The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

Harry swallowed hard, as if the book woven from iron wire in Red's hand wasn't a book, but some terrifying thing.

"Harry, do you remember why those books in the restricted section of Hogwarts Library would move?"

Harry was taken aback, completely unprepared for Red to ask this, but he still tentatively gave his answer.

"Because it has magic?"

"In a sense, your answer is not wrong. Some of the books stored in the restricted area are because the knowledge inside them is not good for us students. Another reason is that they are, in a sense, 'living books'. They can influence readers in their own way. And the most important condition for books to come alive is magic."

As Red spoke, magic flowed into the book "The Wound of Wounds," while he explained it to Harry.

"You should never do things like this casually. The impact of activating many books is completely unpredictable, but this time..."

The wires woven into the books seemed to come alive and began to twist and twitch. They started to intertwine and weave together again. Harry couldn't understand what it meant at all, but Red, who understood Nightshade, watched with great interest.

"Harry, would you like to witness a war firsthand? This book records a hundred wars; it might be useful to you..."

Before Harry could reply, the book, made of intertwined wire, erupted with a powerful surge of magic that enveloped the two of them.

Harry was forced to look up at the blazing sun in the sky, and then looked down at the scene of two armies facing off.

"This is the war between Darius and Alexander at Issus..."

Yellow sand, smoke, and blood—this was Harry's first impression of war. Unlike the cold and smoke that Colonel Sichen brought him, the war here was closer to a scorching, bloody atmosphere. He suddenly felt nauseous. The broken corpses lying on the ground and their wails awakened Harry.

"That's it for now. If you read this book now, you'll just get confused, and so will I, so let's put it aside for now..."

Red put away his book, and Harry patted his chest, trying to calm himself down. Unlike when he was slaying the troll, this feeling of suffocation and fear made him feel terrified.

"Don't think about that too much yet. What are your plans for the Christmas holidays? I heard a lot of people are planning to go home. I'm also planning to visit the orphanage and maybe even be Santa Claus for a bit. Where are you going? Back to your home?"

Harry thought about his treatment at the Dursleys' house and shook his head firmly; he had no desire to go back there.

"So you'll be spending Christmas here then." Reed nodded. Only Harry himself knew the details of Harry's family situation best, and Reed wouldn't casually comment on such things. After all, Harry wasn't some clueless little kid anymore; what he had experienced in the past six months was probably more exciting than many adults.

"By the way, Harry, since we can infuse magic into books, we can naturally infuse magic into paintings and other things as well. The Tilde Lens you made was also made using a similar method... In fact, you could even consider it as a prerequisite for alchemy or fire-stealing."

Red glanced at Harry, giving the latter a bad feeling.

"I've changed my mind, Harry... Not only will you major in Illumination, but you'll also minor in Horae and Fire Stealing."

Harry didn't really feel anything about these things. The power and knowledge that the Illumination spell brought him truly fascinated him. Whether it was the Commandments of the Scars or the other great spells that Red had shown, they all gave him an inexplicable thrill. Harry didn't think learning these things would be a burden. On the contrary, after learning that Professor Quirrell intended to kill him, Harry wished he could learn them the very next day.

"But don't worry, I'll arrange the time for you. You can't just learn one great technique... The next great technique might be a bit difficult for you to understand, but I still hope you can use it."

After speaking, Red turned around and began his work. Harry watched as Red transformed into several identical Reds. Each of them looked exactly like the real Red, except for their temperaments. Some were more melancholic, while others looked more tough.

Only in the Silent Bookstore can Red use its power to materialize his soul essence to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. In fact, he is currently tending to the flowers and plants while cataloging books and refining his spells.

"No matter how you look at it, it's unbelievable. Is this really the world of magic and wizards?"

Harry shook his head and silently returned to his Gryffindor dormitory. The fervent atmosphere of Quidditch gradually dissipated, and apart from Professor McGonagall's genuinely high expectations for him, Harry didn't feel any substantial change in his life.

He did everything he was supposed to do—exercise, reading, and homework—and Snape didn't change his attitude towards him because of it. Professor Quirrell didn't change his behavior either. Whether he wanted to listen to the lectures or not, Professor Quirrell would always be there, solemnly and haltingly reciting from the textbook, as if he were being hypnotized.

The only change was that Reid had indeed become busier, and he could even sense the genuine pleasure Reid felt when preparing those lessons for him, as if he were about to see someone suffer a terrible fate.

"Red? Harry!"

On the morning of Christmas Eve, almost all the young wizards were immersed in the festive atmosphere. Hermione had already begun packing her luggage. After she consciously changed her approach, her relationship with her roommates had improved considerably.

She arrived at the Great Hall, and while everyone was immersed in the festive atmosphere, Red was still playing wizard chess with Harry.

Is this really Wizards Chess?

Ron watched in stunned silence, not even blinking, as if afraid of missing any of their movements.

The difference between Wizard Chess and ordinary board games is that the pieces have certain personal likes and dislikes. These pieces may disobey orders or act on their own to achieve greater results, as wizards who have played Wizard Chess know.

But they had never seen the chess game on the chessboard in front of Red and Harry.

"Give up the fight, knights to E7," Harry said, immediately urging the knights who had been locked in combat to leave their battlefield and head towards their destination.