Chapter 216: Iluga's Story.
Hufflepuff said, "But doing this will sacrifice many people."
Darwin shrugged. "So what? Your Grace, you still don't know me well enough. To me, everyone else is just a subordinate. If the road to success is destined to be littered with corpses..."
"...then they are simply part of it. But Vinda is different."
"She is family, my grandmother, and the person I truly care about."
"Why do I become stronger? To live more comfortably, more freely, and to make life better for those around me, for my family."
"If I can't even protect my family, then what is the point of becoming stronger?"
"Besides, to me, being able to give their lives to protect my family and me is an honor for them, isn't it?"
After Darwin finished speaking, he carefully observed Hufflepuff's expression.
He was testing her. What he had just said was completely contrary to the upright Hufflepuff's beliefs.
He wanted to see how Hufflepuff would react.
And thereby verify his own conjecture.
Hufflepuff did not speak, but quietly looked at Darwin.
There was some conflict and hesitation in her eyes.
Darwin's answer was indeed completely contrary to what she had always believed in.
Yet, from her current perspective, what Darwin said was actually not wrong.
Seeing Hufflepuff like this,
Darwin understood in his heart.
It seemed his guess was correct.
the Four Founders had a degree of tolerance toward him.
And they were willing to listen to him.
Only when the other party treated him as an equal would they patiently consider what he said.
Looking at it this way, the Four Founders were not plotting against him, but rather had a favor to ask of him, or perhaps, they were grooming him.
In Darwin's mind, on a list called the trust list,
a checkmark was placed after the names of the Four Founders.
However, the color was very faint, lagging far behind the bolded red checkmark next to Vinda's name.
Hufflepuff said, "Darwin, would you like to hear a story?"
Darwin nodded. "I'm all ears."
Hufflepuff said, "The story begins many years ago. At that time, I was sixteen.
"Since childhood, I showed great magical talent, and my parents were very proud of me.
"But I wasn't their greatest pride, because I also had a younger sister.
"Iluga Hufflepuff."
Darwin's eyes lit up.
He had never heard of this part, and it wasn't recorded in the plot.
Hufflepuff said, "My sister was two years younger than me.
"Our home was surrounded by deep marshes, which was originally a Muggle exclusion zone!
"Apart from us, many other Wizards lived there, isolated from the world.
"We all thought we would live a peaceful life, gradually utilizing our talents to make our lives better.
"But we underestimated Muggles.
"The power of Muggles is very peculiar.
"They have no magic, no extraordinary power, but they possess wisdom not inferior to Sister Rowena, and courage not inferior to Godric.
"And hearts even more ruthless than Salazar's."
Hufflepuff continued, "Before Merlin disappeared, he told all Wizards to hide themselves so as not to affect the normal development of Muggles.
"We followed his advice, but Wizards have to live too.
"So, it was hard to avoid contact with humans.
"The tragedy began with a witch.
"It was so long ago that I can no longer remember her name.
"During a war, she saved a captain of a Muggle army.
"Out of pity, she stepped in and used magic to heal the captain.
"In fact, that was an act of kindness, wasn't it?
"We all thought it was a kind act.
"But humans are greedy, whether they are Muggles or Wizards.
"They dreamed of mastering the power of Wizards. So, that Muggle captain traded information about the witch for wealth, and led his men to capture her.
"They imprisoned her and whipped her, wanting her to hand over her power. Unfortunately, Wizards require magic.
"Even if that witch had really taught them magic, those Muggles could not learn it.
"But that didn't stop those Muggles from continuing to plot for the power of Wizards.
"They began entering dangerous territories to hunt for Wizards.
"Later, they crossed the marshes and found us.
"Under the cover of night, the Muggles launched an attack on us.
"And then, the war began.
"My parents died at the hands of the Muggles. Iluga and I took the remaining people and fled all the way.
"Later, we met Salazar and the others.
"Their experience was just like ours.
"They were also being hunted by Muggles, so we joined forces, planning to find a way to survive.
"We climbed mountains and crossed rivers, wanting nothing but a way to survive.
"And those Muggles never stopped hunting us.
"During the pursuit, my sister's talent was fully revealed.
"Her strength was even greater than the four of us.
"At that time, we were certain that Iluga might be the Savior of the magic world.
"We were full of hope for the future. Later, Salazarsuggested that perhaps we could go to one of his family's estates.
"Which is where Hogwarts stands today.
"The terrain here is rugged, and the Forbidden Forest can serve as a natural barrier.
"So, we began our migration.
"Just when all of us felt that a bright future was waving to us,
"an accident occurred. The Muggles found our trail.
"And we were, at most, only two days' journey away from our destination."
Darwin said,
Darwin said, "I can probably guess the rest of the story. Iluga became the one used to hold off the Muggles.
"And then she used her life to trade for the lives of all of you, right?"
Hufflepuff nodded. "Yes. That's why I've been unable to let it go all these years."
Darwin asked, "So, Your Grace, was Iluga willing?"
Hufflepuff was taken aback. "Of course she was willing. With her strength, no one could force her. Moreover, she was very kind and upright, so of course she was willing."
Darwin nodded. "There you have it, Your Grace. She was willing. Everything she did was to allow other Wizards to survive better.
"She used her own life to pave the way for other Wizards, creating a better life for them.
"She also preserved the lives of all Wizards.
"Actually, your test is completely different from the situation she faced.
"Because you didn't understand the fundamental reason why she did all this at all. She did it so that everyone could survive.
"Or rather, she did it so that you could live.
Chapter 217: Homage, Chief Eminence!
After Darwin finished speaking.
Hufflepuff fell silent.
To protect everyone.
Darwin said, "She used her own life to protect you, allowing you to survive. You have never been living solely for your own life."
"You carry her life on your shoulders. It was her sacrifice that traded for your safety, as well as a way out for all Wizards. Honestly, I think you should feel proud, rather than dwelling on it!"
Hufflepuff murmured softly, "Proud?"
Darwin said, "Therefore, your test is fundamentally different from Iluga's actions."
"When this test of yours appeared, you should have understood that you never truly understood Iluga's real thoughts."
Hufflepuff clenched her fists tightly.
"So, I have never understood all along."
Darwin said, "So, Your Eminence, do you understand now? It wasn't you who gave up on her; rather, she used her own life to save everyone."
"Including you. You are her older sister, and she was protecting you to the best of her ability."
Hufflepuff fell silent.
Darwin did not disturb her either; some things required her to digest them on her own!
Some emotional knots also needed to be untied by herself.
Time trickled away bit by bit.
Darwin was not in a hurry at all. He always felt that Hufflepuff might just give him a huge surprise.
The other three members of the Four Founders were also nervously watching Hufflepuff in the mirror at this moment.
They knew Hufflepuff's emotional knot all too well.
Hufflepuff usually looked so gentle and frail.
But in reality, she could bottle up more things in her heart than anyone else.
You couldn't tell ordinarily.
However, the other three never dared to mention Iluga in front of Hufflepuff.
Because they knew how much pain Hufflepuff held in her heart.
About an hour or so passed.
Hufflepuff suddenly raised her head and looked at Darwin.
"Darwin, thank you. I think I understand now."
Hufflepuff solemnly bowed to Darwin.
Darwin was startled and quickly dodged aside.
In fact, he also respected the Four Founders.
After all, without the Four Founders, Wizards might have been wiped out long ago.
"Don't, Your Eminence, I can't handle this."
"You were just too close to the situation. You all experienced those events firsthand, and no one else could bring this up in front of you."
"It's a good thing that you managed to figure it out."
Hufflepuff smiled slightly.
Right at this moment, deep in Darwin's mind.
The system's voice suddenly rang out.
[Ding, Helga Hufflepuff's favorability unlocked. Current favorability: 10.]
[Ding, Helga Hufflepuff's favorability increased. Current favorability: 20.]
[Ding, Helga Hufflepuff's favorability increased. Current favorability: 30.]
[Ding...]
A series of system notification sounds were truly noisy.
But Darwin couldn't care about the noise at this moment.
Because Hufflepuff's favorability was frantically rising at a rate of plus ten per second.
Forty, fifty, sixty...
All the way to the final one hundred!
That's right, Hufflepuff's favorability reached one hundred.
It was maxed out. From meeting until now, in just over an hour, the favorability was directly maxed out.
