The Apotheosis of HSD

How extensive is the United States Library of Congress's collection?

According to statistics, there are approximately 75 million works and nearly 121 million items in various collections.

The total length of the bookshelf, while not enough to circle the Earth, is still 848 kilometers.

It is large enough to extend from Washington, D.C.. to Boston.

Even today, the collection continues to expand, adding more than 10,000 new items every day.

Two hundred years of effort have culminated in this.

Although it is still quite different from Nicolas's 600-year-old collection, it is already the largest library in Muggle.

Tonight, this ocean of wisdom is deserted.

The building was dimly lit, and William and Hermione were the only ones there. They followed Trene through the many bookshelves.

The room was luxuriously decorated; it was more like a castle than a library.

On the domed ceiling, there is also a six-panel mural by John White Alexandria:

The Evolution of the Book

The mural's title is concise and meaningful, fitting perfectly to the occasion.

As he passed the bulletproof glass case, William also saw that it contained two of the most precious books from the Library of Congress, the Giant Bible of Mainz, a copy from the 1450s;

There is also an United States copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

Also known as the Forty-Two-Line Bible, it is the officially recognized Latin translation of the Bible.

It was printed by Hans Christian Gutenberg using movable type in 1454-1455.

This also marked the beginning of mass production of books in the West.

It is truly rare for books from six or seven hundred years ago to have survived to this day in such excellent condition.

Of course, Celestial Empire also has books that are hundreds or even thousands of years old.

However, most of them are in tombs, and if opened without authorization, they will quickly oxidize.

For example... Back then, in order to explore the Yongle Encyclopedia and satisfy his curiosity about "archaeology," Wu Han contacted Guo Moruo and others and wrote a "Report Requesting Permission to Excavate Ming Changling."

The Ming Changling is the tomb of Zhu Di, but he ultimately escaped death. However, the Wanli Emperor was not so lucky.

Not only were the exquisite and precious calligraphy, paintings, and silks that had been stored for hundreds of years rapidly carbonized and severely damaged.

Finally, even Wanli's remains were tragically burned.

Led by Trene, the three entered the underground passage. They thought there were already enough books upstairs, but they were surprised to find there were even more down below.

The rows of bookshelves stretching for miles, when viewed from the starting point, resemble a visual image of "infinity" created by some kind of mirror.

There's no other way; there's only so much space upstairs, but there are too many books, so we have to dig underground space to store them.

It was precisely because of the construction of this underground passage that the library and the Capitol Building could be secretly connected.

The three continued forward, winding their way along the path for more than ten minutes, until finally a locked door appeared at the end.

William cast Disillusionment Charm on both of them before carefully opening the door.

This was a deep, upward-facing passage. They hurried forward, opened another door, and entered a luxurious, spacious hall.

Rotunda.

The most striking feature of the United States. Capitol is undoubtedly its central rotunda.

The hall is 53 meters high and over 30 meters in diameter. To the south of the hall is a sculpture hall surrounded by statues of various figures.

By the 1990s, the sculpture hall contained 94 bronze and stone statues, all modeled after outstanding figures from various fields.

On the circular wall, there are also eight large oil paintings depicting eight major events in United States history.

From Columbus's arrival in the New World to the discovery of Mississippi in De Soto, then the baptism of the Indian Poca, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence... and finally, Washington's resignation as Commander-in-Chief.

One of the paintings is particularly noteworthy:

It describes the Mayflower, which carried a group of the United Kingdom to North America.

Isolt Ser, the Founders of the Ilvermorny School, smuggled herself onto this ship to escape her aunt's pursuit.

To commemorate this event, the Magical Congress of the United States of America magically transformed the painting into a passageway for wizards to enter the old Congress building.

But today, the entrance to this painting is filled with a heavily armed Muggle army.

There was also a group of Scourers, wielding wands and casting spells to detect any wizards attempting to approach.

Since the previous passages are no longer accessible, we must seek other entrances.

Trene spread her fingers slightly and pointed to the sky, silently indicating that they should walk upwards.

William looked up and saw the famous mural "The Apotheosis of Washington" on the ceiling.

This enormous mural, spanning 4,664 square feet, covers the entire dome of the Capitol Rotunda.

As mentioned earlier, the United States enjoys cosplaying Rome and has even gone so far as to have the Founding Fathers portrayed as gods.

This mural is the best proof:

Washington, dressed in a white robe, stood beside thirteen maidens, surrounded by auspicious clouds, having transcended the mortal realm and become a god.

However, many people don't know that this painting actually depicts not only becoming a god, but also becoming a "shaman".

Washington, though Muggle president, was actually of wizarding descent and was one of United States's most famous Scourers.

Thanks to the Scourers ' education, he firmly believed that even Muggle without any magic could become wizards.

Washington and Trelawney were colleagues, and she was an outstanding Divination teller.

He firmly believed that constellations were closely related to the fate of the nation, so the placement of the cornerstone of the Capitol Building was determined by him using astrology.

In addition, the foundation stone laying times for the White House and the Washington Monument were both carefully chosen to coincide with the same astrological conditions.

This involves using astrology similar to that of the Centaur to enhance the nation's fortune.

The result was obvious: after the two World Wars, the United States became a superpower.

Inside this dome, next to the murals, there is a secret passage leading to the former site of the Magical Congress.

So, wizards are bad at their job but have a huge addiction to it.

Not only was the Wizarding Congress placed in the Muggle Congress, but an entrance was also deliberately placed next to the mural "The Apotheosis of Washington".

They really know how to be disgusting.

The three of them quietly made their way up the stairs to the top floor.

Trene, wand in hand, tapped and banged on the corridor, and a hexagonal lattice panel opened with a whoosh.

She winked smugly, then was the first to crawl inside.

Hermione followed closely behind.

William didn't go in, because he discovered something more interesting.

He stood on the narrow staircase, peering through the glass into the distance.

Along the central axis of the Capitol Building stand many buildings, but the most prominent is undoubtedly the Washington Monument, the tallest building in the entire District of Columbia.

He squinted, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

William stood there hesitantly, and just then, a gasp came from inside the latticework panel.

He disregarded what he had just seen, grabbed his wand, and rushed inside.

(Seeking monthly votes from all the big shots at the end of the month.)