On the second day of Christmas break, December 26, the second floor of the White Tower had already transformed from a biological culture room into a print shop. The wizards were carrying out complicated work here, but the whole scene looked orderly and efficient.
Snape poured cauldron after cauldron of freshly brewed potion into the cultivation pool. Stimulated by the medicine, the central brain became active and excited, beating like a heart as it pumped out silver-blue smoke in a steady stream. The smoke gathered above the pool into a thick cloud.
This smoke was a magical polymer that carried thought-strings. It would be used to make ink, and any words or images drawn with this special ink would quickly dry and disappear. Then the information would automatically synchronize into the central brain's memory sector.
In this way, Hogwarts' rich collection of magical texts could be recorded into the central brain's database.
This step was the equivalent of the internet age in the Muggle world, digitizing paper books so they could be accessed, shared, and stored more easily. In the future, any new materials could also be uploaded to the central brain through this method, making it the equivalent of cloud storage.
Professor McGonagall collected the silver smoke with wide-mouthed glass bottles. The smoke gathered at the bottom of the bottles and formed a viscous liquid with a texture similar to mercury, though its color was much brighter, as if a huge amount of glitter had been mixed into it. Whenever they collected a half-liter bottle of memory substance, it could be sent on to the next production step.
Hagrid kept many Silent Birds, small and harmless magical creatures that never made a sound during their lives. Only at the moment of death would they cry out every sound they had ever heard. Their feathers were often used to make Veritaserum and Memory Potions. By grinding the Silent Bird's blue feathers into powder and mixing it into the memory substance, the natural evaporation of the memory substance could be slowed, greatly extending its shelf life.
Finally, the processed memory substance was mixed into pigment to form the special ink.
Several rows of old-fashioned printing presses had been set up in the open space on the second floor. After being enchanted, they operated automatically, working day and night to copy magical books. It was estimated that they would only need three days to copy the entire Hogwarts library.
Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout became book movers, carrying stack after stack of books back and forth between the main castle and the White Tower. They traveled together, chatting and laughing, and looked completely at ease.
At the same time, James was also making The Caster's Beginner's Manual. This book was the equivalent of a personal terminal connected to a server. It could upload and download information, communicate with the central brain, and the Manuals could also sense one another. In terms of functionality, calling it the wizarding world's parchment smartphone would not be wrong.
James was quite skilled at alchemy, and making the Manual came naturally to him. He was responsible not only for the hardware, but also for the software development, and he often discussed with everyone what functions should be added to the Manual.
The most basic use of the finished Manual was to replace traditional textbooks. Students would be able to conveniently access course materials inside the Manual and would no longer need to run around carrying a huge stack of books.
Second, through writing, they could communicate with Helena Ravenclaw inside the central brain. In that respect, it was rather similar to Voldemort's diary Horcrux. Lady Helena had a strong personality. If someone could coax her into a good mood, she would not be stingy about answering difficult questions. If they annoyed her, however, she would only throw out a reading list and tell the student to look up the information and study on their own.
James had made the Marauder's Map when he was a student, and he added that part of the idea into the Manual as well. He added a map of Hogwarts that could display the real-time location of Manual holders. It could also set navigation destinations, and the map would show a route guide. With that, no one would need to worry about getting lost in this complicated magical school anymore.
James very thoughtfully hid the school's secret passages. Those were his best-kept prank secrets, after all. If everyone knew about them, they would no longer be fun.
Skyl suggested creating a ranking system, and it was a good idea. The professors were all quite happy to see students work hard for personal glory. House point rankings, study-time rankings, Quidditch score rankings, and so on would inevitably set off a craze in the Houses.
Professor McGonagall disagreed with a dueling ranking. She believed it would encourage fights between students, but the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor pushed hard for it. He guaranteed that with him present, no student would die in a duel. In the end, the dueling ranking was still implemented, but only students in fifth year and above were allowed onto the leaderboard.
Christmas break lasted two weeks, and these busy professors came to see this period as a happy and fulfilling time in their lives. They completed the early work of building the central brain. Next, they only needed to distribute the Manuals, then move into long-term server maintenance and user-experience improvements.
It could be said that the main workload was already over. Everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief, catch up on sleep during the last few days of the holiday, and prepare to return to school life.
As the New Year arrived, a lavish feast was held in the Great Hall, both to celebrate the holiday and to celebrate the completion of their work. Although the school was empty, everyone still found a way to make the holiday lively and satisfying.
Dumbledore called all the Hogwarts house-elves to the Great Hall and set aside a long table especially for them.
The Headmaster raised his glass and gave a speech. "My friends, we are gathered here to see off a full and wonderful year. Thank you to all the teachers of Hogwarts. Through your diligent instruction, you have nurtured the next generation of the wizarding world. They will be a little smarter than the old fellows of our era and know a little more. In addition, on behalf of all teachers and students, I would especially like to thank the hardworking ladies and gentlemen among the house-elves. Thank you for your magic and your labor, and for preparing our three meals a day."
