Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

"You two also want to participate in the assessment for outstanding students?" Professor McGonagall asked in surprise.

Ron and Harry nodded in unison.

McGonagall said with a serious expression, "Participating in the elite student assessment test may involve facing unpredictable dangers. Even so, do you still want to participate?"

Ron and Harry nodded again.

Seeing this, the professor did not try to persuade them further, but said, "I will help you apply to the school. If all goes well, you will be taken to the Ministry of Magic for assessment three days after the end of this semester."

"My advice to you is to be careful in everything you do, and if anything seems amiss, immediately tell the Aurors who are with you. Don't try to tough it out."

Ron asked cautiously, "Professor, will we encounter a situation like what Mikel faced during the previous assessment?"

Professor McGonagall looked over, and Ron's words became even more direct.

"For example, what if we encounter something we thought was a low-level pollutant, but it turns out to be a high-level pollutant? Are Harry and I really that unlucky?"

Professor McGonagall said calmly, "Before the assessment, the Ministry of Magic will conduct a thorough search of that area to ensure you are going there to take the assessment and not to die, but..."

She then changed the subject, saying, "After all, the assessment area is a no-man's land that has been unmanaged for a long time. No matter how meticulous the Ministry of Magic is, it cannot eliminate all risks."

So if you're unlucky, you might really run into a lot of trouble and encounter problems that are difficult for you to handle on your own. I can't guarantee that you'll be 100% safe.

Even so, are you still going to participate in the assessment?

Ron's heart raced, and he clenched his fists, finding his palms sweaty.

For a moment, he had second thoughts.

He felt that Professor McGonagall might not want him to participate in the assessment; if he had come to apply to the professor alone, he probably would have run away by now.

But Harry is still here!

He didn't back down, and Ron hardened his heart and made sure he wouldn't back down either, determined to stand with his friend.

At this point, he had completely forgotten that it was he who had pestered Harry to come with him the night before.

He was waiting for Harry's reaction, and Harry was waiting for his reaction as well.

Neither of them made a move. Professor McGonagall remained silent for a moment, then composed herself.

"Alright, I've received your determination. I'll apply to the school. Is there anything else?"

Harry and Ron both shook their heads and immediately left the professor's office.

After leaving the office, Ron breathed a heavy sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and realized that he had been drenched in sweat without even realizing it.

Professor McGonagall's aura was just too powerful!

“Harry, don’t you think Professor McGonagall doesn’t want us to participate in the assessment for outstanding students? I think she exaggerates the unfortunate consequences.”

Ron chuckled somewhat sheepishly, "I don't think we're that unlucky. After what happened with Mikel, the Ministry of Magic will probably investigate the scene more thoroughly."

Harry was about to nod, but then he remembered his unfortunate health and became uncertain again.

It seems that every time he does something, something unexpected always happens.

Harry hesitated for a moment and said, "Ron, I'm not so sure."

Ron's smile froze. He realized what was happening and quickly asked, "Harry, did you sense something?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't have any premonition yet, but I feel things aren't as simple as they seem."

"Ron, if you're really worried, how about we skip this year's outstanding student assessment?"

Ron shook his head instinctively: "No, my twin brother is about to become an outstanding student, and Percy also said that the school will announce him as an outstanding student next school year. My two older brothers, who have already graduated, are also outstanding students, so I want to be an outstanding student too."

As he said this, his mood actually calmed down.

"Didn't Lin Xia tell us that if we don't apply to become outstanding students in the combat category this semester, we can try to apply for outstanding students in the research category next semester with the experience of having multiple research assistants?"

Ron pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, when we participate in the combat type assessment, we will carefully observe the outside environment, and if anything seems amiss, we will immediately end the assessment."

His idea is simple.

As long as they escape fast enough, disaster won't catch them.

Of course, even so, Ron was still somewhat worried about their safety.

If they really encountered something like Mikel's situation, it wouldn't be a matter of how fast they could escape; rather, the moment they entered that area, they would be locked onto by advanced pollutants.

Just in case, Ron planned to ask Lin Xia if she had any powerful protective artifacts that she could lend them to deal with any sudden crisis.

He not only asked Lin Xia, but also wanted to ask Draco.

Draco may be arrogant, but he'll still help his friends; he's a person who's cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

When the two of them arrived at the lab, they happened to see Mikel getting up from the common room and heading to his private lab.

Ron saw him and greeted him.

Mikel was clearly preoccupied and didn't notice Ron's waving hands as he quickly walked into the lab.

Ron said, somewhat puzzled, "Why are they all so busy? Hermione was too busy to say hello yesterday, and Mikel is so busy today that I can't even see him, even though I'm standing right in front of them."

Harry thought for a moment: "Perhaps they are all very busy with their experimental research?"

Ron muttered, "Hermione's busy, that's understandable, she's always busy. But Mikel, haven't you noticed he's been acting a little strange lately?"

Harry paused for a moment, "Something's wrong? No, although he's been talking less lately, he still communicates with us every day."

Ron: "Didn't you notice? He wasn't that enthusiastic about experiments before. Professor McGonagall just banned him from doing experiments for a month."

However, after the ban was lifted, he spent significantly less time in the lab, mostly researching materials.

But for the past month, he's been rushing to the lab as soon as get out of class is over. I think his enthusiasm for research is even greater than Hermione's.

Harry asked, "Perhaps his experiment has made a breakthrough?"

Ron looked at him with a hint of disgust. "He's never had any research ability. What breakthroughs have he made? Could it be that he's locked himself in the lab researching some unspeakable secrets?"

It must be said that Ron has a truly sharp tongue, and his intuition is also incredibly keen to some extent.

Mikel did indeed lock himself in the lab, but he certainly wasn't doing research.

It can be called research, but this research is not the same as that research.

