I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 338 Pacific Rim?

"Haha!" George laughed loudly.

Besides Fred, he was accompanied by Dobby and a dozen or so elves.

"Hi, sir!" Dobby was standing on a moving platform on a wall track, its hands raised, levitation in motion.

It controls the massive mecha structure, connecting it seamlessly like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

When the arm section was nested into the mecha, the blue and white power instantly connected, making them one.

"Wow!"

Irving's eyes widened, his face filled with excitement and agitation.

In reality, Dobby's smile was no less radiant than his. His green face was covered in all sorts of grime, and his clothes were filthy, yet his face shone with a dazzling light.

The other dozen or so Pokémon present were all the same.

They were all incredibly excited.

He could truly feel that he was creating something great.

This is much more fulfilling than cooking for the little wizards in the kitchen.

"Ever since we got your puppet core," Fred greeted us, his voice cheerful, "we've been trying to analyze it."

“But it’s too difficult,” George said. “That core is like carving the entire Hogwarts Castle on an egg. I think it will take us years or even decades to decipher all those complex runes.”

"But we had another idea," Fred continued. "When we tried to create a magical golem ourselves, we couldn't get the core to fit. To be honest, our understanding is limited; we can't make something that intricate. But—"

"It was Dobby's suggestion!" Dobby, who had just jumped down from the platform on a swing, ran over excitedly.

"Remember that director who invited Dobby to make a movie?" His eyes widened. "He overheard Dobby talking to himself, and the moment he heard about the giant steel golem, he immediately asked Dobby if someone could pilot it."

"That's right!" The twins high-fived each other in mid-air. "That's a great idea! Good heavens! We never thought of that. Since using the core to control it is so troublesome, why not just have the wizard sit inside the steel, like wearing armor, and directly control the puppet?"

This reduces the number of control units significantly; we only need to analyze the core magic runes.

"Damn!" Upon hearing this, Irving's eyes turned red.

"Can this thing even be driven?"

"Of course!" George said proudly. "This is our greatest alchemical creation! See his chest area? There's a cockpit there. Once a wizard enters, he can cast spells on the core, just like you used magic to control the ancient puppets before. By activating the core, it will mimic all your movements and power the entire mech—yes! The Weasley armor."

Fred continued excitedly, "It can mimic wizard movements and perform actions like moving, jumping, running, and even all sorts of magical combat skills. Just like the magical combat skills we used in the first match, we've kept them all."

Listen, a drumbeat and a melody began to unconsciously play in Irving's head.

In an instant, he got goosebumps, feeling as if the world was in crisis and he was on his way to save it.

Immediately, Irving eagerly asked, "Can I drive it myself?"

"Uh—this—" Gemini's face stiffened, then she looked uncomfortable. "It's not going to work."

"We haven't invented the corresponding magic adaptation device yet."

"A magic adaptation device?"

"A magical conversion tool!" George said. "Professor Victor said that the core of this ancient magical puppet is driven by ancient magic, and we don't know ancient magic."

"As I just mentioned, casting a spell directly at the core is the ideal situation. In reality, we need to create a magic compatibility device, and then cast a spell on the device. It will convert our magic power into ancient magic power and release it, ultimately driving the core. All feedback from the core will also be transformed into ordinary magic that we can understand through this core."

"Professor Victor has already made some progress in this area. He is also studying the core of these magical puppets, but this takes time and requires a lot of patience to compare and correct them little by little."

George and Fred looked regretful, yet hopeful for the future.

"So—this is just a display piece?" Irving's lips twitched. "After all this talk, this thing is just going to be left here?"

"If it had ancient magic, it would definitely be able to move," the twins said immediately and firmly. "But for now, it can only serve as a signboard. We plan to put it at the entrance of Hogsmeade Village, so that all visitors can see our work. Just imagine how spectacular that will be!"

"Haha!" The twins burst into excited laughter.

"Ugh—you guys really went to all that trouble to build that huge sign, you guys are really—really—really fucking cool!"

Hey!

"Let's leave that big toy aside for now and take a look at our new product, which we call—"

Irving didn't hear a single word that followed.

He continued to gaze at the magnificent beast, a strong, burning desire to pilot it spreading through his heart.

He could certainly understand the problem the twins were facing. Simply put, it wouldn't be difficult for them to create an alchemical golem, or even a war machine. Magic is synonymous with miracles, and there's nothing that magic can't achieve, even resurrection—ancient wizards had studied it.

Besides, even if they can't handle it themselves, doesn't Viktor have him standing behind them?

Their current challenge lies in the puppet's operating system.

The ancient magic golem's operating system can only be operated using ancient magic.

After all, this thing was originally invented by the heir.

Gemini, however, was not entirely inactive.

