[Task: Gather the Power of Emotion of those like you]
[Progress: 4506/3000]
[Reward: 1 random modified spell, Adult Auror Realm]
Lorne was incredibly busy before Christmas, but he still made time to check on mission progress and the daily refresh of rare items.
Since Christmas Lorne has often stayed up all night setting up the Chamber of Secrets. With being extremely busy and having countless trivial matters to handle, he hasn't checked on his progress for many days.
I didn't expect it to exceed that much.
Lorne silently recited "receive," and a warm current instantly surged through his body, which had been weary from recent busy work. The magic flowing within him seemed to boil.
Sure enough, the magic power they painstakingly cultivated through repeated practice of spells and real-world drills could never compare to the pure magic power they obtained from the system.
System, give me some points!
Dumbledore had conducted wand experiments with him, and he knew that his magic was compatible with all wands. This also reflects that when the system increased his total magic power, it gave him magic power without any bias.
Magic, in a sense, is an expression of emotion. Lorne even speculated that the origin of magic and life itself comes from emotions.
The young wizard's loss of control over his magic occurred during a period of intense emotional fluctuation. Harry was able to defeat Voldemort because of Lily's pure love for Harry. Life is nothing more than a process of gradually accumulating emotions, while death is when all those accumulated emotions expire.
Lorne searched the system store for books about his conjecture, believing that future generations would surely study it—the essence of magic is emotion, which sounded like a topic worthy of several academic papers.
Moreover, the system must have a deeper meaning in asking him to collect Power of Emotion.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to the limited access permissions of the online store, he was still unable to find more advanced books.
As for the rare items section, he hasn't found anything useful since buying the Magic Mobile Phone Crafting Guide. So far, apart from some Potions ingredients and that book, the only items he's bought are Decayed Time-Turner, a magic Sneakoscope, Chinese Fireball scale armor, and a transparent nightgown.
The Time-Turner might be very useful, the Sneakoscope was given to Filch, the Chinese Fireball scale armor has already been used and the effect was quite good, the only thing that hasn't been used yet is the transparent nightgown.
Lorne also has a great use for see-through pajamas, but now is not the time.
[Ding! Successfully claimed. Reward: Improved version of the Etching Charm x1, Adult Auror Realm]
[Task: Gather the Power of Emotion of those like you]
[Progress: 4506/8000]
[Reward: Unlock a limited-time rare item shop; purchase limit is three items]
" Etching Charm?" Lorne didn't recall such a spell. He glanced at the system's description and continued to recite it softly, afraid of missing a single word. "A combination of the Gouging Spell and the Branding and Scoring Charm, capable of precisely carving and engraving stone, soil, and rock walls. It can roughly dig mountains and carve caves, or finely shape and carve words."
"The improved version can not only be used on minerals, but also to crush any solid object like gravel, with engraving precision reaching the millimeter level."
As the last note faded, knowledge flooded his mind, and Lorne instantly understood the true purpose of the improved Etching Charm —passing through mountains and walls was as easy as a wave of his hand, and from then on, there would be no obstacles in his way. At the same time, he gained another means of attack. As for the carving technique—he wasn't an artist, so what did he need that for?
A week after Hogwarts returned to normal, the aftereffects of the Chamber of Secrets slowly began to take hold.
Even in the second week, many students were still late in the morning; they preferred the phased tasks during the Chamber of Secrets activities that didn't require sign-in or getting up early.
Harry was basking in the glory of his heroic act, and every night he thought with bated breath what a thrilling scene he would have missed if he hadn't stepped forward.
Colin and Ginny, however, believed that as long as he was Harry, he would definitely do it.
Professor Lockhart, still not satisfied, decided to write a detective novel as his next project. Lorne chuckled at this, hoping he would hurry up, otherwise he wasn't sure if Azkaban would continue its serialization as usual.
The Ministry of Magic's actions and Fudge's poor public relations have drawn criticism from Hogwarts students.
The seventh-year students even wrote a letter to Lorne, hoping that the all-powerful Director Lorne could help them think of any other positions besides the Ministry of Magic that they could choose from. They didn't want to work in a department where even the leaders were incompetent, and they didn't want to lose all the qualities they had gained at Hogwarts after starting work there.
Lorne was also somewhat at a loss. Most wizards in the Wizarding World were actually unemployed. Because of the Doubling Charm and other spells, wizards had very low material needs. If they didn't pursue other products, the Weasley family could actually make a living by growing vegetables in front of their house.
This has resulted in the various industries in the Wizarding World not developing particularly rapidly, and there are not many job opportunities. Apart from those who can work in the Ministry of Magic or Gringotts after passing OWLs and NEWTs, most students are unemployed upon graduation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic has been reducing its Auror positions for years, with rampant nepotism and seniority, frequent layoffs and purges, intense competition, and a pervasive bureaucratic atmosphere. As a result, more and more students are starting to look for positions outside the Ministry of Magic.
Lorne reported this to Dumbledore, hoping the school would contact newspapers, hospitals, and shops to see how many positions were needed and then send a list to the students.
Dumbledore shook his head. "Actually, most of Hogwarts ' funding comes from the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors. As the headmaster, I cannot directly encourage students to take on other positions."
Lorne was fed up with all the political intrigue. "I don't care what you say, Dumbledore won't do it, I will."
It wasn't just for the students; he also needed to investigate the employment situation in the Wizarding World. As he mentioned earlier, there were many unemployed wizards, and since he wanted Magic Mobile Phone to be available in every household, market research was essential.
But he can only do these things during the summer vacation; he still has to attend classes at Hogwarts for now.
He clashed with the Ministry of Magic, criticized Pure-blood families, created the Chamber of Secrets activity, and considered student employment. Now, he has to sit in an ill-fitting chair like a primary school student listening to the professor call roll on the podium.
Therefore, he could only say that he couldn't help the seventh-grade students who came to him for help this semester, but he did list all the freelance positions they could apply for and encouraged them to take the initiative to contact them.
Lorne actually felt a little guilty towards the fifth and seventh graders, as this was the year they were taking their exams, even though there were dedicated teachers providing one-on-one support during the Chamber of Secrets activities.
Just when Lorne thought nothing could be changed, an unexpected item appeared in his rare goods inventory.