The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

"So, Professor, you didn't test it with the Philosopher's Stone too, did you?"

Professor Babling nodded naturally: "After all, it's all alchemy. I naturally want to see the effect of the Philosopher's Stone. I can only say that the Philosopher's Stone is indeed the greatest masterpiece of alchemy. Its conversion efficiency is too high. Just a tiny bit can be converted into a box of gold. The changes inside are so complex that even I can't understand them at all."

Judging from Professor Barbling's explanation, she must have gone to see the Philosopher's Stone with Principal Dumbledore before leaving the school, and she must have personally verified the Philosopher's Stone's ability to turn stones into gold.

In other words, since the start of the school year, apart from Dumbledore himself, at least three other people have probably come into contact with the Philosopher's Stone.

Hagrid, who retrieved the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts; Snape, who should have already used the Philosopher's Stone to brew the elixir of immortality; and Professor Bablin, who has now tested the Midas touch.

After all, such a precious treasure is rare even at Hogwarts. It's not surprising that Dumbledore borrowed it to set a trap for Voldemort and also let his teachers at the school observe and use it.

Aside from these three and Quirrell, it's estimated that Dumbledore would be willing to let any other professors who showed interest in the Philosopher's Stone handle it personally.

Rizz felt that even if he, a first-year student, made the same request to Dumbledore, Dumbledore might have agreed.

After all, Dumbledore probably hasn't given up on making him Harry Potter's mentor yet. If Rhett really touches the Philosopher's Stone, it means he's preparing to personally plunge into that world of intrigue.

Chapter 227: Reiz the Self-Disciplined

Rizz is indeed very interested in the Philosopher's Stone, but he certainly won't bring it up with Principal Dumbledore until the end of his first year.

He put his thoughts aside, put the gift Professor Babling had given him into his pocket, and then the two began to talk about his recent study progress.

“Now that you’re back, Professor, this is the result of my self-study while you were away from school,” Ryze said, taking out several stacks of parchment from a bag beside him. The parchment was covered with dense notes on ancient runes.

The first half of this is what Professor Barbling arranged for him before he left the school.

The next part is about Ryze choosing his own learning direction after completing that part, based on the knowledge Ravenclaw had crammed into his mind.

Professor Barbling took the parchment, her relaxed expression turning slightly serious.

But as she looked at the contents of the parchment, her expression quickly turned to surprise.

Ryze always manages to surprise you.

She had initially worried that Ryze would temporarily put aside the ancient magic script over the next few months due to fame or other trivial matters.

After all, she had been away from Hogwarts for three months, during which time Rhett not only won the junior division of the Duel Tournament, but also participated in the Potions Competition selection.

Despite the demanding nature of these projects, Ryze's progress in learning ancient runes has been remarkable, even faster than she had anticipated, without any supervision.

She was naturally unaware that Ryze now possessed the advantage of being a science madman, making his learning speed several times faster than that of an ordinary person. Moreover, Ryze had maintained his passion for magic to this day, never letting up for a single day.

After confirming the learning progress, Professor Babling spent more than ten minutes explaining several complex ancient rune issues to Rizzi and recommended new ancient rune books to him.

Reese didn't get up to say goodbye until the bell for the first class in the morning rang faintly.

As he reached the door, he seemed to suddenly remember something, stopped, and asked Professor Barbling, "By the way, Professor, how much do you know about Professor Karedi Bubbage of the Muggle Studies class?"

“Carreddy?” Professor Barbling paused, looking at him with some curiosity. “Why are you suddenly bringing her up?”

Has Rez developed a new interest in Muggle studies?

But Rhett himself grew up in a Muggle orphanage, and there aren't many people in the entire Hogwarts who know more about the Muggle world than Rhett.

"Not really, it's just that Professor Bu did me a favor," Ryze quickly explained the Wizarding Auto Chess to the other person.

This includes how Professor Bubbaggie convinced Professor McGonagall to hold the Auto Chess tournament in the auditorium, then won the school-wide challenge in front of the entire faculty and student body, and her current role as an instructor at the Auto Chess Club.

Professor Barblin laughed after hearing this and said in a relaxed tone, "Karedi is actually quite low-key at school. Apart from the necessary teaching and writing papers on Muggle social structure and technological development, she rarely participates in social interactions among professors. Instead, she prefers to interact with Muggle-born students."

"As you know, most wizards from pure-blood or even mixed-blood families have never attended primary school and lack basic logical thinking skills for various reasons."

“Kereddy didn’t actually attend a Muggle primary school; he received his preschool education at home and went straight to Hogwarts.”

"However, she was indeed very smart, mastering these things without any instruction. And as she became friends with several Muggle-born wizards, she began to become interested in the realities of the Muggle world. After graduating, she even lived as a Muggle in a community for nearly ten years."

These things are nothing special in today's context.

But twenty years ago, when Voldemort's influence was at its peak, doing something like this would have been very dangerous.

It can only be said that this Professor Bubbaji is indeed extraordinary.

However, at this point, it's still difficult to understand Professor Bubbaji's comforting behavior. Ryze only understands that Professor Bubbaji has sufficient logical thinking ability, which is why he was able to win the Auto Chess tournament.

