A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 675 Initial Success
On Sunday morning, Harry and the others were having breakfast when they realized that Charles had not returned the night before.

At this very moment, in the research room of Farbatton Castle, which was completely encased in lead plates, the final preparations were underway, like a stage about to unveil its mystery.

Charles himself slowly pulled the heavy metal door shut, and as it closed, a dull thud of the latches clicking echoed in the silent space.

In that instant, a crystal panel embedded in the door suddenly lit up with a dazzling red light, like a flame suddenly igniting in the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, clear yet mysterious text appeared on the crystal panel, boldly proclaiming: "Do not approach!"

These words carried the power of a confusing spell, creating a solemn and isolated atmosphere, as if a forbidden power, which did not allow any interference, was being nurtured within the door, inspiring awe and discouraging outsiders from getting as far away as possible.

Charles confirmed that the door was locked and that X-rays would not leak into the operating room before proceeding to the next step.

As the switches of the Magic CT were turned on one by one, the oil paintings on the monitors hanging on the wall were activated, emitting a soft and charming eye-friendly light green backlight.

The bright white light yesterday was a bit too bright and made Charles uncomfortable, so he made some changes.

Chris stood a little distance from the control panel, his body slightly stiff, looking uneasy.

His gaze kept drifting towards the tightly closed lead door, his eyes revealing an indescribable tension, as if he could feel the silent watchfulness of countless "demonic eyes" behind that door.

The feeling was like countless eyes watching him in the dark, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Charles, on the other hand, remained calm and composed as he sat down at the control panel.

He took a book that wasn't too thick out of his bag.

The book's cover is dark green, with the title "British Animal Ghosts" prominently displayed in silver lettering. It's a book meant for relaxation and leisure.

He waved to Chris and pointed to the side, where the conveyor belt started, and waited quietly.

Chris took the book and placed it gently and carefully on the slowly moving black conveyor belt, as if handling a precious work of art.

"Initiate the primary scan protocol." Charles's voice was exceptionally clear in the almost frozen silence of the control room, like a thunderclap piercing the sky.

He skillfully flipped a few switches and turned a few knobs, and then the keyboard and mouse started clicking away.

As he manipulated it, the golden ring emitted a deep hum, a sound like the growl of some large, magical creature awakening.

The oil painting on the wall displayed several split screens showing the book "British Animal Ghosts" being smoothly transported by a conveyor belt, passing through a hole in the wall, and entering the golden ring next door filled with "magic eyes." The whole process was smooth and orderly.

“This device,” Charles explained to Chris, his eyes glued to the fluctuating parameters on the control panel, “is based on the same principle as a machine called a 'CT scan' used in Muggle hospitals to examine the inside of the body.”

Seeing the blank look return to Chris's face, he patiently continued, "Muggles use a kind of energy called 'electricity' to generate those special X-rays through specialized equipment."

"These X-rays can penetrate the human body from different angles, and then, through complex calculations, reconstruct images of the body's interior on a screen."

"As for me, I use magic to generate the same X-rays, and use these miniature magic eyes to capture the signals after they penetrate objects."

"The ultimate goal is the same—to see through the internal structure hidden beneath the surface."

Chris struggled to process this new information, trying to connect the unfamiliar terms like "electricity," "CT," and "computation" with the magical device before him.

During this process, he felt as if he had just started working at the Department of Mysteries and become a Silenced, his original worldview was being slowly and steadily broadened, like a door to a whole new world was slowly opening.

As he watched the book on the conveyor belt about to be fully inserted into the scanning area, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "When you put this book on, do you want to see the inside of the book, its binding lines, or the texture of the paper?"

“It’s not just the physical structure,” Charles said, his eyes fixed on the main display where the initial data stream began to appear, his gaze intense. “It’s more about its content.”

"Through this non-contact, penetrating scanning, we can completely and without loss transform the text and images on each page of this book into data that magic can recognize and store."

"This is a crucial step in enabling the magic model to truly possess a massive knowledge base."

The scanning seemed to begin as he spoke.

Instead of the book's contents appearing immediately on the main display, a series of incomprehensible black-and-white images flashed by rapidly.

These images are not flat pages, but rather cross-sections of a book sliced ​​in half, layered and complex with alternating shadows and strange geometric shapes. They are completely indistinguishable from text or pictures, giving the feeling of entering a mysterious and unknown realm.

