Ask and It's a Hobby

Professor Snape was absolutely intentional in his assessment of the taste of the Wolfsbane Potion.

It contained not a single other thought; it was entirely based on personal grudges.

If possible, Snape would even like to add various negative effects to the Wolfsbane Potion without compromising its efficacy, including but not limited to a fecal smell and an extremely unpleasant taste.

Don't ask, it's just a hobby.

At this moment, Mr. LeMay, who had been engrossed in the Parchment, finally raised his head. He tapped the peculiar crystal glasses clipped to his eye sockets, and his gaze swept over the two newcomers, lingering especially on Lupin for a second longer, seemingly unsurprised by his arrival.

"Black, Lupin," LeMay's voice was leisurely, "You've come at the perfect time, saving me the trouble of explaining a second time."

He pointed to the complex design on the table. "That little toy in Harry's video gave me some inspiration, but we're not talking about something as simple as putting a Lumos on Muggle metal pipe."

He gestured for everyone to come closer, and then, in more concise but still technical language than when he had explained it to Harry, he reiterated the core concept of the Magitech Gun.

This time, the audience consisted of three experienced adult wizards, one of whom had earned two doctorates in the Muggle world, and the other was the Minister for Magic was quick-witted and highly receptive to new ideas.

Sirius listened intently, his eyes shining, and he kept interrupting to ask questions.

Questions include, but are not limited to, "Can it open the Gringotts gate?", "Will the recoil break a kid like Neville's wrist?", and "How quickly can you get one for me to play with?"

Mr. LeMay:----

Sometimes, when people are speechless, they really are speechless.

Lupin listened very attentively, and his questions focused more on practical applications and potential risks.

"Mr. LeMay, if this weapon were to leak out, how much impact would it have on the Secrecy Statute? How can we ensure that it doesn't fall into the hands of Dark Wizard or those with malicious intent towards Muggle?"

"No," Mr. LeMay smiled and said, "I will mark these weapons with a personal magic identification code to ensure that unregistered users cannot use them."

At this point, Mr. LeMay looked at Sirius and Veratia and said, "As for the user registration backend, it belongs to the two Minister. I don't think any Dark Wizard would forcibly break into the Minister ' residences and forcibly enter their magical information, would he?"

"Indeed," Harry said.

They continued their discussion, with Veratia occasionally adding to the discussion, offering various feasible regulatory frameworks and standardization suggestions from the perspective of the Ministry of Magic's administration.

Harry tried to concentrate this time, and although many technical details were still incomprehensible, he could see that Sirius's enthusiasm, Lupin's caution, and Veratia's pragmatism were refining and examining the project from different perspectives.

Mr. LeMay, like a seasoned helmsman, absorbed opinions from all sides and constantly fine-tuned the blueprint in his mind.

The discussion deepened, even touching on some advanced issues and ideas about future training systems.

"Therefore, we need an absolutely safe, secluded, and fully equipped research and development base," Lupin concluded, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table. "Given the sensitivity of the project, confidentiality is paramount."

Sirius was about to say something when Veratia spoke first, a hint of a smile flashing in her violet eyes, "Mr. LeMay, regarding the research base—isn't your current magic workshop safe enough?"

"It's certainly safe." Mr. LeMay smiled and glanced at Harry. "Harry is the Secret Keeper, and I think—well, no wizard should be able to force any secrets out of Harry."

Harry grinned and rolled up his sleeves.

He's not good at using his brain, but if you ask him, he'll crush someone into a pancake—

Okay, he's a professional.

"Harry?" Lupin turned to look at Harry in surprise.

"It was me." Harry nodded, a little embarrassed. "Mr. LeMay said he needed a trustworthy young man, so I agreed, but I didn't ask for details about the specifics."

Sirius thought for a moment and then asked, "Do we need to expand the space or add special facilities? The Ministry of Magic has a dedicated Department of Construction that can dispatch experts skilled in the Untraceable Extension Charm and magical construction to ensure a quick, efficient, and traceless process."

