Arriving in the principal's office again, Maka looked at the smiling Dumbledore and felt her scalp tingle.
Occlumency is difficult to practice, and his progress in this skill can only be described as average so far. But when facing Dumbledore, who was proficient in Legilimency, he unconsciously wanted to use it - even though Dumbledore had no intention of peeking into his heart.
Of course, if he said something irrelevant in front of Dumbledore, he would definitely feel it, and it had almost become his instinct.
Snape was looking at the Immortal Potion without knowing what he was thinking, while Professor McGonagall was talking excitedly to Dumbledore.
After a while, Professor McGonagall left the principal's office with Dumbledore's smile on her face. When passing by Maka, she smiled and nodded to him.
"Mr. Maclean, I think you have spent a lot of time acquiring knowledge, and it has obviously paid off." Dumbledore spoke in a calm tone, the smile on his face never changing, "You have achieved such an achievement in your first year. , this is unique in Hogwarts, I don’t think any student can compare with you, whether in the past or now.”
"That's too much of a prize, Professor Dumbledore, I'm afraid—"
"When you should be proud of it, you should express it. Suppressing it in your heart will only let this glory rot in your heart." Dumbledore gave Maka a meaningful look, "I think you should understand what I mean. .”
What does Dumbledore seem to know? But what exactly did he know
"Well, I guess you're right..."
Maka discovered that it was indeed true that people become better with age. In front of such people, it was difficult for her to use her cleverness. For example, right now, he simply doesn't know what to say and feels that nothing is right.
"So, Severus, what do you think of Mr. Maclean's potion?" Dumbledore turned to Snape again, as if wanting to hear his evaluation.
Snape stared at the potion bottle in his hand for a moment in silence before expressing his judgment.
"As far as the formula and preparation process of this potion are concerned, it cannot be said that it is very clever," Snape said, "but its idea of using fairy wings to achieve invisibility is indeed worthy of praise. In the past, this material was only Used for beauty and entertainment, no one has ever thought that the secret of fairy invisibility comes from their wings.”
"Indeed, almost all wizards believe that the invisibility effect of fairies comes from their innate magic." Dumbledore also nodded, agreeing with Snape's statement.
Having said this, Dumbledore looked at Maka again, with a trace of solemnity in his eyes: "Mr. MacLean, I wonder if you are willing to send your research results to the International Federation of Wizards for judgment? This will allow you to Leaving your name in the history of potion science will also allow your invention to enjoy the protection of the Federation's interests throughout your life... Of course, after your death, the formula will be published publicly, but I personally think there is nothing wrong with this."
Maka had also considered this issue before, and when Dumbledore mentioned it, he naturally had nothing to disagree with.
"Of course, thank you for your willingness to sign and recommend my potion formula." He nodded immediately.
Any wizard's invention needs to be recommended by a federation committee member before it can be accepted by the federation. As the current president of the International Federation of Wizards, Dumbledore would be better off personally recommending it.
Once Xianyin Potion can be recognized by the federation, its reputation will definitely increase, which is equivalent to giving it a big advertisement for authoritative certification.
"These are a lot of gold Galleons!" Maka couldn't help but think.
This time, Dumbledore didn't say anything more to Maka. He asked Maka to go back and prepare three bottles of Immortal Yin potion, and then let him leave.
The next day at breakfast time, Maka was surrounded by Harry and the others. Harry and Hermione kept whispering their thanks, while Ron felt guilty because the wound on his hand hadn't healed yet and he couldn't do much to help. Especially Hermione, she received a lot of help from Maka in some deep learning, and this incident made her even more grateful to Maka.
"The exam is about to begin, let's not disturb Maka anymore!" After chatting for a few words, Hermione rushed Harry and Ron back to the Gryffindor table.
Yes, before you know it, the exam day is coming. It was only then that Maka realized that it had been nearly a year since she came to Hogwarts. Although his study progress was obvious to all, he felt that he had some achievements in potions but was average in other aspects.
To put it bluntly, he didn't consider himself in the position of a "first-year student" at all, but he really couldn't blame him.
During the last period of time, everyone was nervously preparing for the upcoming exam, but Maka didn't take it seriously at all. It's not that he thinks the exam is unimportant, but because his demands on himself are a little too high.
