Chương 28: Chapter 29 : Hogwarts Express V

He had to give it to Hermione. Even at this age, she had already grasped the essence of spellcasting. She really deserved the title of Miss Know-It-All. Moreover, Waffling did mention that. More accurately, he claimed that practice refined intent. It could improve indefinitely through deliberate training. Will was different. It was more dependent on age. It matured alongside the wizard. Experience, hardship, confidence, conviction—those things all strengthened it over time.

It was one of the reasons younger witches and wizards struggled with spells intended for older students even after memorising the incantation and wand movement perfectly. Talent complicated things. Some people were simply born with unusually strong will, allowing them to reach beyond what should have been possible for their age. Then there was Tyson himself. He wasn't entirely convinced talent was the whole explanation in his case. He was a reincarnator. His mind had never truly belonged to an eleven-year-old.

From infancy, his brain had to adapt to memories and thought processes that belonged to an adult, which seemed to push it past some kind of threshold. Tyson's reaction speed, reflexes, memory, ability to visualise complex structures—none of them were normal. If will was tied to the mind as closely as Waffling believed, then perhaps his circumstances had given him an advantage no ordinary child could possess. Now, how to explain this to Hermione without revealing that he was an otherworldly demon. Easy.

He'd just boast his way through!

"It's because I'm a once-in-a-century genius." He leaned back slightly, keeping his expression calm and confident, and said without a flicker of hesitation, "I wouldn't be surprised if even Dumbledore was inferior to me at the same age." Silence fell upon the compartment. Hermione's jaw almost dropped to the floor. She looked at him like she had just seen a ghost. Harry slowly lowered his head into his hand. Ron looked at Tyson as though he'd just witnessed someone proclaim themselves Merlin reborn.

Even Neville, who hadn't understood half the conversation, seemed surprised by the sheer confidence with which Tyson had delivered the answer. The silence stretched for nearly half a minute before Tyson sighed.

"I was joking." Everyone's expressions immediately eased.

"Mostly," he added. Harry groaned.

"I knew you were going to say that." Tyson grinned before gesturing for Hermione to sit down.

"Alright, I'll share a trick with you." Hermione's eyes lit up almost instantly. Without the slightest hesitation, she crossed the compartment and sat beside him, leaning forward with the eager anticipation of someone about to hear a secret that wasn't written in any textbook. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ron and Neville's ears perked up. Harry, on the other hand, shot him a betrayed look.

He'd never once heard Tyson mention any such trick. Tyson had to fight back a laugh at the latter's expression. Tyson rested his forearms on his knees for a moment, organising his thoughts before speaking.

"First of all, this is only a hypothesis," he began.

"I don't know whether it's actually true." Hermione nodded immediately.

"Go on." Tyson continued.

"I think stronger intent can help you work around some of the limits on will." Hermione's brown pupils sparkled with interest.

"Most people treat intent as something that naturally improves with practice, but they don't deliberately train it. Visualisation is the essence of intent. The clearer and more precise your mental picture becomes, the more refined your intent should be. Over time, that should allow you to cast charms beyond your year to some extent." It was his working theory, born from months of private experimentation. Refined intent could ease the burden on raw will, at least for spells one or two grades above.

Hermione herself would prove it someday, casting a NEWT-level charm while still being a fifth year. He was only giving her a head start. Hermione's expression turned thoughtful, a small furrow appearing between her brows. Tyson could almost see her rearranging everything she'd learned over the summer.

"But what about magical power? Wouldn't that still limit you?" she asked after a brief pause.

"For really powerful spells, maybe. But most second- and third-year charms don't demand that much. So it shouldn't hold you back," Tyson answered. She nodded slowly, already moving on.

"Then what about—" She raised one question after another, dissecting the idea from every angle. Tyson answered patiently, explaining concepts as clearly as he could without sounding like he was lecturing. Before long, Hermione had come noticeably closer, completely absorbed in the discussion. At some point, she'd unconsciously reached over and lightly taken hold of Tyson's sleeve, apparently using it as an anchor while she continued dismantling magical theory piece by piece.

Harry watched the exchange with open fascination. He'd never seen anyone ask so many questions without pausing long enough to breathe. Ron looked between the pair with increasingly glazed eyes. Finally, he leaned towards Neville and lowered his voice.

"They're speaking English...?" Neville whispered back, looking dazed, "... I think so... but I'm only catching every fourth sentence." Harry let out a quiet laugh without taking his eyes off the debate. Hermione remained blissfully unaware.

"So if intent really can be trained separately," she continued rapidly, "wouldn't that mean Hogwarts could introduce advanced spellwork earlier? Students wouldn't necessarily succeed every time, but they'd begin refining their intent much sooner."

"Hermione." She carried on without acknowledging him.

"And if that's true, then Magical Theory might actually be describing averages rather than limitations, which would completely change—""Sorry, but I'll have to refuse. I'm already married to the love of my life," Tyson said with absolute firmness. She paused at once, looking genuinely puzzled.

"What?" Tyson gestured downward. Only then did she seem to register the position she was in. Her eyes slowly travelled down Tyson's arm until they reached her own hand, which was still lightly wrapped around the sleeve of his robes. Colour drained from her face for an instant before rushing back in a deep crimson wave. Hermione yanked her hand back so fast it was almost comical, folding both hands tightly in her lap.

"I... I didn't realise..." she stammered, reaching out briefly to smooth the wrinkle she'd left in the fabric, somehow drawing even more attention to it.

"... Sorry." Tyson glanced down at his sleeve before looking back at her with a smile.

"No harm done. I was joking. I'd love to keep answering your questions. Really. But if we kept going like that, we would have probably reached Hogwarts before Neville finds Trevor." Hermione glanced over at Neville, whose face had gone slightly pink at being mentioned, then back at Tyson. Her shoulders sagged just a fraction.

"Oh," she said softly, sounding truly disappointed.

"I suppose we should..." Tyson chuckled.

"We're going to the same school, you know. We'll have years to talk about this stuff." She looked up at him, hope flickering on her face.

"Promise?" The word slipped out before she seemed to catch herself. A faint flush crept up her cheeks. Tyson met her eyes.

"Promise." Just like that, her disappointment melted away. She gave a single, satisfied nod. With that, he simply lifted his wand again and turned his attention back to the reason they'd all been gathered in the compartment in the first place.

"Now," he said, looking towards Neville with an easy smile, "let's see if we can find Trevor."