The sausages at Hagrid's hut actually tasted fairly decent. They were a little greasy, a bit too salty, and their texture was softer than Ryze preferred, but at the very least they were edible.
The rock cakes, however, were a completely different story.
Ryze reached out and tapped one lightly with his finger. The dull thud it produced sounded more like a stone hitting wood than a biscuit being touched.
After hearing that sound, he immediately realized something important.
There was absolutely no way his teeth could win against this thing.
Still, Ryze was not someone who gave up easily. After thinking for a moment, he cleverly asked Hagrid for a cup of hot water. He placed the rock cake inside and let it soak for a while. Once the outer layer softened slightly, he carefully broke off small pieces and slowly chewed them.
Even then, chewing required considerable effort.
Although Hagrid insisted that soaking the rock cake in water would ruin most of its flavor, Ryze calmly explained that his teeth and stomach were not particularly strong and that he couldn't handle overly hard food.
"Oh, then you really should pay attention to that," Hagrid said with concern. "If it ever gets serious, you can go to the school infirmary and see Madam Pomfrey. She's a very capable healer."
As he spoke, Hagrid casually grabbed another rock cake and crunched into it as if it were an ordinary biscuit. The hard pastry cracked loudly between his teeth.
For Hagrid, the rock cakes were apparently the perfect consistency.
He happily paired them with the grilled sausages, clearly enjoying the combination.
Ryze could only watch in silent admiration.
While carefully working through the softened pieces of rock cake, Ryze kept chatting with Hagrid about his duties as the Hogwarts gamekeeper. At the same time, part of his attention remained focused on something else entirely.
His Curse Energy.
After the first increase earlier, the energy value had risen by about 0.1 every ten minutes on average.
Ryze wasn't entirely sure whether this was the maximum absorption speed or whether the curse intensity around Hagrid simply wasn't particularly high.
Still, the results were already satisfying.
After absorbing 0.3 points of Curse Energy, however, fifteen more minutes passed without any further increase.
The value remained completely still.
It seemed that Hagrid's surrounding curse energy had been temporarily drained.
Ryze quietly noted the result.
Looks like there's a limit to how much I can absorb from a single source in a short period.
He decided that tomorrow he would return to Hagrid's hut again and test whether the energy could replenish itself over time.
Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, Ryze realized that he had already been sitting in Hagrid's hut for nearly forty minutes.
In that time, he had only managed to eat a little more than half of the rock cake—even with the help of hot water.
And honestly…
This thing was unbelievably filling.
Just half of it was enough to keep him full until noon.
Meanwhile, Hagrid was still enthusiastically talking about the magical creatures he was planning to breed in the Forbidden Forest. His voice carried the excitement of someone discussing their greatest passion.
"So I reckon if I can crossbreed 'em properly, they'll adapt to the forest climate just fine—"
There was absolutely no sign that he intended to stop anytime soon.
Ryze reluctantly interrupted him.
"I'm sorry, Hagrid," he said apologetically. "But it's almost time for class. I should head back and prepare."
Hagrid blinked in surprise before looking toward the window.
"Oh! Right, right! Can't have you missin' your lessons."
He scratched his beard sheepishly and walked Ryze to the door.
"Come visit again when you have time!" Hagrid said warmly as Ryze stepped outside. "Next time I'll prepare some snacks that suit your taste."
Ryze smiled politely.
"I'd like that."
Hagrid stood outside his wooden cabin and waved goodbye until Ryze began walking down the path toward the castle.
Among the many wizards at Hogwarts, quite a few disliked Hagrid because of his rough appearance or unusual habits.
But very few young wizards were willing to sit inside his cabin and chat with him for such a long time.
As he watched Ryze leave, Hagrid scratched his beard thoughtfully.
"Reyes White… what a nice young wizard."
He quietly repeated the name to himself so he wouldn't forget it.
Meanwhile, Ryze walked slowly back toward Hogwarts Castle, rubbing his slightly full stomach.
He still carried the remaining small piece of rock cake in his hand.
Rather than taking the same path back, he chose a different route that led closer to the Great Hall.
As he walked, he quietly reviewed the results of the morning.
"0.3 Curse Energy from Hagrid's hut… not bad."
He mentally calculated his daily goal.
"If I can find another place to absorb some energy, that should be enough for today."
To avoid energy overflow affecting his body, Ryze had decided not to insist on reaching the absolute maximum amount every day.
But ideally, he wanted to accumulate at least 0.9 points of Curse Energy daily.
Still, there was another problem.
"So far, I haven't seen a single raven that triggers the collection prompt."
Ryze frowned slightly.
"I wonder how often those ravens refresh."
Lost in thought, he soon reached the castle and entered the Great Hall.
It was around eight o'clock, which meant breakfast was in full swing.
The hall was bustling with students.
Long tables were crowded with young wizards eating toast, eggs, sausages, and porridge while chatting noisily with their friends. Plates floated through the air toward empty spots, and the smell of warm food filled the entire hall.
