Chapter 96: A Straight-A Student's Troubles: Seeing Through Transfiguration at a Glance, the True Dragon's Talent Actually Has Flaws
Spellcasting Talent, to put it bluntly, was just a magic-type talent.
Falling into Hodu's hands, it was a trait stripped from a True Dragon, and after being stacked ten thousand times, the effect was naturally even more exaggerated.
Hodu was overjoyed.
Talent was the thing he lacked the most. Now that he had the Spellcasting Talent trait, even if you counted every living creature on Earth, his talent was number one.
But knowledge wasn't completely useless to Hodu either.
The things summarized by Wizards could help him get started with magic faster. When he encountered areas not covered by Wizard knowledge, it wouldn't be too late to use Spellcasting Talent to explore them.
Hodu continued skimming the contents in the system, though not as focused as before, his eyes glancing at McGonagall from time to time.
The fourth trait, and also the last one, was Eternal Dragon Body.
After reading the introduction, Hodu understood instantly that this thing was a divine skill for self-preservation.
The key lay in the two words "Eternal".
With it, no matter how battered the body became, it could be continuously repaired.
Severed limbs could grow back, and even a drop of blood could regenerate, though it didn't seem to have much to do with the soul.
The two words "Dragon Body" weren't just for show either; they overlapped somewhat with the All Things Spiritual Material trait.
The two traits didn't fight because of their similarity, but instead stacked together.
He just didn't know if the previous blood trait was still there.
Shifting his line of sight away from the system, he looked toward the front of the classroom, putting on an appearance of listening attentively to the lecture, but actually his mind was wandering again.
This wave of gains was too huge.
Obtaining four traits in one breath, and unlike the previous ones, this was a case of making the strong even stronger.
Yet even so, Hodu still felt a bit of pity in his heart.
Four traits were not a few, but they didn't copy over all of the True Dragon's talents completely.
Hodu originally thought he could strip a trait from the True Dragon that could grant him longevity.
Xuanwu had said that the True Dragon had a long lifespan, at the very least calculated in tens of thousands of years.
If that ten-thousand-fold multiplier was stacked on top, Hodu wouldn't even dare to think about it.
Even if it were just a simple stacking, it could allow his lifespan to reach a terrifying degree.
It just so happened that this time no lifespan-related trait was extracted, so inevitably there was a bit of regret in his heart.
A flash of contemplation crossed the depths of Hodu's eyes.
To say his lifespan hadn't changed at all was something he didn't believe either.
His body had definitely grown stronger, and the Eternal Dragon Body trait was right there, indicating that his cell division speed had become faster, perhaps already exceeding the rate of cellular aging.
It was a pity there was no record of lifespan values in the system, otherwise he would be able to know if his lifespan had been extended because his body had grown stronger.
Forget it, anyway, given his current physical condition, living to a hundred years old without disaster or illness would definitely be no problem.
For the rest of the time, Hodu didn't let his mind wander again, instead listening to the lecture attentively for a while.
With the Spellcasting Talent trait, the feeling of attending class was completely different.
When Professor McGonagall cast Transfiguration, he could master it directly with just a single glance, and could even surpass it.
This feeling of being a straight-A student made his mood leap with joy.
In the past, he would have to listen to the class carefully to grasp the knack of Transfiguration, and even that wasn't enough; he would have to practice countless times to raise the success rate of the Transfiguration Charm a little.
Now he only needed a short moment to perfectly master the Transfiguration Charm.
Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration had no secrets in front of him; he could even see the flaws when Professor McGonagall cast Transfiguration.
Casting the Transfiguration Charm just the same, he could directly find the most correct path, the most concise path, leading straight to the Great Dao of magic.
To him now, a wand or a magic fan was definitely an obstacle.
Watching Professor McGonagall talk back and forth about a simple Transfiguration Charm, Hodu couldn't help letting his mind wander again.
That wave of excitement gradually dissipated, and by the time of the subsequent History of Magic Class, he gradually returned to normal.
When the morning classes ended, Hodu wasn't that excited anymore, but he still bid farewell to Harry and the others, not following them to eat in the Great Hall.
He had too many things he wanted to experiment with.
He directly cast the Phantom Concealment trait, treating all surrounding buildings and living creatures as air.
The soles of his feet became empty, and his entire person inevitably plummeted downward, penetrating Hogwarts's floor directly.
That sense of massive falling made one feel as though they were tumbling into a bottomless abyss.
And that was indeed the case; if he didn't cancel the Phantom Concealment trait, he would keep falling all the way down, even plummeting to the Earth's core, though he didn't know if he would die from lack of oxygen midway.
Falling to the first floor of Hogwarts Castle, just as he was about to drop underground, Hodu directly activated the flight superpower.
His entire person fixed in mid-air, floating just like that.
To say he was completely suspended wasn't quite right either; he was drifting upward at an extremely slow speed.
Hodu's eyes flashed, and his entire person catapulted out, instantly passing through Hogwarts Castle and appearing above the Castle, his momentum unreduced as he flew at high speed.
If anyone could see him, they would find his figure rapidly shrinking in the air, soon becoming invisible to the naked eye.
In the air, Hodu could flip his body at will, and could also stop instantly, his whole person as fast as a launched missile.
When he erupted with his true maximum speed, his entire person turned into a ball of fire, and a loud bang echoed through the air.
A clearly visible wall of air appeared in front of him.
That was the scene formed by the air being forcibly pushed aside by him.
He definitely far exceeded the speed of sound.
The clothes on his body would instantly burn away at such a speed, so he could only continuously apply the Fortifying Charm to keep the things on his body from being completely destroyed in the high speed.
However, he could feel that he had to constantly replenish the Fortifying Charm on his things.
Under a sufficiently strong external force, magic would still fail; it couldn't truly immunize against all physical forces.
The Fortifying Charm was already handy under the blessing of the Handy Life Skills trait, and now with the Spellcasting Talent, it had an even greater qualitative leap.
Under the "map" formed by Apparition, he flew all the way back from the British Magical World to his hometown, Modu.
Under extreme speed, it took less than ten seconds.
Hodu stopped above Modu, the nighttime Modu in full view.
This kind of flying made his mind and soul surge, unable to calm down for a long time.
