My partner at Hogwarts is Tom

As night fell completely, Hogwarts Castle appeared tranquil and mysterious under the starlight and moonlight.

The lively and warm atmosphere in the auditorium gradually dissipated by dinner time.

The only sounds in the corridor were the occasional footsteps of Filch and his cat, Mrs. Loris, as they patrolled.

Victor carried Tom back to his lounge—a room on the second floor of the west tower of the castle, overlooking the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest.

The interior furnishings are simple yet warm, with a steady magical flame burning in the fireplace, dispelling the chill of the Scottish Highlands night.

Victor didn't turn on many lights, but simply carried Tom to the large arched French window.

Outside the window, the surface of Black Lake shimmered with tiny silver lights under the moonlight, the distant mountains were like dark eyebrows, and the night sky above was as clear as if it had been washed by water.

A bright, clear moon hangs high in the sky, surrounded by countless stars, and the Milky Way stretches across the heavens like a hazy ribbon of light.

He sat down on the soft recliner by the window, adjusting himself into a comfortable position so that Tom could curl up securely against his chest.

The cat's warm body heat seeped through the fabric, creating a reassuring rhythm.

Tom was clearly exhausted too.

The battle with the crowned Voldemort, the thrilling astral projection and return, the moving experience of witnessing a reunion after a thousand years, and the soul-stirring farewell on the stargazing platform at dusk...

For a cat, the amount of information and emotional fluctuations from the experience of the past half-day are simply too much.

At this moment, nestled in the warm and familiar embrace of its owner, under the tranquil starry sky and moonlight outside the window.

All the tension, excitement, and emotion gradually subsided, turning into a deep sense of weariness.

Tom's jewel-like eyes were initially kept open as he gazed at the moon outside the window, his little ears twitching occasionally.

But not long after, those big eyes began to slowly open and close, and the eyelids became heavier and heavier.

He nuzzled his head against Victor's chest, finding the most comfortable position, and began to make soft, satisfied, and relaxed snoring sounds from his throat.

The snoring was initially intermittent, but gradually became steady and long, like a gentle lullaby.

After a moment, the snoring became even and soft.

Victor looked down and saw that Tom in his arms was fast asleep.

Moonlight streamed through the glass window, gently bathing the cat's silvery-white fur in a dreamy glow.

Tom's lips curled up slightly, and his beard trembled gently with each breath.

The cat's face presents an unguarded, sweet, and peaceful expression, as if it is having a sweet dream filled with dried fish and warm sunshine.

Seeing Tom's expression, Victor couldn't help but smile gently.

The day's dramatic events have now transformed into the peaceful sleeping face of the tiny life in my arms, bringing tranquility to my heart.

He moved carefully, freeing one hand to gently beckon to the luxurious cat bed in the corner of the room.

A soft blanket, printed with a funny dancing velvet pattern, which was Tom's favorite, floated over lightly.

With the gentlest touch, Victor carefully covered Tom with the blanket, leaving only his fluffy little head exposed, making sure the little guy wouldn't get cold.

After doing all this, he leaned back in his recliner and looked out at the starry sky again, but his thoughts were not entirely on the night view.

His hand reached into the inside pocket of his robe and touched a cold, exquisite metal object.

Take it out slowly.

Bathed in moonlight, the Ravenclaw crown radiated a serene and magnificent glow.

The sapphire is as deep as night, and ancient runes on the silver base are faintly visible.

This was what Dumbledore gave him after dinner.

At that moment, in the principal's office, Professor Flitwick was so excited he almost jumped up; in fact, he did bounce around in his chair several times.

He held the crown and looked at it again and again, his eyes filled with boundless reverence for the founder's relics.

After obtaining the consent of Professor Flitwick, who was the head of Ravenclaw, Dumbledore handed the tiara to Victor.

"Ms. Ravenclaw restored it to its original state and clearly believed that it should be used for its original purpose—to enlighten the mind—rather than be sealed away."

Dumbledore's blue eyes gleamed behind his half-moon lenses.

