"It's nothing, I just remembered some things from the past. By the way, what's going on with those books on your table?"

Snape obviously didn't want to talk too much about this and simply chose to change the subject.

"These?"

Dumbledore picked up one of the books and replied with a smile: "This is a Christmas gift given to me by Soth. It is a theory that has only emerged in the Muggle world in recent decades.

It mainly talks about how to analyze what a person is thinking in his mind and what he will do next through factors such as words, behavior, habits, and experiences.

I have to admit that Muggles are indeed far ahead of wizards in this regard.

In addition, there are many explanations of the contradictions and struggles between ethics, morality, human nature and desire instinct.

After reading these books, I understand why Soth has a sense and maturity that is completely inconsistent with his age.

To be honest, he is the first student that scares me."

"You feel scared too?" A surprised expression appeared on Snape's face.

In his opinion, the old man in front of him had never been truly afraid of anything. Even when Voldemort was at his peak, he still remained calm and rational.

"I am also a human being, and I feel scared as a human being. Believe me, if you have read these books, you will inevitably have a little fear of Soth. Because if one day he chooses to take a dark path, for the whole world

It's all an extremely terrible disaster." Dumbledore explained solemnly.

"Like you when you were young?" Snape couldn't help but asked.

Dumbledore's eyes flashed with a strange light, and it took a full minute before he nodded and responded: "Yes, just like me when I was young. Even I was afraid, if I had taken another path.

, what will the entire magical world look like now."

"What Aberforth said is indeed true. When you see Soth, it's as if you saw a better version of yourself in your younger years in the mirror. But don't worry, Aberforth also said that Soth at least brought someone with you when dating.

You are a girl, which is much better than when you were young."

After saying this, Snape ignored the expression on Dumbledore's face and quickly left the meeting and returned to his office.

It is not difficult to see through the slightly raised corners of his mouth that he is in a pretty good mood at the moment, and even the previous decadent mood has been swept away.

Although Dumbledore and Snape trusted each other, they could even put their lives in each other's hands.

But their previous relationship was not very good.

Especially the private conversation after Lily Potter's death.

Every word Dumbledore said was like a knife, piercing Snape's heart full of holes, leaving him in pain for a long time to come.

Now I can find a chance to get a little revenge, and I will naturally feel very happy.

……

At the same time, Zuo Si, who was far away in London, England, was standing at the door of St. Paul's Cathedral with Isadora, staring at this religious holy place with ancient history that had been rebuilt and repaired many times.

However, unlike those ordinary people, he did not come here to pray, but to steal the power of faith accumulated and accumulated here for more than a thousand years to recharge the artifact scepter in his hand.

"Thos, why do these people believe in a false and non-existent god? He will neither respond to the prayers of believers nor grant magical spells and blessings." Isadora asked in confusion through the spiritual connection.

Tao.

"How should I put it? In fact, the reasons behind it are quite complicated.

In the beginning, it may have come from ignorance, ignorance and awe of nature and the universe.

But as time goes by, it gradually evolved into a kind of thought, habit, power and tradition, and eventually integrated into all aspects of society and became part of civilization.

In any case, it has nothing to do with us what these people want to believe, we are just recycling the wasted power of belief, that’s all.”

With that said, Zuo Si took out the artifact obtained from the Ascatra underground from his bag, easily passed the church guards through the girl's mind control, and entered the church that had not yet been opened before other visitors.

Standing in front of the majestic high altar, he did not hesitate to activate one of the scepter's abilities.

In the blink of an eye, this building, which was first built in 675 AD and is even older than Hogwarts, instantly surged with the power of faith.

In just a few seconds, the symbols symbolizing power on the scepter lit up one after another, and showed a dazzling golden light like the sun.

There is no doubt that Faerûn's ancient sun god Amaunata has transformed it to make it more suitable for its own divine attributes.

When all the power of faith in the entire church was drained away, the entire scepter no longer looked as dim as before, but exuded a chilling and terrifying aura.

Seeing the changes in the scepter in his hand and the amazing energy contained inside it, Zuo Si immediately said meaningfully: "As expected, any form of faith power can charge this artifact. Look.

This world is indeed suitable for management as a rear area and a refuge."

Obviously, since the power of faith in St. Paul's Cathedral can be absorbed by the scepter, then other historic religious shrines in other places can naturally be used as sources of energy supplements.

This also means that the power of faith, which is extremely precious in Faerun, is almost everywhere in the world, and the difficulty of obtaining it is almost zero.

After getting what he wanted, Zuo Si immediately left the church with Isadora.

