Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

McGonagall pulled the petrified quill from her wide sleeve and emphasized once again:

"You can only take a look at it now. If you want to study it, you must sign a strict binding contract."

I cast a powerful tracking spell on this quill pen; unless something went wrong in your lab, no one could have taken it from there.

The head of the department scoffed, seemingly dismissing McGonagall's cautiousness.

"You know how special my laboratory is. If any news could leak out of the laboratory, the entire Hogwarts would be in danger."

After all, the mutants we're studying are contagious. This month alone, two junior researchers have died, both infected by those mutants who are neither human nor monster.

He asserted, "As long as you leave the quill in the laboratory, it's in the safest place at Hogwarts, and no one can steal it."

He said emphatically, "Even if it's me."
-
After signing the contract, McGonagall left the secluded laboratory.

Even though she had been through countless battles and had entered and exited the world of evil gods many times to fight against evil gods and advanced mutants.

But every time she comes to this laboratory that studies deformed people, she still feels a slight sense of unease.

Although the appearance of mutants is very different from that of humans, she still feels psychologically uncomfortable just thinking that these people were also infected from normal humans and became like this.

As soon as McGonagall left, the head of the laboratory couldn't wait to pick up the petrified quill pen, examine it closely in his palm, and occasionally bring it very close to his eyes for close observation.

So close that his eyelashes could be lightly brushed with a quill pen.

“What an amazing creation. If Mag hadn’t shown me your true form before she left, I wouldn’t have known that you could have been preserved for thousands of years.”

He murmured to himself, “The quill pen is so fragile, and you are so special.”

A wondrous creation deserves to be treated with reverence. It's understandable that you're unwilling to unveil my mysteries to me, but please believe me, I am your most loyal ally, your most devoted slave… Choose me, and I will serve you, even offering my soul, my everything!

The person in charge had a fanatical look in their eyes, and didn't seem to be lying.

He tried to communicate with the petrified quill for a while, but received no response.

The person in charge didn't see anything wrong with it. As he said in his communication, such a magical object has the right to be proud.

At that moment, his whole body trembled, and a flush appeared on his face.

The mere thought that this was a quill pen Salazar used in his youth, and that it might contain a wealth of valuable research data or images, made him tremble with excitement.

I've already envisioned many experiments using quill pens!

It's okay, he's very patient.

"I will cherish and treat you well, my darling."
-
Lin Xia was unaware that the quill pen had been sent by Professor McGonagall to the most central research lab at Hogwarts.

At this moment, she was in her own private laboratory, calculating one set of experimental data after another. Occasionally, when she came across a set of data that interested her, she would conduct the experiment herself.

Even though this was her first research project conducted entirely on her own knowledge, unlike her previous research projects where she had quickly found shortcuts with the help and guidance of the Destiny Compass.

In her previous research, she seemed to have a cheat code, quickly finding the core and then striking directly at the heart of the matter.

At least in the initial stages, current research relies entirely on one's own knowledge base.

Time passes minute by minute.

She spent two hours just observing the data.

Lin Xia put down the documents in her hand, let out a soft breath, and rubbed her slightly throbbing temples.

She had just engaged in a mental brainstorming session, quickly simulating an experimental scenario, and her expression showed a hint of fatigue.

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

Now that the Compass of Destiny has disappeared and become her own ability, it no longer needs to be activated in a special way to work. It is unknown whether she can find out the core production steps and materials of the Ghostly Candy through divination.

Thinking of this, Lin Xia suddenly chuckled.

With so many materials to match in the lab, it would take forever to ask about each one individually.

It's not as good as when the compass for knowing one's destiny still existed, where you could see the images or pictures you wanted simply by turning it to "spirit writing".

Just as this thought flashed through her mind, Lin Xia suddenly had a sudden inspiration, and an image popped into her mind.

The person in this picture is Hermione, and the background is a laboratory.

Lin Xia was taken aback.

In the video, Hermione deftly picks up various materials and instruments, adding and processing them in a specific order.

She moved very fast; sometimes her hands seemed to become a blur, but under Lin Xia's gaze, these movements were slowed down and magnified.

Finally, a blue candy appeared in her hand.

Hermione added a little paint to the candy, and in no time, the candy turned into Gryffindor's shimmering gold!

Lin Xia blinked. The video ended, but the image she had just seen kept replaying in her mind.

Spirit writing!

I never expected that spirit writing would appear in this form. Does that mean that she can reproduce all the functions that the Destiny Compass used to have?

Lin Xia murmured to herself, "This ability is actually much stronger than the divination ability I had in my previous life. At least my divination ability wouldn't have been able to predict the scene so accurately, nor would it have allowed me to see a video..."

She initially thought that the Destiny Compass was so powerful because it was uncontrollable, which was why it was so powerful.

His divination abilities from his previous life were all confined to the compass.

The compass needs to be triggered randomly to obtain the relevant information.

Now that the compass has disappeared, her divination abilities have been restored, but what just happened...

Clearly, although the compass has disappeared, its inherent capabilities remain unchanged.

It seems that, just like before, it needs to be triggered randomly and cannot be actively controlled.

Lin Xia murmured, "Perhaps when I reach the Nourishing Life Realm, I will be able to further control this power within my body, turning it from randomly triggered to targeted?"

If she could truly control it, that would be one of her trump cards.
-
Public areas outside the laboratory.

Neville found the application form and had Mikel fill it out first, then he sat down next to Mikel.

Neville had been watching him write, but after a while, Mikel couldn't stand it anymore and told Neville to go about his own business and give it to him when he was done.

Nave listened, somewhat puzzled, and said, "I can tell you the template content, but you have to write it yourself. That's too troublesome, and you might not even get it right."