As expected of the ten-thousand-fold stacking, just the numerical value after this ten-thousand-fold stacking was already quite remarkable.
However, he inevitably had some doubts.
Although the speed after the ten-thousand-fold stacking was very fast, if the effect of the ten thousand times was removed, the speed of the original flight superpower's trait didn't seem to be all that fast.
This trait came from a True Dragon, after all, and Hodudidn't believe that such a speed could cross the starry sky and support a True Dragon in roaming through the cosmos.
Even with the flight superpower after ten-thousand-fold stacking, it didn't reach the speed of light; how could such a speed carry out a traversal of the starry sky?
Giving it a second thought, Hodu could only guess that what the True Dragon relied on to cross the starry sky wasn't flight, but presumably some kind of magic.
Hodu didn't dwell on this matter, instead flying down, canceling the Phantom Concealment trait, and finding a restaurant to start eating.
Logically speaking, under the Eternal Dragon Body, his body should have undergone some changes.
Yet there was none.
He hadn't become gluttonous just because his body grew stronger, and his demand for food wasn't large either, showing no change from before.
This couldn't help but make Hodu fall into deep thought.
The cola bottle pressed against his lips, his gaze flickering somewhat—this was unreasonable.
He didn't think a True Dragon's food intake was similar to his, but the Eternal Dragon Body hadn't brought any change to his food intake.
If this was the case, perhaps even his lifespan hadn't undergone any change.
Hodu quickly thought of this point, his brows furrowing.
The changes in his body came from traits when all was said and done. The current situation couldn't help but make him suspect that the traits had blocked out all other changes that should have occurred.
Or rather, the changes the system brought him were merely those mentioned in the trait introductions—no more, no less.
Even if his physical strength exceeded that of a True Dragon, his lifespan hadn't been affected in the slightest.
Hodu turned to recall all sorts of situations since acquiring the traits, finding this situation particularly obvious; he should have realized it long ago.
However, he wasn't in a rush right now either.
Although he deduced that his lifespan most likely hadn't increased by even a bit, his system was still there.
After thoroughly fusing with the True Dragon, he could begin fusing non-living objects, and he would always find a way to increase his lifespan.
Taking ten thousand steps back, if worst came to worst, there was still the Philosopher's Stone, which could be made into the elixir of life.
Paired with his blood, increasing his lifespan would presumably be a simple matter.
Thinking of this, Hodu drank the cola in the glass bottle in one gulp, took money out of his money pouch to pay the bill, and got up to leave.
Arriving at a place where no one was around, he concealed himself with Phantom Concealment, soared into flight once more, and flew into the villa in Beijing in the blink of an eye.
Xuanwu was obsessed with television as usual, paying no mind to Hodu's sudden appearance.
Hodu originally thought Xuanwu might directly come up and call him Dad, but looking at it now, he had thought too much.
The dragon horns didn't detect his abnormality; there wasn't even any mistake recognized.
It seemed he was still human in essence, and the traits hid the abnormalities very well.
Seeing this, Hodu didn't bother with Xuanwu either, going straight up the stairs to the second floor, entering the bedroom, and casually closing the door to avoid being disturbed.
He sat down casually on the bed, taking out a pomegranate-red crystal from his money pouch.
This was precisely the Philosopher's Stone.
The system could already fuse non-living objects, so naturally he chose this Philosopher's Stone in his hand to fuse first.
In the bottom of his heart, he couldn't help feeling some anticipation.
The Philosopher's Stone could be considered a rare and precious treasure throughout the entire Magical World, at least in the Magical World on Europe's side.
Non-living objects that could be compared to the Philosopher's Stone were probably only the Deathly Hallows regarded as legends.
Legend had it that a person who mastered the three Deathly Hallows could wield the power of life and death, thereby escaping death.
But this was only a legend after all.
At least the elixir of life made from the Philosopher's Stone wasn't a legend.
Hodu looked at this Philosopher's Stone, his gaze flickering slightly.
Naturally, it was impossible for him to fuse the entire piece; he was still planning to rely on this Philosopher's Stone to brew the elixir of life.
Thinking it over, he casually placed the Philosopher's Stone on the bed, walked quickly down the stairs, came to the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and hurried back to the bedroom.
Xuanwu glanced sideways at him, somewhat not understanding why.
Chapter 97: The Correct Way to Use the Philosopher's Stone
Hodu carried a kitchen knife back to the bedroom, intending to scrape some powder off the Philosopher's Stone so that it wouldn't affect the whole stone while still allowing him to use it for fusion.
But the moment the kitchen knife touched it and made a gentle scratch, not even a white mark was left on the surface of the stone.
He gripped the knife, gesturing back and forth over the surface of the stone for a long time, but could never bring himself to actually cut into it.
He was afraid that if he failed to control the strength in his hand and the entire stone split into several pieces, it would be completely ruined, resulting in a disastrous loss.
After much thought, he finally put the knife down.
Downstairs he went out, and when he returned, he was holding a piece of coarse sandpaper.
The sandpaper actually worked; after rubbing it back and forth a few times, he finally managed to grind off a tiny bit of fine powder.
Looking at the Philosopher's Stone itself, almost no change could be seen.
Pinching that bit of powder, with a faint sense of anticipation in his heart, he tossed the stone onto the bed, moved his thoughts, and directly began the fusion.
[Fusion item detected, beginning parsing task.]
[Current fusion item: Philosopher's Stone]
[Parsing difficulty: Grade A]
[Parsing progress: 1 / 10000]
[Current extracted trait: 1. magic Solidification]
[magic Solidification: Greatly increases the persistence of magic effects]
[Note: The degree of this trait is linked to the parsing progress. When the parsing is complete, you can obtain the ten-thousand-fold trait.]
[Current parsing efficiency: Increases by 1 point per day; parsing progress can be improved through related tasks.]
Hodu blinked; this result was pretty much what he had guessed initially.
Upon careful thought, it wasn't hard to perceive that this trait was somewhat similar to the effect of his blood.
His blood could strengthen the efficacy of Potions, while the Philosopher's Stone's ability was to prolong the effects of Potions. Both worked on Potion effects, just from different angles.
