Chapter 19: Morning Sunlight and Five-Star Plans

Morning sunlight gently bathed the Gryffindor tower.

"Allen, Allen! Wake up!" Ron's voice came from outside the canopy.

Allen struggled up from the bed and replied, "Okay! Getting up right away!"

While answering, he skillfully checked his own body.

Sigh! The wings were indeed gone! Allen instantly felt he had lost a great deal of security.

Although those wings were very obstructive! Allen thought silently.

Allen quickly found the organ randomly transformed today—a pair of horns had appeared on his head.

He cheerfully opened the canopy, jumped off the bed, ran barefoot to the only mirror in the dormitory, and carefully examined his new "ornament."

"Allen, those horns of yours are so cool!" Allen's shoulder was slapped heavily; this was Harry's voice.

"Of course, just look at whose head they're growing on!" Allen was in a very good mood today. At this moment, he realized these horns seemed to be some kind of bull's horns; this was a good transformation with little impact on daily life, making his mood even better.

"Good morning!" Harry also leaned in to look at Allen in the mirror.

Allen suddenly felt like a Tauren from the game "World of Warcraft" he played before; a mischievous thought suddenly arose, and he answered Harry seriously: "May the Earth Mother embrace you!"

Then he ran off laughing, leaving a bewildered Harry behind.

Then he saw Allen say to Neville, who had just entered the door, "May the wind guide your path!"

Neville also looked at Allen with a confused and helpless expression as Allen laughed and ran into the bathroom.

"What is Allen saying?" Ron asked in confusion.

"I don't know either, but this is the first time I've seen Allen so lively! Before, he..." Harry thought for a moment before finding the right words, "... was gloomy and made people feel very distant!"

"I like him now!" Ron shrugged.

The Great Hall (Dining Hall).

Allen sat by the long table studying this week's schedule.

He used a quill to write and draw on the schedule.

First-year courses at Hogwarts include: Herbology, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Divination, History of Magic, Flying, and Charms.

Allen assigned star ratings to these courses based on their importance to him in his heart:

Five stars: Transfiguration (no choice, this relates to life and death);

Four stars: Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts;

Three stars: Potions, Herbology;

Two stars: History of Magic;

One star: Divination, Flying;

It wasn't that Allen wouldn't study seriously just because a course had a lower rating. He would study all courses seriously and do his homework carefully after class. However, he found that the requirements of the teachers for each subject were not high.

And Allen, who vaguely knew some of the plot, couldn't hold himself to that standard; after all, great chaos was coming to the wizarding world, so he had to prepare early. He required himself to achieve mastery in certain subjects.

First-year classes didn't take up much time, and Allen had a lot of free time, so he categorized these courses to better allocate his spare time.

The higher the star rating, the more effort he would invest in his spare time to achieve mastery.

For high-star courses, scoring 100 points wasn't Allen's goal; Allen's goal was that he scored 100 points because the test paper only had 100 points.

Additionally, after this period of study, Allen discovered his magical talent wasn't that strong; at least, there was still a long way to go compared to the legendary wizards in History of Magic, but it was still significantly higher than that of ordinary young wizards.

His greatest advantage was having a mature soul—he could sit still far better than those eleven-year-old young wizards and wasn't easily distracted by external things.

Being able to practice magic wholeheartedly was a huge advantage.

But his greatest disadvantage was also having a mature soul—his thoughts were too chaotic, not as pure as the thoughts of eleven-year-old young wizards; strange thoughts always popped into his head when he cast spells (here we must mention Zhu Dingding), and these strange thoughts always made him unable to concentrate, even leading to failed spellcasting.

So he had to divide his spare time better to achieve his learning goals more effectively.

What made Allen hesitate now was whether to change Defense Against the Dark Arts to five stars. Originally, his plan was to study low-key at school, but the plan was ruthlessly broken by one event after another, forcing him to re-examine his planning.

He clearly remembered a short video he had watched before—Malfoy had a lot to do with Professor Dumbledore's death!

Malfoy was ultimately going to become a Death Eater, and the conflict between himself and Malfoy had reached this point; if he ever got the chance, he certainly wouldn't let Allen off. If it were just him, that would be manageable, but if he brought other dangerous Death Eaters, Allen couldn't hold them off! Allen calculated silently in his heart.

It seems increasing practice time for Defense Against the Dark Arts is inevitable! Allen made a silent resolution.

Then he started to get a headache again; he thought of Professor Quirrell, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Every class always caused various jokes; although it was quite cheerful, not much was learned in the end. This couldn't go on!

Unlike other young wizards, Allen's favorability toward Professor Quirrell was actually quite high.

First, although Professor Quirrell stuttered and often made jokes, he had the temperament of a science-and-engineering guy, which made Allen, also a science-and-engineering guy, feel favorably toward him;

Then, the scenes of young wizards bullying and teasing Professor Quirrell reminded him of the days he was mocked by classmates in his childhood, which made him actually feel some empathy for Professor Quirrell;

Furthermore, Allen observed that Professor Quirrell had relatively severe social anxiety, which made Allen, who had mild social anxiety in his past life, feel deeply for Professor Quirrell's performance, with a very strong sense of immersion;

And then again, Allen heard several senior wizards say that Professor Quirrell was previously an excellent person, loved by many, so his professionalism seemed good too; Allen's impression of professionals wasn't too bad.

Finally, although the classroom where Professor Quirrell taught smelled strongly of garlic, Fred and the others said this was to ward off vampires; in Allen's eyes, this was a very high level of professionalism:

In such a safe place as Hogwarts, maintaining such high vigilance and still not forgetting to use means to guard against evil magical creatures—how professional and serious was that! Allen, who had lived in a safe country in his past life, believed this was the quality he lacked most, and he also wanted this spirit of constant vigilance.

In summary, this is why Allen's favorability toward Professor Quirrell was so high!

"It's just that it seems like nothing can be learned in Professor Quirrell's class! Young wizards always disrupt his teaching rhythm, and he, due to stuttering caused by social anxiety, cannot maintain classroom discipline." Allen pondered silently in his heart, putting the blame on the young wizards.

"No, I can't be like other young wizards, carelessly playing only on Defense Against the Dark Arts class; I still have to find a way to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts well!" Allen thought painfully.

"Should I help Professor Quirrell maintain classroom discipline? No, that would be too high-profile! Moreover, doing so would probably make Professor Quirrell even more nervous." Someone thought without any self-awareness; he had never been low-key since arriving at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Allen thought of his high school senior year study life in his past life; back then, everyone chased teachers after class to ask questions.

"Can I do the same?" Allen excitedly slapped his thigh, "Yes! Just do that! Go find Professor Quirrell alone after class; when it's one-on-one, he certainly won't be so socially anxious, and no one will mock him; he will surely impart all his life's learning to me! Yes! That's it!"

Allen finally made up his mind; mastering this course would help his self-defense too much in the future!

So he no longer hesitated and changed the star rating for Defense Against the Dark Arts on his schedule to five stars!

Looking at his schedule, he revealed a happy smile...