LeMay pondered for a moment, "The space is sufficient for now. The magic workshop is definitely unusable. Since we're designing weapons, it should be separated from the workshop for making Philosopher's Stone. Let me think—"

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Several independent areas need to be planned. There must be a core testing area with the strongest blast resistance and magic isolation, a material processing and Runes etching area, an assembly and debugging area, a theoretical calculation and simulation area, and a sufficiently spacious firing range capable of simulating various combat environments. The firing range needs to be able to withstand high-intensity magical impacts and physical ammunition testing, and ideally, it should be able to simulate different weather, lighting, and obstacle conditions."

"Leave it to me," Veratia replied succinctly. "The European Ministry of Magic has a specialized team dedicated to special construction projects. They are experienced and adept at working in secrecy. I can have them transferred over under the guise of ancient site maintenance or ecological research station expansion, and complete the basic renovations within a week."

"What about personnel?" Lupin asked. "Besides the few of us, what other areas of expertise do we need?"

LeMay picked up Quill and quickly drew up a list on another piece of Parchment: "At least one Muggle mechanical advisor, who needs to be completely reliable, preferably Squib or Muggle-born wizard familiar with firearms, to avoid pure-blood wizard ' inherent biases against Muggle influencing their judgment."

"Two advanced Runic script experts are needed, specializing in micro- Rune Array and energy channeling. One expert each is required in magic fluid dynamics and protective Magic Array, possessing both strong theoretical foundations and practical skills. Additionally, an advisor proficient in magical contracts and Secrecy Statute is needed to design the Magical Identification-Code Binding System and the related legal framework."

He paused, then added, "All core members must sign the strictest confidentiality agreements and voluntarily undergo regular memory checks to ensure they are not affected by external magic. Non-core support personnel will not have access to the complete blueprints and core modules."

"Remus and I will handle the personnel selection and contracts," Sirius volunteered, glancing at Lupin. "The Auror Office and Hogwarts have existing procedures that we can refer to and adjust."

"I can coordinate with the Department of International Magical Cooperation to borrow or recommend suitable auxiliary experts from other countries who don't involve core secrets, thus diverting attention," Veratia offered her proposal.

Harry hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand.

"Then what can I do?"

All four people looked at him at the same time.

Mr. LeMay tapped his glasses. "You, Mr. Potter, continue to be your Secret Keeper; that's the most important thing."

Harry felt hurt; this was really hurtful!

"Am I just supposed to watch and do nothing?" he protested. "I want to do my part too!"

"Alright," Mr. LeMay smiled, "As the source of inspiration and the future chief tester, you'll be responsible for overseeing the entire process, trying to understand the basic principles and operation of each module, while also recording test data and the intuitive feelings of young users that we old guys might overlook—of course."

He glanced at Harry.

"The prerequisite is that you first need to brush up on your pitiful Alchemy and Runic script basics, so that next time I'm explaining, you won't be thinking about what to eat for dinner."

Harry blushed slightly and cleared his throat, trying to appear less embarrassed.

"I will, Mr. LeMay."

Sirius chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair.

"Don't be nervous, young man. Your main role is simply to maintain that 'why not give it a try' attitude."

Lupin gently encouraged him, "Harry, your practical experience and empathy with young wizards are unique assets. This project is ultimately for human use, and your feedback is crucial."

Veratia was much more direct. She walked over to Harry, gently shook his hand (and incidentally "added" a little bit of magic), her violet eyes filled with trust.

"Just be yourself, Harry. Your presence is the greatest support for this project."

After saying that, she felt she hadn't added enough, so she opened her arms and hugged Harry.

Sirius whistled a disrespectful tune, but two years later, he wasn't so averse to his Slytherin daughter-in-law anymore.

Hmm... it's definitely different from the traditional Slytherin.

After confirming the basic details, the group left Mr. LeMay's Alchemy Hut.

Harry learned a lot. To help him understand a little, Mr. LeMay took away several books for him, even though Harry repeatedly claimed that he didn't want to read them, but Mr. LeMay ignored him.

