Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Under Professor Lupin's guidance, Mikel gradually calmed his restlessness through meditation.

But after calming down, I felt more and more that something was wrong with the system.

He desperately wanted to become stronger, not stronger with the help of the system, but stronger through his own efforts.

So Mikel looked at Professor Lupin, who was a perfect candidate.

the other side.

Hermione and the others returned to the lab first, and Hermione told Lin Xia about Mikel's condition.

“He wasn’t in a good state. It took me a long time to react after I finished speaking. It was obvious that his thinking ability had declined a lot, and he seemed to have been seriously ill.”

Lin Xia asked, "What are your thoughts?"

Hermione: "The evil ravings surrounding him must be quite serious. I'd like to visit him again tonight, but I'm worried I might be affected too. I need your help."

Lin Xia was also quite interested in Mikel's unusual behavior. She was curious whether it was due to Mikel himself or the power within him.

So she quickly agreed.

“Okay, I’ll go with you to visit them tonight. We can keep watch if necessary, since we don’t have any patrols tonight anyway.”

The afternoon class was a transformation class.

The main focus of this semester's transformation course is to give inanimate objects some characteristics of living things, making them more realistic.

This kind of shapeshifting was no challenge for Lin Xia at all. Besides her, Hermione and Draco, two outstanding students, also mastered it perfectly.

Professor McGonagall saw that it was pointless for the three of them to repeatedly practice the basic Transfiguration. It was impossible to have them practice the basics again every class; it was a waste of time.

So she called the three of them out and specifically allowed them to skip the transformation class and use their time for other things.

None of the three expected Professor McGonagall to say that, and they were somewhat surprised.

Lin Xia then asked, "Professor, is this your own private arrangement, or a privilege granted to us outstanding students by the school?"

McGonagall said, "This is my own private arrangement. You are free to do whatever you want during each Transfiguration class."

As for the school, they've already started researching how you outstanding students should study.

Your pace is different from that of ordinary students; making you learn at the same level as ordinary students would be a waste of your talents.

In fact, the school's teachers' union has been discussing how to better cultivate outstanding students since last semester, but no definitive answer has been reached.

In the past, there weren't that many outstanding students at Hogwarts, so giving special privileges to some outstanding students wouldn't be too abrupt or conspicuous.

However, with the increasing number of outstanding students, a group of talents has emerged who are significantly different from ordinary students.

Simply granting them special privileges within the school is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of these outstanding students.

An outstanding talent needs a different kind of training. If they cannot be trained together with ordinary students, professors will always favor outstanding talents, which will have a devastating impact on ordinary students.

This trend has already begun to emerge in the school, but because the outstanding students have all restrained themselves well and integrated into the ranks of ordinary students, the prevailing atmosphere is one of admiration.

But if this continues, the professors know that as the difficulty of the knowledge they impart increases, the gap between the two types of students becomes more and more obvious, and the ordinary students will eventually break down.
-
Lin Xia and the others suddenly had two free periods between classes. After thinking it over, they decided to go to the laboratory.

The Transfiguration spells taught in the third grade were no challenge for them. If they wanted to learn more advanced Transfiguration spells, they could always seek guidance from Lin Xia.

However, learning Transfiguration cannot be rushed; it requires consistent, gradual effort over time. Therefore, they decided to focus their energy on more important research.

They arrived at the lab and found the Weasley twins already there.

When they entered the lab, the Weasley twins, sporting large dark circles under their eyes, listlessly drifted from the lab door into the lounge.

Seeing their state, Lin Xia couldn't help but ask, "Did you stay up all night last night?"

George said somewhat dejectedly, "Yesterday we brewed several bottles of Inspiration Potion, and even made some improvements to the formula, intending to have Professor Snape try them and give his advice."

Fred said, "After we figured out the Inspiration Potion, we started researching the main ingredients of the Ghostly Candy. We had some ideas, so we started synthesizing it."

During the synthesis process, we discovered that we had oversimplified the process. The drug underwent significant changes in properties, making it impossible to synthesize the properties we desired.

