Hogwarts: My Spell Infinite Derivation

Chapter 100 The Phoenix, The Lost Age! Dumbledore Doesn't Understand Genius!

"..."

Seeing Charles's excited face after hearing about the Forbidden Forest, Professor Sprout was speechless for a moment.

"Ciel, I thought you would be like a normal child, afraid of the Forbidden Forest at night."

Charles coughed twice, trying his best to look terrified.

"I'm scared, I'm so scared, Professor. Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm really terrified."

Professor Sprout sighed.

"Alright, stop pretending."

"I think it's good to see that you're not afraid of the Forbidden Forest like other badger cubs."

A strange look appeared on her face.

"After all, the Forbidden Forest is Hufflepuff territory, so why should we be afraid of our own land?"

Charles paused for a moment, then a look of interest appeared in his eyes.

"The Forbidden Forest is Hufflepuff territory?"

Professor Sprout nodded.

"When Hufflepuff was at Hogwarts, she went to great lengths to establish the Forbidden Forest in order to perfect her recipes and to have access to fresh magical plant and animal ingredients at any time."

"Many magical plants and animals that were originally scattered in various places were collected by the founder and released into the Forbidden Forest. The Forbidden Forest was also transformed by magic into an environment suitable for the survival of most magical plants and animals."

"Back then, the Forbidden Forest wasn't called that yet; it was called the Hogwarts Farm. But as time went on, the trees in the Forbidden Forest grew so well that generations of students kept bringing in all sorts of magical creatures, and the Forbidden Forest grew bigger and bigger."

"Several hundred years ago, it had grown to the point that Hogwarts was no longer able to maintain it. It was practically an independent kingdom, and many magical creatures even lived in it. So they simply renamed it the Forbidden Forest and banned students from entering."

"From that time on, entering the Forbidden Forest at night became a punishment. Even among Hufflepuff students, few of each generation could go to the Forbidden Forest to obtain ingredients like the students of the past. This also caused Hufflepuff's magical recipes to gradually fade from people's sight from that time onwards."

Upon hearing Professor Sprout recount this history, Charles also showed a look of amazement.

He really didn't know that the Forbidden Forest was originally Hufflepuff's breeding farm.

If that's the case, the founder of Hufflepuff truly left a huge treasure trove for future generations, containing countless rare and magical plants and animals that can be utilized.

However, the current Hufflepuff students have no idea that this treasure mountain exists, and even if they did, they would be powerless to enter and obtain those rare materials.

Judging from what Shire saw at the Hufflepuff Kitchen last time, the house-elves there probably only cook a few meals from the Hufflepuff magical recipes a year, which is a real shame.

Professor Sprout smiled slightly.

"So I think it's pretty good if you're not afraid of the Forbidden Forest."

"At least we won't waste the treasure trove left by the founder. Many of the materials in the Forbidden Forest are very hard to find after leaving Hogwarts; they are rare and precious."

As they were talking, Professor Sprout handed Charles a list.

"These are all rare materials that can be produced in the Forbidden Forest. You can go to the Forbidden Forest in a few days and look for them. There are quite a few that can be used to make magical meals."

Charles nodded.

Then, Professor Sprout hesitated for a moment before taking out an old map and handing it to Charles.

"And this is the core area that the founder set up in the Forbidden Forest, which is now over a thousand years old."

"Every Hufflepuff Master in history has tried to find what's inside, but all have failed. Perhaps you could give it a try."

A look of curiosity appeared on Charles's face.

"What is the thing the founder left behind, which is now a thousand years old?"

Professor Sprout's eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

"The Phoenix Egg".

Charles paused for a moment.

"The Phoenix?"

"You mean... a phoenix?"

Professor Sprout shook his head, categorically denying it.

"A phoenix is ​​a phoenix, and a phoenix is ​​a phoenix. Although both have the characteristic of immortality, they are two different things."

"The phoenix is ​​merely an ordinary creature born in an era before the phoenix existed. How can it be compared to the phoenix? Only ignorant people confuse these two creatures."

"Although phoenixes are rare magical creatures, they have never ceased to exist; Dumbledore even kept one."

"But the phoenix, even in the founder's time, was already an extinct magical creature..."

"No, perhaps it should be said that it is an extinct mythical animal."

"The legendary phoenix, also known as the Heavenly Phoenix, possesses divine magic far more powerful than that of a unicorn or even a phoenix. The divine flames it breathes can destroy almost all black magic and dark creatures. Its feathers can resist darkness and restore life. Legend has it that it also has the magical power to prolong life and even grant immortality."

