Over the next few days, Ryze's life at Hogwarts remained largely uneventful.
The storm caused by the incident with Draco Malfoy gradually faded into the background, leaving behind only minor ripples in Ryze's otherwise calm school routine. Hogwarts itself was a vast castle filled with secrets, and the daily lives of its students were busy enough that even dramatic conflicts quickly became old news.
The very next day after the incident, Andromeda replied to Ryze's letter.
Her response was brief but approving. She praised him for handling the situation well and expressed satisfaction that someone had finally managed to teach Draco a proper lesson. In her letter, she even joked that if Ryze still found Draco disagreeable, he should feel free to continue educating that stubborn nephew of hers whenever the opportunity presented itself.
At the same time, she expressed curiosity about Ryze's apparent talent for divination. She asked whether he might want her to purchase some crystal balls or other divination tools and send them to him by owl.
Clearly, Andromeda's interest had been piqued.
As for Narcissa, however, she showed absolutely no intention of replying.
Ryze wasn't surprised in the slightest.
It seemed he would not be receiving any words of gratitude from Draco's mother.
Narcissa Malfoy, after all, was not exactly known for her graciousness—especially when it came to matters involving her son.
Still, Ryze didn't mind. In fact, he found the entire situation rather amusing.
Through a reliable grapevine, he soon learned that Draco had received not only weekend detention but also several consecutive letters from home.
Judging from Draco's increasingly gloomy expression over the past few days, the contents of those letters were probably quite severe.
Ryze considered this an excellent development.
The little brat truly needed some discipline from his elders.
If Draco wanted to survive in the wizarding world, especially as a member of the Malfoy family, arrogance alone would not be enough. Instead of acting like an untouchable noble heir at Hogwarts, he should learn the most valuable skill that had allowed the Malfoy family to thrive for generations—the art of fence-sitting.
Knowing how to hedge bets and stay on the winning side of every conflict was far more reliable than mastering any spell.
If Draco dared to cause trouble again in the future, Ryze had already decided he would personally make him say "thank you" next time.
Preferably in front of everyone.
For now, however, Ryze spent his days peacefully enjoying his life at Hogwarts.
Whenever he had free time, he wandered through the castle's endless corridors, quietly exploring the ancient building filled with countless hidden corners and long-forgotten secrets.
Meanwhile, the mysterious ravens continued appearing at a rate of roughly one every one or two days.
Their tasks were mostly related to knowledge and academic performance.
Some asked him to achieve the highest score in a particular class. Others required him to thoroughly read a specific book within a set time limit. One particularly strange task demanded that he successfully answer the questions posed by the Ravenclaw tower's eagle door knocker more than five times in a single day.
Some of these missions were quite challenging, but none were impossible.
With enough dedication and careful preparation, Ryze managed to complete them all successfully.
Unfortunately, when he visited Hagrid's hut on the second day, he could only absorb a pitiful 0.1 points of Curse Energy.
Further tests soon revealed the pattern.
Hagrid's hut generated approximately 0.1 points of Curse Energy per day, and the energy would accumulate for a maximum of three days before reaching its limit.
After confirming this, Ryze made a small adjustment to his schedule.
From then on, he planned to visit the lonely half-giant every two or three days.
Not only did it allow him to steadily collect Curse Energy, but it also gave him an excuse to chat with Hagrid, who always seemed delighted to have visitors.
Compared to Hagrid's hut, however, the Ancient Runes classroom proved to be far more productive.
It generated roughly 0.25 points of Curse Energy per day, and the energy there appeared to persist slightly longer.
As long as Ryze visited the classroom daily, combined with absorbing the curse energy lingering around his own body and casually walking a few laps around the castle, he could usually accumulate a full point of Curse Energy each day.
Professor Babbling didn't mind Ryze dropping by the runes classroom whenever he had spare time.
On the contrary, she seemed rather pleased.
After all, she could study Ailey up close, guide Ryze in his Ancient Runes studies, and even help him refine his budding divination abilities.
To be honest, Ryze felt that although Professor Babbling lacked any natural talent for divination herself, her academic understanding of the subject was likely far more professional than Professor Trelawney's.
Divination, after all, was one of the oldest forms of magic known to the wizarding world.
Its origins stretched all the way back to the earliest days of magical civilization.
Ancient Runes also contained a surprising amount of knowledge related to divination.
In Norse mythology, the runic script was said to have been created by the All-Father Odin.
According to legend, Odin hung himself from the World Tree for nine days and nine nights in pursuit of ultimate wisdom. During that ordeal, he supposedly perceived the fundamental mysteries of the universe and discovered the runic characters imbued with powerful magical meaning.
Many wizards believed that if Odin had truly existed as a wizard in ancient times, he might have "seen" those runic symbols through some extraordinary form of divination.
Because of Ryze's apparent affinity for both divination and Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling had begun to view him in a very favorable light.
In fact, she seemed to regard him as a potential disciple.
