— — — — — —

When it came to Life Magic, Morgan le Fay was both an expert... and not.

What she excelled at was healing and external creation. Many of the talented figures among the Twelve Knights of the Round Table had been painstakingly crafted by her before being sent out into the world.

Where she fell short... was internal reproduction.

That, Tom could actually guide her on—but the timing wasn’t right yet. It needed more buildup, more patience. When the moment came, they could sit down and explore it properly, in depth.

But for now, focusing on the basics was enough.

Honestly, it wasn’t surprising that Tom and Morgan got along so well. They really were cut from the same cloth. His earlier ideas about adaptive physical bodies and embryonic shaping techniques were essentially the same methods Morgan had already used to create people like Gawain.

The only difference was that his ideas were still under development... while hers were already perfected.

Ravenclaw, however, couldn’t understand it at all.

Why was it that when she tried to create life, she was cursed by the world and died of illness, yet Morgan suffered nothing and continued causing chaos for Merlin and King Arthur as if nothing had happened?

Carrying that confusion, she went to Morgan for answers.

And with a single sentence, Morgan shattered her.

"Honestly, little sister, how can you be this clueless?"

Leaning against her fairy throne, Morgan laughed so hard she could barely catch her breath, her whole body trembling. "You still don’t understand what makes humans special?"

"Humans are extraordinary. Their bloodlines are absurdly adaptable. Aside from the "gods", they’re the closest thing this world has to true rulers. Even their collective unconscious can shape reality in ways you can’t imagine."

"That’s why no one dares slaughter humans on a large scale. The resentment they leave behind can take form as curses powerful enough to bring down even the strongest."

"I might call it ’creating humans,’ but Gawain, Mordred, and the others all have fairy blood. They’re not pure humans. And I’m the Fairy Queen, so of course I’m unaffected."

"But your foolish daughter? A pure-blood human. And you piled on a bunch of souls trying to make her perfect—if that doesn’t count as a taboo, then what does."

"Honestly, what were you thinking? You were so obsessed with making her pure human that she ended up weak. Couldn’t you have given her some kind of bloodline? Hm... you basically doomed yourself."

After hearing that, Ravenclaw completely shut down.

She was so embarrassed she could’ve cried herself to death. She didn’t show her face for several days.

...

..

After days of perfecting every detail, Tom was more than capable of creating suitable physical vessels for Jeanne and Andros. The only things he still lacked were a few rare, obscure materials. Once Astra Abyssum tracked them down, he could begin immediately.

Speaking of materials...

The moment Tom stepped into the Great Hall, his gaze swept across the Slytherin table and locked onto his target.

The little fox seemed to sense it too. She turned her head, saw Tom looking at her, and immediately gave him a sweet smile that made hearts skip a beat.

"Midnight. Same place."

Same place?

Kamio blinked in confusion, then quickly realized what he meant—the lounge where he’d first... played with her tails.

At the thought, the tails she kept hidden started itching again, and a faint blush crept up her ears. Still, she gave a small nod in agreement.

With his goal achieved, Tom withdrew his gaze and returned to his usual seat.

Around him, the other students were still discussing yesterday’s match, naturally dividing the champions into tiers. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Scores were one thing. Performance was another.

Within the rules of the competition, Fleur and Kamio had technically performed the best. But the magic they used was too strange, too abstract. It didn’t leave a strong, intuitive impression.

So in most people’s minds, the strongest champions were Daphne and Ariana.

One had an absurdly powerful background—basically calling in divine assistance to fight for her. The other controlled a mysterious dark monster.

There was no clear way to rank them against each other, so both were placed in the first tier.

Next came Kamio.

The "mysterious" label stuck to the little fox like glue. Just based on her hypnosis magic, she could even put dragons to sleep—and faster and more efficiently than Fleur.

So she stood alone in the second tier.

After that were Fleur and Quinta, grouped together.

And finally, Jauncey and Nassim brought up the rear.

Of course, no one could say for certain how big the real gap in strength was. People just needed some kind of basis to judge.

After all, both Ilvermorny and Uagadou had a professor who failed the Arcane Wizard assessment.

If even their professors fell short, it made sense to assume their students might be a bit weaker too.

"The Ministers of Magic from multiple countries have stated that Astra Abyssum’s evaluation system is simple and effective. It helps Ministries identify specialized talent, and future cooperation with the Astra Abyssum Guild will only deepen—"

The voice of a witch newscaster came from the iCodex in Draco Malfoy’s hand. Ever since the Codex had been combined with the Lume-Lens into the so-called iCodex—a basic smartphone—Draco hadn’t touched a newspaper. Every morning, he would sit there watching the news, deliberately keeping the volume turned up.

