning efficiency by 10%–30%, depending on the quality of the learning source.
[Lv.3 Additional Ability: Spell Weaver] — Spells consume 5% less magic.
[Lv.4 Additional Ability: Spell Power] — Spell effectiveness is permanently increased by 10%.
Astronomy Lv.1 (59 / 100)
No additional abilities.
Herbology Lv.2 (11 / 200)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Herb Affinity] — You can more easily cultivate and care for magical plants.
Curses Lv.1 (56 / 100)
No additional abilities.
Stamina Lv.1 (66 / 100)
No additional abilities.
Magic Lv.?
Unable to be viewed due to the world’s special nature.
Charm Lv.3 (118 / 300)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Eye-Catching Star] — You naturally attract more attention, and other people’s likes and dislikes toward you become more pronounced.
[Lv.3 Additional Ability: Art of Language] — Your words are naturally more persuasive.
Cooking Lv.3 (223 / 300)
[Lv.2 Additional Ability: Heat Perception] — You can precisely sense changes in temperature while cooking.
[Lv.3 Additional Ability: Magical Tongue] — Your sense of taste is greatly enhanced, allowing you to distinguish magical ingredients more easily.
Note: Additional abilities may evolve into their ultimate forms once a skill reaches its peak or enters a special state.
After obtaining the Level 4 Charms ability, Will immersed himself in his studies once more.
His experience steadily increased as he alternated between reading and practicing magic.
The light in his study remained on until late into the night before he finally went to bed.
Ever since his accidental magic awakened years ago, his stamina had become extraordinary.
Sometimes, when completely absorbed in a subject, he could spend an entire day—or even two—reading without feeling the need to sleep.
The days passed in quiet repetition.
Read.
Practice magic.
Eat.
Sleep.
Then begin again.
Before he realized it, September had arrived.
Today was one of the rare clear days in London.
Will prepared himself a rather unconventional breakfast before casually placing his lunch into his trunk.
His attempt at making soy milk had ended in complete failure.
Apparently, using the Blasting Curse to crush soybeans was not an effective substitute for a grinder, and despite searching through numerous books, he still hadn’t found a spell suitable for grinding them.
Fortunately, the steamed dumplings and fried dough sticks turned out well.
Although pairing them with coffee was admittedly unusual, the combination tasted surprisingly good.
After breakfast, Will cast the Undetectable Extension Charm on his small trunk before lifting it with the Levitation Charm.
Without looking back, he left the house where he had lived for the past eleven years.