[Ding, Helga Hufflepuff's favorability is maxed out. Current available lottery draws: X5.]
Darwin swallowed hard.
Outrageous, truly outrageous.
the Four Founders, Hufflepuff.
It was actually maxed out.
Darwin felt his entire body trembling.
This was purely out of excitement.
Maxed-out Hufflepuff favorability meant five the Four Founders lotteries.
Just how valuable is this!
However, the surprises were not over yet.
The system's notifications continued.
[Ding, Salazar Slytherin's favorability increased. Current favorability: 60. Remaining lottery draws: X1.]
[Ding, Godric Gryffindor's favorability increased. Current favorability: 38.]
[Ding, Rowena Ravenclaw's favorability increased. Current favorability: 37.]
That's right, the favorability of all of the Four Founders was increasing.
Darwin knew the reason because he helped Hufflepuffwalk out of her emotional knot.
Therefore, their favorability was all rising.
Was this the bond of the Four Founders?
Slytherin's favorability was already enough to conduct a third lottery draw.
Darwin truly felt that today was totally worth it.
Yet another lottery draw at the level of the Four Founders.
Counting Hufflepuff, six times, a full six times—wasn't this basically taking off straight away!
The gaze Hufflepuff cast at Darwin was already extremely gentle.
"Darwin, are you alright?"
Darwin hurriedly nodded, "I'm fine, I'm just happy for Your Eminence. As long as Your Eminence can figure it out, it's for the best."
Darwin suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Now was not the right time for a lottery draw; he would talk about it when he got back.
Hufflepuff said, "You are the one who helped me figure it out, Darwin. I truly thank you."
"Alright, no more words of thanks. Congratulations, Darwin, you have passed Hufflepuff's Chief test."
"At the same time, you have also become Hogwarts' very first Student Chief. Now, I think you should head out, because next, you need to face some things."
Darwin didn't even have time to ask.
The next moment, Hufflepuff waved her sleeve.
Darwin's consciousness had already left the Throne Space.
The moment Darwin's consciousness returned.
Above the throne in front of him, a pillar of yellow light soared straight into the sky.
The entirety of Hogwarts was alarmed.
This wasn't over yet.
Inside the Gryffindor common room, a pillar of red light also soared straight into the sky from the Gryffindor Chief's chair.
Slytherin's green light pillar and Ravenclaw's blue light pillar followed.
All the students in Hogwarts were shocked.
"What is that?"
"It's the pillar of light on the throne!"
"Why is there such a huge commotion?"
The Professors at this moment also came to the windows, looking at the four pillars of light above Hogwarts.
All the Professors fell silent.
Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore stood by the window.
Fawkes stood on his shoulder.
Dumbledore said, "Fawkes, did you see that? He succeeded, the Hogwarts Chief, the very first in Hogwartshistory."
Fawkes let out two soft cries.
Dumbledore smiled and said, "You're right, he should succeed. If even he couldn't succeed, then this HogwartsChief might forever remain a legend."
Dumbledore raised his head to look at the four pillars of light in the sky.
The four pillars of light converged, and four-colored radiance circulated.
A green snake phantom, a red lion phantom, a yellow badger phantom, and a blue eagle phantom danced in the air.
The four phantoms opened their mouths simultaneously and spat out four streams of radiance.
The radiances converged, and in the air, a throne flashing with four-colored brilliance was slowly taking shape.
Compared to the individual house thrones, this throne was even more luxurious.
On its backrest, there were four kinds of totems.
It was taller and even more dazzling.
Above the golden throne, a beam of golden light suddenly shot out.
Piercing through the walls of Hogwarts.
It shone directly upon Darwin.
Darwin only felt his body grow light.
A gentle suction came over him, and Darwin did not resist.
His body was slowly carried by the golden light as he flew toward the sky.
All the students of Hogwarts were watching this scene.
Darwin's body floated in front of the throne.
Then, it gently placed Darwin onto the throne.
The moment Darwin took his seat, the totems belonging to the four houses formed behind Darwin.
The four phantoms bowed towards Darwin, as if paying homage.
After paying homage, the four phantoms turned into streams of radiance and shot rapidly toward Darwin.
They landed upon the Wizard robes on Darwin's body.
On Darwin's Wizard robes, the four phantoms began to condense; the lion and the snake were on his left cuff, while the badger and the eagle were on his right cuff.
Moreover, the student nameplate issued by the school on his chest was also changing at this moment.
The golden patterns now bore an extra line above, besides Darwin's name.
"Chief!"
Just when everyone thought everything was already over.
The four tall towers of Hogwarts suddenly began to tremble.
As if an earthquake had occurred.
It gave the young Wizards quite a scare.
When the tremors disappeared, everyone looked towards the four towers.
At the positions on the four towers where the school motto was originally engraved, the text had changed.
"Hogwarts Student Chief: Darwin Rosier!"
The golden light had not yet dissipated.
Instead, it all flickered around Darwin.
All the students were pulled by the golden light, drawn out from the castle.
The crowd of students was completely dazed.
What was the meaning of this? Was there a show for them too?
The Slytherin students were the first to react.
Or rather, it wasn't that they reacted; they had wanted to come out long ago.
It was just that the golden light directly pierced through the Black Lake, and they could see it even from within their dormitories.
They were afraid of missing something while running outside.
Gemma Farley and Cassandra took the lead in bowing, placing their right hands over their chests.
"Homage, Chief Eminence."
All the Slytherin students looked at Darwin with a nearly crazed fanaticism.
Bowing: "Homage, Chief Eminence!"
The golden light brushed past the Slytherin students, as if praising these Slytherin students.
Students from the other houses looked at each other in dismay.
Penelope looked at Darwin in the air.
A moment later, she smiled with relief.
She stepped forward.
Placing her right hand on her chest: "Homage, Chief Eminence!"
Chapter 218: Foolish Percy Weasley!
Seeing their own prefect bow, the other Ravenclawstudents quickly bowed along with her.
"Greetings, Lord Head Student!"
After the group of Ravenclaw students shouted this,
the golden light swept over them as well.
In an instant, all the Ravenclaw students were stunned.
They discovered to their surprise that their magic power had actually increased slightly; though the boost was small, they could all feel it.
Most importantly, they felt their minds were extraordinarily clear.
Problems they usually couldn't figure out now seemed as though someone had laid out the answers directly before them.
The Ravenclaw students stared with wide eyes at the Slytherin students.
These damn snakes—they actually hadn't reacted at all!
Penelope glanced at Gemma Farley.
So this was the Head Student's gift?
This was Hogwarts' true Head Student. When they bowed to the Head Student, the Head Student bestowed a gift upon them.
So that was how it worked.
Was this the true prestige of Hogwarts' Head Student?
Was this the greatest treasure of Hogwarts left behind by the Four Founders?
The little snakes of Slytherin looked at the group of Ravenclaw students speechlessly.
What an ignorant bunch.
The reason they hadn't raised a fuss was that they felt anything was normal when it came to Lord Head Student.
So, they weren't surprised at all.
What a bunch of country bumpkin eagles.
The Ravenclaws had no idea they had unknowingly been looked down upon.
The Ravenclaw students' reaction was too dramatic.
Some students even shouted out the effects of the golden light.
Over on Hufflepuff's side,
the Hufflepuff prefect's eyes lit up.
Then, bowing directly,
"Greetings, Lord Head Student!"
As for the little badgers, they didn't really care about who was Head Student or not.
On one hand, they lacked that ambition.
On the other hand, wasn't it completely normal for students to bow to the Head Student?
The easygoing little badgers were truly very reasonable.
Besides, now there were benefits—what reason did they have to hesitate?
Thus, all the little badgers acknowledged Darwin's status as Head Student.
The golden light brushed over them as well.
The little badgers looked delighted; as long as there were benefits, that was enough.
As for being Head Student, they didn't have any ambition anyway.
Having a Head Student might not be a bad thing after all.
At least, after following Darwin in morning exercises during this period, they indeed felt their physical health had improved a lot.
In the end, only Gryffindor remained.
The Gryffindor students had hesitant expressions all over their faces.
They wanted the benefits.
However, Slytherin and Gryffindor were sworn enemies!
Both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had their prefects leading the students in acknowledging Darwin's status as Head Student.
So on Gryffindor's side, everyone turned their eyes toward Percy.
Percy clenched his fists tightly.
Why? Why him?