"You are a witness to today's events, and also the one to whom Lady Ravenclaw personally bestowed this knowledge. It is perhaps most appropriate for you to temporarily safeguard and use it."

"However, Victor," Dumbledore's tone became unusually serious, "there are a few things you must remember."

"The crown itself does not grant the wearer wisdom. The legend that wearing it will grant endless knowledge is a misunderstanding, or rather, an oversimplified allegory."

"True wisdom stems from relentless pursuit of knowledge, critical thinking, the accumulation of practical experience, and a profound understanding of the world and human nature."

"The crown is just a tool, a tool that helps users organize, review, and delve into existing knowledge more efficiently."

"It can't directly cram things you don't understand into your brain, nor can it think for you. What it can do is make your thinking clearer, your attention more focused, and your memory more organized, thus making your learning and research twice as effective with half the effort."

"Remember, it was Rowena Ravenclaw's wisdom and vision that made this crown legendary. It was not the crown that made Ravenclaw."

At that moment, Victor carefully examined the brand-new, magnificent crown in his hands, which carried a thousand years of history and warnings.

Then, he gently put it on his head.

The crown felt cool to the touch the moment it touched the forehead, but the body temperature was quickly adjusted.

There was no dizziness or throbbing sensation as rumored, where a massive amount of knowledge was forcibly flooded into the brain.

Instead, a strange sense of tranquility, like cool spring water, slowly flowed from the top of my head throughout my body.

His breathing involuntarily became deeper, and his heartbeat seemed to slow down.

The sounds from the outside world—the crackling of the fireplace, the distant wind outside the window, even Tom's soft snoring.

At this moment, everything seems to be separated by a soft film, becoming distant and blurry.

But his inner perception became incredibly clear and acute.

Immediately afterwards, he felt his "consciousness" being gently "pushed" or guided into a different level.

In the blink of an eye, the surrounding scenery has changed.

He was no longer in his own lounge, but standing in a spacious, tall, circular room.

The walls of the room are dark blue, painted with slowly flowing silver star charts and constellation trails, as if miniaturizing the real night sky.

High on the dome, a beautiful mural depicts a silver eagle soaring with outstretched wings, its gaze sharp and wise.

The room is surrounded by huge, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves embedded in the walls, stretching from the floor to almost the height of the dome.

The bookshelves were densely packed with books, scrolls, and parchment manuscripts.

These books have different designs; some are ancient and heavy, some are simple and modern, and some even shimmer with a magical glow.

Victor immediately realized that this was not a real room.

This is the inner space of his consciousness, a "library" or "temple of thought" constructed from his memories, knowledge, and thought structures.

Ravenclaw's tiara was like a magic key, opening this door for him and greatly enhancing and optimizing this inner space.

At the same time, a strange flow of information emerged directly in his consciousness, transforming into information that Victor could understand.

This is your core space for thinking; its stability and scale depend on the strength of your mental power and the amount of knowledge you possess.

You can freely access, read, and analyze any knowledge you already possess here.

The flow of time within a space can differ from that outside.

The current adjustable ratio is 1:10. This ratio may be increased as your mental strength grows and you become more accustomed to the crown.

This space has consistent effects such as "mind enhancement", "focus improvement", "memory organization" and "interference shielding".

I see……

Viktor understood.

The Ravenclaw crown is not essentially a "knowledge imparter," but rather an extremely advanced "thinking accelerator" and "cognitive optimization platform."

It combines principles similar to the Pensieve and Occupation, and is supplemented with various effects such as extrasensory mantras and mind-clearing mantras.

It can't give you what you don't know, but it can help you master, apply, and integrate what you already know, have learned, and have thought about better, faster, and more deeply.

A crown is a tool that can make geniuses achieve twice the results with half the effort, but it cannot turn mediocre people into geniuses.

As Dumbledore said, it was Ravenclaw who made the legend of the crown possible.

Having grasped the basic principles of the crown, Victor did not rush to organize his knowledge system.

His attention was first drawn to the mental space itself.

Everything here is based on his own understanding.

But he vaguely sensed that the "foundation" or "framework" of this space did not originate entirely from himself.