“I think she probably just likes the Wizarding Auto Chess game you developed. It’s really popular lately. I’ve even seen people carrying that game board around in class,” Professor Babling said, while suggesting that Ryze ask Professor Bubbaji himself.

"As far as I know, she has always been fascinated by the technological development of the Muggle world. If you want to get closer to her, bringing her some electronic products or interesting gadgets from the Muggle world will definitely be more effective than giving her expensive magical materials."

Hearing this, Ryze nodded.

It seems I'll have to ask my brother-in-law Ted to pick out some gifts for me, and then I'll meet with Professor Bubbaji after class.

Rizz thanked Professor Babling, then used the speed-up function of his shoes to leave the ancient runes classroom at an extremely fast speed and arrive at the shapeshifting classroom.

Time passed quickly after that.

Aside from attending classes, Rizzi spent most of his daytime attention on the potion contest and reviewing the lessons he had missed.

Of course, Ryze also took some time these past few days to go to Hagrid's hut to check on the dragon egg.

Hagrid trusted Ryze and immediately explained the origin of the dragon egg to him.

Although he himself revealed that Louie would fall asleep whenever he heard music while he was drinking and bragging, Hagrid himself was completely unaware of what important secret he had revealed to the outside world.

After all, in Hagrid's mind, the inside and outside of Hogwarts were completely separate.

Even if those people outside knew that Fluffy falls asleep whenever he hears music, they wouldn't come to Hogwarts to challenge him.

He never considered the identity of the person who lost the dragon egg to him, nor did he realize that such information could reach other people's ears at any time.

However, Ryze was already used to Hagrid's carefree attitude.

He knew his reminder wouldn't be of much use, so he simply didn't tell Hagrid, at least that would put Hagrid at ease and let him hatch the dragon egg first.

Furthermore, Rizzo didn't believe that Dumbledore was completely unaware of the situation.

After all, Hagrid made the bet at the Hog's Head, and the owner of the Hog's Head is Dumbledore's younger brother. No matter how bad their relationship is, Dumbledore probably already knew about it the night Hagrid won the dragon egg.

Chapter 228: BBQ Chat at the Requirement Shop

Knowing that everything was under Dumbledore's control, Rizz only glanced at the dragon egg and, knowing that the little guy inside wouldn't hatch until around the end of the month, paid no further attention.

We'll check back after the little dragon hatches.

The barbecue feast that Hagrid had promised his roommate will probably have to be held at the Room of Requirement, since Hagrid's cottage is indeed not suitable for others to get close to right now.

Rizz explained that Hagrid is currently trying to breed a new magical creature, and this is a critical period. Moreover, the magical creature is estimated to be quite dangerous, so it is not suitable to go to Hagrid's place at the moment.

However, to be honest, the Requirement House is indeed much more convenient.

With just a thought, one could transfer those ingredients directly from the Hogwarts kitchen, without even having to deal with the garbage after grilling.

His roommates are still somewhat hesitant to do this kind of thing using the "secret room" left behind by Ravenclaw.

"Are you sure everything's alright here, Ryze?" Terry asked, his neck hunched, clutching a string of freshly grilled chicken wings in his hand, his eyes darting nervously around.

"This is Ravenclaw's own room... Isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to have barbecue here?"

“Relax, Terry,” Rizz said, flipping the steaks on the grill and casually reassuring the group. “If Rowena Ravenclaw saw how well we’ve made use of this room, she’d probably just smile knowingly.”

“Look, the smoke here disappears as soon as it reaches the ceiling,” Rizz pointed upwards. The fumes from the grilling were sucked away by some force the instant they touched the roof, leaving no trace whatsoever.

"And let alone the barbecue room, those house-elves use this place as a cleaning room. Our principal probably uses it as a quicker toilet most of the time. Our situation is nothing compared to that... After all, this room was created to solve other people's needs."

As Rizzi explained, he brushed sauce onto the meat on the grill and handed some of the cooked meat to Xing Shu.

"Principal Dumbledore uses this as a bathroom?" Terry laughed. "That certainly sounds like our principal's style."

After Rizzi explained, he also put aside his previous restraint and focused his attention on the grilled meat in front of Rizzi.

Despite not having any special bonuses, with Ryze's current level of control over the heat, it's hard for anything she makes to taste bad.

In this pleasant environment, the four sat around on the soft cushions conjured by the House of Requirement, eating meat and chatting aimlessly.

"Seriously, what exactly is Hagrid hiding in that house?" Michael asked, taking a bite of his steak. "Actually, I'm quite interested in that magical creature he's breeding now."

Thanks to that previous magical animal exchange event, Michael got to know quite a few girls who were interested in magical animals.

Therefore, gaining more knowledge about magical animals can help him build better relationships with those young girls.

“Simply put, it’s a magical creature with a 4X or higher rating, and the kind that fits Hagrid’s tastes, a big one at that,” Ryze said casually, but I could hear the subtext in his words.

First of all, the magical creature Hagrid acquired was most likely illegal.