The system assigned him the task of researching a potion recipe that could resist the evil god's ravings, but he has already put it aside.

Mikel felt that his behavior was perfectly normal.

Anyone who knew that continuing to research this potion would make their body worse and worse, and would also be severely infected by the evil god's ravings, would slow down their progress.

He could either wait until he was more powerful to study it, or he could never touch it again. The fact that he didn't choose to never touch it again already showed him great respect for the system.

If he's not researching potions, then what is he researching?

It is about studying another entity within the body that appears to be able to counterbalance the system.

Mikel didn't know where this consciousness entered his body from. It might have come from food, the blood of some magical creature, or even further back, when he came into contact with some dark magic items, it had taken refuge in his body.

But none of this matters.

The important thing is that after he regained consciousness, he was told about the other side of the system.

Although he had long recognized that the system was not doing charity and that enhancing his abilities was for some other purpose.

But after this bloody revelation of consciousness, he still couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

The system exists to completely strip him of his consciousness, turning him into a puppet that the system can manipulate!
It’s terrifying when you think about it!!!
Some things are better left unthought, but once you start thinking about them deeply, they can become terrifying.

Reminded by that consciousness, Mikel knew that communicating with it outside was extremely dangerous and could very likely be discovered by the Hogwarts professors.

That consciousness told him that its difference from the system was that it was external energy.

The energy that possessed Mikel was an additional energy source besides his own.

But the systems are different.

The system had been integrated into his body, so he could easily evade the professors' investigation.

Because it is attached to him, it is easy to detect.

So Mikel used the laboratory as his secret base and set up many anti-spy magic spells.

With the help of that consciousness, he also set up a very special anti-peeping magic array.

Once this magic rune array is activated, even the internal system can be temporarily blocked.

He can communicate more secret messages with this consciousness without being detected by the system.

In his communication with this consciousness, Mikel discovered that it possessed a vast amount of knowledge.

It is not like a system, a life form without emotions, but rather full of emotions.

It's as if an old man from the wizarding world lives inside him.

It would give him lessons every day, teaching him a great deal of knowledge about the wizarding world, secrets among the nobility, and legendary stories from thousands of years ago.

In addition, this consciousness is extremely skilled in magic rune arrays.

Mikel always believed he had no talent for ancient runes; at least, he often couldn't understand Professor Babling's lectures.

But under the guidance of this consciousness, Mikel discovered that the ancient runes weren't so difficult after all.

It's not that he lacks the talent for ancient magic script, but rather that Professor Babling doesn't know how to teach it!

Under this misconception, Mikel strayed further and further from revealing the true identity of this consciousness, and his thoughts went completely astray.

"The magic rune array I'm teaching you today is the foundational framework for many complex magic rune arrays. The evolution of many magic rune arrays is connected to this basic magic rune."

Once you've mastered it, you've essentially taken one step into most magic runes; all that's left is to understand their meaning and then master them all.

Inspired by this realization, Mikel had never felt before that rune arrays were so simple, and that he possessed a high talent for runes.

However, these were just his thoughts. Strictly speaking, this consciousness never praised his extremely high talent in the art of magic runes.

They all used various methods to make Mikel reinforce this impression on himself.

Mikel said gratefully, "Thank you, you're much better than the system!"

The system only tells me to learn on my own and try to find resources, but it never teaches me anything.

The magic he researched was directly implanted into my mind. Although it was convenient, I prefer the knowledge I acquire through my own learning; I will never lose it.

The voice of consciousness rang in his mind: "You're welcome. We're mutually beneficial. Just remember to recharge me every week."

This consciousness required Mikel to go out once a week and stay in a certain place in the Forbidden Forest for half an hour, supposedly to absorb the rich magic of the Forbidden Forest to restore himself.

If a consciousness goes there alone, because it has no physical form, it is easily entangled by the evil god's murmurs that surround the Forbidden Forest.

However, as a human, Mikel still has a certain resistance to the ravings of the evil gods, at least more so than to these intangible forms of energy.

Because Mikel helps him recharge, it also teaches Mikel related knowledge and how to block the system.

Currently, the idea of ​​"mutual benefit" seems more acceptable to Mikel.

There is no love without a reason, nor is there hatred without a reason.

When everyone takes what they need, it is actually a form of fairness.

Something like a system, born into the wizarding world and capable of temporarily replacing him, seemed to require no effort from him, which only heightened Mikel's wariness.

The original owner of this consciousness—Barbling—gradually lured Mikel to abandon the system and accept the embrace of the wizarding world.

"Poor souls from another world, they have no idea about the responsibilities of their existence!" Barbling thought to herself with secret delight.

She didn't care about Mikel, but Mikel was the master of the system.

She was very interested in the rules and energy flow of the system itself. Perhaps if she could extract this law representing another world, she would be one step closer to becoming a god.

"By the way, are you guys about to have your holiday?" the consciousness suddenly asked.

Mikel said somewhat cautiously, "Yes, how did you know you were eavesdropping on my conversations with other classmates?"

A strange and eerie laugh echoed in his mind.

"Don't be nervous, Mikel. You already mentioned this information when you spoke to me before."

Don't worry, I'm now physically bound to you and can't leave you at will. You are the best partner I can find right now.

As you know, life forms like us can't easily change partners. It's extremely rare to find a wizard who accepts our existence and won't tell anyone.

Not all wizards accept us; most see me as a heretic, a servant of evil gods, and a preacher from another world.

The consciousness said, "This idea is far too superficial!"

Although this consciousness spoke eloquently, it still failed to dispel Mikel's vigilance.

He asked cautiously, "What do you want to do?"

The consciousness said, "After the holidays, Hogwarts will enter a state of dormancy, which is a good opportunity to absorb energy. I need you to do something." (End of Chapter)