Research Value: Extremely High

"You--!"

The soul attached to Quirrell was utterly enraged. He had never encountered anyone like this, an eleven-year-old child who could see through his deepest secret at a glance and, in such a casual tone, as if a doctor diagnosing a patient, reveal his greatest pain.

This was a higher-dimensional form of contempt!

However, just as he was about to disregard everything and order Quirrell to draw his wand and unleash an "Avada Kedavra" on this brat.

Lin Yuan suddenly withdrew his examining gaze, shook his head, and even added a hint of regret to his tone.

"What a shame, your soul is too damaged, its value as a research sample has greatly diminished. Otherwise, I would be very interested in capturing you alive and dissecting you for research."

After speaking, he didn't spare another glance at "Quirrell," who had fallen into a complete daze due to his shocking words. He turned, carrying his material bag, and disappeared around the street corner with a calm pace.

Leaving Quirrell alone, standing in place, drenched in cold sweat, his body trembling violently from fear and anger.

"Kill him! Kill him! I must kill him!"

Voldemort's furious and weak roar echoed madly in Quirrell's mind.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuan had already saved the data from this "contact" into his sea of consciousness.

[Sample Name]: Voldemort (Remnant Soul State)

[Core Laws]: Death, Fear, Soul Splitting.

[Research Value]: Extremely High.

[Preliminary Conclusion]: "Soul Artifacts," this dark magic that can split souls, is the fundamental reason for his current state.

The principles of "Soul Artifacts" must be thoroughly analyzed.

His next research topic has been clarified.

At the same time, in Hogwarts Castle, the Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gathered around a table, conducting their own "secret research."

"No, I've checked Hogwarts: A History and Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century thoroughly, and there's no mention of any interaction between Snape and Nicolas Flamel!" Hermione closed a large volume with a sigh, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Then what do we do?" Ron asked vaguely while chewing on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, "We can't just storm into Snape's office and ask him if he wants to steal the Magic Stone, can we? I bet he'd turn us into slugs and pickle us."

"I've been thinking," Harry said thoughtfully, watching the flames dancing in the fireplace, "Snape's leg was bitten by the three-headed dog that night. He must have wanted to sneak in while everyone was watching Quidditch. But what about that big dog? Why was it asleep?"

"It was the music!" Hermione immediately remembered, "Hagrid said he sold Fluffy to a Greek guy. In Greek mythology, Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound, was lulled to sleep by Orpheus's lyre!"

"So, as long as there's music, we can get past the first obstacle!" Ron excitedly slapped his thigh, "But where can we find someone who can play the lyre?"

"That's not the only problem," Harry frowned, pointing to the parchment spread on the table, which depicted the obstacles they had deduced from various clues. "Even if we get past the three-headed dog, there's still Devil's Snare, the Flying Keys... Dumbledore couldn't possibly have only used such simple things to guard the Magic Stone. There must be more powerful defenses."

"That's right," Hermione agreed, her face filled with worry. "We know too little. About the Magic Stone itself, about Nicolas Flamel, all we've found are fragments. All the more core information points to one place..."

The three exchanged glances and said in unison:

"The Forbidden Section!"

"But we don't have a professor's note, Madam Pince will never let us in," Ron immediately slumped onto the chair like a deflated ball.

A strange glint flashed in Harry's eyes.

He remembered that silvery-gray cloak, as smooth as liquid.

His father's memento.

A perfect Invisibility Cloak.

"Perhaps..." he lowered his voice and said to his two best friends, "we don't need a note."

The night was as deep as ink.

When the last bell chimed through the empty castle, when Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, finished their final rounds, and when all the portraits fell asleep.

A shadow, almost merged with the darkness, quietly slid out from the entrance of the Gryffindor tower.

Beneath it were three small heads huddled closely together, both nervous and excited.

"Shh--be quiet, Ron! Your breathing is too loud!" Hermione warned in a whisper.

"I... I'm just nervous!" Ron retorted.

Led by Harry, they, cloaked in invisibility, moved like a mobile, breathing ghost, carefully traversing familiar corridors, stealthily heading towards the library.

This was their first nighttime adventure, their target: the Forbidden Section, filled with taboos and secrets.

They didn't know that ahead of them, in the area guarded by brass chains and wicked curses.

Another figure had already, like a master, leisurely settled in the deepest darkness.

In Lin Yuan's hand was an ancient tome bound in unknown black leather, with no text on its cover, only a silver-embroidered symbol of an Ouroboros, a snake devouring its own tail.

This book was not recorded in any catalog.

Lin Yuan had found it in a hidden compartment while organizing a forgotten bookshelf.

When he opened the first page, an aura, deeper and more ancient than any dark magic he had encountered before, approaching the "origin of laws," rushed towards him.

The pages contained no text, only incredibly complex three-dimensional magic array diagrams imprinted with soul power.

Below the first diagram, a line of small text in Ancient Elvish read, the sole annotation left by the book's creator.

"I have witnessed the eternity of the soul and glimpsed the price of immortality. This method is the 'Soul Artifact' (Horcrux). May future explorers be cautious and vigilant."

"Finally found it."

Lin Yuan's eyes sparkled with a light brighter than the stars outside the window.

His Divine Soul, comparable to a supercomputer, began to spin wildly at an unprecedented speed.

Here, tonight, he would completely dissect the 'Soul Artifact,' the world's most advanced dark magic, from the level of the laws!