It is more stable and more mysterious, carrying an aura of wisdom accumulated over thousands of years.

It subtly echoed the magical rhythm belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw that he had felt under that strange starry sky at dusk.

"Could it be...?"

With a thought, Viktor shifted his focus from the "books" on the bookshelf to trying to perceive and "touch" the "walls," "dome," and even the "rules" that constituted this mental space.

Just as his consciousness touched the deep blue wall depicting the flowing star map, a sudden change occurred!

In his mind, the silver-white gem given to him by Ravenclaw suddenly bloomed.

The star map on the wall suddenly brightened, and the silver lines seemed to come alive, starting to move and intertwine at an unprecedented speed and with complex trajectories.

The entire circular room trembled slightly, and the images of the bookshelves and books became blurred and faded, as if they had receded into the background.

In the very center of the room, where the starlight converged, a dazzling silver light suddenly shone!

The silver light stretched and expanded rapidly, not to form new bookshelves or books, but to transform into a three-dimensional light curtain composed of countless tiny light symbols that was constantly flowing and changing.

Above the light screen, there was no longer any knowledge system that Victor was familiar with, but an explanation of an extremely profound magical configuration and spatial principles.

It is not a complete, systematic tutorial, but rather a collection of exquisite "design blueprints," "sparks of inspiration," "core formulas," and "construction ideas."

This information entered Viktor's consciousness directly in a highly condensed, almost intuitive way.

He "saw" a principle of "spatial folding and expansion" that was far more complex and essential than the Room of Requirement.

It's not just about creating a room, but about how to bring the magical space to life, enabling it to sense needs, invoke the castle's magic, adapt to changes, and even resonate and connect with other magical nodes, such as the various rooms and secret passages of the castle.

He "touched" how to seamlessly integrate contract magic, guardian magic, and spatial magic.

This transforms a space into more than just a place; it becomes the core of a "contractual domain" or a "protective barrier."

He "understood" Ravenclaw's unique concept of the relationship between "knowledge" and "space".

Space is not only a container for knowledge, but its structure, changes and interactions are also a deeper level of knowledge language and thinking framework.

How to build a "smart space" that can promote the collision of ideas, accelerate the learning process, and even simulate real-world experiments.

How can we create a deeper connection and interaction between our personal mental sanctuary and the physical magical space through mediums like crowns?

The information flow is vast and profound, yet it is not forced or instilled.

It was more like a series of keys, or fragments of a map pointing to treasure, opening doors for Victor to entirely new magical realms and pointing out countless possible directions he had never imagined.

The complexity and sophistication of this knowledge, these ideas, and these inspirations far surpass any spatial or contractual magic that Victor currently possesses.

These are not step-by-step learning procedures, but rather the visions and possible paths to the majestic peaks left by the masters for later generations to climb.

This is Ravenclaw's gift!

It's not just that knowledge gem that records the basic ideas behind the "House of Requirement".

It also leads to a deeper and more core understanding and exploration of the magical essence of "wisdom" and "space".

In a clever way, it was imprinted on the "underlying architecture" of the thought space guided by the crown.

This hidden, higher-level gift will only be triggered and revealed when the user truly understands and begins to use the crown, and tries to explore the mental space itself.

Viktor was immersed in a state of mixed shock and fascination.

He was like a child standing on the shoulders of giants, glimpsing for the first time the magnificent and complex picture of the magical world in the interwoven dimensions of "space" and "intelligence".

These gifts did not directly endow him with abilities, but rather greatly broadened his horizons, raised the limits of his cognition, and pointed him to the most promising directions for his future research.

He even sensed the sparks of exploration and creativity in Ms. Ravenclaw's thinking.

It is a passion belonging to true pioneers—a passion that is not satisfied with the status quo and constantly tries to interpret and understand the essence of the world through magic.

Time flew by in his mind's eye as Viktor eagerly absorbed and comprehended the ever-flowing information from the light symbols.

He doesn't seek to master it completely immediately—that's impossible.

What he did was to imprint these "maps," "keys," and "inspirations" deep in his memory as much as possible, understand their core ideas and directions, and light up beacons for the long road of research ahead.

