Dumbledore's Attempt

After sending Josh and Garen to their rooms, Dumbledore immediately returned to his headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were already waiting there.

Like Dumbledore and McGonagall, Snape had not gone home even during the holidays. Or rather, Hogwarts had long since become his home. This way of thinking was very common in this world. Even many who had left Hogwarts still thought of it fondly. Perhaps that was part of this world's unique charm.

Dumbledore had gathered them mainly because what had happened today was simply too unbelievable. Earlier, he had thought Mr. Ollivander was overly nervous and exaggerating the danger. Now, however, it was clear that was not the case at all. Even though Mr. Ollivander had already overestimated Josh's strength, it now seemed he had still underestimated him by a great deal.

There was no need to say much about Josh's strength. He was basically one of the strongest beings in this world. More terrifying still was the potential he had displayed. Potential was itself a form of overall strength. Josh could open doors to different worlds, learn different magical knowledge, take in their essence, and retain what suited him. How could someone like that possibly fail to become powerful?

Dumbledore had called Snape and McGonagall together because he wanted to hear their opinions and decide how they should treat the two of them from now on. Josh's deliberate revelation of his identity had worked remarkably well. The title of prince, in particular, had left Dumbledore and the others somewhat stunned.

"Say whatever you think." Dumbledore dropped into the chair behind his desk, took out the meditation method Josh had written for him, casually copied it twice, and handed the copies to McGonagall and Snape.

"Are you sure they aren't deceiving you?" Snape accepted the meditation manual but did not read it immediately. Instead, he looked at Dumbledore and asked. His expression was extremely strange. Visitors from another world? What sort of nonsense was that? Aliens? If Dumbledore and McGonagall had not been so certain—and so intelligent—he would have suspected the two of them had been swindled.

"I had my doubts as well, but you'll understand once you look at this."

Dumbledore did not answer directly. He pointed at the Pensieve nearby. Its name resembled that of the manual Josh had given him, but its function was completely different. Runes and symbols were carved around the basin's rim. It could turn memories into liquid and store them inside, allowing others to view those memories as well.

Frowning, Snape walked over. Before long, he was stunned too. The memory in the basin showed Josh using an unknown spell to annihilate an entire wall. Hogwarts's walls were already protected by magic, and they were tall and thick, yet none of that could withstand a single spell from the boy in the memory.

Then it became even more frightening. Not only did that wall vanish, but the other walls began collapsing as well, as though the magic protecting Hogwarts had failed. It did not stop until the entire side of Hogwarts had collapsed, leaving behind a massive depression in the ground.

Perhaps even Josh himself did not know that his Void Ball, empowered by Baleful Phantasm, had directly caused Hogwarts's defensive magic to fail.

"H-How is that possible?"

Snape stood there in a daze, muttering to himself. He had never imagined that a single person's single spell could be so absurdly powerful. He could also tell that the boy's wand did not cooperate with him. Its occasional wails of misery said it all. And that spell had been cast almost casually, which meant the boy had not even been going all out. Just how terrifying would he be at full strength?

What followed was the scene of Dumbledore discovering the issue with magical quality, as well as Josh writing out the meditation manual for them from memory. Only then did Snape realize just how precious the thing Dumbledore had handed him truly was.

"Can this be confirmed as genuine?"

His voice trembled slightly as he asked. He probably did not even realize that he was no longer wondering whether Josh and the others were truly visitors from another world. Instead, he was considering whether the meditation method Josh had given them so casually was genuine. To them, it was simply far too precious.

"Neither McGonagall nor I have studied it carefully yet, but we both believe that this prince from another world has no reason to deceive us. Besides, he said himself that everyone who practiced magic in his world had mastered this sort of thing."

Dumbledore analyzed the matter calmly. Indeed, he also felt Josh had no reason to deceive him. After all, he was no match for Josh; Josh could crush them with ease. As for why Josh had given it to him, Dumbledore chose to believe that Josh was conducting some sort of experiment. Though he did not know what kind, was he really in any position to resist?

There was one thing Dumbledore did not say aloud. He felt that Josh had likely given him this manual with a transactional mindset. In exchange for being treated well, Josh had given him this item. Dumbledore even suspected there were different grades of such things, and that what Josh had given him was probably the lowest grade. Still, having something was better than having nothing, wasn't it?

