Hogwarts' Golden Glory

The door to the east wing library closed silently behind Kane, shutting out the hustle and bustle of the manor.

This place has been untouched for twenty years, and the air is thick with the mixed scents of dust, parchment, and ancient magic. Bookshelves stretch from the floor to the twenty-foot ceiling, crammed with curled manuscripts, faded maps, and heavy tomes written in an ancient script now lost to time.

Kane waved his wand: "Clean up and arranged in order."

Dust gathered as if swept by an invisible broom, drifting towards the trash can in the corner. Books on the bookshelf floated up automatically, rearranging themselves according to era, theme, and magical fluctuations. Igor flew off his shoulder and landed on a dusty desk, spreading his wings and gently flapping them—a stream of dark golden light flowed through, and years of accumulated grime on the desk instantly vanished, revealing the dark oak grain beneath.

Kane walked to the center of the room. There stood a huge star chart rug, embroidered with the zodiac and ancient, now-obsolete, celestial symbols. He crouched down, his fingers tracing the worn gold thread along the rug's edge. "This is... a fifteenth-century Druidic star chart, the complete original. Did Father know we had one?"

Igor let out a soft cry and pointed with its beak to the center of the carpet—where there was an unassuming Malfoy coat of arms embroidered in silver thread, but the snake's eyes were two tiny obsidian stones.

Kane tapped his wand lightly: "Manifestation/Hiddenness".

Suddenly, the obsidian snake's eyes glowed red. The constellation patterns on the carpet began to move and recombine, eventually forming a complex magic circle. A stone platform rose from the center of the circle, upon which rested a thick notebook bound in dragon skin.

The cover of the notebook is inscribed with ancient runes:

Armand Malfoy's Research Notes: Exploring the Nature of Magic, 1478-1502

Kane carefully turned to the first page. The parchment was yellowed and brittle with age, but the writing was still clear—an elegant, distinctly personal cursive script:

"Autumn, 1478. Today, I secretly met with the descendants of Salazar and saw a copy of their ancestor's manuscript. Lord Slytherin's understanding of magic far surpasses that of contemporary wizards. He believes that wizards' magic is not a gift from heaven, but an echo of the 'ancient covenant' carried in their blood. Werewolves, vampires, centaurs, and other magical races each have their own source of this covenant..."

Kane's breathing quickened slightly. He flipped through the pages rapidly, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed notes, charts, and experimental records:

Spring 1480: Armand attempted to use alchemy to extract blood samples from different magical races to analyze the differences in magical fluctuations. He discovered that wizard magic was "warm and changeable," werewolf magic was "fiery and periodic," vampire magic was "cold and viscous," and centaur magic "resonated with the stars."

Summer of 1482: A vampire elder was secretly captured in southern France (recorded to have paid the price of three house-elves and a large amount of Galleons), and subjected to continuous observation and experimentation for seventy-three days. It was discovered that vampire magic fluctuates regularly with the phases of the moon, the opposite of werewolves—strongest during the new moon and weakest during the full moon.

Winter of 1485: By bribing officials of the Ministry of Magic, three sets of werewolf remains were obtained. Autopsies revealed that the werewolf's magical core was not in its heart or brain, but "deep in its bone marrow, completely fused with its bloodline." Armand speculated: "If the werewolf's periodic violent bursts of magic could be stripped away while retaining its body-strengthening effects, it might be possible to create a new type of warrior."

Autumn 1490: A "comparison" was made with a reclusive centaur elder (three lost ancient star charts were exchanged for three opportunities to ask questions). The centaur revealed: "The source of magic is like a river; wizards take the surface water, we explore the deep springs. But the deepest place... is forbidden."

Kane turned to the last page, where there was a complex diagram titled "Sketch of the Theory of Reconstructing the Nature of Magic." At the center of the diagram was a six-pointed star, with each of its six points labeled:

Wizard (Will)

Werewolf (bloodline)

Vampire (Eternal)

Horse (astrology)

Fairy (Contract)

unknown(???)

At the center of the six-pointed star was written: "If one can unite the six sources, one may touch the true essence of magic. However, this path is perilous; a slight misstep will shatter the soul forever. — Armand Malfoy's last words, winter of 1502."

Kane closed his notebook and fell into thought. Igor flew to his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek, as if asking a question.

"He's trying the impossible," Kane said softly, "but he's heading in the right direction. Different magical races do indeed have different magical properties. And the reason my modified wolfsbane potion works is because I inadvertently discovered a way to harmonize wizard potions with werewolf blood."

He took out the potion formula he had used in Morag from his bag and laid it next to Armand's notebook. The diagrams on the two parchments were strikingly similar—although Kane's was much simpler, the core idea was the same: to harmonize two different sources of magic (wizard alchemy and werewolf blood) through external magical mediums (moonstone powder and unicorn hair).

"If Armand's research is true," Kane said, tracing the hexagram with his finger, "then my current direction is only one corner of it. The problem of werewolf bloodlines might be solved, but vampires, centaurs, fairies... and this 'unknown'."

He looked at Igor: "Do you know what this 'unknown' is?"

Phoenix gently shook her head, but a complex light flashed in her silver eyes—it wasn't that she didn't know, but rather that she "knew but couldn't say."

Kane didn't press the matter. He knew some secrets had to be discovered by himself. He reopened his notebook and began carefully copying down the key parts, adding annotations in modern runes.

The sky outside the window changed from daylight to dusk, and then from dusk into night. Dobby, the house-elf, quietly brought in dinner (roast chicken, vegetable soup, and pumpkin juice), placed it at the door, and then left without a sound. Kane barely touched it, only drinking a few sips of soup before continuing his work.

By midnight, he had completed the initial sorting:

Magic Classification Theory: Armand divided the magic of magical races into six major streams, with detailed records of the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of each.

Experimental methods: including how to safely extract samples, how to measure magical fluctuations, and how to set up isolation and protection (many of these methods are now prohibited or lost).

Danger warning: At least seventeen warnings marked in red, mentioning cases of experimental failures—some experimenters were turned into half-human, half-beast monsters by the backlash, some experimental sites were completely annihilated by uncontrolled magic, and the most serious one resulted in the "collective magical degeneration" of a small wizard village (all the wizard descendants became Squibs).