Don't be fooled by the fact that there's still a lawless three-headed dog, Fluffy, guarding the fourth floor of Hogwarts. It's only because Dumbledore requisitioned it; otherwise, Fluffy would have been sent away long ago.

Meanwhile, Hagrid acquired another magical animal that sounded no less complex than Lucy, making its purpose and origin highly questionable.

Thinking about it this way, Ritz's roommates could sense that there must be something very sensitive going on here.

"Whatever it is, as long as Hagrid can keep an eye on it," Anthony said, waving his hand to indicate that as long as Hagrid prevented the magical creature from entering their Hogwarts castle, the Ravenclaw students wouldn't deliberately court death.

“Yeah, I’m more concerned about the final exams than Hagrid’s new pet,” Terry said, promptly changing the subject to the upcoming final exams.

The academic workload at Hogwarts is indeed quite light, at least for Rhett. Even in Ravenclaw, a place where academic prowess is rampant, the intensity of study is only average, except for a few people in the early morning reading club.

There is only one final exam at the end of the academic year, and the other two semesters only have some holiday homework.

Even if you fail the final exam, there won't be much punishment.

It simply means you'll need to stay at school for a make-up exam after the summer break starts. Even if you fail the make-up exam, you won't have to repeat the year.

According to Reese, failing only one or two courses in a retake is not enough to be held back a year.

After all, Neville in the original work was most afraid of Snape. Whenever he saw Snape, he would easily forget things. Even now, with Rhett's help to organize the cheat sheets, he could only barely maintain a passing grade.

In the original comics, Neville's sharp tongue was probably passable.

Neville's performance in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts was also mediocre in his lower years.

However, the other party still progressed normally along with the protagonist to the higher grades.

Goyle and Crabbe, two students who were described as having brains similar to trolls, were not actually held back a year.

In fact, unless you fail four or five subjects at once and don't pass the make-up exams, Hogwarts almost never makes students repeat a year.

In other words, when they reach the fifth grade and need to take OWLs and the seventh grade NEWTs, they may not even meet the requirements for an advanced course, or their test scores are too poor to find a job, and they may choose to repeat the year.

However, these worries from underachieving students have absolutely nothing to do with Ryze and his friends.

Every few years, some students at Ravenclaw are expelled for studying dark magic, but there has never been a student forced to repeat a year due to poor academic performance.

People with poor intelligence would never be able to get into Ravenclaw from the start, which is why Ravenclaw's student population has consistently been at the bottom of the four major colleges.

What they care about is not whether they can pass the final exam, but their ranking on the final exam.

Aside from the fact that almost no one believed they could dethrone Ryze from first place, the competition for second place was still fierce.

Chapter 229: Michael's Ambitious Ambition

The main reason Terry suddenly brought up the final exams was that he discovered Hermione had already started studying for them.

Even though there are still eight weeks until the final exams, Hermione clearly feels that even if she can't get first place in the grade, she has to secure second place.

Michael also chimed in, saying that he had indeed seen Hermione urging Harry and Ron to get into study mode in the library.

“She already puts a lot of pressure on people, and now she’s working this hard. I think she’s not just aiming for second place in the grade; she probably has her sights set on first place,” Anthony said to Reese. “After all, we were in France for almost three weeks for the competition, missing more than a week of classes. Maybe they’re trying to take advantage of this opportunity to overtake us. Reese, you’d better be careful.”

Rizz nodded.

He knew, of course, that although Hermione had given up on competing with him in combat, she hadn't given up on competing with him academically.

In terms of theoretical mastery alone, Ryze has already self-studied advanced levels of Charms, reached third-year level in Transformation, and is nearly graduating in Potions.

But within the first-year group, he and Hermione were probably about evenly matched, maybe 60/40.

Putting aside other subjects, Hermione has indeed performed better in terms of theoretical knowledge in the past six months, such as lower-grade courses that require more memorization, like History of Magic and Astronomy, as well as Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is taught by following the textbook exactly.

However, that was in the first half of the school year. After Ryze acquired the talent of a scientific genius, his memory also improved a lot along with the evolution of his brain.

If he wanted to, he could now spend a week or two memorizing the entire first-grade textbook, just like Hermione.

However, Ryze's attention is currently focused on the knowledge of the higher grades and their research on light magic, so he doesn't have much energy to memorize all the magic history of the lower grades.

"If you don't want to be surpassed by others, then just make sure you get full marks in all subjects. I think if you work hard, you don't need to worry about your grades." Ryze waved his hand, not taking the title of first place too seriously.

In the end, it was just a first-year exam, and at most, she and Hermione would both get full marks in the theory section.

In subjects like Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions, which require practical skills, Ryze's level has long surpassed that of everyone in his year.

Even if Hermione can brew the perfect potion for the Potions class final exam, Rhett can still use his juicer talent to make an enhanced potion, and might even get a higher rating.

It's not a big deal that he surpassed Hermione in grades, but his roommates are probably feeling some pressure.

After all, while Hermione may be a little indecisive in actual combat, she is indeed quite talented in theory.

In the timeline without Rhett Butler, Hermione would remain the top-performing witch in her class for the next few years.