11: Night Walk and Restricted Books Area

"This sword is quite handy."

"Hoo? Hoo~" Basil turned her round head as if thinking about where John got the sword.

"Hoo~" She raised her wings to slap Tom's drooling mouth and flew to a place where Tom couldn't reach.

"Woof woof!"

The dog wooded and tried to reach for the quirky owl but couldn't reach Basil.

John gripped the large sword with both hands.

It was a weapon suited for a knight in medieval armor, reaching up to his shoulder in height. Perhaps when he grew older, the sword would fit him perfectly.

Grasping the hilt firmly, John exerted his strength to lift the heavy blade.

It was a common knight's sword, its blade a hand's width, made of steel. The weight was considerable, but for John, it was an excellent tool for strength training.

Using the sword as a weight, he began his workout. He found a rope, tied the blade securely to his back, and started doing push-ups.

"Tom stop licking my face! I'm trying to exercise!"

His efforts paid off, and the next morning, his magic power had increased by 10 points.

[Magic: Level 2 (20/500)]

[Spells: Alohomora (Level 3), Wingardium Leviosa (Level 1), Transfiguration Spell (Level 1)]

[Skills: Short Weapons Mastery (Level 7), Great Sword Mastery (Level 3), Firearms Mastery (Level 1)....]

[Blessings: Physical Fitness, Quick Attack, Precision, Academic Scholar, Pilot, Long-Distance Running...]

His skills had changed. Heavy Weapon Mastery and Long Weapon Mastery had disappeared, replaced by Great Sword Mastery.

"This weapon fits the requirements for both long and heavy weapons," John realized after carefully examining the great sword.

The combined mastery of two weapon skills into Great Sword Mastery gave him a sense of familiarity right away.

He performed basic slashes, thrusts, and parries with the great sword as if he had trained for years. His proficiency was at a level that would astonish even seasoned knights.

The skill levels were similar to those for spells:

- Level 1: Beginner, capable of basic maneuvers.

- Level 2: Basic proficiency, able to apply learned skills.

- Level 3: Intermediate, skilled enough to handle multiple opponents.

- Level 4: Professional, similar to a trained assassin, turning weapons into lethal tools.

- Level 5: Instructor, able to teach and have unique insights.

- Level 6: Master, developing a unique style and reaching peak proficiency.

- Level 7: Grandmaster, transcending form, capable of deadly precision even with small objects like pencils.

 John, who has reached level 7 in short weapon proficiency, can be called a master. He can use a pencil to stab three flies in one second.

Despite losing two weapon skills, he felt no loss of technique; instead, his understanding of weapons deepened. Great Sword Mastery seemed to be a synthesis of the two weapon branches, making it feel natural.

However, he couldn't help but complain, "What use is this for a wizard like me?"

For John, [Blessings] were the most important, followed by [magic power], [spells], and finally [weapon mastery].

After practicing Transfiguration Spells for a while, John went to class. Activating his [Academic Scholar] Blessing, he absorbed knowledge quickly. 

In the evening, after studying the library's layout with Hermione, he began his plan.

...

The third-floor corridor of Hogwarts at night was quiet.

The portrait oil paintings on the wall were drowsy, and the medieval armor without weapons took a stick from somewhere as a weapon.

"Lumos," John whispered.

"Hey," came a voice.

"Turn off that damned light," another grumbled.

"Sorry," John muttered, moving through the corridor towards the library.

The library closed at 8 o'clock in the evening, and now no one except night owls would appear.

Thousands of books filled hundreds of shelves, creating a labyrinth of narrow aisles. Deep within lay the Restricted Section, John's destination.

Turning off the light on his wand, John reached the door to the Restricted Section. The simple latch was more decorative than functional, designed to prevent gentlemen but not villains.

Unfortunately, Mr. John Wick was going to be a villain tonight.

  Click.

With a soft click, the door opened easily.

John needed to be very careful. He didn't have Harry's invisibility cloak, so he could only be cautious.

 Fortunately, his physical training played a big role. He stepped into the restricted area without making any sound and saw many sealed books.

These banned books are not impossible to learn, but they are sealed in the restricted area because they are too dangerous.

There are also some dark magic books that are not suitable for students to learn.

