Chapter 91 An Ordinary Yet Extraordinary Sunday (1)
As soon as twelve o'clock passed, several members of the Slytherin Quidditch team walked into the hall, sweating. They did not take off their Quidditch uniforms, and it seemed that they would continue training in the afternoon.
This time it was Della who prepared food and waited for Draco to come over. Seeing Della waving at him, Draco's eyes lit up. He turned sideways and said a few words to Flint before walking towards Della.
"Why are you eating sausages today?" After sitting down, Draco took the plate from Della and pointed at half a fried sausage on her plate.
"Oh, I got up late today. It was already late after I finished my meal in the kitchenette, but I still wanted to see you. The sausages on the table looked delicious today, so I couldn't help but fork one. But I don't think I can finish it," Della pointed to the neatly cut end of the sausage with her knife, "Will you share with me, Draco?"
"Hmm..." The blush on his face after exercise covered up Draco's shyness. He cut half a sausage on his plate. "I can eat a little more today. After all, I have training in the afternoon."
"How do you feel this morning?" Della also started cutting sausages, staring at the oil and water that kept oozing out from the bottom of the sausages, her throat boiling.
"It's okay, it's just too noisy. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are also practicing today. Oh! That group of lions, all they do is shout and scream." After saying that, Draco forked the cut sausage into his mouth and began to chew it vigorously.
At this time, the Hufflepuff team members also walked into the hall. They also looked very tired, and their faces were even redder than those of the Slytherin team members just now, probably because they had endured the scorching sun for a while.
"It looks like the Gryffindors have to hurry up and have lunch today as well." Della glanced at the Hufflepuffs and continued to cut sausages slowly with her head down.
"Their captain, that Wood, humph, is really a piece of wood." Draco took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Although Quidditch is played in various environments, this year's rainy season may not last until November, and the current heat is not expected in November. He keeps using these words to encourage his players, as well as the pair of beaters. They always provoke our team."
Gryffindor's Beaters are Fred and George, which seems like something they would do.
Della finally cut off a small piece of sausage. She picked it up with a fork but was not in a hurry to put it in her mouth. "How about you? How are you cooperating? How are you going to train after lunch?"
"Flint seems to want to coordinate within the Chasers, but we didn't practice today." Draco lowered his voice and leaned close to Della's ear. "We have been training our Beaters in front of Gryffindor to intimidate them and hide our real strategy. They always have someone keeping a close eye on us."
"You have a strong opponent. You are the favorites for the Quidditch Cup this year." After saying that, Della finally put the sausage into her mouth.
"We will definitely win the Quidditch Cup." Draco raised his head proudly. He quickened the pace of his meal. "I'll tell you tonight. We have to review the game after dinner."
"Well, come on," Della squinted her eyes and swallowed the sausage in her mouth. She cut the sausage faster. "I'm going to the library to read some books this afternoon. I think I need to relax."
"Relax by reading? Well, I hope we all have a pleasant afternoon." Draco shrugged, he and Della smiled at each other, and then continued to eat their lunch.
As soon as Della finished half a sausage, she went to the library carrying her light schoolbag. Compared to the weight of two small books and a small roll of parchment in the morning, there was now a small box of raspberries and a few scones in it.
She only brought "Introduction to Alchemical Diagrams" and "A Small Collection of Alchemical Magic Runes" today. Della wanted to consolidate the three basic rules of alchemical diagrams - mutual generation, mutual restraint and compatibility.
Mutual generation starts from a point and continuously amplifies the initial energy through the superposition of runes, while mutual restraint gradually limits the energy that increases along the veins through the weakening runes, because once the energy exceeds the limit that the carrier can withstand, the final product will be extremely unstable.
The adaptation mentioned by Maggie earlier corresponds to compatibility. Theoretically, a stable phase diagram can be said to conform to the rules of compatibility, and adaptation is a higher-order state because its inner workings are completely connected. In some books, it is called "endless life".
But that is inaccurate, the energy will definitely dissipate in a cycle, and adaptation can only be said to be much slower, and the conditions for achieving adaptation are also very strict. If it is a complex alchemical artifact, it is often necessary that the material used to make it can also reach the "adaptive" state. Otherwise, even if the phase diagram is perfect, the final product will be unstable.
The same term is used in the phase diagram and in the material here. Although the concepts they refer to are different, the underlying logic is the same, and their ultimate goal is to achieve a balance point.
When creating a phase diagram, one can determine the mutual promotion and mutual restraint through calculation, so that the base map can be obtained. However, achieving compatibility is more mysterious, because in the drawing process, whether out of personal habit or to adapt to the overall phase diagram, the writing and arrangement of runes will be distorted to a certain extent, and this distortion may make the final result very different.
In general, drawing phase diagrams is a bit picky and also depends on luck. No matter how delicate and beautiful some people's drawings are, they cannot achieve the desired effect, while some people can get unexpected results with just a few casual strokes.
Della has not yet created an independent phase diagram, but she has done a good job in replicating it, so so far she and Maggie both classify themselves as talented.
