Meeting

Time always slipped away when no one was paying attention. More than two months had passed, and the calendar had reached the end of August. In just a few days, Hogwarts would begin its term.

Not much had happened over those three months, but for Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape, they had been three earth-shattering months! Although their magical power had not increased enough for them to advance, they had fully experienced just how outrageous an impact high-quality magical power could have on magic!

Take Dumbledore, who had the least talent. Though he was older, his changes had been the most obvious. He had completely condensed his magical power all over again. While his current magical reserves were far lower than before—so much so that they had fallen to the reserves of a Second-Tier Mage—he was utterly confident that he could crush his former self!

In the past, if he used a spell at full strength, he might have been able to blast through a wall. But now, he was confident that a full-strength spell could tear down an entire building! That was the difference in magical power quality. Of course, he could not help marveling once again at just how terrifying Josh was. The spells Josh cast casually were stronger than the ones he unleashed with all his might.

Dumbledore had gained something else as well: Magic elements. These things had never appeared in any records before. The House-elves had only heard of them in human tales, including Muggle ones. But now, Dumbledore could clearly sense their existence, and he could use them to amplify his magic.

Perhaps because of the phoenix, Dumbledore's magical affinity was the Fire element. McGonagall had mastered the Wind element, while Snape had awakened the exceptionally rare Light element! When Josh heard this news, he sprayed water all over the table.

Snape had the Light element? What the hell? Josh remembered just how dark this guy was. And Josh seemed to recall that he had once been a Death Eater. Though Dumbledore had sent him into Voldemort's ranks as an undercover agent for the Phoenix Society, Josh had always thought he was Voldemort's subordinate before he got further into the story. Only later had he learned that Snape was a spy.

"Could this be the so-called light within the deepest darkness?"

Josh scratched his head. He truly did not understand. Still, he did not dwell on it. Snape seemed to have always been a sensitive yet kind person. He had merely become like this because he fell in love with the wrong person. Besides, he was a master of potions. Maybe becoming a Light element mage was not so bad.

Of course, Dumbledore and the others—especially Snape—knew nothing of Josh's thoughts. They were still immersed in the joy of their growing strength. They had also keenly noticed that the Magic elements within them seemed very afraid of Josh. However, they did not think much of it, naturally assuming it was caused by the suppression of a higher level of power.

"If we keep cultivating like this, will Voldemort really still be a threat?"

One day, after the three of them had finished cultivating and were chatting, McGonagall suddenly raised a thought-provoking question they had never considered before—except for Snape. They had made countless preparations for Voldemort's return, yet now it seemed entirely unnecessary.

Dumbledore froze, not knowing how to answer. After hesitating for a long time, he came to a helpless yet gratifying conclusion—if things continued this way, Voldemort would no longer be a threat at all!

"It looks like the Phoenix Society will have to disband," Dumbledore said with a wry smile. "And all those people I contacted to deal with Voldemort... it seems they will not be needed either. As for Lily's son, the little Potter we created to fight Voldemort, it seems there is no need for him anymore, either."

At the mention of Lily, Dumbledore gave Snape a discreet glance. When he saw that Snape remained calm, he relaxed. Of course, he had no idea that Snape was considering how to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to deal with Voldemort personally in the future.

All right, Voldemort, who had once threatened the entire magical world of the British Isles, had become a minor figure in Snape's eyes—one whose disposal could even be assigned to someone. Naturally, this made Snape very happy. He felt that he needed to work even harder to secure that task in the future and avenge Lily.

"But we have promoted that Mr. Potter for so long. How are we supposed to wrap this up now?"

With an utterly calm expression, Snape raised a crucial question. Although he loved Lily, and Harry Potter was Lily's child, Harry's father was someone Snape deeply despised. Thus, Snape's feelings toward Harry Potter were complicated. On one hand, he loathed him intensely; on the other, he had no choice but to protect him.

But now there was no longer any need for that. Snape felt that the boy was no longer a key figure in their victory over Voldemort, but merely an ordinary Young Wizard. Thus, Snape, who both disliked and paid attention to him, directly brought up the matter. He did not want to see the boy showing off like his father, but neither did he want him to truly be unable to enter the school.

His thoughts were simple: just release the news that it had all been a misunderstanding. Let the boy enter the school and graduate quietly and ordinarily. If he missed Lily, he could secretly visit him. And if he recalled something unpleasant, he could use the boy to vent his frustrations.

