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Chapter 51: I've Seen a Ghost!
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
[Grubby Snape (R): Your first reaction upon seeing him is to get far away!
Skill—Aversion: Tear this card to make a stranger highly likely to dislike you. The effect is determined by the difference in strength.]
[Snape the Group Follower (R): This is Snape after entering Hogwarts. To avoid being isolated, he joined a Slytherin organization where most members would become Death Eaters after graduation.
Skill—Follow: Tear this card and designate a target. The target will become highly likely to trust you. —A bit weaker than Amortentia, but should be good enough?]
[Death Eater Snape (SR): In the first year after graduation, Snape and the other members of his organization from the same year became Death Eaters together.
Skill—Dark Wizard: Tear this card to gain an extremely fast learning speed for a designated Dark Magic.]
Is this damn System trying to push me further and further down the path of a Dark Wizard?
William complained internally as he added the third card to his collection—all probability-based cards were a scam.
[Clueless Ronald (R): Some people master a curse that even a seventh-year hasn't learned before they even enroll, while others, born into a magical family, foolishly attempt to cast a strange spell on a rat.
Skill—Used to It: Tear this card to immediately calm down and remain unaffected by negative emotions for a period of time. The duration is affected by your personal state. —Does it hurt? Yes, it hurts, but I'm used to it.]
[Curse Failure Ronald (R): Ronald tried to curse his enemy, but his wand didn't seem to agree.
Skill—Loss of Control: Tear this card to make a designated target's next spell highly likely to fail. The success rate is determined by the difference in strength.]
[Emotional Outburst Ronald (R): Ronald is getting irritable again!
Skill—Anger: Tear this card to make a target highly likely to become angry. The success rate is determined by the difference in strength.]
What were all these bizarre cards? Both of them were negative cards?
William mumbled as he chose the first one, which didn't have a success rate clause. He felt like he was starting to grasp a small pattern in the card draws.
[Messy-Haired Harry (R): This poor child's hair has been carelessly cut again!
Skill—Rapid Growth: Tear this card to make a part of your body, or a designated target's, quickly recover to its original state. Wounds caused by Dark Magic, curses, and magical items will greatly slow the recovery speed, but will not negate it.]
[Harry the Intimidator (SR): Vanishing a piece of glass, releasing a snake, and saying a few words... tsk, the perfect revenge.
Skill—As You Wish: Tear this card. For up to the next five minutes, you can perform wandless magic and change anything within your line of sight according to your will. The more changes you make, the shorter the skill's duration.]
[Meal Coupon]
The first one or the second one?
After some thought, William gave up on the seemingly powerful second card.
Many powerful Dark Magic spells could create irreversible wounds. If the descriptions on the two cards weren't lying, the first card could even heal wounds that normal magic couldn't.
Although it was only a one-time use, it could at least save an arm or a leg—if used in time, maybe even a head.
Currently burdened with a curse, William felt he should be prepared to lose a limb. The old professor he'd met today had left a deep impression on him—that Care of Magical Creatures professor only had one and a half limbs left!
With all three chests yielding negative cards, William couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious about the card-drawing mechanism.
He wasn't too sure about others, but in the plot he remembered, Harry had deliberately told his opponents the content of the match because he felt knowing it in advance was unfair. Whether he would turn dark later was another matter, but judging by that act alone, his character shouldn't be bad. So why did he draw a negative card?
Considering the information attached to the cards and the prompts for receiving a Treasure Chest, William suspected that when someone who approved of him had a friendly attitude, the chest would yield a positive card. If their attitude was negative, it would be a negative card.
'Here's the problem: if a person with positive emotions develops a negative opinion of me, and then I turn it back to positive, will that spawn another Treasure Chest? And what about the other way around?'
'If their emotions fluctuate back and forth, could I farm twice the number of chests?'
'How many levels of affection chests are there?'
These thoughts floated through William's mind one by one, but for now, there was no way to test them. Experimenting with affection was just asking for death; even the most dangerous magical experiment was safer than that.
Whether with the same sex or the opposite, it could end with a cleaver—this was Britain, after all!
William immediately abandoned the idea of experimenting. Only a villain would approach emotions with an experimental mindset.