After the two left, the ordinary people who came in to pray suddenly found that for some reason, the place suddenly lacked a solemn and sacred feeling.

Not only them, but also the priest responsible for presiding over the ceremony looked very confused.

They would never know that just a few minutes ago, this historic church had lost its most precious and valuable thing forever.

From now on, the scepter that can release divine power will be officially added to the reserve list as a trump card.

You must know that this thing is not a sub-artifact like the Archmage's Staff, but one of the very few weapons that can truly pose a huge threat to the incarnations of gods and saints.

Blind Eye had used half of the scepter before when he was cornered, and its terrifying power even made legendary wizards like Irenikas fearful.

"Thos, do you want to become a god?" Isadora asked cautiously.

"God?" Zuo Si chuckled and shook his head. "No, I will not become that kind of life form bound by beliefs and rules. Instead, I will surpass them and become a more powerful and advanced existence."

"Beyond... God?!" Isadora was obviously stunned by this extremely arrogant answer, but soon an expression of excitement appeared on her face. "Then can I always follow you?"

"Of course. I have great expectations for you."

Zuo Si stroked the girl's head and replied in the affirmative.

"I swear, I will never let you down." Isadora raised her chin slightly and solemnly promised.

In this way, in the last few days of the Christmas vacation, Zuo Si took the girl to many places, and even took modern transportation such as airplanes, trains, and yachts to appreciate the convenience brought by technology.

Waiting until the last day of the vacation, Isadora reluctantly walked through the portal and returned to the Mage Tower.

Because she knows that she must work harder to prevent the gap between the two from getting wider.

After sending the girl away, Zuo Si immediately went to Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley to start shopping.

Buy all the things that interest you and may be used in the second half of the semester, and stuff them into a suitcase made with the Seamless Stretching Spell.

After finishing all this, he calmly boarded the express train back to Hogwarts.

During the trip, I also listened to Hermione talk about her experiences during the holiday and the interesting reactions of the Grangers when they saw various magical items.

Of course, Hermione was the one who kept talking about the actual process, while Zuo Si smiled and nodded in agreement, but all his attention was focused on the book.

As a gift from Ogma, the God of Knowledge, the book in his hand records the manufacturing principles of legendary magic items and artifacts, as well as countless ancient magical knowledge that even Candlekeep has no record of.

With Zuo Si's current knowledge base, there are still quite a few parts that he cannot read or understand.

Some of them involve very complex religious and occult knowledge, and some are like "creative ideas" from powerful demon lords in the bottomless abyss.

The latter is not only extremely evil, twisted and chaotic, but also causes a slight trance in consciousness after watching it.

Through this book, Zuo Si finally understood why Ogma, the God of Knowledge, was criticized by many Good God Churches.

Because much of the knowledge retained by him and his church and followers is very dangerous to ordinary people and even powerful spellcasters, and a little carelessness may cause extremely serious consequences.

Especially when it comes to the bottomless abyss, ancient evil objects and other terrible things, even the gods will feel fear.

So to a certain extent, Ogma is the most dangerous and terrifying god in Faerûn.

The forbidden knowledge he possesses is absolutely enough to completely destroy the entire world and the gods together.

Perhaps this is why the God of Knowledge has never had a real enemy.

Even a madman and psychopath like Cyric would never dare to provoke Ogma easily.

Just when Zuo Si was secretly guessing how many precious books were collected in the kingdom of the God of Knowledge, the Hogwarts Express finally arrived at its destination.

Many students, eager to share their holiday experiences and interesting stories with their friends, ran into the hall or the common room of their respective colleges carrying their boxes.

Seeing the energetic appearance of these little wizards, Zuo Si felt that a glimmer of light shone into his dark heart.

Just when he was about to return to the dormitory to pack his things, the Weasley twins suddenly appeared from the left and right sides.

"Hey! Soos, how was your Christmas?"

"Do you like the gift we sent?"

Facing these two living treasures, Zuo Si couldn't help but sigh slightly and said, "Can you two give me something more normal next time?"

"What did they give you?" Hermione asked curiously.

"A box of gummies that can make your tongue swell and enlarge after you eat it." Zuo Si gave the answer without thinking.

"We also named it Fat Tongue Toffee. How about it? It's very creative, isn't it?" George grinned and burst into laughter.

Fred also explained: "Yes! This thing is very interesting. It can make your tongue swell to one meter long. I think it will make us make a lot of money sooner or later."

However, Hermione ignored the twin brother's bragging, and instead asked Zuo Si with wide eyes: "Did you eat it?!"
To be continued...