Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 32 The Transformation of the Eagle's Nest

When Karen pushed open the door to his dormitory in the Ravenclaw Tower, three pairs of eyes immediately shot towards him. He blinked his grey-blue eyes and subconsciously touched the alchemical box hidden in the inner pocket of his robe.

"Finally decided to come back?" Ernesto leaned against the post of the four-poster bed, his gray eyes flashing with dissatisfaction. "These past two days you've been like a ghost, disappearing as soon as get out of class was over, and you couldn't find me in the library either."

Wesley's reddish-brown hair shone like flames in the candlelight as he sat cross-legged on the bed. "We thought Peeves had locked you in some broomhouse!"

Fabian pushed up his glasses and added gently, "Seriously, Karen, where have you been? I haven't even seen you for dinner."

Karen gently closed the door; he had anticipated this question. A slight smile played on his lips. "Professor Victor wants to see me. He wants to teach me alchemy."

The dormitory suddenly fell silent. Confusion simultaneously crossed the faces of the three students, just as they had when Professor McGonagall announced the cancellation of the final exams.

"Wait a minute," Ernesto straightened up and was the first to ask, "that one-eyed, strange professor? Why is he suddenly going to teach you alchemy? Isn't he the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"

Karen shrugged and took the ebony box from his inner pocket. "Maybe it's because I'm exceptionally talented?" he said casually, opening the box to show off the alchemical artifacts inside.

Wesley jumped out of bed with a thud: "Merlin's beard! These are the real deal!" He carefully touched a silver stirring rod. "Much better than the rusty ones we found in the Chamber of Secrets."

Fabian leaned closer to examine it, the metallic luster of the equipment reflecting off the lenses of his glasses: "No wonder Professor Victor paid special attention to you in class; he wanted to take you on as a student."

Karen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had successfully changed the subject. He closed the box: "I want to use these to upgrade the alchemy section of the Eagle's Nest. The old equipment is too outdated; many of it is unusable."

"Some things have arrived from home," Ernesto said suddenly, with a hint of reluctant pride in his voice. "I wrote home earlier asking for some things, which are perfect for putting in the Eagle's Nest. I can take them there tomorrow."

Karen was a little surprised, then nodded: "So, shall we go straight there after class tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Wesley said excitedly.

Fabian smiled and shook his head: "No matter what tomorrow brings, we all need to rest now!"

The lights in the dormitory were quickly turned off and everyone went to bed.

The next afternoon, as soon as the last history of magic class ended, the four of them hurried through the corridor, avoiding the crowds, and headed up to the fifth floor. Professor Binns' monotonous voice still echoed in their ears as he lectured on the dry and uninteresting history of magic.

"This way," Karen led them around a hidden corner. "I discovered a shortcut yesterday."

His True Sight could see faint traces of magic on the wall, markings of secret passages explored by Hogwarts students over the centuries. After turning several seemingly dead-end corners, they stopped at the entrance to the Eyrie.

"Eagle's Nest, we're back!" Wesley eagerly pushed open the door.

Sunlight streamed in through the stained-glass windows high above, illuminating the classroom they had previously made simple alterations to. The room was much larger than a typical classroom, with each of the four corners transformed into a different functional area: the left front corner was a study area piled high with books and parchment, the right side was Fabian's herb-growing area, the center was their alchemy lab, and the back was the recreation corner that Wesley later insisted on creating, as well as the space previously intended for spell practice.

Of course, of these functional areas, only the learning area is actually usable at present; the others are just for show. The herb area only contains Devil's Net and White Dictamnus.

"Alright, let's get to work." Karen rolled up her sleeves and walked toward the alchemy area, where the equipment did indeed look shabby: a few rusty crucibles, a set of broken glassware, and an old stone slab engraved with blurry runes.

Ernesto took a velvet bag embroidered with his family crest from his bosom. "Take a look at these first." He poured out several gleaming items: two small metal discs, an exquisite metal box, and a palm-sized oak box.

"This is..." Karen picked up a metal disc, and his Eye of Truth immediately caught the intricate magical patterns on it.