But it is not impossible to get books in the restricted area through formal methods.

If you can get a note from the head of the house, you can enter the restricted area to borrow. However, John thought about his stern-faced head of the house, who seemed to dislike him. Relying on himself seemed more reliable.

After confirming no one was around, John lit his wand.

He began searching the Restricted Section for the book he needed, specifically one that contained the Disillusionment Charm. However, finding it in this sea of books would take some time.

"Powerful Potions?" John said, pulling out a book out of curiosity.

It was a book about potion-making, listing numerous concoctions, including Veritaserum and Polyjuice Potion.

 After taking a look, John put the book back.

Although it was amazing that the Polyjuice Potion could transform into another person's appearance, it was a bit disgusting to put someone else's hair into it.

Continuing his search, he noticed a black and silver book.

He hesitated to open it, suspecting it might contain dark magic curses. He decided to stick to his original goal.

After a round of searching, he finally found the record about the Disillusionment Charm.

After reading "The Secret of Advanced Black Magic", he found "Advanced Charms", which not only contains the Disillusionment Charm but also advanced spells such as Apparition.

Satisfied, John prepared to leave.

When he was about to leave the restricted area, he stopped.

Turning his head to look at the strange book, curiosity still got the better of him.

So he tentatively took out the book and opened it with curiosity...

"Ah--!"

John covered his ears and hurriedly closed the book, but it was too late.

The noise had alerted Filch.

Outside, patrolling the corridors for misbehaving little wizards, Filch sprinted towards the library. Despite being a Squib, he was fit from years of cleaning.

"I've got you now! Come out from wherever you are!"

Filch snarled, holding a lantern, his hooked nose twitching like a bloodhound's.

A distant cat's meow echoed from the shelves, bringing a grin to Filch's face. His bond with Mrs. Norris was almost telepathic, and he ran towards the sound.

 He and Mrs. Norris were in sync and ran towards the distant bookshelves.

As soon as Filch got away from the library entrance, John emerged from the shadows of a nearby shelf and nonchalantly walked out.

On his way out, he gave a thumbs-up to Mrs. Norris who was licking her fur elegantly on the bookshelf.

Sure enough, Mrs Norris had never betrayed John, the previous time there were the Gryffindor students whom she was chasing, gladly no cat food was fed in vain.

This combination of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west was perfect.

...

After returning to the dormitory, John couldn't wait to start practicing. So much so that when he got up the next day, his eyes were like panda's.

Three days of practice finally paid off when he saw the Level 1 Disillusionment Charm appear in his skill set. 

Hard work always pays off.

The next day, John saw six long-eared owls carrying a lengthy package to Harry Potter in the Great Hall. In their excitement, they knocked and made Harry's uneaten bacon have an intimate contact with the floor.

'Congratulations! Minerva McGonagall is throwing a Nimbus 2000 at you,' John thought, amused.

 Mr. Savior is going to start his Quidditch career.

With the Nimbus 2000 came a letter from McGonagall, summoning Harry to Quidditch practice. Although Harry was new to the sport, he had a natural talent for flying.

Unable to contain his joy, Harry shared the letter with Ron. Ron, envious, remembered the best broom he had ever touched was his brother Charlie's, used during his Quidditch days. Compared to the Nimbus 2000, that broom was junk.

Harry and Ron hurriedly left the Great Hall, eager to unwrap the package before their first class.

Love was around the corner—ehm—Turning a corner, they ran into trouble.

The savior met his nemesis from Slytherin. Malfoy, as usual, teased.. no, taunted Harry, his lifelong enemy.

John was eating bacon patties and just glanced at it casually.

Compared with the feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor, he was more concerned about the hard taste of the bacon patties. He suspected that there were uncooked stones inside.

 "Well, how long are you going to keep the cold war with them?"

John put down the bacon patties with regret. Opposite him was Hermione, who had peeked at Harry and Ron three times.

"Until they apologize to me," Hermione huffed, "otherwise, never."

"That might take a while," John said, suspecting Harry and Ron had already forgotten about Hermione.

Neville was struggling with his red Remembrall again, so John had to remind him that he'd better change his pants for the spells class, after all, this wasn't a pajama party.

...