Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 56 Post-Event Recap

After Wesley and his men searched the area near the washroom again without finding anything, they gave up and headed towards the Eagle's Nest.

The Eagle's Nest door slid open silently with a tap of Cullen's wand. This secret base, converted from an abandoned classroom, was beginning to take shape.

"Let's not practice anything new today," Karen said, walking to the center of the practice area. "I want to review yesterday's battle first."

He drew his wand, tracing a silver path in the air, connecting Karen's head with the memory builder Victor had given him earlier. The silver light gradually expanded into a dynamic image, recreating yesterday's battle scene.

"Wow!" Wesley whistled. "What is this? It's cooler than in the movies!"

"The memory builder can reproduce memories, but it's not as powerful as the Pensieve. It's a simplified version, but it's easy to carry," Karen explained briefly.

In the scene, Karen is grazed on the shoulder by the first spell. He pauses the video, pointing to that moment: "First, the problem with the Armor Charm. My defenses are too weak. If they were strong enough, I wouldn't have been grazed at all. I still need to practice the Armor Charm more."

Fabian adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a silver light: "But maintaining the Ironclad Charm and moving those tables and chairs simultaneously will create a problem with mana allocation. And the book says..."

"Stop!" Wesley gestured for a pause. "Stop spouting textbook nonsense! Who cares about all that in a real game?" He turned to Karen. "You should act like a goalkeeper in soccer: anticipate the opponent's most likely attack direction and focus your defense there!"

Ernesto rolled his eyes gracefully: "Football? We're talking about magical duels, not Muggle ball games."

"The principle is the same!" Wesley retorted, unconvinced. "Focus on defending the most dangerous areas, instead of trying to protect your entire body!"

Karen nodded thoughtfully. "Wesley has a point. Perhaps I can develop a non-uniform armor spell, or an alchemical artifact with the same function, focusing on protecting vital areas." He noted this down in his notebook.

The video continued, showing how Karen used the environment to subdue her four opponents. Wesley watched with gusto, exclaiming, "That was so cool! Using tables and chairs like projectiles! She took down the two biggest guys in one go!"

"But then problems arose." Cullen's expression turned serious. He didn't show the scene of him torturing Selwyn and the others; the scene jumped directly to him having his wand knocked away by Snape who suddenly appeared. "After I subdued Selwyn and the others, I completely let my guard down."

Enesto crossed his arms: "Being wary of Professor Snape might not be of much use. He's a Death Eater, and supposedly... his right-hand man," he paused meaningfully.

"But at least it won't be this bad." Karen shook his head. "You should never let your guard down, especially when it seems like you're winning." He made another note: "You need to develop your combat instincts and be able to sense the magical fluctuations around you." As he said this, he subconsciously touched his eyes. His True Sight should have been able to detect Snape's approach, but he was too focused on Selwyn and the others at the time and failed to take advantage of that.

Fabian suddenly suggested, "We can learn some warning spells. I read in the 'Complete Book of Defense Magic' that some spells can sense fluctuations of hostile magic within a specific range."

"Great idea!" Wesley jumped up excitedly. "It's like an offside alarm in football!"

Ernesto sighed: "Here we go again... football..."

The scene ends with Professor Castor appearing, followed by the image of Professor Castor subduing Snape and casting the Cruciatus Curse on Selwyn. Cullen does not show the memories that follow.

Holding her notebook, Karen sat down at the table and began to recall Castor's actions from behind.

In his memory, there was a strange gem in his hand that had turned into black matter, something that had instantly subdued Professor Snape. Cullen thoughtfully drew that thing on her notebook.

What is that? Some kind of dark magic item?

Karen shook her head. No, it shouldn't be; it felt completely different. The flow of dark magic was distorted and murky, but this... was closer to some kind of highly condensed, original magic.

What exactly was it? Karen added this question to her mental list of questions, deciding that she would definitely ask Castor the next time she saw him.

After the debriefing, Karen went to the alchemy workbench to practice rune inscriptions, while the others went about their own business.

As Karen opened the drawer to look for "The Runecraft Advanced Guide," a familiar leather notebook came into view. It was the experimental diary of the mysterious alchemist who called himself "Nicholas Flamel II."

"Strange," he muttered to himself, "did I put it here before?"

He picked up the thick diary; the leather cover was yellowed with age, and the gold-embossed title was somewhat blurred. He opened the first page, and the familiar signature was still clearly visible:

"Nicolas Flamel II, Ravenclaw, 1946–1949"

Karen had previously tried to read this experimental log. Apart from mentioning some information about something somewhat similar to the 'Eye of Truth' called the 'Eye of Truth', there wasn't much related content. The rest was mostly experimental data that she couldn't understand.

Turning to the first page, the yellowed parchment was densely covered with complex equations and magical symbols, interspersed with scribbled notes.

Karen then carefully perused the experimental log again. Although Karen had already begun experimental research in alchemy, he still couldn't understand the data.

The period from 1946 to 1949 should be after Grindelwald was defeated by Dumbledore. At this time, Dumbledore should have been in Hogwarts, and he should have met this 'Nicholas Flamel II'.

The sun outside the window was already setting in the west when Karen realized that she had been sitting in front of her journal for the entire afternoon and still hadn't gained anything.

He carefully put away the journal, deciding to ask Professor Castor about these questions the next time he saw him. Karen now trusted his teacher greatly; since he couldn't understand it himself, he might as well go directly to his teacher, whose alchemy skills far surpassed his own.

"Karen? Are you alright?" Fabian's voice pulled him back to reality. "You've been staring at that old book for hours."

"Just discovered some interesting alchemical theories," Karen replied simply, then put the journal into her inner pocket. "Let's go, we should head to the Great Hall for dinner."