"By chance, Lady Hufflepuff discovered what might be the last Heavenly Phoenix egg in the wizarding world. She spent countless resources to set up magic in the heart of the Forbidden Forest, waiting for the phoenix to be reborn. A thousand years have passed since then."

"The Hufflepuff Headmasters have all passed down this secret and have all gone to the Forbidden Forest to search for it, but all have found nothing. We don't know if the phoenix failed to be reborn, or if it was reborn successfully and then flew away, or if the magic left by the founder has lost its power over time. In short, no one has ever found the phoenix egg."

"But the legendary Heavenly Phoenix chooses its master, just like the Phoenix, but the standards are far more stringent. One must possess incredibly powerful divine magic to gain the Heavenly Phoenix's loyalty. I heard Professor McGonagall say that you showed a strong inclination towards divine magic when choosing your wand, and coupled with your unparalleled talent, you might be the Hufflepuff with the best chance of finding the Phoenix in a thousand years."

After hearing Professor Sprout's explanation, Charles felt a surge of excitement.

The Heavenly Phoenix, possessing extraordinary divine magic?

This is a perfect match for his magic, Animagus!

Originally, Ciel's second magic, Animagus, was intended to obtain Cerberus, but he hadn't decided on the third yet, still debating between a unicorn, a basilisk, and a phoenix.

Now it seems that if we can find the Phoenix of Heaven, then there's no need to worry about it anymore.

Transforming into the Heavenly Phoenix would definitely boost Ciel's magical power significantly.

At the same time, his holy spells will reach a new level under the blessing of this magical Animagus.

It can even prolong life and maintain youth, which is much better than magic stones and Horcruxes with side effects!

Charles took the ancient map from Professor Sprout and was determined to go to the Forbidden Forest to find traces of the phoenix.

With Deep Blue in hand, as long as the Phoenix exists in this world, Ciel believes he is the most likely person to find it.

Having explained so many things to Ciel, Professor Sprout, who was already exhausted from preparing potions for Ciel, showed even more signs of fatigue.

She then got up and gave Charles a word of advice before leaving.

"Although you are not afraid of the Forbidden Forest, there are not many things in the Forbidden Forest that can threaten you."

"But be careful of Lucius Malfoy. His best friend is dead and his son is injured. This dark wizard, who was once a Death Eater, will not let this go easily."

"Try to postpone going to the forbidden forest for a few more days."

Charles nodded, looking at Professor Sprout who was leaving, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Having spent so many years navigating the complexities of society in his previous life, Xia Er could still distinguish between those who had ulterior motives and those who were genuinely kind to him.

Although Hogwarts has a professor like Snape, the other heads of the house are all of very good character.

Professor Sprout treated him exceptionally well, regarding him as the successor to Hufflepuff School, even bringing up the matter of the phoenix.

"I owe you a huge favor today; I must repay it if I have the chance."

The thought crossed Charles's mind.

Then, he took a step, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, left the infirmary, and headed towards the Hogwarts Library.

No matter what you do, strength is always the most important thing.

Although Shire managed to eliminate Snape through his schemes and even publicly confront Dumbledore, leaving him speechless, such covert scheming should not be used too often.

The reason they have to scheme in secret is simply because they are not strong enough.

If I could just beat Dumbledore up, what would it matter if I removed him from his position as headmaster of Hogwarts? Why bother with such petty tricks?

The knowledge found in the forbidden section of Hogwarts greatly helped Shire improve his strength.

It can not only provide a large amount of high-level materials and reduce the point consumption during the deduction process, but also fill the memory palace to increase Xia Er's mental strength, while enhancing the effects of mental simulation and knowledge deduction.

Charles would certainly not miss such an opportunity.

Upon arriving at the library, Ciel lifted the illusion spell and headed straight for the forbidden section.

Mrs. Pines, who was in charge of looking after the library, did not stop Charles when she saw him. She only told Charles to cherish the precious books and then let him in. It was clear that she had been informed beforehand.

Just as the Charles entered the forbidden section, in the headmaster's office, a somewhat haggard-looking Dumbledore's expression shifted slightly.

"Did Charles Evans go to the restricted section?"

He shook his head.

"This child is too obsessed with power. If we don't restrain him properly, he might go to extremes."

"I want him to understand that besides power, there are many other things in this world worth pursuing, such as love and friendship..."

Besides this, Dumbledore had another worry in his mind.

That is to say, the Shire is already shining brightly, and in comparison, Harry Potter, as the savior, is simply unremarkable.

Even Harry Potter is almost a big fan of Shire, how can this be allowed?

Harry Potter is the protagonist in Dumbledore's script. Dumbledore is willing to do anything to help Gryffindor win all the remaining house cups. How can he let Shire keep stealing the spotlight?

