Having made up his mind, Ted spent 1,000 experience points to upgrade his wizard level to 2!
As soon as he did, the character interface updated, revealing an additional attribute point and a skill point.
After some consideration, he allocated the attribute point to Spirit, bringing it to 10—twice that of an average person.
For both wizards and psions, Spirit was an essential stat, directly influencing magical control and mental resilience.
The skill point went into Magic Power, increasing it to level 3.
Ted stretched out his hand and focused inward. Instantly, he could feel the difference—the magic coursing through him had significantly strengthened. It wasn't just a slight improvement; his magic reserves had at least doubled!
A surge of power rushed through his body, filling him with restless energy. He clenched his fists. "I kind of want to level up again already," he muttered.
Of course, he wasn't actually going to do that. Power was meaningless if he couldn't control it. Magic was a force that had to be wielded with precision.
If he recklessly kept leveling up without training, he risked magical outbursts—or worse, turning into an unstable magical bomb, like an Obscurial.
Although October's newly unlocked knowledge from the other world, The Book of Ur, didn't seem particularly useful, Ted still had September's knowledge waiting to be explored.
Dalaran's combat magic training manual was still an invaluable resource.
Previously, he had focused on first-year Hogwarts spells, making sure he had a solid foundation before experimenting with foreign magic.
After all, Dalaran's battle magic was designed for actual combat. The last thing he needed was to lose control and blow himself up in the middle of the castle.
But now, after a month of study and a significant power boost, it was time to start experimenting.
Ted was no stranger to the concept of Dalaran mages. His countless hours spent playing World of Warcraft had given him an intimate familiarity with them.
He had played on and off for nearly a decade, alternating between obsession and long breaks. While he had never specialized in the mage class, he had dabbled enough to understand its mechanics.
In the game, Dalaran mages were supposed to be among the most elite spellcasters, but the ones trained purely for combat were little more than cannon fodder.
True Dalaran mages surely had access to a vast array of non-combat spells—otherwise, how would they handle basic daily life? It wasn't like powerful wizards would waste their time manually scrubbing dishes or sweeping floors.
Ted's copy of the training manual contained 16 spells, all combat-oriented, which proved just how selective the training process must have been.
The spells were divided into three primary schools: Frost, Fire, and Arcane.
Frost Spells: Frostbolt, Frost Armor, Frost Nova.
Fire Spells: Flame Shock, Fireball, Flame Storm.
Arcane Spells: Arcane Intellect, Arcane Missile, Water Conjuration, Food Conjuration, Transmogrification, Slow Fall, Magic Suppression, Blink, Evocation, and Teleport: Dalaran.
These abilities roughly matched a level 20 mage in the game—not weak, but hardly overpowered. They were more than enough to fend off threats like bandits, wild beasts, kobolds, murlocs, or gnolls, but against true magical creatures or powerful enemies, he'd be outmatched.
Now the real question was: which spell should he start with?
Ted had already given this plenty of thought. The most obvious choice would be something that didn't focus on raw damage.
He was still a first-year student at Hogwarts—what kind of dangers was he realistically going to face? Even if trouble did find him, a single Frostbolt or Fireball wouldn't be enough to make a difference. It made more sense to invest in utility magic.
Arcane magic stood out as the best option.
If he could successfully learn Arcane Intellect, an intelligence-boosting spell, his learning speed would increase dramatically. Right now, all the first-years were on equal footing, but even a small lead could snowball into an overwhelming advantage over time.
Ted already had numerous intelligence-enhancing abilities: Flow, Spiritual Inspiration, Memory Palace, Fast Reading, as well as two powerful cards—[Restore Energy (Green)] and [Ravenclaw's Intellect (Blue)]. Adding Arcane Intellect to the mix would push his mental abilities even further. If Tom Riddle could become a genius through sheer talent and ambition, then Ted was determined to match him through strategy and preparation.
However, Arcane magic was much more complex than elemental spells. Fire and Frost spells followed straightforward principles—fling a fireball, freeze an enemy, explode something. Arcane, on the other hand, required precision and an understanding of magical flow.
Moreover, Arcane Intellect had to be cast directly on a person—either himself or an ally. If he miscalculated the spell's effects, there was a nonzero chance he'd end up reducing his intelligence instead of boosting it. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take just yet.
For now, it was best to wait until his spellcasting proficiency increased.
Other Arcane spells like Water Conjuration and Food Conjuration weren't urgent either. The school provided meals, and he wasn't planning on any survival expeditions anytime soon.
As for Arcane Missiles, while useful in combat, they weren't necessary at this stage. And Slow Fall could be replaced with standard Levitation or Cushioning Charms.
Teleport: Dalaran? Yeah, not happening. That level of magic was way beyond him, and honestly, without learning Apparition or Portkey enchantments first, it was out of reach. Besides, Dalaran didn't even exist in this world—best not to go around talking about it.
