I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 487 Stars

Irving glanced at Zhang Xiaolin.

No one could answer her question. Not even Irving himself.

The person he was a second ago is not the same person he is now.

Given his personality, all promises can be disregarded, as long as something happens in the future that prompts him to change his mind.

Therefore, he could not answer Zhang Xiaolin's question.

However, not all questions in this world have answers.

Some questions, about wind and rain, can only be answered by experiencing them firsthand.

Outsiders can't weather the storms for him.

"Professor," Irving looked up at Professor Bridget, "about your test."

Two years ago, he passed the first test.

Professor Bridged did not immediately arrange a second test for him. He had been too busy all year and had only spent a few months at the school. The reason he did not come to see Professor Bridged was that he knew the test would definitely be a distracting and exhausting task that could not be completed in a short time.

Today is the first day of the new semester, and he came here with the intention of undergoing a second test.

"You've done it, child," Professor Bridged said gently. In the mirror, she sat upright in an armchair in the Hufflepuff common room, her hands crossed on her lap, her blue eyes sparkling like stars—the light was scattered by tears that had been squeezed out of their sockets.

"My second test was that you had to resolve the calamity brought about by a divinely bestowed tower on your own, and you have done very well."

"Thank you," Owen said. He thought for a moment. For the heirs, the Tower of Divine Gifts was a problem they had to face, so it was normal for Professor Bridget to give them such a test.

"Say thank you to me." The professor's lips suddenly parted into a wider smile, and she opened her crossed hands, raised them, as if to reach out and touch the boy's forehead.

But the hand only lifted half an inch before falling again, like a soaring bird falling from the clouds, causing a heart-wrenching pain.

"This is for you," she said with a smile.

Countless ripples appeared in front of the mirror, and then an object emerged from the mirror.

It landed lightly in Irving's hand.

That is?

A star?

Irving held the dazzling meteorite in his hands. It was roughly round, but its surface showed many visible signs of impact.

It must have come from a part of a larger star.

"Professor? This?" Owen had absolutely no idea what this thing was or what it was used for.

"As you can see, this is a star. It contains very strong ancient magic. I don't know its specific use. It is one of the treasures left by Merlin. You should carry it with you to increase your magic recovery."

"Hmm—Merlin?" After Professor Bridget uttered the name, Owen's first thought was to throw the thing in his hand away.

Everything Merlin left behind is bound to be a trap!

As for restoring magic power

With his current magical power, there's almost no chance of it running out. Moreover, this thing seems to restore ancient magic, which is completely useless to other wizards. Even if he wanted to give it to someone else, he couldn't.

It's really useless!

Irving stuffed the star into the cloth bag at his waist; it was quite dazzling.

"You have passed my test. Shall you now face Merlin's third test?" Professor Bridged asked.

"No—I don't want to see him at all." Owen waved his hand, completely uninterested in the matter; he'd deal with it next year.

"Alright." Professor Bridget said nothing more, nor did he ask why Owen disliked Merlin so much. "There's no need to rush. You've done an excellent job over the years. In you, I've seen hope for the first time."

Hope, a word that seemed extremely distant to her.

Although Professor Bridget was unaware of Merlin's plan, after seeing Owen continuously gathering the Outer God's magic power from the Tower of Divinity, she roughly guessed what was going on. Perhaps this was the last resort: absorbing the Outer God's magic power would allow the heir to grow rapidly stronger, reaching a point where they could defeat the Outer God in a short time. In a few years, or even a decade later, the boy before her would have the strength to challenge the Outer God. That final battle would be the crossroads that would determine the fate of this world. If they won, all the world's power would be exhausted, and they would have no chance of ever recovering.

This is Professor Bridged's guess, and it may not be accurate, but it is the most normal way that a normal person could think of.

Irving nodded in response to the expectant look in his eyes.

"Alright, what else can I say in the end?"

Goodnight, child.

