Chapter 51: Mimicking the Strong is an Instinct

The wizarding world has its fair share of troublesome matters, too.

Following a brief and candid conversation with Professor McGonagall, Roger temporarily shelved his plan to popularize his Alaya magic concepts for the public good.

Professor McGonagall had lived in Muggles' society for many years and had even worked in the judicial branch of the Ministry of Magic. Boasting a wealth of social experience, she managed to dissuade Roger from his sudden brainstorm with just a few pointed questions.

First and foremost, the Statute of Secrecy was a consensus shared by wizards worldwide and stood as the crystallization of the current conservative mindset. Roger's bold plan to meddle with Muggle minds would undoubtedly face fierce opposition from the old guard of the wizarding community.

Second, although Roger's Alaya magic was feasible, it presented a significant dilemma.

Since the plan required utilizing entertainment to guide thought, one first had to produce works capable of sweeping across more than one nation.

You might be a prophet with some special means at your disposal, but what about everyone else?

Suppose I wanted to develop a time-travel-related magic and then invested tens of millions to produce a time-travel-themed movie, only for it to make not a single ripple in the box office. Wouldn't I find myself stranded in an awkward predicament on the spot?

This sort of thing simply wasn't suited for ordinary wizards to dabble in!

Knowing how to tell a story was a talent, and many professional film and television companies frequently crashed and burned at it.

A bunch of wizards who didn't even understand Muggles wanted to play around with Muggle entertainment?

Therefore, under the current social environment and objective conditions of the wizarding world, the path provided by Roger generally boiled down to only two approaches.

One approach was to strictly adhere to secrecy: move quietly, make no noise, and let those with the ability to do this task perform it covertly without arousing the suspicion of the conservatives.

Even if discovered, they would stubbornly insist it was merely a normal commercial investment.

The second approach was for wizards as a whole to chase after Muggle ideological trends and hot topics, changing according to Muggle shifts.

Yet this would give rise to another problem: more often than not, the thoughts of Muggles differed from the magical development needs of wizards.

Consequently, neither of these methods held much significance for Roger.

Roger possessed his own crisis prediction instincts; when it came to magical research and development, there was no need to seek afar what was close at hand.

His purpose in undertaking this was purely to bring about an overall reinforcement of wizarding civilization.

After all, the reason he was able to grow so rapidly now was built upon the legacy left behind by the great wizards of the past.

Had they not left behind so many treatises, it was uncertain whether Roger's progress in magical development would even reach one-tenth of what it was today.

The excellent achievements of a multitude of other wizards allowed him to draw analogies and comprehend his own path through related fields.

As the saying goes, three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the mastermind. Naturally, Roger wanted to mobilize the collective wisdom of the masses to make it easier for him to copy—borrow, rather—their insights.

However, according to Professor McGonagall's perspective, unless he one day possessed the strength to alter the overall ethos of wizarding society, it would be difficult for Alaya magic to exert its due effect.

"So that's why you were feeling a bit down today?" Hermione, standing nearby, suddenly understood.

"I thought it was because of..." She had assumed it was due to a magical accident.

In the Hogwarts common room.

A crowd had gathered around Roger, students from all four houses of varying ages.

Over the past three months or so, putting aside his somewhat rough methods, Roger had genuinely helped quite a few people and completely transformed the atmosphere of inter-house bickering.

Now that this "big brother" in everyone's eyes had suddenly transformed into the shape of a lead coffin, quite a number of those whom Roger had helped in the past naturally gathered around to show their concern and ask how he was doing.

"Uh, actually, you've all misunderstood. My appearance might be a bit strange right now, but I'm completely fine myself," Roger, who had always been a person to speak his mind, looked at his concerned classmates and had no intention of hiding the matter of his magical experiment.

"You can think of it as me experimenting with a highly toxic spell, but the poison has no effect on me personally. This lead coffin of mine is mainly to prevent the poison from harming anyone else." Roger had actually tried developing magic to eliminate radiation.

Yet Roger lacked the ability to perceive radiation himself, making it difficult for him to determine whether he had cleared it thoroughly enough. Therefore, until the Geiger counter was delivered to the school, he would maintain this appearance.

"Won't it be very stuffy in there?" asked a young Muggle-born wizard sorted into Slytherin, looking over with some concern from the other side of the lead coffin.

When he had been ostracized by certain individuals within his own house, Roger had once stepped in to help.

Even though everyone had heard that Roger was developing a "highly toxic" magic and that a leak might cause them injury, not a single person by his side left because of it.

They did not believe the prophet would make any oversight, nor did they think that even if the "toxin" truly leaked, the prophet couldn't handle such a trivial matter.

"Not at all; it's quite spacious inside." Roger wasn't lying about this.

"You all know the Undetectable Extension Charm, right? I used it a bit, and the environment inside is sufficient for my daily life."

Roger had originally asked Professor McGonagall to apply to the Ministry of Magic for the Undetectable Extension Charm back when he was planning his magical brain modification.

Although the route of magical brain modification had temporarily become a shelved project due to the development of human alchemy, the authorization to use this spatial spell was delivered to Roger shortly after the Boggart—no, the Demon of Fear incident.

According to the Ministry's requirements, as long as Roger's usage did not involve commercial purposes or violate the laws of the Ministry of Magic, he was free to use it as he pleased.

"Then how do you eat?" Fred Weasley and George Weasley asked in unison.

Previously, when they encountered problems while developing prank items, these twin brothers of Ron had sought help from Roger, who was reputed to be formidable at alchemy.

Roger had provided them with some knowledge explanations and inspiration, enabling them to invent a new prank item called the "Fainting Fancies." Consequently, this time when Roger "met with misfortune," the two of them also crowded around.

"I don't need to eat," Roger replied.

In fact, a month ago, the progress of Roger's physical transformation had already reached a stage where he no longer required conventional nourishment.

He possessed a far more efficient means of energy replenishment.

Eating at this point was purely a form of culinary entertainment and a matter of "habit" for him.

Just as Roger could manage without breathing right now, doing so still felt unnatural to him out of sheer habit.

Although his biological level was beginning to gradually "dehumanize," the living habits of an ordinary person cultivated over so many years could not be reversed overnight.

"Alright, everyone go back to what you were doing. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Hearing Roger say this, the crowd exchanged glances and gradually dispersed.

Yet the direction most of them headed towards was the exact same.

The Hogwarts Library!

These people who had been helped by Roger had deeply experienced his "might." Facing a powerhouse of their own age or even younger, many of them couldn't help but begin imitating him.

Just like when Voldemort was at school, many of his classmates who admired him couldn't help copying his words, deeds, and ideology, ultimately transforming into Death Eaters.

Nowadays, reading books in the library had quietly become a trending craze at Hogwarts.

After everyone else had left one by one, only Harry remained behind.

Roger had just sent a discreet magical message stating that he had something he wished to discuss with him in private.

"Harry, your state of mind has been very wrong lately. You're not focused in class, and you always seem absent-minded during other activities."

"…I'm sorry." Harry, assuming Roger was pressing him to fulfill their agreement, wore a bitter expression.

However, Roger had no such intention. Knowing that a forced melon is never sweet, he never intended to apply pressure: "Is it because of those memories?"

Roger knew that by this point, Harry should have read through all the memories concerning his parents stored within the professors' minds—which naturally included Snape's.

Roger's Pensieve had undergone his special modifications, making the experience far more "immersive" for the user.

"Yes, I..." After hesitating for a long time, Harry finally voiced what was in his heart.

"I don't know how to face Professor Snape anymore."