Chapter 49: The Attribute Panel and the Trial Begins

The next day, Erwin headed straight to the Room of Requirement.

He wished for a training room dedicated to magic practice, a space filled with various targets and anti-magic equipment where he could unleash his magic to his heart's content.

As he trained, he discovered that his magic power regenerated five or six times faster than before, and his ability to cast spells silently and wandlessly had been enhanced significantly. Now, he could be called a walking magical fortress.

Finally, after a full day of intense bombardment, Erwin was able to control his vastly increased magical power once again.

He felt that his current strength had reached professor level. Even someone like Snape would have difficulty dealing with him now.

He checked his attribute panel and, as expected, saw tremendous improvement.

**

[Host: Erwin Gaunt

Age: 12 years old

Status: First-year student at Hogwarts

Magic Power: 55.4

Magic Items: Avalon

Charms Talent: 6

Defense Against the Dark Arts Talent: 7

Transfiguration Talent: 6

Potions Talent: 7

Dark Magic Talent: 9

Mastered Spells: [Fiendfyre], [Crucio], [Sectumsempra] (Only the three highest proficiency spells listed)

Gold: 300]

**

Looking at his system panel, Erwin was thoroughly satisfied. It was only the first semester, and his strength had already improved to this level.

After Voldemort's resurrection, he would likely reach the pseudo-legendary level.

Although pseudo-legend and professor level were only one tier apart, the gap between them was wider than the chasm between a Muggle and a professor.

In nearly a century, only three wizards had achieved this level.

****

Walking out of the Room of Requirement, Erwin spotted Hermione standing at the entrance to the headmaster's office, constantly arguing with the gargoyle statue.

"Let me in! I need to see Professor Dumbledore about something very important."

"I'm sorry, but you cannot enter without the password," the stone gargoyle replied expressionlessly, ruthlessly rejecting her plea.

"Why are you here, Hermione?" Erwin asked, puzzled.

"Erwin," Hermione exclaimed, looking at him as though he were her savior.

"Someone broke into the fourth floor. It must be Snape. Harry and the others are guarding the door, waiting for me to fetch Professor Dumbledore."

Hearing this, Erwin mentally kicked himself.

How could he have forgotten such an important event while absorbed in his magical training?

Without hesitation, he spoke the password to the gargoyle.

"Lemon sherbet."

The stone statue paused for a moment before splitting apart and moving aside.

Erwin strode inside with Hermione following close behind.

Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore was not in his office.

Erwin spoke in a low voice.

"Professor Dumbledore isn't here. We need to head to the fourth floor now, I'm afraid Harry and the others might break in on their own."

He vaguely recalled that in the original timeline, Harry hadn't waited for Dumbledore and had rushed in with his friends.

Hermione, feeling somewhat helpless, could only follow Erwin's lead.

The two quickly rushed toward the abandoned classroom on the fourth floor.

When they arrived, Harry and Ron were waiting anxiously at the classroom door.

To be honest, Erwin was slightly surprised to see that Harry hadn't already rushed in.

After all, the Savior's usual style was to charge in recklessly.

He seemed surprisingly calm today.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is out of his office. We won't be able to find him anytime soon," Hermione explained.

Hearing this, Harry became even more anxious, his heart sinking.

"Then let's go in together. Erwin, you're very powerful. If you help us, we can definitely stop Snape if we act together,"

Erwin didn't object and nodded his head.

He was curious to see the various protective enchantments the other professors had set up.

Thus began Erwin's first dungeon run of the school year at Hogwarts.

The party configuration consisted of: Support Member #1 Harry, Support Member #2 Ron, the quick-witted Hermione, and himself as the main damage dealer.

Well, at least that's how it seemed in Erwin's eyes.

Walking through the door, they immediately encountered the three-headed dog, Fluffy.

Without hesitation, Erwin transfigured a nearby stool into a harp and played a lullaby.

The three-headed dog immediately collapsed into sleep.

However, Harry, standing nearby, suddenly felt something strange.

It felt like the rest of them were… useless…?

Shaking his head, Harry quickly dismissed these unreliable thoughts.

Hermione couldn't help but marvel at how such a terrifying magical creature could be defeated by a single song.

And such an oddly melancholic tune at that.

"See? Snape must be an idiot. He definitely got bitten by Fluffy last time," Ron said gleefully.

As long as Snape suffered misfortune, this foolish boy would be happy for an entire semester.

"Alright, don't waste time thinking about useless things. Are you ready? We're going to jump," Erwin said as he walked over to the trapdoor and pulled it open with a firm tug.

"Are we really doing this?" The three students peered down into the opening, then exchanged uncertain glances.

Below was pitch darkness, like a black hole, utterly bottomless.

Seeing their hesitation, Erwin decided to lead by example.

He jumped lightly into the opening.

Although he knew there were Devil's Snare vines below, he wasn't about to stake his safety purely on memory.

Casting a [Cushioning Charm] mid-air, Erwin descended slowly and safely to the ground.

"There are soft plants down here. No problem. Jump down," he called up to them.

"Come on, Hermione. I'll catch you like last time. Trust me." Erwin shouted from below.