Everyone else has already gone to bed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

It was late at night when Owen returned from Merlin's Chamber.

Koyater was somewhat saddened, but she had experienced too much sorrow, and she harbored a strong hatred for ancient magic. Now, knowing the ominous nature of this power, she would never pursue it again.

Zhang Xiaolin, however, experienced more pain than anything else. A silent pain.

She walked very quickly when she left.

It was like escaping from prison.

Without saying a word to them, he disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Irving and Koyatl returned to the Hufflepuff common room, where a warm atmosphere still lingered, but no one was sitting in the armchairs anymore.

Only one candle on the table was still shining.

That was the last light in the room.

The lights were still on, meaning the party wasn't over yet.

Irving looked at the candle; the flame stretched far into the distance, its yellow light resembling the sun.

As it approached, it blew out the candle.

The banquet then came to an end.

------

Irving slept in very late the next day.

Strictly speaking, it was Justin who woke him up.

There wasn't time to wash up; he simply used magic to quickly clean himself before rushing off to class.

Owen, rushing out of the room, didn't notice at all that Justin and Ernie were in no hurry, chatting and laughing as they watched the show unfold.

He only remembered it when he rushed down the stairs, past the lounge, and had already stepped out of the oak barrel passage.

That's not right!

He's already in sixth grade.

No classes this morning!

Level 6 wizards need to select NEWTs courses before they can schedule classes.

Damn it—I got tricked by Justin!

Realizing what was happening, Irving withdrew his foot, intending to go back and help Justin tighten the skin on his body.

"Good morning—" He turned around and ran into Hannah.

He raised his hand in greeting, and then saw Hannah reach out and take the candles off the table.

"It's getting late," Hannah said, looking up. "Breakfast is over, and now we need to go to the auditorium. Professor McGonagall is waiting to review our schedules."

"Review the course schedule?" Irving scratched his disheveled hair and asked, "What is it?"

"Don't you know?" Hannah said as she walked out.

Irving didn't bother to reprimand Justin anymore and followed him straight ahead.

Outside the oak barrel, Hannah continued, "Based on your OWLs grades, you list the courses you want to continue taking, then submit them to Professor McGonagall for review. The professor then checks your grades to see if they are satisfactory. Finally, she confirms your course schedule for this year."

"Oh? I haven't had time to do that yet."

"You can refer to mine first," Hannah said, taking out a piece of parchment.

Irving used the Copy Spell to make a copy of it, and then checked the subjects.

With his grades, he will definitely be able to continue with all his courses.

But he didn't want to.

He's taken eleven courses in three consecutive years, can't he enjoy himself now?

So Owen snapped his fingers and deleted all the elective courses from Hannah's schedule, leaving only four required courses.

Spells, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbalism.

Okay—that's it!

Beside her, Hannah secretly glanced at Owen's class schedule, then subtly raised the corners of her mouth.

She knew that Irving would definitely not get his way.

The two walked side by side.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the auditorium.

The ceiling was a deep blue, with wisps of light clouds floating by, just like the sky outside the tall, framed windows.

The food on the long table was long gone.

Only the sixth-graders were sitting on the bench waiting for Professor McGonagall.

Owen saw Harry, Hermione, and the others talking to Hagrid.

They didn't seem to see Hagrid at the banquet yesterday.

He's probably worried about his younger brother.

"Hey—Irving!"

Because there were so few people, they didn't sit according to their college affiliations, but instead gathered together.

Hermione waved at him.

"What happened? You look like you just woke up?" She frowned. "What did you do last night?"

They sat together, with Hannah beside them, holding her timetable and seemingly still considering some of her courses.

"Uh—I went to listen to a story." Owen waved his hand. "There's no danger at all, don't worry."

"Okay," Hermione said, "Why is your hair such a mess?"

She sighed, then reached out and began to help him straighten his hair.

Irving knew a magic spell that allowed hair to be styled however it pleased, but—some people found combing their hair a pleasure.