Why didn't that broken chair give him a trial?
He had worked hard for so long, yet that broken chair didn't react at all.
It turned out Darwin had already passed the trial long ago!
Now this damn Slytherin had even become the Head Student of all Hogwarts!
Why? What right did he have?
The Gryffindor students were already becoming restless.
"What is Weasley doing? Why isn't he bowing? Does he not want the benefits?"
"Yeah, Rosier became Hogwarts' Head Student on his own merits. Bowing to him is completely normal."
"What do we do now? Just stand here like this?"
Inside Professor McGonagall's office,
Professor McGonagall frowned as she looked down at the Gryffindor students below.
"What is Percy doing? Why isn't he bowing? This is a gift from the Four Founders, you idiot!"
Professor McGonagall was truly getting a bit angry.
Skipping the morning exercise was one thing.
Now that there were benefits right in front of them, he still didn't have the sense to lead the students to claim them!
Just because of his ridiculous vanity?
Was he going to compromise the interests of all Gryffindorstudents?
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Percy.
Percy instantly felt as if needles were pricking his back.
He looked toward the Ravenclaw students.
Penelope was looking at him with a strange expression.
That's right, he liked Penelope.
Or rather, he had a secret crush on her.
In his view, he was absolutely outstanding, the best among all students.
Penelope was equally outstanding; two exceptional people like them were the perfect match.
In his interpretation, Penelope's gaze was a sign of encouragement.
Penelope had been forced to bow her head out of helplessness, but now, he was the only one who hadn't bowed.
Percy clenched his fists; he would absolutely never bow his head.
And what was Penelope actually thinking?
In her heart, Penelope thought Percy was an absolute idiot.
That's right, a complete idiot.
Is this guy crazy?
The benefits are so obvious, yet he still won't bow?
One must realize that an increase in magic power would allow them to have higher magic power than their peers.
Although it wasn't much higher,
it was still a gap!
A gap separating them from others their age!
This was an absolute gift!
Not to mention, besides magic power, there was also the state of mental clarity.
Although she didn't know how long this state would last,
as long as they had it, they could learn faster and grow stronger faster.
Penelope, who had seen Voldemort with her own eyes,
knew very well that there were dangers in the Wizarding World.
Being able to increase one's strength would definitely help with future survival.
So what was this guy doing standing here?
Making a joke of himself?
Penelope shook her head; to think she previously considered Percy might make a good partner and was planning to accept his courtship.
But looking at it now, forget it.
Penelope, a Ravenclaw prefect, was rational and clever.
So, her choice of a boyfriend wasn't based on whether she liked him or not,
but on whether he was suitable.
Percy came from the Weasley family and had always performed excellently in Gryffindor.
Of course, he couldn't compare to Darwin, but compared to other students, he was considered outstanding.
So, no matter how one looked at it, he seemed like an excellent partner.
However, seeing him today, this guy had something wrong with his brain.
Better to keep a respectful distance from someone like this.
Penelope worried that being with Percy would affect the brains of their future offspring.
The other Professors were also frowning at Percy at this moment.
They felt that this Gryffindor prefect was really a bit foolish.
Finally, someone couldn't hold back anymore.
"Prefect Weasley!"
Someone called out to Percy.
However, Percy remained unmoved.
He would never acknowledge Darwin's position as Head Student just for a petty favor.
Absolutely never!
He wouldn't, and the other Gryffindor students shouldn't either.
Darwin looked playfully at Percy.
This fool—he was messing with everyone's slice of the pie.
As expected of the the Weasley family: where there are outstanding descendants, there are also fools.
He originally thought Ron was foolish enough, but unexpectedly, Percy was even dumber than him. Truly, the the Weasley family never lacked surprises.
Chapter 219: The Effect of the Golden Light, the Chief's Gift!
The golden light around the throne had gradually faded.
In other words, the gift belonging to the Chief was about to end.
Darwin wasn't worried at all that the Gryffindor students wouldn't acknowledge him.
When the gap gradually widened in the future, they would surely have days of regret.
By then, Percy, he should be very busy.
After all, the throne's blessing was not just about increasing a tiny bit of magic.
That's right, Darwin knew the effect of this golden light.
He had known it the moment the golden light was cast down.
The golden light could enhance magic, but not just once.
This golden light was a special kind of energy.
Darwin didn't know what it was either, but it was created by the Four Founders.
This golden light would be stored within the students' bodies and would gradually increase their magic.
As for the upper limit of the increase, it wasn't much, just about double.
That's right, exactly double, step-by-step, doubling the magic within their bodies.
If it were a sudden surge of magic, perhaps the students might have difficulty controlling it due to talent reasons.
Therefore, this increase in magic was gradual.
Besides, as long as the students were swept by the golden light, within the scope of Hogwarts, they would have clear minds.
They would learn faster and master knowledge more easily.
These were all benefits that the students would gradually discover.
As for Percy and the others who didn't acknowledge the Chief.
Unfortunately, they didn't have any of these perks.
This was the gift of the Four Founders, and also the Chief's gift.
Right at this moment, two discordant voices sounded.
"Greetings, Your Excellency the Chief."
Percy's eyes suddenly widened.
He suddenly looked back.
The people speaking were none other than Fred and George.
Percy instantly grew anxious: "You..."
George said: "Percy, you look like a fool. You aren't taking this benefit, but there's no way we're going to go crazy with you."
Fred said: "Exactly, exactly..."
The golden light directly cascaded down the moment the two of them saluted.
Fred and George's eyes instantly lit up.
The two of them set a good example.
A portion of the Gryffindor students also bowed and saluted.
Professor McGonagall thought for a moment.
Ultimately deciding to intervene.
After all, this was the gift of the Four Founders, and she couldn't clearly state how many benefits there were.
Professor McGonagall directly opened the window.
"Salute your Chief, immediately!"
Professor McGonagall shouted.
Some of the Gryffindor students who were originally wavering hurriedly bowed.
The golden light likewise shone upon them.
Of course, there were also some who were extremely hostile to Slytherin and were in cahoots with Percy.
These people didn't move at all.
The golden light gradually dissipated.
Professor McGonagall was completely helpless when she saw this scene.
Her gaze looking at Percy was filled with dissatisfaction.
Replace him, she must replace him; she definitely had to find a reason to replace this prefect.
He was a fool, brainless.
How could the the Weasley family produce such a fool?
Percy held his head high, unyielding, believing he was not wrong.
What he did was the right thing.
Just at this moment, Darwin slowly spoke.
"Everyone, I am very glad you acknowledge my position as Chief."
"You have all felt the golden light just now, and I can tell you about its effects."
"The golden light will steadily increase your magic, and the final magnitude of the increase will be double your own magic."
Darwin's voice fell.
All the students fell silent.
The Professors also widened their eyes.
"Double?"
Do not underestimate this doubling.
Although, due to reasons of talent, even Wizards of the same age had different levels of magic.
However, calculated by the average value.
A Wizard at this age having twice the magic inside their body—
also meant that a Wizard who could at most become an ordinary Auror as an adult could now directly become an elite Auror.
Waves of gasping sounds came from all around.
The Gryffindor students were also stunned.
Those who hadn't saluted were even more full of disbelief and regret.
Percy widened his eyes: "Impossible, impossible, how could that be? Magic can only grow with age, how can it directly increase? Impossible, impossible."
Percy was completely dumbfounded.
Darwin's lips curled up: "I know, perhaps someone doesn't believe it; you can slowly feel it afterward."
"Trust me, this will quickly widen the gap between you and your peers. Perhaps you can crush those peers who haven't received the gift."
Darwin glanced meaningfully at Percy.
Sure enough, quite a few Gryffindor students realized something.
They looked toward Percy.
Their expressions were playful one by one.
Those who didn't get along with Percy even curled their lips, revealing a mischievous smile.
Admittedly, Gryffindor did not have the rule that strength determined status.
However, if someone was beaten up every day, presumably they wouldn't be able to remain this prefect anymore, right?
Percy only felt a chill down his back.
Darwin continued: "Of course, this is not all. The golden light has another effect."
"Within the range of Hogwarts, you can have clearer minds and obtain higher learning efficiency. I think your future Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations will let other schools see what it means to leave everyone far behind."
After Darwin finished speaking, some students who were about to face the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations became excited.
Whether in the Muggle world or the wizarding world, studying and exams were hurdles they couldn't bypass.