The elixir of life was probably a kind of Potion that maintained the body's state from decaying or directly fixed the state of life.
But Potions were different from magic; most belonged to the type that took effect immediately, and even if drunk, the effect wouldn't last too long.
However, the magic Solidification of the Philosopher's Stone could greatly prolong the effects of such body-state-fixing Potions. Put bluntly, the so-called elixir of life came about this way.
If a bit of his blood was mixed in when brewing the elixir of life, it would be equivalent to further magnifying the effect of the Philosopher's Stone, and the time during which the body's state was fixed would be extended even further, wouldn't the goal of longevity be achieved?
As for why the Philosopher's Stone could turn stone into gold, it also relied on magic Solidification.
The stone didn't truly turn into gold; rather, the transfiguration effect was fixed.
It wasn't that it couldn't change back, but rather that the solidified state was extremely difficult to break.
Thinking of this, Hodu's eyes lit up, and a thought popped into his head.
Now that he held the trait of magic Solidification in his hands, why would he still need the Philosopher's Stone to turn stone into gold?
He already knew the Transfiguration Curse, and coupled with magic Solidification, wouldn't gold maintaining its original form for a long time still be turning stone into gold?
And that wasn't all.
If he could find a magic equivalent in effect to the elixir of life, wouldn't he be able to prolong his own life through magic Solidification?
Hodu suddenly felt as if a new path had opened up before him.
Although he hadn't drawn a longevity trait from the True Dragon, the Philosopher's Stone had pointed out a way for him to extend his lifespan.
He wasn't sure if there was such magic in the Magical World. If there really wasn't any, by slowly groping around with his Spellcasting Talent, he would eventually figure it out sooner or later.
However, creating a magic out of thin air was bound to be much more strenuous than directly learning a ready-made one.
Spellcasting Talent, bluntly speaking, was more like a flair for casting magic. Constantly making mistakes and trying could indeed tinker out new magic, but the whole process couldn't be called easy.
Hodu shifted his gaze, suddenly remembering that fusing the Philosopher's Stone also had an exclusive quest. He curiously clicked it open to take a look, wanting to see what tricks the system could pull this time.
The moment he saw the system content, his brows furrowed.
What kind of quest was this?
[Exclusive Quest: Collect Magical Crystals]
[Completing the quest once increases parsing progress by 1; this quest can be repeated.]
[Note: This quest is an exclusive quest for Philosopher's Stone fusion.]
Hodu's expression became strange. Could this stone even be divided into male and female? Not picky about gender, planning to collect a harem for himself?
Of course, this was just a random thought wandering in his head. As he thought, he pinched his chin.
After pondering for a long time, he could only come up with an unreliable guess—could this be the manufacturing process of the Philosopher's Stone?
Could the raw material of the Philosopher's Stone itself be some kind of special crystal?
If he wanted to know the exact answer, he was afraid he would have to go ask Nicolas Flamel, the creator of the Philosopher's Stone.
Hodu didn't dwell on this issue for too long.
The quest itself had no meaning; completing it was what gave it meaning.
Besides, this quest seemed very easy to him. Treasure hunting was as simple as eating and drinking to him.
Once the Spiritual Treasure Insight Technique was activated, the magical crystals in the nearby area couldn't hide no matter how hard they tried.
However, he wasn't in a rush.
Although the quest wasn't difficult, the quantity was stuck right there; collecting ten thousand magical crystals would still take a fair amount of effort.
Hodu casually put the Philosopher's Stone on the bed into his money pouch.
For him right now, this stone didn't have much use anymore, but it was a treasure after all, and keeping it wouldn't be a loss.
Downstairs, he greeted the Dragon Turtle and then went out.
There were still classes in the afternoon.
The afternoon was Professor Flitwick's Charms Class.
In the past, he would listen attentively to such classes as well. After all, it wasn't the boring History of Magic or Herbology Class, but a class that actually taught spells.
Even though most of the time they taught simple daily-life spells, he had long known them by heart.
But today's feeling was indeed a bit different from usual.
Being also a ten-thousand-fold stacking, Spellcasting Talent was stronger than Household Mastery by more than just a little bit.
In the past, when it came to daily-life magic, even if Dumbledore came personally, it was impossible for him to use it better than Hodu.
It was still the same now, but the difference was that previously when he cast daily-life magic, he still followed the spell principles summarized by past generations of Wizards.
Now, he simply skipped the principles and directly hurled the magic out along the optimal route. This experience was quite marvelous.
On each student's desk in the classroom sat a cup of pumpkin juice. Needless to say, it must have been sent in advance by those House-elves in the kitchen.
Professor Flitwick took the lead in picking up his cup and downed the pumpkin juice in one gulp, and Hodu followed suit by finishing the pumpkin juice in his cup.
Most people were completely baffled, unable to figure out what Professor Flitwick was up to, and looked around with puzzled expressions one by one.
But Hodu and Hermione faintly had the answer in their hearts, roughly guessing what spell this class was going to teach.
"Is this a new rule at Hogwarts? Will drinks be distributed every class from now on?"
Ron licked his lips, his eyes glowing slightly.
Being able to drink a cup of pumpkin juice outside the Great Hall could also be considered a pretty good experience.
"Idiot, this is to teach us the Refilling Charm!"
Hermione glanced at Ron with disgust and muttered in a low voice.
Sure enough, after most people finished their pumpkin juice, Professor Flitwick announced today's topic: it was precisely the Refilling Charm, a spell that could refill drinks.
The practicality of this spell was beyond reproach, and it was simple in itself.
After Flitwick finished explaining the essentials and demonstrated it on the spot, he let the classmates try it themselves.
This was also the reason why Hodu particularly favored Charms Class among a bunch of classes, and Harry and the others were no exception.
The spells currently taught all came from "Elementary Spells", and the spells inside were all very simple.
Each Charms Class basically only taught one new spell.
After Flitwick finished explaining the essentials, the remaining time belonged to themselves. They could practice spells if they wanted to, or ponder if they wanted to—put bluntly, it was free activity time.
Flitwick only strolled back and forth in the classroom, correcting students' movements from time to time.
Even if someone waved their wand perfunctorily while whispering to each other, he wouldn't open his mouth to criticize.
