"Harry and Ron, do you want to join me here?"
Noah found the situation bizarre. How could these two suddenly decide to join him?
To be honest, Noah always considered himself lucky and resilient, but he never thought of himself as the Chosen One.
He recalled a phrase: You are not the chosen one. You are not strong!
Noah agreed with that statement, which is why he had always worked tirelessly to improve himself. Strength came from effort, not destiny.
This mindset was why Noah kept a low profile at Hogwarts. The only time he acted out of character was recently—when he petrified a group of Cornish Pixies in front of everyone. Even then, his actions weren't exactly reckless; he had, after all, saved the entire class.
Professor Lockhart was completely unreliable. Rumor had it that even Professor Dumbledore had called him in for a serious conversation about the incident.
Given Noah's usual discretion and the fact that his relationship with Harry and Ron wasn't particularly close, why were they suddenly so interested in joining him?
Noah found it puzzling but ultimately couldn't be bothered to overthink it.
"It seems our Savior has his own plans, so let him be. Hermione, you can bring them along when the time comes," Noah said casually.
In Noah's eyes, Harry and Ron were far from qualified—but, of course, that would ultimately depend on the test. If they truly didn't meet the standards, Noah wouldn't let them in.
Sure, one of them would become the Head of Gryffindor, and the other would be the future head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But right now? They didn't seem all that impressive to Noah—though, admittedly, Harry's talent was remarkable. Maybe that was thanks to Voldemort?
Regardless, Noah decided to give them a chance. A test would determine if they were fit to join. If they passed, there were more than enough resources to help them grow stronger.
"But I don't think this location is suitable for the test anymore," Noah said after a moment's thought.
"Oh? If not here, then where?" Evan asked curiously. "Didn't Ernie and Hermione take the test here before?"
"It's simple. We passed Professor Dumbledore's assessment. We're now an official organization, so there's no need to hide anymore," Noah explained. "Keeping things mysterious might intrigue people, but it could also lead to unnecessary misunderstandings."
Kenn, who had been sitting quietly, quickly caught on. "You mean… you want people to know we exist, but still keep our power a mystery? That way, we don't look like Death Eaters, but we maintain an air of intrigue that makes people want to join us?"
"Exactly!" Noah nodded. "We'll only bring official members here. If someone refuses to join because their friends don't, well… I'd rather not use a Memory Charm on them."
"I get it. So we need to find a suitable location for the test. What about our dormitory?" Kenn suggested.
"That works. It's big enough. As for the test content, let's stick to second-year material. Kenn, Lance, and Evan, I'll leave that to you. As for our core rules:
1. Our existence must remain a secret.
2. All magical bloodlines are equal.
3. We must support and help each other.
That's it."
"No problem, leave it to us," Kenn and the others nodded in agreement. Hermione and Ernie also had no objections.
Since they were introduced through their housemates, they wouldn't be overseeing the test themselves—it was important to avoid any bias.
As they reflected on the rules Noah had set, everyone felt satisfied, especially with the second rule: All magical bloodlines are equal.
Hermione, as a Muggle-born, naturally appreciated it. But even Ernie, a pure-blood, strongly agreed. He despised Voldemort's ideology, particularly since his friend Justin Finch-Fletchley was a Muggle-born. He had always resented the discrimination.
As for Kenn and the others, they never cared about blood purity in the first place—otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten along so well with Noah.
For Ravenclaws, bloodline didn't matter.
Knowledge and personal ability did.
With that settled, Noah lost interest in further discussion. Kenn and the others could handle it.
Instead, he turned his focus back to The Ancient One's notes. Though he had memorized the entire notebook, every time he read it, he gained new insights.
The Ancient One's notes were structured progressively, from simple to advanced. While she hadn't erased the most complex material, she had sealed certain knowledge.
However, she likely never anticipated that Noah's system space contained a copy of the book.
So, while some parts were unreadable outside, Noah could access everything in the system space.
The notes covered a vast range of topics: elemental magic, space magic, soul magic, and even physical training.
The Ancient One's melee combat skills weren't weak either. It reminded Noah of Western fantasy magicians—capable of casting spells from a distance and wielding swords up close.
He planned to master all of it. While his ultimate goal was to become a magic machine gun, he didn't want to neglect physical fitness.
"For now, I should focus on strengthening my body, following the training methods in The Ancient One's notes, and practicing natural magic. I'll save space magic, soul magic, projection, and summoning for later," Noah decided.
Without a Sling Ring, experimenting with space magic was too dangerous. Even though he was eager, he knew that The Ancient One's space magic wasn't something to mess with lightly.
For now, Blink was enough.
As for the day he could open a portal with a flick of his wrist or teleport across continents with a thought? That would have to wait until he visited Kamar-Taj.
---
One Week Later
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.
The Mage Alliance had gained two new members—Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley.
After being tested by Kenn and the others, they barely passed, but Noah allowed them to join without hesitation, much to Ernie's delight.
As for Harry and Ron…
"Noah, come quickly!"
Noah, who had been engrossed in his reading, nearly jumped at Hannah's sudden shout.
"What's wrong?" he asked, closing his book and looking at her with mild confusion.
"Kenn and the others got into a fight with the Slytherin Quidditch team!"
"...What?"
"They were about to throw punches!"
Noah frowned. "That doesn't sound like them. What happened?"
"It was Malfoy. When Hermione went to find Harry and Ron, she ran into him. He said something nasty—called her a Mudblood—and Kenn and the others lost their tempers!"
Noah's expression darkened.
"…I see."
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