They also offered a solution: cut most of the system's functions. "Your core is awesome, with many functions that I can't understand, but I can cut off most of them, right?"

If I can't jump, I'll just run; if I can't run, I'll just walk.

In short, they entrusted the physical movement part of the operation to the wizard software to handle entirely.

However, this approach to solving the problem does not actually solve it; it only simplifies the problem.

But for elementary school students, it makes no difference whether you present them with advanced mathematics or geometric equations.

The software still doesn't match the core operating system, so they need to create an adapter as an intermediary between the software and the operating system.

I have to say, this idea is brilliant.

Of course, they could abandon the ancient puppet system and switch to a modern puppet system, but that would be no different from the puppets already at Hogwarts, becoming just dumb idiots who can only swing longswords, unable to unleash magic, such as the instantaneous slashes used by ancient puppets or magical longbows.

This was clearly not the intended purpose of developing Gemini and Viktor.

But none of these problems were a problem for Irving. His old floppy disk could run on the XP system from thousands of years ago, which was a perfect match!

On the other side, Hermione also curiously examined the enormous machine before her. She felt like a goat guarding a gate; she had no idea how this behemoth moved. Although she had written books on alchemy and helped Owen verify and translate "Ancient Alchemy Deciphered," seeing this machine still gave her a sense of timelessness, as if she had fallen behind the entire world in just three months of not studying.

She was like a farmer buying fabric at a market, tapping and fiddling with the machine, checking if it was sturdy enough here or there, but she couldn't understand anything else.

Unconsciously, Miss Granger's gaze toward Owen hardened.

She needs to work even harder. The world is undergoing tremendous changes, and besides fighting back, she can only adjust her time more quickly to keep up, learn more magic, and learn more combat skills.

Meanwhile, Irving was having a lively conversation with the twins.

These two guys seem to be drawing inspiration from Muggle science fiction like crazy, giving off a vibe that they're in charge of imagining things while we're in charge of bringing them to life.

The noisy conversation continued until noon before Owen reluctantly returned to the castle with the twins, Hermione and the others.

Gemini said the machine wasn't fully installed yet and needed a few more days of testing, so Irving was very disappointed that he couldn't immediately experience the joy of driving it.

After lunch, Owen and Hermione were taking a walk in the mountains.

The two were discussing some knowledge about spells.

How to shorten the casting time of Origin Magic has always been Hermione's biggest concern.

If these powerful spells could be cast instantly, like the Disarming Charm, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to a wizard's combat power.

However, Owen told her that while reduction was possible, the power of the spell would naturally weaken.

Then I told her how to shorten the spell casting time.

They then spent the entire afternoon practicing spells in the Forbidden Forest.

At dusk, Hagrid's voice suddenly came from the woods.

"Irving!"

He stumbled over.

Because the surrounding area was full of broken trees and debris, either cut in half or evaporated by some kind of high temperature, leaving a large hole.

In short, these wrecks severely hampered his progress.

"What are you doing?" Hagrid asked, somewhat angrily.

The destruction of so many trees annoyed him.

"Practice spells," Owen replied casually.

Then he looked up at the sky—yes, according to the schedule he had set for Miss Granger. It was time to go back now; after dinner, he could go back to his dorm, take a shower, and go to sleep.

"Practicing spells?" Hagrid's face was grim, but he didn't say anything more. "Dumbledore wants to see you."

"Looking for me?" Owen frowned.

He doesn't seem to have done anything wrong recently.

As for the three months of hallucinatory experience, he had already explained it to the professor.

Looking for him—what do you want with him?

We can't fire him just because he cut down a few more trees!

His lips twitched slightly, because the old principal never wanted anything good to talk to him about.

Especially given the current situation.

Then, he turned to Hermione and said, "Your spellcasting is still too stiff; it needs to be smoother. Because you want to control it. Origin magic is a majestic magic that observes real-world calamities. Be in awe of it; what you need is guidance, because calamities exist."

"Okay—you can practice a little longer, half an hour is fine, right? But I hope you can be in the auditorium after I return from the principal's office, okay?"

"Yes!" Hermione nodded.

Afterwards, Irving and Hagrid left together.

About ten minutes later.

They arrived at the key entrance on the fourth floor.

After Irving uttered the command "Peach Milkshake," the guarding monster revealed a staircase leading upwards.

He and Hagrid went upstairs, and when they entered the office, Dumbledore was already waiting for them.

"Have you eaten?" The old headmaster's question made Sirius Black's eyelids twitch. He had never seen Dumbledore care about anyone like this before.

"You called for me after you finished eating, Professor?"

"Yes, I hope you can be of some help with contacting the giants," Dumbledore said. "Mrs. Maxim, Sirius, and Hagrid will accompany you."