The students nearby all pricked up their ears.

"The Arcane Wizard test was way too easy for Professor Snape," Draco said smugly.

He was immediately met with a chorus of agreement. And to be fair, Snape’s displayed power was on a completely different level compared to the other professors. Only Vinda Rosier and Professor Flitwick could really stand alongside him.

"Tom, what’s the next rank called? And what’s the criteria?" Zabini leaned in, curiosity written all over his face.

Daphne swallowed her bite of steamed egg and was just about to speak when Astoria, expressionless, clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her away, clearly afraid she’d say something embarrassing.

Tom shook his head, clearly enjoying himself. "I’ve got to keep some suspense for the audience. You’ll find out later. The next assessment will be after the New Year, around March, right after the third task."

The Slytherins looked disappointed, but no one pressed further.

...

Just before classes, Dumbledore called the champions into the small chamber behind the staff table again. Several headmasters and Bagman, who had arrived that morning, were already there.

Yesterday had been too rushed. Tom hadn’t even had time to introduce the third task.

"I trust you’ve all opened your golden eggs by now?" Bagman said with a sly grin. "I imagine it wasn’t a pleasant experience."

The champions all stared at him with utterly deadpan expressions.

Pleasant?

That ear-piercing scream had nearly sent them to the afterlife.

Seeing their reactions only made Bagman grin wider. Even Dumbledore and the others couldn’t help but smile.

"The third task will take place on February twenty-fourth," Dumbledore said calmly. "Until then, you have plenty of time to rest. That said, you shouldn’t relax completely. The clue to the third task is hidden within your golden egg. Solve it, and you’ll be able to prepare in advance."

"I trust that with your intelligence, a small riddle like this won’t trouble you. Now then... off to class."

One by one, the champions filed out.

All except Daphne, who stood there looking completely lost.

Fleur gave her a strange look. "What’s wrong with you?"

Daphne blinked, dazed. "Where’s my egg? After the match yesterday... where did I put it?"

Fleur: "..."

The headmasters and champions who hadn’t quite left yet: "..."

---

Slytherin was in complete chaos that entire morning.

Everyone was helping Daphne search for the golden egg she’d somehow managed to lose.

Even Tom hadn’t expected her to be this absurd.

The Slytherin common room was turned upside down. Sofa cushions were ripped apart, storage cabinets checked, the fireplace searched. Not even a fragment of shell was found.

"How was I supposed to know it was important?" Daphne pouted, looking utterly aggrieved. "No one explained it clearly. I thought it was just a souvenir. You can’t eat it or anything, so I just... played with it and forgot where I put it."

Astoria pressed a hand to her forehead. "Honestly, maybe you should just withdraw and let Hermione take your place. I’m genuinely worried you’ll cause an even bigger disaster later."

"Hey! Astoria, how dare you make fun of me!"

Daphne bared her teeth and lunged at her, trying to tickle her in retaliation. Unfortunately, she looked about as threatening as a fluffy kitten.

In the end, Tom had no choice but to borrow a Time-Turner from the Ministry. Throwing on his invisibility cloak, he went back to the previous day.

He eventually found the golden egg in a corner of the Dream Arena lounge, with a few crumbs of cake stuck to it. Clearly, Daphne had just tossed it there and forgotten about it.

When Tom picked it up, he couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

So you never even brought it back to school?

By the time Tom returned with the egg, the Slytherins who had been searching all morning were completely numb.

Word spread quickly. By the afternoon, the entire school knew Daphne had nearly lost her golden egg.

Everyone was laughing about it.

Even Professor Flitwick clapped his hands before class and said cheerfully, "Congratulations to Miss Greengrass for recovering her golden egg. Ten points to Slytherin. Do take better care of it next time."

The classroom burst into laughter.

The young lady in question buried her face deep in her arms, too embarrassed to lift her head for a long while.

Tom could only shake his head.

A little teasing was harmless. Keep going, and it turned into mockery. Flitwick clearly understood that, so once the laughter died down, he smoothly began the lesson.

Still, everyone’s attention was drawn to the bright blue badge pinned to his chest.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Flitwick puffed out his chest slightly. On his small frame, the gesture looked almost comical.

"It is an honor, after all. I’m quite happy to wear it."

Then he winked at Tom. "Though I do think I qualify for an even higher rank, Mr. Riddle. I look forward to the next assessment."

Tom smiled back. "Professor, I won’t disappoint you."

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