“The development of Runes has always been from shallow to deep, from the earliest Runes to modern-day spells, there are many branches during this period, such as the direction of Transfiguration…”
[You have acquired new Runes knowledge, Runes Experience + 7]
[You have acquired new Runes knowledge, Runes Experience + 3]
[You have acquired new Runes knowledge, Runes Experience + 8]
[You have acquired new Runes knowledge, Runes Experience + 5]
[Your Runes progress has upgraded to LV2, you can acquire an additional ability.]
[LV2 Additional Ability, Runes Decomposition: You can more easily distinguish Runes from spells and ritual structures involving Runes.]
“Quirrell” explained the structural decomposition of the Transfiguration direction of Runes in great detail, even giving the feeling that he was deliberately breaking it down piece by piece out of fear that Will wouldn’t understand, which allowed Will to successfully master this part of the content while farming a large amount of experience.
He listened to “Quirrell’s” lecture eagerly, constantly throwing out his own questions.
By this time, he no longer cared who was actually giving him the lesson; he only knew that he was genuinely learning things.
And looking at the eager Will, “Quirrell” nodded with continuous satisfaction.
“Thank you, Professor, goodbye Professor.”
Forty minutes later, Will came out of Quirrell’s office, his Runes progress having upgraded to LV2 (12/200).
The Dark Lord was truly no pushover; although in the first few Harry Potter books Voldemort was basically treated like a children’s book boss who got defeated as soon as he appeared, once actually in this world, just a tiny bit of knowledge flowing from his hands benefited Will immensely.
He had already figured out the Transfiguration conversion direction of Runes.
This direction had been extremely rarely developed and completely lacked a systematic theory, being merely a small beginning, yet Voldemort also had research in this area, which was enough to show his magical attainments back then.
Leaving the office, Will had completely lost all sleepiness; there would be plenty of time to sleep when he died, and now he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and study a bit more knowledge.
He sprinted to the Room of Requirement, integrated all the knowledge in his notebook, constantly flipped through several Runes books beside him, and recorded his conjectures.
[You have acquired new Runes knowledge, Runes Experience + 3]
Runes…
Transfiguration…
spell structure…
Ritual structure…
Will always felt something echoing in his mind and around him, yet he struggled to grasp that shred of inspiration.
Time flowed like water until Will’s stomach protested with endless rumbling.
Giving up on finding a breakthrough today, a disgruntled Will left the Room of Requirement.
It was already dark; Will hadn’t even gone to the afternoon Herbology and the evening Astronomy Class. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Walking and pondering, by the time he snapped out of it, he no longer knew which floor or level he was on.
The door to a room nearby was half-open, and Will pushed it open and walked inside as if possessed.
The room looked like an abandoned classroom; many tables and chairs were piled against the walls, casting large, dark shadows.
Will scanned the room, and when he saw one particular thing, he instantly knew what kind of place this was.
That thing was a very magnificent mirror, reaching all the way up to the ceiling, with an ornate golden frame and supported by two claw-shaped feet at the bottom.
Inscribed along the top was a line of words: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
The mirror of erised—Will recognized it at a glance.
Hesitating for a moment, he walked up to the mirror.
Since he was already here, how could he not take a look?
Besides, Will had always been very interested in this magical mirror.
What on earth was his deepest inner desire?
The surface of the mirror of erised was like a pure, smooth crystal, quietly and clearly reflecting Will’s face.
That was a much older version of him, his handsome face devoid of any expression, his silver-gray pupils seeming even colder.
He was draped in a pitch-black Wizard’s robe, walking down a gloomy, dim path.
Looking further, the Will inside the mirror was walking, and the end of the path led to goodness knows where.
As Will walked, one “Wizard” after another appeared on both sides of the road: an adult Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and quite a few Hogwarts classmates.
Then came several semi-transparent figures, looking just like eccentric ghosts: Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, as well as Snape, Sprout, and so on…
Afterwards, he also saw Sylvia.
Finally, there were vast numbers of broken, heavy black tombstones, engraved with the names of Wizards one by one: Tom Riddle, Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald, Herpo, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff…
Merlin…
This—Will was somewhat startled.
What did this represent?
He had originally thought he would see himself grinding to the ultimate limit, and then standing shoulder to shoulder with the gods under the stacking of countless additional abilities.
This scene…
Will’s silver-gray pupils swept across the image once more.
The self within it was still walking down the dim, gloomy path—this was his own heart.
Pondering for a moment, Will let out a long sigh.
“So it turns out to be—surpassing everything.”
The self in the mirror was still walking, and the tombstones engraved with Merlin’s name had already been left far, far behind.
That’s not bad either.
The corners of Will’s mouth gradually curled up.
…
“Child, what do you see?”
A gentle, kind voice sounded behind Will.
Will turned around and greeted the white-bearded old man wearing a white bathrobe.
“Professor Dumbledore, good evening.”
“I saw that I became the greatest Wizard in the world.” Will didn’t hide too much.
“Child, just like the thousands before you, you have discovered the joy of the mirror of erised.” The cup in Dumbledore’s hand was exuding the fragrance of hot cocoa, “Of course, many among them also wanted to become the greatest Wizard.”
Dumbledore said kindly, walking up to the mirror of erised as well and staring into the mirror.
The fragrance of hot cocoa grew stronger, and Will’s stomach growled uncooperatively once again.
“It seems you are starved, Will.” As soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, a long table laden with food appeared beside them: the steaks, sausages, and roasted meats that Will loved…
along with a large pot of steaming hot cocoa.
“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore.”
“You’re welcome. Young people sometimes forget to eat because of certain things.” Dumbledore sat down opposite Will and watched him begin to tuck in heartily.
“I told Sprout and Sinistra (Astronomy Professor Aurora Sinistra) that you had to take a leave of absence, and they thought you were sick.” Dumbledore chatted with Will while passing over a plate of syrup-drenched cookies, “Sprout even wanted to go to the hospital wing to visit you.”
Only then did Will realize that Dumbledore had actually helped him ask for leave.
“I’ve troubled you, Professor.”
Dumbledore shook his head: “Quirrell is right. Clever, outstanding students always get preferential treatment.”
“You know?”
“I know the vast majority of things in the castle, and most of the time that’s how student safety is ensured,” Dumbledore explained, “Of course, excluding your private domains.”
Will didn’t think Dumbledore would be perverted enough to engage in mass peeping; this was a decent Wizarding World.
“Also, Miss Lestrange kept knocking on the door of the Room of Requirement until I went over, and only then did she go back to rest.”
Will stopped eating, his expression showing a rare trace of apology: “I really shouldn’t have let the Room of Requirement seal itself off.”
Seeing Will’s reaction, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and continued: “Child, I want to remind you not to excessively indulge in the pursuit of knowledge, and not to lose yourself because of pursuing knowledge; otherwise, you might become a slave to knowledge.”
Will keenly noticed that when Dumbledore said these words, his expression grew unusually solemn, and deep down in his heart, he had a faint, ominous premonition…