Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

The first night of hunting.

Because the snail-sheep beast had eaten some food during the day, it only managed to catch about thirty mice before its mission ended.

After hunting, these snail-goat beasts cleverly went to the washroom to use the toilet, washed themselves thoroughly, and shook their bodies, causing water droplets to roll off like raindrops.

Once they left the washroom, they were once again soft and sweet little snail-like creatures, contentedly jumping onto the bed and snuggling up to their owner to sleep.

The next morning, one of the young wizards suddenly let out a scream, breaking the silence of the dormitory.

"How did my big yellow rat escape from its cage? It's usually the most docile and obedient one!"

"My white mouse is missing too. I was just about to feed it a magic potion; it was my final assignment for the Magical Creatures Protection class."

"My black and white striped mice are gone too. This was a breed I bred with great difficulty. You can't usually see them outside. I specially found two different colored mice to crossbreed!"

That morning, many young wizards woke up to find that the mice, which were usually well-behaved and stayed in their cages, had all vanished.

At first, everyone thought it was an isolated incident, but when the young wizards arrived at the Great Hall for lunch, they started discussing it amongst themselves—

"Let me tell you something interesting. My roommate's pet mouse, which he had carefully raised, has disappeared from its cage."

"What a coincidence, I also wanted to tell you something. My roommate's pet mouse has also disappeared."

That mouse is usually very timid; it hides in its cage whenever anyone visits. I don't know why, but last night it left the cage on its own. It's so strange!

"That's so strange. Do you all have the same roommate? My roommate's pet mice are fine staying in their cage, but this morning they were very active and tried to get out, but my roommate managed to suppress them."

"Waaah, none of my roommates have had the same thing happen to me, but my pet mouse broke open its cage and escaped. I don't know if I can ever find it. It used to be so timid..."

The topics of "my roommate's mouse is missing" and "my pet mouse ran away on its own" spread rapidly in the Great Hall and soon reached the ears of Harry and the others.

They just chatted about it casually, completely unaware that the culprit was right next to them.

"Ron, did you set up the tracking rune array yesterday?"

Lin Xia arrived at the Great Hall, but instead of going to Hufflepuff's table first, she went to Gryffindor's table and asked Ron a question.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief. He had tried to slack off yesterday, but luckily he managed to draw one under Harry's supervision.

"I've finished drawing, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I'll take a picture when I get back to my dorm at noon, and then I'll show it to you this afternoon."

Ron replied.

Harry's expression shifted; he remembered the miniature rune array he had drawn next to the tracking rune array yesterday.

At the time, he was in a daze and drew an additional magic rune array according to his own thoughts.

I was a little confused when I drew it yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, I hesitated about whether to erase it.

Harry thought to himself, "Never mind, I'll just erase it."

He subconsciously didn't want Lin Xia to know too much about his thoughts.

Moreover, even he himself couldn't quite understand the function behind the magic rune array after it was drawn.

All that is known is that this magic rune array can fill the gaps in the tracking magic rune array drawn by Ron.

Mikel, who was standing nearby, overheard Lin Xia and the others' conversation, his expression shifting, and he said:

"Are you talking about the magic rune array that Ron drew in the dormitory yesterday?"
I happened to wake up this morning and thought this magic rune array was very beautiful. I wanted to take some time to study it carefully, so I took a picture of it, and I can show it to you now.

“No!” Harry said immediately.

Everyone else turned to look at them.

Harry hesitated and said, "I think Ron's tracking rune array has many flaws. Why don't we draw another one today? Lin Xia can see a better one then."

Ron nodded eagerly, "That's what I think too."

He successfully drew one yesterday, and woke up today feeling incredibly confident, thinking he could succeed at drawing another one.

Making progress every day.

Lin Xia said, "No need. Just show me what you succeeded yesterday. Every day, record the magic runes you draw, whether you succeed or not, so I can explain the parts where you often make mistakes."

Lin Xia said that out of kindness.

She really wanted to teach Ron how to track runes.

Because Scabbers had lived with Ron for a long time and was nominally Ron's pet, they had a deep bond.

