Charle's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the author of Lost Age.
He never would have imagined that this book was written by his old friend, Dak.
Based on the publication date, this should have been a work from Dak's youth.
"Well, I'll be. Dak, you terrorist, you were actually a cultured person in your youth and even published a book?"
Books included in the Hogwarts Restricted Section weren't necessarily all dangerous, but they were definitely not the kind of boring, run-of-the-mill stuff.
Coupled with Deep Blue's prompt that it had obtained material about the history of the Wizarding World from this book, Charle's interest was piqued, and he seriously opened the book and began to read.
In this book, Dak's writing style and narrative tone were unexpectedly clear and meticulous, completely unlike the madness Charle had seen in him.
Dak used ample historical data to propose a new periodization of the Wizarding World's history.
He divided the entire history of the Wizarding World, from near to far, into the Recent Era, Middle Era, Ancient Era, and Remote Era.
The Recent Era was defined as the period from the complete end of the Religious Inquisition and the establishment of international wizarding organizations to the present day.
The most significant marker of the Middle Era was the establishment of Europe's Three Great Magic Schools, including Hogwarts, and the activities of their many founders. It was an epic era.
Countless exceptionally talented wizards rose during that time. Subjects like Transfiguration, Potions, and Alchemy in the Recent Era all began their formal enlightenment in the Middle Era, laying the foundation for today.
If the Middle Era was a stirring epic, then tracing back further, the Ancient Era was a bizarre and fantastical mythology.
Whether it was Merlin, or the Olympian Gods from Greek mythology, or Sumerian Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, Norse Mythology...
Those bizarre mythologies still reveal the glory of the Ancient Era and the lingering ignorance and bloodshed, barbarity and cruelty.
As for the Remote Era, which predates the Ancient Era, Dak asserted that such an era existed.
That era was much, much earlier than the mythical Ancient Era.
That era did not belong to humans, nor to the gods and heroes of the Ancient Era. The world belonged to some older, unspeakable existences.
Dak referred to them in the book as the Ancient Ones, the Great Old Ones.
They once occupied the sky, the land, the sea, the stars, and the void, but for special reasons, the Great Old Ones all fell into slumber.
When the last Great Old One and their kin fell into a long sleep, the Remote Era ended, and the world entered the Ancient Era...
Charle looked at Dak's passionate and unrestrained display of talent in the field of history, feeling a bit strange.
Was this meticulous writing style really from the same person as the Dak he had seen?
However, Charle wasn't particularly interested in history.
What attracted his attention was another point Dak mentioned in the book: the magic of wizards, gods, or demigod heroes showed a highly close connection with the era.
Dak believed that the older the era, the higher the magic intensity of the special existences of that era, and even the magical items created possessed incredibly high magic intensity.
For example, the gods in the Ancient Era mythology might not even need spells. Relying on their own ancient magic, they could shake the universe and cause thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.
The artifacts in their hands, without needing intricate carving, possessed magic that could shake the heavens.
Therefore, the Ancient Era belonged to the gods and their descendants, as well as those fierce monsters that could rival the gods. Although wizards had already appeared, they were not the protagonists of the era.
But as time passed, the magic intensity of the Ancient Era slowly declined.
When it dropped to a certain level, the gods in mythology could no longer perform miracles and fell from their pedestals. They even fought each other to seize the remaining sources of magic, leading to the Twilight of the Gods.
But even the survivors among the gods, as time passed and their magic further declined, could no longer exist in the world.
Their divine bodies collapsed, their divine kingdoms shattered, the glory of mythology faded, wizards became the protagonists of the era, and the Middle Era arrived.
The wizards who had just appeared in history could be said to be incredibly crude in their skills compared to today.
But because the beginning of the Middle Era was not far from the Ancient Era, the magic still maintained a terrifying intensity compared to today.
A casual spell from a wizard back then possessed power that most wizards today could never achieve in their lifetime.
At that time, the Deathly Hallows, which are still circulated as fairy tales in the Wizarding World today, were also born.
Magical items of that intensity simply cannot be created now.
This is not a matter of technique or knowledge, but because today's magic is not ancient enough, which also means it is not strong enough to support magic of this intensity.
The closer to modern times, the higher the precision of magic-related disciplines, but the magic intensity shows an obvious decline with the era. This is a rule proposed by Dak.
The only exception is the past hundred years since the Recent Era.
After the magic intensity continuously weakened and the deeds of those powerful wizards in legends were gradually no longer believed, like a dying ember flaring up, the decline in the Wizarding World's magic intensity began to slow down and even started to rise against the trend.
