Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 331 Preparations for the Workshop

After deciding to focus on "Hermes' Touch," Karen immediately felt an unprecedented sense of urgency and excitement.

Handling items involving the Soul Fragment and the Touch of Hermes, no matter how small the quantity, allows for the utmost carelessness. He needs a safe and highly controlled environment, and the Eagle's Nest clearly cannot fully meet this requirement.

"Guys," Karen turned to her three roommates, her expression serious, "For the next period of time, I will need to set aside a specific area in my portable workshop for soul magic operations. This process will require a lot of protection, and I may need your help in delivering some materials and tools, as I need to completely clear and rearrange the space inside."

"No problem, Karen! Leave it to us!" Wesley responded immediately. "Just tell us what you need, we'll handle the logistics!"

Fabian and Ernesto nodded solemnly, understanding that the following operation was extremely dangerous and required their full support.

Karen didn't delay any longer. He took out the seemingly unremarkable but spacious and intricately crafted briefcase, placed it on the open ground of the Eagle's Nest, and opened the lid to reveal the downward-facing staircase.

"I'll go in and set things up first. I'll let you know when I need anything." With that, Karen took a deep breath and stepped into his own alchemical world.

The portable workshop inside the suitcase remained unchanged, with all the instruments neatly arranged and the material cabinets categorized. But Karen didn't linger; he went directly to the innermost, relatively secluded area of ​​the workshop. This was where some spare alchemy furnaces and large material cabinets were originally placed.

With a thought, the space inside the workshop seemed to respond to his will; the cabinets and instruments were gently moved aside by an invisible force, creating a blank area of ​​about ten square meters. This was part of the adaptive function that Nico and Castor had given to this space during the design process. Although it couldn't be as omnipotent as the Room of Requirement, it was still possible to make some adjustments to the area.

Next, Karen began the tedious and meticulous preparation of the protective array. He took out specially made mithril powder and mixed it with dragon blood ink, knelt on the ground, and meticulously outlined the first huge circular basic isolation array on the floor. This was something he had learned from Nico when he was researching Horcruxes during the summer vacation.

"Ernesto!" he called towards the entrance, "Help me check the third quadrant angle of the 'Kabbalah Stable Circle' on page 147 of 'Higher Magic Barriers.' I need absolute precision!"

"Received!" Ernesto's voice came from the box opening. Soon, a parchment with detailed data and illustrations was wrapped up and tossed in, to avoid constantly disturbing Karen. Karen took it, carefully compared it, and adjusted her depiction.

Then there's the dual layer of physical and magical protection. He needs a mixture of high-purity obsidian powder and shards of alchemical steel.

"Wesley! Pass down the black metal can and the gray stone powder bottle from the second shelf of the third row of my materials cabinet! Be careful, they're heavy!"

"Here they come!" Wesley responded, and soon, two heavy jars were steadily lowered in a lifting basket. Karen mixed them in a specific ratio, then carefully embedded them little by little into the key nodes of the magic circle, pressing them down firmly with tools.

"We also need a specific barrier to stabilize the soul energy—we'll have to ask the teacher about that." Karen picked up the two-way mirror left in the workshop again.

The communication was established, and Castor's figure appeared in the mirror. After hearing Karen's request, he immediately instructed: "On top of the existing protection in your workshop, add these runes—they originate from ancient guardian curse variants and are remarkably effective at stabilizing negative soul energy—pay attention to the continuity of magic output when drawing them—also, place energy-absorbing crystals at the four corners of the barrier to prevent energy runaway—you should have crystals in your materials cabinet; I remember putting some in."

Following the instructions, Karen added several ancient and obscure runes to the complex array and retrieved four high-quality energy-absorbing crystals, each the size of a pigeon's egg, from deep within the materials cabinet, placing them in the designated locations.

Over the next few days, Karen devoted almost all his spare time to the construction of this "soul operation area" within the portable workshop. He used every advanced protective measure he could think of and had learned: he remotely learned the drawing techniques of the "Reverse Dissipation Rune" from Nico; he referenced cases of sealing dangerous magical creations in "Higher Magic Barriers" and added multiple redundant barriers; he even improved the magic barrier generator used when researching basilisk venom and temporarily installed it around the perimeter of this area.

Ultimately, the area was completely enveloped by layers upon layers of shimmering magical runes and barriers, forming a powerful, complex, and reassuringly isolated space. At the center was a special workbench crafted entirely from magic-resistant wood, engraved with channels and emergency sealing arrays.

During this time, Nie could continuously send detailed internal structural diagrams of the "Touch of Hermes" and preliminary reverse reconstruction plans to the Eagle's Nest via a communication quill. Wesley and Fabian were responsible for receiving these parchment scrolls and then carrying them down to the workshop in baskets. The contents were extremely profound, and Karen studied them with great eagerness, often spending hours in the workshop repeatedly studying the complex rune sequences and energy flow diagrams.

At the same time, he began a large number of simulation exercises. He did not use soul fragments directly, although he still had quite a few. After all, these were non-renewable resources, so he first used a harmless magical reagent that simulated the fluctuation characteristics of soul energy to conduct simulations.

Within this newly set up soul manipulation area, he practiced how to use his wand to guide this faint stream of simulated energy with extreme precision, controlling its intensity and frequency, and injecting it into a prepared test crystal, attempting to establish a preliminary connection. He practiced repeatedly, pursuing absolute stability and accuracy, often repeating a simple guiding action hundreds of times until his mental energy felt exhausted before temporarily stopping.

The atmosphere inside the Eagle's Nest became tense and solemn. Wesley, Fabian, and Ernesto consciously lowered their voices and took the initiative to handle all the data processing during this time, trying their best to create an undisturbed external environment for Karen. They often saw Karen emerge from her suitcase with obvious fatigue on her face, but her eyes remained focused and bright.

"How's it going? How's the progress today?" Fabian asked, handing Karen a glass of hot milk after dinner.

Karen accepted the cup and thanked him, rubbing her temples. "The simulation guidance is almost successful. But the reverse engineering of the internal runes of 'Hermes' Touch' will take time; its structure is too intricate. The solution Professor Nico sent includes several very ancient rune variants, Ernesto. I might need you to cross-verify the interpretations later."

"No problem, I'm ready." Ernesto nodded immediately, pointing to several thick runic dictionaries and classics on his desk.

Wesley patted Karen on the shoulder: "Don't worry, we're here outside. Your precious suitcase is as secure as a fortress, it'll be fine!" He was impressed by the high level of protection inside the suitcase.

Karen looked at his three reliable roommates, feeling a warmth in his heart. The portable workshop provided an excellent operating environment, and his roommates' support was a solid backing that allowed him to devote himself wholeheartedly to this dangerous preparation.

Preparations are ongoing, and there's still a long way to go before truly engaging with the "Hermesian Touch" and the fragments of the soul. But every step is taken solidly and resolutely.