Hogwarts: From Luna's House to Godhood Through Intense Competition

“Good morning! We just got back while they were reading the announcement.” Vezel nodded. “The rules are indeed more interesting than I imagined.”

“Right!” Anthony laughed. “The bonus point information will only be announced at the end of the academic year, so there’s a lack of specific references if you want to compete.”

"There's a lot of room for manipulation; if different colleges exchange information, they can all inflate the specific number of papers they've published..."

"Even if someone tells the truth, as long as there are different numbers, coupled with these detailed rules, they will definitely start to suspect each other."

In this way, each college can only rely on guesswork to increase the number of papers they produce, which is quite interesting!

“Isn’t it a kind of motivation?” Luna chimed in, “Dumbledore’s starting point…”

"The intention is to encourage everyone to express their thoughts; The Voice of Hogwarts is merely a means of encouragement."

“Yes! I can see that!” Anthony nodded. “The reward for the chocolate frog, and the supplementary explanation afterward, proves it very well.”

"And then there's the distribution of rewards. It seems the changes to the Board of Trustees have indeed had a positive impact. Otherwise, the proceeds from these sales would have gone to the Board of Trustees."

……

“Oh?” Wizett thought of Anthony’s background. “Could it be… that Mr. Newt Scamander… has also become a member of the Board of Trustees?”

"You're really something! You thought of that so quickly!" Anthony exclaimed in admiration, nodding repeatedly in response.

"The vacancy in the Parkinson family was filled by the Scamander family... I remember they provided the school with a batch of magical creatures during the summer vacation."

“The Scamander family…” Vizette murmured, pondering as she spoke, “Could it be a hippogriff?”

“Yes!” Anthony nodded repeatedly. “The Hippogriff provided by the Scamander family is the best in the entire magical world!”

"Maybe we'll see those hippogriffs in the magical creatures protection class this afternoon. I just don't know how Hagrid is doing, or if he can take good care of them."

“The Hippogriff is a Level XXX magical creature, it shouldn’t be easy to deal with…” Vizette frowned slightly, “When does he plan to… bring them out to class?”

“I don’t know.” Anthony shrugged. “Although it’s only at the XXX level, it’s still not easy to deal with… those are my great-grandfather’s exact words!”

"The so-called 'capable wizards can deal with it'... actually refers to wizards who have taken the course on protecting magical creatures and obtained the corresponding certificate."

"The so-called 'requiring specialized knowledge wizards to deal with' the XXXX level actually refers to wizards who have obtained the qualification of 'magic zoologist'."

"So how should I put it... I hope Hagrid is really prepared... to bring a hippogriff to class!"

“That’s true.” Vezel nodded, a vague sense of unease creeping over him as he thought about Hagrid’s attitude toward magical creatures.

"Michael and the others aren't up yet!" Anthony glanced at the time. "Vizet, I'm awake anyway, so let me go wake them up this time!"

“Okay!” Wiese nodded, watching Anthony walk away.

"Why don't we write to him and ask?" Luna suggested softly. "Or maybe around noon... we can go find Hagrid together?"

“We can also see the hippogriffs!” Vizette laughed. “But now… let’s go have breakfast first!”

-------------------------------------

After saying goodbye to Luna, Vizette and Michael Corner walked together toward the classroom where the arithmetic divination class was held.

On the way, they also encountered Hermione, who was panting heavily. Even though it was the first class of the morning, Hermione gave them a strange feeling, an unusual sense of fatigue.

If Luna were to meet Hermione now, she might say, "It's like she just attended a parachute ball."

Thinking of this, Vizette couldn't help but smile and gently shake her head.

Upon entering the classroom, he discovered that there were far fewer students than he had imagined.

Although the number of participants was small, it covered four colleges, clearly making it a joint course for all four colleges.

After taking his seat, Vizette began to observe the entire classroom.

The classroom was filled with a faint smell of ink and the scent of old parchment, and intricate tables hung on the walls.

Various symbol blocks are piled up in the surrounding corners. These symbols are all used to represent numbers, but they are presented in different ways.

……

As the school bell rang, a middle-aged witch walked into the classroom.

She wore a dark red robe, and her hair, which was jet black with a few strands of gray, was neatly pinned up at the back of her head, making her look extremely capable.

“I am Professor Setima Victor…” The witch nodded slightly. “Welcome to the arithmetic divination class.”

She glanced at the students sitting upright. "I know that many wizards are not good at logical thinking and think that numbers and formulas are things of the Muggle world."

"But I want to tell you that numbers also have infinite power in the magical world! They can reveal hidden truths, let us see a person clearly, and even change our destiny."

Upon hearing these words, the students held their breath and became even more tense than before.

After all, this opening remark reminded many students of... something Snape seemed to have said.

Setima Victor waved her wand, and the symbol cubes piled up in the corner flew up and gathered around her, forming a very peculiar pattern.

This pattern has nodes connected by channels, and the overall structure looks like an ancient tree.