Even in the past hundred years, among a group of Recent Era wizards who should have continued to be weak, several exceptionally talented individuals with magic intensity comparable to Middle Era wizards appeared.
Such powerful magic, combined with the increasingly precise and advanced knowledge of magic disciplines today, made the combat power of these few wizards extremely astonishing, enough to rival the top wizards of the Middle Era.
Regarding this phenomenon, Dak also provided a separate explanation, linking it to the Religious Inquisition of the Middle Era.
Against the backdrop of that fanatical, insane, and bloody era, the Hogwarts Four Founders and the founders of several other magic schools emerged out of nowhere, incredibly.
This was also accompanied by a surge of many excellent wizards whose strength performance far exceeded that of wizards from the previous or subsequent decades, as if they were products of a specific period, spurred by some inexplicable force, favored by the era.
Regarding this, Dak wrote down his speculation.
"I don't think it was just the Religious Inquisition, those ignorant mortals, who could push wizards to that extent."
"Based on the strength of the Four Founders recorded, they could easily wipe out an army. If these giant-level wizards had united at that time, their power would have completely overwhelmed the Muggle army."
"But they were forced to the point of building shelters and leaving behind their legacy, which means they were in a bitter struggle at the time, deeply entrenched in a desperate situation."
"This was definitely not done by Muggles during the Religious Inquisition. At that time, many places recorded special astronomical phenomena, and the constellations underwent special changes. I believe that what threatened the Founders was the combined product of the fanatical and frenzied atmosphere on the ground and the special astronomical phenomena..."
"In the past hundred years of the Recent Era, the successive births of Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Voldemort, how similar are they to the births of the Four Founders and other wizards in the Middle Era? The celestial phenomena are also gradually changing, and the past dangers may return."
"I believe it is related to the Lost Remote Era. The sleeping Great Old Ones may be about to awaken."
"I will continue to pursue the Lost Age and explore the deepest secrets of the Wizarding World..."
"This book, The Lost Age, will be the first chapter of my academic magnum opus!"
Charle flipped through the entire book and unexpectedly found a review in the blank space at the back. It was from Bathilda, the author of Magical History.
In her review, Bathilda directly accused Dak of being heretical, stating that all his claims about the Remote Era were mere speculation with no historical facts to support them, completely delusional.
However, she noted that his research on other eras was detailed and well-documented, which was quite good.
Bathilda hoped that Dak would return to the right track later and not get lost in bizarre fantasies, suggesting he might achieve greater success in the field of Magical History.
After reading this, a thoughtful expression appeared in Charle's eyes.
Were the things Dak said truly delusional?
At least from the text, Charle couldn't see any madness in Dak at that time.
And now, Dak had successfully entered the dream R'lyeh, which proved that he had indeed found the ruins of the Remote Era and even become a part of it.
Coupled with Dak's shouts that the era of the Ancient Ones was about to return, the credibility of the words he left in the book undoubtedly soared.
"The Remote Era is returning?"
Charle's heart sank slightly.
According to Dak, this was a much, much greater disaster than anything involving Grindelwald or Voldemort.
In fact, the birth of these individuals was itself a resistance to the return of the Remote Era.
However, after thinking about it, Charle was helpless.
He was currently feeling frustrated about not being able to enter the dream R'lyeh and not being able to gnaw on R'lyeh's reefs and seawater.
Stopping the return of the Remote Era was too distant a matter for him at the moment.
However, the periodization method proposed by Dak in the book gave Charle a clearer classification of the strength of wizards in the Wizarding World.
Currently, the vast majority of wizards possessed magic from the Recent Era.
Even top wizards like Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had not escaped this level, merely reaching the peak within the Recent Era.
But Dumbledore was an anomaly; in this current Recent Era, his magical power rivaled the peak of the Middle Era.
If one also considered the more refined and advanced magic from the Recent Era that Dumbledore had mastered, Dumbledore would be terrifyingly strong even in the Middle Era. It was possible that the Hogwarts Four Founders would not be his match.
Grindelwald and Voldemort were likely at this level as well.
As for Charle, his magical power was still at the Recent Era level, but he had not yet reached the peak of the Recent Era.
After all, his age was a factor, and even with the feedback from the Ancient Dragon Form, he had not yet reached his full potential.
His mental strength, however, was higher. Due to four deductions of Occlumency and the knowledge already stored in his Memory Palace, Charle's mental power had reached the peak of the Recent Era.
Looking across the Recent Era, there were few wizards who could compare with him in terms of mental power.
With decent magical power and peak Recent Era mental strength, especially the various powerful spells he had mastered, the combined effect elevated Charle's strength beyond the Recent Era, creating a qualitative difference compared to other wizards today, entering the Middle Era level.
