Under the moonlight, Roger and Luna gazed at each other.
To Luna, Roger was an extraordinary and interesting person, someone who knew many things others didn't.
But she always felt that Roger was very distant from her.
Even though he was standing right in front of her at that moment.
Perhaps if she followed Roger's arrangements, she would become closer to him.
But then again.
Would she still be 'herself' at that time?
Luna had a good impression of Roger, but their bond clearly hadn't reached a point where Luna would distort herself to get closer.
Therefore, Luna asked the question.
And to Roger, Luna held a different kind of significance.
The position Roger had prepared for her was that of an assistant in his path to immortality.
If Luna was unwilling to take on this role, then Roger's answer could only be: "I regret that."
Though he said it, Roger didn't show any signs of disappointment. After speaking, he reached out and grabbed at the air, transforming a mass of nothing into a book.
He smiled and presented the book to Luna.
"I regret that we won't be able to travel together for a while, but I believe that no matter what path you choose now, we will eventually reach the same destination."
"What is this?" Luna asked, taking the thick book with no writing on its cover.
"This contains the original manuscript, which is even earlier than the version I revised myself, and the one Headmaster Dumbledore and I perfected together," Roger replied.
This was the nearly two-million-word notebook that Roger had initially written and revised over several hours while thinking.
"I don't dislike people who stick to their own principles."
"I've always believed that only those with the firmest convictions can go further on the path of magic."
"No, not just the path of magic, but all paths in life require conviction to pave the foundation for progress."
"That's why I'm giving it to you."
As he spoke, Roger lightly tapped the notebook in the air, casting a spell similar to the Fidelius Charm, making it so only Luna could see the book.
"This is not the Three-Dimensional Law, which leans more towards magical methods, but the original 'Three-Dimensional Theory,' which hasn't been 'polluted' much. There are no traces of Dumbledore in here."
"It doesn't even have much of the trace of materialistic magic."
"It's not as powerful as the version of the Three-Dimensional Law that Dumbledore and I perfected, but it can be considered a 'blank canvas'."
"You can manifest your own ideas into ink and paint freely on it."
Roger's initial plan was to gradually draw Luna into his circle, making her a link in his chain of plans.
But he hadn't expected Luna to be so perceptive; she had already sensed something just as he was starting.
Of course, Roger had dozens, even hundreds, of ways to smooth things over and continue his persuasion.
But Roger found that rather boring, like parents saying 'I'll keep your New Year's money safe for you' during the holidays.
Roger disdained such self-deceiving tactics.
So, he laid everything out honestly.
Roger showed sincerity, and Luna responded with sincerity.
Being rejected was within Roger's expectations, but Luna's counter-question gave Roger new ideas.
"I look forward to your future, and I hope you will have an interesting life as you said before." Roger never hesitated to offer encouragement to truly talented individuals.
Roger anticipated that she would bring a unique new possibility to the Three-Dimensional Law.
Given Luna's precocious intelligence, it was impossible for her not to understand the implications of his invitation.
It was like the head of state of a country inviting you to be a powerful regional governor, but you flatly refuse, saying you want to start your own business.
Since Luna was so firm in her desire to take another path, Roger's choice was naturally to... bet! The Three-Dimensional Law developing in a more idealistic direction was not without its benefits for Roger's growth.
It was just that these benefits might not manifest for a very long time, perhaps even centuries or millennia.
It was a field Roger would only delve into deeply after growing to a terrifying extent on the materialistic path.
Therefore, Roger would not allow Luna's and Dumbledore's paths to become the mainstream of the current world's extraordinary system.
But Roger didn't mind nurturing individuals who truly possessed special talents in these areas as reserve talents for the future.
Just as Roger had initially told Professor McGonagall, 'sow seeds upstream in the timeline, and harvest them downstream,' this was what Roger had been doing all along.
Truly talented individuals are never limited to just one application; if she didn't want to do this, Roger had plenty of other suitable positions for her!
"..." Luna held Roger's book, speechless for a long time.
"Alright, it's getting late, and curfew will be soon. You should head back and rest too. Goodnight." They had talked enough, and Roger decided it was time to withdraw.
Although he hadn't gained an assistant this time, it wasn't a total loss.
He just wondered when this seed would grow strong enough to bear abundant fruit.
It will probably be a long time from now.
"...Roger!"
