Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 161 The Workshop's First Attempt and New Ideas for Protective Badges

Chapter 161 The Workshop's First Attempt and New Ideas for Protective Badges

Over the next few days, Karen spent almost all her free time in the workshop. For safety and privacy reasons, Karen placed her briefcase in the secret room where she had previously found Professor Lucian's experimental log. The camouflage outside was quite good, and if Karen hadn't observed it with her Eye of Truth, she probably would have missed it. As for the alchemy table outside, she left it to do some simple alchemy operations.

Wesley, Fabian, and Ernesto often gathered outside the light screen at the workshop entrance, curiously observing Karen's operations, or, if he allowed it, coming in to experience the reassuring and stable magical environment. At these times, Karen would feel that the workshop was indeed a bit small; it was indeed designed for Karen personally, with only enough space for a maximum of two people to conduct experiments, which would make it very crowded when everyone else came in.

Karen's primary goal, naturally, was to solve the problem of energy decay in his protective badges that had plagued him for so long. His mentor Castor's reply pointed him to two main directions: "rune gates" and "material fatigue resistance." He had already designed many experimental ideas, and now, with the support of the professional workshop, he could finally relax and conduct more in-depth and precise experiments.

He laid out the sketches of his design ideas he had drawn earlier on the workbench, next to Lucian's experimental log and Professor Castor's notes on rune energy topology. The advanced observation instrument was adjusted and hovered above the workbench, emitting a soft wave of probing magic.

"Let's start with the design verification of the 'Rune Gate'," Karen muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on several alternative designs on the draft. He chose the design that borrowed from Lucian's "magic catalyst" concept: a miniature structure resembling an inert crystal embedded in the basic protective circuit. It was transparent under normal conditions, but when a magical shockwave of a specific intensity or frequency passed through it, it would instantly trigger a pre-set runic reaction within, opening a pre-set secondary protective circuit.

Karen took a small, pure crystal substrate from the materials cabinet, no bigger than a fingernail. He picked up a rune-carving pen and concentrated. With the aid of the observation device, he steadily and precisely "carved" the designed micro-rune combination onto the crystal substrate using magic beams. Under the stable magical environment and shadowless lamps of the workshop, Karen's movements were smooth and precise. These machines were ones Karen had used and experienced with at Nico's place, and Nico had memorized the instruments Karen was comfortable with. Now, all the machines prepared for him in the workshop were installed, except for a few particularly valuable large instruments.

"It's done." Karen let out a soft breath and placed the inscribed crystal "catalyst" substrate on the observation instrument's platform. The instrument immediately projected a three-dimensional image magnified hundreds of times, clearly showing the perfect internal runic structure. He then inscribed a pre-activated secondary circuit—a simplified version of the deflection field rune group—on a thin mithril sheet.

Next came the assembly and testing. Karen carefully embedded the crystal "catalyst" substrate into a pre-reserved node position on a standard Ironclad Charm circuit model, then connected the mithril secondary circuit to the trigger end via several hair-thin mithril wires. The entire testing device was fixed to a test board with a magic input interface and multiple probe crystals used to monitor energy consumption, circuit activation status, and protection strength.

"Activate the basic circuit." Karen input a steady stream of magic power into the test panel. The basic armored spell circuit glowed with a soft light, indicating that it was in standby mode. The data stream from the detection crystal showed that the steady-state energy consumption of the basic circuit was extremely low, almost negligible, and the crystal "catalyst" was indeed as designed, showing no reaction to the steady flow of magic power, as if it did not exist.

"First impact test, intensity: low." Karen pointed with his wand to a specially made, adjustable-intensity magical impact generator next to the test panel. He pressed the switch.

Buzz! A faint but clear pulse of magic shot toward the testing device.

The instant the pulse passed through the crystal "catalyst," Karen's "Eye of Truth" clearly captured it, and the pre-set runes inside the catalyst were instantly illuminated! A tiny stream of magic was activated, instantly activating the secondary deflection field circuit along the mithril wire!

A faint but visible distorting force field flashed across the surface of the testing device, easily deflecting the low-intensity pulse. Data from the detection crystal showed: Secondary circuit activation time: 0.02 seconds! Energy consumption: Low! Defense successful!

Karen smiled slightly, but didn't relax. He continued testing, gradually increasing the impact intensity to simulate different magical attacks, such as disarming spells, stun spells, and minor curses. The crystal "catalyst" responded perfectly, with the secondary deflection field activating promptly and providing effective defense. Most importantly, in the absence of attack, the secondary circuit completely shut down, consuming almost no energy!

"Basic response and energy consumption control are fine," Karen nodded. Having resolved these issues, Karen turned her attention to another direction her mentor had pointed out: material fatigue resistance.

He took out several small samples of material that had been prepared beforehand for making the badge base, and then fixed these samples to another testing device that could simulate the repeated stresses that the material would experience when the badge was subjected to impact. Karen started the device.

Buzz—·Metaphorical Buzz·—·

The device emitted a low, resonant vibration, and a simulated impact force continuously acted on the material sample.