If Ciel obtains even more powerful magic in the Forbidden Book Zone and his strength improves further, what would happen then?

He doesn't even know what earth-shattering things he's going to do. How will Harry Potter gain enough prestige?

In Dumbledore's view, ensuring Harry Potter's growth and status was the bigger picture, as it concerned the plan to eliminate Voldemort.

As for the Ciel, it wasn't that Dumbledore was narrow-minded and wanted revenge after being questioned by the Ciel in public, but rather that for the greater good, he had to keep him in check.

Ciel's current strength is more than enough to serve as a pawn in clearing obstacles for Harry Potter in the future.

In addition, the young wizards naturally grow stronger as they age, which is enough. Dumbledore doesn't need the Shire to be overly strong.

Dumbledore got up and went to the bookshelves in the headmaster's office. There was an entire new row of bookshelves there, filled with books from the forbidden section.

If you look closely, you'll find that almost all the books on the reference lists that Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick gave to Charles are now on this bookshelf.

In addition, most of the books that recorded truly profound magic were also moved here.

A strange look appeared on Dumbledore's face.

"Put these books away for now and replace them with some purely theoretical or hypothetical books. This is also for Charles's own good."

"He should temper his temper, develop in the academic field, and broaden his horizons."

"Young people shouldn't always focus on those profound magics. It won't hurt to learn them a few years later. I will arrange it naturally in the future."

"or……"

Dumbledore's gaze was deep and unfathomable.

If Charles were willing to come and beg him, accept some of the tasks he had assigned, and pass the tests he had arranged, he might be able to give Charles some of the books.

In this way, under his arrangement, it can be ensured that Charles always stays on the right track.

In the principal's office, Phineas, who was known as the most hated principal, couldn't help but ask a question.

"Dumbledore, are you so sure Ciel Evans will come looking for you?"

"What if he doesn't come?"

Dumbledore revealed a look of certainty.

"How could such a genius not crave power and magic?"

"His eagerness to come to the forbidden book section as soon as he was able to get out of bed also proves this point."

"In that case, when he couldn't find what he needed in the restricted section, he should know who to turn to."

Dumbledore smiled.

"No one understands the thoughts of geniuses better than me."

"Just watch, Phineas, Charles will be here soon."

He leisurely brewed himself a cup of tea and prepared two plates of desserts, then waited patiently in the principal's office.

Five minutes, then ten minutes passed.

Dumbledore remained unmoved, continuing to slowly sip his tea.

Half an hour, then an hour passed.

Dumbledore remained calm and composed, and then replenished the desserts he had finished eating.

Two hours, then three hours passed.

A faint light was breaking through the sky outside, and the roosters at Hogwarts were crowing. Dumbledore, who had been waiting all night, still hadn't received a visit from the Shire.

A rooster's crow woke Dumbledore from his slumber.

He glanced at the time, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Hasn't Charles Evans arrived yet?"

"What is he doing?"

Soon, news came from both the librarian, Mrs. Pince, and the ubiquitous portraits at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore's eyes widened even more.

"Did he really just sit quietly in the restricted section and read books all night?"

"No, is he really not interested in those advanced spells that were taken away?"

The portrait of Phineas is emitting a gloating laugh.

"Dumbledore, it seems you don't understand genius as well as you claim."

Dumbledore frowned, but after his initial surprise, he regained his composure, as if everything was under control.

If Ciel doesn't come, then so be it.

Judging from the way Charles is, he's really engrossed in those theories and hypotheses that have little practical value, which actually suits Dumbledore's tastes even better.

Studying these theoretical hypotheses doesn't offer much help in improving magical abilities.

This will undoubtedly significantly hinder Charles's strength improvement.

Furthermore, as Shire immersed himself in this knowledge, he naturally caused less trouble, and over time the turmoil he caused at Hogwarts gradually subsided.

Everything will return to the track that Dumbledore has arranged.

From the moment he granted Charles Evans access to the forbidden books, this was Dumbledore's open scheme.

If he doesn't want those advanced magic spells, then the speed at which Xia Er's strength increases will be limited.

If you want those magic spells, you have to follow Dumbledore's instructions.

No matter what, Dumbledore didn't lose out.

"Everything is still under control."

Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief.

But for some reason, he always felt a vague unease in his heart.

……

Let's rewind to last night, when Charles had just entered the restricted book section.

He strolled through the restricted section, clutching the bibliography left to him by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, and headed toward the bookshelf mentioned above.

However, when he arrived at the nearest bookshelf, he noticed that it had been disturbed.

The transfiguration writings that Professor McGonagall mentioned have disappeared here, replaced by some transfiguration musings, which record some interesting but incredibly complex propositions.