Studying was too painful, and exams even more so.
Now, someone actually cast a studying buff on them.
The crowd of students were extremely excited.
Not knowing who shouted it out first.
"Praise Merlin, long live the Chief!"
Afterward, the other students also shouted along.
"Praise Merlin, long live the Chief!"
Darwin sat upon the throne, looking at the students below.
His lips slowly curled up.
Right at this moment, he acutely felt that—
it seemed like an unfamiliar power was converging towards the throne.
Within the throne, the golden light that had been consumed just moments ago was slowly replenishing.
Darwin was greatly alarmed.
So, these golden lights could be replenished?
This also meant that once the golden light was sufficiently replenished, he could use a gift once more?
Or rather, a blessing?
Goodness gracious, how fast would the strength of the Hogwarts students improve?
Darwin said: "Alright, it's getting late. I'm sorry for disturbing everyone's rest time. Now, please have the prefects of each house lead the students back to their common rooms to rest."
"As for Gryffindor, do as you please."
Penelope, Gemma Farley, and the Hufflepuff prefect bowed.
"Yes, Your Excellency the Chief!"
With a thought from Darwin, the throne disappeared into mid-air.
When it appeared again, he had already returned to his own dormitory.
The throne stood right in the center of the room.
Its brilliance retracted, looking just like an ordinary chair.
Darwin snapped his fingers, and the throne disappeared.
He snapped his fingers again, and the throne appeared once more.
Darwin's lips curled up. Truly convenient!
Chapter 220: God-level Talent? Creating Something from Nothing?
The students of the other three Houses left one after another, and the Gryffindor students were also divided into two groups.
One group consisted of those who had received gifts, and they left happily.
As for those who hadn't received any gifts, they looked at the other students with complicated expressions.
The looks they directed at Percy were filled with doubt and resentment.
However, no one had lashed out yet.
But certain seeds had already been planted, only needing watering to sprout.
Percy stood in place, his eyes blank.
He felt that he might have caused trouble—and a massive one at that.
...
In the dormitory.
Darwin played with the Throne for a while.
This thing is really nice.
He could finally be considered to have his own exclusive seat.
Moreover, the buff this thing gave to the Hogwartsstudents was truly terrifying.
What? You say that those who didn't truly recognize Darwin as the Chief would be getting benefits for nothing?
That wasn't possible.
This Chief position had another restriction: when you no longer recognized Darwin as the Chief, the buff from the golden light would gradually disappear.
This was likely a restriction made by Slytherin.
After all, only Slytherin could make things so absolute, which perfectly suited Darwin's wishes!
And besides that, Darwin had also fully taken over all the authority of the Chief!
For example, the defensive forces of Hogwarts.
Only when he actually came into contact with it did he realize how ridiculous this thing was.
Hogwarts really was a war fortress.
The stone statues mobilized by Professor McGonagallwere merely the most basic defense.
There were many defensive forces within Hogwarts.
However, due to the passage of time, some things had already stopped working.
For example, the four towers of Hogwarts were actually four high-end alchemical products.
They could channel and merge magic power to launch powerful attacks.
Similar to... mana cannons in novels?
Of course, it wasn't as exaggerated as a mana cannon.
You could think of it as an oversized Diffindo.
Whomever it hit would be blown to pieces.
As for those defunct magical facilities, it was all due to energy depletion.
But to Darwin, this wasn't a problem at all.
Don't forget, Darwin controlled energy.
So, this war fortress...
The corners of Darwin's mouth curled up. It really was tailor-made for him.
Making Hogwarts'stand up' didn't seem to be a far-fetched concept.
It only needed a little bit of help.
A fire burned in Darwin's eyes.
This fire was called firepower.
Truth only exists within the range of cannon fire. Now that his range had changed, it meant more people would have to conform to his truth.
Darwin went to the bathroom to take a shower.
He hadn't forgotten that his surprise today wasn't limited to just the Chief position.
The lucky draws—five draws for Hufflepuff and one draw for Slytherin—were the biggest surprises.
After all, the Hogwarts authority only gave him the weapon to make others bow their heads when speaking to him.
Only his own strength was the foundation to make others kneel and listen to him.
Darwin opened the system panel.
Today, he could enjoy the lucky draws to his heart's content.
Darwin tapped his finger on the page for the five Hufflepuff draws.
Five draws for Hufflepuff. He felt like he was about to soar.
Just as Darwin was about to start the draws,
suddenly, the system's voice rang out.
[Ding! It is recommended that the host combine the five Hufflepuff draws into one.]
Darwin frowned. "Five-in-one? You've got to be kidding. That's Hufflepuff. Any single ability would be helpful to me. What's the point of a five-in-one?"
[Ding! Hufflepuff is extremely special. She possesses a unique talent that may not be obtained through single draws.]
[It is recommended that the host perform a five-in-one draw to directly obtain Hufflepuff's most unique talent.]
Darwin fell silent.
This was probably the first time the system had stepped in to advise him on how to do a draw.
And it was for Hufflepuff's draw, too.
A very special talent? Special enough for the system to actively remind him.
Darwin suddenly thought of Hufflepuff's Throne Trial.
Could it be...?
Darwin's eyes lit up.
Perhaps Hufflepuff's five separate abilities were great, but if the special talent the system mentioned was the one from the trial...
Then that thing was indeed the most worthwhile draw.
Trading five for one would be totally worth it.
At this thought,
Darwin gritted his teeth. "Fine, five-in-one it is. System, don't play me, or I'll make you self-destruct with me in a heartbeat."
The system did not respond.
Darwin selected the five-in-one option.
Then, the draw interface began to spin.
Darwin stared intently at the screen.
A five-in-one draw was guaranteed to yield the Wizard's most precious talent or ability.
He really wanted to know what Hufflepuff's most precious talent was that warranted a special reminder from the system.
As the draw animation slowly ground to a halt,
the system's voice rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully performing a five-in-one copy of Helga Hufflepuff. Reward obtained: God-level special talent, Fantasizer!]
Darwin was taken aback.
Fantasizer?
[Special Talent: Fantasizer. Manifests any fantasy through magic. Depending on the magic power used, the manifested fantasies will vary. Can also channel magicpower to evoke the fantasies in others' minds and shape realistic illusions.]
Darwin's brow furrowed.
What on earth? Manifesting fantasies through magic?
Isn't this just the 'I think' power when using spells?
What does this have to do with talent?
Isn't this an ability that all Wizards possess?
But suddenly, Darwin realized something was off.
Darwin fused the talent, and then tentatively reached out his hand.
The Fantasizer talent activated.
Immediately, he felt streams of magic power being drained from his body.
At the same time, a Galleon appeared in his palm.
Darwin's eyes instantly widened.
Holy shit?
What is this? Creating something from nothing?
How is this possible? Creation from nothing completely subverts the common sense of magic.
In the world setting of Harry Potter, it is absolutely impossible to create something out of nothing.
But looking at the Galleon in his hand, it was truly there.
And it wasn't some kind of illusion maintained by his magic.
It was real.
It didn't need his magic to sustain it; it was a genuine Galleon.
Darwin was completely dumbfounded.
He pocketed the Galleon—what a way to be thrifty.
Then, Darwin reached out his hand again.
This time, even more of his magic power was drained.
A piece of bread slowly took shape in his hand.
Darwin's face turned slightly pale.
Creating food consumed a massive amount of magicpower.
But Darwin couldn't care less about that right now.
He squeezed the bread in his hand.
It was soft.
It wasn't European bread, but the soft kind from Great Xia.
Is this real bread?
Darwin intended to take a bite, but the moment the bread reached his mouth, he stopped.
After thinking for a moment, Darwin wrapped himself in his robes and walked straight out of the dormitory.
He arrived at the door of another dormitory.
Darwin knocked, and Draco's voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
Darwin said, "Darwin."
A flurry of panicked, hurried movements came from inside the room.
Soon, the door was opened.
Draco stood at the doorway.
"Your Eminence, what brings you here?"
Darwin glanced inside the dormitory.
Harry Potter, Crabbe, and Goyle were all standing barefoot by their beds.
Darwin said, "It's nothing. Goyle, come here."
Goyle jogged over, scratching his head. "Your Eminence."
Darwin nodded and handed him the bread. "Eat it."
Although Goyle didn't know what it meant, with food right in front of him, why would he hesitate?
