Chapter 261: Observations of Mr. and Mrs. Granger
Hermione's rambling introduction did not give Mr. Grangerany real sense of reality.
But when the little witch took out the deluxe edition hero king game console that Levi had given her, Mr. and Mrs. Granger were instantly shocked!
They could hardly imagine that in the wizarding world, a child who they thought was so young had actually invented something with such a sci-fi feel!
This simply overturned their entire impression of the wizarding world!
That's right, Wizards are amazing, and the various magicitems are also very novel and interesting!
But in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Granger, the wizarding world was equally old-fashioned and backward; if you removed the magic and alchemy, it was practically no different from the Victorian era!
Yet, in an old-fashioned society that seemed to have just undergone an industrial revolution, to see something comparable to a 21st-century smartphone—the impact on Mr. and Mrs. Granger can be imagined!
Especially when Mr. and Mrs. Granger saw the booming scene at the hero king game shop, they were instantly extremely surprised!
Could this child, Levi, have already become a big capitalist?
As bona fide Anglo-Saxons, Mr. and Mrs. Granger thought simultaneously.
Even if they knew that the number of Wizards in the British wizarding world was actually small, possessing such a popular shop meant that no matter what, Levi could no longer be treated as a penniless orphan!
In their subsequent time together, Levi clearly felt a change in Mr. and Mrs. Granger's attitude toward him.
In a capitalist society like Britain, although Mr. and Mrs. Granger did not become sycophantic because of this, their attitude toward him was undoubtedly more peaceful, and they were more willing to accept him!
It seemed that some obstacles in the future had been smoothed over without them even realizing it!
Feeling this subtle change in attitude, Levi thought with a relaxed heart.
After buying a pile of things in Diagon Alley, Levi once again put Mr. and Mrs. Granger into the Compendium Space.
"Let's go, Hermione. I've already arranged it with Sanchez; we'll return home from the fireplace in the hero king gameshop!"
Levi said to Hermione, and the two walked into the hero king game shop together, using the Floo Network through the fireplace there to head to the Castle Manor.
"Does the Floo Network require the use of Floo Powder? I've read about it in books, but come to think of it, this is my first time using this mode of transportation..."
Hermione said somewhat nervously; that's just how she was—although knowledgeable, when it came to actual practice, she inevitably felt a bit nervous.
"Don't be nervous. Later, just grip the Floo Powder tightly, throw it hard onto the ground, and in the flames, clearly say 'Scottish Highlands, Keins Residence,' and you'll arrive at the destination!"
Seeing this, Levi said with a smile, comforting the little witch and telling her not to be nervous.
Actually, he had plenty of ways to return to the Castle Manor; for instance, he could ride a broomstick with Hermione, and with the extreme speed of the Firebolt, it wouldn't take much time.
Or, for example, he could turn directly into a Silver Dragonand carry Hermione back, which would be even more novel, exciting, and fun!
However, because they were bringing Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Levi and Hermione chose the fastest way to return to the Castle Manor.
In the fireplace, green flames ignited. Levi and Hermioneonly felt the world before their eyes rapidly twisting and spinning. Amidst the swirling flames, when they opened their eyes again, they had already returned to the battlements of the castle.
"Master, welcome home!"
Two well-dressed House-elves, one in a suit and the other in a maid's outfit, welcomed Levi and Hermione politely.
"Mike, Nilu, how many times have I said it! Just treat the two of us as friends; don't call us Master!"
The little witch Hermione insisted on liberating slaves, starting with herself, and had always disagreed with the two House-elves given to them by Nicolas Flamel calling them Master.
"Sorry, Sir, Miss, we both forgot!"
Mike and Nilu, the two House-elves, smiled apologetically, their expressions relaxing quite a bit.
After all, having not seen them for many days, the two of them couldn't guess the change in Levi and Hermione's attitudes, so they dared not relax in the slightest regarding the honorifics.
"Alright, Mike and Nilu, just treat it as if Hermione and I have hired you!"
"Don't be constrained; from now on, this is your home too!"
Levi also didn't want the two House-elves at home to be like Dobby, punishing themselves at every turn; it was truly too embarrassing and made one feel at a loss.
He and Hermione were even less likely to be like those pure-blood wizards, punishing House-elves at every turn and treating these people who served them as slaves.
After he and Hermione comforted the two House-elves, they welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Granger out.
"Finally back here again; a house designed and built by our own hands looks so familiar!"
As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Granger came out and saw the interior decor they had designed, they immediately relaxed a lot.
The two House-elves also timely brought tea and snacks.
"This... they..."
Mr. and Mrs. Granger were extremely shocked the moment they saw the House-elves; although they had seen Fairies in Gringotts that looked similar to House-elves.
But after all, those were "wild" monsters, while these two were "domesticated"!
"Mom and Dad, don't be afraid," Hermione said, feeling somewhat helpless and even sensing that the road to liberating House-elves was a long and arduous one.
But there was no help for it; she had to act as her parents' tour guide again, introducing the existence of House-elves to Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
"Oh my God!"
After listening to Hermione's introduction, Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both extremely shocked. Like Hermione, they were both a bit incredulous that even in this day and age, there was still the existence of slavery.
They had originally thought the wizarding world was already rotten and backward enough, but the existence of House-elves refreshed Mr. and Mrs. Granger's lower limit of understanding of the wizarding world!
magic, which seemed as beautiful as a Fairy tale, apparently also had its cruel and cold-blooded side!
Watching the busy House-elves, Mr. and Mrs. Grangerlooked at Hermione with some worry.
In a wizarding world that existed with such obvious oppression and enslavement, was it really good to let their daughter live there for a long time?
"Mom and Dad, don't worry; I am, after all, a Wizard, and I plan to..."
Hermione was truly the caring daughter who understood her parents best; the moment she saw her parents' expressions, she knew what they were worried about.
However, Hermione, who wielded magic power, did not feel that she would become an object of oppression by other Wizards.
Holding a wand, every Wizard possessed the power to resist!
Moreover, she also told Mr. and Mrs. Granger about her plan to liberate the House-elves; she wanted to be a reformer of the slave liberation movement in the wizarding world!
Just like Lincoln in the United States!
"This..." Upon hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Granger didn't know what to say. They didn't know whether to feel proud of this or if they should advise Hermione to be careful of the backlash and reckoning from slave traders.
Although they didn't know that the profession of slave trader didn't exist in the wizarding world, how could reform not encounter a backlash from the stubborn faction!
Chapter 262: The Territory Comes to Life
"Don't worry, Uncle, Auntie, Hermione. What he's doing now is just small-scale advocacy within the school; there's no danger!"
"Besides, you have me!"
Levi spoke to comfort Mr. and Mrs. Granger; at a time like this, he naturally had to speak up for Hermione.
In fact, no matter what kind of ideas Hermione advocated within the school, there was no need to worry about interference from conservative forces outside.
Because Dumbledore's overwhelming strength in the wizarding world was the greatest shield.
The only thing to worry about was what would happen after leaving school.
Without Dumbledore's protection, even Harry Potter had to rely on the love magic on his body and stay at his relatives' house.
And it wasn't just Hermione; even Levi himself needed to be careful about his safety. He hadn't forgotten that during last summer break, Umbridge had sent three Dark Wizards, who were still imprisoned in his Compendium Space!
After calming Mr. and Mrs. Granger down with Hermione, Levi left alone for a moment to set up the Tower Spirit.
His return for Christmas this time wasn't just to celebrate with the Grangers, but also to prepare to install the Tower Spirit in the manor castle, letting the territory truly 'come to life'!
Actually, the most suitable place to install the Tower Spiritwas in the single-story wizard tower on the mountain peak behind the castle.
However, the wizard tower only had one floor now, making it completely unsuitable for the Tower Spirit's installation.
To avoid ruining the design layout of the wizard tower, the Spirit could only be installed in the castle for now. But even so, when Tower Spirit One officially took control of everything in the territory, everything seemed to come to life!
