Victor Wick returned with an excited look in his eyes.
He realized that the time had finally come...
Foregoing sleep that night, he pulled out that strange keyboard and began tap-tapping away.
He had to finish something before the substitute professor arrived.
Even though this went entirely against his reluctance to work overtime...
As the saying goes, when someone is about to do something bad, they never feel tired!
Harry had been quite happy lately.
He had heard that the loathsome Professor Snape had been injured by a troll and would be hospitalized for quite a while.
At Professor Wick's suggestion, the school had rehired an old professor to serve as the Potions Master.
Harry actually had some talent for Potions, and after being suppressed by Snape for so long, his skills were improving rapidly.
Consequently, the elderly substitute, Horace Slughorn, was full of praise for him.
For the first time ever, Harry even earned points in a Potions class!
Furthermore, Professor Slughorn often spoke to Harry about his mother, Lily, praising her exceptional talent in Potions...
He expressed great satisfaction that Harry had inherited Lily's gift, though he also felt profound regret over her passing.
Comparing the two Potions professors... there was no doubt Harry's opinion of the elderly substitute was far higher!
Beyond that, he was unrivaled on the Quidditch pitch.
After learning the Felix Felicis Charm, Harry felt as if he were guided by divine aid during matches.
While it felt a bit like cheating... a little exploit doesn't count as cheating, and having a cheat code without using it would just be wrong!
Besides, this was a self-defense spell Professor Wick had taught him out of concern for his safety! Wouldn't it be an insult to Professor Wick's earnest guidance if he didn't use it?
Moreover, because they shared these little secrets, the friendship within the small four-person team of Harry and Ron was steadily growing.
In addition, his godfather Sirius wrote to him frequently and occasionally sent small gifts, allowing him to experience the true warmth of a real family for the first time.
Everything was moving in the right direction! Everyone seemed to have a bright future ahead!
Of course, Harry was well aware that Professor Wick was the one who had brought all of this to him!
Thus, his respect for Victor Wick had even begun to surpass that for Professor Dumbledore...
If given the chance, Harry truly wanted to repay Professor Wick properly, even though he knew he might never be able to settle the debt of gratitude he owed...
Working at a frantic pace, Victor Wick finally finished what he needed shortly after the new professor arrived.
His first stop was Snape.
Snape had already been discharged from the hospital wing; he didn't want to waste time lying there and preferred to conduct his research in his own office.
Even Madam Pomfrey couldn't stop his resolve, so she had simply instructed him to return to the hospital wing daily to have his dressings changed...
Naturally, Snape had no intention of doing that. He simply asked what medicines were needed and left immediately.
As a Potions Master, he could brew them whenever he wanted and change his own bandages or take the medicine himself.
So, when Victor Wick arrived at Snape's office, the man was sitting in the wheelchair Victor had bought for him, focused intently on researching a new formula at his desk...
"I still cannot walk. Whatever it is you want, I cannot do it yet," Snape said, glancing up at Victor with a cold look.
"I know. Don't worry, I won't assign you any tasks until you're fully mobile," Victor replied with a smile.
Looking at that smile, Snape felt a slight tremor in his heart.
That smile was far too familiar. Clearly, this fellow was plotting something again... and Snape wondered if he'd end up getting hurt this time!
"Keep this on you." Victor handed over a stone.
It was a stone about the size of a pebble, with a comfortable grip and a dense, matte texture.
"What is this?"
"It's an alchemical tool I just finished. I call it a Communication Stone. If it starts to vibrate or heat up, just hold it, and I'll be able to contact you. Naturally, if you ever need to find me, you can write directly on it with a quill. I'll see it on my end."
Victor pulled out another Communication Stone to demonstrate.
He gripped the stone and slowly channeled a thread of magic into it. Immediately, the pebble in Snape's hand began to vibrate, and a warm sensation followed.
As Snape stared at the pebble in confusion, wondering how Victor planned to transmit a message...
Suddenly, he felt Victor's voice echo inside his mind.
"Testing! Testing! Hello there, Severus!"
Snape looked up sharply at Victor, only to find the man's mouth hadn't moved at all, yet Victor's noisy voice continued to ring in his head!
"Enough..." Snape dropped the stone, his head ringing from Victor's clamor.
However, there was no denying that such a communication tool was indeed incredibly convenient for relaying information.
This fellow Victor... though Snape loathed the bastard, he had to admit the man was a genius...
