Start by logging into the Old Man's Ring at Hogwarts

Unexpectedly, the seemingly unassuming young wizard in front of me is actually quite skilled.

Even his fiancée wouldn't be this violent, would she?

In reality, Lani is much better than Zicomo; it's just that Lucius's limited perspective restricted his imagination.

Zicomo had no idea what Lucius was thinking. He waved his hand again and put the book into the system space.

Lucius gasped at the sight; this seemed to be an Eastern storage device.

As a member of a large family with a history spanning over a thousand years, he also knew some things about the East.

Lucius decided he would ask Snape about Zicomo's background later.

"All done. Now let's talk about the price you'll have to pay for this engraving."

Zicomo's words brought Lucius back to his senses.

"Please speak." His tone was more respectful than before.

“Well, how about you give up your position on the Hogwarts School Board of Trustees?” Zicomo suggested.

"Isn't this price a bit too high?"

If he relinquishes his position on the board of trustees, he will be unable to interfere in Hogwarts affairs.

"In fact, even if you don't give up this position, you won't be able to sit there for long."

"Hmm? What makes you say that?"

“You threatened the other board members to sign Dumbledore’s suspension letter, so they were already somewhat dissatisfied. I wouldn’t be surprised if they banded together to kick you out of the board one day.”

Zicomo's words reminded Lucius that he hadn't paid attention to this issue before.

If those school board members really have this intention, then he certainly won't be able to stay in that position for long.

Rather than being forced to withdraw in a sorry state, it's better to leave voluntarily, which can also ease tensions with other board members.

With that thought in mind, Lucius stopped worrying.

"Okay, I'll go and announce my resignation from the board of directors right away."

"Don't rush," Zicomo quickly stopped him. "It's not too late to deal with this matter after the person in charge arrives."

He didn't want someone else to steal his credit.

"When will the people you've chosen arrive?" Lucius asked.

"That depends on when your 100,000 Galleons arrive. Once they're in your account, I can get Lockhart into the Board of Trustees with that money."

Lucius never expected that the 100,000 Galleons that Zicomo asked him for were for this purpose, and that Lockhart was the one he chose.

Lockhart's price to pay must have been his loyalty, right?

"What about my runes?"

Zicomo thought for a moment and decided to just have it engraved on Lucius now, since he was too lazy to come back later.

"I can engrave it for you right now."

…………

Zicomo and Lucius stayed in the study for more than two hours.

When Lucius came out, his hair was soaked with sweat.

Draco could tell from his father's condition that his father had probably experienced the same ordeal as him.

Recalling the pain from a few hours ago, I still feel a cold sweat breaking out.

I just don't know what runes his father chose.

In fact, Lucius didn't choose any new runes; instead, he chose Lockhart's set.

Clearly, this person also values ​​their life.

As for why there were no screams?

That's because Lucius used a "soundproofing spell" to isolate the sound from the study.

He still cares about his image in front of his son, wife, and friends.

"Alright, everything's taken care of. Just wait for Lockhart's news about the Board of Trustees. I've been out long enough, so I'm heading back now."

Zicomo waved goodbye.

Snape was also preparing to leave; he planned to go back and ask him what price he would have to pay to get a set of runes.

Seeing that Lucius and his son both had children, he was also very tempted.

"Severus, wait a moment, I have something to discuss with you."

Lucius's attempt to persuade Snape to stay forced him to stop, hoping it wasn't anything serious.

He needed to rush back to see his daughter.

He hadn't seen Lillian for several hours, and now he missed her terribly.

The Malfoys drove Zicomo to their doorstep.

Draco was still somewhat reluctant to part with his friend Zicomo.

"Zicomo, come visit sometime!"

Zicomo nodded, said goodbye, and then Apparated away.

While Draco was still admiring how skillfully Zicomo used his spell, Lucius couldn't help but cough twice.

"Ahem, Draco, you can actually go visit Zicomo when you have time."

Lucius was hesitant to let Zicomo visit again; every time Zicomo came to their house, he had paid the price of 100,000 Galleons and a position on the school board.

He was afraid that if Zicomo came a few more times, he would empty their house.

Draco had no idea what his father was thinking. All he knew was that his father, who usually made many demands of him, had actually agreed to let him go out to play, and he couldn't have been happier.

Don't think that aristocratic life is idyllic; he has to learn various etiquettes and practice magic every day.

Although Lucius dotes on Draco, he is still very strict about his education.

"So why did you keep me here?"

Seeing that the family was leaving him standing there, Snape couldn't help but speak up and remind them.

He misses Lillian terribly and just wants to finish things quickly and go home.

Lucius remembered that he also needed to ask about Zicomo's background, so he voiced his doubts.

Snape thought about it and didn't feel there was anything he couldn't say.

He repeated Zicomo's version of events to him, and thus a few more people in the world were misled.

After hearing this, Lucius had an "I see" look on his face. No wonder Zicomo's methods seemed so unfamiliar.

Malfoy was proud of this, never expecting his friend to have such an extraordinary background.

Zicomo was completely unaware of this, and he never expected that the story he made up on the spot would spread so widely and even cover up his secret.

…………

The next day, Snape found Zicomo.

He led Zicomo into his study and pointed to a mountain of books.

"々｀This is my life's work of potion books, notes, and recipes."

Zicomo was a little confused.

"What? You're entrusting your child to someone else?"

Snape rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, "This is the price for engraving the runes."

Snape knew that Zicomo was not short of money, so he specially prepared these things.

“Hey, no need. Given our relationship, I never intended to take anything from you,” Zicomo said, waving his hand.

Having spent so much time with Zicomo, Snape could tell that Zicomo wasn't just being polite.

But he still made Zicomo accept these things.

After all, Zicomo was his nominal disciple, and these things would be passed down to Zicomo sooner or later.

Seeing this, Zicomo no longer refused and began to introduce his rune encyclopedia.

Since Snape was one of their own, Zicomo explained the general effects of each rune in as much detail as possible.

To Zicomo's surprise, Snape ultimately chose lightning from the elemental tree.

Thinking back to the time Lockhart had electrocuted him, he seemed to have a kind of "get back up from where you fell" attitude.

There's not much to say about the basic runes of the Lightning set; it summons a bolt of lightning to attack the enemy.

The advanced rune "Electric Recharge" has a 20% chance to restore the mana consumed in summoning lightning when lightning strikes an enemy.

Interestingly, another advanced rune, "Summon Thunder Bug," summons a thunder bug that can unleash lightning attacks on enemies. This seems like it should definitely be placed in the summoning tree.

The ultimate rune, "Master of Lightning," increases lightning damage by 60% and attack range by 75%.

Finally, with the essential "faith protection" for survival, a generation of Thunder King was born.