Hermione then spoke up, and although her tone didn't sound like she was trying to discourage him, it did have that implication.

"I told you long ago that the ingredients are not so easy to determine. If you rely on divination to randomly determine the ingredients, you may get further and further away from the final answer."

Divination is highly subjective; the predicted information may be wildly inaccurate. Divination cannot predict the precise, scientific nature of a potion-making process based on precise formulas and proportions.

The Weasley twins shrugged and didn't answer.

They learned that arguing with Hermione would only make things worse.

The atmosphere in the lab was already tense, and they didn't want to make it any more awkward.

Lin Xia said at the right moment, "You have already developed the enhanced version of the Inspiration Potion. Quickly send it to Professor Snape."

He's a very punctual person; if you're late, he definitely won't give you a good look.

The Weasley twins said in unison, "We came out to deliver medicine!"

With the twins gone, the laboratory returned to its peaceful state, and Lin Xia entered her own private laboratory.

As she continued to study the proportions of the "Ghost Stories Candy," suddenly, an image flashed into her mind—

Mikel, with a cold and indifferent expression, picked up a sharp knife and plunged it into his own chest!

This scene only flashed by briefly and there was no follow-up.

Lin Xia repeatedly replayed this scene in her mind, and through various details, she confirmed that this scene took place inside Hogwarts.

And the location was none other than the Gryffindor dormitory!
As for the timing, it is unknown.

She observed Mikel's clothing and the changes in his facial features, and realized that he seemed to have matured and grown up a bit. This scene did not occur during his third year.

Lin Xia's doubts deepened.

Mikel's expression just now seemed very abnormal.

She had almost never seen such an expression on Mikel, as if he were not Mikel, but someone else wearing Mikel's skin.

The look on his face when he picked up the knife and stabbed himself in the chest was incredibly ruthless and decisive.

This is not something ordinary people can do.

Lin Xia herself was tempered by the trials of her previous life and cultivated her techniques, which gave her extreme calmness, allowing her to unhesitatingly swing her knife at herself in dangerous moments.

But for other wizards who haven't had any special adventures, they would definitely hesitate.

A thought suddenly flashed through Lin Xia's mind, and she came up with a possibility.

To be so ruthless to one's own body... perhaps the person in the picture is no longer Mikel, but someone else entirely.

After snapping out of her reverie, Lin Xia pondered for a moment and then sent Draco a short message via her honor badge. Meanwhile, Draco was in his lab, preparing to use potion-making techniques to create the "Ghost Talk Candy."

He and Hermione are two different types of researchers.

Hermione speaks with data, facts, and the expressiveness of each piece of material.

The best set is selected by comparing millions of sets of data.

He used to be a researcher like that.

However, ever since he learned about potion-making and developed the pitch-black potion in an extremely absurd and unbelievable way, Draco has deeply felt the charm of metaphysics.

Some things don't require extreme experimentation to be born; they just need the right opportunity.

Because of the existence of the Poisonous Drug, he understood the Weasley twins, but he couldn't place all his hopes on prophecy.

Based on his experience with using quackery, he usually loses nine out of ten times.

You might succeed only once out of ten attempts at using the art of poison.

Of course, it is more likely that it will not succeed even after ten attempts, and it will take dozens or hundreds of experiments to succeed once.

But the allure of potion-making lies in the fact that once you succeed once and find the right feel for the potion, it becomes much easier to succeed again.

Draco prepared many strange items, including but not limited to dead branches, dried flowers, and dew.

There were even some truly bizarre items: old clothes, used paper, and dried snot squeezed out by some students...

He first sat down and entered a meditative state. He didn't know how much time had passed, or it seemed like only a short while had passed, when he suddenly opened his eyes and felt that the time was right.

Draco immediately followed his intuition, picked up the old clothes, waved his wand, and burned the old clothes into ashes.

Next, he added dew to the ashes and then placed a dried flower inside.

Having done this, he stopped and stared at the dried flowers in the ashes.

According to the clues from the study of occult medicine, he had to wait until the branch flower bloomed again with the brilliance of a real flower, that is, until the dead thing became alive, before he could proceed to the next step.

