Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 765 A Bright Future is Coming

The night grew even darker.

Moths never tire, constantly flapping their wings.

In a corner of the orchard, two figures sat side by side, each peeling a plump orange. On the table was chilled pumpkin juice, from which rose cool white steam.

The newcomer seemed somewhat surprised, but still walked over shakily: "Hey! Albus, you're here!"

"Good evening, Ephias," Dumbledore greeted him warmly.

Loren turned to look at the old wizard, whose disheveled silver-white hair made him look like an old dandelion with fluffy hair, and he was wearing a worm-eaten Turkish hat on his head.

He appears to be a senior member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Ephias's voice was high-pitched and panting: "I should have a drink with you."

"I only have pumpkin juice here, is that alright?"

"It's actually not suitable for older people, but I know you like this, so let's go with this one."

"Cheers, to a better world!"

"For Voldemort's downfall."

The old wizard drank the chilled pumpkin juice and let out a satisfied sigh.

The old wizard walked away unsteadily, his silver hair and Turkish hat swaying like dandelion spikes in the wind.

Loren found it amusing that the two clinked glasses.

Perhaps the long decades had erased the distance between them, or perhaps their long lives had made them completely indifferent to those tedious formalities. Their interactions were not like those of a legendary wizard and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but rather like those of two ordinary old men. They would meet at someone else's wedding, have a simple drink, then say goodbye and walk away.

I just wanted to have a drink with you, that's all.

Dumbledore handed the empty cup to a passing waiter and introduced him to Loren: "This is Ephias Dorge. If you don't count Aberforth, he's the one I've known the longest. During the last Wizarding War, he could still wield his wand against several giants, but now he's just an old skeleton. Judging from his appearance, he probably doesn't have many days left."

These old wizards had a detached and incomprehensible view of life and death.

"A few weeks ago, I found a kind of astrological magic in the Iphamoni Library. It was left by an elderly professor and was purely for locating stars. However, it was very energy-consuming, the location results were not very stable, and it could not be directly observed. It had almost no practical value, but it was very inspiring to me."

"Is this helpful for what you're trying to do?"

"It's a great help."

"It's good that it helped..."

Dumbledore looked up at the moths flying in the night sky and said slowly, "There are many things we can learn from Ilfamoni. If you have any opinions or suggestions, you can pass them on to Minerva and Severus after the start of the semester."

"Professor Snape?"

Loren was somewhat surprised.

This general system of measures involves the entire school. Apart from that, Headmaster Dumbledore sets the general direction, while Vice-Headmaster McGonagall coordinates the various colleges, develops detailed plans, and communicates with and persuades the Board of Trustees.

The two formulated and implemented the plan in the name of the principal and vice-principal. Although the dean of the college would participate in the discussion, he would basically not make any decisions. Dumbledore meant that Professor Snape had begun to participate in the decision-making process.

Dumbledore noticed his confusion and smiled. "Severus has already accepted the position of Vice-Headmaster. Minerva will soon take over as Headmaster, but not so soon. I will stay for another year to ensure that the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic cannot interfere with their decisions."

"And there's the matter of the Ministry of Magic, too."

"The Death Eaters will be extradited back to their home countries to serve their sentences as they complete their trials. Rufus intends to use this opportunity to settle scores with certain pure-blood families, not only those who have sided with Voldemort, but also to completely eradicate the corrupt elements within the Ministry of Magic. The Hogwarts Board of Governors seats will also be affected."

"The Iron-Blooded Minister has a tough stance."

"It's also to make up for the mistakes he made before. After the matter is over, he will resign voluntarily, and Ms. Burns will take over."

"A glorious era is dawning."

Loren said softly, his eyes fixed on the dance floor not far away.

The lights and shadows flickered. Lupin and Tonks huddled together, whispering, while Mad-Eye Moody leaned against a golden pillar, looking somewhat drunk. Behind the tarpaulin was a narrow passageway. Ginny pulled Hermione inside; they were going to find Fleur to chat about some private girl talk.

"I once had a strange dream." Loren paused for a moment. "I dreamt that the final battle was held at Hogwarts, and the Death Eaters breached Hogwarts' defenses, leading a massive invasion with werewolves, Dementors, giant spiders, and giants."

"and then?"

