Cooperation

"So you came to me hoping I’d help you complete this research?"

Charles sat quietly in his wheelchair, looking at Noah with a smile on his face.

Charles was not especially familiar with Noah, but Noah was the first wizard Charles had ever met, and he had brought them to a world that did not reject them and instead regarded them as one of its own. Charles had a very favorable impression of Noah.

Although Noah had seemed so hot-tempered back then that he had nearly killed Erik, Erik had indeed not looked like he wanted peaceful talks either.

Moreover, after learning magic and reflecting on the situation, Charles realized that Noah had actually eased his control over the spell.

When a wizard relaxed their control over a spell, the result would be that the spell dissipated, or at least its power would diminish drastically.

That also meant Noah had not truly intended to kill Erik at the time. He had merely wanted to teach him a lesson.

Once Charles understood that, he naturally no longer had any particular thoughts about it. He knew exactly how stubborn and irritating Erik could be, and teaching him a lesson did not seem so bad. After entering this magical world, Charles and his group had learned a great deal of new knowledge.

Among other things, he had learned how ranks were viewed in the wizarding world. Take Noah Finneal, who sat before him—he was a wizard beyond the jurisdiction of the magical world!

In this magical world, a wizard’s strength was an important factor.

Noah Finneal belonged to an even more formidable Magic Organization.

That organization was also an exceptionally important presence to wizarding communities across the world, because it housed the most powerful wizard in the world—the Sorcerer Supreme.

Yet that Magic Organization had not placed itself beyond the reach of magical world regulations simply because of its immense strength.

On the contrary, it had always obeyed the rules of the magical world, and it almost never interfered with the affairs of individual wizarding communities.

It could be said to be the model of an outstanding wizarding organization!

There were many wizarding organizations in this world. It was not only Kamar-Taj that acted this way; the other Magic Organizations did as well.

The only difference was probably that Kamar-Taj was willing to do some rather interesting things, whereas other wizarding organizations preferred conducting their own research.

"Yes. You’re a rare highly educated scientist in the Muggle world, and genetics is your specialty, so I hope you can help me."

Noah had no idea that so many thoughts had flashed through Charles’s mind in an instant. He simply nodded to confirm it.

After Professor Dumbledore left, Noah had the system extract the High-dimensional dark power for analysis.

However, the analysis would take a long time, so Noah did not stay idle. He came directly to Charles for help.

"Of course I have no problem helping you. I’m merely curious—what would you have done if I refused?"

Charles considered it for a moment before agreeing outright, though he still had a few questions to ask.

Noah rolled his eyes at the question. "Relax. What could I do if you refused? Kidnap one of the little ones to threaten you? Come on, you’re already members of the magical world. Reasonable requests can be reasonably refused. You haven’t offended me, so why would I attack you?"

Even if I did, I might not be able to beat you.

Noah quietly mocked himself, then quickly shook his head and added, "If you don’t help, I can find someone in the Muggle world. Do you know Pick Ham?"

"I don’t know him personally, but I know of him." Professor Charles looked a little embarrassed, though the trace of embarrassment vanished in an instant.

He smiled. "How could I not know the chairman of Ham Company? He’s also a leading scientist in biology, though he does not seem to specialize in genetics."

"Mm-hm. But he has a friend named Ricard."

"Professor Ricard? If you go to him, there really won’t be any problem."

Charles said no more after that. Finding experts and professors probably would not be difficult for Noah.

Charles remembered that Noah seemed to have some connection with the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he had heard that deputy director was about to be officially promoted.

Shaking his head, Charles stopped thinking about those matters. He lowered his head and began considering the concepts and materials Noah had given him.

What Noah wanted to do was actually research based on a spell, but what he intended to do seemed somewhat risky.

Soon, Charles thought of another problem. "By the way, it’s no problem for me to help you with this research, but if you aren’t here, I won’t be able to complete many of the tests and experiments."

Charles was responsible for the human biology side, while Noah and the others were trying to research the magical creature side.

Research naturally required samples, especially since this was a spell Noah intended to use himself. It would be best if Noah were present.

"Don’t worry, that isn’t a problem." Noah had considered this long ago. Otherwise, he would have gone to Pick Ham and Ricard already.

