I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 485 The Casual Chat of the Gods' Children

"If you have any questions, please consult Merlin," Owen said expressionlessly.

"Digging up graves or using psychic abilities is up to you."

"Merlin?" Neither Zhang Xiaolin nor Koyatel knew much about Merlin, who was once the inheritor of ancient magic.

They had no idea what Mei Dashanren had done.

"Yes—Merlin." Owen rubbed his neck, leaned back, and settled himself into a comfortable position.

My gaze was fixed on the oak ceiling of the Hufflepuff lounge, where many vines were unfurling their leaves, like graceful maidens displaying the most beautiful side of life.

"Merlin was a wizard from the Camelot era. Or rather, a half-wizard; that guy was definitely not a pure-blooded human," Owen said slowly. "The Camelot era was over 1,500 years ago, so Merlin is at least 1,500 years old. What do you think an ancient magical heir who has lived for 1,500 years could accomplish?"

"This—" The two girls were taken aback, and then began to think about what Owen had said.

Fifteen hundred years!

Even Nicolas Flamel, who created the Philosopher's Stone, only lived for a little over 660 years.

In such a long period of time, the amount of things he could accomplish is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

For a fleeting moment, Zhang Xiaolin even thought that Merlin might be an imposter from Outer God, that he himself was Outer God—such an absurd idea.

"Merlin has arranged the entire world perfectly long ago. He's like a chat gpt, foreseeing everything. Even your births, experiences, and lives are largely his plans. Perhaps the fact that you're sitting here chatting with me right now is also at Merlin's behest?"

"Heh—who knows?" Owen chuckled.

As a pawn, he himself was unaware of the truth behind many things. Nor did he want to know.

There's nothing wrong with living in a daze.

This is also Merlin's smartest trait.

He didn't reveal all his plans at the beginning or at any particular moment, but guided himself little by little, letting himself experience the things he may have already arranged.

Through those events, he gradually instilled his plan, making himself guess and speculate.

In the end, when you have experienced everything, you will naturally understand the whole plan.

Wow! How daring!

How terrifying!

Just like the smoke that he had seen more than a month ago on the Australian coast, where those magical wizards were trapped in illusions.

At the time, he was still marveling at how powerful that magic was, almost like that of certain gods.

Now, thinking about it again, wasn't his whole life just Merlin casting Kotoamatsukami on him?

These two appear to be no different.

He is like a King of Fire who gathers his own fuel, waiting for the first fire to appear, for the fuel to ignite, and for him to become the only torch that illuminates the path he has come from and the path ahead.

Irving's words struck the two girls like a heavy hammer blow.

They changed their expressions several times.

From deep thought to surprise, and then to confusion.

Once a person realizes that their life may be a false bubble, they lose the motivation to go in any direction, and they are unwilling to even retreat, only wanting to stay in the same place.

That's why Irving said there's nothing wrong with living a muddled life.

"Alright—" Irving waved his hand, looking impatient.

He lowered his head, his emerald green eyes falling on Miss Zhang, and said, "Let's calm down and talk about what your purpose is in coming to Hogwarts."

"Aren't you the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an? Are you that free?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaolin's dark eyes regained their luster. She took a deep breath, banished the terrible thoughts from her mind, and then closed her folding fan.

She certainly had her reasons for coming to Hogwarts.

This was the choice she made after discussing it with the old master.

However, there were no records of ancient magical successors in the Ming Dynasty, so she didn't know much about some things. Before coming here, she had discussed it with Dumbledore, but the greatest white wizard did not answer her questions; instead, he added a lot of things.

He seemed to trust his students too much.

All matters concerning the heirs of ancient magic were entrusted to Owen.

He did mention the divinely ordained tower and the deities.

"The Imperial Academy has several teachers for each subject. The Ming Dynasty has a large number of sorcerer students, which is quite normal considering our territory and population."

The number of students at Chang'an Imperial Academy far exceeds the combined number of students at the three major magic academies in Europe.

