Kamar-Taj operated very differently from Hogwarts.
But they did have one thing in common.
They were strict about knowledge.
That strictness did not mean you could not read about it, but that you could not put it into practice lightly.
John, a former regular in the Restricted Section, found that reassuringly familiar.
There was another similarity: their security for books that were "not to be put into practice lightly" was about the same.
At Hogwarts, you could come and go freely from the Restricted Section as long as you wore an Invisibility Cloak, and all that precious dark magic knowledge capable of turning someone into a Dark Wizard was protected by nothing more than a simple latch, worse than the one on your dog's kennel.
Sometimes John genuinely wondered whether Dumbledore had done that deliberately, to expose more people to forbidden knowledge.
Then again, it might have been an ancestral latch handed down from the Four Founders' era, when Hogwarts was first established.
Kamar-Taj's Library had Wong as its administrator, serving the same role as Madam Pince.
Unfortunately, they had no curfew here.
Wong had already experienced John's ability to go without sleep or rest.
Faced with a Wizard as esteemed as the Sorcerer Supreme, he would not overstep his bounds.
On the contrary, as someone who followed the rules, he would give John the respect he deserved.
"Your Excellency, Wizard King." Mordo brewed some tea.
This accomplished Sorcerer was the Ancient One's most devoted follower.
John drank the tea, which tasted different from black tea, and his gaze settled on Stephen.
"He isn't accomplished enough yet," Mordo said respectfully, noticing where John was looking.
"You seem to think highly of him." John glanced at Mordo.
Mordo smiled sheepishly. "I study under the Ancient One, and I trust her judgment."