He smiled. "I’ll be based in London from now on."

"Based in London?" Charles gave Noah a puzzled look, then suddenly thought of something. "Could it be that you’ve become a guardian of the Sanctum?"

"Huh? You even know that?"

"Yes. Minister Dumbledore gave us a great many books, so isn’t it normal that I know? It really is hard to believe. You’ve actually come this far."

Noah nodded. Right, the Sanctum had never concealed it in the first place, so knowing about it was not particularly unimaginable.

Still, Noah found it rather strange. Why did everyone who saw him, or heard about his accomplishments, like to say, "You’ve actually come this far"? Was moving forward somehow a mistake?

Just as Noah was about to emphasize that he had always worked hard and such, he suddenly heard a series of footsteps outside. Noah frowned.

What was going on? Could something have happened again?

"Don’t mind it. Scott has brought the little ones back. They probably want to meet you, their idol," Charles said with a smile when he saw Noah’s furrowed brow.

"Oh, Hogwarts students? Then they’re all my juniors. But what do you mean, idol?" Noah looked baffled. How had he become an idol?

"Don’t you know?" Charles was also somewhat puzzled.

"Know what?" Noah asked.

"Don’t you know that you’ve already been written into the textbooks? And that your material has become an important part of Hogwarts’ required course, History of Magic: Modern History?"

"…"

Well, Noah really had not known that. But why did that sound so strange?

He was still so young, and he was alive and well. How had he already been written into a textbook?

Noah had once wondered when his portrait might be printed on commemorative coins. Now, he had ended up in textbooks first.

He rubbed his head, but before Noah could say anything, Charles’s office door was pushed open.

A large group of little ones looked at Noah sitting on the chair with expressions of disbelief. However, Noah could clearly see the delight and excitement in their eyes.

With no other choice, Noah awkwardly yet politely had a good chat with the little ones. The question he was asked most often was how he had managed to accomplish all this when he was around their age.

That question left Noah speechless. Was he supposed to tell them that if they had a system, maybe they could do it too?

Sorry, Noah truly could not say something like that.

So Noah could only comfort the little ones properly and emphasize that they had to listen to their professors at school, study all kinds of knowledge seriously, participate earnestly in their classes, and make more friends.

Naturally, every one of the little ones nodded seriously. Soon, Scott led them back to their rooms, because Noah and Charles still had things to do.

The little ones were also very obedient. Having met Noah, some of their little wishes had been fulfilled, and this legendary senior seemed quite kind as well.

After the little ones left, Noah followed Charles into a laboratory.

Since Charles had already agreed to help Noah, he naturally would not merely talk without acting. He was going to run some tests on Noah immediately and retain some data for comparison.

"Seriously, do you think this spell can succeed?"

With Jean Grey’s help, Noah had been fitted with various monitoring devices. Charles looked at Noah lying on the examination table, ready for testing, and could not help asking.

"I don’t know, but I can only say that there’s hope of success." Noah could not help smiling wryly as he looked at all the equipment attached to him.

He had once worried that he might be cut apart as a lab rat. Now, he was the one asking to have all this stuff attached to him.

After sighing, Noah quickly cast those messy thoughts out of his mind and said seriously, "And Charles, if we succeed, it will count as breaking a long-standing fixed impression of a spell. Magic needs constant innovation and progress, just like—"

"Just like science, right?" Charles nodded. He understood what Noah meant.

"That’s right. And if this spell succeeds, just think how great an improvement it would bring to wizards."

Noah smiled. Transforming into magical creatures and mythical creatures would provide wizards with a tremendous boost, because it could serve as a weapon in battle.

Noah had also considered certain issues during his research. Human physiques could not meet the requirements for evolving into a higher life-form.

But what about mythical creatures?

Though they might not truly reach that level, their magical abilities would certainly improve to some extent. Even if their power was not enough, their range would at least become greater, right?

"Besides, if we succeed, we might even try applying for the Kamar-Taj Magic Award! Don’t you want to try a more advanced way of increasing magical power?"

"The Kamar-Taj Magic Award? It seems this really is motivation worth striving for."