In the end Dumbledore sat helplessly in his seat, watching Kayson hopping around his office with an inflatable apple peel, looking for all sorts of random things.
His face was filled with unease, as if he had been stuck on a long bus ride and was suffering from an upset stomach, with a strange force inside him that he couldn't tell whether it was solid, liquid, or gas.
He was now afraid that Kayson wouldn't find anything too interesting and would stay there indefinitely. He was also afraid that Kayson would find something too interesting, like if he accidentally pulled the Gryffindor massager out from under the head of the ward. Should he give it to him or not?
However, these were not within Kayson's thoughts. He was holding an Apple Map in one hand, feeling the warm vibration within it, while carefully flipping through the pages in front of Dumbledore's desk with the other.
Sure enough, the unclean little hand slowly touched Dumbledore's drawer, and the temperature of the Apple Map rose significantly by another degree.
Dumbledore raised his eyelids and cautiously glanced at Kayson's small hand rummaging through the drawer. He finally discovered that Kayson had perfectly avoided all the magical items and reached out to touch a bronze pocket watch with a perpetual calendar that had stopped telling time.
The moment Kayson touched the pocket watch, the temperature of the apple peel in his other hand instantly soared to an extreme level, eventually burning into ashes.
"Is this what you've been looking for?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Looks like it." Kayson placed the pocket watch on the desk, then began to put everything he had messed up in the drawer back in its place.
Finally, he brazenly sat down opposite Dumbledore: "This watch..."
Dumbledore shrugged. "You like giving them to you."
"I was asking if this has any special sentimental value for you, considering how old this pocket watch is and you still keep it in the table." Kayson said as he stuffed the pocket watch into his pocket.
"... It was indeed a gift from an old friend of mine." After saying Dumbledore glanced at Kayson across from him, clearly having no intention whatsoever of taking the pocket watch out and returning it to him.
So he simply added what he hadn't finished saying, "This is a Christmas present that a friend of mine gave me 10 years ago."
Kayson nodded in agreement. "It's a truly touching story of friendship."
"Yes. But he's not dead yet, and he sends me Christmas presents every year. This one just happened to break, I just happened to be too lazy to fix it, and I just happened to leave it here and forget to throw it away."
Kayson nodded. "Then there's no problem. Goodbye."
Kayson stood up to leave, but just as he reached the door, he turned back and headed straight for his... no... Dumbledore's liquor cabinet. He picked out a bottle of liquor, carefully put it in his pocket, and shoved it into his pocket.
"Thank you very much." Kayson Lin didn't forget to thank Dumbledore.
"... At least he knows his manners." Dumbledore looked at Kayson, who was grabbing and stuffing the bag, and finally uttered a helpless sound.
Back in his office, Kayson placed his pocket watch on his desk. It was the sweet 8 a. m. time at Hogwarts, so there were very few people in the office besides himself.
After all, those who arrive at 8 am are in class, those who don't arrive at 8 am are sleeping, and the few young wizards who exercise are just taking a walk or running laps in the far distance. In short, no one is bothering them.
Then he began to recall the method for activating mystical items described in the occult book.
That's right, these kinds of items containing mystical concepts need to be activated, especially those with more obscure concepts.
Explicit concepts like sharpness and blazing heat are self-evident and don't present this kind of problem; they can be used immediately.
The obvious thing about the pocket watch in one's hand is that the underlying concept is abstract no matter how you look at it...
He rummaged through his drawer again and again, and finally found an old-fashioned alloy key, the key to the door lock from before his office was expanded.
Bringing it out now has its merits, just like in the mysticism, the concept of a key represents concepts such as opening, activating, and unlocking.
The activation ceremony is now perfectly compatible.
The only difference is that mysticism is similar to alchemy in some ways, for example, mysticism also emphasizes Equivalent Exchange.
Every occult ritual requires the sacrifice of an unknown being or concept.
The previous Apple Search Ceremony was conducted in this way, and the current Apple Opening Ceremony is still conducted in this way.
Kayson first filed the brass key to create a sharp edge, then grabbed the pocket watch with his other hand and flipped his wrist so that the back of his hand was facing up.
With his other hand, he picked up the key and stabbed it into the back of his hand, then along the bone and finally pierced the skin of his palm.
The blood flowed along the veins and the key, eventually reaching the pocket watch.
Click!
The pocket watch suddenly chimed. Despite the pain, Kayson pulled out the key, then opened the watch. The hands had been somehow reset to the correct time: 8:16. Even the perpetual calendar had been adjusted to 1996.
"Looking at it this way, this watch..." Kayson muttered to himself, then suddenly stopped, completely bewildered.
He looked at the pocket watch in his hand and saw that the hands began to spin counterclockwise, faster and faster.
Just as he was about to think the watch was broken or that something had gone wrong with his activation ritual, a series of wildly flashing lights dazzled his eyes.
He looked up, and the surrounding scenery seemed to rapidly reverse along with the time on his pocket watch, ultimately leading him to another time...
1991, I don't know which day it was, 8:16.
"This pocket watch doesn't even have a moon and day function," Kayson muttered, bewildered, before looking around at the surroundings.
Everything was gray and white, except for myself, who was in color. As for the other places, they were both familiar and strange... My office hadn't been expanded yet... It was small.
Not far from me, at the spot where the desk was originally placed, two people were talking to each other, completely oblivious to me.
On the table sat a gem that, even when the entire world was gray and white, still shimmered with a blood-red light— the Philosopher's Stone.
Kayson looked down at the pocket watch in his hand again and began to tick the hands meticulously, as if he were to replay all the time that had not yet passed.
"Since the whole world is gray and white, and only the Philosopher's Stone is colorful... let's give it a try." Kayson murmured silently, walked towards the Philosopher's Stone, raised his hand, and touched it.
[Obtained Philosopher's Stone, Mysterious Era Module, Unlocked... Mysterious Era Module Unlocked... Equivalent Exchange Module... Unlocked Successfully.]
Startled awake by the long-absent system voice, Kayson looked up sharply at the incredibly spacious office and the pocket watch in his hand, bearing the number 1996.
"I am Merlin..."
Today it's our old friend again! [ Xia Fan ] [ Xia Fan: With his amazing drawing skills, winning the championship is inevitable]
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