All the magic puppets within the manor castle, the energy circuits Levi had secretly laid in the ground, and the unfinished wizard tower on the mountain peak behind the castle...
Under the command of Tower Spirit One, they all 'came to life'.
With the Tower Spirit's management, the energy core on the first basement floor of the wizard tower became more stable and energy-efficient!
Most importantly, all the magic puppets in the territory were infused with intelligence by the Tower Spirit. Under the Tower Spirit's control, they no longer acted like artificial idiots!
"Mobilize the magic puppets, establish territory defense and patrol mechanisms, and protect the safety of this place!"
Levi issued an order to Tower Spirit One, letting it control the magic puppets to perform patrols and establish the territory's defense mechanisms.
In reality, this was also a temporary measure. In the wizard tower mod, there was an extremely powerful defensive design called 'Mythals'.
Once Levi established a magic Mythal in the territory, the entire area would be completely under a magic ban, a no-fly zone, and use various means to weaken and confuse invading enemies—even attacking them through various methods, much like the formations in cultivation!
However, the Academic Credits required to purchase the Mythal design blueprints and construct them were too high. Levi currently lacked sufficient Academic Credits and had no plans to exchange for a Mythal for the time being.
"Fortunately, the Secret Society activated the professor mod. Otherwise, relying solely on the few Academic Credits earned during school would probably be nowhere near enough to exchange for all the designs and knowledge of the entire wizard tower mod!"
"But this way, I'm afraid I'll have to be a Professor or Headmaster at Hogwarts in the future!"
"No, I have to be the Headmaster! Being a Professor is too tiring. I need to learn from Old Dumbledore and just slack off in the Headmaster's Office when there's nothing to do!"
The lack of Academic Credits made Levi firm in his future plans. To continue obtaining Academic Credits after graduation, he would probably have to be a Professor for a while and then seek to become the school's Headmaster.
"By then, I'll be a Headmaster too!"
Levi suddenly thought with delayed realization, while Tower Spirit One, with a dazed look in its eyes, said, "I do not understand."
The Christmas dinner was prepared by the magic puppetscontrolled by Tower Spirit One.
To make life more comfortable, while the Tower Spirit was gathering various data, Levi specifically had it collect a lot of knowledge regarding recipes and housework.
With its ultra-high computing power and intelligence, the current Tower Spirit could be called a top chef proficient in the world's major cuisines.
French cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, a complete collection of British dark cuisine... everything was available in the Tower Spirit's database and could be replicated.
This time, Levi didn't have to call Guo Bao Rou 'French-style soft-fried fragrant pork chops'!
"Wow, this is way too lavish, isn't it?!"
Even though Hermione wasn't a big foodie, she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement when she saw the large table prepared by the Tower Spirit, featuring classic delicacies from all over the world.
"My worries were justified; there's absolutely no way to lose weight at your place!"
Mrs. Granger said 'worriedly,' sharing a smile with Mr. Granger. When the two of them had returned from Levi's place last time, they found they had each gained three pounds!
"magic is truly wondrous; even robots can cook now!"
Mr. Granger was marveling at the wonders of the magic puppets, but in truth, if not for Tower Spirit One, the magic puppets in Levi's territory could only do simple, repetitive tasks.
For anything slightly more complex, without Tower Spirit One's control, these magic puppets were no different from artificial idiots.
Levi and the Grangers enjoyed a pleasant Christmasdinner. The entire Western world, and indeed the whole world, was celebrating Christmas!
Late at night, Levi entered the Compendium Space once again and came to the dungeon where the three Dark Wizards were imprisoned.
The long period of imprisonment had left the three Dark Wizards emaciated.
If Levi hadn't regularly arranged for magic puppets to deliver food to them, these three guys would have starved to death long ago!
"Should I give her a taste of her own medicine? Send them to attack Umbridge?"
Levi thought of that annoying, disgusting pink toad witch, his teeth itching with hatred.
Voldemort had disgusted him and had been retaliated against more than once.
That annoying Umbridge had disgusted Levi even more, yet Levi had never been able to get his revenge, which truly left him unwilling to let it go!
You offended the 'Abbot' and still think you can run!
If it weren't for Umbridge's status as a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official, Levi would have tested the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and Holy Punishment on her long ago!
But after thinking it over, Levi felt he couldn't let these three Dark Wizards seek revenge on Umbridge.
Because if these three Wizards failed, wouldn't that be telling Umbridge directly that he was the one retaliating against her?
Furthermore, the magic of these three Dark Wizards was truly limited. Levi felt that rather than sitting back and watching them fail, it would be better to do it himself!
The taste of personally taking revenge was the most delicious and sweet!
"It'll be this Christmas holiday. Half a year has passed, and people have mostly forgotten the grudge between Umbridge and me!"
"Even if this pink toad suffers a miserable retaliation, no one will think of me!"
With an excited smile on his face, Levi formulated a plan for revenge in his heart.
In particular, he wanted to follow Salazar Slytherin's example and, like Orochimaru, conduct bloodline experiments in secret, and he was currently lacking experimental subjects.
The three Dark Wizards in front of him were far from enough. As a high official of the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge should be better suited for terrifying bloodline experiments!
Chapter 263: A Night for Murder and Arson
Late at night, Levi tried writing a letter to Dolores Umbridge and had Rowlet deliver it to her.
"Excellent, no Confundus Charm cast. It seems, Umbridge, you are destined for a calamity tonight!"
Watching Rowlet's figure soar into the sky, Levi also transformed into a Silver Dragon and followed behind.
The most magical thing about the Harry Potter world is that finding someone is actually very easy.
If no Confundus Charm or Fidelius Charm has been cast, one only needs to write a letter to the person they want to find. Through magic and special paper, the messenger can be guided to the target.
Clearly, as a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge was busy and frequently corresponded, so it was impossible for her to hide herself with a Confundus Charm.
The night was as cool as water. Bathed in moonlight, even in his Silver Dragon form, the Dance of the Bright Moonreward Levi obtained from the Mooncalf was still in effect.
His Agility attribute, including movement speed and reaction time... all physical functions related to speed were increased by fifty percent!
Reflected in Levi's Silver Dragon form, this meant his flight speed increased by fifty percent out of thin air!
"Exhilarating!"
From Levi's mithril-like True Dragon mouth, he laughed and spat out the word "Exhilarating!"
He followed wantonly behind Rowlet, soaring between the sky and the night clouds. Aside from the bright moon in the sky, no one else discovered Levi's secret of being able to transform into a Dragon!
Since successfully completing his Magical Creature Transformation, this was the first time Levi had flown as unrestrainedly as a Dragon!
The bright moon shone clearly, the mist was heavy, and the wind submissively lifted his True Dragon body into the sky.
The boundless earth beneath the Dragon's body vanished in a flash under the night like a dark water surface. A feeling of conquering heaven and earth, soaring freely and without restraint, spontaneously arose in Levi's heart!
"Exhilarating!"
Levi shouted again, feeling as if a version of Xia Luo was recklessly waving his fists in his heart!
After flying with Rowlet for a while, Levi followed the Pokémon owl and finally landed outside a villa on the outskirts of London, Britain.
Recalling Rowlet into the Compendium Space, Levi sized up the two-story villa. He hadn't expected Umbridge's residence to be so nice!
"It seems she's embezzled quite a bit of the Ministry of Magic's operational funds!"
Levi thought to himself. The Umbridge family wasn't some pure-blood family of the wizarding world.
Her father used to be nothing more than a floor-sweeping janitor at the Ministry of Magic, and her siblings and mother were either Muggles or Squibs.
In the world of ordinary people, they weren't wealthy either. How could she have the money to own such a low-key, luxurious two-story villa on the outskirts of London!
Activating Source View, Levi scanned the area and noticed the protective and trigger-based alarm magic placed around the villa.
"Child's play!"