However, she had never formally taken on a student before, so she hadn't yet brought up the topic directly. A decision of that magnitude required careful observation and time.
Instead, she gradually introduced Ryze to several students who were talented in Ancient Runes.
Through these introductions, Ryze's social network within Hogwarts quietly began expanding.
Among the students he met were three prefects from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw—Percy Weasley, along with the already familiar Penelope and Robert—as well as several sixth- and seventh-year students from Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
One of the senior Slytherin students was particularly interesting.
Although he was a pure-blood wizard, he lacked many of the stereotypical traits associated with his house.
He openly expressed his disdain for Draco Malfoy regarding the conflict with Ryze. However, he also made it clear that the incident was merely a personal dispute and would not affect relations between their houses.
Through the reactions of these older students, Ryze gradually realized that he had begun to develop a small reputation at Hogwarts.
Ironically, this reputation had little to do with forcing Draco Malfoy to eat humble pie.
Instead, it was largely because of Ailey.
Powerful magical familiars like Ailey were extremely rare in the wizarding world.
Any wizard knowledgeable about Ancient Runes only needed a single glance to recognize that Ailey's abilities were probably connected to the mysterious rune engraved on its head.
Because of this, rumors about the strange runic creature had even begun to circulate outside the school.
The Daily Prophet had apparently caught wind of the story.
Several speculative articles mentioned a mysterious magical familiar originating from an ancient relic. Some writers even suggested that if the secret of that rune could be deciphered, it might allow many more wizards to enjoy the convenience of magical familiars.
Fortunately for Ryze, the newspaper never revealed the identity of the first-year wizard connected to the creature.
Otherwise, he would likely have been buried under a mountain of owl letters asking about Ailey's price.
Still, the attention was enough to make him cautious.
Despite that, Ailey unintentionally became a powerful diplomatic tool.
Through what Ryze jokingly referred to as "Ailey Diplomacy," he quickly established friendly relationships with many of the senior students—particularly the female ones.
In exchange for letting them admire or interact with the adorable runic creature, several upper-year students even shared their carefully organized class notes with him.
With access to such valuable materials, Ryze's path toward becoming a top student at Hogwarts suddenly seemed much smoother.
Aside from building connections, Ryze also continued investigating other potential sources of Curse Energy around the castle.
He soon examined the situations in Herbology class and the Hogwarts Library.
The greenhouses used for Herbology contained several fertilizers and dangerous magical plants that emitted small amounts of Curse Energy.
However, Ryze was worried that absorbing too much energy might harm the plants.
As a result, he limited himself to taking only a tiny amount during class.
Since Herbology was held three times per week, he could absorb roughly half a point of Curse Energy in total each week from the greenhouses.
For now, he treated the location as a backup resource.
He planned to make a final decision only after confirming whether absorbing Curse Energy would negatively affect the growth of the magical plants.
The situation in the library was completely different.
Near the deepest part of the Restricted Section, the air was practically saturated with dense Curse Energy.
The concentration there was astonishing.
In fact, Ryze could absorb 0.1 points of Curse Energy in just two or three minutes.
Based on his research and descriptions from several books on curses found in the regular sections of the library, Ryze formed a rough hypothesis.
The Curse Energy present in places like Hagrid's hut and the Ancient Runes classroom originated from small, unfocused curses.
They continuously released energy but lacked any clear target or intention.
Because of this, their effects were mild.
Even an ordinary person in good health could live in such an environment for ten days or even half a month without suffering any major harm.
The curses inside the Restricted Section were entirely different.
Many of the forbidden books were actively designed to lure and influence passing wizards.
These curses were far more powerful and far more deliberate.
Even adult wizards without deep knowledge of the Dark Arts needed significant protective measures when handling such books.
Dragon-hide gloves, specially enchanted goggles, and various protective charms were considered standard precautions.
Faced with such an incredible treasure trove of Curse Energy, Ryze naturally felt extremely tempted.
Unfortunately, there was a problem.
To absorb the energy efficiently, he needed to be within two meters of the source.
Once he moved beyond three meters, the absorption rate dropped sharply.
Simply lingering nearby would hardly allow him to accumulate a full point of energy in an entire day.
This made farming Curse Energy in the Restricted Section extremely difficult.
Even if Ryze obtained a permission note from Professor Babbling to borrow a divination-related forbidden book, Madam Pince would never allow him to enter the Restricted Section personally.
Instead, she would carefully examine the note multiple times to confirm its authenticity before retrieving the book herself.
Furthermore, whenever a young wizard without permission approached within two shelves of the Restricted Section, Madam Pince would seemingly materialize out of nowhere.
She would quietly ask what book they were looking for and watch them retrieve it before escorting them away from the area.
In other words, unless Ryze learned the Disillusionment Charm and sneaked into the library late at night, he would not be able to freely harvest the abundant Curse Energy hidden within the Restricted Section.
For the time being, the treasure remained just out of reach.
And Ryze could only wait patiently for the right opportunity to claim it.
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