"This really will not be easy to resolve." Dumbledore naturally understood what Snape meant, but they had spent eleven or twelve years promoting this story. Now the entire magical world knew that there was a child who could save the magical world of the British Isles—the only child to survive Voldemort's Killing Curse. His name was Harry Potter!

Even magical communities abroad knew of the boy's existence. Voldemort had not only spread his ideas in the United Kingdom; he had promoted them in other countries as well. The leaders of some magical communities agreed with his ideas, but many did not and drove him away. Still, they had kept an eye on him, and as a result, they all learned of Harry Potter's existence.

It was embarrassing—embarrassing enough to spread overseas. But they had no good solution. Dumbledore said helplessly, "Leave him alone. We've already built him up this much. Trying to deny it now might ruin the child. Just teach him normally."

Snape wisely dropped the subject. Seeing that it was already ten at night, they prepared to leave the headmaster's office and return to rest. There was something important happening tomorrow: the professors who had left would be returning. At the same time, they were considering how to introduce Josh and Garen.

Inside the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor of Hogwarts, Josh was exhausted.

Over the past two months, he had learned a great deal of magic from this world. To put it simply, the magic here was easy to learn, but its effects were quite good. Josh had learned it all without any pressure, finishing in just one month. However, Josh had recklessly made a suggestion to Garen, who had already begun learning Battle Qi: the two of them should spar!

Garen was a genius. After just over a month of learning Battle Qi, he had already reached the First Tier. Perhaps because his body was originally at the Third Tier, cultivating Battle Qi took almost no effort for him. So, he agreed to Josh's suggestion.

A Third-Tier warrior with only First-Tier Battle Qi was bound to lose against a Fourth-Tier mage. Thus, Josh restricted his magical power, allowing himself only First-Tier output. In truth, Josh still held a considerable advantage, because he could only suppress the output of his magical power, not affect its quality.

But the outcome left Josh dumbfounded. He was utterly defeated by Garen!

Garen was already powerful to begin with, and he had extraordinarily rich combat experience, especially when facing mages! Even though both the quantity and quality of his Battle Qi were low, he made full use of his body and Battle Qi in tandem, leaving Josh completely unable to fight back. In the end, Josh had to raise his magical output to around the Second Tier before he could exhaust Garen's Battle Qi.

Of course, Josh still lost. Garen's body was genuinely at the Third Tier, so Josh could only raise his magical output to around the Third Tier. Naturally, in this sparring mode, Josh did not use shameless spells like Void Shield. He simply wanted to train himself.

After another month, Josh was finally able to trade blows evenly with Garen. However, his magical output remained around the Third Tier, while Garen's Battle Qi was faintly on the verge of breaking through to the Second Tier. This was an enormous improvement, especially since Josh's proficiency with his magic had steadily increased throughout their sparring.

The magical power he had once needed to cast a single Void Orb was now enough to cast both a Void Orb and a Baleful Phantasm. For a mage, the best spells were those that consumed less power while dealing greater damage. Josh had felt that deeply.

As for Garen, he was also very pleased with the effects of their sparring. Though Battle Qi and magical power had different names and manifested differently, their effects were ultimately similar—they enhanced combat ability while condensing life essence to nourish their users in return.

The greater Garen's control over Battle Qi, the stronger he became. Garen was very satisfied with this feeling. Back in Valoran, he could only improve through endless physical training, tempering his will, honing his weapon proficiency, and mastering various techniques.

But now, cultivating Battle Qi had already removed the most time-consuming part of physical training. Moreover, as his control over Battle Qi grew stronger, techniques began to seem almost like a joke to him—make all the flashy feints you want, and one swing of his sword would finish you.

Why was he becoming more and more like that guy from the game I remembered? Start with a Decisive Strike, use Courage whenever threatened or attacked, unleash Judgment whenever he met an enemy, and then finish them with a Demacian Justice when they were nearly done for?

Josh looked at Garen, who was sitting nearby drinking water. Should I help him create skills like Judgment and Demacian Justice?

However, Josh did not indulge in too many wild thoughts. It was already late, and he planned to return to their quarters with Garen. That morning, they had received a letter from Dumbledore saying that all the teachers would arrive the next day and would meet them then. After that, Hogwarts would begin its term.

Josh was still somewhat interested in these so-called plot developments.

Well, I got the chapter number wrong earlier and did not even notice it myself. Thanks to the reader for pointing it out. Oh, and please bookmark and recommend!