However, he was still far from the peak Middle Era level of Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and peak Voldemort.
Putting down The Lost Age, Charle let out a light breath.
According to Dak's final words, this book seemed to be only his early work. Perhaps he could find Dak's later discussions on the Remote Era.
If so, he might be one step closer to the true history of the Wizarding World.
Thoughts flickered in his mind, but Charle quickly suppressed them.
The Occlumency after four deductions was enough for Charle to remain calm even when faced with information that overturned common sense.
No matter how many secrets he knew, without corresponding strength, they were merely topics of conversation.
This information could only be transformed into genuine benefits when he was strong enough!
At this moment, Charle glanced at his total deduction points and couldn't help but frown.
Before coming to Hogwarts, he had frantically plundered in the dream R'lyeh.
He had thought these points would last at least a semester, but plans couldn't keep up with changes. After coming to Hogwarts, he used them up too quickly, simply spending more than he earned.
Of the more than 30 million points, less than 10 million remained.
But there were still many places where points were needed. Not to mention the subsequent deductions of Occlumency, just speed-reading various books to increase mental strength required Charle to constantly invest points to save time.
Also, Dragon Language Magic hadn't been improved for a long time.
If the plan went smoothly, Charle would gain the ability to transform into Fluffy and even a Paradise Phoenix in a while.
Neither of these was inferior to the Ancient Dragon, and the points required would naturally not be small.
Charle sighed.
"Having just caused such a commotion, I'm afraid both Dumbledore and Voldemort are paying extra attention to me."
"Now isn't the right time to go to the Room of Requirement and eat the Diadem."
He licked his lips.
"Bear with it, just bear with it a little longer."
"The trip to the Forbidden Forest should yield quite a bit. Just that group of Acromantulas alone can provide a good amount of points, and there are various Magical Creatures deeper inside, Unicorns, Griffins..."
Just thinking about it made Charle's mouth start to water.
"After the Forbidden Forest trip, when Dumbledore and Voldemort's attention on me decreases, I'll go eat the Diadem."
"The plan to breed various Magical Creatures and plants can also begin."
"As for now, forget it, I'll just have to make do for a bit."
"Fluffy, here I come!"
Soon, Charle was back inside the trapdoor at the end of the fourth-floor corridor.
In the past two or three days, Fluffy the three-headed dog's injuries had long since healed, and its previous ferocity had completely returned.
Hearing the creak of the trapdoor opening, Fluffy immediately let out a terrifying roar.
But the next moment, when Charle dispelled the Disillusionment Charm and appeared before Fluffy, the fierceness on Fluffy's three heads gradually turned into confusion, and then all at once became terror.
It would never forget in its dreams the last time Charle forcibly sterilized it; this little wizard was simply not human!
This time Charle came again, and Fluffy could clearly smell from him that Charle had become stronger.
Compared to the last time he came, he wasn't just a little bit stronger!
Fluffy's three heads quickly started conferring.
The middle head recovered from its terror and let out a series of threatening growls.
"We are three-headed dogs, inheriting ancient bloodlines, how can we let a little wizard do such a humiliating thing to us?"
"Bite him, kill him!"
But the other two heads just pouted.
"You go if you want, I'm not going anyway."
"Keep your voice down, don't let this little devil hear you."
"Forget it, we don't seem to be able to beat him anyway. Isn't it just getting a cut? It'll grow back anyway, let's just bear with it..."
Before Charle could even make a move, the three heads started arguing amongst themselves with howls, making Charle's head buzz.
"Enough!"
"Whoever keeps barking like a dog, I'm not just here to sterilize today, I'll chop off your dog heads too!"
With Charle's threatening whisper and the powerful magic bursting from the tip of his Mithril wand, Fluffy's three heads simultaneously fell into terror.
The next moment, all three heads showed a fawning expression.
Fluffy the three-headed dog voluntarily turned around and spread its hind legs.
Which is worse, getting the small head chopped off or the big head? The three-headed dog could tell the difference.
As for dignity? What's that? We three-headed dogs don't care for that stuff.
A few minutes later, Charle, satisfied, carried the fresh three-headed dog ingredients to the Hufflepuff small kitchen.
After downing a pot of incredibly nourishing three-headed dog broth, over 60,000 deduction points were credited.
Then he went to the entrance of the common room and knocked out a tune of "Blue and White Porcelain" on the door knocker, intoxicatedly swallowing the gushing magical vinegar, gaining nearly 100,000 points.
"Coming to Hufflepuff was really the right choice!"
