Aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and supercomputers are all crystallizations of modern human science.
However, if someone from another planet wanted to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the development of human civilization, they certainly wouldn't look for answers there.
Do people know about the existence of cells? Do they understand atoms? To what extent has human mathematics progressed? Can humanity's methods of observing the microscopic world monitor the quantum world? How did the universe originate in humanity's eyes? What proportion of the total mass of the universe does the mass that humans can observe and utilize occupy...
These things are better indicators of a civilization's technological development.
The progress of basic science determines humanity's understanding of the world, and humanity's understanding, in turn, drives the advancement of various technologies within civilization.
Similarly.
How deeply do wizards understand 'mana,' the source of their power? What is the wizarding world's view of the world? What is the maximum limit of power that wizards can wield?
These are what Roger is truly curious about.
Whether it's "Standard Spells, First Level" or "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," they only describe the 'techniques' for casting spells. While there's more depth, it's basically glossed over.
It's like a first-grade language textbook. Besides phonics, it only contains some simple characters, perhaps with a brief explanation of their general meaning.
It doesn't discuss the origin of words, how they evolved over generations, or the advantages and characteristics of cuneiform, hieroglyphs, phonetic scripts, and ideographic scripts.
The content in a first-year spellbook, let alone the 'Way,' doesn't even qualify as 'Art.' It's merely the 'technique' of casting spells.
...Of course, ordinary first-year Hogwarts students already struggle with learning this material. Anything more advanced? Spare them.
Those with truly outstanding talent will seek out more powerful spells in the school library, even being able to preview second or third-year material in their first year.
But Roger is different.
His goal is to become an immortal.
Not a magical technician who knows a few spells, nor a combat wizard.
He doesn't want to learn spells haphazardly.
He wants to establish a complete conceptual framework for magic from the beginning.
This is like the foundation of the Great Way; a slight deviation can lead to a thousand-mile error. While it might be possible to rectify it later, the time and effort, the precious resources wasted on detours, would be unimaginable.
It's like in "Hunter x Hunter," where the protagonist Gon, taught by the Shingen-ryu style, is vastly different from those who practice Nen in a haphazard way at Heaven's Arena. Those who don't understand the essence of Nen might even get worse the harder they try, only able to utilize thirty percent of their potential.
Roger wants to achieve immortality before his lifespan runs out, so he must eliminate such interference factors as much as possible and do so with every second counting.
Every day of life is precious. With some time left before school starts, Roger doesn't want to waste it.
Roger dislikes lies and frankly explained his thoughts and intentions to Professor McGonagall.
"So that's how it is." Roger's action further deepened Professor McGonagall's stereotypical impression.
This young seer must have foreseen something with their precognitive abilities! Magic is a profound subject, and for various reasons, magical knowledge is filled with technical black boxes and even self-contradictions.
Constructing one's own magical system and understanding is something generally undertaken by scholars who wish to delve deeply into magic, after studying a vast amount of magical knowledge.
This question should not have come from the mouth of a young wizard who hasn't even been exposed to magic.
"You don't need to look here. If you're interested in these things, I have some books at home that I think are well-written. I'll mail them to you after a while," Professor McGonagall said.
Professor McGonagall didn't think Roger was aiming too high.
As evidenced by the sorting at Hogwarts and the various clubs scattered throughout the campus, like the Transfiguration Club, led by professors.
Hogwarts is a place that emphasizes teaching according to aptitude.
Here, both joyful education and elite education coexist.
Young wizards without talent learn the content from classes and obtain a graduation certificate to work in various wizarding enterprises, such as the Magical Candy Factory or the Magical Creature Farm.
Talented wizards, on the other hand, self-study knowledge beyond the curriculum and then join clubs for "special lessons" to access cutting-edge magical knowledge.
In Professor McGonagall's view, since Roger could ask this question, it meant he was qualified to read those books.
While Professor McGonagall chose to believe Roger, she didn't intend to personally guide him.
As mentioned earlier, 'magical knowledge is filled with technical black boxes and even self-contradictions.' Each magic researcher's magical system framework is somewhat different, and no one dares to claim their understanding of the world is absolutely correct.
McGonagall had never taught a seer before, but she believed that a seer who could see the future and valued their life wouldn't jump into a pit themselves.
He could know the future, and his path was likely more 'correct' than her own.
It was enough for her to be his backup and support him.
Hearing that Professor McGonagall was willing to share her "selected reading list," Roger naturally went along with it and stopped searching aimlessly at Flourish and Blotts.
Putting the textbooks into the cart filled with owls, cauldrons, and various other sundries, the two headed back towards The Leaky Cauldron.
...
As the Head of Gryffindor and a Transfiguration professor, McGonagall was usually quite busy, and the months leading up to the start of term were even more so.
There were many children like Roger whose parents were not wizards and needed guidance, so she couldn't spend all her time with Roger.
After completing the purchases with Roger, Minerva McGonagall rushed off to continue her other work.
Fortunately, she didn't forget her promise to Roger.
A few days later, several seemingly overburdened owls arrived at the windowsill of Roger's room, dragging stacks of books.
Opening the brown paper covers, Roger was presented with dozens of books!
"The Evolution of Spells: The Mutual Interference of Muggle Ideology and Spell Creation," written by an American wizard in the modern era, a name Roger didn't recall from his movie memories.
"Mana: The Power of Mind's Reflection," authored by Abe, completed around 1000 AD during the Heian period.
"Zen and Magic: A Study on the Differences in Spellcasting Between Awakened Ones and Ordinary Wizards," penned by a monk from ancient India.
"Research on the Relationship Between Faith and Mana 'Part V': Do Magical Creatures Receiving Incense Worship Possess Greater Intelligence?" this book came from China, though the author remained anonymous.
"The Connection Between Soul and Brain," from the Department of Mysteries at the British Ministry of Magic.
In addition to the ones mentioned above, there were others such as "Is Extreme Emotional Spellcasting a Wrong Path?", "Ritual Magic is More Than Just Blood Sacrifice", "Where to Find the Great Way", "The Origin of Consciousness Hypothesis", "Is Mana Energy or a Cosmic Rule?", "Dreams, Subconsciousness, and Magic", "Who is the Core of Spellcasting: Ego, Id, or Superego?", "The Ultimate Wizard's Brain in a Vat", "Bloodline Magic and Transfiguration - Speculations for the Future Era"...
Among the mountains of books piled high before him, few delved into specific spells; they were mostly theoretical texts.
Broadly speaking, the creation dates of these books spanned from the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors all the way to last year, 1990 AD. The creators were from all over the globe, and while some presented theories that had been validated to a certain extent, most were speculations on magical theory, along with research reports filled with data that had yet to yield definitive answers.
Casually flipping through them, Roger found that the viewpoints in some books were even diametrically opposed.
Looking at the books that were nearly filling his room, Roger had only one thought.
"Does Professor McGonagall think a bit too highly of me?"
"Can I finish all this before school starts?"
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