Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

For safety reasons, Mikel decided to go to the infirmary late that night, and Harry and the others escorted him there.

Lady Pomfrey was woken up late at night by the little wizard, her face full of resentment, but she was also a little surprised when she saw Mikel's expression.

"What happened? Why does he look so pale?" Mrs. Pomfrey asked.

Harry said, "It's similar to the illness I had during winter break. I would have nightmares when I slept, and in my dreams... um..."

Harry turned to look at Mikel, who had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep again.

He hesitated for a moment, not revealing the real truth, but only saying, "In the dream, it seemed like I was being chased desperately."

At the crucial moment, Harry still kept it a secret for Mikey.

He had a gut feeling that Mikel didn't want too many people to know what happened in his dream.

The people in the dormitory all heard him talking in his sleep, so they made some guesses about his dream.

Madam Pomfrey rubbed her forehead in exasperation and muttered, "Another incident of being chased by a nightmare. What's wrong with Hogwarts this semester? This is the fifth nightmare incident already."

It seems there really is something unclean in the school; it needs a thorough cleaning.

Harry, Ron, and Neville exchanged bewildered glances. If Madam Pomfrey hadn't revealed it, they wouldn't have known that more than one junior wizard was suffering from nightmares.

That night, Harry and the others didn't get much rest and stayed by Mikel's bedside the whole time.

Because Mikel has had a recurring fever again!

Madam Pomfrey gave him many fever-reducing potions, but none of them worked. She said that if his fever hadn't subsided by tomorrow daytime, he would have to be rushed to St. Mungo's.

Time passed second by second. Harry stumbled and almost fell to the ground. He shuddered and looked out the window, only to find that it was already daytime.

The sunlight streamed in through the windows, bathing the pristine white school clinic in a warm, golden glow.

Harry immediately reached out and touched Mikel's forehead, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes. The fever had gone down!

He quickly shook Ron and Neville, and said happily, "Mikel's fever has gone down, he's out of danger!"

Ron and Neville woke up to the good news and were immediately invigorated.

Ron said, "It seems like I haven't heard him talking in his sleep since he came to the school infirmary."

Neville nodded. "I've been observing him for a long time. He's not talking in his sleep, and he doesn't seem to be having nightmares."

Mikel appears to be in a stable condition.

The three of them thought for a moment, then quickly returned to their dormitory to tidy up before going to class, and also asked Mikel for leave.

Harry wanted to report this to Professor McGonagall to see if he could apply for some artifacts to help Mikel.

During class, Hermione, Lin Xia, and Draco also learned that Mikel had an accident the previous night.

Lin Xia already knew Mikel was sick through Hermione, but she didn't expect that lighting the Radiant Candle in the middle of the night would cause him to have a recurring fever and eventually be sent to the school clinic.

Lin Xia wrote a sentence on a piece of paper and handed it to Harry—

How is he doing now?

Harry: [We checked on him this morning, and his fever has gone down, and his complexion is stable. We'll go check on him again at noon.]

Lin Xia: [Together]

It was soon noon, and Lin Xia and her group quickly finished their lunch and headed to the school clinic.

Before that, Harry went to see Professor McGonagall, but no one was in her office.

When they arrived at the school clinic, they found that Professor McGonagall was already visiting Mikel and had spoken to him.

The young wizards did not dare to step forward.

After they finished talking, Professor McGonagall waved to them, and they walked over.

McGonagall said seriously, "I learned something from Pomfrey and I'd like to ask you what he did before he returned to the dorm with a fever?"

Before Harry and the others could answer, Mikel interrupted, "Professor, I did conduct some experiments related to the ravings of the evil god in the laboratory. I assure you, this was a complete accident."

"While conducting my experiment, I inadvertently carried some items related to the ravings of an evil god, which is why I unwittingly fell victim to its influence. I will be much more careful next time, and it will definitely not be as serious as it is now."

McGonagall glanced at him and said sternly, "You want a next time?"