With Levi's magical attainments, dispelling these spells was incredibly simple.
However, he didn't act immediately. Instead, he tapped his Spider Silk Robe, changing his clothes into a black robe similar to those of the Death Eaters, completely concealing his face beneath the hood.
The Ministry of Magic's Aurors could use various magics to investigate cases, and Levi didn't want his true face to be exposed.
From now on, he was a loyal Death Eater under Teacher Voldemort, here to retaliate against a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic!
Once he dealt with Umbridge, he could release a Morsmordre into the sky!
Today, he, Levi Keynes, was going to tell everyone that the great second-generation Dark Lord, Voldemort, had returned!
The plan to attack Umbridge was formulated by Voldemort!
"Magic Surge, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Owl's Wisdom, Fox's Cunning, Eagle's Splendor..."
Levi cast several buffing spells on himself. Simultaneously, beneath the black robe, he completed the transformation of the True Dragon Scale Armor!
If one were to lift the black robe Levi was wearing right now, they would only see a terrifying yet uniquely charismatic and powerful Dragon-man!
Most terrifyingly, after completing the True Dragon Scale Armor transformation, Levi's magic resistance and physical resistance reached a level where he could ignore most magic and ordinary gunfire.
"That's enough." With pre-battle preparations complete, Levi took a step forward. The effect of Finite Incantateminstantly spread, dispelling the defensive and warning magic outside the villa.
"Confringo!"
With a wave of his wand, Levi simply and crudely blasted open the door to Umbridge's house and barged in!
The violent explosion immediately woke the sleeping Umbridge. With terror on that loathsome face, she stared at the black-robed figure barging in, gripped her wandtightly, and questioned loudly:
"Who are you? How dare you break in here? I am a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic, Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge, Umbridge..."
But before she could finish, Levi's Spells struck like a torrential storm:
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Cruciatus Curse!"
The terrifying triple-casting made Levi virtually unrivaled in the wizarding world, and Umbridge was no exception.
Perhaps she was an expert at playing power politics and fawning, but facing Levi's triple-casting, she only had time to cast a Shield Charm to block the Expelliarmus before being knocked unconscious and tortured mercilessly by the Cruciatus Curse.
Specifically, she was knocked out one moment and immediately forced awake by intense pain the next, her whole body going stiff!
With a wave of his wand, the villa's curtains were torn down and turned into ropes, binding the struggling Umbridge before she was stored in the Compendium Space.
"Morsmordre!"
He swung his wand sharply toward the sky. The roof of the villa was instantly blown off, and a terrifying mark soared into the air:
A giant skull roared in the sky, and a terrifying magical serpent crawled out of the skull's mouth, winding and twisting in the air, emitting a dazzling, sickly green light!
"Confringo, Apparition!"
Levi cast two more spells to erase all traces from the scene and then immediately Apparated away!
The speed of the Aurors coming to support was even faster than Levi had imagined!
Just as he left, the Auror sent to protect the high-ranking official Umbridge Apparated and rushed over!
But he was a step too late after all. He could only stare in utter horror at the Dark Mark in the sky, backing away in terror as he shouted:
"He's back! The Dark Lord is back! He attacked Umbridge!"
Chapter 264: A Busy Holiday
Levi didn't know how many people he had scared into sleepless nights with a single Morsmordre.
But he also knew what a terrifying impact his actions could have!
So he decisively shifted the blame for this matter onto Voldemort's Death Eaters. With his control over the Dark Mark, he could even sense some Death Eaters who hadn't been caught connecting in secret.
These people had escaped punishment using money and the excuse of being under the Imperius Curse, and now, seeing the Dark Mark reappear, one could imagine the panic in their hearts!
Was it done by a terrifying Dark Wizard who was a fellow Death Eater?
Or was their master, the presumed dead Voldemort, making a comeback and doing something big to signal his return!
In short, Levi's single Morsmordre sent shivers down the spines of both the light and dark sides of the British wizarding world!
The front-page headlines of newspapers like The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler during the Christmas holiday were all about this!
"Levi, look, even the Dark Mark has appeared!"
"Could it be that Voldemort is making a comeback?"
Hermione held the newspaper and called Levi over, whispering. She had never dared to tell Mr. and Mrs. Granger that she had faced the Dark Lord in her first year and, along with her friends, had thwarted Voldemort's plot.
"It's very likely," Levi responded with a solemn expression, showing no self-awareness of being the mastermind behind the scenes. He even specifically told Hermione:
"I learned from Headmaster Dumbledore that Voldemort practiced terrifying Dark Arts. Even if he is hit by Reducto, his soul can still return from death!"
"Even though we thwarted Voldemort's plot last time and prevented his successful resurrection, he could still make a comeback!"
Hearing that Voldemort couldn't die, Hermione frowned, feeling that the wizarding world was truly plagued by disasters.
Not to mention the issues she and Levi had previously speculated about—how the wizarding world and Wizards would be exposed to ordinary people as technology developed.
Just the immortal Voldemort alone would one day return from death, bringing great disaster and destruction to the British wizarding world!
Then there were the problems within the wizarding worlditself: being tradition-bound, stagnant, and decaying like a pool of stagnant water, even still having slavery and various forms of bloodline discrimination!
Does such a wizarding world really have a future?
Even with the magical power of magic, Hermione held a pessimistic attitude toward the future of the Wizarding World!
"Don't worry, Hermione. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up! Don't forget, there's still Headmaster Dumbledore!"
Levi comforted Hermione. Mentioning Old Dumbledore, in the eyes of the young wizards at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore was the pillar that held up the heavens and the beam that spans the sea!
Hermione's expression relaxed slightly upon hearing Levi's words.
Levi continued, "What's more, there are us young wizards, who are always working to make the magic world better!"
"Like how you're calling for better treatment for House-elves, and how we're inventing more miraculous alchemical items through Alchemy to bring change to the magic world!"
"The future may be dark and uncertain, but we can burn ourselves to be a beam of light that illuminates it!"
Levi's words were like a dose of toxic chicken soup, instantly making the little witch Hermione high-spirited and no longer worried!
Seeing this, Levi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid that the darkness and hopeless future of the magic world would crush his Miss Know-It-All!
Fortunately, the eloquence he had developed over the past two years had allowed him to cultivate the skill of brewing toxic chicken soup. After one pot of it, the little witchbecame full of fighting spirit!
She and Levi were busy feeding various data to Tower Spirit One, and the two were extremely busy during the Christmas holiday.
They didn't even have time to entertain Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
Fortunately, Levi's manor estate was beautiful, and the couple were not pretentious people. Without needing Leviand Hermione's company, they entertained themselves by wandering around the estate.
Through the hero king game stores around the world and the convenient freight trading conditions of the ordinary world...
The two, who didn't need to accompany Mr. and Mrs. Granger, purchased a large number of magic books and ordinary knowledge books to give to Tower Spirit One for recording.
"These books, besides being for us to read and for Tower Spirit One to collect data, can also be used to build a large library here in the future!"
"When the time comes, whatever book we want to read, we can just find it and read it here!"
Levi told Hermione about his plan.
The temptation of owning her own library was simply irresistible to a little witch who loved reading!
So during the Christmas holiday, Levi and Hermione were busy with this, from morning to night, even busier than when they were at school!
Tower Spirit's data collection was a tedious and repetitive task. Once the data collection was complete, Levi would only need to copy a set of data from Tower Spirit Onewhen creating Tower Spirit Two or Three in the future.
Besides collecting data and knowledge for the Tower Spirit, Levi also began to have Tower Spirit One list out the task sequences again.
The task of clearing the Room of Requirement had been completed long ago. Tower Spirit One had not only found the Horcrux Ravenclaw's Diadem but had also turned Leviinto a king of junk recycling.
It made Levi want to develop a second-hand goods recycling platform on the hero king game console!
Although most of it was useless junk, there were indeed a few treasures in the Room of Requirement, such as the Vanishing Cabinet, which Levi had collected to repair later or use as a reference for Alchemy.