Ron had said this to him, and he repeated it word for word.

At the time, he felt that having Ron watching over him was a bit of a hassle and might interfere with Ron's mission, so Ron went to attend to his own business first. Then, Ron righteously and firmly refused him. "It's just filling out a form, what trouble could it be? Didn't I fill out enough forms last time? I don't believe that experience can't be applied to filling out forms here," Mikel thought to himself.

He firmly told Neville, "No need, go and do your own thing."

Neville thought about it and realized that perhaps outstanding students were just different from ordinary students like them.

So he turned and left.

After Neville left, Mikel looked at the form again and began filling it out line by line.

At the beginning, the form only required filling in basic information, which was quite simple.

Then comes filling in the college and home address, which are also not difficult.

But Mikel was dumbfounded when he saw the back of the table. Why were all the questions subjective?
Please tell me your reasons for applying (at least 800 words)

Please tell me what efforts you made to get your application approved. (Minimum 800 words)

Please tell me how you plan to collaborate after your application is approved. (Minimum 800 words)

……

Mikel quickly scanned the list and found no fewer than 10 such questions!
His lips twitched slightly, and his expression showed signs of distress.

At this point, he wanted to call Neville back.

It's obvious that what Neville just said is the template for these kinds of questions.

But spilled water is like a slap in the face.

Mikel took a deep breath and forced himself to continue writing.

It's just writing a short essay, isn't it?

He wrote so many essays in his previous life... He can do it, he can definitely overcome it!
-
Everyone in the lab was busy, including Draco and Hermione.

These two were among the busiest in the lab, because they were not only responsible for testing the materials for the Ghostly Candy, but also had to find time to review the Inspiration Potion made by the Weasley twins.

Draco had just finished a task and looked up to find that more than two hours had passed.

He slightly turned his stiff neck, stood up and moved his body around, and a series of cracking sounds came from his joints.

"After finishing today's test, let's change the mood and test Senior Weasley's potion."

This potion's predecessor was the "Potion of Wisdom," and he's very familiar with it!

Draco once saw the potion of wisdom that was all the rage at school. It was said that drinking it would give you superhuman performance on the final exams, and all the knowledge you had learned before would come back to you clearly.

The potion sounded quite powerful, so he bought a few bottles from the twin seniors, planning to study it after returning to the manor following the final exams to see exactly what made it so potent.

Before he even started his research, he heard that many students who drank the potion of wisdom had to run to the toilet repeatedly during the exam and even had diarrhea for several days.

This even affected the Quidditch final, allowing Gryffindor to win without a fight.

At that time, he thought that the potion of wisdom was a poorly made product, so those few bottles of potion had been gathering dust in his seamless retractable ring, and he didn't even study them when he returned to the manor for the holidays.

Draco's gray eyes flashed with interest. "[Inspiration] Potions, huh? Let me see if you've added any prohibited substances."

He waved his wand gently, casting numerous detection spells on the potion—spells specifically designed for potion testing.

And right next door, in Hermione's laboratory.

Hermione was also checking the [Inspiration] potion.

Unlike Draco, who checked the potions after completing his tasks for the day, Hermione checked them as soon as she entered the laboratory.

"The effect is even more obvious than I expected. Could it be that this potion can really achieve a state of mind resonance, like the effect of Ravenclaw's crown?"
No, that's not right... True mind resonance isn't like this; this is just a false state!

Hermione muttered to herself as she looked at the potion bathed in blue light.

"True mental resonance should transform one's brain into a more powerful container, but the state achieved through the [Inspiration and Cleverness] potion only lasts for 10 minutes, and its processing power is not strong enough."

In order to better understand the positive and negative effects of potions, Hermione has tried some and experienced both effects firsthand.

She had so much knowledge stored in her mind that after taking the potion, she did feel more efficient at processing it, but it was still far from enough.

Hermione wrote down lines of data, the blue light highlighting her somewhat cold yet shrewd expression.

"But for ordinary people, this potion is sufficient."

"The state is very obvious. It can refresh the mind and achieve a pseudo-state of mental resonance. To some extent, it can help people make key decisions and breakthroughs, as well as clear up messy thoughts."

This potion is far more powerful than those stimulants. Its only drawback is that it doesn't last long. As for the side effects... I've been taking it for two hours, but I haven't felt anything unusual.

It seems that, just as they said, the side effects have been deliberately improved, reducing the frequency of trips to the toilet and making the harm to the body less severe.

However, this kind of damage is cumulative. If you take more than three bottles a day, you'll still have to go to the toilet...

Hermione wrote down the data while reviewing the instructions provided by the Weasley twins.

Ultimately, in addition to using relevant detection magic to test the potion's positive and negative effects, she decided to try it out again.

Hermione drank a full four bottles!

She had always harbored doubts about Lin Xia's decision to bring the Weasley twins into the lab.

She thought the twin seniors were mischievous and loved to play pranks, not the type to do experiments seriously.

[Inspiration and Clever Idea] Potions are one of the potions they seriously make, and Hermione also wants to test their true strength.
-
Time flew by, and evening arrived.

Lin Xia was the first to walk out of the laboratory.

In the past, the laboratory's public areas were usually occupied by Harry and his friends, but this time they were all empty.

She used the magic rune array set up in the laboratory to sense things and was somewhat surprised to find that everyone was busy, but she was the first to finish!
It must be said that the visions of the future that appeared in her mind saved her time in searching for materials.

After the images appeared, she began to recall them frame by frame, and then she started conducting experiments.

She can now correctly replicate the first two steps.

The reason we're stuck at step 3 is because this step requires a key material.

She couldn't determine what kind of material it was based solely on the image.

This material was clearly pre-processed by Hermione in the footage, rather than being the original. (End of Chapter)