Shocking! Not a Single One of These Books Could "Pass Review"?

"Master Sophic had indeed planned to sell those books, but before he got the chance, he passed away." Toby shook his head.

"Master Sophic had never liked reading since he was young. To him, those books were the least valuable things. In fact, ever since Master Sophic inherited the tower, he had barely set foot on the third or fourth floors..."

"So when money was tight, the first things he sold were the items in the laboratory."

Li Weide was stunned. In the Wizarding World, there were actually people who thought magic books were the least valuable things?

Toby had served his former master for quite a long time, so he too believed books were nothing but waste paper.

That was why, from the very beginning, he had told Li Weide that there was nothing much left in the Old Manor.

He had not even mentioned those books!

Looking at it that way, it was perfectly understandable that Master Sophic could not beat anyone.

In truth, he could not even be called a Dark Wizard anymore...

What kind of Dark Wizard had an empty laboratory?!

Still, it was fortunate that this wastrel had started by selling off the equipment on the first floor when liquidating the family estate, allowing the books on the third and fourth floors to escape disaster!

"Take me to the third and fourth floors!" Li Weide said excitedly.

To him, these books were the most valuable things in the entire Old Manor!

While Toby happily cleaned the Wizard Tower,

Li Weide was on the third floor, flipping through the Somnolen Family's collection.

It was not until he found a manuscript titled "Origins of the Somnolen Family" that he finally learned a little about the family.

Although the Somnolen Family was not as ancient as the other Pure-blood Families, it had still been passed down for several centuries.

What surprised Li Weide was that, according to the manuscript, the founder of the Somnolen Family had actually been a Yakshini!

As far as Li Weide knew, Yakshinis should have counted as a kind of Magical Creature. Later, the Ministry of Magic had classified them as people, just like centaurs and Merpeople.

In fact, though Yakshinis were exceedingly ugly, they looked very similar to humans.

Their appearance resembled that of an ugly old witch.

The ugly, aged witches in Muggle fairy tales had been based on Yakshinis.

The founder of the Somnolen Family was named Laetitia Somnolen.

Once, out of jealousy over a princess's beauty, she had made that princess consume an excessive amount of Draught of Living Death... the same kind Li Weide had given Tom tonight.

After consuming too much Draught of Living Death, the princess had fallen directly into an unresponsive coma.

Until a wizard appeared.

This wizard was quite crafty. He smeared Wakefulness Potion on his lips, then kissed the princess, thereby waking her.

Afterward, the king, unaware of the wizard's identity, married the princess to the young wizard...

Li Weide could not help scratching his head when he read this, because the story seemed extremely similar to the Muggle fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

It was highly likely that this had been the tale's original inspiration...

Li Weide continued reading.

The princess's revival had enraged Laetitia.

But she was no match for the young wizard, so she could only suppress her anger and endure.

It was not until the princess and the young wizard had their first child that Laetitia stole the baby away.

And that child was the true ancestor of the present-day Somnolen Family...

Laetitia only told the child about this many years after stealing him, when she was on her deathbed.

By the time the child learned the truth and went back in search of his biological parents, he discovered that they had long since died. He could no longer return to his roots.

In the end, the child chose to return to this tower, and thus the Somnolen Family was born...

After reading the family's origin story, even Li Weide could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

After setting down the manuscript, Li Weide began browsing the other books.

It had to be said, the Somnolen Family truly deserved its reputation as an old family that had endured for centuries.

Although it was not as ancient as those Pure-blood Families, its foundation was not weak in the slightest.

Judging from these manuscripts and books, the family had produced quite a few talented people.

It was a pity that it had ultimately fallen into Sophic's hands...

The more Li Weide read, the more excited he became.

Originally, he had only intended to find one or two manuscripts or magic books that Dumbledore would not let him read.

But now, it seemed that tonight's gains had far exceeded his expectations!

After hastily browsing the books on the third floor, Li Weide went straight up to the fourth.

There were no fewer books on the fourth floor than on the third.

More precisely, the third floor mainly held experimental manuscripts, magical insights, and even books written by generations of Somnolence Family members.

The fourth floor, meanwhile, contained magic books and rare editions collected from outside.

Most importantly, Li Weide discovered that the books collected on both floors had one thing in common.

Not a single magic book among them could "pass review"!

It could only be said that they truly were a Dark Wizard family. Ordinary magic books without even a hint of darkness did not deserve a place in their library...

Li Weide even found a copy of "Secrets of Advanced Dark Arts" on one bookshelf!

In other words, he could read and learn every book here.

But if he truly wanted to use the knowledge within them, he had better first make sure no one was around...

Otherwise, he would definitely be thrown into Azkaban!

Li Weide read quickly, and he had a strong interest in these books.

Only after browsing several volumes in succession did he reluctantly put one down.

He checked the time and realized it was already five in the morning. It was time to head back. He would have to explore the rest of the tower another time.

For safety's sake, he did not intend to take any books from here. His memory was good enough; he could simply store them in his head.

"Toby, we should head back."

By then, Toby had already cleaned the entire Wizard Tower until it was spotless.

He had only refrained from disturbing Li Weide because Li Weide had been reading the whole time.

"Okay, Young Master Weide!" Toby said happily.

Li Weide was willing to inherit this "Old Manor," and Toby could not have been happier.

"Toby, remember this. You cannot tell anyone about everything that happened tonight, or anything related to this Old Manor! Remember, you must not mention it to anyone!" Li Weide said sternly.

Dumbledore absolutely could not be allowed to see the books here...

And Tom was even less acceptable!

If Tom really read these books, Voldemort would emerge ten years early!

"Yes!" Toby answered solemnly as well.

Hog's Head Inn.

Tom rubbed his head vigorously.

For some reason, he felt that his head was especially heavy this morning.

As if he had not slept enough.

"Are you all right?" Li Weide asked.

"N-No... it's nothing..." Tom said, shaking his head again.

"Drink this." Li Weide tossed him a bottle of Wakefulness Potion.

Tom's symptoms had to be because Toby had used too strong a dose of the potion last night.

They had agreed on one drop...

But for Toby, exactly how much counted as one drop was apparently still open to debate.

After drinking the Wakefulness Potion, Tom immediately felt much better.

He could not help feeling even more grateful toward Li Weide.

Completely unaware that the reason he was like this was because Li Weide had drugged him!

Poor Tom was being toyed with in the palm of Li Weide's hand without realizing it...