Mikel gave an awkward smile.

McGonagall said calmly, "Any experiment involving the ravings of evil gods must be reported to the school and conducted under the supervision of designated school personnel."

You have violated the ban by conducting related experiments without authorization. You are prohibited from entering the laboratory for the next month.

After she finished speaking, she turned to Lin Xia and said, "You will carry it out."

Lin Xia nodded without hesitation.

She felt that Mikel's sudden fever and nightmares were very unusual.

Perhaps, as Hermione suspected, the experiment he conducted was not something a novice researcher could have done; he may have accidentally overdone it, leading to such a severe backlash.

This raised a question in Lin Xia's mind. If Mikel didn't know all this, the system inside him couldn't possibly not know.

So, was his illness also within the system's expectations?
After Professor McGonagall left, all the young wizards present breathed a sigh of relief.

Ron said in a low voice, "I didn't dare to look Professor McGonagall in the eye just now, for fear that she would look at me and say that I would lose points and then ban me from the lab. Although I know that none of this has anything to do with me, I was just scared."

Neville nodded, still shaken.

He was also a bit of a coward.

Hermione suddenly said, "Mikel, I have something I want to say to you alone."

Lin Xia replied, "We'll go outside and wait for you."

Led by her, the others left the school clinic without saying anything.

The school clinic didn't have private rooms, so Professor Lupin lay on a bed not far away, occasionally turning his head to look at the young wizards.

Hermione deliberately set up a barrier spell before telling Mikel about her unusual behavior the previous night.

She first apologized for her behavior and said she could make amends, and then shared her guess.

"Although I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, I will not obtain it through illegitimate means. Lin Xia reminded me that I was disturbed by the delirium of an evil god, which caused me to lose my composure and my usual rationality."

Hermione felt bad about her actions, but she was more concerned about Mikel's condition. "I think you need to protect yourself, Mikel. The evil god's whispers around you are too dangerous. Although I don't know why Harry and the others didn't notice it at all, once they are affected, they will probably be even less able to resist than I am."

The ravings of evil gods can arouse a person's desires.

She simply wanted to explore Mikel's research and inventions; this desire wouldn't have much of a real-world impact.

However, if someone's desire is to become a high-ranking wizard, to be above everyone else, or to pursue greater power, they could very well be directly lured into becoming a dark wizard.

Mick had only just regained consciousness when he heard Hermione open her mouth and rattle off a whole bunch of things, leaving him a little confused.

After Hermione finished speaking, he remained silent for a long time before he could understand what she had said.

Mikel had many questions in his mind: why was he affected by the evil god's ramblings?
Why are all the systems in my body malfunctioning?
No matter how he called out, the system wouldn't respond; it was as if it were dead.

He made it through this time, but what about next time?

Without the system, he found himself completely unable to resist the ravings of the evil god.

A deep anxiety filled Mikel's heart, leaving her feeling somewhat helpless and with an ostrich-like mentality, wanting to escape everything.

"Mikel, Mikel?"

Hermione's words echoed in his ears repeatedly. Mikel snapped out of his reverie and said, "Hermione, I forgive you. You didn't mean to pry into my secrets."

He pursed his lips and emphasized seriously, "But don't do that again next time. I have my own sources of information, and I don't want others to spy on my research results."

If he hadn't already known that Hermione was an upright person with a strong Gryffindor spirit, he wouldn't have let this matter go so easily.

Of course, the main reason is that his mind is now completely occupied by the idea that he cannot resist the evil god's ravings, and he is not so concerned about the research results in the laboratory that cannot even be called defective or waste products.

Hermione emphasized, "I can make it up to you."

Mikel was about to say no, but then he thought that Hermione was also a child of the world, and if he could get a favor from her, it might play a key role later.

So he said, "I can't think of anything right now. I'll tell you when I do."

Hermione readily agreed, "Okay, I won't disturb your rest any longer. I'll come visit you again tonight."

Mikel said, "Lunch break is almost over. Let Harry and the others leave too. I want to be alone."