If you achieve results in these areas, publishing top-tier academic papers won't be a problem, but it won't really develop your own abilities. It's far more effective than learning a stronger transformation technique.

His expression shifted slightly, he sneered, and then went to look at the other bookshelves.

Sure enough, all the works mentioned in the bibliography had been removed, leaving only these purely theoretical books.

Without even thinking, Ciel knew who did it.

"Dumbledore's strict guard against advanced magic is exactly the same as in the original story."

Throughout the original work, it's clear that no matter how famous or prestigious Dumbledore was, this old man always harbored a strong sense of wariness towards people.

Even at the very end, he would not tell Harry Potter the truth, and he was worried that Harry Potter would abandon his responsibility to destroy the Horcruxes in pursuit of the Deathly Hallows, so he made arrangements to prevent this from happening.

But if he had the time to arrange these things, leaving the Harry Potter trio with a few powerful spells, or arranging a few magical items that could be used to fight enemies or escape, the Harry Potter trio's process of destroying Horcruxes would have been much smoother.

How could it be like in the original story, where they got the locket but didn't know how to destroy it, and almost parted ways because of the locket's allure?

It's worth noting that even Malfoy's sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle, those two dimwitted fellows, learned how to unleash Fiendfire at the same time at Hogwarts.

The Harry Potter trio didn't learn any powerful magic that year. If Dumbledore had left Harry Potter a spell similar to Fiendfyre, destroying the Horcruxes they had acquired wouldn't have been so difficult.

Not only Harry Potter and his trio, but also the members of the Order of the Phoenix who followed Dumbledore received no magical help or support.

Snape also learned magic from Voldemort, which allowed him to fly.

After Wormtail lost an arm to Voldemort, Voldemort rewarded him with a powerful alchemical arm.

It's easy to see from this that although Voldemort lost his mind due to the excessive number of Horcruxes he created, he was incredibly generous when it came to rewarding power.

On the other hand, Dumbledore received nothing but "love" as a form of help.

The order of the Phoenix's struggle against the Death Eaters was partly due to the fact that it expects the horse to run but also find its own grazing.

Shire casually flipped open a book left by Dumbledore, and what came into view was an extremely complex and exquisite spell model.

The academic value of this thing is undoubtedly extremely high, but how to apply it in practice is debatable.

For wizards who crave power, studying such theoretical books is undoubtedly taking a roundabout approach.

But a hint of sarcasm appeared on Charles's lips.

Dumbledore probably never imagined that the Shire would possess such an unreasonable being as Deep Blue.

Knowledge that has no practical value in such niche fields can be transformed by Deep Blue into materials for the corresponding fields.

As for not learning advanced spells?

What does it matter?

As long as you have enough materials and enough points, you can just rely on Deep Blue's deduction to finish the job!

Give Ciel endless knowledge, and he will be able to move endless worlds!

Immediately, Ciel waved his wand, and one forbidden book after another floated up from the bookshelf, their pages turning automatically.

Under Xia Er's shifting gaze, all that profound knowledge was transformed by Shen Lan into materials for the corresponding field.

"The host has obtained advanced materials for Transfiguration, reducing the points required for subsequent Transfiguration attempts..."

"The host has obtained advanced materials in Spellology, reducing the point requirements for most spell deductions..."

"Host has obtained high-level materials for dark magic..."

A series of notifications echoed in my mind like a screen being refreshed.

Meanwhile, the memory palace of Xia Er's mental world was also filled with one book after another.

Compared to the books he acquired from Flourish and Blotts, the knowledge contained in the books in the restricted section of Hogwarts far surpassed that in both quantity and depth.

This also significantly enhances the effect on improving mental strength.

A burning light appeared in Charles's eyes.

"Not enough, not fast enough!"

He waved his wand, and the pages of the books turned even faster. At the same time, Ciel spent his deduction points and used Deep Blue to instantly "speed read" the contents of the books.

Before he knew it, one bookshelf, two bookshelves, and countless voluminous books that would take an ordinary person years, decades, or even a lifetime to study were acquired by Ciel and accumulated in his memory palace.

Charles's mental strength also increased significantly overnight in this forbidden book zone.

Just as dawn was breaking outside, Charles picked up a thick book once again.

A different notification than before rang in Charles's mind.

"The host has obtained historical materials about the magical world."

Charles paused for a moment, his gaze focusing on the book.

The book is titled "The Lost Age," and judging from its publication date, it must have been published several decades ago, making it one of the "younger" books in the restricted book section.

When Charles saw the author's name on the book, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Dark..."

"Dark Seid?!"

(End of this chapter)