Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 194 Thesis Proposal

Most wizards in the magical world lack imagination and curiosity, so much so that the wizards he recruits in the magical research institute can only cooperate with the Muggle researchers and find it difficult to carry out their own work.

On his journey of exploring magic, it was quite strange that the vast majority of his companions were Muggles, while wizards were few and far between.

The lack of talent must be a problem with education.

Hogwarts' educational approach focuses on familiarizing young wizards with and teaching them existing magic in order to cope with various difficulties that may arise in life and work.

Its educational policy tends to be cautious and conservative, discouraging or even suppressing young wizards' curiosity about magic and the unknown.

The reason is understandable; magic is indeed dangerous for inexperienced spellcasters.

Mispronouncing a single word of the Levitation spell could result in being crushed by a bull, and a slight misstep with Apparate could send you scattering to pieces. Not to mention spells that are inherently offensive.

Hogwarts' educational goals are not actually high; they are simply to enable young wizards to control their own magic so that they don't cause any trouble.

This educational approach may be beneficial for perpetuating the existence of wizards, but it is too conservative for someone like Murphy who aims to explore the boundaries of magic.

He was powerless to change these things in the past, but now that he has the opportunity to personally train young wizards, Murphy wants to give it a try.

What a treasure it is to have so many young wizards who already possess magical abilities!

Let alone all of them, if he could even manage to recruit four or five capable wizard researchers, his magical research speed would definitely increase significantly.

With this plan in mind, Murphy asked the question, "What do you plan to do with magic?"

"I know that most of you have parents who are wizards, as are your siblings. You've been so used to magic since you were little that you're not surprised by it."

The majority of the students are half-blood wizards, and among the remaining students, some are pure-blood wizards. Wizards who are completely Muggle-born, like Hermione, are very rare, making up less than 10%.

"But I still want everyone to remember the moment when magic first captivated you."

"When you first realized that this was a power capable of almost anything, what was your most urgent desire?"

"Don't be limited by your current, established understanding of magic."

"Let's assume magic is a wish-granting machine. What would you wish for?"

The students looked at each other, and one student raised his hand. "Teacher, would you mind if I wanted a huge pile of gold coins?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Murphy smiled and said, "Of course."

"In fact, this is the most common wish. When teachers were in school, they were always thinking about how to conjure up some gold."

Seeing that their vulgar ideas were not ridiculed, the students became bolder.

Someone asked, "Does flying count? I mean, not flying brooms."

"Of course it counts; in fact, it's a very challenging topic."

Encouraged, the students began to raise their hands.

I want to grow taller.

"I want to become beautiful."

"I want to bring Grandma back to life."

"I want to become smarter."

"I also want a lot of money."

I wish I could turn into a fish.

"I want to travel around the world."

"I want to be a singer, and I really like quirky sisters!"

Before long, the students started to ramble on. Murphy snapped his fingers again, and suddenly a large bell-like object appeared beside him. He picked up a drumstick and struck it.

The sound of a bell silenced the murmurs.

"Very good, everyone has come up with some very interesting ideas," Murphy said. "So, would you all like these wishes to actually come true?"

"Of course I want to, but is it even possible?" someone asked.

"Of course it's possible. Magic is an incredibly versatile tool. It's like a master key; theoretically, it can do anything you can imagine."

Dean Thomas stood up; he was the student who had just expressed a desire to fly. "Professor, are you going to teach us the spell for flight?"

"No, I will not teach you any spells or magic. That is the job of the other teachers."

What I want to teach you is a method.

"A method for identifying problems and then solving them."

"Not everything we want to do has a corresponding spell. Some spells may not have been developed yet, or they may only be known to a very few people. For example, flying."

"In situations like this, we might need to make our own key."

"How to make this key is what I want to teach you."

"The first step is for you to learn how to ask questions. Ask a question that is precise and detailed enough."

"Dean," Murphy called out to the dark-skinned boy, "you want to fly, right? Can you describe it in more detail? What kind of flight? Like a bird, or in human form?"

"I... I think... I should use human form, right?"

Murphy nodded. "Very good. So, if we don't rely on the flying broomstick, do we need to use anything else? Like a flight suit or shoes?"

"No, I want to recite a spell so I can fly into the sky."

"So, without using any other equipment, how high do you want to fly?"

"So... you can fly as high as you want, right?"

"No altitude restrictions? Even if it flies into outer space?"

"Uh, no, I mean, as high as an airplane is fine."

Dean Thomas's mother was a Muggle, so he was quite knowledgeable about things in the Muggle world.

"You mean, a passenger plane?"

"Yes... I think so."

"That means no higher than 40,000 feet," Murphy said.

"Speed? How fast do we need to fly?"

"As fast as an eagle."

"Oh, do you mean the eagle's cruising speed, its sprint speed, or its dive speed?"

"...I...I don't know..."

"Hmm... let's say 50 miles per hour then. Thank you, Dean. Please sit down."

"This is what it means to refine the problem," Murphy said.

"Flight is a very general term."

"But after further analysis, we learned that what Dean wanted to fly was to fly in human form at a speed of over 50 miles per hour in the sky below 40,000 feet without the aid of other objects."

"Only through such detailed analysis could we realize that riding on the back of a dragon was not the effect he wanted, nor was turning into a bird."

"Only by raising the questions in sufficient detail can we discover the difficulties and find targeted solutions."

"Alright, my little wizards, I believe you all understand how to refine the problem."

"From now on, discuss in groups. Each group should identify one wish that you most want to fulfill, and then break it down into more specific details."

"Submit a research proposal before the next class, and I will review it."

"Once approved, this wish to be fulfilled, this topic, will become the entire content of your practical courses for the next year."

As soon as he finished speaking, the students erupted in uproar.

We're only first or second graders, and the freshmen haven't even started learning spells yet. Is this such a difficult topic really something we should be researching?

"Professor, are any kind of questions acceptable?" someone asked.

"It must not violate the law and must be related to magic. Of course, you can choose easier topics, but I hope you can follow your heart's desire."

"Is a topic like 'resurrecting the dead' acceptable?" someone suddenly asked.

Murphy looked over and saw a boy wearing round glasses standing there.

"This is a well-worn topic," Murphy said. "Why not? There's no law against it."

(End of this chapter)