Karen intently observed the magical response of the sample's internal microstructure. In ordinary samples, the material's energy structure quickly became disordered and divergent under continuous oscillation, with obvious deformation at structural nodes, indicating that micro-damage was beginning to occur inside the material. The alloy doped with mithril fared slightly better; the degree of disorder in the magical flow was lower, and deformation and distortion appeared later or were relatively less noticeable.

When his gaze focused on the "Dragon Blood-Mithril" hybrid he had created, the situation changed dramatically. Although the material's internal structure was highly uneven due to the immature mixing process, the magical flow in the areas where the dragon blood's activity had been successfully incorporated displayed astonishing resilience! When the shockwave struck, the magical flow in these areas did not rigidly resist, but rather fluctuated, dispersed, and absorbed the impact like a resilient network, dissolving the concentrated stress. Deformation at the structural nodes occurred extremely slowly and was incredibly subtle!

"Just as I expected!" Karen thought to herself, "Dragon blood imbues the material with vitality, greatly enhancing the toughness and fatigue resistance of its energy structure! This is the key to solving the problem of material damage and decreased protective performance under long-term use and repeated impacts!"

However, problems arose as well. Under his intense observation, he clearly saw that in areas where the dragon's blood's activity failed to perfectly fuse with the mithril, the material structure was actually more fragile and more prone to cracking under vibration. Moreover, the dragon's blood's activity itself seemed to be continuously depleted, requiring slow replenishment from environmental magic or the wearer's magic.

"The key lies in optimizing the fusion process and maintaining its activity," Karen murmured, recalling the "active mithril" alloy that Nico had demonstrated in the French workshop. Further research is needed in this area.

He temporarily set aside his materials research and returned his gaze to the overall design blueprints of the protective badge. The workshop's efficient environment made his thinking exceptionally clear. Looking at the design of the "Runic Gate" and "Secondary Circuit," an idea popped into his head:

"Why must it be separated?" He picked up a quill pen and quickly sketched in the blank space of the draft. "Could the 'gate' itself be designed as a structure with simple protective functions? For example, an extremely miniature, normally existing, but low-power basic deflection layer? When attacked, the 'gate' would be activated by the impact, not only opening the secondary powerful protection circuit, but also instantly strengthening this miniature deflection layer itself, forming the first line of defense? This might allow for a faster response and form a tiered defense?"

This idea excited him. He immediately began designing a "gate" structure that integrated the micro-base deflection function. However, during preliminary magic flow simulations using an observation instrument, he discovered that this integrated design significantly increased the complexity of the "gate" itself. Under normal conditions, although the "micro-base deflection layer" had low power consumption, it was not zero, and its structural strength was unlikely to be effectively "instantaneously enhanced" when attacked. Instead, its structural complexity might cause it to fail first under impact, affecting the main gate's function.

"No," Karen put down her pen, rubbing her temples. "The idea is good, but it goes beyond the core requirements of 'low power consumption,' 'high speed,' and 'stability' that the current 'gate' needs to prioritize. Overcomplicating it might create new vulnerabilities and energy consumption issues. Let's follow the mentor's advice and focus on optimizing the core functionality first."

He decisively shelved the integrated design for the time being, marking the draft with "future research directions." Alchemy requires bold imagination, but even more so, it requires down-to-earth verification and phased breakthroughs. The workshop provided him with efficient tools, but the rigor of his thinking and the grasp of direction still depended on himself.

"Karen, how's it going?" Fabian's voice came as he walked into the workshop carrying a glass of water, carefully placing it on the edge of the workbench where it wouldn't get in the way. "You've been busy all afternoon."

"There's been progress, but also new problems." Karen took a sip of water, feeling his thoughts clearer. "The response and energy consumption control of the 'Rune Gate' have been basically verified as feasible, so the optimization in this area can be considered a success. In terms of materials, the anti-fatigue effect of Dragon Blood is significant, but the fusion process is a bottleneck and requires further in-depth research. Also," he pointed to the shelved integration design sketch, "a new integration idea just came to mind, but it's not mature enough yet, so we've abandoned it for now."

"That's already amazing!" Wesley's loud voice rang out from outside the light screen.

Ernesto nodded in agreement: "Being able to validate ideas, identify problems, and determine the feasibility of research directions in such a short time is indeed far more efficient than before. The workshop's environment and equipment have played a crucial role, but your judgment is the key."

Karen looked at the testing equipment shimmering with light on the workbench, the parchment recording detailed data, and the sample of the dragon's blood mixture that showed amazing toughness. Her fatigue was replaced by a fulfilling sense of accomplishment.

"Alright, that's all for today." Karen shut down the workshop's equipment, and the light barrier stabilized again. "Hungry? Shall we go to the auditorium?"

"Agreed!" Wesley was the first to respond. The four of them left the Eagle's Nest and blended into the evening hustle and bustle of Hogwarts. Cullen glanced back at the quiet, dark brown trunk workshop standing in the corner, her heart filled with anticipation for the exploration and experiments to come. Upgrading the tools was just the beginning.