"Huh?" Owen looked surprised. "What? Why did you bring me along?"

"About this—I'll tell you later." With that, Dumbledore looked at Sirius. "Prepare to leave early tomorrow morning. Go and get ready, and don't forget to inform Mrs. Maxime."

"No problem!" Sirius nodded and then turned and left the office.

After he had completely left the office, Dumbledore slowly rose from his office chair. "I arranged for you to go because I had originally intended to ask Ms. Rosier to go as well."

"Grandma?" Owen grinned, a helpless smile creeping onto his face. He knew without a doubt that his grandma wouldn't give a damn about Dumbledore.

Unless it involves his grandfather, Dumbledore would never want to control Vynda Rozier, even in a dream.

"I've received word that Death Eaters are already in Sicily." Dumbledore clearly didn't want to elaborate on his setback, stating bluntly, "They're obviously there seeking cooperation. And we must stop them."

"Owen, what do you think will be the outcome of the Giants incident?" Dumbledore asked calmly, a profound meaning flashing behind his semi-circular glasses.

"There are three scenarios: either we win them over, they remain neutral, or the Death Eaters win them over. As far as the situation is concerned, the best we can accept is that they remain neutral."

"That's right." The old headmaster nodded, "but it's not easy."

"Hagrid doesn't have much negotiation skill, and Sirius is too impulsive. I'm afraid things will escalate to the worst possible outcome. He's mainly responsible for protecting (keeping an eye on) you. As for Madam Maxim—she's a great witch and an outstanding headmistress, but—you can tell from her concealment of her half-blood status that she's too fixated on the rules and regulations of the magical world. This makes her less tactful in some matters."

Dumbledore said a lot in one breath.

When Hagrid heard Dumbledore's criticism, he just scratched his head sheepishly. Everyone at Hogwarts knew he was bad at talking, and he was always choked up by a few mischievous little wizards in class. Dumbledore said he had no negotiation skills, which was absolutely true, and even said in a very tactful way.

"Our minimum expectation is that the giants remain neutral, you understand, Owen?" Dumbledore stared at him, his blue eyes growing brighter.

"Understand!"

Irving smiled slightly.

Isn't it just about letting him show off his muscles at the right time?

The old headmaster is definitely becoming more and more like Grindelwald.

Of course, showing off your muscles isn't an easy task. How do you show them? To what extent? If you go too far, a conflict might break out. But if you don't show enough force, the other party won't feel threatened.

To put it bluntly, Dumbledore wanted him to demonstrate to the giants that they had the power to completely kill and destroy their entire race, but they sought cooperation because of other reasons.

This was a blatant threat, threatening them not to side with the Death Eaters.

Even if cooperation fails, this threat is enough to make them think twice about whether they want to get involved in the wizards' war.

"That's good!"

The two foxes, one big and one small, laughed at each other.

Hagrid, standing to the side, shivered; for some reason, he felt a slight unease.

"They were near Sicily, the birthplace of giants, and their last place of survival," Hagrid said. "Don't ask me anything more specific. I won't tell you. You know I need to keep it a secret."

Sicily belongs to Italy and is the largest and most densely populated island in the Mediterranean, and is very prosperous.

It's hard to imagine that giants would hide in such a place.

However, this is a tradition in the magical world. For example, isn't the British Ministry of Magic located just below Whitehall?

There's also the Magical Congress of America.

Wizards are masters of hiding the truth.

However, in Muggle mythology, Sicily is indeed famous for producing giants.

Even the name comes from a giant in Greek mythology.

"Sicily?" Owen smacked his lips.

During this time, he and Hermione had been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet because of the conflict between Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic.

Some time ago, they saw some news about Italy in the newspaper.

The kind of scraps.

And it's clearly news from several months ago. News travels very slowly in the magical world, especially cross-border news like this. Unless it affects national interests, the British are too lazy to know what's happening in Italy, thousands of miles away.

The newspaper reported that a large whirlpool suddenly appeared in the sea on the northeastern side of Sicily, opposite the European continent.

Well—that's not quite accurate. It should be said that there has always been a vortex, but it wasn't as strong before. In the past few months, that vortex has suddenly intensified and has seriously threatened the "Secrecy Law".

The Italian Aurors had to cast spells on passing Muggle ships to keep them away from the whirlpool.

In the photo published in The Daily Prophet, Irving could vaguely see a black square tower standing amidst the turbulent waves.

Mysterious and secluded.

This gave Irving a bad feeling.

In fact, throughout history, some adventurous wizards have ventured into the water to explore that magical vortex.

But no one knows what they encountered.

Because no one came back.

That place then became a taboo.

Even now, the Italian Ministry of Magic still maintains patrols in that area to prevent any curious wizards from jumping down to their deaths.

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(End of this chapter)