The Hogwarts breakfast looked extremely appetizing.
Unfortunately, Ryze couldn't eat another bite.
At this point, even drinking a glass of milk felt impossible.
Suppressing a sigh, he quickly walked toward the Ravenclaw long table.
His three roommates were already there.
They had clearly finished breakfast and were now reading copies of The Daily Prophet.
When they saw Ryze approaching with a slightly stuffed expression, they immediately looked curious.
"What happened to you?" one of them asked.
Ryze raised the remaining piece of rock cake in his hand.
"I went for a walk outside the castle this morning," he explained. "Then the gamekeeper enthusiastically invited me into his hut and we chatted for over half an hour. I ended up eating some of his food."
He looked down at the rock cake and chuckled.
"I underestimated its size. Half of this was already my limit."
Holding it up, he added, "Does anyone want to try this biscuit that's as hard as a rock?"
The three boys reached out and touched the rock cake.
A moment later, they all withdrew their hands with expressions of disbelief.
Their gazes toward Ryze instantly filled with respect.
"You actually managed to eat this?"
Ryze shrugged.
"It's not bad if you soak it in water first."
When none of them seemed eager to try it, he simply put the rock cake away.
"If you don't want it, I'll save it for lunch."
He wasn't the type to waste food.
Just as he finished speaking, Ryze noticed something from the corner of his eye.
A young witch standing not far away seemed to be looking at him hesitantly.
She appeared to be debating whether or not to approach.
Ryze immediately recognized her.
He turned and greeted her first.
"Good morning, Granger."
Hermione Granger's gaze briefly fell on the place where Ryze had just stored the rock cake.
Then she walked over.
"Next is Charms Class," she said calmly. "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw will be attending together. It's our first class at Hogwarts."
She hesitated slightly before continuing.
"I wanted to ask if you've previewed today's lesson."
She opened the book in her arms.
"We should be learning Lumos today—the Lumos Charm. I've already practiced the spell a bit and discovered some useful tips."
She looked at Ryze seriously.
"If you haven't mastered it yet, I can explain the key points before class."
Behind Ryze, his three roommates immediately leaned forward, listening with obvious curiosity.
Ignoring their gossip-filled expressions, Ryze smiled politely.
"Thank you," he said. "But I've also practiced the spell at home before."
He paused before adding,
"Perhaps we can exchange tips during practice in class."
Hermione nodded.
That answer seemed reasonable to her.
After all, Ryze was a Ravenclaw student.
His intelligence should naturally be quite good.
Compared to Ravenclaw, however, the learning atmosphere in Gryffindor felt somewhat lacking to her.
The previous night, Hermione had asked her dormitory roommates whether they wanted to wake up early to review spells together.
But aside from herself, only one other young witch had read the textbooks before school started.
The rest planned to simply learn everything during class.
Hermione couldn't quite understand that mindset.
Don't they feel curious about magic at all?
Still, she didn't say that thought aloud.
"That's good," Hermione said simply.
She picked up her book again.
"I'm going to the Charms classroom to preview the material."
As she turned to leave, she paused briefly and added one more sentence.
"This is Hogwarts. If anyone ever forces you to do something you don't want to do, you can always tell a professor."
Then she walked past Ryze and exited the Great Hall.
Ryze's mouth twitched slightly.
It took him only a second to understand what she meant.
Did she see the rock cake and think someone forced me to eat it?
Poor Hagrid had been implicated without even knowing it.
Honestly, if Ryze could obtain 0.3 Curse Energy every day from Hagrid's cabin, even if Hagrid really forced him to eat rock cakes…
He would still gladly accept.
Still, Ryze made a mental note.
He should find an opportunity later to clarify the misunderstanding with Hermione.
Otherwise, Hagrid might end up with an undeserved reputation.
"I think I saw her on the train," Michael suddenly said, leaning closer. "She seems like a tough person to deal with."
He glanced toward the hall entrance where Hermione had just left.
"Do you know her?"
Ryze nodded.
"Hermione Granger. A very capable young witch."
He added casually,
"She's probably the only new student who memorized all of the first-year textbooks before enrollment."
His words immediately caused the others to gasp.
"Memorized… all of them?"
Terry looked doubtful.
"Then why didn't she end up in Ravenclaw?"
His tone carried a hint of skepticism.
This was actually a rather common stereotype among Ravenclaw students.
If someone was truly intelligent, they should obviously belong in Ravenclaw.
How could someone from another house possibly be smarter than them?
Since Hermione had been sorted into Gryffindor, Terry instinctively assumed that the story must be exaggerated.
After all, Gryffindors were known for caring about appearances and dramatic statements.
Although Terry had only been in Ravenclaw for less than a day, he was already starting to think like an older Ravenclaw student.
Ryze simply shrugged.
"Perhaps the Sorting Hat valued her inner courage more than her intelligence."
He stood up from the bench.
"Anyway, we'll see how capable she really is once classes begin."
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