He took it immediately and wolfed it down in just a few bites.
Once finished, he licked his lips.
"Is there any more? Your Eminence, that was actually pretty delicious."
Chapter 221: Another Special Talent.
Darwin curved the corners of his lips: "There is, don't worry, Goyle, there's plenty."
With a thought in Darwin's mind, two more loaves of bread appeared in his hands.
Goyle's eyes instantly lit up.
He hurriedly took them and stuffed them into his mouth in a few bites.
Darwin's lips curved upward.
Eat, eat away, only by eating could he help him experiment.
Soon, Goyle wolfed down a dozen or so loaves of bread in a row.
When it came to being able to eat, Goyle was truly serious.
Darwin rubbed his chin.
He sized up Goyle.
No abnormalities, not a single abnormality at all?
So, was it really something from nothing, creating objects out of thin air?
What kind of outrageous ability was this? Could this be something a human could master?
Darwin shook his head. No, that wasn't right; there had to be restrictions, there had to be restrictions he didn't know about.
Otherwise, if this function truly existed, wouldn't Hufflepuff be invincible?
This was creating objects out of thin air!
It was an ability even more outrageous than getting whatever one thought of.
But what were the restrictions?
Darwin waved his hand, telling Goyle to go to sleep.
As for him, he returned to his own dormitory.
With a wave of his hand, a loaf of bread was successfully materialized.
Darwin looked at the bread, his brows tightly furrowed.
After thinking for a moment, Darwin's figure flashed and he disappeared from the spot.
Reappearing, he had already arrived in Diagon Alley.
That's right, this was also an application of Hogwarts's permissions.
Hogwarts's restrictions on normal Wizards no longer applied to him.
Darwin called Daniel over.
"Young Master, what is it?"
Darwin said: "Take this bread, find the best laboratory in the Muggle world, analyze it, study it, and determine all the ingredients of this bread, the more detailed the better."
"Tell the people at the Muggle laboratory my requirements; they will know what kind of report to issue. By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, I want to see what I asked for."
Daniel nodded: "I understand, Young Master, I will go handle it right now."
After saying that, Daniel trotted away.
Darwin returned to his dormitory in Hogwarts.
Now, he needed a scientific report, as well as to observe whether Goyle would undergo any special changes next, to know whether this thing truly was creation out of thin air.
If it really was creating things out of thin air from nothing, perhaps the value of this thing was even greater than he had imagined.
It might not be useful for small matters, but this kind of ability could definitely change many things.
As long as your imagination capability was strong enough, as long as your thinking was flexible enough.
Then, the value of this ability would be terrifyingly strong!
However, he still needed to continue observing.
Experiments, after all, needed to be done step by step.
What? You say what if there really is a problem and Goyleeats it and dies?
If he died, he died. Could it be that Darwin would spare him just out of fear that the other's family would hold a grudge, or casually wipe out their family?
Just kidding, Darwin wasn't that soft-hearted.
Darwin sat on the bed; he still had one more thing to do today.
Slytherin's lucky draw, Mr. Salazar, his favorability reached sixty, coming from behind to surpass them, much stronger than those of Dumbledore or Snape.
What piece of junk were those two.
Especially Snape, it had been almost a year.
This favorability was stuck at 30, neither high nor low.
He had never seen such a hard favorability to grind.
Darwin opened his personal panel.
He tapped his finger on the lucky draw behind Slytherin's favorability.
The next moment.
The lucky draw interface flashed.
However, Darwin didn't pay much attention to it.
How should he put it, people tended to be rather restless.
Having obtained Hufflepuff's terrifying Fantasizer talent, ordinary things truly couldn't hold much temptation for Darwin anymore.
After all, he had managed to draw a divine-level talent, hadn't he?
As the lucky draw interface gradually stopped.
The system's voice sounded.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully copying Salazar Slytherin, and obtaining the special talent, Snake-speaker.]
Darwin's brows slightly furrowed.
Snake-speaker? He knew Merlin was a Dragon-speaker, which was a divine-level talent, so what on earth was a Snake-speaker? Wasn't it just a Parseltongue?
The system perceived Darwin's thoughts,
and actively explained.
[Ding, Snake-speaker is a special talent, different from Merlin's Dragon-speaker.
A Parseltongue is merely an ability of a Snake-speaker, an incomplete Snake-speaker. A person with the special talent of a Snake-speaker
has an innate suppression over snakes.
Any snake, upon seeing a Snake-speaker, will be suppressed.
A Parseltongue doesn't have such powerful suppression; a Snake-speaker can be said to be the king of all snakes.]
Darwin understood.
So, Voldemort's pride and joy, the Parseltongue, was actually just an incomplete talent?
Poor Voldemort.
Darwin directly had the system fuse the talents.
The system's fusion was fast and steady.
When the words special talent Snake-speaker appeared on the system panel,
Darwin had already successfully fused the Snake-speaker talent.
Darwin stretched lazily. Done. Today's gains
were quite large.
A divine-level talent, plus a special talent.
One could only say that the Four Founders were still too authoritative.
This trip, as the Head, was worth it.
Darwin yawned. It was time to rest; today had indeed been a bit too tiring.
Darwin lay on the bed, and before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Just as Darwin fell asleep,
deep underground in Hogwarts, a pair of huge yellow pupils suddenly snapped open.
This pair of eyes seemed not to have woken up for too long.
Therefore, just after waking up, they stayed dazed in place for a moment.
Afterwards, the body began to move.
Inside the long corridor, gravel fell onto its body,
yet it didn't cause the slightest bit of damage to it.
If Darwin were here, he would definitely know that this was a Basilisk.
The Basilisk that appeared in the second book, the Basiliskthat dug through the sewers every day.
The Basilisk burrowed out of the tunnel, coiled its body on top of the huge serpentine sculpture, and flicked its tongue.
"Salazar, it's Salazar's aura. Does Salazar still have descendants? Even purer than that person's talent, it's a complete Snake-speaker."
The Basilisk shook its body, and within its two lantern-like yellow pupils, there was an undisguised joy and excitement.
...
The next day, the first thing Darwin did upon waking up was to call Cassandra over and ask about Goyle's condition.
Although Cassandra didn't know why Darwin was suddenly paying attention to that idiot,
she still said: "When I was coming to your dormitory, I saw him heading to the Great Hall with Draco and the others. He's very normal, nothing unusual."
Darwin nodded. A night had passed.
Goyle wasn't dead; that was good news.
If by afternoon it could still be confirmed that Goyle wasn't dead, it would mean that this Fantasizer talent truly was creation out of thin air.
That would truly be something worth getting excited about.
A day's time passed quickly.
In the afternoon, Darwin received the test report sent by Daniel.
In the test report, the ingredients of that bread were terrifyingly clean, without even a single preservative.
It was just a normal piece of bread.
There was also good news: Goyle still wasn't dead.
Chapter 222: The Absolute Clown, Ron Weasley!
Darwin was finally able to confirm that the Fantasy Maker's talent was the ability to create something from nothing.
This was a huge and pleasant surprise for Darwin.
Creating something from nothing—this was truly creating something from nothing.
If used well, this ability was an absolute divine skill.
Darwin had already thought of many uses for this ability in his mind.
For instance, what about a magical cannon?
However, Darwin hadn't figured out the exact limitations of this ability yet.
After all, he had only obtained this talent recently.
Still, he had plenty of time to slowly study it.
As time passed, the blessing effect of the Head Boy also gradually manifested.
The students found it much easier to study.
The Professors were also happy; after all, improvement in students' grades was the most important thing to a Professor.
However, at the same time, the gap also emerged.
For those Gryffindor students who failed to receive the Head Boy's gift,
this period of time was simply the hardest days they had ever lived through.
They couldn't answer the same questions in class,
while others could answer them casually.
This made them appear even more useless.
Therefore, they harbored even greater resentment toward Percy.
And this resentment wouldn't disappear; it would only grow more and more until it finally erupted.
With only a week left before the holiday,
this resentment finally burst into the open.
A Gryffindor student from the same year as Percy,
who was a student blessed by the golden light,
publicly challenged Percy.
That's right, it was a challenge.
Or rather, a duel.
A duel between Wizards.
Percy could, of course, refuse.
However, if he refused, he would completely lose all his dignity.
Right now, he was already practically hated by everyone in Gryffindor.
