Simulation: Starting from Under One Person

"No! Uncle Liu! We were just joking!"

Ignoring what happened next, Fang Rui left the group chat, put his phone away, and continued reading his novel…

Most of the knowledge in the book is useful, since it is adapted from true stories.

"Speaking of which, now that Voldemort isn't causing trouble, what would have happened to Lockhart? Would he have left Hogwarts safely?"

It's probably impossible. Dumbledore had his eye on Lockhart from the very beginning, otherwise he wouldn't have personally invited him to teach at Hogwarts.

'Thinking about it here is pointless; we might as well ask Dumbledore.'

With that in mind, Fang Rui headed towards Black Lake.

The explosive roar by the Black Lake had ceased, and the snowball fight between Sengoku and Garp had stopped.

Upon arriving at the Black Lake, Fang Rui saw that Sengoku, Garp, and Dumbledore all looked as if they had been struck by lightning.

"what happened?"

Dumbledore explained, "While Garp and Sengoku were throwing snowballs, this man suddenly appeared between them and was hit by both snowballs, losing consciousness immediately."

At this point, Dumbledore's expression became quite subtle. "And this person was assigned a mission to help."

"So, this person was hit by Garp and Sengoku's attacks, right?" Fang Rui summarized simply, his expression also quite subtle.

“That’s right.” Dumbledore was somewhat worried; he was concerned for the man’s safety.

“I was going to take him to the infirmary, but Garp said it wasn’t necessary.”

Fang Rui looked him over for a few moments and said, "There's really no need for that. He just fainted. He'll be fine once he wakes up."

"So, why are you all making that face?"

"It must have happened too suddenly," Dumbledore said. Indeed, it was too sudden; he hadn't had time to react.

"It's unimaginable that someone would suddenly appear."

"It's like two wizards are fighting, and suddenly someone apparates and blocks the two wizards' attacks."

"What a vivid metaphor. Have you seen one before?" Fang Rui raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I have indeed seen it." Dumbledore nodded slightly.

Some wizards are very unlucky; after Apparition, they encounter all sorts of things, and what he mentioned earlier is one of them.

"So unlucky?" Fang Rui was very surprised.

“As you know, there are curses in the wizarding world,” Dumbledore said.

“Yes, there is a curse at Hogwarts. How could I not know about it when we are so close?” Fang Rui said, indicating that he was certainly aware of such a significant curse.

He not only knew that Hogwarts was cursed, but also that it hadn't been lifted for decades.

A curse shouldn't be this hard to break.

According to Dumbledore, the curse is connected to Hogwarts Castle and has become part of the castle, which is a magical castle.

To remove the curse, it must be a spell that works on the entire castle.

Dumbledore completely ignored Fang Rui's act of stabbing him and continued to explain, "Some curses can bring bad luck, such as the curse of choking on cold water."

"I see, so there's a curse that brings bad luck."

Fang Rui nodded in understanding, "Then what about the price? Casting a curse requires a price, right?"

“Look at the duration and power,” Dumbledore explained. “The reason the curse that plagues Hogwarts lasts so long is that the castle is powering the curse.”

"...It seems we've gone off-topic!" Fang Rui suddenly said.

"Indeed." Dumbledore nodded slightly.

What brings you here?

The topic was steered back on track, and Fang Rui thought for a moment before remembering the purpose of his trip.

"I'm here to ask you, what are you going to do with Lockhart?"

"To try a wizard, especially a well-known one, you need sufficient evidence."

"But most of the evidence that could prove his crimes has already been destroyed."

Dumbledore explained, "The information I've gathered so far, while enough to convict him, is... insufficient! Incomplete!"

"Use truth serum or something similar!" Fang Rui suggested.

“It can be used after he is convicted, but not now…” Dumbledore was quite principled.

"Alright! Since the other party has already fallen into your trap, I won't do anything more~"

"I'm waiting to see the show, Albus!"

As he spoke, Fang Rui's gaze fell on the person who had fainted. From the person's distinctive hairstyle, Fang Rui recognized who it was.

Bruno, a former member of CP9, possesses the Door-Door Fruit.

As a bodyguard, he is indeed very qualified. His air portal makes him immune to most attacks, whether physical or magical, and it also makes it very easy to escape.