Then there was the task of designing the second-generation hero king game console; Tower Spirit One and Levi had completed this task sequence together.
Judging by the feedback in letters from distributors like Greve Sanchez, the King of Heroes second-generation machine designed by Levi and Tower Spirit One was quite popular in the market and selling like wildfire!
Even mainstream media in the Wizarding World, such as The Daily Prophet, commented that the emergence of the hero king game console, especially the communication function, would change the future of the entire wizarding world!
"Just text and voice communication, plus video chat, and you're all this excited?!"
"If I create a magical version of the Internet, or even a magic Net and a Virtual Universe in the future, you'll be over the moon with excitement!"
Seeing the market's reaction, Levi thought to himself with extreme pride.
But thinking about it, if he really could create the Internet, the magic Net of fantasy, and even a Virtual Universe, then becoming the God of Magic would be a natural progression as Wizards became delirious with excitement!
Voldemort and the issue of the wizarding world being exposed in the future seemed like minor difficulties compared to that!
If he could truly realize those great creations from fantasy, then all these difficulties would seemingly be resolved!
Indeed, science and technology are the primary productive forces!
Looking at the increasingly intelligent Tower Spirit One, Levi felt he should conduct more in-depth research!
Chapter 265: Resuming Tasks
On the first floor of the semi-finished wizard tower, Levisat cross-legged in an empty meditation room, performing meditation.
He was surrounded by various observation instruments and energy circuits he had crafted.
These instruments and energy circuits were all connected to Tower Spirit One within the castle, recording various data on the changes in Levi's body.
The task sequences involving clearing the Room of Requirement to find the Horcrux and the second-generation hero king game console had already been completed.
The remaining tasks for Tower Spirit One were to design a meditation technique for Levi and optimize Levi's Spell Template.
However, both tasks lacked data and sample references, so progress was very slow.
Therefore, Levi specially crafted a batch of instruments. By referencing the Source View, Tower Spirit One could use these instruments to gain observation capabilities equivalent to 1/10th of the Source View to observe various changes during Levi's meditation.
By collecting data on magic growth during Levi's meditation, Tower Spirit One continuously used various Ancient Runes for trial and error to gradually simulate this state, thereby designing the most basic meditation technique.
As long as there was a single sample case, then under Levi's inspiration and Tower Spirit One's god-like computing power, countless schemes could be designed.
Even if most of these schemes were incorrect or impossible delusional techniques that could not be practiced,
through continuous trial and error and constant experimentation, it would eventually be possible to grope toward and research the meditation technique Levi wanted.
The same was true for the Spell Template; it only required recording various data when Levi operated the Spell Template.
Tower Spirit One could then optimize it based on Levi's real-time data and the Spell Templates Levi uploaded, making the Spell Template more suitable for him—not only more powerful but also consuming less magic.
However, meditation techniques and Spell Templates were extremely complex. Even optimizing a Zero-circle Cantrip's Spell Template took nearly a week, and Levi had not yet reached any preliminary results.
"No wonder those immortal cultivators spend years without realizing it; just optimizing a Zero-circle Cantriptakes almost seven days!"
"By the time all the zero-circle and First-circle Spell Templates are optimized, almost a year will have passed!"
"I can only attend Hogwarts for seven years. Fortunately, through various means, my lifespan has reached over one thousand two hundred years; otherwise, I really wouldn't have enough lifespan for cultivation!"
"Even so, I'm still using the cultivation cheat that is Tower Spirit One!"
Levi's heart was full of the lamentations of a short-lived species.
In addition to resuming the task of designing meditation techniques, Levi also fed Tower Spirit One a large amount of magic books and scientific knowledge regarding bloodline genes.
He had just obtained a new experimental subject yesterday, which, combined with the three white mice already kept in cages, was almost enough for the initial experimental needs.
The main target of the experiment—the Basilisk—had long been raised in the Compendium Space. In the second half of his second year, he prepared to launch an assault on the class advancement to Bloodline Warlock.
As for which bloodline to choose, Levi naturally chose his own Magical Creature Transformation—the Silver Dragonbloodline—without hesitation.
If he could further develop his Magical Creature Transformation and even become a Draconic Sorcerer, his ordinary Wizard form would also receive unprecedented strengthening!
While busy with various matters, Levi also reviewed his own cultivation.
The magic of the Harry Potter world was not lacking in wonder and power.
However, the only shortcoming limiting these magics was the Wizards of the Harry Potter world themselves; if they didn't use magic, their bodies were actually about as fragile as ordinary people.
Compared to these Wizards, Levi's situation was much better.
The Half-Breed MOD allowed Levi to obtain the Giant Physique talent from Brother Hagrid.
Over the past two years, with a large intake of food and the growth of magic, Levi's magic resistance, constitution, and strength were such that even without relying on magic, he could kill an ordinary adult with a single punch!
But if he faced some powerful Dark Arts, without relying on talents and magic awarded by the Bestiary to endure them, Levi's body would still be very fragile in the face of magic.
If he could advance to a Draconic Sorcerer, relying on the power of the Dragon bloodline and the inevitable Bloodline Warlock MOD, Levi would be able to fill his final shortcoming!
As for the remaining two transcendent classes, Druid and Magic Swordsman, although Levi had found some vague clues, they could only be set aside for later.
"Bloodline research! I hope I won't be as unlucky as Orochimaru!"
"If I were to cooperate with Snape, wouldn't that be the equivalent of Orochimaru and Danzo?"
"So, to avoid ruin and infamy, it's best to research alone and maintain good security measures!"
Levi glanced at the little witch Hermione, who was studying while wearing Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, and decided in his heart not to tell the little girl beside him about such dark and grim matters!
Just as Levi was thinking this, the little witch wearing Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem opened her eyes.
"How is it? After the boost in wisdom, have you completely mastered the magic within your body?"
Seeing Hermione open her eyes, Levi immediately asked with concern.
This Christmas holiday, besides collecting and feeding knowledge to Tower Spirit One, Levi also wanted to guide Hermione to complete the job advancement to Arcanist.
But to become an Arcanist, the first prerequisite was to achieve complete control over the emotionalized magicwithin the body!
The Wizards of the Harry Potter world differ from transcendent beings in other worlds; whether one can become a Wizard depends entirely on whether they possess innate magic.
In this regard, it was quite similar to a certain fantasy continent; without Soul Power, one cannot be a Soul Master.
Furthermore, after Wizards in the Harry Potter worldundergo a magic riot and awaken their magic, the magicthey possess is also full of emotion.
In Levi's view, because the magic in a Wizard's body comes from the mutual influence of the magic source and the soul symbol, the magic is influenced by the emotions within the soul from the moment of its birth, which is why it is extremely difficult to control.
The emergence of Obscuruss, the prevalence of magicschools... these things themselves exist to teach young young wizards to tame the magic within them, using Spells, wands, and other methods to make magic as easy to use as one's own limbs, no longer losing control due to emotions.
Therefore, to control magic, one must first control their own emotions. In the case where Hermione's talent for Spells was insufficient to fully control her magic, the solution Levi thought of was to increase Hermione's wisdom.
Using sufficient wisdom to bring about sufficient calmness, using the calmness of wisdom to suppress excess emotions, and controlling emotionalized magic by controlling emotions.
Facing Levi's inquiry, Hermione, wearing Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, showed a hint of intellectual coolness on her face and replied in a flat tone: "..."
Chapter 266: Hermione's Class Change
To Levi, the little witch Hermione, wearing Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem with an intellectual and cool demeanor, had a unique Spell.
He heard her answer his question, saying:
"As expected of the relic of the the Four Founders, it truly can bestow extraordinary wisdom upon people, just like the legends say!"
"I succeeded, Levi! Not only did I use this superior wisdom to subdue my emotional magic, but I also successfully entered that Source View you mentioned!"
