Professor Flitwick looked at Adam with unconcealed admiration.
Based on Adam’s performance during class, even the experienced Charms Master found himself genuinely astonished.
“Considering your current level,” Flitwick said thoughtfully, “you could easily handle second-year coursework.
Perhaps even third-year material.” His bright eyes sparkled with excitement as he continued.
“However, Hogwarts has never truly established regulations regarding students skipping grades.
There is simply no precedent for it.” Flitwick sighed slightly.
“So officially, you can only remain a first-year student.” Adam nodded calmly without saying anything.
In truth, Professor Flitwick still underestimated him slightly.
Adam hadn’t only studied The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
He had already completed Grade 2 and Grade 3 as well.
The only reason he wasn’t fully proficient with some higher-level spells was because he lacked enough practical experience casting them.
Even so, most of those spells had already reached Level Two mastery in his personal evaluations.
For a first-year student, such a thing was absurd enough to sound fictional.
Professor Flitwick continued speaking after a brief pause.
“Frankly speaking, it would be a waste of your time to continue attending beginner-level lessons with the other students.” Adam quietly raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve decided to grant you special permission,” Flitwick announced proudly.
“You may skip future introductory Charms lessons if you wish.” Anthony and Terry, who were nearby, nearly stopped breathing after hearing those words.
Skip classes?
A first-year student?
And with official permission from a professor?
But Flitwick wasn’t finished yet.
“In addition,” he continued, “I would like to appoint you as my teaching assistant.” The classroom instantly became silent.
Even some nearby upper-year students looked stunned.
Teaching assistants at Hogwarts were extremely rare.
Especially among first-year students.
Professor Flitwick smiled warmly.
“What do you think?” Adam considered the offer briefly before nodding politely.
“It would be my honor, Professor.” Flitwick looked delighted.
“Excellent!
Excellent!” He looked as though he had just discovered a precious treasure.
By lunchtime, the news had already spread across Hogwarts once again.
Adam Ambrosius— First-year Ravenclaw student.
Personal teaching assistant to Professor Flitwick.
Officially allowed to skip introductory Charms lessons.
The Great Hall became unusually noisy as students discussed the matter.
At the Ravenclaw table, Terry stared at Adam as though looking at some mythical creature.
“So…” Terry said slowly, “not only are you Professor Flitwick’s assistant…” “You don’t even need to attend class anymore?” “That’s correct,” Adam replied calmly while cutting a piece of steak.
Terry opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
“You…” “…What exactly are you?” Even the other Ravenclaw students nearby looked deeply shaken.
At first, their expressions were full of disbelief.
Then gradually— That disbelief transformed into determination.
Unlike some other houses, Ravenclaw students possessed a very particular mentality.
Not every Ravenclaw was a genius.
But nearly all of them valued intelligence, learning, and self-improvement.
And most importantly— They hated falling behind others academically.
Adam’s existence had suddenly become an enormous source of pressure.
Everyone here was a first-year student.
If Adam could achieve something this unbelievable… Then why couldn’t they?
Even if they couldn’t match him immediately, they could still work harder.
Study harder.
Practice harder.
Improve faster.
Without anyone realizing it, a strange atmosphere began spreading across the Ravenclaw table.
Anthony suddenly pulled out his textbook.
Then Michael Corner followed.
Soon afterward, several other Ravenclaw students also began opening books while eating lunch.
Adam stared at them in confusion.
“…What are you all doing?” Anthony didn’t even look up.
“Studying.” With one hand, he held open a Charms textbook.
With the other, he used a fork to stab a sausage and shove it into his mouth.
He even practiced wand motions using his fingers while reading.
Michael nodded seriously.
“You can eat and study at the same time.” The surrounding Ravenclaws immediately copied them.
Books appeared everywhere.
Some students reviewed spell theory.
Others copied notes.
One particularly intense girl had already started memorizing potion ingredients during lunch.
The atmosphere rapidly became terrifying.
Adam watched the scene with a complicated expression.
Was this what happened when Ravenclaw students became competitive?
This wasn’t studying anymore.
This was academic warfare.
Meanwhile, over at the Gryffindor table… Ron Weasley stared toward Ravenclaw in horror.
“…What are they doing?” Harry looked over curiously.
“It looks like they’re studying,” he answered uncertainly.
“At lunch?” Ron looked deeply disturbed.
“To study while eating…” He shuddered dramatically.
“That sounds like torture.” Ron wasn’t a bad student.
But he definitely wasn’t the type to enjoy studying voluntarily.
The idea of spending lunchtime reading textbooks nearly made him lose his appetite.
At that moment, Fred and George Weasley casually sat down beside them.
Fred glanced toward Ravenclaw and immediately understood everything.
“Ah,” he said knowingly.
“The Ravenclaws are evolving again.” George nodded solemnly.
“It happens every year.” “The moment someone extraordinary appears,” Fred continued, “the little eagles start competing like mad.” George sighed dramatically.
“Terrifying creatures, honestly.” Ron pointed toward a Ravenclaw student who was literally reading while chewing bread.
“They really do this all the time?” Fred nodded.