Therefore, Professor Flitwick's ranking in the hearts of the students was always among the top, and he could be considered the most easygoing Professor besides Dumbledore.
Before Hodu even took out his wand, he saw Hermionealready chanting the Refilling Charm at the glass cup with residual pumpkin juice stuck to the bottom.
The next second, a surge of pumpkin juice welled up from the bottom of the cup like a spring, and didn't stop until it filled the cup to the brim.
Hermione had long since learned such a simple spell.
"Professor, I succeeded!"
Hermione proudly raised her small hand, looking at Professor Flitwick with a proud face, her voice quite loud.
The other students in the classroom had long been unfazed by this and didn't even raise their heads.
"Very good, Miss Granger, well done! Two points to Gryffindor!"
Watching this scene, Hodu couldn't help blinking and secretly complaining in his heart.
He didn't know how Professor Flitwick managed it; clearly it was something he was long used to, yet every time he could put on an expression of surprise as if seeing it for the first time.
This had a bit of acting talent in him, perhaps it should be called teasing a child for fun, but unfortunately Hermioneprobably didn't realize it at all herself.
Hodu shifted his gaze to the others.
Harry and the others were also holding wands and trying, but none of them succeeded on the first try like Hermione.
Of course, Hodu didn't believe for a second that Hermionesucceeded on her very first spellcasting.
Those contents in "Elementary Spells" had probably been thumbed through until they were worn out by Hermione long ago.
He withdrew his gaze, looked at the empty cup in front of him, casually pulled out the wand at his waist, but wasn't in a hurry to chant the spell.
Using Household Mastery to cast the Refilling Charm was of course a breeze for him.
But he wanted to try Spellcasting Talent.
Professor Flitwick's demonstration just now looked unremarkable to outsiders—a simple spell with no fancy movements.
But falling into Hodu's eyes, it was a completely different story.
He vaguely saw the trajectory of magic, or rather, the essence of magic.
A simple spell coupled with a wand-waving movement—why on earth could it elicit the corresponding magic effect? All of these revealed their true forms before his eyes.
Relying on Spellcasting Talent, he could easily replicate the same effect.
Hodu gripped his wand and casually tapped the rim of the cup.
The next moment, pumpkin juice surged rapidly from the bottom of the cup, filling the entire cup in the blink of an eye.
In fact, if he relied on Household Mastery, he wouldn't even need to take out his wand; just a thought in his heart would suffice.
But the two were completely different.
Household Mastery at most allowed him to cast the Refilling Charm silently and wandlessly, but Spellcasting Talent was even more exaggerated.
He didn't need to chant any spells at all, so naturally there was no difference between voiced and voiceless; it was equivalent to directly simplifying the Refilling Charm to the limit.
Chapter 98: The Main Vein of Buff magic, A Questioned Identity
The weight of this modification was actually much heavier.
He had merely taken a more effortless path before; it wasn't that the difficulty had increased, but rather that Wizards hadn't figured out this shortcut yet.
If he were willing to teach it, others could pick it up quickly too—without waving a wand or chanting a spell, just letting the magic inside their bodies surge in a certain way.
Hodu had no intention of stopping there.
That recent attempt had given him a clear grasp: the Refilling Charm was simply delivering a buff effect, trading breadth for quantity to make the pumpkin juice increase.
At its root, it was just a buff magic; since it could work on pumpkin juice, why shouldn't it work on something else?
He sat in his chair, staring blankly at the pumpkin juice before him, while inwardly sensing the versatility of that recent magic.
That spell was equivalent to a tiny branch of buff magic, and he was tracing along the branch toward the main vein, wanting to find the "One" of buff magic, and then derive all methods from that "One."
He picked up the pumpkin juice in front of him and drank it like a beverage.
Before long, he abruptly set down the half-drunk cup and grabbed his wand again.
Just as the tip of his wand was about to touch the glass, he paused, turned his head, and saw Hermione staring at him.
The small head beneath her bushy hair was tilted slightly upward, as if she wanted to compete with him.
He immediately suppressed his original thought, switching to waving his wand and chanting the spell instead.
The glass changed its appearance right after.
"Crash!"
A crisp sound exploded, and everyone around turned to look, their gazes falling upon the mess in front of Hodu.
The originally delicate goblet looked as though it had been melted by something; its thin, transparent walls had lost their shape, becoming thick and rough, with several cracks splitting across its body.
Pumpkin juice leaked out along the cracks, quickly making a complete mess of the tabletop.
Harry patted him on the shoulder, giving him an "I get it" look, while his other hand pointed at his own creation.
At first glance, his cup and Hodu's were fellow sufferers; not a single bit of extra pumpkin juice appeared, but the glass was utterly ruined.
Hodu glanced in the direction Harry pointed with a somewhat helpless look, knowing that Harry's cup was simply a failed spell, whereas his own cup turning out like this really wasn't a failure.
He could only look at Harry with a sympathetic gaze.
Harry thought his comfort had been received and nodded, completely unaware of what was going on in Hodu's mind.
Facing the same zero-score test paper, Hodu got a zero because he filled it with answers ten times beyond the syllabus, whereas Harry, well, truly didn't know how to do it.
Thinking of how he used to go through such hard times back then, Hodu's gaze toward Harry became even more sympathetic.
He casually waved his wand, and the tabletop was instantly cleaned up, with the cup also returning to its original state.
"Hodu, it's not like that, pay attention to this movement!"
Hermione called out to him across Harry, correcting his wand-waving posture, unable to hide the amusement in her eyes while quietly letting out a sigh of relief inside.
It was clear that ever since she learned Hodu had mastered a high-difficulty spell recently, Hermione had been on edge, studying even more desperately.
Seeing Hodu fail just now, she finally recovered a bit of confidence.
Actually, this was already not bad.
Back around the start of the school term, Hermione would never have taken this attitude; she most likely would have let out a haughty huff and taught him the movements with a condescending posture.
Hodu perfunctorily nodded, pretending to remember, while not taking it to heart at all inside.
Whether before or after mastering the instinctive characteristics of magic, wand-waving movements were completely meaningless.
In the past, he had Household Mastery, allowing him to easily cast the Refilling Charm regardless of any wand-waving posture.