"I don't have to worry about points in the days before going to the Forbidden Forest. I hope the materials in the Forbidden Forest don't disappoint me."
In the following days, Charle repeated this monotonous life.
Part of the time was spent in his mental world, simulating and deducing on his own, improving his combat ability and increasing his proficiency with ordinary spells.
Most of the time was spent in the Restricted Section, constantly grinding for materials and filling his Memory Palace with knowledge.
His free time was either spent playing with Fluffy or playing music at the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room to make up for the deficit in deduction points.
However, all of this appeared as a different scene in the eyes of those who were paying attention.
Dumbledore monitored Charle's movements every day and was somewhat surprised to see Charle genuinely and honestly reading those miscellaneous books in the Restricted Section that were of little help to his strength.
He had originally felt a faint unease, which had kept him watching Charle.
Now it seemed he might have been overthinking things.
"It seems that while Charle Evans is a genius, he is still just a child who likes to solve these complex problems and read miscellaneous books to show off his abilities."
Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief.
If Charle had continued his relentless pursuit of strength, he would have been quite troubled.
It was quite difficult to suppress such a genius.
But since Charle had "degenerated" and "neglected his studies for pleasure," things became simple.
Books containing practical, advanced magic were precious, but with Dumbledore's connections, he could borrow many of these miscellaneous discussions and strange theories from magic scholars around the world.
If that wasn't enough, he could exchange with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and borrow a portion of their collections in this area.
A smile played on Dumbledore's lips.
"If you like reading these, then take your time."
"With the collections of the three schools, it's enough for you to read until the end of time."
"As for going to see Fluffy every day..."
Dumbledore thought for a moment.
"Although it's a bit cruel to Fluffy, who tries to get me to send him away every time, if he can distract Charle, suffering a bit is worth it."
"Besides, the Wizengamot doesn't seem to have passed any laws protecting three-headed dogs, so neutering Fluffy isn't illegal."
"Let Fluffy suffer a little; I'll bear the future infamy. Anyway, at most, he'll only suffer for another year, about three hundred times. He can just endure it."
Meanwhile, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, Quirrell had a crystal ball in front of him, which vaguely showed Charle's movements over the past few days.
Quirrell reported respectfully to Voldemort.
"Master, Charle has been reading these books in the Restricted Section for the past few days. I've checked them all; the truly advanced magic books have been moved away, leaving only some miscellaneous magical discussions and strange theories for Charle."
"As expected, Master."
Voldemort also sneered in his mind.
"So many years have passed, and Dumbledore still hasn't changed much. Besides the 'love' he always talks about, he's unwilling to give any real benefits."
"He guards advanced magic even more strictly; even those in his Order of the Phoenix can't learn it from him."
"Now, for a genius like Charle Evans, he's still doing this? Foolish, utterly foolish!"
Quirrell quickly said.
"Then, Master, do you need me to approach Charle and win him over to your side?"
Voldemort shook his head.
"People don't cherish things that come too easily."
"Wait a little longer, leave Charle alone for a while. When he's completely desperate and has no other options, I'll step in. Then I'll definitely be able to pull Charle into my ranks."
Even Lucius in Malfoy Manor learned about the changes in the Restricted Section through his connections as a school governor.
He sneered.
"That old bee Dumbledore finally did something right. How can he let a Mudblood like Charle learn the truly advanced magic in the Restricted Section?"
"This Mudblood is already so arrogant now; what would happen if he learned even more advanced magic?"
Since Charle had wasted these past few days and his strength hadn't improved because of entering the Restricted Section, Lucius was completely relieved.
"Tonight, Charle can't put it off any longer. He has to go into the Forbidden Forest."
"I will make this Mudblood pay for his actions!"
And at this moment, Charle, who was thought to have been wasting his time these past few days, didn't pay attention to the outside world's opinions at all.
Only he knew what kind of changes had happened to him in these past few days.
His magical power had indeed stagnated, but in his mental world, the area of his Memory Palace had expanded several times over compared to before. The resulting increase in mental strength was even beyond Charle's estimation.
Now, his temperament was subtly different from a few days ago, as if he possessed a deep accumulation of knowledge, exuding the aura of a scholar, and even his gaze had deepened.
This was the change in temperament brought about by a large amount of knowledge, the so-called "poetry and books in the belly, grace in the heart."
When Charle filled another large book from the Restricted Section into his Memory Palace, the quantitative change accumulated over these past few days finally reached its peak.
Boom!
His mental power, which had reached its peak, suddenly began to climb again, showing a qualitative change.
An uncontrollable look of joy appeared in Charle's eyes.
"This is..."
"Mental power transforming again..."
"Entering the Middle Era level?!"
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