At this moment, Charle paid no mind to the strange expressions of the parents of the young wizards beside him, focusing intently on licking the brick wall facing Diagon Alley.
Each time he licked a brick, the Deep Blue system in his mind would give a prompt.
"Inference points +2..."
"Inference points +3..."
Although the increase in inference points each time seemed small, based on Charle's experience over the past ten years, this was already much more than what ordinary food provided.
It was like the deluxe meal at the Leaky Cauldron; despite its large portion, it was all ordinary food. Eating ten servings might not even increase his inference points by two or three!
Compared to that, the increase in inference points from the brick wall was quite considerable.
Most importantly, this brick wall was maintained and looked after by the Ministry of Magic. After he licked away the magic inside today, the Ministry of Magic would replenish it.
In the long run, this was a continuous source of income.
After affectionately kissing every brick wall he could reach, the points in Charle's mind increased by about a thousand.
Feeling that the magic within seemed a bit precarious, and that continuing to lick might prevent the door from opening into Diagon Alley, Charle reluctantly left the brick wall.
It was at this moment that a voice filled with surprise and uncertainty came from beside Charle.
"Charle Evans?"
Charle turned his head and saw that the question came from the young wizard who had been watching him with astonishment.
She had a head of bushy brown hair and slightly large front teeth, somewhat resembling a little squirrel. Her entire demeanor exuded the aura of a top student.
Seeing this young wizard, Charle felt a sense of familiarity.
Could this be Hermione Granger, one of the original Harry Potter Golden Trio?
But how did she know his name, and where had he seen her before?
Soon, Hermione proactively revealed the answer.
She stared at Charle with wide eyes, her gaze filled with an eager desire to win.
"You actually received an acceptance letter from Hogwarts too?"
"That's great! I've always wanted to beat you. I thought I wouldn't have the chance after coming to Hogwarts, but I didn't expect you to be going to Hogwarts too!"
"Just wait, Charle Evans, I definitely won't lose to you again in the wizarding world!"
Charle was stunned for a moment before realizing.
It turned out that back in the Muggle world, he and Hermione had participated in competitions together.
Although Hermione was a top student, there was no way she could be a match for him, a cheater. So she had been thinking about winning against him just once?
At this point, Hermione's parents, who were standing nearby, also had a sudden realization.
This strangely behaving child in front of them was actually the genius student Charle Evans, whom their daughter had been talking about?
Oh, that made perfect sense. Geniuses, after all, always had some quirks.
They also extended an invitation to Charle.
"Charle, what a coincidence, you actually know Hermione."
"Would you like to explore Diagon Alley together?"
Hearing her parents' invitation to Charle, Hermione's heart rate slightly increased, and a hint of blush appeared on her face.
Ever since she was first defeated by Charle in a competition, she had been paying attention to him.
As a top student, Hermione also had her pride and wanted to get back at him in later competitions.
However, there seemed to be a huge gap between a top student and a genius. In every competition, Charle would absolutely crush all his opponents.
Later on, the competitions Charle participated in were already beyond Hermione's reach.
From childhood to now, this was the first time Hermione had been so utterly defeated by a peer, so her attention to Charle was particularly close.
Meeting Charle in front of the Diagon Alley brick wall this time truly gave her a feeling of destiny.
Feeling Hermione's gaze, which was filled with anticipation and a hint of shyness, a smile also appeared on Charle's face, and then he decisively refused.
"Sorry, I apologize, but I have some personal matters to attend to."
"Next time for sure, next time for sure."
Then, Charle waved goodbye to them, tapped the brick, and quickly entered Diagon Alley through the portal.
Seeing Charle leave, Hermione's eyes showed disappointment, but she still forced herself to comfort herself.
"He must really have something to do. Didn't he say 'next time for sure'? I'll invite him to explore together next time I see him."
Despite saying this, Hermione felt a wave of frustration.
Even when entering Diagon Alley, she pressed harder on the brick wall.
A thought popped into her mind.
Maybe she could still run into Charle in Diagon Alley later?
And the next moment, something even more frustrating happened to Hermione.
The doorway Charle had just passed through had vanished without a trace this time.
The brick wall seemed to be malfunctioning; no matter how Hermione took out her wand and tapped the bricks, there was no response.
"Are you kidding me?"
"When the professor brought me here last time, she clearly told me that this brick wall was regularly maintained by the Ministry of Magic and would never have a problem. How could it have a problem now?"
"Is this the result of the Ministry of Magic's maintenance?!"
Hermione stared at the brick wall indignantly, as if she could already see the epitome of the Ministry of Magic bureaucrats occupying positions without doing their jobs and cutting corners.
At this moment, a thought sprouted in the heart of the repeatedly frustrated Hermione.
If I become the Minister of Magic in the future, I must put an end to such things!
...
Meanwhile, Charle, who had entered Diagon Alley, had no idea about Hermione's inner thoughts.
After getting rid of Hermione's family, Charle let out a sigh of relief.
Good thing I left quickly, otherwise I would have been entangled for sure. Then I'd be tied down and it wouldn't be convenient to do anything.
As for Hermione, Charle quite liked this female character when he watched the movies in his previous life.
But please, would anyone really bring their love for a fictional character into reality?
An eleven-year-old kid, dating? Dating my foot!
Kids this age are a pain in the neck. Charle found them annoying even as friends. What normal adult likes taking care of kids!
Dumbledore, at his age, still liked playing house with children and even set up various games with great interest, but Charle had no such interest.
Walking quickly through Diagon Alley, Charle soon arrived at his destination for this trip – Flourish and Blotts.
This place supplied textbooks for Hogwarts, making it similar to a Xinhua Bookstore in the Muggle world. It was quite comprehensive if you wanted to find any books.
Just right, Charle was using Deep Blue for deduction. If he could have ready-made reference materials, it could greatly reduce the consumption of deduction points.
This was also the reason Charle came here first.
Before, with Professor McGonagall by his side, Charle couldn't openly buy some advanced books he needed. Now he could let loose.
After entering Flourish and Blotts, Charle quickly found the books he needed.
Alchemy from Beginner to Grave, Potions from Beginner to Grave, Transfiguration from Beginner to Grave...
In addition, there were also some papers published by famous wizards.
For example, Dumbledore's The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood, Severus Snape's A Principle Regarding a Potion to Suppress Werewolf Impulses - The Wolfsbane Potion, which earned him a Second Class Order of Merlin. Recent high-level magical achievements were all published in Flourish and Blotts.
However, this area was practically deserted. Many papers on the shelves had clearly not been touched for years.
A hint of apprehension appeared in Charle's eyes.
He wasn't sure if these books and papers could truly serve as material for Deep Blue.
If they could, his shortage of deduction points would be greatly alleviated!
Taking a deep breath, Charle carefully took down a copy of The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood.
He casually flipped through it, and Dumbledore's detailed explanation of dragon blood's magic immediately caught his eye.
Deep Blue immediately sounded one prompt after another.
Obtained material related to dragon blood magic. When the host subsequently deduces knowledge related to dragons, the required deduction points will be greatly reduced.
Obtaining dragon blood samples or even live dragons for verification can further reduce the required deduction points.
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