When they returned to the Common Room, Ron and Hermione were still sitting in their usual corner. Ron was trying to tease Parrot Jack with a Quill, but the parrot called him a "jerk."

Hermione was writing furiously on Parchment, almost buried under the pile of books beside her.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron looked up and saw him, his eyes lighting up as he immediately tossed his Quill aside. "So? Did Mr. LeMay tell you anything about new alchemical experiments? Or give you any cool new toys?"

Hermione also stopped writing, looked over curiously, and keenly noticed the books Harry had placed on the table.

"Introduction to Ancient Runes? A Brief History of Alchemy? Harry, when did you become interested in these things?" she asked curiously.

Harry put the book on the table, slumped into the soft armchair, and let out a long sigh.

"It's not that I'm interested, it's homework assigned by Mr. LeMay," he sighed. "Mr. LeMay has undertaken a groundbreaking project, and I need to brush up on my knowledge in this area."

"Tell me!" Ron leaned closer, his eyes full of curiosity. "What kind of revolution is it? The kind that can make us get zeros on all our exams?"

Harry opened his mouth.

Goodness, Ron is still as eager as ever to pass the exam.

"I'm afraid I can't help you pass History of Magic, Ron." Harry smiled, then glanced up at the Common Room.

It's still afternoon, Common Room is bustling with people; it's not a suitable place to discuss this kind of thing.

Thinking this, he stood up and said, "Let's go. This isn't the place to talk. This is a confidential project. Let's go to the Room of Requirement to discuss it—of course, you'll have to Unbreakable Vow to me before I can speak."

Harry stood up and winked at Ron and Hermione.

Hermione quickly gathered up the spread-out Parchment and books, while Ron stuffed Jack, who was still grumbling, back into his cage, promising him, "I'll come back and feed you Cockroach Clusters later," before Jack finally fell silent.

"Cockroach Clusters?" Harry glanced at Ron. "You feed this stuff to the parrot?"

"Parrots also like sweets," Ron said with a smile. "Don't worry, we don't need to worry about him getting sick; we have plenty of parrot supplements—"

Harry shrugged. He only knew about owl supplements, but he'd never heard of parrot supplements.

That's understandable, though. After all, if an owl can drink a supplement, there's no reason why a parrot can't, since they're both birds.

They hurriedly rose, left the Common Room, and went to the bare wall opposite the tapestry on the Seventh Floor. Harry concentrated, pacing back and forth three times, silently repeating, "I need the Old Order of the Order of the Phoenix's meeting room—"

A smooth door suddenly appeared on the wall.

Harry pushed open the door, revealing a small meeting room with decorations representing the four houses hanging in each corner.

"Cool." Ron looked around and said in a low voice, "This is the meeting room we used in our first year, right?"

"Yes," Harry nodded and said, "We've been using meeting rooms like this for a hundred years now, the Room of Requirement, isn't that amazing?"

"Indeed." Hermione nodded in agreement.

Harry sat down first in a chair, looking at his two friends with a serious expression.

"Ron, Hermione. What I'm about to say involves a highly classified magical research project. I'm one of the project's Secret Keeper, and by protocol, anyone with information, unless they're a core member of the project, must Unbreakable Vow to never leak any related information, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and to whomever it may be."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance, both seeing the solemnity in each other's eyes—they understood what Unbreakable Vow meant.

Unbreakable Vow is a mandatory magical covenant.

Both parties to the oath must kneel and clasp their right hands tightly. A witness will use a magic wand to cast a spell that creates flames that wrap around their palms. If the oath is broken, the oath-taker will die immediately.

But this only underscores just how important what Harry is about to share is.

Of course, Ron knew more about the Charms than anyone else, because when he was a child, his Twins brother had tried to trick him into making a vow, but their father had stopped him.

"I'll join." Ron almost without hesitation, his eyes filled with determination and trust. "Harry, I believe in you, and I believe that what you're involved in has its meaning and necessity."

"I'll join too." Hermione nodded seriously.