Once you slip through the air door, no one can catch you.

Without lingering there, Fang Rui left and returned to Hogwarts Castle.

Karp and the others also stopped standing by the Black Lake and took Bruno back to the castle.

Bruno was placed in the infirmary, while Karp and the others were playing Wizard's Chess in the dining hall. It wasn't the chess set Fang Rui had ordered online that had arrived, but rather the Wizard's Chess set that Dumbledore had bought before.

“Oh! This game is very interesting…” Sengoku said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

A player's emotions can affect the pieces.

The reactions of the pieces also affect the players.

As the naval admiral, Sengoku had once commanded so many people, so commanding a few pieces now was naturally no problem for him.

"I actually think they're quite noisy," Karp said, annoyed. Although the pieces were obedient, he still found them annoying.

His chess skills were particularly poor; his pieces were obedient, but his criticisms were merciless, and every word he uttered made him furious.

"I'm not very good at this game," Fang Rui said, watching Sengoku and Dumbledore play chess, utterly speechless.

A few minutes earlier, he had to destroy a piece because he had criticized it too harshly.

After that, he didn't continue playing chess.

These chess pieces dared not let him touch them any further. As soon as they saw Fang Rui reach out, they panicked and ran away while shouting.

"Speaking of which, what were the people who invented Wizard's Chess thinking?"

Looking at the chess pieces cursing each other, Fang Rui was speechless. What kind of people would come up with such a setup?

"I don't know, maybe it's just that the movable pieces feel more like wizards."

Dumbledore moved a piece forward and said this as he offered his opinion.

"No, I mean the swearing function! What was the idea behind setting up so many swear words? The vocabulary is a bit too rich!"

Fang Rui waved his hands a few times and then reiterated the question.

It's simply impossible for an ordinary person to know so many swear words; who would be so bored as to collect so many swear words?

If it wasn't collected, it's even worse!

"Hmm! I don't know much about this..."

Fang Rui's problem was beyond his knowledge, and he didn't know why the chess pieces had so many swear words.

"Won't this lead students astray?" Fang Rui asked.

"Do you think so?" Dumbledore asked in return.

"I don't think so." If we're talking about going astray, black magic is much faster at doing so.

Don't underestimate negative emotions! A powerful curse can make an ordinary person a little worse.

"Speaking of which, since we've made the chess pieces move, why not add some other functions to them, like attack effects?"

"Swinging the sword to unleash sword energy, punching out flames..."

"What you say makes sense, but the cost is a bit high..."

Dumbledore slowly shook his head. Adding some features seemed simple, but it was actually quite troublesome.

Chapter 404 The Tournament

"Cost..."

Those who would be willing to spend money to buy the special effects version of Wizard's Chess are probably some people who shout "pure-blood supremacy" and some very rich people.

In the wizarding world, the wealthy are ultimately a minority; more accurately, the wealthy who spend money on toys are a minority.

"Take an estimate. How much would a Wizard's Chess set cost to achieve the effect I described?"

"Around twenty Galleons," Dumbledore replied.

Although he hadn't calculated it in detail, he could estimate a general range, since the price of ordinary wizard chess pieces was already considered quite expensive.

“It is indeed a bit expensive!” Fang Rui nodded slightly in agreement. Arthur Weasley’s monthly salary was only a few dozen Galleons.

One Galleon is enough to provide food and lodging for a family for more than a day, so its purchasing power is quite strong.

"Is it possible to lower the price?" Fang Rui asked.

“Yes,” Dumbledore said. “The high cost of production lies in hiring someone to inscribe the alchemical circuits and the materials needed to inscribe them. Costs can be reduced in these two areas…”

Find alchemists who offer lower fees and use more cost-effective materials.

Whether it's the former or the latter, both are difficult to handle. Alchemists who ask for low prices are rare, and high-quality, inexpensive materials are even rarer.

"Material……"

He has many ways to solve the problem of material supply, and can easily solve it. As for the problem of inscribing alchemical circuits, he also has a solution.

What do you think of a fully automated alchemical circuit design machine?

Amid Dumbledore's bewildered expression, Fang Rui uttered a strange name.

“All…what?” Dumbledore tried to repeat it, but he found that he couldn’t even remember the names.