Merlin, in both this world and Roger's previous life, was a world-renowned wizard.
The image of countless Western mages was influenced by him.
Pointed hats, long beards, staffs...
According to what Roger learned from his Hogwarts History of Magic textbook, Merlin's legend began in the 6th century AD, during the era of King Arthur.
However, Slytherin House had always claimed Merlin as an alumnus. It's common knowledge that Hogwarts was founded in the 10th century AD, a gap of nearly four hundred years.
There are two possibilities here: either Slytherin House was simply making things up to boost their prestige, or...
Merlin had also stepped into the realm of Eternal Life! From Roger's subjective perspective, the latter was clearly more likely.
On one hand, Merlin was a wizard with magical creature blood, a "half-human, half-demon," and also the most prominent leader of the faction friendly to Muggles among wizards worldwide.
The Knights of Merlin was originally an official supervisory organization, a force of violence, loyal to the British monarchy, meant to suppress wizards and prevent them from acting lawlessly.
This conflicted with Slytherin's ideals of pure-blood supremacy and wizard supremacy.
Therefore, even if Slytherin House wanted to play a game similar to the Tang Dynasty imperial family finding a Daoist ancestor to enhance their prestige, they generally wouldn't choose Merlin.
On the other hand, it was what Roger encountered when trying to trace Merlin's history and gain some benefit from him – concrete evidence! "Crisis premonition saved me again," Roger couldn't help but sigh. The magical development in this world was truly fraught with danger everywhere.
If he didn't have his crisis premonition ability, he would have died countless times by now.
The Time Phantom Shuttle Spell could lock onto a space and trace time, projecting past scenes into the present without affecting the historical timeline on the surface.
But in reality, it did.
When Roger manipulated past images, he generated fluctuations of Time Magic. Previously, no anomalies had occurred.
This was because the fluctuations were fleeting, and those who didn't understand Time Magic wouldn't even realize what had happened.
Even among those who understood Time Magic, how many would undergo significant life changes due to such a minor fluctuation, thereby causing major changes to the historical timeline and leading to the collapse of the present timeline?
This was an almost impossible scenario.
But this almost impossible thing had become a certainty with Merlin! Roger didn't know if Merlin was still alive, but the Merlin of that era was likely powerful to an unimaginable degree.
To put it in a more "magnetic field freak" way, his magnetic field power might not be strong, but his overall realm was definitely outrageously high.
Converting this to technology would be like a group of primitive people who could share nuclear fusion technology with you.
Roger could sense through his crisis premonition that if he used the Time Phantom Shuttle Spell to trace the past, Merlin might be able to glimpse a corner of the future through his momentary casting trace.
The same information has different values in the hands of different people.
For instance, the American financial magnate Soros would short the British Pound next month.
This action led to the collapse of the Pound Sterling, its complete withdrawal from the European exchange rate mechanism, and had a certain impact on the overall national trend of Britain thereafter.
Soros himself reaped $1.1 billion in a short period during this process.
If an ordinary person knew about this, at most they could pick up some scraps behind this financial magnate in 1992.
But if someone with sufficient energy knew about this in advance and was 100% certain of the accuracy of the information, then... the worldline of Earth would likely undergo subtle shifts!
And this was the same for Merlin.
"I'm still not strong enough," Roger sighed, for what felt like the umpteenth time.
Currently, Roger's Time Plague was still in its early stages.
He could only achieve "time connection" from the end of his first year after leaving school until today.
His current timeline defense mechanism started from when he got off the Hogwarts Express.
He couldn't achieve "the weakest moment is the strongest moment" to defend against timeline attacks for earlier periods.
Even his own existence was like this, let alone the history of his pre-transmigration period before 1990.
"It seems I won't be able to explore Merlin's secrets until I can extend my existence into history."
"Oh, right, I still need to warn Harry again, telling him not to randomly look at things with the Time Phantom Shuttle Spell or the Time Cinema Spell when he's in Britain, nor to use magic to look at antiques of unknown age."
Roger felt a bit regretful about this.
But he didn't dwell on it too much.
It was just a matter of timing. History was there; what was the hurry to explore it sooner or later?
Putting aside the issue of Merlin, Roger began to turn his attention to other famous wizards.
As expected, similar phenomena did not occur with Hogwarts' four founders, such as those in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.
Although these wizards, like Merlin, were all crowned with the name "great."
But there were differences between greatness and greatness. Ultimate magical power, driving the progress of civilization, making important choices at critical junctures in history.
Merlin possessed all three, while Hogwarts' founders focused more on the latter two.