Chris's eyes widened as he pointed at the bizarre slice images on the monitor, saying somewhat awkwardly, "Boss, this... this isn't the content of the book. I just turned the book upside down."

In his view, the device was reading the book page by page, but it was going in the wrong direction because of him. "No mistake." Charles's tone was unwavering as he adjusted a knob that controlled the signal transmission, his movements skillful and steady. "This is the raw data captured by the Magic Eye Array after the X-rays penetrated the book."

"It records the absorption and attenuation of X-rays at different depths of the book, just like turning a book into thousands of extremely thin slices."

"What we are seeing now are these original shadows."

He made a series of fine-tuning adjustments to confirm that the scanning process was stable.

“Next,” Charles said, manipulating the mouse to open a new interface, “is when we need the Magic Brain to process this data.”

The so-called "magic brain" is Charles's name for a magical core he designed himself for complex data processing and image reconstruction, which functions like a computer.

Charles initiated the connection to the "magic brain," sending the scanned content over, and the processing results were displayed on the oil painting monitor here.

Chris then understood how the magic and various items he had arranged in the castle according to Charles's requirements actually worked.

On the main display, those chaotic black and white slices began to flow, recombine, and overlap at an astonishing speed.

This process is not something that can be accomplished overnight; complex data processing takes time, and every second feels like witnessing a magical performance.

Chris pulled up a chair and sat down, patiently waiting.

Time slipped away silently amidst the low hum of the instruments and the glow of the magic circle, as if by magic.

One hour, two hours... The only sounds in the control room were the occasional soft noises from Charles adjusting the parameters, like ripples in the river of time.

Finally, more than two hours later, while Charles was reading a novel, the continuously flashing and changing data stream on the main monitor suddenly stopped.

The image stabilized, and the scene that appeared made Chris hold his breath, as if he had been frozen in place.

It was an image of a book—the very same dark green-covered "British Animal Ghosts".

But at this moment it is entirely composed of black and white, like a ghost book that has lost its color.

However, its content is incredibly clear; even the slightly raised texture of the silver foil lettering on the cover can be discerned, showcasing every detail.

Even more astonishingly, when Charles slid his finger across a specific area of ​​the console, the image of the black-and-white book began to "turn" page by page in response to his movement! This scene was like watching a magical movie.

Chris couldn't help but move closer.

He saw that the text on the open pages was clearly legible and the outlines of the illustrations were precise. The content was exactly the same as the original book he remembered, except that it had lost its color.

It's like a physical book perfectly replicated into a phantom that exists within a magical display and can be flipped through at will!

This amazing effect left him speechless, as if he were in a dream.

"Principle verification successful." Charles looked at the black and white book on the screen that he could control at will, and finally a very faint, almost imperceptible look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

He shut down the main scanning system, the buzzing of the magic CT equipment gradually subsided, the oil painting monitor returned to the white of the canvas, and everything returned to tranquility.

He turned to Chris, who was still in shock, and said seriously, "This scan and reconstruction took too long and consumed too much energy."

"The main problem is that the special data processing algorithm used by the Magic Brain still has a lot of room for optimization."

"Next, we need to focus on iterating on the core spell, improving the efficiency of X-ray utilization, optimizing the signal processing speed of the magic eye array, and especially improving the image reconstruction algorithm of the 'magic brain'."

His gaze swept over the lead door, still lit by a red light, as if he could already see the future potential of the equipment behind it, his eyes gleaming with anticipation for the future.

"When efficiency is increased to a certain level, we can quickly and efficiently convert the Hogwarts Library's collection, the Ministry of Magic's confidential files, and even the lost notes of ancient families into digital information in large quantities."

"This will infuse the 'Magic Grand Model' with a true soul and open up an unprecedented path for the preservation, retrieval, and transmission of knowledge."

Charles's voice wasn't loud, but it struck Chris like a hammer blow, sending tidal waves through his heart.

Chris understood that what he was witnessing today in this lead-lined chamber was not just the successful testing of a novel device, but the prelude to a revolution in the way knowledge is acquired and used that would soon sweep across the magical world.

Magic is changing the very medium that carries knowledge in a way that is beyond imagination, which is undoubtedly a sign that a brand new era is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)