Roger's Path of Alchemy

Clear reading mingled with snores of all sizes, as though composing a symphony.

Normally, students were not supposed to sleep in class.

But this class was an exception.

It was a filler class that should never have been a filler class... History of Magic.

Wizarding history was a field well worth studying, but Hogwarts assigned a ghost to teach it.

Ghosts in the wizarding world were not simply souls left behind after death. They were more like echoes of the deceased lingering in the world. Though they possessed a degree of intelligence, they had no future whatsoever.

They could only think about the things that had concerned them in life, and weaker obsessions further diminished a ghost's intelligence.

Professor Cuthbert Binns, who had still been thinking about going to class in his final moments before death, belonged to that category.

As a ghost, he regarded living people much as one might regard dead objects, making communication difficult most of the time. His lessons consisted mainly of reading from the textbook and were exceptionally dull.

Thus, this class had become a "catch-up-on-sleep class" for the overwhelming majority of students.

Only three people were exceptions.

One was Roger. As he had done on the train when he first enrolled, he would compare wizarding history, Muggle history, and the memories of his previous life, trying to uncover details that had been "altered." He found it a relaxing sort of amusement.

Another was Hermione. Because of Roger, she felt pressure in her studies, so she held a book and previewed the lesson material.

The last was Harry. Harry no longer had the habit of wandering the castle at night, but his curiosity about Hogwarts Castle had not lessened. So he did homework for other classes during History of Magic, giving himself more time to explore the magical castle and do other things.

Today was as usual. Only the three of them were awake in class, but Roger was different. Instead of taking out two history books to relax as he normally did, he was thinking about something else.

It had been nearly a month since Professor McGonagall first gave Roger a private alchemy lesson.

Over that month, Roger had gained a rudimentary grasp of alchemy.

Then Roger discovered that alchemy was a path with enormous potential, yet this path... did not seem to suit him?

Alchemy in this world was extremely complex to learn. How to transform one substance into another, how to combine different magical materials and grant a substance magical properties... it involved a vast amount of knowledge.

But broadly speaking, it was not that complicated. There were only three schools in total.

One was Spell Solidification: preserving a certain magical power so that, when needed, triggering the relevant conditions would produce the magical effect.

Dumbledore's Deluminator, the Weasleys' magical car, and backpacks infused with the Undetectable Extension Charm all belonged to this category.

Another involved combining all sorts of magical materials endowed with mystery by the thoughts of living beings, then using a wizard's magic as a guide to make them undergo special reactions, ultimately creating the items wizards needed.

The difference between this type and the first was that wizards had less direct involvement. For example, to create an alchemical item with spatial properties, a wizard no longer needed to understand Space Magic. They only needed to know the recipe for crafting the item and possess a certain degree of magical power.

The final type was the path Roger had read about in Ritual Magic is More Than Just Blood Sacrifice, the path pursued by the External Object Path when seeking to break through the upper limits of wizarding power: using the power of legends to create alchemical items.

All three schools of alchemy had considerable potential. One could solidify and store magical powers one knew, then give them to others for use.

Another could grant all kinds of wondrous powers one did not yet possess, while the last even held the possibility of surpassing one's limits.

But the problem was... none of them meshed with Roger's traits.

The reason Roger's magical abilities had advanced by leaps and bounds, allowing him to create some remarkable spells as an eleven-year-old first-year at Hogwarts, was not merely his own talent. More importantly, it was his ability to sense danger, which served as a guiding beacon during magical experiments closely tied to his own safety.

In body modification experiments, even a slight error could result in sudden death. So whenever there was any possibility of a mistake, his danger sense would sound the alarm and show him the way.

Alchemy was purely external. Although there were risks during its creation, mistakes in most alchemical research would not lead to dangerous incidents. Roger's danger sense could not provide him with any relevant guidance during the process.

After all, wizarding alchemy was not goblin engineering. It did not explode at the drop of a hat.

So, compared with the development speed of his Human Transfiguration Modification, Roger's speed at learning alchemy was... like comparing the leveling speed of a free-to-play player with someone who had spent ten million.

Roger was certain that if he focused on alchemy and slowly developed alchemical recipes himself, forget eternal life—even living a long life would be beyond hope in this lifetime.

But after some rough research, Roger found that alchemy truly did possess, as Professor McGonagall had said, the ability to enhance one's "talent."

