Dinner at Hogwarts was mainly traditional British cuisine—but the house-elves, being capable of making nearly anything, had added a diverse selection to the feast.

Malrick ate well and without complaint—until Dumbledore, ever eccentric, brought out cockroach cluster candies for dessert.

Malrick winced. "No chance. Between this and chewing a rat, I'd rather be in the library."

So, as the feast ended, Malrick made his way to the Hogwarts Library and dove back into his studies.

Two days passed.

During that time, Dumbledore coordinated with the Ministry of Magic and the Aurors to hunt down and dismantle the remnants of Voldemort's forces. With their leader gone, the Death Eaters had fallen into disarray and collapsed almost overnight.

Thanks to the cooperation of Severus Snape and the Malfoy family, many of the pure-blood families who had recently aligned with Voldemort were arrested and brought before the Ministry, soon to be tried and sent to Azkaban.

Meanwhile, Malrick had completed his reading and now fully understood the structure of magic within Hogwarts.

Just as he was about to speak with Dumbledore, Mordo and the others stopped him.

"Malrick," Wong said with frustration, "you told us to connect with the sorcerers here ourselves, but there's no way to do it!"

Mordo nodded. "They don't even use dimensional energy. These aren't sorcerers; they're wizards. Spellcasters. They chant an incantation, flick their wand, and bam—it works. There's no process to study."

Tony, arms crossed, added, "Yeah, I noticed that. But I know you've figured something out."

Banner sighed. "I haven't even had time to look into it. Hulk's been obsessed with hanging out with the Hogwarts kids."

Malrick clapped a hand on Banner's shoulder. "That's how kids are. He'll settle down once he's had enough fun."

He glanced at the others. "And yes, I've got a solution. Come with me."

He led the group to the Potions classroom.

"I tried to use magic directly," he explained, stopping at a bubbling cauldron. "Didn't work. So I watched Dumbledore cast spells, analyzed the structure of the energy within his body, and reverse-engineered it. That's how I learned their system."

Mordo narrowed his eyes. "But we don't have that kind of energy in our bodies."

"Exactly," Malrick replied. "That's the difference. I used my own internal energy—my biofield, to be precise. No external sources. No dimensional beings."

Mordo and Wong exchanged confused glances. The teachings at Kamar-Taj were built around borrowing energy from other dimensions. What Malrick described didn't match any known method.

Malrick smiled. "Let me put it another way. Wizards here are like magical creatures."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Right. Some creatures are born with innate magic abilities."

"Exactly. The origin of wizards is unclear, but the first of them were essentially magical beings—like dragons or phoenixes. As time passed, their descendants became weaker, so they started relying on wands and incantations."

As he spoke, Malrick began placing various magical ingredients into the cauldron—phoenix feathers, dragon blood, and other rare materials. He stirred it, then whispered, "Potion acceleration."

The brew shimmered as the potion's progress sped up, thanks to his manipulation of temporal magic. Every so often, he adjusted the mixture with precise movements.

Ten minutes later, the cauldron yielded only about ten milliliters of a glowing solution. Malrick transferred it into a glass dropper.

"This," he said, holding up the vial, "is the Bloodline Potion. One milliliter is enough to awaken powerful magical abilities—similar to ancient wizards."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "How did you get these ingredients?"

Malrick gave a sly smile. "Dumbledore let me 'borrow' them. Let's just say Fawkes isn't too happy with me."

In fact, during his experiments, Malrick had practically plucked Fawkes bald. Each failed batch had gone through him first—he'd tested everything on himself, using his genetic manipulation abilities to suppress any adverse effects.

By the time he succeeded, Fawkes had become so traumatized that its legs shook whenever it saw him.

"This is revolutionary," Malrick continued. "Magic in this world hasn't evolved in centuries. This changes everything."

Even Dumbledore, skeptical at first, had tried a dose himself. The result? His office exploded from a sudden magical surge.

Malrick smirked as he recalled the memory. "His exact words were, 'Merlin's beard, you're the second coming of Merlin! I'm keeping the rest.' He wouldn't give back the remaining eight milliliters."

"The day after that, he came out looking twenty years younger. Scared Professor McGonagall half to death."

Malrick returned to the present, spreading his hands. "That's the story. Unfortunately, the materials are rare and the process extremely delicate. I had to use my own genetic control abilities to harmonize the components. No one else could replicate it."

"But," he turned to Tony, "you might. If anyone can engineer a more accessible version, it's you."

Tony took the vial without hesitation and downed a milliliter. Moments later, his body surged with energy.

"This—this is magic power?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yep," Malrick said, shielding the classroom furniture with his biofield. "It's going to be wild for a few days. Try to stay indoors while your body stabilizes."

Wong and Mordo watched in stunned silence.

"You mean… we won't need to beg ancient gods for energy anymore?" Wong asked.

Malrick nodded. "Eventually, yes. But you'll need to understand the nature of spellcasting first."

Banner raised a hand. "And me? I've got a, uh, complicated physiology."

"Your blood has high adaptability," Malrick assured him. "Once it assimilates the Wizard Bloodline, it'll be stable. You're good to go."

The three of them drank the potion. A few minutes later, magical power began leaking from all four of them, and they each rushed to their dorms to begin meditative control.

Malrick, meanwhile, headed to the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore was now almost unrecognizable—black-haired and vigorous, looking decades younger.

"You're leaving so soon?" he asked, trying to tempt him with another jar of odd candy. "I still haven't shared my full stash with you."

"I've learned everything I can from your world," Malrick said, sitting across from him. "You can't learn what I know yet. So why stay?"

Dumbledore raised a brow. "Become a professor, then. Defense Against the Dark Arts. That position is always open."

Malrick chuckled. "That job's cursed, Dumbledore. You trying to get me killed?"

The Headmaster laughed. "It used to be. Voldemort left a curse on the post. But now that he's gone, it should be safe."

Malrick stood. "Tony and the others will stay behind to study. I'll leave them in your care."

"Of course. But are you sure I can't convince you to stay just a few more days?"

Malrick smiled. "How about you give me Fawkes as a souvenir?"

Dumbledore laughed heartily. "Until next time, Lord Malrick."

And just like that, Malrick left the Wizarding World.

---

Milestones:

100 Power Stones → 1 Bonus Chapter

200 Power Stones → 3 Bonus Chapters