If Josh knew what Dumbledore was thinking, he would certainly have been shocked, because Dumbledore had basically guessed his thoughts correctly. An experiment? What was that supposed to be? Even if Josh wanted to experiment, it would only be to see whether people in this world could develop elemental magic.

And what Josh had given them truly was not some high-end product. Josh was no fool, but he had not cheated Dumbledore either. What he had given Dumbledore was the meditation method mastered by commoner mages on the Muya Continent. Put plainly, it was ordinary stuff on the Muya Continent.

Still, one had to display enough talent to enter the mages' field of vision. Otherwise, a commoner would never obtain such a thing in their entire life. Though this was a beginner-level meditation method, the greatest difference between it and the best meditation methods lay in the speed at which they gathered magical power. In other words, its drawback was that it took a long time, but its final results would not be much worse.

"A prince from another world?" Snape gripped the manual tightly. By then, he had calmed down. To be honest, even he felt he had been acting strangely today. After Lily's death, hatred had shrouded his heart. He had always harbored one wish: to kill Voldemort and avenge the woman he loved.

But before this, he had been completely powerless. He could only rely on Dumbledore and the Phoenix Society Dumbledore had founded. Yet now, he found this world strangely wonderful, because he had discovered someone stronger than both Dumbledore and Voldemort, the man who had thrown the entire magical community of the United Kingdom into chaos. And that person was only a sixteen-year-old boy.

Though he suspected that, even if this was real, it was probably something low-grade, Snape felt that he had seen hope. He had endured humiliation while acting as a double agent among the Death Eaters and the Phoenix Society. Wasn't his purpose to destroy Voldemort? With this manual, did he still need to exhaust himself like that?

"I called you here so that we could study it together." Dumbledore did not notice the turmoil in Snape's heart. He adjusted his glasses, picked up the manual, and began reading it carefully. "You should both study it as well. Then we can try it together. Wouldn't that prove whether this prince has deceived us?"

Practice was the only criterion for testing truth. Dumbledore did not know that saying, but he understood the general idea. He had called McGonagall and Snape over partly because they had both remained at the school and possessed exceptional talent. The other—and most important—reason was that they were both people he trusted.

Snape and McGonagall exchanged a glance, then each found a chair and sat down to read seriously. The manual Josh had given them was not long, but it was concise and insightful. Though it was an ordinary meditation method, the fact that it had been collected by the royal family showed that it was not so simple—the most important thing was that it was easy to understand.

All three of them were skilled figures in the magical world, and there was no doubt about their intelligence. After reading through the translated version Josh had given them a few times, they had memorized it all. Then, the three of them began attempting meditation for the first time. They were nervous, but also filled with anticipation.

Dumbledore was the first to enter a meditative state. Though he was old, both his magical power and mental strength were the strongest of the three. Snape entered meditation next, and McGonagall was the last.

Once they entered meditation, the three immediately discovered different magic elements floating in the air. They had seen these things described in the manual, so they were not particularly surprised. As they absorbed the magic elements flowing into their bodies, they also organized their scattered, chaotic magical power to make it more condensed.

The afternoon passed before they knew it. It was not until evening that they slowly woke from meditation—actually, hunger woke them up. After regaining consciousness, the three did not rush to the dining hall to find something to eat. Instead, they immediately began examining themselves.

Surprise—boundless surprise! All three discovered that their magical power had become higher in quality to a certain extent, while their mental strength had also improved. Though the improvements were not great, the effects were remarkably clear.

Dumbledore even immediately drew his wand and cast Reducto at an unoccupied chair nearby. A red glow appeared at the tip of his wand, then instantly struck the chair. The chair exploded into pieces and burst into flames.

"How terrifying!" Dumbledore slowly lowered his wand and sighed. "Although that strike used up the condensed, higher-quality magical power I had gathered, the effect was frighteningly good! And although that magical power has been consumed, it is slowly beginning to replenish itself. As expected, the civilization of Lord Augustus's world is far more advanced than ours!"

"It seems so." McGonagall nodded, then cast Reparo on the chair. Yet it had no effect whatsoever. Even when she used the high-quality magical power she had just condensed, nothing happened. Only then did she remember that the headmaster's magical rank was higher than hers.

"It seems we should congratulate ourselves. This improvement is simply too great."