Watching Roger's retreating back, Luna called out to him.
Roger turned back to Luna, who was walking quickly towards him: "Hm?"
"There's no such thing as different paths leading to the same destination," Luna Lovegood's ethereal silver eyes seemed to hold a different hue at this moment.
"My magic, your magic, Headmaster Dumbledore's magic, the professors' magic, everyone's magic, even every Muggle's technology, whether idealistic or materialistic, they are just different in appearance."
"Everyone in this world has never had 'different paths'; we've all been walking the same road from beginning to end."
"Becoming better!"
The only difference is how everyone understands 'better'.
"If I use your words... Roger, we've always been walking the same road, even if our magic is different."
"I want to know what Pestering Mites are, are you willing to explore it with me?"
The smile Luna showed was sincere and gentle.
For Luna, magic was just magic, a part of life, not the entirety of it.
Luna was unwilling to distort her will for the sake of magic.
Nor was she willing to drift further away from interesting people like Roger because of magic.
She still wanted to be friends with Roger.
"In a few days, I'll come find you when I have the weekend off," Roger didn't refuse.
Roger was also a bit curious about creatures that only Luna could see among the people he knew, and which had led to the birth of beings like the Fear Demon.
However, his schedule for the next few days was really tight.
Roger still had many preparations to make that he hadn't started yet.
.
.
.
"This is what you call the 'Phase Membrane'?"
Nicolas Flamel frowned and scanned his surroundings.
Even with his magical abilities, it was difficult to sense anything unusual.
"It's normal that you can't sense it. On one hand, human sensory abilities are inherently limited, and I've also cast a spell to obscure the senses."
As he spoke, Roger adjusted the size of the semi-finished Illusory True Realm, or rather, the 'Phase Membrane'.
Because the inspiration came from the phase manipulation of all things in the universe by Demon Gods in A Certain Magical Index, Roger directly named it the 'Phase Membrane'.
On the third day of the semester, Roger finally had time to get this thing going.
Roger had experimented, and with his current strength, he couldn't possibly expand it to the scale of a 'planet'.
It was even a bit of a stretch to cover Britain.
If he were to expand it without affecting his own actions and normal spellcasting, Roger could only enlarge it to around the vicinity of London.
That was enough.
When Roger's Phase Membrane was completely stable, he projected Virtual Reality in a holographic form, just like the experiments in the wand shop.
Then, the figure of wand master Ollivander appeared in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts Castle.
The Dream Shadow ritual still required the caster to be asleep, which was sometimes inconvenient, but Virtual Reality technology was different.
With the Phase Membrane acting as a carrier for signal transmission, both parties could achieve real-time communication.
Unfortunately, Roger still hadn't overcome the technical hurdle of simultaneous projection and thought acceleration.
Otherwise, he might have been able to replicate the 'one day in heaven is one year on earth' from various myths in this magical world.
"This is..." Ollivander wasn't surprised by his communication with Roger; they had arranged it beforehand.
But he looked at the little boy next to Roger with a face full of confusion.
Roger should be at Hogwarts right now, shouldn't he? This child's age clearly wasn't old enough to enter Hogwarts.
At that moment, Ollivander even thought of absurd things like 'alchemical homunculi'.
"Allow me to introduce you, this is Mr. Nicolas Flamel," Roger said by way of introduction.
"...Ah?" Ollivander glanced at the rosy-cheeked child.
Then he looked at Roger again.
His face showed an expression that clearly said, 'Are you kidding me?'
"It's magic."
"Headmaster Dumbledore used the power of magic to turn Mr. Nicolas Flamel into this state," Roger said directly, revealing the answer without any preamble.
Since Nicolas Flamel had previously agreed to help him, Roger naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to involve such a distinguished master in the development of his new wand. Alchemy and wands, while separated by a discipline, weren't too far apart.
It was like civil engineering and material science.
Although they were two different fields, there were many intersections between them.
Just like Muggle technology, the various magical disciplines among wizards also had intricate connections.
Roger believed that with Nicolas Flamel's participation, the development speed of his new wand would surely increase!
Would it delay Nicolas Flamel's other commitments? After reaching an agreement with him, Roger had immediately granted Nicolas Flamel access to the highest rate of virtual reality thought acceleration!
His thought speed was now more than ten times faster than before! This extra time was more than enough for him to handle various matters.
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