A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 703 A Piece of Gold Can't Buy the Joy of Old Age

In a penthouse suite at a hotel in Washington, D.C., the view overlooks the neon-lit cityscape.

Jack pushed open the door, letting in the slightly cool air from outside.

He had just completed a rather mentally taxing task, and a faint, almost imperceptible look of anticipation lingered between his brows.

However, just as he took off his coat, he heard a soft "hiss" sound from the living room as a bottle of soda was unscrewed.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Charles nestled in the huge sofa in the living room, holding a bottle of sparkling beverage, looking as relaxed as if he were on vacation at home.

"You've really been suspended?" Jack hung his hat and coat on the coat rack and sat down on the opposite side of the sofa. His curious gaze swept over Charles carefully, with a hint of disbelief. "I have a feeling you're deliberately looking for an opportunity to skip class?"

In his view, given Charles's current strength and status, unless he is caught doing something like rape or robbery, it would be difficult for him to get points deducted, let alone be subjected to a severe punishment like being suspended from school.

Charles waved his hand dismissively and said in a relaxed tone, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Anyway, I passed the regular wizard level exam last school year, so whether I attend classes for the rest of this year or not won't make much difference."

As he spoke, he put down his soda and got up to make the old man a cup of coffee.

When Jack heard him bring this up again, he snorted irritably, then said smugly, "Hmph, when I was your age at Hogwarts, I never got caught doing anything wrong and was never punished!"

With his back to him, Charles skillfully poured instant coffee into a cup, then added hot water and flicked the cup with his finger, creating a whirlpool.

He returned with the freshly brewed coffee, handed it to the old man, and said with a mischievous smile, "It's alright, there's nothing shameful about it."

“You see, someone like Grindelwald was fired.”

"And Bill Gates, didn't he also drop out of Harvard?"

"This shows that those who are truly capable of achieving great things are often not too concerned with how they were in school."

Jack was speechless at this twisted logic and couldn't find a suitable rebuttal for a moment. He could only roll his eyes at him in annoyance, take the coffee, and blow on it.

Charles nestled back onto the sofa and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, instead of overseeing the post-production of Titanic in Hollywood, why did you suddenly come to Washington?"

"Are you planning to sneak into the White House for sightseeing?"

He had originally planned to have an in-depth discussion with the old man about the new discovery he made last night in that mysterious space regarding the unity of the essence of magic, but he was disappointed to find that the old man had already come to Washington a few days earlier, which made him very curious.

"You forgot?" Jack took a sip of coffee, looked up, and stared at him in surprise.

Charles scratched his head blankly and quickly searched his memory.

Could it be that the old man saw some major event about to happen from fragments of memory that he himself had overlooked, which he had ignored?
"What's the date today?" Jack put down his coffee cup and asked directly.

Charles replied, "November 1, 1995, and in a few hours it will be the early morning of the 2nd."

Jack nodded, smiled, and asked, "Do you remember Monica Lewinsky?"

Charles was taken aback at first, then his mouth opened wide, and then his lips twitched.

Seeing his sudden realization, Jack smiled with satisfaction, a smug grin that seemed to indicate he'd planned a prank, and continued, "Now, Miss Lewinsky is already working at the White House."

"So, I installed a few small, magical spyglasses in certain well-placed corners that would never be detected by Muggle technology."

Charles was utterly speechless. He tilted his head back and gulped down several mouthfuls of ice-cold soda before he could recover. He looked at the old man with a strange expression and asked, "Why are you so interested in this kind of gossip?"

"I thought you were going to bluff Buffett and then get involved in the financial crisis in a couple of years."

He knew the old man loved to play, but he never expected him to play like this.

Jack shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and said, "Because it's so much fun!"

"Just imagine, a few years from now, when this matter has become a huge scandal and some people are vehemently denying everything, we'll suddenly release the uncensored, high-definition truth..." "Hey, just think about how exciting that will be!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, even slapping his thigh suddenly, and said, "By the way! Why don't you develop that 'BT torrent' download technology ahead of schedule?"

"Not only will we be able to watch the show, but this technology and Calabash Brothers will also become famous overnight!"

Charles continued to silently sip his soda, watching the old man enthusiastically orchestrate a political scandal that would occur years later, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Also, what the heck is Calabash Brothers?

As the saying goes, the most important thing in life is to be happy. Since the old man is so happy, I'll help him out.

“Alright,” Charles made a quick decision, after all, there weren’t many things that could make the old man so happy. “I’ll arrange for the technical team to see if we can get the BT download done ahead of schedule.”

He did a quick calculation and continued, "This matter will probably come to light in early 1998 and then ferment for a few months."

"All things considered, we have about two and a half years to prepare, which should be enough if current technology allows."

For the elderly, nothing is more precious than my happiness.

Seeing how enthusiastically he was planning, as if he were playing a grand and extremely interesting game, Charles figured it wouldn't hurt to give him a push and let him enjoy it even more.

As for whether it will ultimately succeed, we'll have to try and see.

“However, you should still be careful,” Charles couldn’t help but remind him. “The Magical Congress of the United States is not just for show. There might be resident wizards inside the White House, or they might have installed anti-magic surveillance devices. Don’t get caught.”

Jack curled his lip in disdain and said with utmost confidence, "You think I'm like you, clumsy and careless?"

"Don't worry, even if they discover any clues, they will never suspect me. Their old acquaintances will naturally take the blame."

He smiled confidently as he said this, clearly implying something.

Almost at the same time, far across the Atlantic, Grindelwald suddenly shivered without warning, a strange chill running down his spine.

“As for the Magic Congress, there’s even less to worry about.” Jack continued sipping his coffee, speaking casually. “Because of the last ‘dark wizard’ attack, plus the exposure of some internal scandals, they’re in complete disarray right now, with fierce factional infighting. The people working below are slacking off whenever they can, and nobody’s going to bother investigating such trivial matters.”

Charles nodded slightly, indicating his agreement with the assessment.

He tilted his head back and drank the last bit of soda from the bottle, then placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. The relaxed expression on his face vanished, and he became serious.

"Let's get down to business." He cleared his throat and began to steer the conversation toward the main topic.

Charles recounted in detail the story of Myrtle's hairstyle, the secret beneath the Hogwarts Bridge, the mysterious portrait, the process of collecting the tokens of the five races, and finally, the experience of opening the stone gate and entering the strange space that carried the legacy of a thousand years of research.

"...Based on the information left inside," Charles concluded, a thoughtful glint in his eyes, "that person's ultimate goal seems to be to find a theoretical basis that can unify the magical essence of all magical creatures, including wizards, fairies, vampires, centaurs, and even dragons."

"He believed that once he mastered this fundamental magic, he would have the power to reverse life and death, and thus resurrect Helena Ravenclaw, whom he secretly loved."

"Sigh, another death and resurrection..." Jack sighed deeply after hearing this, a complex emotion flashing across his face.

His eyes, which seemed to have seen through the ways of the world, seemed to reflect the light and shadow of certain events from a hundred years ago, including persistence, madness, and endless regret.

Charles continued, "Putting the idea of ​​the dead coming back to life aside for now, I don't think it's very plausible."

"What I am more interested in is the very concept of the 'unified theory of magic' that he proposed and for which he gave his life."

"This theory is very important. It allows us to understand the entire world's magic system, and that is the real priceless treasure."

"So I told the principal that I would not be going to class for a while and would find a place to concentrate on organizing this theory."

(End of this chapter)