The wooden cabin rocked gently with the rhythm of the sea, each sway sending a slow, hollow creak through the wooden frame of the ship. Salt hung heavy in the air, mixed with the sour scent of damp timber and something far worse—something metallic and still.
Thaddeus lay on the narrow bunk, staring at the faint translucent panel floating before his eyes, while beyond the wooden cabin door and down the dim corridor, rows of motionless bodies sat slumped in their seats, stiff and lifeless as if the entire ship had been frozen in a single moment of death. In the middle of an endless ocean, there was no land, only silence carried across water—and the dead.
He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. His head still throbbed and his limbs felt weak, but the pain was no longer unbearable. The most urgent thing now was understanding the system that had attached itself to him.
The interface displayed a simple panel for his status.
———
[STATUS]
Name: Thaddeus
Condition: Weak | Starving | Poisoned
Magic Talent: Detected
Magic Capacity: Low
Physical Condition: Critical
——
Thaddeus stared at the words silently. Weak. Starving. Poisoned. The system did not bother softening the truth. His current state was simply laid out in cold, blunt terms. Yet one line caught his attention more than the others.
——
Magic Talent: Detected.
——
A faint breath escaped his lips.
"That's fortunate."
If he had been born as squib, the existence of this system would have meant nothing. In the wizarding world, talent determined everything. A squib with a magic-enhancing system would still be a squib. The system had already confirmed that magic existed within him.
As for having no last name, he expected it. Being the son of a merchant did not grant the original owner the kind of status that made a family name matter. Even after coming of age, in places like his home town, people were remembered for their trade not their lineage.
The fragments of memory he inherited confirmed it. His father had been a traveling merchant who spent most of his life sailing from port to port. Of his mother, however, there was nothing. No face, no voice, not even a vague recollection. Just emptiness. The one who tend the original owner was a servant—who he escaped into with a pouch of gold just to start his voyage.
That absence of the mother itself felt like the answer.
If his guess was correct, then the truth was simple. The original's owner father was a mundane merchant. His mother… likely a witch he had never known.
Which meant he was a half-blood.
His gaze lowered to his hands.
The wooden merchant ship beneath his feet, the crude life of sailors, the lack of anything remotely advanced—it all pointed toward a far older, more primitive time than the one he remembered from the world of Harry Potter within the Wizarding World.
A distant past.
Long before the familiar plot he once knew.
But whether this era was centuries before the story no longer mattered. The moment magic existed, the world itself became dangerous.
He carefully explored the interface further.
Unlike many system that possessed personalities or guiding spirits, this system remained completely silent. It did not respond to his voice. It did not offer explanations. It simply displayed functions and information he'd to explore himself.
Another panel appeared after clicking the three dots in the upper left corner of his Status window.
———
[System Functions]
[Spell Proficiency Enhancement]
[Daily Sign-In Reward]
[Status Display]
———
That was all.
No missions. No instructions. No commentary.
Thaddeus leaned back slightly against the wall of the cabin, his mind already analyzing the implications. His guess is that the system's primary ability appeared to be enhancing the mastery of spells. That alone was already an extraordinary advantage. Even the most talented students in Hogwarts required years of practice to truly master magic. If the system could shorten that process, it would be invaluable.
Then a notification window appeared before him.
———
[Beginner Package Available.]
[Claim? ]
[Y/N]
———
Thaddeus blinked slowly.
A beginner package was essentially a welcome gift. Even someone unfamiliar with systems could guess its purpose. Without hesitation, he opened it.
The panel unfolded like a magical inventory.
———
[Beginner Package Contents]
*Antidote to Common Poison ×3
*The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1
*1,000 Galleons
*Wand Kit
*Learning Card ×1
———
For several seconds, Thaddeus simply stared.
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"That's… surprisingly generous."
The three antidotes alone could easily save his life. The poison inside his body is still there, he can feel it. It had already weakened him to the point where death was not far away. Without treatment in a few days or so, he might not have survived.
Thaddues plans to deal with it after exploring the system but who would have thought it will give him the antidote?
Then there was the spellbook.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 was not just any random text. It was the foundational book used by first-year Hogwarts students. Inside were the basic spells every wizard learned during their early training. With this book he can start his practice of witchcraft and wizardry.
But the item that caught his attention most was something else, not even the wand kit.
——
[*Learning Card ×1.]
——
He click on it and the system displayed a brief description.
———
[Learning Card:
Allows the user to instantly comprehend and master one spell from a selected spell source.]
———
Thaddeus read the line twice.
"Instant mastery, "
For a wizard, that was an extraordinary concept. Magic was not something that could normally be mastered overnight. Even simple spells required careful wand movements, controlled magical output, and a precise incantation.
Yet this single card could bypass all of that.
Of course, it could only be used once. But even a single instant mastery could drastically improve his chances of survival.
Before anything else, however, he needed to deal with the poison.