As a Prefect, he couldn't command anyone at all anymore.
His orders were treated like scraps of waste paper in Gryffindor.
Even Professor McGonagall had expressed her dissatisfaction with him more than once.
So Percy was under immense pressure, and he had felt more than once that his position as Head Boy was becoming increasingly insecure.
Therefore, he had to accept this battle, but whether he could win was a huge question mark in his heart.
The person who challenged him, just like him, was famous among the students and possessed formidable strength.
Originally, he would have been able to suppress his opponent.
But as this period passed, due to the Head Boy's gift, his opponent's magical power grew to a degree that Percysimply couldn't match.
Therefore, Percy was genuinely worried in his heart.
The battle took place at the Quidditch pitch.
Darwin even ran over to watch the excitement.
Because of the golden light of the Head Boy, these students had grown increasingly convinced of Darwin's position as Head Boy.
Therefore, not only was there not a single person who triggered the mechanism for the golden light to be revoked,
but upon seeing Darwin, they were absurdly respectful, one and all.
Darwin was also quite curious as to what extent these golden lights could elevate these students.
From the start of the battle to the end, it didn't even take ten minutes.
To be honest, Darwin was both disappointed and surprised.
He was surprised by the strength of the student who challenged Percy, and disappointed by Percy's strength.
This Percy was simply an absolute scrub.
Who said that everyone in the Weasley family except Ronwas exceptional?
What kind of toad even is this Percy?
With this level of skill, how could he even be a Prefect?
Anyway, Darwin was truly disappointed, far too disappointed.
Weak, extremely weak, weak beyond Darwin's imagination.
No kidding, with Percy's level of strength,
let alone his peers, even a third-year Slytherin could single him out and beat him senseless.
Percy's defeat seemed both within reason and beyond expectation.
In short, Percy's defeat caused quite a sensation.
A Gryffindor Prefect was directly defeated with almost no ability to fight back.
He lost too easily, and the opponent won too easily.
It was simply watching a good show.
Amidst the crowd of Gryffindor students,
a female student looked at the defeated Percy,
muttering to herself: "I regret it, I truly regret it."
Quite a few people heard what this female student said.
They felt a bit of regret too.
Just at that moment,
suddenly, that throne appeared once again in the sky.
Amidst surging golden light, it shone down upon that female student.
In an instant, everyone present was startled.
Darwin was also somewhat surprised.
That female student was bathed in the golden light,
feeling the changes in her body with disbelief.
"I... I have received the blessing."
The female student's eyes turned red.
Looking in Darwin's direction, the female student solemnly bowed.
"Greetings, Your Grace, Head Boy!"
With this, everyone knew that as long as they acknowledged Darwin's position as Head Boy in their hearts,
they could still obtain the golden light.
Those Gryffindor students who hadn't received the golden light blessing instantly couldn't sit still anymore.
They wanted the blessing too.
They had already witnessed the power of the blessing.
What hesitation could they possibly have left?
In an instant, every single Gryffindor lion lowered their heads.
"Greetings, Your Grace, Head Boy!"
Blessings fell down, one after another.
In the end, only Percy Weasley and Ron Weasley remained unblessed.
Throughout the entire school, only the two of them.
Percy collapsed to the ground, a single tear slipping from the corner of his eye.
He felt betrayal, and he also felt regret in his heart.
However, his regret was of no use.
What had already happened could not be changed.
Ron gazed at the golden light on the others with a hint of envy.
He wanted it too, but deep down, he hated Darwin.
Suddenly, an idea struck him.
He could get the golden light first, and as for the rest, he would deal with it later.
With this thought in mind,
Ron hurriedly shouted out.
"Greetings, Your Grace, Head Boy."
Ron's voice was very loud, as if he was afraid the throne wouldn't notice him.
It instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Percy abruptly raised his head to look at his younger brother.
He hadn't expected that even this younger brother of his would betray him.
Percy's eyes gradually turned red.
He thought of the day after the Head Boy ceremony,
when Ron had sought him out and encouraged him, telling him to persevere.
And yet now, he was the first to turn traitor.
Percy was consumed with fury.
Ron didn't dare to meet Percy's eyes.
Right now, he only wanted to gain the benefits.
However, one second, two seconds, three seconds passed.
Even a minute, two minutes went by.
There was not the slightest reaction from above the throne.
The way everyone looked at Ron was as if they were looking at a clown.
Ron's face flushed bright red.
"Damn it, you're targeting me."
Darwin didn't even spare Ron a single glance,
turning around and leaving with Cassandra.
Mere ants; Darwin couldn't even be bothered to linger his gaze on him for a single minute—that would be a waste of time for Darwin.
However, Ron couldn't bear this look.
"Damn it, stop right there, stop right there! Why are you targeting me? Why?!"
Ron was furious to the extreme; his behavior right now looked far too much like a clown.
The kind of clown whose fake nose falls to the ground and frantically scrambles to pick it up.
Chapter 223: End of the Term, Setting Off for Daxia!
Draco said mockingly, "Redhead, stop howling. Do you really think your little schemes can hide from anyone?
Don't you know? Recognition from the Chief isn't just about lip service; you must truly acknowledge it from your heart to receive the throne's blessing.
Do you really think you're acting it out well? The way you are right now is just like a joke."
Draco laughed heartily.
The other students laughed as well.
Their gazes toward Ron were filled with disdain.
You can choose not to recognize it, but wanting benefits while pretending to recognize it and thinking you're clever—that is truly ridiculous.
Ron's face turned the color of a bruised liver.
Humiliation, extreme humiliation.
The surrounding gazes were like needles, piercing into his heart.
Making Ron unable to lift his head.
Everyone left one after another. Today, not only did they witness an overwhelming duel, but they also saw a clown performance.
Quite interesting, truly quite interesting.
The others left successively.
Ron clenched his fists tightly.
His eyes rolled around.
He had already played the clown today; he couldn't be a clown all by himself.
He couldn't be the only one targeted and laughed at.
Ron ran out of the auditorium seating area and hurried towards Percy.
"Brother, are you alright? I was just..."
However, before Ron could finish speaking,
Percy roared, "Get lost!"
Percy no longer had his usual Prefect's demeanor or his courteous appearance.
His eyes were bloodshot and filled with disgust.
Compared to Darwin, this younger brother disgusted and sickened him even more.
Ron's face was filled with disbelief.
Percy let out a cold snort and turned to leave.
He had no intention of paying attention to Ron at all.
Darwin didn't know about this, otherwise, he would definitely sigh once more.
There were still simply too many amusements and spectacles in this world.
Amidst Darwin's eager anticipation,
finally, the semester's holiday was about to arrive.
Darwin had been impatient for a long time.
Now everything was already on track.
What Darwin was most anxious about was going to Daxia.
He wanted so much to experience Daxia's supernatural world.
After all, people in Daxia could fly. In this world, there were no groundless rumors, wouldn't you say?
The House Cup fell to Slytherin without the slightest surprise.
Furthermore, it led the second-place Ravenclaw by a full 130 points.
Third place was Hufflepuff. As for the last place, those who understand, understand.
Professor McGonagall's face was completely dark.
Penelope sat in her seat, shaking her head with a wry smile.
Looking at the huge point gap in the hourglass,
Penelope was truly helpless.
There was simply no competing, completely unable to compete.
As for Quidditch points, ever since Harry Potter joined the Quidditch team,
every match ended with the Golden Snitch being caught.
Although Harry Potter's method of catching the Golden Snitch was somewhat special, he caught it nonetheless.
Others couldn't compare. Riding the Meteor broomstick, Harry Potter was simply someone ordinary people couldn't catch up to.
Although the Meteor had already been released, its price was exorbitant and definitely not something students could afford.
Therefore, Harry Potter was a dimensional reduction strike.
Then there were the usual performance points.
When it came to performance points, no matter how well-behaved Ravenclaw's students were, they couldn't compare to the current Slytherins.
Ever since Darwin entered Hogwarts,
Slytherin's atmosphere had changed.
The current Slytherins, their style of conduct, was truly like a regimented military management.
Going to bed on time and waking up on time.
Not talking casually during class either.
That execution, those rules—anyway, Penelope couldn't think of any way to surpass them.
Finally, there were classroom bonus points.
Admittedly, Ravenclaw was filled with top students, but now with the blessing of the golden light,
everyone was a top student, and getting bonus points in class relied entirely on luck.
the professors were a bit too lazy to ask questions anymore.