Having him, as the master, draw the tracking magic rune array to track Banban would be twice as effective with half the effort.

Harry stared blankly as Mikel handed the memory stone to Lin Xia.

He was extremely nervous, his heart pounding with anxiety, fearing that Lin Xia might discover something amiss.

Lin Xia took the recording stone, infused it with a trace of magic, and saw the scene inside. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

When using the image-recording stone, the image inside the stone is invisible to outsiders; only Lin Xia, who infuses it with magic, can see it.

She did not choose to share the images from the recording stone, but instead focused her gaze on the miniature magic rune array next to the tracking magic rune array.

For reasons unknown, Mikel not only recorded the tracking rune array, but also the small, miniature rune array.

Judging from the strokes of the runes, they somewhat resemble Harry's handwriting.

Every wizard has different habits when drawing runes. Harry and Ron's basic rune skills were taught by Lin Xia herself, and she knew their habits very well.

She pondered to herself that the tracking rune array Ron had drawn was so-so, barely usable.

The most impressive thing was the rune array drawn by Harry. It not only filled in most of the loopholes in Ron's rune array, but also added some offensive power to the tracking rune array through additional methods.

This is a good idea, but the main purpose of the tracking rune array is tracking, so it would be most effective if it were used entirely for tracking.

Harry added a slight attack power through an additional method, which actually weakened the tracking effect.

If Banban triggers this magic rune array, she may be harmed.

Once Banban leaves the dormitory, the tracking effect weakens, and once it's more than ten meters away, it becomes almost ineffective.

However, given the rat's keen senses, this tickling-like attack had no effect on him.

An experienced anti-tracking master can even enter the twisting magic rune array to launch a counterattack against the original owner.

When the owner of the magic rune circle examines it, the magic rune circle can be reversed, redirecting malicious attacks towards the person who is tracking the magic rune circle.

If Lin Xia were to modify this magic rune array, she would add an extra layer of protection.

Once a creature triggers this magic rune array and leaves the area of ​​attack, the damage effect will be nullified, leaving only the tracking effect.

Even if Banban wanted to do something, there was nothing they could do.

Lin Xia examined the recording stone for quite some time, and not only Harry, but even Ron was a little nervous.

He was afraid that Lin Xia would be dissatisfied with the tracking magic rune array he had drawn, so he assigned her a whole bunch of tasks related to magic runes.

After a long period of studying runes, Ron no longer wanted to learn anything related to runes.

He wanted to take a break. After a while, Lin Xia spoke up: "The magic runes drawn this time are better than those drawn in the laboratory, which shows that practice is effective."

"Ron, try drawing the tracking rune again today. Even if you don't manage to keep it, show it to me tomorrow."

As for the tiny magic rune array next to the tracking magic rune array, Lin Xia pretended not to see it and made no comment.

Rowan and Harry both breathed a sigh of relief.

Mikel's lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but Lin Xia left without looking back after speaking, not giving Mikel a chance to speak.

Time flew by, and night soon arrived.

Today marks the first time Nawi and Mikel have participated in a patrol.

Mikel had come into contact with advanced infected creatures during the winter break when he participated in the assessment for outstanding students, so he had enough experience points and was not afraid of strange phenomena.

Moreover, he had prepared some extra things for this patrol.

For example, he bought up magical objects that could provide protection and radiant candles, both openly and secretly, with Galleons.

Instead of buying Radiant Candles from Ron and Harry, he chose to make a deal with other outstanding students.

The school currently has a sufficient stock of Radiant Candles, and the top students don't use many each day. Mikel is very generous with the prices, so some of the top students readily sell them to him.

"Navie, are you alright? If you're really nervous, you can move the Radiant Candle a little closer to you."

Mikel looked at Navee's trembling figure and couldn't help but say something.

As a novice and an ordinary wizard, Neville performed poorly on his first patrol.

Sweat poured down his forehead, his expression was stiff, his lips were pale, and he walked with his hands and feet moving in unison, his body seemingly turned into a machine.

It looks like they're taking big strides, but actually each step they take is very short.