Obsessing over movements was merely a requirement for novices; proficient Wizards didn't care at all.
Besides, his modified Refilling Charm didn't require movements or incantations either; doing so superfluously was just to avoid exposing things.
Hodu looked back at the glass on the table.
His recent magic hadn't failed; the target was never the pumpkin juice, but the glass.
Judging from the result, the glass had indeed increased, but it hadn't buffed in the direction he wanted, so he still had to keep modifying it.
Hodu dazed off at the glass for a bit longer before quickly snapping back to his senses.
He gripped his wand; logically speaking, this time it should succeed.
The previous buff magic had indeed been achieved, and this time it was enough to just spare a little energy to control the direction and details of the buff without spending much effort.
When all is said and done, it was just stuffing a thought into the magic. magic was inherently this casual; thoughts in the head could turn into reality with the aid of magicpower.
Hodu once again made a show of chanting and waving his wand.
The glass underwent a noticeable change, growing a bit taller, which could be told apart when placed alongside Harry and the others' cups, yet the pumpkin juice inside hadn't increased by a single drop.
The cup's capacity had become larger, making the pumpkin juice appear even scarcer instead.
In Hermione's eyes, this was clearly another failure.
She immediately stood up, pushed Harry and the others aside, and sat right next to Hodu.
"Like this, watch closely, the movement is done this way; even the slightest difference will affect the spell's release!"
Hermione sincerely corrected Hodu, demonstrating repeatedly, while Hodu watched and nodded repeatedly.
Finally, under Hermione's gaze without blinking, he cast the Refilling Charm once more, his movements this time not differing in the slightest from what Hermione had taught.
As the spell fell, the pumpkin juice surged until it filled the entire container and then stopped.
Hermione nodded in satisfaction, beaming with spirit.
In her view, Hodu had learned this spell under her guidance, and her contribution was indispensable.
A trace of a smile flashed across Hodu's face as he picked up this slightly oversized goblet and brought it to his lips for a sip.
Hermione, sitting beside him, obviously didn't notice that when Hodu put down the cup, the pumpkin juice visibly surged and refilled itself.
This definitely wasn't Hodu secretly casting the Refilling Charm again.
That recent magic had applied the magic Solidification trait; this large goblet had already turned into a cup imbued with the Refilling Charm.
The effect was not bad.
As expected of a trait stripped from the Philosopher's Stone.
Hodu was quite satisfied inwardly; what the magicSolidification trait could bring was far more than turning stone into gold.
Just like how his blood could enhance various Potioneffects, magic Solidification could also be used on all kinds of magic.
It's just that the magic Solidification trait hasn't been stacked yet; he had to thoroughly fuse it first and get a ten-thousand-fold stack to reveal even stronger effects.
Thinking of this, Hodu activated the Spirit Treasure Insight technique and began searching.
Under a ten-thousand-fold amplification, he only ran the characteristics of magic spar through his mind for a moment, and the fluorescence in his senses died down by more than half.
The ones still glowing were basically some kind of spar-like treasures, and their numbers were truly not small.
It seemed that the exclusive task of fusing the Philosopher's Stone wasn't hard to handle, but even though he could easily use Apparition to run all over the world, the progress required for fusing the Philosopher's Stone was a full ten thousand.
Calculated this way, he would have to use Apparition tens of thousands of times, and the workload was certainly not small.
Hodu's eyes flashed; relying solely on himself definitely wouldn't finish it in a short time, and it would still take a lot of effort.
Better to hand the matter over to someone else to save some energy.
A suitable candidate immediately popped up in his mind.
In the blink of an eye, the bells of Hogwarts spread across the Castle, and young Wizards walked out of the classrooms one after another toward the Great Hall. Only empty cups were left in the classrooms, but Hodu's tabletop was completely empty.
As usual, he found an excuse to say goodbye to Harry and the others, and didn't go to the Great Hall to eat.
Instead, he appeared at United Academy, his appearance changing along with it; he was already wearing the United Academy uniform, with the academy's emblem pinned to his chest.
Looking at United Academy shortly after nightfall, Hoducouldn't help feeling a bit emotional.
The present him no longer needed to awe at anything; nor did he hide or tuck anything away, walking openly and aboveboard within this academy.
He found Huo Yunqi near the stone tower as usual.
Huo Yunqi sat alone on the high stone steps. The liveliness inside the stone tower was the same as ever, with figures shuttling quickly inside the tower, yet he looked like he was harboring a belly full of worries, staring blankly at his own fingers without knowing what he was thinking.
Feeling someone sit down beside him, Huo Yunqi slowly raised his head. The moment he saw Hodu, his expression changed several times, and finally he stared at him with a complex look.
"...Who on earth are you?"
Before Hodu had time to say anything, Huo Yunqipreemptively questioned him, the meaning of his words leaving Hodu a bit baffled.
He couldn't have been hit by a Memory Charm, could he? Come to think of it, hasn't it only been a few days since they last met?
"My grandpa said you couldn't possibly be Third Uncle's son! What on earth is your purpose in approaching me!"
Huo Yunqi's expression was startled and suspicious, his gaze fierce, and his voice sharp, as if he felt he had been kept in the dark all this time.
Watching his stimulated appearance, Hodu frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"If you're Third Uncle's son and only eleven years old this year, how could you possibly be so powerful! Since you're already this powerful, why did you still pretend to be my unseen uncle to approach me? Do I have any value worth you utilizing?"
Huo Yunqi stared tightly into Hodu's eyes, as if without needing him to answer, he could find the answer straight from his eyes.
From Huo Yunqi's aggrieved expression—resembling someone who had been scammed out of their body by a scumbag woman—and his loud questioning just now, Hodu roughly guessed something.
This was doubting his true identity.
But this was normal; even this skepticism came a bit later than he had expected.
Huo Yunqi originally could roughly know his age; being able to reach this level at this age was inherently worthy of suspicion.
Chapter 99: The Yu Family's Agenda
"Stop kidding around. Given my current situation, do I have any reason to play house with you?"
Hodu didn't take it to heart.
With his magical attainments combined with those bodily samples that even elite families envied, if he wanted to raise a banner and recruit followers like Lord Voldemort, he could pull together a force no weaker than any elite family at any time.