Spells cannot comprehend these things.

"Little Gropp has made great progress; he's learned so many words," Hagrid said proudly as he spoke with Harry. "You should really meet him. He's enjoying making new friends now, and I'm considering training him to be my assistant."

"That's great, I think it has a lot of potential," Harry said reluctantly.

"Alright, I need to go back and prepare my lessons. I have a surprise for you, I'm sure you'll love it."

After saying his last words, Hagrid left the auditorium.

After his enormous figure completely disappeared from everyone's sight.

Harry sighed and looked at Hermione with a somewhat dejected expression.

"He doesn't think we'll still be going to Magical Creatures Protection class, does he?" he lamented. "I mean, none of us have shown the kind of enthusiasm you all know about."

"I'm definitely not taking this course," Owen said first. Half of Hagrid's class was spent cleaning up his messes.

Even though the young wizards are getting stronger now, the magical creatures he chooses are just too disgusting.

Unless the school considers bringing Newt back to teach the NEWTs course, he definitely won't choose it.

“Of course you have your reasons. But we—” Ron said, “we’re Hagrid’s friends, but to be honest, very few young wizards like his classes, and none of us our age want to take the class on protecting magical creatures.”

"It's better to have a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one, unless you're willing to suffer for the next two years." Owen leaned down slightly so Hermione wouldn't have to raise her arm.

"Alright—" Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. "You're absolutely right. It's time to settle things!"

Another few minutes passed.

Just as Hermione retied her silver hair, Professor McGonagall appeared.

She came in through the side door.

Then they began to review the young wizards' schedules.

This is a long task.

Everyone lined up. Hermione had originally wanted to check her schedule with Owen, but after seeing that there were only a few courses on his schedule, she shook her head and took back her own schedule without comment.

This guy—he's not going to get his way!

The lines are arranged by name.

Hannah, as a member of the Iron Hat Heiress, was the first to take the stage.

She's gotten used to it.

It took several minutes before it was Hermione's turn.

Hermione chose to continue studying Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbalism, Divination, Potions, and Alchemy.

Many doors were abandoned.

Professor McGonagall approved her schedule with just a glance.

Next up is Nawei.

"Your Herbalism is excellent," she said. "Your Owls grade is 'Excellent,' Mrs. Sprout will be very happy to see you back. Your Defense Against the Dark Arts grade is 'Excellent,' which also qualifies you to continue taking Professor Snape's courses. Your Transfiguration grade is 'Good,' which is sufficient. But I don't understand why you asked why you didn't take Charms. You also got 'Excellent' in Charms."

"My grandma thinks choosing Charms class is just for convenience," Neville muttered.

"That's serious discrimination," Professor McGonagall said. "Take Charms class. I'm going to write a letter to Augusta to remind her that just because she failed her Charms Owls exam years ago, she shouldn't think this course is not worth taking." Seeing the incredulous joy on Neville's face, Professor McGonagall tapped a blank timetable with the tip of her wand and handed it to Neville, which already had his courses for the semester filled out in detail.

Then a few more people passed by.

It was Harry's turn.

He didn't have much to say. Harry had achieved good grades in all his subjects, and he didn't plan to take the ones he had passed as electives.

Professor McGonagall glanced at Harry's timetable, immediately giving him a disapproving look, then tapped the timetable with her wand before handing it to Harry.

"Go to class!"

"Okay, Professor." Harry picked up his class schedule.

But after walking a few steps, they realized something was wrong.

Spells, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbs, Transfiguration, Potions, Ancient Runes, Alchemy.

Ok?

Why are there two more doors?

He didn't choose ancient nuns or alchemy!

"professor."

"Next!" Professor McGonagall gave Harry no chance to ask a question.

Harry was on the verge of tears. What was this? He had originally thought the next two years would be easier.

Ron glanced at Harry's timetable and felt a surge of secret delight.

However, a few minutes later, the smile on his face shifted to Irving's.