"It's truly peculiar! I never imagined that the essence of a Wizard was like this—that it was composed of points of light, lines, and symbols!"
Even though her intelligence had increased, making her expression and voice appear detached, Hermione still felt heartfelt amazement at the world she saw after entering the Source View.
"This is only the world under the Source View; it does not mean that the essence of the world can only appear in this form."
Levi began his little magic class, teaching Hermione:
"We are practicing a very counter-intuitive magic system, so one's worldview is extremely important. If you want to change your class to an Arcanist, you must learn to view the entire world as an alchemical item..."
Since Hermione had already grasped magic and entered the Source View, Levi began teaching her the necessary knowledge for becoming an Arcanist and shaping her worldview.
The most important point was for Hermione to master the Spell Template for zero-ring spells, use meditation to imprint them, expand her Spell Slot, and complete the class change.
Even so, the current Hermione still could not immediately undergo the Arcanist class change.
Because to cause damage to the soul and force soul power to leak out, one must cast an Unforgivable Curse on oneself.
Hermione's current soul and willpower simply could not compare to Levi's; she needed to continue practicing magicuntil she was strong enough to withstand the damage of an Unforgivable Curse.
Changing to an Arcanist class is a very dangerous matter, even with Felix Felicis and phoenix tears as safety net potions, it remains so.
"I understand. Then Levi, when do you think I will be able to change my class to an Arcanist?"
Hermione asked Levi curiously, having long since seen the power of the Arcanist class that Levi had demonstrated.
Not only could one cast spells wandlessly and silently, but it also increased one's magic limit, instantly turning one into a powerful Wizard.
"When you can withstand one Unforgivable Curse," Levitold Hermione directly, stating the most necessary condition for the class change.
The little witch did not have his array of feats and talents; if a second-year little witch were hit by a Cruciatus Curse, the most likely outcome would be her screaming and fainting from the pain!
Upon hearing Levi's words, Hermione almost thought he was joking with her, but seeing Levi's serious and earnest expression, she realized he was not lying!
An Unforgivable Curse! Hermione couldn't help but shiver!
Even with the bravery of a Gryffindor, this condition was enough to make anyone fearful!
"You must endure the pain of the Cruciatus Curse, and amidst that pain, mobilize your soul power to successfully complete the meditation imprint of the Spell Template. Only then can you complete the Arcanist class change!"
Under Hermione's intensely skeptical gaze, Levi explained that gaining powerful strength and taking on a powerful class is never easy!
Of course, if Levi and Hermione's wisdom were sufficient, and they could comprehend the true mysteries of the Ancient Runes.
Just like those natural creatures born with Ancient Runes, allowing Ancient Runes to naturally form within their own bodies to compose Spell Templates, then they could easily change classes.
Unfortunately, even Levi, who had already changed to an Arcanist, had not achieved this; he was currently nothing more than an Arcane Artisan.
He only knew how to fire spells, not the knowledge contained within each spell.
However, Levi already had ideas regarding this.
Naturally, he was not content to just be an Arcane Artisan who spent Academic Credits to exchange for Spell Templates and acted as a spell turret.
With the Tower Spirit as an assistant, Levi was attempting to dismantle the Ancient Runes, continuously breaking them down, finally analyzing the most basic constituent elements, and then through horizontal comparison, analyzing the meaning of each element.
It was like dismantling a Chinese character, turning it into strokes, or Pinyin, or dismantling a word, turning it into roots or letters.
When Levi truly achieved this, not only would he be able to thoroughly master the Ancient Runes.
But he would also be able to easily compile meditationtechniques, and even the magic system of this world would hold no secrets in his eyes.
Inventing unprecedented Spells would, by then, likely be as simple as saying a single word for Levi.
However, dismantling and analyzing Ancient Runes was not a simple matter.
Each Ancient Rune was a three-dimensional symbol composed of multiple lines and points of light, and there were countless ways to dismantle them.
If one were to dismantle them randomly without the correct approach, one would only end up with a pile of meaningless fragments.
This was an extremely complex project; if Levi did not have the assistance of a Tower Spirit that was similar to an artificial intelligence, he would not dare to have such delusions.
Moreover, the computing power of the Tower Spirit made from top-tier soul crystal was limited; after Levi set multiple task sequences, the remaining computing power was also very limited.
Wanting to thoroughly parse all the runes, and by parsing the basic elements that constitute the runes, to parse all runes, could be said to be a long and arduous journey.
"The magic system of this world is similar to empiricism magic; it completely mimics predecessors, knowing the 'what' but not the 'why'!"
"Parsing Ancient Runes is researching the foundation of magic. If one wants to see this path through to the end, I'm afraid it won't be completed before graduation!"
Even with Levi's ambition to cash in his knowledge for strength, it still required time.
But Levi happened to feel that what he lacked most was time.
At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, attending classes and reading books every day took up the vast majority of his time.
In order to break through to a second-ring Arcanist as soon as possible, he even used meditation to replace a small portion of his sleep time.
However, the restorative effect of meditation on energy was ultimately not as good as a peaceful sleep, so Levi had to enter real sleep in the latter half of the night to dissipate his exhaustion.
Even during the current Christmas break, Levi and Hermione were busy to the point of being overwhelmed; Mr. and Mrs. Granger couldn't help but sigh when they saw this:
"Perhaps learning magic isn't that easy; look how tired these two children are!"
Chapter 267: Chatting on the Train
"Goodbye, Mum and Dad! We'll write to you from Hogwarts!"
After the Christmas holidays had passed, Levi and Hermione said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Granger at King's Cross Station, passed through Platform 9 ¾, and boarded the Hogwarts Express.
Not long after the two of them sat down in an empty compartment, Neville Longbottom, with the notebook Levihad given him floating beside him, came looking for them with a miserable look on his face.
The moment Hermione saw Neville's expression, she felt it was extremely familiar. She scanned the area, suddenly realized what was happening, and said helplessly:
"Has Trevor run away again? Sometimes I really wish he were a dog so we could keep him on a leash!"
Neville nodded helplessly. Even after spending more than a year together, he still had to constantly remind himself to keep an eye on Trevor.
But this toad, which could be used for testing potions, always disappeared from right in front of him when he wasn't paying attention, as if it could turn invisible!
"Forget it. Accio Trevor!"
Hermione was extremely helpless and only hoped that Neville would learn Accio as soon as she had, so he could recreate the feat of the flying giant toad!
Having regained his precious toad, Neville broke into a smile and thanked Hermione repeatedly.
The three of them sat together and chatted about their Christmas holidays, though it was mostly Neville doing the talking, as Levi and Hermione had spent their time leisurely reading books.
Because they had foreseen that the future wizarding worldwould be exposed to Muggles, the two of them had recently become particularly interested in books about ethnic integration and ethnic conflict.
Although the relationship between Wizards and ordinary people could not be viewed simply as an ethnic issue, books on handling ethnic conflicts still provided the two of them with many references.
Sometimes, Levi and Hermione would discuss whether Wizards and ordinary people should be considered the same race.
The final conclusion they reached was that Wizards and ordinary people were the same race, only that Wizards had mastered the special professional skill of magic.
Thinking about it this way, Hogwarts was essentially a vocational technical college for magic!
As the three of them chatted, Levi had originally expected that Hannah Abbott would barge into the compartment later, as the four of them had always sat in the same compartment.
However, it seemed Hannah Abbott had been held up by her fellow Hufflepuffs and didn't come to Levi's compartment. Instead, it was Luna Lovegood, that strange little girl, who sat down in their compartment.
"Why are you looking at me? Isn't this seat empty?"
Luna Lovegood, wearing strange toad-like glasses, a necklace made of corks, and holding a copy of The Quibbler upside down—dressed like a madcap, eccentric girl—asked curiously.
"It's nothing, nothing at all. Please, sit!"
Levi felt helpless inside, thinking to himself, 'We aren't concerned about whether the seat is taken.'