Just as Huo Yunqi said, what reason did he have to play family here?
Hearing this, Huo Yunqi's expression flickered a few times as his mind raced.
Upon careful thought, there really was nothing on him worth Hodu plotting against with such premeditation.
"Alright, what you said makes sense too."
Huo Yunqi instantly regained his composure, as if the excited person just now wasn't him.
He believed it by about eighty percent in his heart, but still kept a small ulterior motive.
Regardless of whether it was true or false, getting involved with someone like Hodu—who could suppress the Bai Family to the point where they dared not utter a sound—had more benefits than drawbacks.
His grandfather, the head of the Huo Family, although suspicious that Hodu had ulterior motives, had no intention of cutting off this relationship. Instead, he encouraged Huo Yunqi to make friends with him and treat Hodu like a real uncle.
Seeing Huo Yunqi like this, Hodu shook his head speechlessly.
"Right, my grandfather asked you to be careful of the Bai Family. The eldest son of the Bai Family died this time; although you were also implicated, they might still pin this account on you. Those who manage to become elite families all have some trump cards tucked away. They might not dare to come at you openly, but you still need to guard against arrows shot from the dark."
Huo Yunqi reminded him.
This time, the Bai Family had lost face completely, practically becoming a joke among the Five Great Families. They were suppressed by a single person to the point of not daring to resist, and even the life of their eldest son was lost. When had they ever suffered such humiliation in the past few decades?
"Let them come."
Hodu said casually, not taking it to heart at all.
"Help me collect magical crystals with magic power. I want as many as there are."
With the small talk over, Hodu cut straight to the chase.
"No problem."
Huo Yunqi agreed without a second thought, nor did he ask what Hodu wanted these for.
Collecting some magical crystals was not a difficult task for him, especially since recently, thanks to sharing in Hodu's glory, his status and authority within the clan had risen significantly.
In the past, he merely bore the title of a descendant within the branch family, but now, because of Hodu, he could finally hold his head high.
Others treated him with much more respect, and even some powerful figures from the main branch would greet him politely when they crossed paths, casually inquiring about his relationship with Hodu.
Among the grandchildren of the first branch, he ranked fifth. In the past, whenever he saw his older brothers and sisters ahead of him, he had to walk on eggshells, follow the rules, and might not even have a seat.
Now, everything had changed.
Take yesterday for example: the young people of the same generation from the main branch held a gathering, and his seat was prominently placed right next to the eldest brother.
A scene like this, which he wouldn't have dared to imagine before, had just been realized like that.
To be honest, at that moment Huo Yunqi recalled the joke Hodu had said before, about making him the head of the Huo Family.
Thinking about it now, perhaps it wasn't a joke.
"Right, did the Yu Family send back that drop of my blood?"
Hodu suddenly remembered this matter and asked.
Naturally, he wouldn't forget; the Yu Family had also a hand in the previous affair.
"Uh, no."
Huo Yunqi's expression was somewhat hesitant.
"However, they sent over quite a lot of treasures, saying it's an apology for you. My grandfather said that added together, these items are worth about a quarter of the Huo Clan's treasury. That's not a small amount."
"Heh."
Hodu sneered. If the Yu Family thought sending a few things would satisfy him, they were dreaming.
"Are they planning to force a sale on me?"
Hodu's face was full of disdain.
Was he too polite at the Bai Family? Now the Yu Familystill wanted to hold onto his blood; they really didn't know whether to live or die.
"The Yu Family side said that drop of blood was used up earlier to test its effects, so they can't take it out even if they want to. They can only compensate with some items. If you aren't satisfied, they can add more."
Looking at Hodu's expression, Huo Yunqi swallowed back half of the words he had originally wanted to say.
Among the elite families, the Yu Family and the Bai Family were closer. Although Eldest Young Master Yu had also planned to deal with him previously, this relationship indeed existed.
The Yu Family originally wanted Huo Yunqi to help put in a few good words and explain things, but seeing Hodu's expression right now, Huo Yunqi could only drop the idea.
"Better a fellow Daoist die than this poor Daoist!"
Huo Yunqi muttered inwardly.
Furthermore, Eldest Young Master Yu had wanted to screw him over before; there was no need to offend Hodu for the sake of the Yu Family now. He wasn't stupid.
As for those things the Yu Family sent him, he would consider them compensation for the previous incident. Since the matter wasn't handled properly, they shouldn't even dream of making him return the items.
Looking at Hodu's current expression, the Yu Familyprobably didn't have the heart to go look for trouble with him.
"If you want to find trouble with the Yu Family, should you change the time? Because of the commotion caused by the United Academy earlier, the Wizards Federationspecifically called a meeting, and the location is set in the Yu Family's territory."
Huo Yunqi continued to remind him.
Hodu looked at Huo Yunqi and found him stammering, looking as if he wanted to speak but didn't dare.
With a flash of thought, Hodu guessed something.
"Don't tell me this Wizards Federation meeting's agenda also includes me?"
Huo Yunqi didn't answer, but just nodded lightly, confirming Hodu's guess.
Hodu curled his lips, not finding it strange at all.
"How was the location for the Wizards Federationmeetings decided in the past?"
Hodu asked instead.
Hearing this, Huo Yunqi immediately knew what Hoduwanted to ask and replied right away.
"It generally takes turns among the territories of the Five Great Families plus the Beijing Magical World. By rights, this time the Li Family should be responsible for hosting it."
"In other words, this time it shouldn't have been held at the Yu Family's place?"
A smile appeared on Hodu's face.
It seemed the Yu Family had really gone to great lengths to drag the entire Wizards Federation in. Did they suppose that by doing this he wouldn't dare make a move?
"When does this meeting end?"
"The day after tomorrow. Actually, you can avoid it; once the meeting ends, people from other families won't possibly stay behind."
Huo Yunqi suggested.
Everyone knew what calculation the Yu Family was playing at.
If it were a previous meeting, there would be a dinner after the agenda concluded. Not only could they exchange magic, but they could also socialize, and fine wine and delicacies were indispensable.
But this time, I'm afraid no one would be foolish enough to stay behind.
"Heh, the timing is just right. Since the Wizards Federationhas me on the agenda, how can I, the person involved, be absent?"
