The Outset (IV)

Maverick booked a tiny, 15-square-meter room at the Leaky Cauldron for a few weeks. There was a worn table by the bed, and each corner had a candle lit, giving the dim space some decent light.

Even though the room was a bit shabby, it was cleaner and more comfortable than he expected. With all the chaos in the lobby, where wizards looked a little disheveled, he didn't think the guest rooms would be this nice.

After dropping all his purchases on the table, Maverick picked up the wand again. Instantly, a transparent panel appeared in front of him, showing the same message as before:

[ Discovered an Extraordinary Characteristic: Casting ]

[ Grade: Excellent ]

[ Do you want to use one Extraordinary Characteristic Point to replicate it? ]

Maverick took a deep breath and clicked the "Yes" button with his mind. Nothing seemed to happen with the wand in his hand, but the pop-up disappeared, and the character panel changed slightly:

[ Name: Maverick Caesar ]

[ Class: Wizard ]

[ Rank: Mage Apprentice ]

[ Magical Energy: 11 + ]

[ Points: 9 ]

[ Extraordinary Characteristic Points: 0 ]

[ Extraordinary Characteristics: Excellent grade spellcasting (unfused) ]

Note: Extraordinary Characteristics Grade: Basic > Excellent > Mythical

[ Talents: None ]

[ Spells: None ]

Maverick was surprised by the changes in the panel. It was clear he had used his only Extraordinary Characteristic Point to replicate the wand's excellent spellcasting ability. The "unfused" note meant he needed to merge that ability with himself. The wand felt like an extension of his own hand, which suggested it was a perfect match, just as Ollivander said.

But what did "fusion" mean? Maverick focused on the unfused spellcasting characteristic on the panel. Suddenly, a new pop-up appeared:

[ Would you like to fuse the Extraordinary Characteristic: Excellent Grade Spellcasting? ]

[ Yes ] [ No ]

After taking another deep breath, he decided to merge.

[Yes]

As soon as he made that choice, a tingling sensation shot through his fingers. It took about five minutes for the feeling to fade completely.

At this moment, Maverick felt as though his fingers truly embodied the sensation of holding his magic wand, capable of replicating it entirely.

He glanced at the extraordinary characteristics section of his panel and noticed a change:

[ Extraordinary Characteristics: Excellent grade spellcasting ]

The "unfused" note was gone, and he felt a new connection to the wand in his hands. However, Maverick still didn't know the difference between casting spells with a wand and without one since he hadn't learned any spells yet. So, his next goal was to learn some spells—at least to confirm the feeling he had now.

Maverick preferred to keep a low profile, treating this newfound ability as his trump card while using the wand to maintain his disguise.

He also had another concern: What did Magical Energy mean, and how was it connected to his rank?

According to the panel, he was now an Apprentice Mage, which was one rank above Novice. Did that mean wizards with less than 10 Magical Energy were considered Novices? What about young wizards like Harry Potter and Hermione Granger when they first started school? And how would professors rank in terms of Magical Energy?

The more he analyzed the panel, the more questions popped into his head. He didn't remember any ranking system for magical power from the "Harry Potter" series. It only mentioned that young wizards' magical power would grow with age after awakening or during a "Magic Riot," and that it would keep increasing until adulthood.

It was now July 1988, and soon it would be time for this year's young wizards to enter school. But Harry, Hermione, and Ron wouldn't start for another three years. This meant Maverick had over three years to learn before the plot officially kicked off.

His best bet was to stay away from Hogwarts, the center of it all, and develop his skills quietly.

Still, some books needed for Hogwarts courses weren't available at Flourish and Blotts. For instance, Maverick was eager to learn advanced spatial magic like the Undetectable Extension Charm and Apparition. Those seemed to be only taught at Hogwarts or other schools.

He was also drawn to the Hogwarts library. So, applying for a teaching position at Hogwarts before Voldemort's return seemed like a smart move.

If he could leave after Voldemort came back, he'd hide away. If not, he'd use those years to get as strong as possible so he wouldn't be scared of Voldemort. With his powerful system backing him up, Maverick felt more confident knowing he had a few years to prepare.

Right now, his level wasn't high enough to apply for a job at Hogwarts, so he planned to study hard for a year, take his OWLs and NEWTs at some school abroad, and get a teaching position before Harry Potter and his friends started.

Since he gained 10 points every day, Maverick was sure he'd level up faster than anyone else.

After all, if Gilderoy Lockhart, a notorious fraud, could become a professor, then surely he could too.

"I need to think carefully about what professor position to go for…" he mused, considering his options for the future.