Ravenclaw spoke softly, her tone calm and measured.
"With every gain, there must be sacrifice. The castle exists to protect students and provide them with a safe place to live. We also had to consider longevity. So when we built it, we invested great effort into absorbing the ambient magic that young witches and wizards naturally release, ensuring the castle could sustain itself and function indefinitely. Other aspects, naturally, had to be simplified."
"That makes sense." Tom nodded thoughtfully. "Then where is the castle's core? At first, I suspected the Room of Requirement, but it turned out to be your bedroom."
Ravenclaw smiled mysteriously. "A core? Why must there be one? A physical core only creates a fatal weakness in your creation. If you insist on calling something the core… then the very concept of the castle is its core. As long as people believe in Hogwarts and acknowledge it as a school, the core will always exist."
She was the quintessential high intellect riddler. She never explained things directly, preferring instead to drop crucial hints and let Tom reason out the rest himself. Now he understood a little better why Helena had once clashed so bitterly with her.
Who would enjoy having their mother constantly setting puzzles and turning every conversation into an examination?
Fortunately, he was not Helena. He did not need to call her mother.
Still, her words struck home.
A barrier in his thinking shattered. He realized that his subconscious had been confining him. Magical artifacts in the wizarding world were not precise machines but manifestations of miracle and thought. If that was the case, then of course the most critical secret could be hidden within abstraction itself.
It bore striking resemblance to True Name magic.
With that invisible wall broken, Tom's understanding of magic deepened once more.
Of course, insight alone was not enough. It required knowledge and foundation to support it. Ravenclaw's philosophy placed immense emphasis on thought and consciousness, subtly different from the structure of modern magic.
...
Over the next few days, Tom swept through every book inside the Room of Requirement, projecting them into his learning space. Whenever he had spare time, he retreated to the meditation chamber to read.
The gossip about the Boggart and Tom gradually faded. For young witches and wizards, it had been little more than seasoning in their daily routine. It did not truly affect them.
What did affect them was the steadily increasing workload. Groans and exaggerated wails echoed through the corridors. Inadvertently, the professors had helped Tom by shifting everyone's attention elsewhere.
Lupin's and Hagrid's classes quickly became the two most popular at Hogwarts.
Students noticed that Lupin resembled Professor Wilkinson in certain ways. Both emphasized practical combat. The difference was that Wilkinson had been humorous and lively, more like an older friend than a teacher, whereas Lupin was gentler and more reserved. His lessons were engaging rather than dull, though admittedly hard on dark creatures.
There was one small drawback. His health was poor. Just over two weeks into the term, Lupin had already taken several consecutive days off.
As for Hagrid, the popularity of his class had little to do with him personally and everything to do with the magical creatures he brought.
After receiving a stern lesson from Tom, Hagrid had finally come to his senses. He obediently began selecting genuinely adorable magical creatures for class. Unsure whether his definition of adorable aligned with the students', he followed Tom's suggestion. Each time the curriculum changed, the students voted on their preferred creatures.
Hagrid would then send the top choices to a professional for final judgment.
The professional was not Tom.
He had passed that troublesome responsibility to Newt Scamander and directly arranged for the two of them to connect via WhatsApp.
Newt loved magical creatures, but unlike Hagrid, he was sensible. After reviewing the students' progress, he helped Hagrid devise appropriate plans.
This week in particular, Hagrid had brought out two male unicorns from the Forbidden Forest. Many students who had not chosen Care of Magical Creatures were beating their chests in regret. The chance to approach unicorns up close had slipped right past them.
Seeing his class so well received filled Hagrid with joy. To thank Tom, the half giant gathered numerous materials from the Forbidden Forest and even purchased a few items from Knockturn Alley that could not be traded openly.
Some of them were genuinely useful to Tom. He did not refuse and accepted them all.
Having just received the gifts, Tom was about to collect materials from the Whomping Willow and add some protective measures against the cold when the WhatsApp notebook in his pocket vibrated.
With a curl of his finger, it flew into his hand.
The pages flipped open, revealing Cassandra's delicate face upon the parchment. A faint smile curved her thin lips.
"Tom."
"Why start a video call all of a sudden?" Tom asked.
Fortunately, Daphne was not around. Otherwise, he would have needed to spend time coaxing her afterward.
Cassandra lifted her chin. She looked especially proud today, speaking with more confidence than usual.
"Because this is important. It has to be discussed face to face."
"The batch of WhatsApp books you sent me has completely sold out. I'm here to restock. No limit on quantity. The more, the better. I can take as many as you have."
"Oh, and increase the proportion of the professional edition. That version sold out the fastest. A lot of people only bought the regular one because the professional version was already gone."
"Sold out?" Tom was genuinely surprised. "You've only had the shipment three or four days. All two thousand copies?"
"Exactly."
The girl leaned back triumphantly.
"Not only did they sell out, but every single one went for double the price."
Cassandra was inwardly ecstatic.
At last, she had managed to astonish Tom.
That feeling…
It was exhilarating.
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