Hodu laughed softly.
He just happened to be free the day after tomorrow.
Hogwarts was about to have a holiday, and the day after tomorrow happened to coincide with the Halloween break, giving a full three days off.
"That's it then. Don't forget to help me collect magical crystals. Just use the things sent by the Yu Family to settle the account as interest. If it's not enough, I still have plenty of gold on my end."
Hodu didn't plan to chat any longer and instructed him once more before leaving.
The Yu Family sent a pile of treasures, which saved him from conjuring a mountain of gold out of thin air, though that wouldn't have taken much effort anyway.
After giving his instructions, Hodu directly used Apparitionto go to a certain city to have lunch before returning to Hogwarts to continue his classes.
In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.
Early in the morning, the Great Hall was much noisier than usual. The huge Great Hall was abuzz with the chattering of young Wizards, everyone's faces beaming with radiant smiles, as if they had encountered some tremendous joyous event.
Harry and the others were the same, discussing how to go wild during the holiday.
"A three-day holiday, and we don't even have to attend Snape's class—this is simply the best Halloween gift!"
Harry shouted excitedly.
Clearly, compared to the holiday, he was even happier about not having to attend Snape's class.
"That's right!"
Ron also chimed in excitedly.
"How are you planning this holiday? Hermione is going home, what about you, Hodu?"
Harry asked about Hodu's holiday plans.
"Hmm, I plan to go home too."
Hodu pondered for a moment and said slowly.
Staying at school wasn't as good as going out to play.
Don't look at how happy Harry and Ron were; by then, at most they would just hole up in the dormitory playing wizards chess. These first-year students couldn't leave the school gates.
"Is that so..."
Hearing this, Harry felt a bit dejected, feeling like he was losing a playmate.
"Hodu, when did you get a parent's signature?"
Ron scratched his head and asked curiously.
Leaving school required parental consent, and only then would the Professor lead them to the station all together.
"I don't need that. Someone will come pick me up then."
Hodu didn't explain much.
In fact, he didn't plan to go home, but instead wanted to take this time to visit his old family villa.
But before that, he first had to go and get ready the things Dumbledore wanted.
These past few days when running into Dumbledore in the Great Hall, he could always feel the other's gaze fixed on him, seemingly reminding him about the lethe river water.
For the sake of 15,000 Galleons, Hodu planned to find some time to get this matter done.
During the lunch break, taking advantage of the fact that others hadn't returned to the dormitory yet, Hodu felt around in his pocket and pulled out a sharp pebble.
This pebble was nothing special, just something he picked up casually on his way back to the dormitory.
Hodu casually tossed the pebble onto the ground and gave a gentle wave of his finger.
The pebble instantly expanded and deformed, transforming in the blink of an eye into a half-person-tall wine barrel.
A clear stream of water condensed in the air, pouring endlessly into the hole at the top of the barrel, filling it up in an instant.
Only then did Hodu walk up to the barrel, spit a mouthful of saliva directly toward the coin-sized hole, landing it precisely inside.
The lethe river water Dumbledore wanted was made just like that.
Don't look at it as just a mouthful of saliva; with his currently stacked traits, anything on his body was a treasure.
Then Hodu symbolically pulled out his wand and tapped it gently against the barrel.
The entire barrel immediately levitated, wobbling unsteadily.
Hodu strode out of the dormitory, with the barrel slowly flying behind him.
This was merely a combination of the Levitation Charmand a summoning charm—not some profound method. As long as one mastered these two magic spells and applied them a bit flexibly, it could be done easily.
Chapter 100: The Evolution of Alohomora and the Truth of the Philosopher's Stone
Climbing up the stairs to the top, a griffon stone statue stood before the entrance of the Principal's office, opening its mouth to demand a password from Hodu.
Hodu casually blurted out a beverage name.
"Iced lemonade."
The stone statue remained completely motionless.
He tried several more in succession, but none of them worked.
Hodu glanced around the doorway; things like doorbells did not exist at all, and this crappy Castle did not even have a reporting device, falling far short of the Bai family mansion where people at least knocked on the door knocker and a bronze beast would come out to answer.
His eyes flickered as he ran through methods in his mind to enter directly.
Sneaking through walls, controlling soil and digging stones to carve a direct path, or smashing the gate with a single punch—no matter what kind of magic was plastered across this doorway, it guaranteed it would not be able to stop him.
But right now, he treated this as an interesting problem and preferred to solve it using conventional means, which was magic itself.
"Alohomora."
Hodu chanted the incantation in a low voice, and a ring of magical fluctuation rippled outward, but the doorway remained quiet and nothing happened.
Under the blessing of the Household Mastery trait, his Alohomora was more proficient than most Wizards, but the door still did not give him any face.
Hodu raised his eyebrows slightly, though he did not feel surprised.
Alohomora could only handle ordinary locks; if the Principal's office door was popped open by an Alohomora, then the biggest joke of the year at Hogwarts would be born.
However, he was not wasting his effort either; the moment he cast the spell just now, he saw the magical fluctuation of Alohomora along with the principles behind it.
An office door that required a password to pass through was, when all was said and done, just a combination lock, which had not escaped the category of locks; it was just that Alohomora could not deal with such advanced combination locks.
But as long as it was a lock, it could be opened, and there was no doubt about that.
Hodu lowered his head, but his eyes were shining brightly, as if staring at something interesting, while the wine barrel behind him hung in mid-air, swaying every now and then.
Not long after, he raised his head again with calm confidence on his face.
Relying on his magical instinct talent, he traced back along the veins of Alohomora, grasped the magical logic behind it, modified it slightly, and strengthened Alohomora. Normally it could only open a door lock, but now it could even pop open the locks of a bank vault.
"Alohomora."
Hodu chanted softly once more; the incantation had not changed, but this magic was already completely different from what it originally was.
As his words fell, the motionless stone statue jumped to the side, revealing the wall behind it.
With a muffled rumble, the wall slowly parted, revealing a spiral staircase from within.
The corners of Hodu's mouth curled up as he stepped onto the staircase with the wine barrel, heading all the way up to the real Principal's office.