“Ravenclaw students love books more than sleep.” George added seriously: “If you ever see a Ravenclaw with dark circles under their eyes, don’t even ask questions.” “They definitely stayed up all night reading.” Fred grinned mischievously.
“If you see dark circles on a Gryffindor, though…” George continued immediately: “They were definitely sneaking around the castle at midnight.” The twins laughed together.
Ron still looked shocked.
“…That’s actually terrifying.” Harry, however, looked thoughtful.
Coming from a Muggle school background, Harry possessed a certain level of respect for high-achieving students.
And Adam— Well.
Adam was clearly the kind of student people naturally admired.
At that moment, Hermione suddenly pulled a book from her bag and opened it immediately.
Ron stared at her in disbelief.
“You too?!” Hermione looked genuinely confused by his reaction.
“What?” “It’s lunchtime!” “And?” “You’re studying!” Hermione raised an eyebrow.
“As opposed to wasting time?” Ron looked personally attacked.
Nearby, Fred whispered quietly to George: “The Sorting Hat definitely made a mistake.” George nodded solemnly.
“She belongs in Ravenclaw.” Harry chuckled softly while watching them argue.
Honestly… He could almost see it too.
Over the next several days, Adam’s reputation at Hogwarts continued growing rapidly.
And not just among students.
Even professors began paying close attention to him.
In Herbology class, Professor Sprout praised Adam’s precise understanding of magical plants and awarded Ravenclaw fifteen points.
During Flying lessons, Madam Hooch complimented his extraordinary balance and reflexes, giving Ravenclaw another ten points.
Then came Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall rarely praised students openly.
Yet after Adam perfectly completed an advanced transformation exercise far earlier than expected, even she awarded twenty points to Ravenclaw.
Within only three days, Ravenclaw’s House Points skyrocketed ahead of the other houses.
Adam Ambrosius became one of the most discussed names in Hogwarts.
Some students admired him.
Some envied him.
Some considered him terrifying.
Others simply refused to believe a first-year student could genuinely be that talented.
Several professors even privately regretted that Adam had already become Flitwick’s teaching assistant first.
Otherwise, they would have gladly recruited him themselves.
Unfortunately… Not every class at Hogwarts was equally exciting.
History of Magic, for example.
Professor Binns floated into the classroom through the blackboard exactly as Penelope had described.
The elderly ghost immediately began reading from his notes in the dullest voice imaginable.
The atmosphere in the room died instantly.
Even Ravenclaw students struggled to stay conscious.
Adam listened quietly for several minutes before reaching a conclusion.
Professor Binns was genuinely impressive.
Not because of his teaching ability.
But because he somehow managed to transform centuries of magical history into something more effective than sleeping potion.
Still, Adam couldn’t even earn points there.
Professor Binns never asked questions.
Never assigned practical exercises.
Never interacted with students at all.
He simply read endlessly from old lecture notes.
Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn’t much better.
Professor Quirrell entered the classroom smelling strongly of garlic and nervousness.
His voice trembled constantly.
And instead of practical defense magic, he mostly read directly from textbooks.
Compared to Professor Binns, the only major difference was that Quirrell was technically still alive.
Even Ravenclaw students gradually began losing hope.
Still, Adam maintained excellent performance in every subject.
Which only increased the pressure among Ravenclaw first-years even further.
By Thursday morning, the little eagles had already entered full competition mode.
Some students woke up early specifically to study before breakfast.
Others stayed inside the library late into the evening.
One Ravenclaw second-year was reportedly caught reading while walking into a wall.
Three times.
Thursday afternoon finally arrived.
Today marked the first Potions lesson.
And according to nearly every older student at Hogwarts— That meant suffering.
The Potions classroom was located deep inside the castle dungeons.
Compared to the upper floors, the underground classroom felt cold, damp, and slightly unsettling.
Glass jars filled with preserved creatures lined the walls.
Some contained eyeballs.
Others contained floating organs.
A few held things nobody wanted identified.
Anthony looked deeply uncomfortable.
“I’ve heard Professor Snape is terrifying,” Terry whispered nervously.
Michael nodded immediately.
“Older students say he’s extremely biased toward Slytherin.” “And apparently,” Terry continued, “he insults students constantly.” Anthony crossed his arms thoughtfully.
“I heard he targeted Harry Potter yesterday during Gryffindor’s class.” “That’s normal,” Anthony added immediately afterward.
After all, Gryffindor and Slytherin had hated each other for generations.
The rivalry between lions and snakes was practically part of Hogwarts tradition.
Students from the two houses constantly argued, competed, and sabotaged one another.
Most professors ignored it.
Professor Snape, however, was a very different story.
As Head of Slytherin House, he openly favored his students.
He awarded points to Slytherin for the smallest accomplishments while deducting points from others mercilessly.
Over the years, this favoritism had contributed heavily to Slytherin winning the House Cup repeatedly.
Terry swallowed nervously.
“…I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this class.” Adam glanced toward the dungeon classroom door calmly.
For some reason— He also felt that today’s Potions lesson was going to become very interesting.
Give me more motivation!