Chapter 16
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nBack in his professor’s lounge, Felix began to decorate the room as he sees fit, with items large and small flying out of his suitcase.
nOnce everything had been organized, he watched a film for entertainment and went to bed.
nThe next morning, Felix went to the library and explored the thousand-year-old Hogwarts book collection.
nAs the first day of school just started, not many visitors came to the library, so Felix took the original copy of Ancient Mysteries of the Alchemy from the forbidden section and read it with great interest.
nHe even discovered seven ways to make a crystal.
nHowever, he was not interested in the alchemy items in the book – after all, this book is quite old, and many things were outdated – what he valued most was the ancient magic rune traces hidden in these alchemy items.
nAncient Magic Runes did not appear and fall all at once.
nIn the earliest untraceable times, it was a barbaric age for magic. A few gifted ‘men’ struggled to build magical towers for defense and research purposes, and they sought the mysteries of magic in magical creatures and plants, accidentally discerning patterns that could store the magic for a short time and transform it into magical effects.
nThis was the earliest form of ancient magic runes.
nAs a result of the efforts of many pioneers, the number of magical runes mastered by wizards increased, and this led to the creation of powerful ancient magic and ancient alchemy, which led to the emergence of human wizards.
nAt that time, magic was a symbol of power.
nAs time passed, more and more potential ‘people’ emerged, the number of wizards began to grow, and they desperately required a way to record their magical knowledge in words.
nSome people got together to create an ancient language based on the magic runes and spread it widely. By now, most magic runes were in fact powerless and merely served as a means for recording knowledge.
nAs the years passed, new, magic runes were discovered, and the first ancient languages that emerged were developed, changed, and evolved around the world.
nThis has resulted in a plethora of common characters, synonyms, mistranslations, and irregularities, causing countless problems for future generations in research.
nThere followed two major events that affected all wizards.
nThe first was the invention of the wand, which made spellcasting more stable and simpler.
nThe second was the creation of simplified magic, derived from ancient magic, which may have been slightly less powerful, but with the augmentation of the wand, was not too bad.
nMost importantly, it was easier to learn and safer to use!
nAs time went on, more and more wizards gave up on magic runes, and it simply became a myth.
nToday, they are collectively known as ancient magic runes, and many wizards simply use them as a kind of writing, the only purpose of which is to translate the ancient grimoires of their predecessors.
nFelix is not interested in studying ancient history, what he wants is “magical” ancient magic, or rather, the original magic – as for the rest, what are they?
nBut after all, it’s a good idea to learn it, so at least he can use it to teach his students now, right?
nThose first magic runes are now either lost or exist in ancient magic scrolls, somewhere in the dust.
nAccording to Felix’s research, it is only in the branch of ancient magic known as alchemy that such runes are best preserved, and have even evolved and developed on their own to create their own logical system.
nIn their present state, magic runes have little to do with alchemy.
nBut in terms of history, a piece of an alchemical artefact often represents an ancient magic path or its evolution. The older the artefact, the more likely it is to be so.
nAnd that’s what Felix wanted!
nAt the moment, he has only mastered about two hundred of the original runes and a dozen or so circuits.
nThere is a long way to go.
nAs the day rushed away, Felix had a great harvest, he had discovered at least six new magic circuits!
nIf he could break them down and return them to their original form, bah! If he managed to recover the original magic runes, he would be able to increase his reserves by at least a third.
nWhat does it mean to have a thousand years of thought?
nThis is it.
nFelix didn’t even have a meal today – hey, who eats when they can have knowledge? A bottle of elixir will do the trick!
nIt’s seven percent more efficient!
nNo one bothers him.
n“Professor Hap!” A quiet, female voice greeted him.
nFelix looked up and saw Hermione standing beside him, clutching a thick book. Glancing at the title, it is one of the books he had mentioned on his book list.
nAnd, as it happened, it happened to be his own book – Explorations in Ancient Magical Runes.
nIt is no coincidence that Hermione, a very clever little witch, wanted the post of ‘Professor’s Assistant’ so badly, but the list he had given her is overflowing with books!
nA week might be enough for general browsing, but a deeper study? Not possible.
nShe has to focus on one book and use the others as a reference.
nJust now, when she had spent half an hour picking out all the books on the list, she discovered by accident that one of them actually is the work of the young professor! She immediately decided which book to focus on.
nDid she need to choose? Anyone who hesitates on this issue is a retard!
nFelix and Hermione sat next to each other, not disturbing each other until the closing bell rang.
nHermione yawned uncharacteristically.
n“Good night, Professor.”
nShe took small steps, holding her book, and soon disappeared.
nFelix gently turn over his stiff neck, not noticing until now that he starved himself to death!
nAfter a last-minute loan of one of the books, Felix waltzed into the kitchen and exchanged the keywords “please”, “please” and “thank you” for three pies and a piece of cake from the house elf. Three pies, a piece of cheesecake, and a jug of pumpkin juice.
nOn the way, he encountered two little Hufflepuff wizards who had sneaked out quietly to refuel themselves, but he simply ignored them.
nBack on his sofa, he ate his food hastily and fell asleep.
nThe next day, he did the same.
nThe third day, the same.
nIn no time at all, it became Thursday morning.
nPotions class.
nHarry and Ron looked at each other as they saw Hermione, who is in a hurry as soon as they got out of class, then they hurried after her.
n“Hermione, slow down!” They both panted.
n“What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you around for days.”
nHermione is quick on her feet and she replied rapidly, “What did I tell you, boys, did you forget?”
nHarry chuckled, he had been equally busy these days with Quidditch training. Ron quickly recalled, “You mean you’re going to be that new professor’s assistant?”
n“That’s right! But I’m not the only student on the waiting list.”
nHermione pulled out her Potions textbook and set it aside, then pulled out another book, mumbling something under a breath, the thickness of the book simply made Ron and Harry despair.
n“Is this your assignment? To read a book that thick?” Ron glanced at the book with some trepidation.
n“Not one book, twenty books!” Hermione flipped through them, quickly noting anything of value as she did so; this is the fourth book she’d looked through, and except for Felix’s own work, she’d only read them quickly, looking for any useful information.
nBut the figure of twenty books still left her somewhat desperate, and it had made her rather irritable recently.
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