After Hermione left, Harry and the others did not come back in.

As for Professor Lu Ping, who was lying on the hospital bed not far away, he did not communicate with Mikel, and his melancholy eyes often stared blankly out the window.

Mikel kept calling out to the system in his mind.

He himself didn't know how long he had been chanting, but the silent system suddenly responded to him at a certain moment.

[The system has been restarted and repaired. Residual demonic chanting from a high-level evil god has been detected on the host, affecting the host's dreams and is difficult to remove. Would you like to consume experience points to remove it?]

Mikel frowned, not answering the system's question, but instead asking in his mind:
What does "reboot repair complete" mean?

[After the host completed the basic task of potion research, the system was about to start the next stage of the task when it was suddenly attacked by a virus and crashed. It then restarted and repaired itself.]

Mikel had been carrying the system since birth and had lived for more than ten years. He had never heard of the system crashing due to a so-called virus attack. Now that this was being said, he was just surprised.

"Where did this virus come from? Is it so powerful that it caused your system to crash?"

[They seem to have been attacked by a world of evil gods; whenever something that threatens their world is created, they are attacked.]

Mikel realized that the potion recipe the system had given him was one that could resist the ravings of the evil god.

If it is developed, it will indeed become a powerful tool for dealing with the world of evil gods, allowing wizards to explore the world of evil gods for much longer.

This includes being able to endure longer battles against evil gods and remain unaffected by their incantations.

In the novels he used to read, when a powerful world sensed that another world would invent an item that would threaten its own, it would indeed send people favored by the world's will, or "agents," to eliminate it.

So, was the system also attacked by a similar world force?

Although the system's explanation seemed reasonable, Mikel still felt something was off.

In the past, when he encountered a crisis, the system would promptly inform him.

But this time, the system went offline without any warning or alert.

He could manage once or twice, but if this happened every time the potion made progress, he'd probably die after three times.

So Mikel wondered to himself, "Do you have any other protective measures? What can I do to wake you up quickly when you crash?"

How can I strengthen your resistance, or, without you, how can I increase my resistance to the incantations of the evil god?

With the system's help, Mikel had never thought that the ravages of the evil gods were such a terrifying thing.

But this time, he was truly terrified by this power.

So the wizarding world has been plagued by this power all along?
No wonder even high-level wizards couldn't withstand it; it's truly too difficult to guard against. It constantly wears down a wizard's will and tempts them towards corruption.

[The host has very poor resistance to the ravings of the evil god. Develop relevant magical potions as soon as possible to enhance some of your abilities.]

Mikel's lips twitched: "Do you think I wouldn't know that once the potion is developed, it can block the evil god's ravings? But I'm afraid I'll be dead before I even develop it!"

The system remains silent.

Mikel pressed for more questions, but it remained silent.

Seeing that the system couldn't offer a better solution, Mikel turned his attention to the issue of compensation.

"Your sudden system crash has caused me a lot of trouble. I used to complete the tasks you assigned me diligently to gain experience points. Now that you've made me sick, shouldn't you also give me some experience points as compensation?"

The system remained silent.

Mikel suddenly felt a bit irritable. He felt as if the system inside his body was becoming somewhat out of control, as if it had developed its own thoughts.

Mikel took a few deep breaths, turned to look at the flowers Hermione and the others had brought, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind:
I want to smash the vase, I want to trample these flowers, and I'll feel happy watching them fall and be crushed!
The moment this thought crossed Mikel's mind, he was startled and his brow furrowed.

When did he become so irritable that he needs to destroy things to calm the noise?
Just then, Professor Lu Ping's voice came from the nearby hospital bed—

Have you studied Occlumency techniques?

The voice suddenly rang out, and Mikel looked over.

Lu Ping looked at him calmly: "I feel that something is wrong with your state. Recall the key points of the Occlumency technique and calm yourself down."

Mikel gave the professor a grateful look and immediately did as he was told. (End of Chapter)