"Then all the teachers and students went out of the castle to fight. Everyone used their strengths. Professor McGonagall moved the castle statues, Professor Sprout scattered the seeds of the Devil's Web, Hagrid and Gropp charged through the crowd, and there were also Professor Flitwick, Professor Sinestadt, Madam Pomfrey... Seamus blew up the bridge outside the North Tower, Neville picked up the Gryffindor sword, and finally the students of Slytherin House also stepped forward."

"Is there a place for me in your dreams?" Dumbledore suddenly asked.

Loren shook his head: "You are the wielder of the Elder Wand, the greatest legendary wizard of this era. Only your death can lower Voldemort's guard, allow Harry to understand the true meaning of death, and ultimately lead to your resurrection and complete defeat of Voldemort."

Dumbledore asked softly, "Are there any others injured?"

"Mr. Grindelwald refused to let Voldemort defile your grave, preferring death to revealing the Elder Wand's whereabouts; Fred died in the melee, Mad-Eye Moody died protecting Harry; Bill was scratched by werewolves, but he didn't contract werewolf disease, only some werewolf habits... and Professor Bubbaggy, Professor Lupin, Tonks, Colin, Dobby..."

Loren spoke softly, his slightly unfocused gaze falling on the dance floor under the lights.

Several of the people he mentioned were present at the event. Bill was the groom today, and the others were on the dance floor, twirling and swaying to the music, their movements graceful and their smiles radiant.

"It's just a dream, don't take it seriously."

The chaotic and complex sounds mingled and echoed in the night sky, scattered by the evening breeze into ethereal sobs and the fluttering of moths' wings, indistinct and unclear.

Dumbledore turned his protective gaze to the young wizard beside him.

Compared to that scene, this feels more like a dream.

As he said, a great era is dawning.

……

August 27, London.

Hampstead, a suburb of the city.

The portrait on the title page of the fantasy book shimmers with silver light, and ancient runic symbols float in mid-air. Under Flamel's guidance, based on phantom appearances and the Portkey, and combined with Loren's theory of body and soul, a completely new method of teleportation is being constructed.

Magic runes converge and unleash a dazzling brilliance.

Several magic books were laid out, one of which was a manuscript sent by Tykroth. The Magical Transportation Division's Apparition Testing Center was also developing new teleportation magic, which was for wizards. Loren and Flamel, on the other hand, had chosen the path of alchemy.

The two sides have different research directions, but the basic theories are the same.

The research team members are all senior scholars in the field of space. They have been studying the techniques and applications of phantom manifestation and have no shortage of knowledge and experience. Now, inspired by Loren's theory, their research progress in recent times has been very encouraging.

Then the Ministry of Magic began to fall into turmoil.

Minister Scrimgeour returned to the Ministry of Magic after disappearing for half a month, bringing news of the downfall of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He also formed an investigation team to launch a full investigation into the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic.

Mrs. Eckmore was the first to be brought to trial. She had been arrested before the investigation team was formed, but had not been convicted. When she was brought to trial, she claimed that she had been under Voldemort's Imperius Curse and was trying to escape trial in the same way she had done more than a decade ago.

Unfortunately, this argument was outdated, and the result was not ideal.

Mrs. Eckmore was sentenced to twenty years in prison, and Tykros took over as head of the Transport Department.

Tykroth was promoted to Director and given more resources to research new Apparition techniques. Up to this point, things were still good news. However, with the arrest of several high-ranking officials, the entire Ministry of Magic was shrouded in panic.

Those high-ranking officials did not collude with Voldemort; their crime was selling insider information to help pure-blood families profit.

After the charges were announced, many pure-blood wizards were uneasy. Some applied for leave, some resigned, and some even turned themselves in. The rapid turnover of personnel caused many projects to stall, including the Phantom Recognition Research Group.

Just then, Loren wrote to inquire, so Tykros simply sent over the manuscript.

"The workload of R&D projects is astonishing..."

Loren sat at his desk, chin in hand, quietly watching Flamel work. He roughly assessed the overall workload of the project, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

They have now preliminarily constructed a basic model for the new type of spatial teleportation.

However, the process of adapting and modifying runes is frighteningly complicated.

No wonder there are so few variants of Apparition magic.

