The aftermath of the defeat in the Ancient Runes exam triggered a chain reaction far more intense than anyone had anticipated.
This was no longer a mere academic contest, it had become the spark that ignited long-simmering conflicts between two houses, rooted in bloodlines, honor, and pride.
The lions of Gryffindor reclaimed their long-lost pride almost overnight.
In the corridors, every excessively cheerful laugh struck Slytherin students like a slap to the face.
Groups of Gryffindors walked with heads held high, their house badges polished to a bright shine.
Whenever a figure in green robes passed, they would deliberately raise their voices, discussing some ancient theory about "bloodline degeneration and intellectual limits" in a pretentiously scholarly tone, as if their words carried scientific authority, subtly mocking the rigid, self-important minds of the Slytherins.
The Slytherin snakes were completely enraged.
Academic defeat had stripped them of their proudest weapon, and the aggression buried deep in their blood began to surface.
At hallway corners, legs would quietly extend at just the right moment; magical spells no longer targeted bodies directly, but struck books and belongings, leaving sticky messes behind.
The castle's air was thick with tension, a powder keg ready to explode.
Severus Snape, Slytherin head and the acting Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, had never made his stance so clear.
His classroom had become a one-sided battlefield.
"Potter, your breathing is polluting the classroom air, Gryffindor loses five points."
"Weasley, your crimson hair is irritating my eyes, Gryffindor loses five points."
"Miss Granger, your hand-raising is far too eager, showing no lady-like composure, Gryffindor loses five points."
He wielded point deductions like a desperate gambler, attempting, in the final hours of the semester, to wrest the House Cup back from Gryffindor by absurd means.
The entire Hogwarts was caught in this chaotic, frenzied period, except Alan.
To him, all external noise, the cheers of Gryffindor, the resentment of Slytherin, even Snape's near-hysterical point deductions, were nothing more than background noise, isolated from his thought.
He was like a precision instrument, calibrated toward a single goal.
The instant the Ancient Runes exam bell rang, he had already mentally detached from the chaos.
He did not celebrate; he immediately returned to his dormitory.
The room door closed, shutting out the commotion.
Alan sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the mental universe composed of logic and runes.
The hard-earned "Code Rebuild" reward, now was the perfect time to use it.
"Confirm: Use Code Rebuild."
With that thought, his mind palce, the magnificent structure known as the Fortress of Thought, began to undergo intense, deep-level transformation.
If previously it had been a castle built of solid rock and intricate gears, now a revolution from the foundation began.
Countless golden streams of data, like raw source code, washed over each cornerstone, completely dismantling the old structure and reconstructing it in a more superior, stable form.
["Fortress of Thought" program: Low-level reconstruction complete.]
A cold alert sounded in Alan's consciousness, followed by feedback from the optimized structure.
[Optimization effects:]
Concept Firewall stability increased by 300%; logic trap complexity increased by 500%.
Mental core cohesion increased by 200%; mana conversion efficiency increased by 50%.
New passive skill: "Logical Mirror" – small chance to reflect low-intensity mental attacks.
Alan slowly opened his eyes.
The world in his perception had changed.
His mental core, previously a rotating nebula-like energy body, had now condensed into a miniature star, radiating stable light. Each pulse converted his mental power into pure magic with unprecedented efficiency.
The Concept Firewall was no longer just a barrier, it had become a labyrinth of countless logical paradoxes, in which any intruding thought would become trapped in endless cycles of negation and self-reflection.
The new skill, Logical Mirror, coated the outer walls of his mental fortress with a smooth, resilient reflective layer, prepared to deflect and repel intrusions.
The moment had arrived.
Alan stood up, his movements precise and methodical, without glancing around.
He retrieved all his research from the semester.
The notes, pages filled with unique symbols and formulas, each contained his deconstruction and reconstruction of the essence of magic.
The distorted, grotesque rune rubbings he had extracted from the chaotic "data streams" now seemed to writhe slightly under his gaze, emanating an aura foreign to this world.
Even the book The Logical Paradoxes of Modern Spells, with its worn, curled edges, lay ready at his side.
Every piece of knowledge, every tool, every preparation, he carefully packed into his enchanted backpack, sealed with an Invisible Expansion Charm.
Night deepened.
On the other side of the castle, the end-of-year feast reached its peak.
From afar came the deafening cheers of Gryffindor students, the fate of the House Cup had long since been settled.
Alan paid no attention.
The worldly glory, the petty conflicts, all of it was trivial compared to the exploration he was about to begin.
Once more, he walked alone along the corridor leading to the seventh floor.
Opposite the tapestry depicting the giant's punishment of Barnaby, he paused.
He focused his mind, a single, strong need surfacing: a place where he could complete the final exploration of Rowena Ravenclaw's greatest secret.
The wall opposite him began to shift.
Ancient stone bricks silently realigned and restructured themselves, forming a door of pure moonstone that glowed with soft white light.
There were no carvings or decorations, only a sense of timeless purity and perfect symmetry.
Alan stood before the door, his right hand lightly pressing against the cold surface.
Through it, he could feel the vast, ancient aura of knowledge and logic itself seeping outward.
Tomorrow, when the Hogwarts Express carried students away after the end of the academic year, he would be here, poised to unlock the ultimate secret hidden for nearly a millennium, the final step toward the "Logic Core."
This was his sprint.
A conclusion of one era, and the beginning of another.
~~----------------------
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