Having said that, Della still had no idea about the phase diagram she was going to draw next. After all, she couldn't just simply stitch two phase diagrams together. She just wanted to remember the countless small rules under the three basic rules firmly in her mind, so that she would at least be more proficient when she got started.
While Della was reviewing the energy multiplication algorithm, an unexpected person sat down next to her.
"Riddle," Theodore Nott put the magic history book on the table. He called Della and sat on the stool next to her. The magic lamp on Della's side illuminated half of his face. After meeting Della's gaze, Nott said again, "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Nott." Della was inexplicably concerned about Nott's words about Riddle, but she quickly raised a smile. "Are you having any difficulties with your homework this time? Although I didn't bring my History of Magic homework with me, I can still give you some advice."
"Well, your overall evaluation of your assignments is always good. I think you can give me some suggestions for the final finishing." Nott's voice was as indifferent as usual. He handed over the parchment with the paper written on it.
"Hmm..." Della took it and started reading. After reading the first paragraph, she raised her eyebrows. It was because Nott's approach was the same as hers, with a Muggle attitude, and his writing style was also very fair. There was nothing wrong with this paper, but for a pure-blood like him who believed in bloodline theory...
Della didn't think she had misjudged him. She patiently read the paper and then looked at Nott. "The paper is very pertinent and logically sound. I think the ending could be a little more prospective."
"I think so too," Nott's eyebrows relaxed, and his black eyes met Della's, "So I want to ask you, what is the Muggle world like now?"
If it were before, Della would definitely think that he wanted to humiliate her, but given the current situation, this should obviously not be the case.
Della rubbed her thumbs. She did not avoid Nott's gaze. "When I didn't know much about this place, I read books like "Witch Hunting Notes". When it comes to magic, Muggles still associate it more with fairies, and wizards, you know, are companions of the devil."
"So it's still hostility?" Nott continued to ask.
"That's not the case. Wizards, like fairies, are just concepts in the Muggle world. From my personal point of view, most people don't pay attention to this. They have their own real lives."
"It sounds like you understand Muggles very well. Do you like that world? Is that why you keep your last name? Or does your last name have any special meaning to you?" Nott seemed to be suddenly interested, and he leaned slightly towards Della.
There was a moment of silence around them, and Della remembered the morning when Malfoy came to visit during the summer vacation. He also asked Nott a similar question at that time, whether Miss Riddle would become Miss Snape, as if it was a very important topic.
"I kept this last name only because I was very grateful for my life in the orphanage. If you are interested in the origin of this last name, it comes from the tombstone. This is the way the Lamp family passes on life." Della said calmly.
"Oh, I see." Nott said this, his expression did not change, and he did not continue to ask questions. He just spread his paper on the table and said, "Do you mind if I sit here and finish my paper?"
"Of course, please feel free to do so." Della smiled as she did at the beginning, then lowered her head and continued to read the book in her hand, but she found it difficult to get into the state of concentration just now.
Perhaps, she should investigate the former Riddle in the school.
In any case, Della maintained her social mask perfectly. She got along well with Nott and shared fruits and snacks with him in the afternoon.
In the evening, after chatting with Draco who had been training all day, Della returned to her small dormitory. Maggie was already curled up on the bed. He seemed a little depressed. "Hai-Xi (what's wrong)?" Della asked while putting her schoolbag on the desk.
"Hayes-hiha-sa-(Aryan's boyfriend is a little, never mind, no big deal, how are you today)." Maggie changed the subject.
"Senior Aryan's boyfriend? That Aidan Royea?" Della was a little surprised when she saw Maggie nod, but she didn't ask any more questions. She pulled out a chair and sat down, and began to take out books from her bag, "Haishi-haishi (I don't have anything special today, just this afternoon)..."
Looking at the untouched control group of small peepholes brought out by the book, Della suddenly stopped talking. Maggie behind her had already swam towards her and asked, "Hai-Xi (What happened this afternoon)?"
"His-Sa-Haya (It's nothing serious, it's just that Nott suddenly sat next to me and talked to me about his family. I was a little surprised, after all, he was lukewarm during rehearsal)." Della looked at the small mirror that didn't make any sound or turn, and the muscles in her hands tensed.
"Like I said, most people are waiting for an opportunity. Aryan is right. You will have a lot of friends." Maggie slid to the book in front of Della, "How was your reading today?"
"Ha-sahhi-sya (Of course it feels good just by reading the book, but I think I need to test it in practice. What about the hourglass in the Shrieking Shack?)" Della calmly put away the small spyglass that had been rolled into her schoolbag at some point.
"Ha-hee (Not ready yet, but soon)."
"Haha-Sahhi (I will count the materials and make a list for you later)." Della communicated with Maggie as usual. She glanced at the book "The Origin of Muggles and Wizards" on the bookshelf and sighed imperceptibly.
When she faced Nott in the afternoon, she lied about the orphanage and her last name. Even if she could use the excuse that her schoolbag blocked the movement of the peephole, how could she explain the lie that had just been undetected?
It seems that there are more secrets to be discovered about herself and Maggie.
This is really...