After an unknown amount of time, the central 3D light screen gradually dimmed, eventually turning into specks of silver light that merged back into the star map on the surrounding walls, as if it had never existed.

Viktor's mind also sensed a faint feeling of fatigue.

The circular study was restored to its original state, and the images of the bookshelves and books became clear again.

But Viktor knew that everything was different now.

His mental space seemed to have undergone a baptism and upgrade, becoming more stable and transparent.

It even faintly resonated with a deeper magical thread within Hogwarts Castle.

His own knowledge system, though the content remained unchanged.

However, its architecture and future expansion direction have been infused with a completely new vitality full of infinite possibilities.

With a gentle struggle, consciousness seemed to rise from deep water.

The next moment, vision, hearing, touch... all the senses of the outside world became clear again.

The steady crackling of the fireplace, the distant hooting of an owl outside the window, the howling of the Scottish Highland night wind sweeping through the towers…

And then there's the heavy, warm weight in my arms, and the constant, subtle, and reassuring snoring.

Viktor slowly opened his eyes.

What comes into view is the familiar ceiling of the lounge, and the unchanged night sky with the bright moon hanging high outside the window.

Time seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.

Tom in his arms was still sleeping soundly, the smile on his lips unchanged, as if his master's long exploration and awe-inspiring gains in the world of thought were just a fleeting blink to the outside world.

Victor gently raised his hand and removed the Ravenclaw crown from his head.

The metal still felt cool to the touch, and the sapphire shimmered with a restrained and mysterious luster under the interplay of the indoor fireplace fire and the moonlight outside the window.

Looking at this crown now, the feeling is completely different.

It is not merely an ingenious tool for thinking, but also a bridge, a beacon, and a guide left by a legendary magic master from a thousand years ago, pointing to the deeper mysteries of magic.

"A true gift..." Victor murmured to himself, his heart filled with deep respect and gratitude for the Silver Eagle lady.

Dumbledore said that the crown could not bring wisdom, but he may not have fully anticipated that what Ravenclaw left in the deepest part of the crown was enlightenment and direction that were infinitely more precious than specific knowledge.

He carefully placed the crown on the small table beside him, readjusted his position, and made Tom more comfortable in his arms.

His gaze returned to the boundless starry sky and the bright moon outside the window, but his eyes were more profound than before, as if reflecting the brilliant sea of ​​stars he had just seen in his mind space, a sea of ​​wisdom and spatial magic.

Tonight, Hogwarts witnessed too much.

The destruction of the Horcrux, the liberation of the thousand-year-old ghost, the fleeting appearance of the founder, the surge of ancient magic—the true face of a legendary magical creation is revealed before one's eyes.

And... a profound gift of wisdom from a thousand years ago.

Tomorrow, the sun will rise as usual, the castle will still be filled with the noise of the little wizards, classes will continue, and life will go on.

But some things have changed fundamentally.

Viktor felt the vast new frontiers of his mind and the countless new directions waiting to be explored. He felt the warmth of Tom's complete trust in his arms, and a smile reappeared on his lips, carrying an unprecedented calm, certainty, and a hint of excitement.

Length of night.

For a researcher who has just received legendary guidance and is now facing a brand new magical world, time seems to be just beginning to reveal another dimension of its charm and urgency.

He closed his eyes, not to fall asleep, but to allow his mind to be in a semi-relaxed, semi-active state, savoring the impact of that vast gift, and also sketching out the blueprint for a long and exciting research project in the future.

Outside the window, the bright moon moves westward, and starlight flows.

Hogwarts Castle breathes softly in its sleep, guarding its secrets and nurturing new stories that may change some of our understanding of magic.

Behind that window in the west tower, the figures of a person and a cat embracing each other, outlined by the flickering firelight of the fireplace and the cool moonlight, create a tranquil scene full of endless possibilities.

The night is long, and so is the path of knowledge and magic.

But with the guidance of giants, the warmth of companionship, and the stars illuminating the way forward, this path becomes less confusing and more filled with endless certainty, anticipation, and... the potential for brilliance.