Fire magic, learned in the early grades, allows students to develop gentle bellflower flames and raging blazing flames. Later, they can unlock ancient fairy fire and fuse with Fiery Blaze to develop new magic. Other classic early-grade magic is similar, with straightforward principles and incantations that are mostly onomatopoeic representations of ancient languages ​​like Latin. Once learned, students can try to upgrade and allocate skill points.

However, the complex magic of spatial teleportation only includes apparition and apparition teleportation.

Furthermore, the Phantom Manifestation is a clever spatial teleportation technique. The method involves dragging the body with the soul. After Loren's modification, the body and soul are teleported simultaneously. In addition to the originally formless and intangible soul dimension, there is also a solid and stable material dimension. Spatial breakthrough requires a powerful output of magic power, and the entire process must maintain very precise control of magic power.

Loren felt he would be spending the next few years on this.

Fortunately, there is still a free labor force that can work without eating, drinking, or sleeping.

Flamel met himself, which can be considered as meeting the right person. No other wizard could fully tap into his potential.

"Loren".

Flamel enlarged the array constructed from hundreds of runes and pushed it in front of Loren: "Should we use a regular heptadecagonal array base here, or would an asymmetrical array base be better?"

Loren looked up at the illusory array of runes before him. Although he couldn't make out all the runes in a short time, he pondered for a moment and said with a thoughtful expression, "I think the latter is more suitable."

The more complex and extensive the combination of magical runes, the more stable the basic alchemical array is required.

Under normal circumstances, symmetrical formations are more stable. Stable and reliable alchemical arrays are needed to maintain stability in areas such as seamless expansion of items and food preservation. However, spatial travel disrupts this stability, making asymmetrical formations more advantageous.

"I think so too."

Flamel nodded thoughtfully, floated back above the Book of Fantasy, and continued his work on adapting and adjusting the runes.

"..."

Loren rested his chin on his hand on the table, continuing to stare blankly into space.

Flamel inherited Nico's centuries-old alchemical knowledge, while Loren had only been involved in alchemy for six years. No matter how gifted he was, he couldn't possibly surpass an old man who was hundreds of years old. Even Flamel hesitated to make that choice, so how could he possibly give an answer based on his shallow alchemical knowledge?

Actually, he answered based entirely on intuition, and only now is he slowly deriving the principle from the answer.

This is the application of intuition, a power that transcends the ordinary.

Loren's thoughts drifted away as he recalled his first encounter with magic.

Downstairs, a muffled voice came from the loudspeaker again. It was Grandpa Bates and Wheat, a retired veteran and a young elf, who spent all their time watching black-and-white films about war and the emancipation of slaves, then flipping through history books to find information about related events, such as historical reasons, political influences, and economic needs...

School is about to start, so Xiaomai has to go back to school to work.

Thinking this, he glanced at the clock and realized it was time for his appointment with Hermione.

Loren stood up, waved to Flamel, and hurried downstairs, calling out as he changed his shoes, "Grandpa Bates, Wheat, I'm going out. I won't be back for lunch. Make your own lunch."

A head popped out down the hallway. Grandpa Bates tilted his head and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Going to Diagon Alley to do some shopping, school starts soon."

"With Hermione?"

"Yes, we're having lunch at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh, then Xiaomai and I will make steak at home."

"It's wheat used to make steak, what's it to you?"

Grandpa Bates' eyes widened, somewhat angrily: "I bought the groceries!"

"If you say so, then so be it."

Loren tied his shoelaces and picked up his coat hanging by the door: "School's about to start. Ask Wheat when he's coming back to Hogwarts. He's already missed the castle's big cleaning before school starts."

Grandpa Bates became even more agitated upon hearing this, his face flushing red: "Can't he just stay with us forever?"

Loren glanced at him sideways and said unhurriedly, "You can ask Wheat's opinion. If he agrees, I'll talk to the headmaster. But before that, think about the books Wheat reads, the plays and movies you took him to see. All that 'liberating' content, just so he can escape Hogwarts and become a servant in our house?"

Bates was stunned into thought.

A few minutes later, Loren had already met Hermione, walked out the door hand in hand, and waved goodbye to him, leaving Bates standing there, still frowning and thinking about the question he had just asked, until a loud bang in the air shattered his thoughts.

That brat!

(End of this chapter)