He can proceed once the dried flower blooms.

If this dried flower doesn't bloom soon, Draco will just have to wait.

It sounds a bit far-fetched; how could dried flowers possibly turn into fresh flowers?

But the clues from the study of strange drugs are just that absurd.

Draco stared at the dried flowers for a while, but he didn't feel any surge of emotion. He quickly realized that the timing wasn't right and that he probably wouldn't be able to wait for them to bloom.

So he turned to other research projects, deciding to just do one at random to practice.

Just then, his honor badge suddenly became hot. He opened it and saw a message from Lin Xia sent through the honor student channel.

Draco muttered to himself, "Get close to Mikel, and then find out what's wrong with him?"

He frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled as to why Lin Xia was focusing so much on Mikel.

In his eyes, Mikel, though an excellent student, was only a rising star this year.

Before that, Mikel was no different from any other student.

He inexplicably thought of Hermione's request to speak to Mikel alone earlier today. Could it be that she had discovered something?
“There must be some information I don’t know about this. He definitely has a secret, and this secret is something that not only Hermione wants to know, but Lin Xia also wants to know.”

Thinking of this, a hint of interest flashed in Draco's eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Then let me uncover your secret."
-
After sending the message to Draco, Lin Xia intended to continue her research, but a short while later, there was a knock on the door of her lab.

Upon opening it, I found the Weasley twins.

Lin Xia asked curiously, "Weren't you delivering potions to Professor Snape? What, haven't you delivered them yet? Or did you deliver them and he took them all, so you came back?"

George and Fred exchanged a glance and nodded slightly, as if to convey some kind of signal.

George said with a smile, "We arrived at Professor Snape's office early, but because we were half an hour earlier than the agreed time, Professor Snape wasn't there."

Fred and I thought about it for a bit and decided to strictly adhere to the time set by the professor and go back to the lab to sit for a while.

Fred continued, "We pondered life for over ten minutes in the lab, and suddenly realized that the two of us alone probably couldn't have a straightforward conversation with Professor Snape."

Therefore, after much consideration, we have decided to invite you to join this observation of potion use.

Yes, after the incident of "Professor Lupin taking an overdose of potions and falling into a coma", all professors who applied to the Weasley twins for permission to take new potions for testing signed a contract with the twins.

That means that regardless of whether they overdose on the potion, they must do so under their watchful eyes, and cannot take it privately.

Many professors decided to try it because they were curious about the effects of overdosing. The only change now is that students will monitor them, but there are no restrictions on overdosing.

So the professors readily agreed and signed the agreement.

In fact, the twins also collaborated with other professors and recorded the data.

Today it just so happens that it's my turn to work with Professor Snape.

But they were not confident that they could withstand Professor Snape's pressure.

The twins were completely terrified, so they immediately sought Lin Xia's help.

Lin Xia was quite interested in Snape taking the Inspiration Potion and was willing to help observe him. As for the pressure Snape brought, it didn't bother her much.

but.

Lin Xia asked calmly, "I can help you, but what can you give me in return?"

George and Fred exchanged another glance, a hint of excitement flashing in their eyes.

This situation was within their expectations, so they had already decided on the reward for Lin Xia before they came.

They prefer to offer help that is mutually beneficial rather than free help from others, as this aligns better with their code of conduct.

George said, "We can give you 100 bottles of the full-size Inspiration Potion."

Lin Xia shook her head: "This potion might be difficult for other wizards to crack, but it's meaningless to me. I can replicate it at any time. This potion doesn't appeal to me much."

Fred: "Then give it to Galleons?"

Lin Xia smiled and said, "I believe you have already realized that in the exchange of many high-level items, Galleons are the worst choice."

George and Fred were silent for a moment before George said, "We can make a copy of the mysterious journal for you. It contains many experiments on the Biliwig worm."

The wisdom potions we developed previously, including the inspiration potion we have now created, all drew inspiration from this notebook.

Lin Xia immediately replied, "Deal!" (End of Chapter)