Having made up his mind, William suddenly felt a bit hungry.
He had been in a hurry to open the chests and had only eaten a few bites. Now that the excitement of opening them had faded, his stomach began to complain.
"What are you thinking about?"
An abrupt female voice sounded out. William quickly turned his head, ready to brush it off with an excuse about being captivated by a decoration on the wall.
But as he turned, he froze on the spot.
A ghost!
A real ghost, not a fake one—a slender ghost was standing behind him, hovering a few inches off the ground.
"What were you thinking about just now?" she repeated her earlier question.
"Oh, I was captivated by the portrait on the wall. I couldn't help but stare for a while."
William calmly recited the lie he had just concocted.
"You're lying!"
"No, no, this is my first time at Hogwarts," William said, sneaking a glance at the portrait on the wall as he began to elaborate on his lie. "Honestly, I found the dinner at Hogwarts a bit too overwhelming, so I made an excuse to come out here for some air. But I didn't expect to see this portrait here."
Taking another quick look to make sure the lie he was about to spin wasn't too outrageous, William added, "Seriously, I've never seen such a—graceful young lady. The painting alone is so beautiful it's almost suffocating."
'Good thing it's a young lady. If it were an old woman, this would be hard to explain,' William added silently in his mind.
To run into a ghost just by picking a random corner to draw cards... counting the two achievements from tonight, it was probably just an unlucky day. It made him crave rice noodles. Why didn't Hogwarts serve them?
"You're lying!"
The ghost descended. Only then did William notice her appearance—waist-length hair, a floor-length robe, and a delicate face filled with impatience.
"I've been watching you for almost five minutes. You were just staring blankly at the wall!"
...
Couldn't the ghosts of Hogwarts be a little less idle!
"She's too beautiful. I was just lost in the moment. There's nothing strange about that, is there? Besides, I was worried a student might see me, so this makes it easier to slip away if someone comes."
William told a bald-faced lie.
"Hmph!"
The ghost gave up on talking to William, phased through the wall, and disappeared.
***
PS: Sorry, today was another hectic day, dammit... I'll try my best to make up for what I owe tomorrow if I can...
(end of chapter)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
[Grubby Snape (R): Your first reaction upon seeing him is to get far away!
Skill—Aversion: Tear this card to make a stranger highly likely to dislike you. The effect is determined by the difference in strength.]
[Snape the Group Follower (R): This is Snape after entering Hogwarts. To avoid being isolated, he joined a Slytherin organization where most members would become Death Eaters after graduation.
Skill—Follow: Tear this card and designate a target. The target will become highly likely to trust you. —A bit weaker than Amortentia, but should be good enough?]
[Death Eater Snape (SR): In the first year after graduation, Snape and the other members of his organization from the same year became Death Eaters together.
Skill—Dark Wizard: Tear this card to gain an extremely fast learning speed for a designated Dark Magic.]
Is this damn System trying to push me further and further down the path of a Dark Wizard?
William complained internally as he added the third card to his collection—all probability-based cards were a scam.
[Clueless Ronald (R): Some people master a curse that even a seventh-year hasn't learned before they even enroll, while others, born into a magical family, foolishly attempt to cast a strange spell on a rat.
Skill—Used to It: Tear this card to immediately calm down and remain unaffected by negative emotions for a period of time. The duration is affected by your personal state. —Does it hurt? Yes, it hurts, but I'm used to it.]
[Curse Failure Ronald (R): Ronald tried to curse his enemy, but his wand didn't seem to agree.
Skill—Loss of Control: Tear this card to make a designated target's next spell highly likely to fail. The success rate is determined by the difference in strength.]
[Emotional Outburst Ronald (R): Ronald is getting irritable again!
Skill—Anger: Tear this card to make a target highly likely to become angry. The success rate is determined by the difference in strength.]
What were all these bizarre cards? Both of them were negative cards?
William mumbled as he chose the first one, which didn't have a success rate clause. He felt like he was starting to grasp a small pattern in the card draws.
[Messy-Haired Harry (R): This poor child's hair has been carelessly cut again!
Skill—Rapid Growth: Tear this card to make a part of your body, or a designated target's, quickly recover to its original state. Wounds caused by Dark Magic, curses, and magical items will greatly slow the recovery speed, but will not negate it.]