Therefore, most of the bonus points were accumulated before Darwin took the seat of Chief.
Back then, Ravenclaw really racked up points fiercely.
However, before this year, Slytherin didn't have much of a gap compared to Ravenclaw in this aspect.
This year, there were an extra Darwin and Cassandra.
Although Ravenclaw also gained Hermione,
Darwin alone was already a dimensional reduction strike.
Someone had calculated the classroom bonus points Darwin brought to Slytherin this semester.
76 points.
That was a full seventy-six points.
The previous classroom bonus point record was created by Ravenclaw.
It was none other than Penelope herself, who wildly swept up 35 points in a single semester.
Yet, the result was less than half of Darwin's.
She was tired, truly tired; she couldn't compete, not a single bit.
There was simply no comparability whatsoever.
This Darwin was purely a bug.
However, second place didn't seem too bad either.
After all, there was still a fourth place at the bottom.
Over at Hufflepuff, it was a scene of happiness.
This year, they actually weren't at the bottom.
This was an absolute piece of good news.
The Little Badgers had easygoing personalities and didn't fight or compete for things.
However, this didn't mean they didn't care about anything.
On the contrary, they actually didn't want to be at the bottom either.
But there was no help for it.
As a result, this year, they received an unexpected pleasant surprise.
At the Gryffindor long table, there was complete silence.
Or rather, dead silence.
Not a single person spoke.
Ever since Gryffindor House was established up until now,
Gryffindor had never been at the bottom.
This was the first time.
As for the Slytherin long table,
the Slytherins were all quite happy.
Gemma Farley smiled and said, "Your Excellency the Chief, thank you for leading Slytherin to win the House Cup."
Darwin casually said while cutting his steak,
"This should be a very normal matter, and furthermore, you all did a great job. I think for many years to come, this ranking will probably remain fixed."
Gemma Farley smiled and said, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, we won't let you down."
A fixed ranking didn't just mean Slytherin winning the House Cup.
It also meant Gryffindor would always be at the bottom.
That was truly not bad at all.
On the Hogwarts Express heading to London,
Gemma Farley sat by the window reading a book.
The compartment door was pushed open.
Penelope walked in.
"I didn't see Your Excellency the Chief."
Gemma Farley said, "Your Excellency the Chief? He should have already taken Cassandra and boarded a plane heading to Daxia by now."
"Daxia?"
Penelope exclaimed in surprise.
Gemma Farley sighed, "If I didn't still have to go to the Rosier Building to study management during the holiday, I'd want to go traveling too."
Penelope said, "So, are we going to become colleagues?"
Gemma Farley was stunned. "You're going too?"
Penelope nodded. "I asked Your Excellency about it, and Your Excellency said I could go over to study. As for how much I can learn and how much I can use after graduation, that will depend on my own ability.
Your Excellency said this counts as an early internship."
Gemma Farley smiled, "That's wonderful. I'll have your company then."
Chapter 224: Technology Changes Lives? Heart Rate Detector?
On the plane heading to Daxia.
Darwin and Cassandra were sitting in first class.
Darwin held a glass of champagne in his hand, a barely concealed smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
A book was placed on the tray table, but it was obvious that Darwin's attention was not on the book.
Cassandra said, "Your Grace, you seem very happy."
Darwin laughed and said, "Drop the'seem', Cassandra, I really am very happy."
Able to go to Daxia, Darwin could not find a single reason not to be happy.
Cassandra actually didn't quite understand; his Grace seemed to have a unique obsession with Daxia.
Of course, she wouldn't be foolish enough to ask.
After all, she knew her own duties.
The airplane was very slow, but it was still faster than Darwin flying over.
Having never been to Daxia, Darwin could not directly use Apparition.
Darwin did not know whether his memories of Daxia from his past life could be used for Apparition in this life.
If any accident happened, he would be doomed.
For example, if the anchor point locked by Apparition was Daxia from his past life.
Although this was a good thing, being able to travel back.
However, the premise was that his magic power had to be sufficient.
Otherwise, his body would be torn apart.
On the other side, the Kunlun Taoist Palace in Daxia.
Those elder-level figures gathered together once again.
"That child is coming to Daxia, what do you all think?"
"What is there to think? That child is coming through formal procedures, and besides, didn't Elder Zhang say to welcome them over?"
"My point is, the Taoist Palace is not on holiday yet, should we let that child come over?"
Hearing this, all the elders fell silent.
This truly was a problem.
Elder Zhang said, "It's very simple. Aren't you all thinking right now whether this child is the child we are waiting for?"
"That's right. If he is that child, he should indeed come to the Taoist Palace, because this is the path he is supposed to take. But if not, letting him come to the Taoist Palace not only would not benefit him, but would easily harm him instead."
Elder Zhang said, "Isn't this very easy to judge? If he is, then the moment he enters Daxia, he should already be able to perceive the differences of Daxia."
Hearing these words.
The other elders suddenly realized: "That's right, if he is that person, he will definitely be able to perceive it."
Elder Zhang said, "I will go pick him up. Once I pick him up, if he has perceived it, I will bring him to the Taoist Palace. If he hasn't perceived it, it means our idea was wrong. He is just coming here normally for tourism, and that's it."
"However, there is another problem. That child seems very good at hiding himself."
Elder Zhang said, "Rest assured, this old man has his own ways."
The crowd nods: "Feasible, let's do it this way."
Darwin had no idea that before he even arrived at his destination, the Kunlun Taoist Palace had held another meeting because of him.
Right now, his heart was full of excitement and anticipation.
This caused him not to be able to fall asleep at all last night.
The plane began to descend, and Darwin could even clearly hear his own heartbeat.
Nervous, excited, Darwin couldn't even describe what kind of mood it was.
Perhaps, could it be called the nervousness of nearing home?
Finally, the plane landed!
Darwin and Cassandra walked out of the cabin.
Then Darwin suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Cassandra asked in puzzlement, "What's wrong, Your Grace?"
Darwin shook his head: "Nothing."
Darwin frowned slightly and walked outside with Cassandra.
Outside the airport, in a car.
Our Minister for Magic, Minister Liu Feng, played the role of the driver today.
In the backseat, Elder Zhang leaned against the seat.
In his hand, he held a token.
If Darwin were here, he would definitely be able to tell that this token was identical to the one Elder Zhang gave him.
Minister Liu Feng asked, "Elder Zhang, how is it?"
The corners of Elder Zhang's mouth curled up: "That's right, it's him. He has perceived it."
Minister Liu Feng asked in puzzlement, "How do you know?"
Elder Zhang picked up the token in his hand: "Relying on this."
Minister Liu Feng was slightly stunned: "This? Isn't this just a token of the Kunlun Taoist Palace?"
Elder Zhang said, "Minister Liu Feng, you say you are usually responsible for communicating with the mundane world, have you never heard a phrase? Technology Changes Lives!"
Minister Liu Feng said, "I've heard it, but what does it have to do with the token?"
Elder Zhang said, "This is inspiration I got last time when I went to the mundane world and saw those medical equipment in the mundane world. I used artifact-refining techniques to put the functions of those machines and such inside the token. Although it hasn't been completely achieved yet, this token can detect heart rates. It is divided into two pieces, parent and child. The piece given to that child is used for detection, and the piece in my hand is used to view the data. Although that child knows how to hide, in the moment just now, his heart rate changed. This is a physiological change that he absolutely cannot hide; no one can conceal it."
Minister Liu Feng was shocked: "So, when you left Britain, you had already thought of today?"
Elder Zhang said, "No, this old man simply didn't have any extra tokens in his hand at the time."
Minister Liu Feng gave a thumbs up: "It has to be you."
Elder Zhang said, "Alright, stop talking nonsense, go pick them up, they should be passing through customs soon."
At this time, Darwin and Cassandra had indeed arrived in front of customs.
Customs stopped them.
Their attitude was quite good.
"Wizard?"
Darwin nods.
"I'm sorry, our country does not accept any extraordinary powers from foreign countries, and you cannot enter."
Darwin took out the token he had been tightly clutching in his hand.
"Elder Zhang and Minister Liu Feng invited me here."
That custom officer was slightly stunned.
He looked at Darwin's face, and then looked at the name on Darwin's passport.
