Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying-Chapter 598 - 199: Stone Necklace (Part 2)

"Look, it's too old. We've only managed to restore it to this extent, and we haven't figured out a way to re-infuse it with magic power."

Bode said helplessly. Then he suddenly realized that this might make the necklace seem worthless, so he quickly added, "But a long time ago, it should have been a protective or healing type of magic item."

Vid took the necklace and looked down at it.

Bode rummaged through his bag and took out a thin booklet: "These are the notes from our previous research. You can have them; they might be of some help to you."

Vid said in surprise, "I remember the Department of Mysteries' research is not supposed to be leaked?"

Though no one is sure if anything specific has leaked, there is indeed such a regulation. Not only should the research data not be leaked, but Unspeakables also generally do not discuss their work with others.

Bode laughed, "The content needing secrecy isn't really stuff like this. After all, this necklace, it... um..."

"Isn't that important," Vid finished the sentence that Bode hesitated to say.

Bode breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Exactly."

Vid flipped through the notes, picking out parts he could understand; the analysis notes written by Unspeakables finally made him somewhat clear.

After analyzing the meaning of the runes, the Unspeakables believed that this was a necklace for healing mental damage or protecting the mind from external harm.

Ancient people faced many dark magical creatures that were dangerous and powerful. Some didn't harm the body but would devour human souls. Wizards would also use various spells far more evil than the Imperio Curse to attack each other, so they needed to wear specialized items to protect themselves.

But with time, many magical creatures have completely disappeared from Earth, becoming existences akin to legends. This necklace, after enduring the long years, had been worn down to something like a glowing little bulb.

After reading it, Vid looked up to see Bode's eyes vaguely filled with guilt. He smiled and said, "Then I'll keep this necklace. It just so happens I've been researching magic related to thoughts recently."

"That kind of magic is very dangerous," Bode couldn't help but warn, "You better not dabble in it lightly unless you get Professor Dumbledore's permission."

"I know." Vid put away the Galleons and the necklace and said, "Pleasant transaction, I should head back to school."

He bade farewell to Bode and nodded to Caspien, then turned and left the room.

The Poppet Caspien had been sitting silently in the chair, watching the two converse. Only after Bode sent off the young wizard did he lift his eyes, staring intently at his creator.

"Bang!"

The wooden door closed, and after Bode turned around, Caspien returned to his calm as a deep pool state.

...

Vid spent the next few days researching this necklace.

After all, he had only recently been attacked, so his vigilance against thought attacks was at its peak.

Although Dumbledore had already helped him solve this problem, what if someone else went to misuse the Brain Hall later, issuing invisible orders to the world?

Okay, even for Voldemort, this type of thing would be hard to achieve. But if the brain hall's magic only targeted one or two people, its effect would obviously be stronger and harder to guard against.

If he could restore the necklace or learn the rune magic on it, perhaps he wouldn't be so passive.

The Department of Mysteries' people seemed to think it wasn't valuable, but Vid didn't agree. Because when he used his second sight, he discovered that the magic patterns surrounding the necklace were still arranged almost perfectly, and the ancient runes were even more fascinating.

But it had exhausted its energy; the same combination of runes carved on the same material stone, on a gemstone necklace or metal necklace, had no effect, obviously requiring the correct spell to activate.

The spell Bode mentioned, Vid reconstructed all of it. The necklace obligingly glowed for two seconds, but beyond that, it had no other effect.

Then Vid discovered a problem: the runic spells engraved seemed to have a beginning and an end, but it was actually a loop rune. In other words, what Bode said at the beginning might not be the true beginning; the spell could start at any position in this runic sequence.

Moreover, how one phrases the incantation, where to prolong the tone, where to emphasize, these things that significantly influence the magic effect, are entirely unmarked on the necklace.

Exhaustive permutations and combinations: this spell could have hundreds of thousands of reading methods.

After spending a few days studying with the Time Turner, Vid reluctantly admitted that the Unspeakables were right; it was a piece of junk. Instead of trying to "resurrect" it, he might as well find a way to invent something similar himself.

Vid casually put the stone necklace back on the storage shelf and left the wardrobe space.

Not long after, a sneaky figure floated in.

The Cloak picked up the necklace, pretended it had a head, wore the necklace at the collar, fastened it with the collar, and floated out proudly.

Recently, the Cube Poppet responsible for space renovation was working when it caught this fellow floating past itself three times, irritatedly saying, "You're not going to tidy up the library, what are you doing causing trouble here?"

"Look!" The Cloak proudly displayed its new gear, saying, "I have a necklace too!"

"Put it back! Quickly put it back!" the Broom tapped the Cloak twice, saying, "This is something the master has been paying much attention to recently. What if it gets broken?"

"I'm just wearing it for a bit, it won't get damaged!" The Cloak dodged the Broom's attack, saying, "Besides, I feel like the master doesn't seem to like it anymore; he didn't even put it back in the box today."

The Cube Poppet shook its head and minded its own business, moving bricks. Instead, Firebird Mikhail was attracted by their quarrel and flew over curiously to watch.

As the Cloak and the Broom frolicked, the necklace wasn't secured properly and fell to the ground with a "clatter."

"Ah!" The Cloak exclaimed.

"I didn't break it!" the Broom immediately flew away.

"It didn't break! It just fell to the ground."

The Cloak nudged the necklace with its hem, finding it still intact, then breathed a sigh of relief and said.

It was about to pick it up when Firebird Mikhail suddenly lowered its head and pecked a few times at it.

The stone necklace flashed with red light, looking as if Mikhail was about to melt it. The Cloak didn't dare to fool around anymore and hurriedly picked it up and placed it back on the shelf.

"Click!"

With a gentle, crisp sound, one end of the necklace swung for a moment and struck something below, which immediately cracked apart.

The poppets exchanged glances, then hurriedly ran out, afraid that staying behind would mean taking responsibility.

...

Vid wandered around the castle, glancing at his final grades, unsurprisingly achieving very high scores in every subject.

The fifth and seventh-year students' exams had also ended, and the entire school was in a state of carefree celebration. The end-of-term banquet was still as grand as ever, thoroughly satisfying everyone's appetites.

Of course, Vid still had to return the Time Turner temporarily to Professor McGonagall. Sometimes he really wished Professor McGonagall would forget about this matter, but upon asking, he found out that she didn't have the authority to keep it either. During the holidays, Professor McGonagall also needed to return the Time Turner to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries.

"It's just an auxiliary learning tool, very useful, but you shouldn't become addicted to it."

Percy lectured in an elder's tone: "Vid, being able to take all the courses simultaneously is proof enough of your excellence, but also mind not to make mistakes on such details and don't attempt to exploit legal loopholes."

Vid: "..."

When he returned to his dormitory, smelled of food, and entered the wardrobe space, he was met with several poppets standing in line, waiting for a scolding.