[Harry the Intimidator (SR): Vanishing a piece of glass, releasing a snake, and saying a few words... tsk, the perfect revenge.
Skill—As You Wish: Tear this card. For up to the next five minutes, you can perform wandless magic and change anything within your line of sight according to your will. The more changes you make, the shorter the skill's duration.]
[Meal Coupon]
The first one or the second one?
After some thought, William gave up on the seemingly powerful second card.
Many powerful Dark Magic spells could create irreversible wounds. If the descriptions on the two cards weren't lying, the first card could even heal wounds that normal magic couldn't.
Although it was only a one-time use, it could at least save an arm or a leg—if used in time, maybe even a head.
Currently burdened with a curse, William felt he should be prepared to lose a limb. The old professor he'd met today had left a deep impression on him—that Care of Magical Creatures professor only had one and a half limbs left!
With all three chests yielding negative cards, William couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious about the card-drawing mechanism.
He wasn't too sure about others, but in the plot he remembered, Harry had deliberately told his opponents the content of the match because he felt knowing it in advance was unfair. Whether he would turn dark later was another matter, but judging by that act alone, his character shouldn't be bad. So why did he draw a negative card?
Considering the information attached to the cards and the prompts for receiving a Treasure Chest, William suspected that when someone who approved of him had a friendly attitude, the chest would yield a positive card. If their attitude was negative, it would be a negative card.
'Here's the problem: if a person with positive emotions develops a negative opinion of me, and then I turn it back to positive, will that spawn another Treasure Chest? And what about the other way around?'
'If their emotions fluctuate back and forth, could I farm twice the number of chests?'
'How many levels of affection chests are there?'
These thoughts floated through William's mind one by one, but for now, there was no way to test them. Experimenting with affection was just asking for death; even the most dangerous magical experiment was safer than that.
Whether with the same sex or the opposite, it could end with a cleaver—this was Britain, after all!
William immediately abandoned the idea of experimenting. Only a villain would approach emotions with an experimental mindset.
Having made up his mind, William suddenly felt a bit hungry.
He had been in a hurry to open the chests and had only eaten a few bites. Now that the excitement of opening them had faded, his stomach began to complain.
"What are you thinking about?"
An abrupt female voice sounded out. William quickly turned his head, ready to brush it off with an excuse about being captivated by a decoration on the wall.
But as he turned, he froze on the spot.
A ghost!
A real ghost, not a fake one—a slender ghost was standing behind him, hovering a few inches off the ground.
"What were you thinking about just now?" she repeated her earlier question.
"Oh, I was captivated by the portrait on the wall. I couldn't help but stare for a while."
William calmly recited the lie he had just concocted.
"You're lying!"
"No, no, this is my first time at Hogwarts," William said, sneaking a glance at the portrait on the wall as he began to elaborate on his lie. "Honestly, I found the dinner at Hogwarts a bit too overwhelming, so I made an excuse to come out here for some air. But I didn't expect to see this portrait here."
Taking another quick look to make sure the lie he was about to spin wasn't too outrageous, William added, "Seriously, I've never seen such a—graceful young lady. The painting alone is so beautiful it's almost suffocating."
'Good thing it's a young lady. If it were an old woman, this would be hard to explain,' William added silently in his mind.
To run into a ghost just by picking a random corner to draw cards... counting the two achievements from tonight, it was probably just an unlucky day. It made him crave rice noodles. Why didn't Hogwarts serve them?
"You're lying!"
The ghost descended. Only then did William notice her appearance—waist-length hair, a floor-length robe, and a delicate face filled with impatience.
"I've been watching you for almost five minutes. You were just staring blankly at the wall!"
...
Couldn't the ghosts of Hogwarts be a little less idle!
"She's too beautiful. I was just lost in the moment. There's nothing strange about that, is there? Besides, I was worried a student might see me, so this makes it easier to slip away if someone comes."
William told a bald-faced lie.
"Hmph!"
The ghost gave up on talking to William, phased through the wall, and disappeared.
***
PS: Sorry, today was another hectic day, dammit... I'll try my best to make up for what I owe tomorrow if I can...
(end of chapter)