Maka always felt that he might not even reach the level of a newly hired Auror, and the sense of crisis always accompanied him. When he thought about what might happen in the future, he had the urge to apply for a time turner.
"And so far, there is no progress in the research on the Scroll of Truth at all. It's simply depressing."
Maka weakly pushed a pile of manuscript papers aside. The wind outside the window blew gently, and the pages of the book turned with the wind. If anyone were around, he would definitely be surprised - because every page of this bound manuscript is crowded with all kinds of strange symbols.
After Maka tried various interpretation methods without success, he decided to try a stupid method, which was copying. But copying thousands of times brought him nothing but upset.
"Rowner Ravenclaw calls it the Scroll of Truth, but what exactly is truth in this world?" Maka, who had gained nothing, couldn't help but start thinking wildly.
But as he spoke, his heart was shaken.
"Wait a minute, I remember the first few questions of Bronze Little Eagle..." Maka gradually picked up the memories that he had ignored. He whispered to himself, "'Everything in the world, what is the truth?' , my answer at the time was—"
"Material drives the appearance, and the spirit deduces the rules... the cycle complements each other, and the symbiosis is immortal?" As he said this, he himself became a little doubtful.
To put it bluntly, it was purely based on guessing. In Maka's heart, there is no fundamental basis at all. This is just a guess about the profound magic theories in the forbidden book area.
But now, it has become a vague breaking point.
"In other words, as long as we find the connection between spirit and matter, we may be able to discover something!" Although he was not sure, Maka was obviously excited.
In the next few days, Maka showed a state that made people not want to get close to him, because he was often in a daze, and he could never hear others talking to him when he was in a daze. He seemed to be immersed in the strange symbols on the Scroll of Truth, as if he had changed into a different person.
Fortunately, most people have been feeling a little trance recently because the exam date is getting closer and closer.
But at this time when everyone was busy preparing for their exams, a belated punishment notice was delivered to Maka.
"Oh - yes, yes, although it seems that no points were deducted, no matter what you say, you can't avoid punishment. I have set an example myself." Maka shook her head with a grimace and stuffed the note into it. In the jacket pocket.
At eleven o'clock that night, Maka came to the foyer and saw Filch waiting for him there.
Just as he and Filch were staring at each other, Harry and Hermione arrived, followed by Neville. Of course, there was also Malfoy, who was leading the way that night and was caught red-handed by Professor McGonagall.
"Follow me." Filch said, lighting a lamp and leading them out. "I think you should think twice if you want to violate school rules in the future, right?"
He looked at them sideways and continued: "Oh-yeah! If you want to ask me, I have to say that work and hardship are the best teachers... It's a pity that they abolished the old-fashioned punishment in the past- I'll hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for days. I still have those chains in my office, and I oil them frequently. Maybe they'll come in handy one day—Okay. Let's go, but don't think about escaping. If you run away, you won't get any good fruits."
Maka didn't care to listen to Filch's complaints and nagging. He was always seizing the time, trying to find some inspiration from thinking and speculation!
They strode across the dark field. Neville kept sniffling, and Harry kept thinking about what kind of punishment they would receive - it must be very terrible, otherwise Filch's tone would not be so cheerful.
The moonlight is very bright today, but from time to time clouds will drift by, covering it up and leaving a darkness on the earth.
They could see the illuminated windows of Hagrid's hut, which wasn't hard to spot at night. Then they heard a shout in the distance.
"Is that you, Filch? Come on, I'm leaving."
Harry felt a sudden rush of joy - if they were going to work with Hagrid, it couldn't be too bad.
His face immediately showed this feeling of relief, but he heard Filch say: "You probably thought you were going to have a good time with that idiot, right? Think about it again, kid - you are going to the Forbidden Forest! If you can come out safe and sound, I will be wrong."
Hearing these words, Malfoy stopped suddenly.
"Forbidden Forest?" He followed, his voice far less calm than usual, "We can't go in in the middle of the night, there's everything in there - I heard there are werewolves!"
"Werewolves don't like living in the Forbidden Forest," Maka said suddenly, "There is no room for them to live safely in there."