No solution.
That was the conclusion Voldemort reached after a brief moment of thought about this battle.
From the previous fight, Voldemort realized that Roger's ability to observe fate wasn't just about seeing a short time into the future—he could see "very far."
Roger's contract had a trap from the start. The additional bet in the Philosopher's Stone game—"one arm"—was lethal. After Roger used Transfiguration to modify his body's internal structure, even though Quirrell's attack wasn't meant to kill, it still fully triggered Roger's crisis sense!
Against a true seer who could observe fate at will, any sneak attack was useless. All schemes, tricks, and assassinations were nothing more than laughable attempts.
The more one relied on conspiracy, the more likely they were to stumble upon unexpected developments.
Once fate observation reached a certain level, a seer's power became terrifying—almost akin to reversing time at will!
For Roger, even a 3% chance of victory could approach 100% after making countless correct choices, let alone 30%.
Meanwhile, any minor mistake in Quirrell's combat would inevitably lead to his defeat.
The only way to win was for Quirrell to grow strong enough to achieve a 100% victory over Roger—using absolute, nuclear-level force to erase all possibilities.
And that was precisely why Roger had dedicated all his research since entering school to extending his lifespan and enhancing his talent, without sparing a thought for combat magic.
After truly delving into the mysteries of magic and understanding the secrets of the mind, Roger's ability to predict the future had already far surpassed what he could do during his time in the Middle East.
Now, with his mastery of Transfiguration and other spells, unless an opponent was at the level of Dumbledore or Voldemort, or possessed equivalent power, killing him was nearly impossible.
In a life-or-death battle, he was almost invincible!
Enemies he had a chance to defeat were guaranteed victories.
Enemies he had no chance against—no amount of combat magic would change the outcome. If the gap in raw power was too vast, no number of spells or techniques could make up for it. Against an opponent who could crush him with a single mind-dominating spell, struggling was pointless.
Unless Roger had a fate-level countermeasure like Harry.
Otherwise, he had to steadily build his foundation to catch up.
"Interesting… Tsk, truly interesting."
From behind Quirrell's turban, Voldemort let out a chilling laugh.
He could certainly guide Quirrell in magic to make him stronger, but what level was Quirrell at?
And he was supposed to compete with this little seer in growth speed?
What a joke.
The possibility of brute force breaking through the situation had never existed in the first place.
Everything circled back to the "riddle" of Roger's little game.
"Can you really defy fate?!"
---
Voldemort hadn't expected this.
After all these years since graduating from Hogwarts, he found himself back here once again.
Hogwarts Library.
As a wizard who had reached the pinnacle of magic in his era, Voldemort had developed his own understanding of magical systems.
His expertise lay in the fields of Dark Magic and the soul.
It wasn't that he couldn't grasp other fields, but they weren't at the same level as his Dark Magic mastery.
Faced with an unfamiliar enemy from the domain of fate, the best approach he could think of was to search through these old texts for any clues that could break the deadlock.
Not far behind him, Roger watched his focused figure without much thought.
If Voldemort truly discovered some method to counter him, Roger's crisis sense would alert him instantly. At that point, he'd simply adapt.
And as Voldemort grew stronger, Roger wasn't standing still either.
After more than two months at Hogwarts, Roger's path in magic was finally approaching a new realm!
He had Professor McGonagall to thank for introducing him to Alchemy, as well as Hermione for helping him break free from his own blind spot.
Though the inner workings of Alchemical artifacts were purely powered by magic—completely unrelated to neuroscience or physics and essentially a technological black box—Roger had initially hoped to create a powerful alchemical organ, study its operation, then replicate it within his own body. But the idea of using Transfiguration-based body modifications in tandem with Alchemy to "levitate himself by stepping on his own foot" had ultimately failed.
However, Alchemy still provided Roger with a clear path while strengthening his talent.
After a period of research, his second alchemical brain had taken shape. While the technology for assisting calculations and accelerating thought processes was still far off, the memory storage function had been quickly developed through studying the Alchemical principles of Pensieves and similar objects.
With his photographic memory, he no longer needed to waste time taking notes.
Roger's learning efficiency had skyrocketed.
As his expertise in Alchemical body modification deepened, an idea took root—perhaps he could create an alchemical organ similar to Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye.
Of course, Roger wasn't interested in peeping at people.
What he truly wanted was an alchemical organ that could push his observational scale beyond the cellular level.
If this concept succeeded, his Transfiguration-based body modifications would enter a 2.0 era, transcending mere flesh and blood changes to reach the realm of matter reconfiguration.
The path to immortality—he might achieve it sooner than expected.
If so, then the path to eternal youth should also begin preparation…
Roger's journey, much like scientific research in the Muggle world, followed the principle of "Equip One Generation, Design One Generation, Pre-Research One Generation."
He would keep iterating his techniques step by step—starting from the flesh, then moving to matter and energy, unraveling the truth of magic, until he surpassed magic itself and reached the ultimate shore… as long as he didn't die along the way.
Soon, like Voldemort, Roger became fully immersed in the world of knowledge.
For a time, the only sound in the library was the turning of pages by the two of them.
Until a voice broke the silence.
"Roger, Roger…"
A soft voice whispered in Roger's ear.
He turned his head—it was Hermione.
"What's up?"
"The Quidditch match is about to start. Aren't you going to watch?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice, slightly puzzled as she passed through the library to return a book.
That was also why the usually crowded library only had Roger and Voldemort—disguised within Quirrell—inside.
Quidditch was the most popular sport in the wizarding world. Hogwarts' matches were one of the biggest events on campus. Normally, the entire school would gather to cheer for their teams or simply enjoy the spectacle.
Even those who weren't big fans of Quidditch would usually go just for the excitement.
"Sorry, I'm not particularly interested in taking a trip just to watch a match with a guaranteed outcome." Roger replied.
If he wasn't mistaken, today's match wasn't just a win—it would be a crushing victory.
"But…" Hermione frowned slightly.
"You're probably Harry's most important friend at Hogwarts. If you're not there for his moment of glory… he'll be really disappointed."
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