'We're just stunned by your outfit!'
"Luna, what does The Quibbler say in the issue you're reading? Is it recent news?"
Hermione, who loved to read, asked curiously. Although she was a Muggle-born little witch, she subscribed to The Daily Prophet and enjoyed reading newspapers to keep up with current events.
"Yes, that's right," Luna nodded and began her astonishing statement:
"It records the disappearance of Umbridge, a senior official assistant at the Ministry of Magic!"
Hermione frowned upon hearing this, as she realized the strangeness of Luna's wording:
"Disappearance? Shouldn't it be that she was attacked by Death Eaters? The Dark Mark couldn't possibly be fake, right?!"
"Well, it could still be described as a disappearance. After all, she is neither seen alive nor found dead. It's highly probable that she was killed by Death Eaters and her body was taken away!"
Hermione spoke her speculations as if just making conversation. Since they were discussing current events, she naturally wanted to express her own point of view.
But to Hermione's surprise, Luna shook her head and said:
"No, Hermione. Just like everyone else, you haven't seen the essence hidden beneath the surface of this matter!"
"Umbridge's disappearance is actually the result of a power struggle within the Ministry of Magic!"
"Umbridge had disagreements with the Minister, Fudge. Fudge sent out his secret forces, disguised as Death Eaters, to attack Umbridge and capture her for interrogation!"
"He wanted to make Umbridge admit that she is a disgusting, pink giant toad!"
Hermione had been listening quite seriously at first, thinking that the conspiracy theory Luna was talking about might be a possibility, and it even sounded quite reasonable.
After all, even though Luna was dressed in a crazy way, this was, after all, the first time Hermione had met this first-year Ravenclaw girl.
But when Luna's last sentence came out, Hermione was dumbfounded and asked in disbelief:
"What? Why would Fudge want Umbridge to admit that he is a pink giant toad?"
The little witch almost thought she had misheard. This kind of bizarre, made-up story was simply challenging the limits of her sanity!
Levi, listening from the side, was also stunned. If you replaced Fudge's name with Levi's, the first half of the story would be almost exactly the truth!
And the second half of the story happened to be the very reason Levi had attacked Umbridge. Now, he felt more and more that the Lovegood family bloodline really had something to it!
This magical bloodline, which possessed such strong inspiration, even when making up stories, had a bit of the feeling of prophecy and divination!
"Hermione, don't be too surprised. That's just how stories in The Quibbler are. Just listen to them when you're bored, and treat it as a way to pass the time!"
Neville Longbottom wasn't surprised at all. His uncle particularly loved reading The Quibbler; every time he finished reading it, he would always laugh uproariously, thinking that the stories Mr. Lovegood made up were extremely interesting!
Hermione was speechless upon hearing this. She must have lost her mind to have mistaken a newspaper like The Quibbler for an authoritative publication.
In London, Britain, there were of course many third-rate tabloids that relied on entertainment to boost sales. Their content was fabricated, taken out of context, and distorted the truth—all just to get traffic.
She just hadn't expected that the wizarding world would have such a newspaper too. If it weren't for the final conclusion being so absurd, the story beforehand had been made up quite convincingly!
"That's right, Hermione. If you don't consider the truth, don't you think the stories Mr. Lovegood makes up are quite interesting?"
Levi also said with a smile, though his mind was focused on the Lovegood family and this strange magical bloodline!
At the beginning of the school year, he had thought about studying Luna's bloodline. This bloodline could give people extraordinary inspiration, which might enhance a Wizard's control over magic, and subsequently lead to the Source View.
But looking at it now, excessive inspiration seemed to only exacerbate the emotional nature of a Wizard's magic, making it even harder to control!
However, this way of manifesting extremely emotional magic seemed to be another option for utilizing magic. At the very least, that extremely powerful inspiration made Levi feel incredibly curious.
"How should I go about getting a bit of blood from Luna or her father to conduct research?"
Levi was secretly pondering this when he noticed Lunalooking at him with a curious expression.
"Levi, do you want something that I have on me?"
Luna suddenly asked Levi.
Chapter 268: Luna and Neville
"Ah... this..."
Luna's blunt question instantly choked Levi mid-sentence, leaving his face full of embarrassment.
How could he have expected Luna's intuitive perception to be so strong!
He was just scheming after the little girl's bloodline talent, and she had actually sensed it!
"What thing?"
Hearing Luna's words, Hermione and Neville couldn't help but look at Levi, then at Luna.
But no matter how they looked, they didn't see anything on Luna worth Levi asking for.
"It's not really a thing. What I mean is... is it possible that while you think Luna is a bit crazy, it's actually a sign of her extraordinary talent?"
"I wanted to figure out what was going on with Luna's extraordinary talent, but I didn't expect her to sense it!"
Since Luna had brought the matter out into the open, Levisimply stopped hiding his thoughts.
Laying everything out, if he could gain Luna's agreement, maybe he could get her to cooperate with his research?
"Is that so? But I feel like Luna..."
Hermione was somewhat skeptical, though she hesitated to say it outright. She didn't feel Luna had any extraordinary talent at all—it felt like she was just plain crazy!
But other crazy Wizards were usually very old, whereas Luna was already half-crazy at such a young age!
"Is that so? Levi, do you really think it's because of my extraordinary talent?"
Luna asked in an ethereal, trance-like voice, as if recalling something, a trace of sorrow on her face.
"Of course. How could I lie about something like this?"
"I think compared to other Wizards, your talent, Luna, is an extraordinary perception—being able to sense other people's thoughts and see the magic dissipating from Wizards."
"Dissipating magic and thoughts manifest in your eyes, and because they look strange and bizarre, you assume they are things like Wrackspurtss!"
Levi explained, offering a very magical and reasonable explanation for Luna's crazy ramblings.
Hearing Levi's words, Hermione and Neville couldn't help looking at Luna, unable to believe that the girl everyone thought was crazy actually possessed such a talent!
But thinking of even more powerful talents in the wizarding world—like Parseltongue, Levi's ability to talk to any animal, or Metamorphmagi who could change their appearance at will...
Looking at Luna's talent again, it didn't seem so strange after all.
In fact, it wasn't even that incredible; instead, it just made people think she was talking crazy.
"Okay," Luna suddenly agreed, a look of longing appearing on her face as she asked Levi:
"Levi, if you think this is my talent, then if my talent grows a bit stronger, can I see people who have died?"
Luna's sudden words brought an abrupt silence to the compartment.
Hermione and Neville both looked at Luna, whose face was filled with longing. Why had she specifically asked Levi that? Did she have a deceased relative she wanted to see again?
Levi was delighted that Luna agreed, but then he remembered the information he had gathered about the Lovegood family.
Luna's mother had died in a magical experiment accident when Luna was very young!
Now, Luna's agreement to cooperate with his research was perhaps also because she wanted her talent developed so she could see her deceased mother.
Realizing this, Levi fell silent in the face of Luna's question.
He didn't know if developing Luna's talent could achieve an effect similar to the Resurrection Stone, allowing her to see the souls of the departed.
In fact, researching and developing Luna's talent hadn't even begun!
He thought for a moment and advised her gently:
"Luna, I don't want to lie to you. I don't know the answer either.
But I think you must have read the story of the Peverellbrothers in 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'!"
"The middle brother, Cadmus Peverell, used the Resurrection Stone to summon the soul of his late wife, but she returned only as a sad shadow, not truly alive.
Tormented by longing, his mind collapsed, and in the end, he committed suicide, embracing death, and the Grim Reaper took him."
"I think the person you miss wouldn't want you to be tormented by longing either. She would surely prefer that you face life bravely, greet the future with a smile, rather than dwell on the past with sadness!"
Hearing this, Luna fell silent, lowering her head without a word, and the atmosphere in the train compartment turned gloomy.
Seeing this, Levi sighed in his heart. 'Harry Potter' was supposed to be a fairy-tale-like wizarding world full of thrilling adventures and wondrous magic, yet deep down, almost every character seemed to harbor a tragedy.