Just as he stepped inside, Dumbledore was leaning over his desk, probably hearing his footsteps, and right when Hodu came in, he happened to meet Dumbledore's lifted eyes.
Dumbledore's gaze lingered on Hodu for a moment with no surprise on his face, and then moved to the wine barrel behind him, his eyes brightening slightly as if he had thought of something.
"You use the Levitation Charm quite well, Mr. Hodu."
Dumbledore praised with a smile at the corners of his eyes.
Although achieving this was not difficult, it still carried some weight when placed on a first-year student.
"This should be lethe river water, right? Do you mind letting me take a look?"
Hodu nodded indifferently, and the wine barrel immediately floated toward Dumbledore, though it was not controlled by him.
In Dumbledore's hands, such ordinary magic could long be used as he pleased, somewhat similar to the Household Mastery trait.
After Dumbledore finished inspecting it, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothed out.
"Mr. Hodu, please accept my gratitude; it can save many broken families."
Dumbledore's tone was sincere, and his expression was somewhat moved, as if remembering something.
"Just make sure the Galleons you promised me are not few."
Hodu replied indifferently, casually finding a spot to sit down.
"Of course, I can guarantee that."
"It is just that we need to give the Ministry of Magic some time; of course, if you need it urgently, Hogwarts does not have extra Galleons to advance to you."
Dumbledore blinked, in a good mood, and casually made a joke.
"Right, Professor Dumbledore, if you do not mind, I would like to ask something: how is the Philosopher's Stonemade?"
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere at the scene was like being doused with a basin of cold water.
Dumbledore looked at Hodu with a profound gaze, not expecting this kid to openly lay the matter out to talk about like this.
After a moment of silence, Dumbledore gently sighed, finally breaking the silence.
"Of course, I have heard about this from my old friend."
"However, I think you need to know that the Philosopher's Stone is not as good as you imagine; the price it requires far exceeds your imagination, and I hope you can use it cautiously rather than indulging in its power."
Dumbledore's warning was extremely solemn.
Had he not considered that Hodu, at his age, would not think of brewing the Potion for longevity in a short time, he might not have allowed the Philosopher's Stone to remain in Hodu's hands.
With Tom's lesson, he had much more patience for young Wizards like Hodu, actually wanting to slowly reform him before he could utilize the power of the Philosopher's Stone.
"What you said makes sense."
Hodu expressed agreement with a serious face, though no one knew what he was thinking inside.
The deep eyes behind the lenses gazed into Hodu's blue eyes, but a trace of powerlessness welled up deep inside Dumbledore's heart.
He knew that the eleven-year-old young Wizard in front of him seemed to possess even greater talent than Tom back then.
Although he did not use Legilimency, at his realm, Legilimency had already become an instinct.
Of course, he would not wantonly pry into a young Wizard's privacy, and keeping Legilimency active year-round was a burden, requiring him to endure all kinds of emotions, which was not pleasant.
A Legilimency master like him could already control it freely and usually restrain it, but even so, he could still perceive the other person's emotions through their eyes and judge whether someone was lying, rather than prying into memories.
But he had felt it long ago: when facing Hodu, he seemed to have lost this ability, like facing a pool of dead water without a trace of vitality, with no emotional feedback at all, which was very abnormal.
Even with mastering Occlumency, it would not be like this; emotions would still exist, just not fluctuating much, like a quiet, handsome man with vitality but lacking activity.
But now Hodu seemed to directly immunize against his Legilimency, making Dumbledore feel that this young Wizard harbored even more mysteries. Even though he was very curious, he ultimately did not truly initiate Legilimency.
"The Philosopher's Stone is very special; its maker once told me that even he was unable to create a second Philosopher's Stone."
"Why?"
Hodu opened his eyes slightly wide, curiously pursuing the question.
"Because it is more like a heaven-sent object—that is the exact description given by my old friend—a gift bestowed by the heavens."
Dumbledore seemed to sink into memories, his gaze somewhat drifting.
Hodu did not rush to ask further and patiently waited.
"My old friend spent his whole life trying to make a second Philosopher's Stone. If it were just for immortality, one Philosopher's Stone was already enough; this was simply his obsession."
"However, this obsession was completely let go of decades ago, because he finally confirmed that creating the Philosopher's Stone was merely an extremely fortuitous matter."
Dumbledore's tone carried emotion; after all, Nicolas Flamel had created the first Philosopher's Stone centuries ago, yet spent several hundred years afterwards with nothing to show for it.
Under Hodu's expectant gaze, Dumbledore spoke the truth.
"Because a second material for the Philosopher's Stonecannot be found anywhere in the world. Rather than saying my old friend manufactured the Philosopher's Stone, it is better to say the Philosopher's Stone was inherently the Philosopher's Stone; its raw material was an extremely special spar that inherently contained powerful magical properties."
Hearing this, Hodu's mouth opened slightly. Was the answer actually this?
For a moment he was somewhat distracted, his fingers unconsciously pinching his chin as he thought about some things.
Perhaps even a knowledgeable Wizard like Dumbledoremight not know that magic actually originated from a True Dragon creature.
The origin of all magic came from a magical dragon that came from outer space.
Since the Philosopher's Stone was such a special existence, he wondered if it would be related to the True Dragon. Anyway, judging by history, the Philosopher's Stone certainly could not be older than the day the True Dragon descended.
Looking back, he could ask Xuanwu about it; it was the true living fossil.
"I see. Thank you for your explanation."
Hodu snapped back to his senses, met Dumbledore's gaze, and immediately chimed in.
After speaking, Hodu stood up directly, preparing to take his leave.
"I will have them speed up that batch of Galleons from the Ministry of Magic."
Before leaving, Dumbledore brought it up again; after all, this was not a small amount of Galleons.
Hodu nodded casually, not taking it to heart. With Dumbledore around, he would not be defaulted on his payment.
That afternoon passed quickly. The young Wizards were more excited than the other, and those who wanted to go home were all crowded in the Great Hall, lined up in front of the tall Hagrid, holding suitcases in their hands.
Hodu, Harry, and the others were also here, waving goodbye to Hermione in the queue.
When Hagrid led the people away, Hodu cast the concealment trait in front of Harry and Ron, and amidst their envious gazes, directly used Apparition to return to his old family villa.