Chapter 15: Differences in Academic Ability

After the new students gradually became familiar with the ever-changing staircases in the castle, Wade's life at Hogwarts started to settle into a certain rhythm.

The first-year students' schedule was quite relaxed, with as few as one class per day and no more than three at the most. The remaining time was entirely up to the students to manage themselves. 

Upon seeing such a timetable, Wade was very skeptical—how can these students who constantly complain about too much homework from the professors fail to complete just a few inches of essays on time?

In his previous life, Wade could write at least 300 characters in an essay by the time he was under ten years old, and that was in Chinese, a language known for its "compression of information." If converted into English, he could easily expand it to 1,000 words. 

After systematic training through high school, college, and graduate school, it wasn't impossible for him to churn out 10,000 words in two days.

It was only after studying with Michael, Hermione, and others for a while that Wade understood the reason behind this.

Among the first-year students, apart from Wade, Hermione found writing essays the easiest—at the very least, she wouldn't make mistakes in basic grammar, rarely encountered words she couldn't spell, and could quickly grasp the key points in the texts, then clearly and logically convey them.

The other three students found these tasks much more challenging, even Michael, who is from Ravenclaw.

This was because they all came from wizarding families.

Wizards' lives are almost completely isolated from those of ordinary people—even if one of the spouses is a Muggle-born. 

Most wizarding families live in seclusion, not only avoiding contact with Muggles but also casting "Muggle-Repelling Charms" around their homes to prevent Muggles from accidentally intruding into their lives. 

As a result, wizards are unfamiliar with Muggle clothing, technology, and would never send their underage children to Muggle schools. To them, this would be as absurd as humans sending their children to be taught by monkeys living in trees.

In the UK, Hogwarts is the only magic school; there are no "magic elementary schools" or "magic universities." 

In the wizarding world, children under the age of eleven typically receive home education—if the parents have time, they teach their children reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. 

However, with irresponsible parents, the child might not even know how to spell "quill."

Michael and the others started receiving education from their parents around the age of five or six, so at least they didn't have major problems with reading and writing. 

But there's a difference between knowing how to read & write and having the ability to learn effectively. 

Compared to the systematic education provided in Muggle schools, wizarding home education lacked many elements. 

For instance, when wizarding parents teach their children to read, they typically don't actually cultivate their children's logical reasoning or summarization skills.

Wade suspected that many wizards might not even be aware of such concepts, given their long standing disdain for Muggle theories.

Moreover, young wizards, including Hermione, generally lacked the ability to quickly extract and understand the key points from a text. 

For example, the young wizards could only understand something like "If object A is the same temperature as object B, and B is the same temperature as object C, then A and C must be the same temperature as well." 

However, if their textbooks would phrase it as: 

"If each of two thermodynamic systems is in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they must be in thermal equilibrium with each other. 

That is, if it can be confirmed that the physical properties of two systems do not change when they are allowed to exchange heat, then even if the two systems are not allowed to exchange heat, it can be assured that they are in mutual equilibrium."

Young Wizards: …???

These strings of letters would slide smoothly through their minds, leaving no trace behind.

Hermione, with her strong memory, could commit all the content to memory through sheer force and then slowly understand it by cross-referencing different materials. 

However, most of the young wizards were left completely baffled, jotting down a bunch of notes they didn't even understand themselves. 

They would then scratch their heads and muddle together an assignment to submit, hoping that the professor would be lenient enough to give them an A (Acceptable, passing grade).

Moreover, eleven-year-old children were sent away from their parents to study in a boarding school where the professors' supervision wasn't particularly strict. 

Even the famously stern Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape wouldn't care if the young wizards were taking naps in their dormitories or playing games in the common room during their free time. 

Such a relaxed environment naturally tested the self-discipline of minors. Laziness and playfulness are human nature, while studying isn't—learning is interesting only to a very few.

Like Hermione.

And like Wade.

Within just half a month, the two of them stood out among the first-year students. 

The difference was that Hermione held herself to high standards, and she expected the same from others. She firmly refused any behavior like copying homework or breaking school rules. 

Wade, on the other hand, didn't mind if others copied his homework. When he was buried in books and practicing spells repeatedly in the practice room, he never forced anyone to work as hard as he did.

Wade understood very well the laziness that teenagers often have toward studying—he had been the same way in his previous life. 

In this life, he worked harder than anyone else, not because he loved studying, but because he loved magic. For him, magic wasn't an innate, taken-for-granted ability, so he cherished this opportunity more than anyone else at the school.

After another long practice session, Wade hurried back to the Ravenclaw Tower, nearing curfew. 

At this hour, the corridors outside were completely silent, as if everyone had gone to sleep. But as soon as he entered the common room, it was clear the night was still young.

Hogwarts had a curfew, but no lights-out time. If students wished, they could stay in the brightly lit common room all night. 

At this moment, the Ravenclaw common room was filled with students from various years—some were couples in love, whispering sweet nothings on the sofas in the corners, others were bored young wizards playing wizard chess at the round tables, and there were even upper-year students frantically scribbling to finish their homework.

Despite the number of people, it wasn't noisy. The Ravenclaws naturally lowered their voices when conversing.

Seven or eight people were gathered on the sofa in front of the fireplace, and occasional giggles from the girls could be heard. 

Wade glanced in that direction, but was not particularly interested, so he found a secluded corner to sit down, where he began reading and taking notes.

Noticing this, Michael, who was among the group, exchanged a few smiling words with the girl next to him before walking over to sit beside Wade.

"Studying this late again?" Michael leaned against the table and said:

"Wade, we've been at school for less than a month, and you're almost done with all the first-year material. 

What are you going to do with the rest of the time? I'm not saying this to criticize you, but you're working a bit too hard. Sometimes, you need to relax a little. 

Wade, my friend, do you know how many girls want to get to know you?"

He raised his eyebrows in the direction of the fireplace, prompting another round of giggles from the girls.

Wade paused his quill, his gray eyes quietly looking at Michael as he asked:

"I don't know. But Michael—do you know how long we get to stay at Hogwarts?"

--------------------------------

🙏🙏Please consider supporting this translation project by becoming a P@treon member!!! 

Your support is greatly appreciated!

Available on my P@treon page for just $4!!

Early access to the following translations:-

⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)[⭐NEW NOVEL⭐] - +20 Chapters & 2 Chapters/Day

⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460

⭐Famous Police Detective in Detective World (FPDDW)- +165 advance chapters

⭐Marvel: Little Genius (MLG) (⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 450

p@treon.com/Lightreaper457

--------------------------------