"You managed to modify your wand by yourself?!"
Snape looked as though he had just heard an absurdly ridiculous joke.
The joke was so absurd that it wasn't even funny anymore.
"Yes, I did. I just followed the textbooks from Flourish and Blotts, combined with a little flash of inspiration of my own," Devereux replied with a nod.
Snape could hardly believe Devereux had said such a thing so casually. Yet, considering how moments ago the boy had brewed a minimal-ingredient version of the Polyjuice Potion that even he himself couldn't pull off, Snape couldn't help but start believing it.
"How long have you been doing this?" Snape asked hesitatingly.
He knew that if Devereux was lying to him, the boy would basically be facing immediate expulsion.
"Not long, about two weeks. I've only cast spells a few hundred times or so."
Snape couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead.
If this kid was telling the truth... and two weeks had passed without the Ministry of Magic showing up... then it was definitely undiscovered.
But if that was the case, could this kid possibly be not just a Potion Genius, but also an absolute prodigy at wand-crafting?
"Wait, tell me in detail how you modified that wand—damn it! We're running out of time!"
Before Devereux could go into detail with Snape about his wand modification, Snape muttered a curse under his breath, saying they were running out of time, and told Devereux to find him alone at school to discuss it later.
Then he grabbed Devereux by the shoulder.
*Pop!*
Devereux felt as though he had been flushed down a toilet, spinning dizzily as he arrived in a new location. Although he was already quite proficient at Apparition, being dragged along by Snape was still rather rough on him—it simply didn't feel as comfortable as casting the spell himself.
He turned his head. They were now standing in a narrow alleyway with no wizards or Muggles in sight.
Snape shoved a train ticket into Devereux's hand.
"Now, go inside the station and catch the train. The platform is Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The entrance is the pillar between platforms nine and ten—just charge right through it without hesitating."
After giving his instructions, Snape narrowed his eyes.
"And another thing: I don't care where you learned it, but you are not allowed to Apparition anywhere I can't see you!"
With that, he shoved Devereux right out of the alleyway.
Devereux walked toward the station in a slightly dazed state. Just as he was about to enter, he glanced back, but Snape had already vanished from the alley.
***
To be honest, an eleven-year-old half-blood boy carrying a toad into a railway station still looked rather bizarre, drawing the attention of quite a few Muggle adults.
Devereux paid them no mind, marching straight toward platform nine. In no time at all, he reached his destination and easily located the pillar between the two platforms.
However, having to charge headfirst into a solid stone pillar without any kind of protective shield made him somewhat nervous. To be honest, he didn't quite dare do it.
Just as Devereux was hesitating in place, another boy of about his age, pushing a massive luggage cart, appeared on the platform looking utterly panicked. Devereux had just watched him get scolded by a station guard.
Green eyes, glasses, and long hair covering his forehead.
There was no mistake! This was the famous Chosen One! The boy who lived! Harry Potter!
Devereux immediately hurried over.
"Hey, are you a first-year at Hogwarts too?" Devereux asked, extending his hand in a friendly manner. "I am. My name is Devereux, Devereux Alexander. And you?"
At first, Harry was startled by the sudden appearance of a peer, but upon hearing that the other boy was also a Hogwarts first-year, a look of immense relief washed over his face.
"Hello, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. It's really great to meet you!" Harry said, shaking Devereux's outstretched hand.
Yet, as Harry looked back at Devereux, for some reason, Devereux had suddenly frozen in place.
Devereux reckoned he would never forget the day he saw Harry Potter's traits.
...
【Name: Harry Potter】
【Age: 11】
【Spell Library: Love (Ancient Magic / active until age 17, currently active)】
【Traits: The Chosen One (Red), Protection of Love (Gold), Horcrux (Gold), Flying Genius (Purple), Magical Aptitude (Purple)】
...
【The Chosen One (Red): Born with exceptionally high renown, you are destined to achieve extraordinary feats in the final showdown with your arch-enemy! However, the path you ultimately take depends entirely on your choices.】
【Protection of Love (Gold): Protection born of profound love. Until you come of age, as long as you spend a period of time each year with your blood relatives, no one can harm your life!】
【Horcrux (Gold): Accidentally turned into a Horcrux by a powerful dark wizard, you have inherited his talents to a certain extent, including supreme talent in Dark Magic and Parseltongue!】
【Flying Broomstick Genius (Purple): A born aviator with an innate mastery of flight-related magic items, especially the Flying Broomstick. Even years of training by ordinary people cannot match the natural sense you were born with!】
【Magical Aptitude (Purple): Possessing magical talent that surpasses average wizards, you learn spells faster than ordinary people while also possessing a degree of creativity.】
...
Oh my god!
Aside from himself, this was the first time Devereux had ever seen someone with more than one golden trait! And it was also his first time seeing a red trait! What's more, all of Harry's traits were above purple!
Was this what it meant to be the Chosen One?! It really lived up to the hype!
Without a second thought, Devereux immediately put loading 【The Chosen One】, 【Protection of Love (Gold)】, 【Flying Broomstick Genius (Purple)】, and 【Magical Aptitude (Purple)】 into his plan.
For now, he directly loaded 【The Chosen One (Red)】, 【Protection of Love】, and 【Magical Aptitude (Purple)】.
As for the 【Horcrux】 trait... well, he certainly didn't want to share dreams with a noseless, bald old man while he was sleeping. He'd leave that blessing for Harry to enjoy all by himself.
Choosing to load the two purple traits was completely normal, and skipping 【Flying Broomstick Genius (Purple)】 at first was just a whim—he could always load it later once he was at school.
However, Devereux's choice to load 【Protection of Love】 also had a purpose behind it: he wanted to test whether he could find his own blood relatives through this method. After all, possessing this trait meant possessing the magic of "love." That way, he could determine who his blood relatives were simply by checking whether this magic was active.
As for the 【Chosen One】 trait, Devereux mainly wanted to see how someone who was already eleven years old could possess extremely high renown, and how the system would manage to spin that narrative for him.
【Ding!】
【Currently loading copied trait: The Chosen One (Red)...】
【Currently loading copied trait: Protection of Love (Gold)...】
【Currently loading copied trait: Magical Aptitude (Purple)...】
【Copy complete!】
Instantly, the moment the trait copying finished, Devereux didn't experience that sudden, drastic physical transformation he had felt when copying 【Potion Genius】 and 【Master Wand-Maker】—or rather, the change did happen, but it was extremely subtle.
Instead, Devereux felt as though some sort of destined change had occurred within him.
This change was indescribable, as if he had caught a sudden glimpse of his life's future, only for it to vanish from his mind the next second, forgotten entirely. It was a very strange sensation.
"Devereux? Are you alright?" Harry's concerned question abruptly snapped Devereux out of it.
"Oh, oh... I'm fine. Um, what were we just talking about?" Devereux didn't have time to dwell on this mystical, profound sensation; he planned to think about it on the train.
"Ah, we were talking about getting to the station, but I'm not very good at finding—well, the truth is, I actually don't know how to get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!" Harry said this with a hint of bashfulness, probably not wanting his classmate to find out that he, the famous Chosen One, was actually a "dummy" who knew nothing.
Devereux understood completely. He grinned and led Harry over to that stone pillar.
"Come on, Harry! Don't overthink it! Just charge right into this pillar!"