A Transfer Student with Cedric-Level Social Skills

After moving the negative emotional energy from beneath Hogwarts to another location, Adam and Isidora settled into a life of studying Ancient Magic, occasionally checking on Yog’s progress or going out for a stroll.

For now, their plan was to recruit him once he had gained a preliminary grasp of how to use Ancient Magic.

"Actually, I think we could find more people to study it with us."

After extracting the negative emotions of a poacher from this era, Isidora sat down to rest and casually said to Adam:

"Since you can travel through time, Adam, why not bring all four founders here? Or other powerful wizards, like Merlin."

"Hmm… You have a point, but unfortunately, that won’t work."

Adam spread his hands.

"I’ve considered the people you mentioned too, but… how should I put this? They all have very strong personalities. If I brought them here, I’m afraid they wouldn’t join our research. They’d be more interested in studying their own things."

Isidora nodded thoughtfully, indicating that she understood.

In truth, the main reason Adam had not abducted those wizards was that their identities were simply too special…

Whether it was the four founders or Merlin, their status in the British Wizarding World was far too high. Bringing them to Hogwarts too early might lead to things detrimental to unity.

Especially Slytherin, that fanatic of pure-blood supremacy. He was nothing like Voldemort, who only talked the talk. If the Death Eaters were not all basically in prison now, he could raise a pure-blood army in minutes once released.

In any case, they were in the past and were not going anywhere. It would not be too late to bring them over once Adam’s influence over the British Wizarding World had truly penetrated every aspect of society, including people’s hearts.

Just then, fluctuations of Ancient Magic energy caught Adam and Isidora’s attention.

"That is…?"

"It seems to be coming from Hogsmeade."

"Let’s take a look!"

The two Apparated to Hogsmeade, only to find a vast expanse of ruins.

Isidora frowned. "Was this caused by Ancient Magic?"

"Probably not. There’s no residual Ancient Magic energy on these ruins."

Adam walked to where the remaining energy was most concentrated and raised a hand, retracing a shadow of the past.

When they saw the armored troll charging wildly through the light and shadows, only to explode into ashes scattered across the sky after taking a beam of energy from Yog, both Adam and Isidora fell silent.

Adam hesitated before speaking.

"Was that Ancient Magic too?"

If Ancient Magic was that powerful, how had those professors managed to defeat Isidora back then?

"…I don’t know."

Isidora hesitated as well.

"My research into Ancient Magic was mostly focused on easing my father’s suffering, but… that power did seem to be Ancient Magic?"

Adam nodded, recalling the equipment on the troll in the projection. It looked somewhat similar to what those elderly goblins used.

Boom—

Just then, the shattered stones and bricks before them suddenly moved, then flew into the distance under the pull of some force.

"Oh, it’s the Repairing Charm."

Adam nodded. This spell was indeed highly effective when the damaged object was not a magical item, had not been destroyed by Dark Magic, and its remains were relatively intact.

The remains before them came from a clothing shop: Elegant Wizarding Attire. Adam was somewhat familiar with it; it would still be around a hundred years later.

Unfortunately, he would buy it after that.

"Come to think of it, I’ve never explored Hogsmeade from a hundred years ago…"

Adam stroked his chin, but then reconsidered. Given how wizards were, Hogsmeade from a hundred years ago probably would not differ much from Hogsmeade a hundred years later.

"Ah, it’s you!"

With Adam’s ability to distinguish the usual emotional currents around him, he could clearly tell that the other person was referring to him.

Looking up, Adam saw Yog, his striking white hair unmistakable, running toward him excitedly.

"Who are you? I saw you during the Sorting Ceremony that day. You…"

Yog glanced around and lowered his voice.

"You’re involved with Ancient Magic too, right?"

Adam and Isidora exchanged a glance, then Adam nodded.

"Yes. We are scholars researching Ancient Magic."

Isidora smiled at Yog.

"That day, we noticed that you seemed to have talent in this area as well. We finally confirmed it today."

"I knew it!"

Yog clapped his hands excitedly.

"I’ve run into so many things related to Ancient Magic lately. First, I was attacked by a dragon, then goblins hunted me down…"

He had experienced far too much during this period. His mind was full of countless questions he wanted to ask someone, yet he had nowhere to voice them. The only other person who knew, Professor Fig, did not know anything either, and had even told him to keep it secret and not tell anyone.

Now that he had finally found two people connected to Ancient Magic—and people from Hogwarts he could trust—Yog’s mouth showed no sign of stopping.

"Wait a moment. This isn’t the place to talk."

Adam noticed that wizards nearby had begun paying attention to them, so he interrupted Yog somewhat helplessly.

"Let’s find somewhere else… Is there a Three Broomsticks Pub at this time?"

Adam directed the latter half of his question at Isidora.

"There was one in my time, but now…"

Isidora shrugged. She had been busy lately; where would she find the time to go out drinking?

"There is!"

Yog spoke up.

"Uh, but I arranged to meet one of my classmates at the Three Broomsticks Pub earlier."

"That’s fine. There’s no need for the matter of Ancient Magic to… uh… it still needs to be kept secret."

Before he finished speaking, Adam felt that he was having some trouble suppressing the temporal deviation.

Yog had left very few traces in the future. Almost no one remembered him; at least, Adam had never encountered anyone mentioning him. Therefore, Adam could meet Yog directly now rather than bringing over Yog from a parallel world, and he could completely suppress that tiny temporal deviation with his own power.

But if Ancient Magic became common knowledge, the temporal deviation caused by the enormous difference from the future would not be so easily resolved.

"It’s not a big problem. Let’s go there first. If necessary, I’ll erase the other person’s memories of Ancient Magic."

As Adam spoke, he led the two of them toward the Three Broomsticks Pub.

"By the way, you only just transferred to Hogwarts. You made friends so quickly? Is he your dormmate?"

Normally, such rapid friendship-building only happened among first-years. Everyone was new, so they naturally had the conditions to make friends. Transfer students found it much harder to quickly fit into a new environment.

He could only say that Yog truly was a Hufflepuff. His friendship-making skill points were well invested.

"Uh, no. He’s a friend I met in class. He’s a Slytherin student."

Slytherin?

Adam could not help shooting Yog a surprised look.

Not only had he made friends quickly, but with a Slytherin at that. You really could not tell from looking at him. Those social skills… were they Cedric-level?