I merely relieved some of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors of their workload; they could have taught normally before me. The old master only gave me the professorship because he wanted me to stay at the Imperial Academy. In reality, it makes no difference whether the school has me or not.”

"After the events in Australia, I had a long talk with Mr. Fu, and now I mainly work for the Federation."

"Working for Dumbledore again?" Owen raised an eyebrow, but after looking at Miss Zhang's face, he understood why.

The girl in front of me is definitely not cut out to be a teacher.

She prefers to go on adventures.

Choosing to return to the federation is perfectly normal.

"It's not for Dumbledore." Zhang Xiaolin's tone suddenly became serious and stiff. "What the Ming Dynasty needs is a stable Europe. Your war has affected our business."

As for why I came to Hogwarts, it was of course because Dumbledore invited me. Of course, I wasn't there all the time; I had other work to do most of the time.

As for myself—of course, I also have some selfish motives.

I heard about you from Dumbledore, so I came to meet you, fellow children of God.

"A child of the gods?"

Koyatl gave a cold smile.

She and Zhang Xiaolin locked eyes, and it seemed as if electricity was flashing between them.

Irving sat to the side watching the show.

The two men had completely different attitudes toward the gods.

Zhang Xiaolin's words will surely provoke Koyatl's hostility.

"You actually think you're the child of some damn god?" Koyater said, his emotions slightly agitated. "It's laughable, or rather, utterly stupid!"

Zhang Xiaolin remained unmoved by Koyate's taunts. She waved her folding fan and said, slowly and deliberately, "I have experienced all the hardships you have endured, perhaps even more, but—in any case, without that power, you—or I—would not even have been born."

"I wish I had never been born," Koyatl retorted sharply. "This world disgusts me."

"Really? I heard you got a boyfriend?" Zhang Xiaolin suddenly asked. "I heard it from Tonks."

Koyatl was taken aback.

Her brows were furrowed, her clenched fists suddenly deflated, and her eyes darted away. Her hands, which seemed to have nowhere to go, mirrored her life, which seemed to have nowhere to go.

Before this year, she lived for no one.

After this year, her room was added to the house in the village of Autry St Catchpol, Devon.

She wanted to speak more lightly, decisively, and dejectedly.

But that would make her feel like she's betrayed herself.

Gazing at Koyater, Zhang Xiaolin slowly said, "Me too."

Her gaze fell on Owen again. "We're all the same."

Isn't that right?

"What you say may be true, but—the gods are not good things; they are evil and insane. Anyone who comes into contact with their power will eventually be destroyed. I have seen too many people die before my eyes. The port of Isabella has buried the hopes of countless lives."

"Yes," Zhang Xiaolin replied, "You're right. Perhaps the power of the Outer Gods isn't a good thing, but—power isn't about evil, it's about how it's used. Don't you feel fear in the face of an increasingly chaotic world?"

"I don't know what Merlin, or Dumbledore, Grindelwald, or Voldemort are plotting, but I'm not one to sit idly by and wait for my fate. Rather than entrusting success or failure to others, I prefer to take it into my own hands."

"Heh—" Owen glared at her. "You've been exposed. You really did have ulterior motives for coming to Hogwarts."

"So you want to regain that power?" Koyatl's eyes widened. After all that, she finally understood the other party's intention.

"You're absolutely insane. Everyone else avoids you like the plague, yet you want to jump into the abyss again?"

"Perhaps." Zhang Xiaolin didn't try to hide anything.

She said, "The magic that I used to be able to cast at will has become extremely difficult. I can no longer control most of the original magic. The memories of the goddess Diana and the Supreme Will Ionia, their memories of battle and magic, are clearly imprinted in my mind, and now I can only watch—it's like guarding a treasure but losing the key."

A red glint appeared in Zhang Xiaolin's eyes. "I can't accept this outcome."

"I think you're in danger," Owen said coldly.

He understands Zhang Xiaolin's current situation.

He wouldn't be able to accept it if his strength suddenly dropped to that of a normal sixth-grade wizard.