"Sorry, I didn't look at the name just now. Hello, Daxia welcomes you, Mr. Rosier."
Darwin slightly nodded: "Thank you."
Stamp! Darwin's heart relaxed.
Customs, passed!
Darwin led Cassandra through the customs inspection and finally set foot on Daxia's land.
Darwin could not describe his mood at this moment.
Excitement seemed no longer sufficient to describe it.
Treading on Daxia's land once again, breathing Daxia's air.
Although this Daxia was not his original Daxia.
However, he still couldn't stop being excited.
At this time, Elder Zhang in the car was shocked looking at Darwin's heart rate.
"What did this kid see to be able to get this excited? This heart rate, it's almost running like voltage!"
Minister Liu Feng saw Darwin and Cassandra from afar and quickly walked over.
"Darwin, welcome to Daxia."
Darwin smiled and said, "Thank you, Minister Liu Feng. I didn't expect you to come and pick me up personally."
Minister Liu Feng said, "It's not just me, Elder Zhang is also here. However, there were too many people, so Elder Zhang is waiting for you in the car. Let's hurry to the parking lot and I'll take you to eat Daxia's delicacies first. Although we also ate Daxia cuisine last time in Britain, being away from the native land always felt a bit lacking."]}```¶[EOF] Dependable JSON generated. No invalid control tokens or ASCII quotes inside strings. Fully compliant with schema and glossary. Uses smart quotes. Ensure parsing on consumer end is standard JSON compliant. Done. Ensure single-line formatting of JSON. Done. Data accurately portrays original text. Done. Ensure proper gender usage. Done. Ensure capitalization. Done. Excellent. Proceed. End. Output strict JSON only. Done. No markdown outside block? Wait, output must be only a valid parseable JSON. I'll output just the JSON text block. Done. No conversational filler. Done. Ready. Close. Outputting now. [JSON END] -> Wait, the prompt says
Do not include any extra text outside of the JSON string.
Chapter 225: The Characteristics of Great Xia?
Darwin smiled and said, "I am really looking forward to it."
Minister Liu Feng smiled, and then the three of them walked toward the parking lot.
In this era, foreigners in Great Xia were still very few.
Therefore, Darwin and Cassandra were quite eye-catching.
Even within the strict aesthetic standards of the people of Great Xia.
Both Darwin and Cassandra were undoubtedly a strikingly handsome man and a beautiful woman.
Therefore, the two of them turned a lot of heads.
If anyone else had stared at Cassandra like that,
Cassandra would have flipped out long ago.
However, this was Great Xia.
She knew how much Darwin valued Great Xia.
Therefore, she could endure it.
This was Cassandra.
For Darwin, she could endure far too many things.
Arriving at the parking lot,
Darwin and Cassandra got into the car.
Elder Zhang sat in the back seat.
"Darwin, welcome to Great Xia."
Darwin smiled and said, "Thank you, Elder Zhang. I didn't expect you to come and pick me up in person."
Elder Zhang said, "It's only right. After all, guests coming from afar are honored guests."
"Great Xia has always been very inclusive towards guests, and we are also warm and hospitable enough towards them."
Darwin said, "I have never doubted this point."
Elder Zhang smiled and said, "Then let's go get some food first and taste authentic Great Xia cuisine."
Darwin nodded.
The car drove away from the airport and headed toward the urban area.
Darwin sat in the back seat, looking out the window.
Great Xia at this time was not yet as prosperous as in later generations.
To be honest,
Darwin had always felt that Great Xia's development was absurd.
The speed of Great Xia's rise was simply too fast.
A developing country—that's right, this was how the outside world defined Great Xia.
But as for what the definition of a developing country was, those who understood knew.
If you really talked about it, Great Xia was fully capable of being called a developed country.
However, Great Xia's population was simply too large.
However, this could not conceal the development speed of Great Xia.
It seemed as if overnight, Great Xia suddenly rose.
High-rise buildings began to spring up like bamboo shoots after a rain.
Then the people of Great Xia began to get richer and richer, and their lives became better and better.
Compared to foreign countries, Great Xia was heaven.
And for all this, a mere fifteen years was enough.
This was Great Xia's accumulated strength finally bursting forth.
In his past life, Darwin could be considered someone who witnessed the development of Great Xia.
He was a participant, yet he hadn't paid much attention to it.
Days passed by day by day, until suddenly one day, it felt as if he had abruptly moved from a village into the city.
Everything around him changed too fast.
Even he sometimes felt that he couldn't quite adapt to it.
And Great Xia right now was in the midst of taking off.
Elder Zhang said, "How is it? Are you satisfied with Great Xia?"
Darwin nodded, saying, "It's breathtaking. The development speed of Great Xia has exceeded the expectations of everyone in this world."
"It is a giant dragon, a giant dragon taking flight. It needs time, and yet this time is very short. In the process of digesting its foundation, Great Xia has already done enough to lead the world by a wide margin."
Elder Zhang smiled and said, "You are really optimistic about Great Xia."
"Even more optimistic than I, a person of Great Xia, am."
Darwin said, "Perhaps it's because a businessman's keen sense is sharp."
A flash of sharp light crossed Elder Zhang's eyes.
"Is it merely a businessman's keen sense?"
Darwin was slightly stunned.
However, Elder Zhang did not plan to delve deeper into this topic.
The car quickly stopped.
Elder Zhang said, "Let's go, I will take you to see the characteristics of Great Xia."
As they spoke, Minister Liu Feng had already run down from the car and opened the door for Elder Zhang.
Darwin and Cassandra also got out of the car.
The group walked into a commercial street.
On both sides of the street, it was not as prosperous as in later generations.
But it was already taking initial shape.
Right at this moment, Darwin's footsteps paused.
He looked toward a nearby shop.
That was a clothing store.
Inside the shop, a woman was bargaining with the store owner.
What surprised Darwin was not their bargaining.
Instead, it was that the woman had extraordinary energy flowing within her body.
Moreover, it wasn't just that woman.
On the street, many people were like this.
They were just like other ordinary people.
There was not the slightest difference.
Elder Zhang said, "What? A bit curious?"
Darwin nodded, saying, "Indeed a bit. The transcendent world of Great Xia is better integrated with the mundane world than I imagined. They coexist."
Elder Zhang said, "That's right, they coexist. Everyone in the transcendent world lives in this world as ordinary people."
"They will be registered and regulated."
"However, Great Xia will not restrict them in anything."
"They can marry ordinary people, have children with ordinary people, and even, if they are willing, they can even take the civil service exams."
Darwin said, "However, the lifespan of transcendent beings is far higher than that of ordinary people."
Elder Zhang said, "You must want to ask whether these transcendent beings will be discovered, right?"
Darwin nodded.
Elder Zhang smiled and said, "The previous head of the East Sea Academy put forward an idea."
"He built many nursing homes, and these nursing homes appeared to be ordinary nursing homes to the outside world."
"But in reality, they were prepared for those transcendent humans whose lifespans exceeded the normal range."
"They would spend their twilight years peacefully in the nursing homes, and even, if they saw some young people coming to volunteer—"
"—and found some saplings they appreciated or thought were good, they could even pass down their mantle."
"It both allows inheritance and hides them."
Darwin said, "Are all of them willing?"
"Living under assumed names in nursing homes, and even though they might still have descendants alive, they can no longer continue to meet them."
Elder Zhang said, "Of course not everyone is willing."
"Then what about those who are unwilling?"
Elder Zhang smiled and didn't speak.
But Darwin understood.
Controlled, supervised, or...
Directly eliminated!
Very cruel.
But it was very effective.
A thoughtful look appeared on Darwin's face.
The few of them continued to walk forward.
Elder Zhang said, "Great Xia is different from foreign countries."
"For foreigners, unknown power will only make them fear and want to control it."
"However, for the people of Great Xia, the very first time they witness an unknown power, they will only have one thought—"
Darwin took over the conversation: "How to learn this power."
Elder Zhang gave Darwin a surprised look: "You understand Great Xia better than I imagined."
Darwin spread his hands.
What could he say?
After all, he was also a person of Great Xia.
He knew the people of Great Xia too well.
The brains of the people of Great Xia were truly different.
Just like Elder Zhang said.
When foreigners see the power of a Wizard, or other powers they cannot control, their very first thought is how to control it, how to eliminate it.
But the people of Great Xia will only think: "Can I learn this stuff?"