Hogwarts: Lacus doesn't want to be a witch who destroys nations.

For the next two days, Lux's life seemed to return to the routine of Hogwarts: the Great Hall, classrooms, library, and common rooms.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Turalyon was reading aloud from the section on Red Hats in his hypnotic tone of the "Defense Theory of the Dark Arts": "...Red Hats, a type of small, humanoid magical creature, usually found in ancient castle ruins or battlefield remains... They throw stones... Defense methods... Hmm... The book says... Keep your distance... Or shout at them..."

The students below, especially the Gryffindors, were yawning incessantly.

Lux was extremely bored. She could recite every word Professor Tulak read by heart and even point out several outdated or incorrect parts of the book, all thanks to Miranda's notes.

She rested her chin on her hand, her gaze seemingly fixed on the podium, but her consciousness had already sunk deep into the newly unlocked area of ​​her mind: the rune system.

I had expected to unlock a dazzling skill tree, but instead, I found myself in a dark, almost empty space. There wasn't a single rune, not even a single point of light. The emptiness was unsettling.

"System, why is this rune system empty? Where are my runes?" Lux asked in her mind.

The rune system has been unlocked, but no runes have been detected that can be equipped at present.

Please collect and equip the runes yourself.

"Fragments? We have to collect them?" Lux frowned. "Where am I supposed to collect them?"

[The runes are not native magical creations of this world; they arrived in this world before their hosts and have already had an unknown impact on the current course of history.]

Lux: "!!!"

They arrived even earlier than her and influenced history?

The power contained within runes far surpasses that of conventional magic; their very existence attracts void creatures from beyond the world's barriers. When runes are misused or accumulate in excess, void creatures will invade the world on a massive scale, ultimately causing the world's structure to collapse.

"Huh?!" Lux almost jumped up from her chair; this was too much information for her.

What does "world collapse" mean? So, she wasn't transported here to play a magical school life simulation game, but to save the world?

Wait a minute, I'm not bald with blue hair, so why am I starting to collect runes?

[Runes have mostly remained dormant for a long time, but their activity has only recently increased significantly, and they have begun to be discovered or used by some individuals in this world.]

[Long-term mission update: Recover rune fragments scattered across the world, stop the Void invasion, and maintain world stability]

"How do you recycle them? What do the runes look like?" Lux asked anxiously, this was much more important than the Academy Cup.

[The form of rune fragments is uncertain. They may be attached to objects, creatures, or even exist in a specific location as pure energy. The system can provide basic perception guidance, but the specific location and acquisition method must be explored by the host. After the rune is recovered, its power can be used by the host.]

[To assist the host in completing this core mission, the one-time special skill 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon' is hereby unlocked.]

【Mirror Flower Water Moon (One-time Modified Version)】: The host needs to understand the creation of the Soul Weapon. The creation process will consume a lot of mental power and magic power. The host can create a permanent clone with independent consciousness and spellcasting ability.

This clone possesses an independent personality and the ability to think, sharing the host's existing magical knowledge and spells (excluding system-exclusive skills such as Poro Throw, the system shop, and the quest panel). It can autonomously learn new spells, and its background setting is directly assigned by the system to ensure its seamless integration into the world.

[This clone was created to find and reclaim runes. This command has higher priority than anything else. The clone can only be created once. The host can sense its general state, but cannot directly read its thoughts or forcibly control it.]

[WARNING: The clone possesses a high degree of autonomy, and its behavior may exceed the host's expectations. Please use it with caution.]

"Create a clone... with its own thoughts?" Lux felt this skill was a bit too hot to handle. "System, are you sure this is helping and not causing trouble? What if she rebels?"

Considering the host's current activity range, this is the optimal solution, which can significantly expand the host's exploration range and efficiency.

[At the same time, the system will guide a safety procedure to ensure the host's soul remains intact, extracting only a very small portion of the consciousness seed as the core of the clone. There is no need to split the soul, but a complete understanding of the Soul Vessel's construction principles is required to complete the container's construction.]

"Alright..." Lux took a deep breath.

Saving the world sounds absurd, but runes have already appeared, and Void monsters don't seem like easy targets. Plus, collecting runes is about strengthening yourself. You can hire someone to run errands for you all over the world to find runes, while you can stay at Hogwarts and study and slack off peacefully. Perfect!

"Then... we'll build it!"

So here's the question: where can we find the recipe for Horcruxes?

Lux's mind was filled with the image of Slughorn again.

Our Slughorn is indeed quite skilled; Lux still has a chance to squeeze some more out of him. She was careless; she should have chosen Slytherin.

"Lumi, do you have a golden shovel?"

Lumi scratched his head, wondering why Lux suddenly brought this up. "Only the King can wield the Golden Shovel. Little Lumi isn't qualified yet."

Lux sighed, "What a pity. I was hoping to craft a Slytherin class change. Let me think of a reason to fool him this time."

"Lumi," Lux called out in her mind, "What do you think my expression would be if I went straight to Professor Slughorn and said, 'Hey Professor, I'm very interested in how Horcruxes are made. Do you have any connections?'"

"I think..." Lumi rubbed her face and replied, "That fat professor will probably cast a petrification spell on you first, then turn around and go to Dumbledore to complain: Albus! Something terrible has happened! A student in your house wants to make a Horcrux!"

"Tsk, that makes sense. Looks like I need to find a more tactful way to put it... Like, 'Professor, I'm researching an ancient magical energy stabilization device and need to refer to the taboo theory of soul splitting as a negative example'? No, that sounds too fake... Wait, maybe it's not that complicated!"

Lux had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.

Two days later, in Slughorn's private potions workshop, several house-elves were methodically organizing materials.

This place is several times larger than the school's potions classroom, and the air is filled with the strange fragrance of hundreds of herbs, filtered by powerful purification magic and made fresh and pleasant.

The walls were inlaid with huge potion storage cabinets, with crystal bottles, dragon skin bags and mithril jars neatly categorized, shimmering with various soft or strange lights. In the center of the room was a huge composite alchemy table made of obsidian and mithril, covered with intricate and precise magical channels, temperature control runes and stirring arms.

Professor Slughorn, dressed in a specially made alchemical robe covered with protective runes, was so focused that he was almost pious, as he carefully scraped a tiny amount of powder from a piece of dragon blood extract that looked like a ruby ​​with a mithril knife.