Thaddeus selected the antidote from the system window. Immediately, three small glass bottle appeared in his hand.
Surprisingly, the spell book, wand kit, and a small pouch of Galleons had followed and appeared beside him on the wooden bunk.
Thaddeus stared at them for a moment before a realization slowly formed.
The system had no inventory.
Anything it provided manifested directly into the physical world. There was no hidden storage space, no convenient dimensional pocket to rely on. If he received something, it would simply appear near him.
A faint frown crossed his face.
"Inconvenient… but practical."
His gaze shifted toward the remaining items. Among them sat the small glass vial labeled Antidote to Common Poison. The liquid inside shimmered faintly under the lantern's weak light.
The sharp ache spreading through his body reminded him of the poison still lingering in his veins.
His fingers trembled slightly as he reached for the vial and uncorked the bottle. The scent that escaped was bitter, sharp with the smell of crushed herbs.
Without hesitation, he drank it.
The potion burned slightly as it slid down his throat. For a moment nothing happened.
Then warmth spread through his body like fire flowing through his veins.
The pain began to fade.
The burning sensation that had been tearing through his chest slowly weakened. His breathing steadied as the antidote worked its way through his bloodstream.
He exhaled slowly.
"Good."
The poison was not completely gone yet, but the worst of it had been suppressed.
He placed the remaining two bottles carefully on the small table beside the bunk. Then his hands reach the spellbook.
A thick hardcover volume appeared in his lap.
The cover read: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.
He opened it slowly. Inside were dozens of beginner spells written with clear instructions and diagrams.
Lumos. Alohomora. The Wand-Lighting Charm. Basic Transfiguration theory.
His eyes eventually settled on a familiar spell.
Wingardium Leviosa.
The levitation charm.
A simple spell, yet incredibly useful. It allowed objects to float through the air under the wizard's control. For someone in a survival situation, such a spell could be extremely practical.
Thaddeus studied the page carefully. The wand movement was shown in a smooth curved motion. The incantation required precise pronunciation. The theory explained the manipulation of magical force to counter gravity.
After a moment of thought, he made his decision.
"This will do."
He click again the Learning card in the system.
——
[Magic Spell detected, use the Learning Card x1? ]
[Y/N]
——
Thaddues clicked yes yes and a golden appeared in front of his eyes, the golden card then dissolved into a faint stream of light before it engulf him.
Then—pain struck his mind like lightning.
Thaddeus gasped as knowledge poured into his consciousness. It was not just information from the book. It was something deeper.
Memories of practice.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Endless repetitions of casting the levitation charm.
He could feel the motion of the wand as if he had performed it for years. The magical flow, the precise balance between control and power, the subtle adjustments required for different objects.
All of it forced its way into his mind.
His body trembled as magic surged through him.
The air inside the cabin rippled.
Small objects began to rise from the floor.
A wooden mug lifted slowly from the table. Loose papers drifted upward. Even the lantern hanging from the ceiling swayed as invisible magical pressure filled the room.
Then the surge stopped.
Everything slowly settled back into place.
Thaddeus remained motionless for several seconds, breathing heavily. The pain in his skull gradually faded.
But something had changed.
When he looked at the spellbook again, the levitation charm felt completely natural.
Not like something he had just learned.
Like something he had mastered long ago.
He slowly raised his hand.
He did not even use the wand yet.
Still, he whispered quietly.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Magic responded instantly.
The spell book rose smoothly from his lap.
It hovered in the air with perfect stability.
Thaddeus watched it silently.
Even wandless, he could control the spell with ease.
"…Incredible."
The Learning Card had truly granted mastery.
He lowered the spell book back and reached for the second antidote potion using the charm. This time he drank it slowly.
Warmth spread through his limbs again. The remaining poison weakened further, and strength gradually returned to his body.
His vision cleared. The dizziness disappeared.
Within a few minutes he was able to stand without difficulty.
Still tired but no longer on the edge of death.
Thaddeus flexed his fingers and glanced around the small wooden cabin. The room was simple and worn. Thee wooden bunk, a table, a chest, a door leading into the rest of the ship and dead bodies of some sailors—merchants who died in poisoned.
He slipped the final antidote bottle into his pocket.
Then he closed the spellbook.
"Time to see where I am."
Surviving the poison was only the first step.
He was still stranded somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Carefully, he opened the wooden cabin door.
The hallway beyond was dim and silent. The wooden floor creaked softly as the ship swayed with the waves.
No voices.
No footsteps.
Just dead bodies of other passengers.
Thaddeus stepped into the corridor cautiously, his mind already planning his next moves. He needed to search the ship for food, water, and any navigational tools that might reveal his location.
If he was truly alone on this vessel, survival would depend entirely on what he could find.
Somewhere beyond the wooden walls of the ship stretched the endless sea and for now, Thaddeus was drifting in the middle of it.
TBC
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