If the outside world were a normal Harry Potter storyline, he might have accepted it after a period of silence.

But faced with a deteriorating world and dark forces like the crazed Death Eaters, he will also strive to find a way to regain his strength.

Because he can't gamble with Hermione's life. When he can control the situation, he naturally doesn't mind promoting her, but when he doesn't have that power, the danger Hermione will be in will absolutely drive him crazy.

Moreover, Zhang Xiaolin also fully received some of the memories of the two gods, most of which relied on ancient magic to cast spells or to perfectly execute them.

It's like playing a game and getting a god-tier mage account. Just when you're happily preparing to sweep across the world, you discover that your character has no mana bar—how painful would that be?

However, despite his understanding, Irving still strongly suspected that Zhang Xiaolin was being manipulated by the memories of two ancient deities.

He had mentioned this change a month ago when he parted ways with Mr. Basil.

Judging from the current situation, although she hasn't gotten worse, she's not quite the same as before.

"Where is Mr. Basil?" Owen asked calmly, leaning back on the bench.

When he uttered that name, Zhang Xiaolin's emotions changed for a moment, not negatively, but with a mixture of joy and happiness.

"Just my usual work for Dumbledore, what else can I do?"

"Really?" Owen said, his eyes scrutinizing her carefully.

There was a pause for a long time.

Ultimately, he decided it was better to just be frank and announce it directly, since there were no secrets between them anyway.

"I think you should focus your life on your partner, rather than pursuing some vague and ethereal power of the Outer Gods," he said bluntly. "Those beings who were lucky enough to obtain the Outer Gods' power that had escaped from the Divine Tower all used different methods. For example, you—you had direct contact, while Koyatl was passively endowed—through human alchemy experiments. The Outer Gods' power in the Italian Divine Tower didn't escape at all, because only the consciousness remained intact. The one in India was the worst off, with only the purest power remaining. I wonder which deity defeated the Supreme Will of Ionia."

"At present, if you want to regain that power, the only way is to try your luck in other unopened Divine Towers. However, if you are sure you want to do this, then you will become Voldemort's and our common enemy. I don't want to say anything more to you. I will only give you one final piece of advice: good words are hard to persuade a damned devil."

Do not be my enemy.

"Hmph—" Zhang Xiaolin curled her lip, "Your threat is really blatant."

"This isn't a threat, it's just stating a fact," Irving shrugged.

"I also have a question."

"explain."

"You keep collecting ancient magic, is it just to prevent it from falling into Voldemort's hands? What if you have ulterior motives? Who will be able to defeat you then?"

"Oh—" Owen smiled slightly, "So that's what you were worried about."

"Not me, but the whole world." Zhang Xiaolin stared at him sharply. "Owen—I don't know you, and I don't even know Dumbledore. As the most powerful white wizard in the world, there are many opinions about him, among which the White Lord is the most widely circulated."

Even someone like Dumbledore has a dark, unknown side. How can we trust someone who ultimately seems almost divine?

"I'm not used to handing my future over to others and relying on their whims."

"I see. You've finally told me something truthful." Owen smiled; indeed, this was something he had never considered.

Very few people knew about Merlin's plans.

The only ones I can roughly guess are Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and perhaps Vynda Rozier as well.

In the eyes of others, he was a ticking time bomb, even more terrifying than Voldemort.

At least Voldemort had Dumbledore to hold him off, but what about him?

When all the ancient magic of the present world is gathered in his body, it is no exaggeration to say that he is a walking god.

How can others not feel worried and fearful?

Irving leaned forward, waved his hand, and said, "Things won't end up the way you imagine—but I really don't know how to convince you."

"Behind you, perhaps the old master, the Imperial Academy of Chang'an, the Ming Dynasty, the entire Far East, and most people in this world share the same thoughts."

"Words always feel bland. How about I take you to meet someone? I'm actually thinking of going there myself."

"Koyater, you're here too."

Irving said calmly, then waved and got up to leave the common room.

(End of this chapter)