“An adjustable target,” Ernesto explained, his tone brimming with pride, “an alchemical artifact of the Griffith family. When infused with magic, it transforms into a target of a certain size and can also record the strength of spells to some extent.”

Fabian was already curiously fiddling with the oak box: "What about this one? It looks like..."

"The materials storage cabinet," Ernesto continued, "is enchanted with preservation and stretching spells, and the interior is ten times larger than it appears from the outside. My father said it's suitable for storing volatile magical materials."

Karen carefully opened the box. Inside, dozens of small compartments were neatly arranged, each emitting a faint fluctuation of magical energy. He looked up at Ernesto: "These... must be very valuable, right?"

Ernesto's gray eyes flickered. "Anyway, nobody uses them at home." He paused, his voice lowering. "Besides, our Eagle's Nest needs them too."

Wesley grinned and patted Ernesto on the back forcefully: "See? Even our pure-blooded young master has his adorable moments!"

"Shut up, Cruz!" Ernesto's ears turned red, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.

Karen smiled and took out the tools Professor Victor had given him, arranging them according to the diagrams in some alchemy books he had read before. On the central workbench, he placed a silver crucible and its matching stirring tools; to the left were glassware of various sizes; and to the right was the parchment with a six-pointed star transmutation array template that he was most interested in.

"And what is this box?" Fabian asked, holding up the metal box.

"It's a small astronomical projection device. It's not as impressive as the one we had in astronomy class before, but it's still pretty good," Ernesto replied.

"Then where should we put it?" Fabian then asked.

"Let's put it in the entertainment corner," Karen pointed to the back area. "There's not much there right now, so you can watch this for entertainment."

The four of them busied themselves: Wesley was in charge of moving the old equipment back to the secret chamber; Fabian organized the bookshelves and new tools; Ernesto adjusted his target; and Karen focused on setting up the alchemical array. The sun gradually slanted westward, and the shadows in the room grew longer and longer.

"Done!" Karen made a final adjustment to the angle of the hexagram array and wiped the sweat from her brow. The new alchemy area was completely transformed: in the center were gleaming silver artifacts, on the left wall behind it hung the target Ernesto had brought, and on the right was an astronomical projection observatory. All the materials were neatly stored in refrigerated cabinets.

Wesley couldn't wait to activate a target: "Watch this!" He waved his wand, "Yugadiem Leviosa!" A soccer ball placed in the entertainment corner flew up and hit the enlarged metal disc, the disc emitting a green light.

"Not bad, it actually made the target react." Ernesto raised an eyebrow. "But watch this." His levitation spell made the target glow blue.

"Why are the colors different?" Wesley asked, looking at the targets emitting different lights.

"Because this color represents different intensities, green is the lowest, and there are three more levels: blue, yellow, and red," Ernesto replied.

He then added, "But you don't need to feel like you can't do it. Being able to make the target show color means you've already grasped the basics of this spell."

Hearing their conversation, Fabian smiled and shook his head, taking out several paper packets from his bag: "I brought some food from the kitchen, let's take a rest."

The four sat around a rug in the study area, sharing pumpkin pie and butterbeer. Karen's gaze swept over the newly renovated Eagle's Nest, and a warm feeling welled up inside her. Ten days ago, this was a dusty, abandoned classroom; now, it was their true base.

"Karen," Fabian suddenly asked, the candlelight reflecting off his glasses, "why did Professor Victor teach you alchemy alone?"

Karen took a bite of her pie, carefully choosing her words: "He said... I have talent. And some of my understanding of alchemy helped his research."

"That professor was really strange," Wesley mumbled, his mouth full of food.

Ernesto scoffed. "My father said that one-eyed people usually have complicated pasts."

Karen, remembering the cursed mark under Professor Victor's left eye, remained silent. He instead pointed to the astronomical observatory: "Ernesto, want to try out your treasure? It's getting dark, perfect for stargazing."

The four of them walked towards the entertainment corner where the astronomical observatory was located.

As Ernesto turned on the projection observation platform, the Eagle's Nest instantly shone like a starry sky, and the friendship of the four young people began to shine like stars.