They broke the traditional master-apprentice inheritance model of the wizarding world, advancing civilization by one step. But in terms of magical power... they were strong enough, but not strong enough to transcend their era.
It was like how both Yujiro Hanma and Saiyan Kakarot could be considered in the "Earth's Strongest" tier in their respective worlds, but the value they held was different.
One could only dominate Earth, while the other was a significant figure even in the universe.
"Looks like I'll have to go back to Hogwarts to understand everything."
Roger followed in the footsteps of Hogwarts' four founders, traveling all over Britain.
Although they founded Hogwarts, it wasn't as if their lives revolved solely around the castle. Before and after they made that decision, they all did quite a bit outside of Hogwarts.
...In an era where small-scale master-apprentice transmission was the main melody, what those four accomplished could definitely be called defying all odds! It was like the first time the imperial examination system was introduced in ancient Eastern countries; it was bound to cause considerable backlash. Hogwarts and the vested interests of the old system at the time naturally had disputes.
Roger gained some insights by watching historical footage of both sides.
However, because the historical puzzle was missing the piece related to what happened inside Hogwarts, Roger felt unsatisfied.
Roger checked the time. It was already late August, with only a few days left until school started.
Well, everything was just right.
"It's time to prepare for the start of school."
Although Roger had already self-studied all the school's apparent courses, Hogwarts' value to him was far more than just the teaching that professors publicly offered.
Firstly, Hogwarts was actually a gathering place for the most talented individuals in the wizarding world. Here, Roger could find top experts in fields where he was not proficient and engage in exchanges and learning.
Secondly, most wizards in the British wizarding world were Hogwarts alumni. To put it in an Eastern way, this was the 'orthodox' lineage of the British wizarding world. It permeated all aspects of society more deeply than the Ministry of Magic.
Lastly... Dumbledore was here.
In terms of large-scale destructive power, Roger could be considered the strongest of his generation. But in a direct magical confrontation between wizards, Dumbledore, after learning Roger's Three-Dimensional Law, was currently the 'Earth's Number One Combat Wizard'.
When Roger and Dumbledore stood together, Hogwarts was the safest place in a world where the Three-Dimensional Law had not yet been widely promoted.
Here, Roger and Dumbledore kept each other in check while also protecting each other. But away from Hogwarts...
Just as Dumbledore didn't feel at ease with Roger and always wanted to keep him under his watchful eye, Roger also maintained a certain level of vigilance towards the top wizards in this world.
Not just Dumbledore, but when Roger was monitoring Voldemort, his main focus was on observing Grindelwald.
As a Seer, Roger knew too well how much trouble a Seer could cause if they set their mind to it.
"But speaking of which... I actually have to buy these books. What does Nicolas Flamel intend to teach?"
Unlike the schools in Roger's previous life, in the wizarding world, there was no so-called education bureau to dictate what courses schools taught.
Instead, professors decided for themselves.
Professors would list the textbooks to be used for the upcoming academic year, and students would purchase them themselves.
It was easy for other courses; over the years, the books used were often fixed. Flourish and Blotts even sold old textbooks, which could be bought and used directly.
But Defense Against the Dark Arts was different. Due to a curse, the professor for this subject changed every year, and the textbooks were different each year.
"Never mind, it's better than Lockhart." Roger thought for a moment and shook his head.
If Roger had to buy a pile of adventure stories created by plagiarizing other people's lives as textbooks, he would definitely smash those books right in Gilderoy Lockhart's face!
...
...
...
London, Diagon Alley.
This trade center for British wizards was as bustling as ever.
No, to be precise, it was even livelier than the last time Roger had visited.
Roger keenly noticed that several shops along Diagon Alley had changed hands.
A few shops that used to sell candy now had new owners and new businesses.
They sold various magical materials. From the German on the outer packaging of these materials, Roger instantly understood their background.
"Has the comprehensive cooperation tentatively begun?" Roger recalled Dumbledore's previous mention of the German Minister of Magic's visit.
Just like international trade for Muggles, the Ministry of Magic also collected tariffs on cross-border trade for wizards.
He noticed that the materials in these shops had apparently received relevant tax exemptions, otherwise, they wouldn't be so cheap.
"Roger!"
Just as Roger was pondering how this would affect his plans, a clear voice sounded from behind him.
Turning around, Roger saw the child he had met once last year.
"Long time no see." The girl ran a few steps, weaving through the crowd, and came up to Roger, greeting him with a wide smile.
Luna Lovegood had a deep impression of Roger.
Before Roger could even get close, she had already detected Roger's presence nearby through the gathering of numerous Pestering Mites!
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