"It also has a writing function." Victor switched the stone to his left hand, maintaining the magical output, and picked up a quill from the desk to write a line on his own stone.
[Testing! Testing! Severus, who is the cleverest wizard in the world?]
The line of text glowed with a faint yellow light on his stone, and then the same words appeared on the stone in Snape's hand!
Snape looked at the Communication Stone, then up at Victor's expectant face. His eyelid twitched slightly.
"Fine, I know how to use it. Now leave, do not disturb my research." Snape tucked the stone away and began to shoo him out.
Victor's eyes widened. "Why didn't you answer the question? Is it really that hard to answer?"
"The door is that way. I won't see you out." Snape turned back to the manuscripts on his desk.
"I mean... you don't know who the cleverest wizard is? It's obviously me, Victor Wick! Or is it the Half-Blood Prince?"
Snape's forehead lined with dark frustration. He raised a hand and pointed at the door. "Get out!"
Having been kicked out by Snape, Victor didn't return to his office. Instead, he pulled out another Communication Stone, found Quirrell, and placed it in his hand.
"Professor Quirrell... I have a plan..."
For the plan to begin, he first had to wait for Snape to regain some ability to walk.
Thus, Victor had no choice but to wait a while longer.
However, he wasn't entirely idle during this time. After finishing his classes during the day, he would go find Fleur at night.
Then, using her Vanishing Cabinet, he would return to his laboratory in Knockturn Alley.
As for the students' homework and essays... he left them all for Fleur to grade.
He had originally intended to ask Shafiq for help, but clearly, Fleur's level was much higher.
Fleur didn't object. Instead, she carefully mimicked Victor's handwriting, grading the papers diligently and making summary notes on a separate piece of parchment.
This way, when Victor arrived, he could look at the records and understand each student's strengths and weaknesses, ensuring he wasn't completely ignorant of their progress.
Even when slacking off... one needed a method. If he neglected the students' education and Dumbledore noticed, what he and Snape were doing in secret might be exposed.
The existence of the Chimaera had indeed brought Victor many surprises.
After a thorough inspection of the beast, Victor discovered the secret of its power.
Sharp fangs and claws, immense strength, powerful magical and physical resistance, and the lethal venom in the snake-head on its tail—which also gave it a corresponding level of poison resistance...
More importantly, it possessed a peculiar innate magic that constantly reinforced its own physical attributes!
Making its defense thicker, its strength greater, its venom more toxic...
It was practically a hexagonal beast, an all-rounder.
Furthermore, the Ashwinders' assessment of the Chimaera was entirely correct; every part of this giant beast was a treasure!
"If only such innate traits could be granted to wizards..." Victor marveled. He was starting to understand Voldemort's way of thinking.
The human body ultimately has its limits. Only by modifying oneself toward the direction of magical beasts can one obtain even greater power!
Of course, Victor had no intention of trying this on himself, even though the success rate of such a modification would be quite high for him.
He didn't know what kind of side effects such modifications might have on the body...
Voldemort had already set a fine example: frequent magical modifications would turn one into something neither human nor ghost.
Victor didn't want to end up losing his nose...
Victor recorded the data into his database with a hint of regret and prepared to formally begin the resurrection modeling experiments.
However, after he drank a drop of Felix Felicis, a spark of inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind...
To obtain certain characteristics of these magical animals, did one really need to modify their own body?
Victor raised his hand, and a sliver of white light flashed...
That was the Unicorn's Blessing... a trait bestowed upon him personally by a unicorn.
It was similar to a permanent buff...
Since a unicorn could add its own ability to him like a buff, then... if he wanted the traits of magical beasts, could he achieve it through the safer method of adding buffs?
"Hiss... I must thank my top supporter, Professor Snape, for the Felix Felicis!" Victor grew thoroughly excited.
He then temporarily set aside the resurrection experiment...
After all, there was no rush for the resurrection; for a long time, it could only remain in the experimental stage.
But this method of making himself and his teammates stronger was far more important!
Victor extracted the data and began using that peculiar keyboard to reconstruct the Chimaera's traits.
He was primarily researching that core innate magic!
Once the research succeeded, even if a human's physical body couldn't compare to a Chimaera's, the core innate magic buff would surely boost their physical attributes significantly!
This method avoided the dangers of human transformation while accounting for magical traits—it was more than sufficient.
In battle, a little extra strength, a little extra stamina, and a little more reaction speed could all influence the final result!
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