"Levi, you're right!"
Just when the atmosphere in the compartment was heavy, Neville, who was usually quiet and rarely spoke, suddenly chimed in.
"You don't know, and I've always been afraid to tell you, but actually my parents, they..."
Tears welling in his eyes, Neville recounted how his parents had been tortured by Death Eaters with Cruciatus Curse until their minds collapsed, leaving them hospitalized at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"I always thought Mum and Dad had no perception of the outside world, but once when I went to visit them, they actually gave me a pretty candy wrapper!"
"Even though they didn't understand anything anymore, they still wanted me to be happy, thinking to give me a gift they thought was interesting."
"From that moment on, I understood that even if Mum and Dad knew nothing anymore, they still loved me. They wanted me to be happy and didn't want me to be sad for them!"
As he spoke, tears rolled down Neville's chubby little face uncontrollably!
His crying was infectious, and the two girls in the compartment started crying too, leaving Li Changsheng, who was also feeling sad, completely at a loss.
With a sudden woosh,
The door to Levi's compartment was pulled open.
Hannah Abbott, the Iron Hat King, who had just finished chatting with her friends and came over, opened the compartment door only to see a completely bewildered Levi and three sobbing companions.
"Why are you all crying? Levi, what happened to them?"
Chapter 269: Unexpected Appointment
Fortunately, the Iron-Hat King Hannah Abbott's parents were healthy and well, and she had no regrets of her own. Together with Levi, she finally managed to coax and comfort Luna and the other two.
As dusk drew near, accompanied by the whistle of the Hogwarts Express, the train finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station.
"Levi, is there really no possibility for my parents to be cured?"
"In this world, is there truly no magical herb or Spell that could heal them?"
Inside the Thestral carriage, Neville's mood was still downcast. Luna's desire to see her departed loved ones resonated with him; he too wanted his parents to get better again.
"I don't know how to answer that," Levi said, feeling a bit overwhelmed. After all, his classmates were just twelve or thirteen-year-old kids. He could only add:
"But Neville, you can search for this answer yourself. As long as you don't give up, there's always a glimmer of hope, isn't there?"
Hearing Levi's words, a spark ignited in Neville's dim eyes, and he nodded earnestly:
"Mm! You're right, Levi, I won't give up! I believe there must be a way in this world to heal my parents! I... I will find that way!"
As he finished speaking, Neville remembered his own clumsiness, Professor Snape's reprimands, and his academic grades, and he couldn't help but lose a bit of confidence.
Seeing this, Levi couldn't help but sigh inwardly again.
His achievements in the Dark Arts had reached a relatively deep level, and he possessed a particularly profound understanding of Cruciatus Curse.
Cruciatus Curse tortures a person by acting directly on their soul; every time one is tortured by Cruciatus Curse, their soul suffers a certain amount of damage.
If the caster's emotions are not malicious enough and their magic power is not strong enough, it is slightly better, as the soul's damage can slowly heal over time through self-restoration.
But if the caster is extremely malicious with powerful magic, and casts the spell on the victim repeatedly, the soul—suffering from multiple damages—will be unable to bear the excruciating torment, resulting in unhealable cracks or even shattering completely!
This was precisely the case with Neville's parents. After Voldemort vanished, the Death Eaters captured Neville's parents and tortured them for interrogation, casting Cruciatus Curse on them numerous times.
Even though Levi had not met Neville's parents, he could easily imagine the severe state of damage to their souls!
To heal the two of them, unless there was some Spell that cured soul damage, or some miraculous potion that nourished and healed the soul, it would be impossible to cure Neville's parents using the magic of the Harry Potter world.
If Levi were currently a High Arcanist who possessed extremely profound knowledge of the soul, it might be possible to cure them.
But currently, Levi was merely an Arcane Craftsman—he knew that something worked, but not why it worked—and his research into the domain of the soul was still quite superficial!
Naturally, he did not dare to make wild promises claiming he might be able to heal Neville's parents in the future.
However, research into the soul domain was a crucial part of studying magic. Levi would inevitably delve deeper into it in the future, and when the time came, curing Neville's parents might just be a simple byproduct.
On the day of returning to school, after going through a series of heavy topics, Levi finally returned to Hogwarts.
Before he could release Nami the Cat Thief to let her happily run off to find her friends, the hero king game console started beeping in his pocket.
Levi took it out and looked; it turned out Old Dumbledorewas sending him a message, inviting him to the Headmaster's Office.
"Good grief, Headmaster Dumbledore really keeps up with the times!"
"My second-generation hero king game console was just launched on Christmas, and the Headmaster has already learned how to send messages!"
This move by Professor Dumbledore completely shocked Levi's heart, thoroughly shattering his image as an old-fashioned relic.
"Hermione, take care of Purrloin for me. I'm going to the Headmaster's Office!"
Levi released Purrloin and handed her over to Hermione. Under Little McGonagall's curious gaze, he headed to the Headmaster's Office.
"..."
At the entrance to the Headmaster's Office, Levi didn't need to speak, let alone give a password. He simply glanced at the Gargoyle statue, and the statue obediently hopped to the side, clearing the path.
A perfectly good alchemical statue had been conditioned by Levi into a conditioned reflex.
"Headmaster, what did you need me for?"
Li Changsheng acted as if he were at his own house, waving his wand to conjure a chair and placing it opposite the Headmaster's desk.
He sat down nonchalantly like a lord, crossing his legs, watching Headmaster Dumbledore hurriedly put away his sweets.
"I don't eat candy, Headmaster, no need to trouble yourself!"
He even thick-skinedly motioned for Headmaster Dumbledore not to stand on ceremony.
Did I look like I was offering you candy?
I was hurrying to hide the candy so you wouldn't say something mind-blowing again!
Headmaster Dumbledore rolled his eyes internally, complaining silently: This kid Levi isn't cute at all!
Levi had no idea that his image in Headmaster Dumbledore's mind was practically that of a local menace.
He was looking around, examining with great interest Fawkes the Phoenix, who was decrepit with age and looked ready to undergo rebirth at any moment.
Once Fawkes underwent rebirth, he wondered what unique effects the Phoenix ashes left after burning might have.
When the time comes, I'll ask Headmaster Dumbledore for them so I can study them.
And when it undergoes rebirth, I'll come observe as well—maybe it will even trigger some MOD!
Levi calculated in his heart what benefits he could reap when the moment arrived.
Headmaster Dumbledore had no clue that Levi was plotting against his Phoenix. Gathering his thoughts and carefully weighing his words, he instead asked Levi:
"Levi, did you know? Professor Gellert von Vitez has resigned from his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor due to personal matters and has left Hogwarts."
"What! Why did the Professor leave?"
What! Grindelwald left?
"What on earth caused the Professor to leave? Headmaster, didn't you try to keep him?"
Old Dumbledore, you actually let your old lover leave!
The White Dark Lord let the Dark Lord run away—I'm going to report this to the Ministry of Magic!
"Sigh, the wizarding world nowadays is truly in troubled times!
Even though Peter Pettigrew was captured and Sirius was exonerated, Voldemort's remnant soul is still out there, and Grindelwald is off causing trouble somewhere unknown!"
You're not afraid at all that he's off causing trouble somewhere else, huh!
Levi spoke while putting on a matching look of shock on his face.
Although he had long guessed Professor Gellert von Vitez's true identity, Old Dumbledore was unaware of this.
Listening to Levi's worried words, Dumbledore couldn't help but feel a tinge of anxiety rise in his heart as well.
Should he not have let Grindelwald leave? Should he have kept him under his own watchful eyes?
But recalling what Grindelwald had said to him before departing, he shifted his attention back to Levi:
"Levi, Professor Vitez's departure is already inevitable. The problem now is that the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts class Professor is missing a teaching Professor!"
"The situation is urgent, so I would like to ask you..."