Both he and Neville were new recruits on their first patrol, and being third-year students, they were assigned to the same team by their seniors.

Upon hearing what Mikel said, Neville quickly moved the Radiant Candle forward.

The movement was a bit too abrupt, and the flame of the Radiant Candle accidentally ignited Neville's hair.

But it only burned for a short while before going out immediately, only burning a tuft of his hair slightly into a curl.

"me……"

Neville's lips were so dry they looked like they were covered in a layer of dead skin. They were pressed tightly together, and when he tried to speak, it felt like his lips were glued together.

With a slight tug, a crack appeared on her lip, and a few drops of blood oozed out.

Neville took a sip and tasted a hint of rust.

Perhaps the bleeding attracted the attention of the nearby infected creatures, because Navee and Mikel walked three meters forward and heard a mournful sound.

"Waaaa, I died so tragically! Where is my head? I need to find my head, my head..."

A headless female ghost dressed in a school uniform slowly floated over and stopped about 2 meters away from them.

She had no head, and Neville and Mikel couldn't discern her expression or demeanor, but the direction her body was facing allowed them to know that this headless female ghost was speaking to them.

Neville tensed up instantly.

Mikel’s voice rang in his ear, speaking very softly.

"Nawi, hold tight to your radiant candle, don't let it slip from your hand, and let its flame always envelop you."

If the female ghost floats by, wave the candle at her; these eerie and sinister things are terrified of the light of a glowing candle.

Mikel calmly recounted the methods for dealing with the strange phenomena that he had learned from other outstanding students.

So far, the most effective way to combat strange phenomena is with the Radiant Candle. If you learn the Guardian Charm, it will also be a great weapon against strange phenomena.

At the same time, the Guardian Charm is also extremely effective against evil gods, making it a versatile spell.

Of course, the real reason Mikel was able to remain so calm was due to the system's prompts.

[The host has been detected to be in a special environment where their mental strength has been enhanced.]

[Radiation detected in the host from the infectious agent; determined to be benign radiation with minimal harm and enhanced mental strength]

[Host detected entering a special magnetic field. This magnetic field changes with emotional fluctuations; the stronger the emotional fluctuations, the greater the change in the magnetic field. Please maintain emotional stability.]

Mikel asked the system in his mind: "There's a strange phenomenon ahead. Is it caused by infected creatures? How dangerous is it?"

When the host encounters an infectious agent, the strange phenomena are caused by radiation from the agent and fluctuate with the host's emotions. As long as the host remains calm, these strange phenomena will not cause further harm and can be safely dealt with by the host's current abilities.

It was precisely because of the system's endorsement that Mikel was able to remain so calm, and even reminded Neville not to panic.

But not everyone is like him, not only well-prepared but also possessing a powerful system.

When Neville saw this strange phenomenon, his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.

Hearing Mikel's reminder, he hurriedly waved the Radiant Candle forward.

"Don't come any closer, don't come any closer... Ah, don't come any closer!"

In his panic, Neville flung his hand, and the Radiant Candle fell to the ground.

His shining candle went out...

His lifeline is gone...

Nawi was startled and screamed. His mind went blank, and he quickly broke away from the group, screaming as he ran towards safety.

"Help me! There's a ghost! A headless ghost!"

Neville frantically ran towards the largest crowd, which happened to be a group of outstanding students from Hufflepuff School.

They've already patrolled once and are regrouping for their second patrol.

Neville ran over screaming, startling them as well.

"Navie, what's wrong?"

Lin Xia stepped forward and spoke up.

Neville ran up to her, then hid behind her. "A ghost! A ghost that has never appeared at Hogwarts before!"

Lin Xia looked up and saw that there was nothing behind Neville.

Clearly, Nawei has escaped the area affected by the infectious agent.

She reassured him, "Navie, the ghost you're talking about might just be a strange phenomenon. Strange phenomena aren't scary; they're usually not very aggressive. If you don't believe me, turn around and look; there's nothing behind you."

Neville turned his head tremblingly, and indeed there was nothing there. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained. (End of Chapter)