There really was a possibility of creating an external alchemical information-processing and storage device.

He could not bring himself to give it up, yet he could not properly pursue it either...

Should he outsource the path like Hagrid did?

But even if Roger wanted to, he could not find an Alchemy Master within Hogwarts capable of making an alchemical item of that level for him.

Even by the end of class, Roger had not figured out what to do... Should he wait until the end of term, take advantage of the opportunity Dumbledore had given him, and ask Nicolas Flamel? The term would not end until next June, and it was only October now. There were still eight months to go! Was he supposed to watch this path lie before him while being unable to walk it for eight whole months? A rare trace of distress appeared on Roger's face.

"What's wrong? You look miserable. That's not like you." A pleasant voice sounded beside his ear. Turning around, he saw that it was Hermione.

After class, Harry went around waking the students who were still asleep. Hermione noticed Roger's expression while packing up her books and walked over.

Last month, Roger had helped her and Ron resolve their conflict. After that incident, Hermione had seen herself through Ron's memories and realized that some of her past behavior had gone too far.

She learned from the experience and reflected on her actions. She was no longer so aggressive, and with her approach to things growing somewhat gentler, she had made friends of her own.

Though most of them were still merely superficially friendly plastic friendships, it was at least a breakthrough from zero to one. She was no longer as anxious as before, and her life was steadily improving.

Naturally, Hermione had not forgotten that Roger had changed everything for her.

She remembered the favor.

So when Roger appeared to be troubled, she came over.

In fact, Ron, who had just woken up, had noticed Roger's expression too. But when he saw Hermione approach him, he did not dare go over.

Ron had hurt someone who had sincerely wanted to help him, and he had always felt guilty about it. Usually, he did not even dare look at Hermione.

Roger was a straightforward person and did not hide anything. He directly told her what he intended to do.

"Thinking speed, multitasking—in other words, an alchemical item that could improve your intelligence." Hermione pondered for a moment, then her eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh my God! Do you want to create another Ravenclaw Diadem?!" Hermione, whose broad knowledge made her practically a walking encyclopedia, instantly thought of a legendary object highly similar to what Roger had described.

"Only similar in function. The underlying principle should be different." Roger shook his head. What he intended to make was merely an external alchemical computer that could connect to his brain and understand his thoughts.

It only needed to store information and assist with calculations.

As for the existing Ravenclaw Diadem, Roger had no interest in it. Although he did not know the details of what happened after Order of the Phoenix, he still knew that the "relics" of Hogwarts's founders had been turned into Horcruxes by Voldemort.

The diary, Slytherin Locket, Ravenclaw Diadem, Hufflepuff Cup, and Harry Potter—Roger knew of five Horcruxes in total, and the diadem was one of them. He had no interest in dealing with Voldemort's fragment of soul inside it.

He was not strong enough yet. Going there now would be suicide.

Next, Roger told Hermione more about alchemy. So long as it did not involve his true core secrets, Roger was someone willing to share knowledge.

But clearly, knowledge from such an advanced course—one that only outstanding sixth-year Hogwarts students were qualified to take as an elective—was far beyond a first-year like Hermione.

Very quickly, her head began to spin, and she could only respond with vague murmurs of agreement.

Still, although Hermione could not understand the technical details of alchemy Roger was discussing, she could understand what was troubling him.

But she truly could not help with this.

In the end, Hermione could only say with a sigh, "...If only your Transfiguration could create alchemical items."

Everyone who paid attention to Roger knew that he excelled at Transfiguration and was highly valued by Professor McGonagall.

"Yeah." Roger nodded instinctively.

"If only it were like my Transfiguration..." Halfway through, Roger suddenly fell silent.

After several seconds of silence, suddenly—

Bang! With a sharp crack, Roger shot to his feet, even knocking the chair behind him to the floor.

"That's right!"

"My Transfiguration!"

His thoughts had recently been trapped within the field of alchemy, within the frameworks set by those books. He had nearly forgotten his greatest strength.

Sometimes, cognitive blind spots worked exactly like that—a single leaf could obscure one's entire view.

Awakened by Hermione's casual remark, Roger knew what path he should take in the future!

"Transfiguration, Human Transfiguration Modification... alchemy, Human Alchemy..."

"That's it."

"Human Alchemy! This is my path of alchemy!"

Roger had achieved enlightenment!