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Chapter 128: Magical Runes
Chapter 128: Magical Runes
Professor Buroude was a witty old man, and Albert was looking forward to this invitation. Just as he was about to raise his hand and knock on the door, the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office opened by itself.
Albert's hand froze in mid-air. Knowing that this was Professor Buroude's invitation, he pushed the door open gently and stepped into the office.
Professor Buroude had prepared cake and drinks.
Of course, there was also a set-up wizard's chessboard.
"Please wait a moment," Professor Buroude said, sitting at his desk and staring at some parchment in front of him, busy with some unknown task.
Albert didn't want to disturb him, so he quietly sat on the sofa, helped himself to a piece of cake, and began to eat.
Ten minutes later, Professor Buroude finished his task and sat down across from Albert with a smile. "I heard about you from Professor McGonagall. She's very proud of you."
"Is it about my article in 'Today's Transfiguration'?" Albert asked, a bit puzzled.
"Yes," Professor Buroude nodded. "For your age, it's quite remarkable."
Albert fell silent, suddenly unsure of what to say. In truth, he hadn't really paid much attention to this matter.
Professor Buroude noticed Albert's momentary bewilderment and silence and asked curiously, "You don't seem to care much about it?"
"Eh?" Albert nodded awkwardly. In fact, he wanted to say that the fame didn't benefit him as much as a galleon would.
Students of Hogwarts didn't receive any payment for publishing articles in 'Today's Transfiguration'. Of course, the relationship between the two parties was always mutually beneficial.
Only students who won the 'Best Newcomer with Most Potential' award would receive a symbolic galleon reward from 'Today's Transfiguration', and even then, the number of galleons was small. The real honor came from the title of the award.
"White moves first," Professor Buroude said, changing the subject and gesturing for Albert to start the game.
Albert immediately focused his attention and began to cautiously probe Professor Buroude's strength. He was well aware of his own limitations; his wizard's chess skill was only at the first level, and he was still far from reaching the second level.
This level of skill was adequate for playing against ordinary people, but against an International Wizard Chess Champion, it fell short by a wide margin.
In fact, even with Professor Buroude intentionally holding back, Albert still couldn't withstand his opponent's offense and was checkmated by the knight in less than ten minutes.
Although he lost the game, Albert gained a lot from playing against Professor Buroude. In the second game, Albert slowed down his pace, avoiding the small mistakes he made in the first game. After twenty minutes of intense play, he was ultimately checkmated by the queen.
"I lost again," Albert sighed. "So, this is the level of an International Wizard Chess Champion? The standard of wizard's chess competitions must be very high."
"No, you're mistaken," Professor Buroude took a sip of his milk tea and gently explained. "In fact, very few wizards truly train in this area. They may have some skill, but it's usually average at best. In a couple of years, you should be able to reach that level as well."
"Do you mean that... all participants in the International Wizard Chess Competition are amateurs?" Albert was taken aback.
In fact, it was said that at the age of seventeen, people would start to reach their peak in many aspects, and Albert had wondered if this was the reason why wizards came of age at seventeen.
"Yes, there has never really been a distinction between professionals and amateurs," Professor Buroude smiled. "But that's how it is every time. When you come of age, you can also participate in the International Wizard Chess Competition if you wish. Although the prize money is not much, the title of champion is quite nice to have."
"Mhm," Albert responded absentmindedly. In truth, he didn't care much about becoming famous.
"Being famous can be quite useful sometimes," Professor Buroude said with a meaningful smile.
His words sounded a bit... odd, to say the least.
Changing the subject, Albert asked, "What were you busy with just now? Of course, if it's inconvenient to say..."
"I was researching ancient runes," Professor Buroude replied, not minding the question at all. "Bathsheba just helped me organize some materials. But it's been a while since I last dealt with these things, so it's a bit challenging to get back into it."
"Ancient runes?" Albert raised an eyebrow. "I heard that it's an elective class for third-years."
"Yes, yes, it's an elective for third-years," Professor Buroude nodded repeatedly.
Albert suddenly said, "I heard that during the time of the Four Founders, they used these runes to cast spells."
"Yes, there are such rumors," Professor Buroude said, sizing up Albert. "Some people speculate that the power of ancient wizards was closely related to their use of ancient runes."
"Indeed... they were very powerful," Albert said softly. "For the ancient magic of Hogwarts to be maintained for thousands of years is, in my opinion, nothing short of a miracle. Although it may be impolite to say so, I doubt if even Headmaster Dumbledore could achieve this."
"Haha, Dumbledore," Professor Buroude put down his teacup. "He is widely recognized as the most powerful wizard of this century, and he has held the position of Chief Wizard at the Wizengamot for several decades now!"
"It is said that even the Dark Wizard feared him," Professor Buroude continued. "Do you know who the Dark Wizard is?"
"Yes," Albert nodded. "I read about his deeds in books. It is said that the Savior, Harry Potter, defeated this Dark Lord."
"Professor," Albert suddenly spoke up.
"Yes, Mr. Anderson?" Professor Buroude asked, looking up in confusion.
"I also self-studied Runic," Albert hesitated before asking, "but I didn't feel the mysterious power of these ancient runes as you described."
"You self-studied?" Professor Buroude was quite surprised.
"Yes," Albert replied. "During this Christmas holiday, I self-studied Runic and could barely read them, but... in fact, they're not as amazing as you said."
"After all, it's just a legend..." Professor Buroude said softly. "However, you have indeed brought me many surprises."
"Surprises?" Albert frowned slightly.
"It's nothing," Professor Buroude laughed. "In fact, many wizards have studied ancient runes, but with their level of proficiency, they can usually only manage basic recognition and simple application. There are very few true experts in this field."
Albert fell silent.
After a long while, he asked, "No one delves deeper?"
"Delve deeper?" Professor Buroude shook his head. "For most people, just being able to understand these ancient texts is good enough. After all, no one uses them anymore, so why bother spending time and effort uncovering their secrets?"
"But the school..."
Professor Buroude interrupted, "Hogwarts offers ancient rune classes simply to prevent these ancient texts from being forgotten by future generations."
(End of Chapter)
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