The house-elves were overwhelmed by the honor. Their emotions surged, and they immediately looked as if they were about to burst into tears. Gradually, however, the festive atmosphere coaxed them into smiling.
Everyone enjoyed dinner together. The long tables were piled with crispy fried pork cutlets, rich beef stewed in red wine, roasted squab with crisp bones and tender meat, a roast suckling pig with an apple in its mouth, and every traditional British potato dish imaginable. Pumpkin juice was unlimited, along with butterbeer and various alcoholic drinks specially provided for the adults.
After the feast ended, the professors suddenly had the idea of putting on a play, The Fountain of Fair Fortune. It told the story of an unlucky Muggle and three unlucky witches searching for the legendary Fountain of Fair Fortune, and came from the widely known The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Dumbledore played the unlucky Muggle, and the three female professors were ready-made for the other roles.
Skyl sat below the stage and watched the performance together with the three students staying at school, all the house-elves, and the ghosts who arrived afterward.
The Gryffindor ghost Sir Nicholas sat beside Skyl. He was deeply moved by the performance and told a story from the time of a former Headmaster.
"Many years ago, Professor Herbert Beery, who taught Herbology, planned to adapt The Fountain of Fair Fortune into a pantomime and put it on the Christmas stage. Their performance at Hogwarts filled the Hospital Wing to bursting! That was because Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, who taught Care of Magical Creatures, brought an Ashwinder that had been placed under the Engorgement Charm and used it as a prop. Then the Ashwinder exploded! Hahaha, Merlin's moldy socks, the whole Great Hall nearly caught fire, and two actresses even started fighting over their leading man. The scene was an absolute mess. In short, pantomime performances were banned at the school from then on."
"But what they're performing now is a play, isn't it?" a fifth-year Slytherin student said with a shrug, while carefully observing Skyl's expression.
"It is indeed a play, but ever since that performance accident, no one has put The Fountain of Fair Fortune on stage again. What a shame. Dumbledore was also part of the crew back then. He had only just entered the school not long before that and was teaching Transfiguration. In the blink of an eye, he has become so old."
The transfer student watched the professors on stage with full attention as they threw themselves into their performance.
Dumbledore wore armor and held a rusty iron sword, dressed like a knight. The three female professors had also made themselves beautiful, imitating the behavior and clothing of medieval witches. Snape, who was responsible for the scenery, hid backstage, with only his face poking out from behind the curtain. Paired with his gloomy expression from staying up too late, he looked exactly like a wax-yellow severed head hanging in midair. Hagrid had put on a giant worm costume and lay on the floor, stumbling over his lines. He only had one line in total, yet still managed to trip over it three or four times.
Perhaps these old fellows were drunk, because none of them maintained any dignified composure. As they performed, one after another could barely keep a straight face, and corpsing happened constantly. In terms of quality, the show was completely unqualified, but the ghosts, house-elves, and students below the stage were all enjoying themselves.
The Fat Friar's ghost said, "The Fountain of Fair Fortune is undoubtedly my favorite story, but many wizarding parents believe it promotes an improper pro-Muggle idea. They have shouted about removing the story from the Hogwarts library. It is simply intolerable. Fortunately, Dumbledore has always stood his ground and never let them succeed."
The Slytherin student looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself, his expression not especially pleased. The Hufflepuff student nodded in agreement, while the Ravenclaw upper-year merely shrugged and declined to comment.
The performance came to a successful close in a cheerful and imperfect way.
At the end of the story, the three witches gave the chance to bathe in the Fountain of Fair Fortune to the Muggle because their own troubles had already been resolved along the way. The Muggle fell in love with one of the witches, confessed on the spot, and succeeded. In the end, the four of them left together. Professor Gellert, who was in charge of narration, stood at the side of the stage and said loudly, "The four of them lived happily for a very long time, yet none of them knew, nor did they ever suspect, that the waters of the Fountain of Fair Fortune did not possess even a trace of magic. So, my friends, true magic is not found in mysterious spring water, but in the kindness of people's hearts."
A Dark Lord who preached wizard rule was actually promoting peace and love. Skyl felt that this scene was more magical than the entire story of The Fountain of Fair Fortune.
Everyone below the stage applauded hard. Putting aside whether this temporary troupe had acted well or not, those actors were the Headmaster and professors!
The laughter and cheer continued until midnight. When the New Year arrived, everyone went to the open grounds outside the castle to set off fireworks, bringing colorful warmth to the quiet, lonely Hogwarts.
"Happy New Year!" Hagrid shouted loudly.
"Happy New Year, Professor." Skyl smiled at Dumbledore.
"Go back, go back and get some proper rest. We'll see each other again after daybreak," Professor Flitwick mumbled drunkenly.
"Good night... good night, my friends!"
After they returned to the castle, the brilliant Filibuster fireworks still circled through the night sky, like a hundred glowing birds weaving beneath the clouds.
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