After more than six hours of painstaking effort, Alex had bed through almost every bookshelf in the library, unc over 300 rare and valuable texts. He even paused for a quick meal amidst the stacks, not once losing focus on his goal.

  Normally, Alex would prioritize the most important books—typically about 295 of them—then copy what he needed and move on. But this time, somethi off. Despite his thh search, a nagging feeling told him he’d missed something. He had even searched for secret partments or hidden chambers in the library but came up empty. Frustrated, he sat back, his thoughts rag.

  Yulia, sensing his frustration, saportunity. She walked up briskly, trying to divert his attention. “You’ve picked out almost every book in the library,” she said impatiently. “If you’re done, just take what you need and copy it already! I don’t have all day to sit here babysitting you.”

  Her outburst only deepened Alex’s suspis. Why was she so nervous? Her obvious ay firmed what he had suspected—he had missed something important.

  Even so, no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He sighed, irritated, until a sudden realization struck him. “Wait a sed…” Alex muttered, quickly rummaging through his space bag. Moments ter, he pulled out a small wooden box. Yulia’s breath hitched as he ope, revealing a vial of Felix Felicis—liquid luck.

  “Don’t tell me he’s actually going to use that,” Yulia thought, her stomach twisting in knots. When Alex uncorked the bottle and took a small sip, her worst fears were firmed.

  Felix Felicis worked its magic almost instantly. Alex’s senses sharpened, his thoughts became crystal clear, and even the library seemed to glow with subtle, guiding hints.

  With newfound fidence, Alex wandered back to the shelves, following his instincts. Yulia, nretting her earlier outburst, bit her lip nervously. “Why couldn’t I just keep quiet? Maybe he wouldn’t have noticed anything…” she thought. But it was too te. All she could do was hope he wouldn’t stumble upon the hidden treasure.

  Alex stopped in front of a particur bookshelf. He didn’t sciously know why, but something about it felt… off. He sed it carefully, his eyes narrowing as he examihe row of bnk notebooks at the bottom.

  At first, he had dismissed the bnk notebooks as ordinary—after all, this was a family library, and personal notes or unused journals weren’t unusual. But something about them him now, thanks to the enhanced crity provided by the potion. His gaze nded oebook in particur. “Why don’t I reize the material on this cover?” he murmured, pulling it out. As someone well-versed in alchemical processes and magical creatures—thanks to years spent alongside Hagrid—Alex could usually identify materials on sight. But this cover was unfamiliar, and that set off arms in his mind.

  Yulia, watg from the sidelines, felt her heart drop. Her toes curled so tightly into the floor she might as well have been carving shapes into it. ‘He found it! What do I do now?’ she panicked internally, resisting the urge to lunge forward and snatch it out of his hands. But that would only firm her guilt. She forced herself to stay calm, telling herself there was no way Alex would figure out its true nature. To anyone else, it would seem like just another ordinary notebook.

  Alex frowned, flipping through the pages. They were indeed bnk, with no magical fluctuatioable at all. Yet his instincts screamed that there was more to it. He muttered spells under his breath, attempting various dete and transformation intations. “Finite Intatem! Revelio! Revert to form! Restore tin!” Each spell yielded nothing.

  Alex tried a series of spells, oer another, but the notebook remained unrespohe Revealing Curse didn’t work, nor did any Transfiguration spells. He frowapping his fingers against the desk in frustration. “It seems just throwing magic at it won’t work,” Alex muttered. “Let’s see if good old physics crack this.”

  With that, he reached into his bag and pulled out a peculiar tool—a hammer beled ‘No Damage Hammer.’ He raised it, preparing to smash it down onto the notebook. “Wait! What are you doing?!” Yulia, who had been , leapt forward in arm.

  Alex stopped mid-swing, turning to her with a sly smile. “Oh, what’s this? You seem... panicked. Is there something about this book you don’t wao know?”

  Yulia stiffened, realizing her outburst had given her away. She crossed her arms, trying to look posed. “Fine, I admit it. But what do you pn to do? Destroy it because you ’t figure it out? This book is Travers family property, and I won’t stand by and watch you ruin it!”

  Alex chuckled. “Rex, I have no iion of breaking it. But if you don’t wao smash it, why not just tell me how to open it?”

  “You wish!” Yulia huffed. “Do you think I’d reveal family secrets so easily? A me warn you—if this book is damaged, you’ll be banned from the library forever.”

  Alex grinned mischievously. “Oh, don’t worry, I always keep my word. Besides, who said I’m going to damage it?”

  Before Yulia could protest further, Alex brought the harmless hammer down with a heavy bang onto the notebook’s cover. The hammer, inscribed with a glowing ‘Analysis’ rune, sent a pulse of magic rippling across the surface.

  Yulia’s heart leapt into her throat at the sound. The sheer force of the impact made her nervous, though she reassured herself the family heirloom was unbreakable. The book emitted a faint magical wave but remained sealed. Alex smirked. “Ah, there’s definitely something hidden here. Let’s see how much punishment it take.”

  He raised the hammer and brought it down again—and again. Each strike echoed loudly through the room, and Yulia hovered nearby, torween e and nervous curiosity. Finally, after several more hits, a web of intricate magic patterns appeared on the book’s cover. The crisscrossing lines glowed faintly, f a defensive barrier that practically screamed, “Keep out!”

  “Well, that’s more like it,” Alex said with satisfa.

  Yulia, oher hand, felt her shoulders rex. “See? You’re not getting in,” she said smugly. “That prote code is tied to our family’s bloodline. You’ll never crack it.”

  Alex gave her a knowing look. “Oh? Is that so?”

  From his coat, he produced a small crystal bottle filled with deep red liquid. Yulia’s eyes widened. “Blood?!” she blurted out. “How—?”

  Alex ignored her, unc the bottle and p a few drops onto the book’s surface. The blood glowed faintly before seeping into the magic patterns. Moments ter, the glowing lines dissolved, and the book emitted a sharp burst of magical energy before falling silent. Yulia stood frozen, her jaw hanging open. “How did you…?”

  “Simple dedu,” Alex said casually, flipping open the book. “That prote was a bloodline charm, but I’ve dealt with more sophisticated versions before. Torquil’s blood worked like a charm.”

  The notebook revealed its tents, and Alex couldn’t help but marvel at what he saw. “So, this is what Torquil really meant.’

  The Sazar’s Grimoire Alex first get is nothing more than his researoted disguised as one, but this one is the true Grimoire The first page dispyed the title of a spell: Ignis Tempora. Below it were two boxes. The upper box showed the plete ruructure of the spell, while the lower box tained detailed notes—precautions, dispelling teiques, and even annotatio by geions of Travers family members.