Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 330 The Revelation of the Touch of Hermes

Over the next few days, Eagle's Nest transformed into a professional magical library and research lab. Thick volumes were piled on tables, chairs, and even the floor: *A Compendium of Rare Alchemy Materials*, *An Initial Exploration of the Principles of Soul Magic*, *A Core Overview of Ancient Magical Artifacts*, *A Complete Guide to the Magical Properties of Magical Creature Materials* —

Karen and Fabian were mainly responsible for consulting books on alchemy and magic theory, Ernesto used his runic knowledge to help decipher some ancient documents, and Wesley used his patience and hands-on skills to sift through a vast collection of illustrations according to the characteristics given by Karen.

"It has stable soul energy properties—but its amplification effect seems insufficient," Fabian muttered to himself as he took notes.

"The tail feathers of a Thestral? It's said to be very sensitive to the soul, but too fragile to bear complex runes, and we have nowhere to get them." Ernesto put down an ancient book in his hand and rubbed his temples.

"What about this Blood Crystal? The book says it can amplify the holder's emotional fluctuations. I wonder if it has any effect on soul fluctuations—" Wesley asked, pointing to a colorful illustration of a mineral.

Karen walked over and glanced at it, then shook his head: "The energy attribute leans towards the emotional level, too restless, unsuitable for occasions requiring precise control." He sighed and rubbed his dry eyes. They had already screened hundreds of possible materials, but either their properties didn't match, they were too rare to obtain, or their side effects were difficult to control.

The design process has hit a bottleneck. Even if suitable materials are found, constructing the sophisticated "soul resonance focuser" remains a huge challenge. The internal rune circuits need to simultaneously perform multiple functions such as soul energy carrying, wave amplification, feature projection, external isolation, and synchronous triggering. The complexity of this task makes Karen feel overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Nico and Castor also provided some ideas through two-way mirrors and communication quill pens, but the lack of core materials kept many designs on paper.

Karen sat at his workbench, design sketches and notes spread out before him, but he found himself at a loss for words. His gaze unconsciously swept over the items he had made or acquired in the workshop, hoping for inspiration. Automatic quill pens, weather forecasters, unfinished protective badges, the master pen for a communication quill pen network—

His gaze finally settled on a special display shelf in the corner of the workshop. There were several items that were of great significance to him: several basic alchemy notebooks given to him by Nicolas Flamel, the experimental diary signed "Nicolas Flamel II", and — the "Touch of Hermes" crystal given to him by his teacher Castor.

His gaze lingered on the crystal for a moment. This object, known as his teacher's "dangerous creation," had previously been the subject of his research, primarily focused on understanding the workings of its internal active runes and attempting to establish a preliminary "resonance" and "observation" with it; he hadn't yet been able to safely operate it. Nico had also warned him not to study it lightly before his own strength and knowledge had reached a certain level.

Karen stood up as if possessed, walked to the display shelf, and carefully took down the "Hermes' Touch" crystal, placing it in her palm. The texture was cold and rough, seemingly unrelated to its name, "Touch," under normal circumstances.

He took the crystal back to his workbench, unconsciously stroking the unassuming crystal while continuing to ponder the properties the core material of the guiding device needed to possess: extremely high sensitivity and resonance to soul energy, the ability to precisely guide energy, and sufficient stability to support the runes.

Suddenly, his fingers, which were caressing the crystal, paused slightly.

He picked up the "Touch of Hermes" crystal again, hesitated for a moment, and then, extremely slowly and carefully, took out the small, lead-sealed box containing the faintest fragment of Quirrell/Voldemort's remnant soul from the sealed cabinet. He didn't open the box, but simply placed it near the crystal.

Then, he activated the "Eye of Truth" again, staring intently at the "Touch of Hermes" crystal in his hand.

One second — Two seconds —

Just as Karen was about to give up, he suddenly realized that—under the vision of the "Eye of Truth," the most core few tiny runes inside the originally lifeless gray crystal, which seemed to be asleep, flickered extremely faintly, almost imperceptibly!

At the same time, he sensed that the extremely faint fragment of soul in the lead box seemed to have also developed an indescribable tendency, not a fluctuation but something else—like iron filings feeling the weak attraction of a magnet.

Although the reaction was so slight as to be almost negligible, it did indeed happen!

Karen's heart skipped a beat!

A startling idea struck him like lightning!

"Hermes' Touch"—it can absorb and bind magic, and even form tentacles to capture enemies—its internal active runes possess extremely strong energy manipulation properties! What if—if it weren't used to absorb external magic, but instead used in the opposite way? What if its internal runes were adjusted and reprogrammed so that instead of absorbing, it briefly "simulated" and "released" a specific energy fluctuation, such as the fluctuation of a soul fragment? Or even constructed a temporary, controlled "soul focus"?

It is itself a ready-made, extremely powerful energy guide and amplifier! And it clearly responds to soul energy as well!

Karen jumped to his feet, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement. He practically lunged at the two-way mirror and poured magic into it without hesitation.

"Professor Nico! Professor Castor!" Karen exclaimed eagerly as soon as the call connected, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement, "I've made a new discovery! About the 'Touch of Hermes'!"

He spoke very quickly but clearly about the faint resonance he had just observed, and his bold conjecture about using the "Touch of Hermes" as the core of the guiding device in reverse.

On the other side of the mirror, Nico paused for a moment, then his face lit up with immense surprise and admiration: "Hermes' Touch? That's right! How come we didn't think of that! Castor, when you created it, the core rune set drew inspiration from some ancient soul-binding artifacts!"

A flicker of realization crossed Castor's eyes, and he nodded slightly. "Indeed. Its basic function is absorption and imprisonment, but its core runes possess a high degree of plasticity and controllability. If reverse-engineered—theoretically—it could indeed be transformed from an absorber into a specific analog projector. Its material is sufficient to withstand the load of soul energy, and the characteristics of its active runes are suitable for precise energy guidance. Karen, your discovery is crucial!"

Nico's voice was filled with excitement: "Excellent! This is far more reliable than searching for an unknown core material from scratch! The 'Touch of Hermes' is itself a top-tier alchemical artifact; modifying it will greatly increase the success rate! Moreover, we already have a considerable foundation of research into its properties!"

Karen's excitement was indescribable, and her thoughts became increasingly clear: "Then the new plan is set: using this 'Touch of Hermes' crystal as the core, we'll build our Soul Resonance Focuser around it. First, I need to learn how to safely guide a wisp of soul fragment's power into the crystal and establish a temporary, controlled fusion with it. Then, by studying and adjusting the active runes within the crystal, I'll learn how to precisely control this power, perfectly projecting its specific fluctuations at the crucial moment!"

“That’s right!” Nico affirmed. “This will be our focus going forward. Karen, you need to start preparations immediately. Castor and I will send you the detailed structural diagram of the internal runes of the ‘Touch of Hermes,’ the safe access guide, and the preliminary reverse engineering plan via the communication quill as soon as possible. You must thoroughly understand it before proceeding to the next step.”

"I understand, teacher!" Karen gripped the crystal tightly in her hand, feeling that it was no longer a cold stone, but a key embryo containing infinite possibilities. The path of hope seemed to be right before her eyes.