“The Kabbalah Tree of Life…” The moment Vizette saw the pattern, she whispered its name…

Chapter 150 Arithmetic Divination

“Very good… Mr. Lovegood!” Setima Victor said. “However, you answered before I even asked a question, so… I can only give you one point as encouragement.”

Vizette rose and bowed. "I will be careful, Professor Victor!"

“Let’s continue!” Setima Victor pointed to the three-dimensional figure resembling a large tree. “The Kabbalah Tree of Life! This is the magic of arithmetic divination!”

"They are not simply a series of numbers, but contain a magical network! It guides us to take root in this world... it is a way for us to understand the world!"

"I can teach you how to find truth through numbers, how to solve mysteries with formulas, and even how to use arithmetic divination to understand people's hearts..."

"However, I hope you will let go of your fear of numbers, learn to think logically, and try to understand with your heart. If you can do that..."

She slowly scanned the crowd, a smile appearing on her face. "Then you will discover that arithmetic divination is not just a subject, but also a key to unlocking the door to wisdom!"

Michael Corner tilted his head slightly and said to Vizette in a low voice, "This Professor Setima Victor seems quite easygoing... at least that's a good start."

Michael wasn't the only one who thought this way; the extra points he had just received did indeed ease the somewhat oppressive and tense atmosphere.

Seeing Setima Victor's smile, many people nodded subconsciously, and the atmosphere became more relaxed than before.

“This is the magic of numbers…” Setima Victor said. “Academy points may seem ethereal, but if you delve into their meaning… they represent encouragement and honor.”

"The 'numbers' contributed by each of you converge into an even larger 'number,' which then becomes the Academy Cup, and the unique color of your academy in the auditorium... Can you feel this charm?"

"We've won the Academy Cup for two years in a row..." Michael nodded, his voice brimming with pride. "Oh! The damn power of numbers!"

“Mr. Kona, could you repeat what you just said?” Setima Victor asked in a gentle tone, holding the roster in her hands.

"What did you say?" Michael instinctively shrank back. "I..."

“No, no, no!” Setima Victor waved her hand. “I just think you said it very well, and I hope you can say it out loud!”

"Ahem!" Michael stood up somewhat awkwardly, closed his eyes, and uttered the words he had just said, "Oh! The damn allure of numbers!"

“Excellent! That’s exactly right!” Setima Victor gestured for Michael to sit down. “Ravenclaw, add one point! Let’s bring out ‘Number Divination and Symbols’…”

"Let's begin by learning about 'knowing ourselves' and 'knowing others'... Arithmetic divination is a subject with a long history... through the efforts of countless wizards..."

“We can find the magic unique to these numbers… by interpreting them, we can explore ourselves and the external world…”

……

When the class officially began, Setima Victor first emphasized the difference between the courses "arithmetic divination" and "divination" to avoid confusing the students.

Divination classes place greater emphasis on intuition and spirituality. The results of divination are highly uncertain and open to interpretation. The interpreter's subjective interpretation can significantly influence the divination outcome.

Setima Victor gave an example, such as tea leaf divination in a divination class. A tea leaf dreg shaped like a dog can be interpreted as "ominous" or "protective".

Arithmetic divination emphasizes logic and mathematics. For example, what they are preparing to learn now is to interpret a person's personality traits through the numbers in their name.

In the future, with in-depth study, one can also use the magic of numbers to interpret various kinds of magic;

That is why the profession of "curse breaker" requires a certificate in arithmetic and divination.

Setima Victor concluded: "The interpreter needs to be responsible for his words... at least in my opinion, this is something a diviner should do."

"What I can guarantee is... that when you learn arithmetic divination and apply it to your life, you will be able to take responsibility for your words. Of course! That's on the premise that you study diligently!"

Over the next period of time, she guided the students on how to extract numbers and how to use them to interpret numbers.

“Let me see… Wiz…” Michael scratched his head, “Let’s convert them first…”

He shook his head from side to side, constantly referring to the contents of "Numerical Divination and Symbols," refining his interpretation of the name: "W corresponds to 5...I is 9...Z is 8..."

Vizette wasn't idle either; after finishing his interpretation of Michael's name, he turned to a later section of "Numerical Divination and Graphics."

He had already read the book through in the last day or two of summer vacation;

After Setima Victor's explanation and the sharing of some related ideas, he subconsciously made connections to even more content.

Vizette turned to the page describing the "Kabbalah Tree of Life" and tried to connect it with the magical illumination spell, using the ideas shared by Setima Victor.

The Kabbalah Tree of Life will not be taught this year, at least, because it involves another understanding of numbers;

This means that one needs to understand the difference between the two ways of interpreting numbers in order to apply them to analytical magic;

Looking at the Illumination Charm from this perspective reveals that the meaning behind this simplest and most effective magic is surprisingly interesting.

That's how magic works; from the spells themselves or ritual magic, to arithmetic divination, you can see something new from different angles.

“I’ve figured it out!” Michael exclaimed. “It’s really interesting! Look! Combining these numbers gives us thirty-four…”