Arcane Intellect, Transmogrification, Magic Suppression, and Blink—all too complex, not to mention dangerous to experiment with.
Evocation was another beast entirely. It allowed mages to rapidly awaken and restore their magic reserves in a pinch, but Ted barely understood the core theory behind it. Researching something that advanced would take years, requiring a deep understanding of magical flow and energy manipulation. That would have to wait.
After weighing his options, he settled on a defensive spell—Frost Armor.
Ice and fire spells were among the more straightforward types of magic. If he was going to dabble in spells from outside the wizarding world, it made sense to start simple.
Frostbolt was technically the first spell mages learned in World of Warcraft, and might have been easier than Frost Armor. But there was one major problem—offensive spells could be misinterpreted. In Hogwarts, casting spells that directly harmed others could easily be classified as dark magic or even outright illegal.
Even mischievous spells like "Tarantallegra" were considered jinxes. He didn't want to attract unnecessary trouble.
Besides, Frostbolt had a casting time of over two seconds—far too long in a real combat situation. But its power wasn't to be underestimated. If the knowledge in his head was accurate, a fully charged Frostbolt could punch clean through a centimeter-thick wooden board from ten meters away.
If a regular person took a hit to the chest or head, they wouldn't just get knocked back—they'd probably die. Even a wizard with Magic Resistance Lv1 would be seriously injured without a proper defense. If they didn't get medical treatment in time… well, it wouldn't end well.
Ted wasn't here to become a battle mage. He wasn't looking for destruction—if anything, a reliable way to signal for help seemed far more practical.
Frost Armor, on the other hand, was perfect.
Until he mastered Protego, this would be his best form of defense.
Why not fire-based spells like Fireball? Simple—fire was unpredictable. He wasn't about to set himself or the castle on fire.
The magic from Azeroth worked differently from the magic in this world. The casting process, hand movements, and even the way magic was channeled were all fundamentally different. If he wanted to make this work, he had to reverse-engineer the spell model, then reconstruct it using the magical framework of this world.
And for that, he needed a place to practice.
The wizarding world had plenty of privately invented spells. Snape had created Sectumsempra, Muffliato, and Langlock while he was still a student. But Ted's spells would be very different in appearance, and that would raise questions.
A secret practice spot was a necessity.
After getting permission from Professor Flitwick, Ted secured an unused classroom filled with old training dummies. It wasn't perfect, but it was private enough for his experiments.
He began by analyzing the Frost Armor spell model, breaking it down into its core elements: cold, shield, and defense.
To better understand these principles, he also studied three related Hogwarts spells:
Glacius (Freezing Charm)
Impedimenta (Impediment Jinx)
Protego (Shield Charm)
The Shield Charm was advanced, so he wouldn't be able to fully master it yet, but studying it would help refine his approach. The other two were much simpler—plus, Professor Flitwick liked him, so he could always ask for extra guidance.
With his research plan set, Ted threw himself into practice.
A week passed. He spent nearly all of his free time locked away, practicing and refining the spell. The results were… mixed.
On the one hand, he had successfully analyzed, adapted, and cast Frost Armor. That was a win.
On the other hand, the spell wasn't efficient yet.
The current incantation was too long—seven whole words. The wand movement was too complicated, requiring two to three seconds to cast. And the magic cost? Way too high. One casting of Frost Armor drained as much magic as seven or eight consecutive Expelliarmus spells!
Clearly, the spell conversion wasn't optimized yet.
The long incantation, the inefficient wand movements, the excessive energy drain—it all pointed to flaws in his design. He needed to refine the magic model, streamline the gestures, and improve the efficiency of his magical flow.
The spells he learned in Hogwarts had been perfected over centuries, shaped by countless wizards to be simple, effective, and easy to cast. Frost Armor, however, was something he was reconstructing from scratch.
It made him appreciate just how skilled some wizards were.
Take Snape, for example. The man had invented Levicorpus, Langlock, and Sectumsempra by his sixth year—and the last one was borderline Dark Arts mastery.
Snape's talent in magic was undeniable. If not for his personal choices, he could have been one of the most infamous Dark Wizards in history.
Ted had thought about using Identify on Snape before, but he didn't dare. For one, the spell wasn't very effective against people much stronger than him.
And more importantly, Snape was extremely perceptive—if he noticed the attempt, it could easily put Ted on his bad side. The last thing he wanted was to be singled out by one of the most powerful duelists in the school.
Besides, apart from Dumbledore, Snape was probably the strongest wizard in Hogwarts, even if he was the youngest of the four Heads of House.
If it weren't for his devotion to Lily, he could have very well gone down in history as one of the greatest Dark Wizards of all time.
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