"Wait," Levi caught the drift of Headmaster Dumbledore's words and cut him off, pointing at himself with a look of disbelief:
"Me? Are you saying you want me to serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor?"
"I'm still a student myself! Besides, hasn't this kind of situation happened before?
Didn't you and the other Professors manage to deal with it back then?"
Levi didn't want to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at all!
Not only because of the Curse laid by that toad Voldemort, but also because being a Professor was simply way too tiring and agonizing!
"Uh..." Dumbledore was temporarily rendered speechless by Li Changsheng's response.
Both he and Grindelwald wanted to temper Levi without overly interfering with his development. After much thought, they had come up with the idea of using this position to train Levi.
After all, if Levi wanted to lead future revolutions and possess sufficient influence in the entire wizarding world, he couldn't do it alone; he needed a gathering of people around him, didn't he?!
But now Levi refused to take the bait and instead tossed the responsibility right back onto the adults, leaving Dumbledore completely unsure of how to proceed!
Chapter 270 Conditions
Headmaster Dumbledore is always like this; whenever he encounters a difficult question to answer, he stops talking again!
"However, since you've spoken up, Headmaster, wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to refuse?"
Levi's tone shifted, and his attitude actually softened.
He really didn't want to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but that was just because they hadn't negotiated the conditions yet!
Now that he had cut off Headmaster Dumbledore, he could negotiate conditions with him. If the terms were right, taking the job as Professor wasn't entirely out of the question.
Ever since the first half of the academic year when Leviinitiated a secret society and drove away Gilderoy Lockhart, the Academic Credits he obtained from his professor mod had been getting scarcer day by day.
The reason was that after Grindelwald took over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, there was a proper learning channel, and the magical society had turned into an after-school study group.
When the young wizards were in class, they learned everything they were supposed to, so the society no longer produced teaching results. Levi couldn't get excellent evaluations in the system, and his Academic Creditsdwindled day by day.
Now, if he could serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, wouldn't he officially become a regular and be able to teach in class?!
However, eagerness devalues a bargain. He had to cut off Old Dumbledore, squeeze some benefits out of Old Dumbledore, and then agree.
"In that case, you agree?"
Headmaster Dumbledore was deeply gratified. Levi, who had been dodging and weaving just moments ago, actually agreed out of regard for him as an old man!
He suddenly felt a bit guilty. He shouldn't always have said that Levi was a handful of a kid in the past!
Levi was clearly a good child who understood the big picture and reason!
Yet he obviously didn't expect that upon hearing his words, Levi would instantly turn hostile and retort unhappily:
"Who said I agreed?"
"I only said that out of respect for you, it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse, but I am extremely reluctant and still hesitating!"
Headmaster Dumbledore was dumbfounded, almost not believing his ears!
If it weren't for the youthful face of Levi sitting before him, he would have almost thought he had run into a slippery old-timer from the Ministry of Magic.
"What makes you feel so reluctant?"
Hearing Levi's words, Dumbledore asked in disbelief.
Was there any young wizard in the entire Hogwartsnaughtier than him?
The whole of Hogwarts knew about his audacity and how he caused trouble everywhere. Was there any place in the entire castle that could make him feel reluctant?
"Of course there is," said Levi matter-of-factly, his tone shifting as he began listing various difficulties:
"After all, I'm still a student. If I become a Professor, will it affect my studies in other subjects?
Will it affect me adding points to the house?
I also want to go to the library to read in my spare time. If I have to prepare lessons, will it affect my spare time..."
Levi counted on his fingers while sitting in the chair, listing them out one by one. How could he have the nerve to negotiate conditions without stating his difficulties!
Headmaster Dumbledore was initially full of sweatdrops, but as he listened, he actually felt that what Levi said made quite a bit of sense!
Having Levi serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor would really delay too much of Levi's disposable time, and might affect Levi's growth!
"What you said does make sense. It's me, this old man, who was muddle-headed!"
Headmaster Dumbledore nodded approvingly, wanting to abandon the idea of letting Levi serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
"Ah?!!"
Now it was Levi's turn to be dumbfounded. There is bargain-driving and price-hiking, why did Old Dumbledoredrop the matter completely without negotiating any terms?!
Headmaster Dumbledore had been flustered out of concern earlier. Now, seeing Levi's reaction, how could he not understand that this unruly child Levi had been finding ways to negotiate terms with him!
He immediately chuckled playfully, his white beard trembling, and his wise, aged eyes looked at Levi through his lenses:
"Lying is not what a good child does! Levi, it seems you still want to be this Professor!"
"However, letting a student like you be this Professor is indeed a bit of a stretch. You can bring up any difficulties you have, and we'll solve them right now!"
Hoo~
Levi breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. He had almost messed up the whole thing by acting too proud!
Now hearing Headmaster Dumbledore say this, how could he not understand that they had finally entered the condition-negotiation stage!
"First is the house points issue. If I become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, I'll have one less class to add house points for myself! Headmaster, you must add them for me at the end of the term!"
What Levi thought of first was Academic Credits. If not for the Academic Credits, he wouldn't have agreed to be this Professor.
"No problem, after all, this is also making a special contribution to the school!"
Headmaster Dumbledore said cheerfully.
He was still thinking: Levi really has a strong sense of honor, keeping Ravenclaw's House Cup in mind!
Seeing Headmaster Dumbledore's tolerant attitude, Levi's heart immediately settled, and he continued to set conditions:
"Secondly, there's the teaching issue. Although I'm a student, when I become a Professor, I will be equal to the other Professors and you; we will be colleagues."
"Therefore, I don't want you to arbitrarily interfere with my teaching content, even if my teaching methods might be a bit unconventional and unique!"
Upon hearing Levi's words, Headmaster Dumbledore was initially able to maintain a smile.
Even when Levi said he was equal to him, Headmaster Dumbledore didn't feel the slightest offense; instead, he felt Levi's words were entirely correct!
But when Levi mentioned that his teaching style could be unconventional, Headmaster Dumbledore's heart couldn't help but skip a beat!
How mischievous this unruly child Levi was, Headmaster Dumbledore had experienced deeply more than once!
What if Levi really came up with some "unconventional" teaching method and caused a huge trouble...
Dumbledore couldn't help feeling worried in his heart, but on second thought:
Who was he, Dumbledore?
Did he not have the ability to make up for the mess Levipoked out?
Besides, although the child Levi liked to play pranks, this was precisely the cutest nature of a young wizard!
Moreover, Levi's nature wasn't bad; on the contrary, he possessed a strong sense of justice, was not lacking in courage and wisdom, and even in his attainments in magic, he was no inferior to some Professors!
Entrusting the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor to Levi was something he could completely rest assured about, without having to live in fear because of a word or two from Levi!
Thinking of this, Headmaster Dumbledore's face still maintained a warm smile as he nodded:
"Of course you can, Levi! Even if you don't become this Professor, even if you are a student and I am the Headmaster, you are a child and I am an old man, we can still become equal good friends, can't we?!"
"Even though this old fogey of mine is not cute at all!"
Headmaster Dumbledore agreed to Levi's minor condition once again and couldn't help self-deprecating a little.
You're not cute?!
Among all the Headmasters of Hogwarts, probably only you, a Headmaster from Gryffindor, would dare to let a student be a Professor!
"Lastly," having his conditions accepted two times in a row made the smile on Levi's face even brighter. He finally stated his last condition:
"Headmaster, I heard that being a Professor comes with a salary, but I don't want Galleons. When Fawkes is about to Nirvana, can you give me some Phoenix embers?
And let me observe the Phoenix's Nirvana!
Also, can you teach me another powerful magic..."
"Stop!" Seeing that Levi was about to keep rambling on and on, Dumbledore hurriedly called to a halt. His aged eyes cast a resentful glance at Levi, his white beard trembling with anger, and he said unhappily:
"young wizard, what you just brought up at the end is definitely not just one condition!"