Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 258 The First Cry of the Communication Quill Pen

Chapter 258 The First Cry of the Communication Quill Pen

Inside the alchemy workshop in the Eagle's Nest, the air seemed to freeze, with only Karen's steady breathing and the soft scratching of quill pens across parchment. Scattered on the workbench were scraps of various materials, drafts of intricate rune structures, and several pairs of unfinished quill pens.

Karen's fingertips shimmered with a faint magical light as she carefully inscribed the final rune, "Gebo" (gift, exchange), at the end of a long, slender quill pen that gleamed with mithril and peacock blue luster. This rune connected to the "Ansuz" (signal, communication) rune already engraved in the middle of the pen via an extremely thin magical wire infused with mithril-dragonblood alloy, forming a simple and stable circuit.

He picked up another nearly identical quill and carefully examined the runes in the corresponding positions. Both quills were made from a pair of tail feathers from the same magical creature and had been soaked in both moonscald sap and dragon blood active solution to ensure a high degree of material compatibility and magical affinity.

"Theoretically, synchronous resonance should be able to be established—" Karen muttered to himself, placing the two quills at opposite ends of the workbench, about ten feet apart. He took a deep breath, picked up one of them, and gently rubbed the "Ansuz" rune on the pen shaft with his fingers, infusing it with a faint trace of magic as an activation signal.

The "Ansuz" runes on the two quill pens lit up with a faint, synchronized blue light almost simultaneously, like breathing.

"Connection established successfully." A hint of satisfaction flashed in Karen's eyes. He picked up the activated pen and wrote a single word on a blank piece of parchment: "Test".

Almost the instant his pen left the paper, the quill pen on the other end of the workbench seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, suspended slightly in the air, and then fell precisely, reproducing the exact same word "test" on the white paper in front of it. The handwriting, the thickness, and even the density of the ink were almost identical.

"It's a success!" Wesley, who had been watching intently, couldn't help but exclaim softly, clenching his fists and beaming with excitement.

Fabian and Ernesto immediately gathered around, carefully examining the handwriting on the two pieces of paper.

"Almost synchronized," Ernesto adjusted his glasses, observing carefully. "The delay is practically negligible. Karen, you did it!"

"The magic of the ink is also very even," Fabian added, gently touching the reproduced writing with his finger. "There were no breaks or inconsistencies as expected. The stability of the alloy wires exceeded expectations."

Karen didn't celebrate immediately, but continued testing. He quickly wrote down a few more short sentences, which were simultaneously copied by the quill pen on the other end without any delay.

"Try longer sentences, with more complex strokes," Ernesto suggested.

Karen nodded and wrote down a research note in ancient runes, the strokes complex and intricate. The quill pen at the other end continued to follow smoothly, without the slightest error.

"Fantastic!" Wesley exclaimed. "This is so much more convenient than a two-way mirror! Writing is so much more natural than talking to yourself in a mirror!"

"And it's more discreet," Fabian pointed out a key point. "It doesn't require making a sound, making it suitable for conveying information in classrooms or libraries."

Karen tested it for five or six minutes, writing various things. Until he stopped writing, the quill pen at the other end seemed to lose its power, gently lying back on the table, the magical light at the tip gradually fading.

"Under continuous activation, the magic consumption is slightly higher than expected," Karen assessed. "With the current level of magic stored in the quill, maintaining this state for an extended period might be a bit challenging. Of course, if the user replenishes the magic themselves, there won't be any problem." He picked up the sheet of paper being copied, pointing to the last few slightly faded words. "However, at the end of the transmission, there seems to be an extremely slight energy decay, causing a slight decrease in ink density, although it doesn't affect readability."

"The delay and synchronization issues have been perfectly resolved, and this slight attenuation is almost negligible," Ernesto said objectively. "As for mana consumption, this isn't for writing lengthy texts; it's perfectly sufficient for transmitting a message of a thousand words. Moreover, even without replenishing mana, it can automatically replenish itself later. Or perhaps we could consider adding a simple physical switch? We could cut off the mana supply when not in use to save on consumption."

“Great idea, Ernesto,” Karen agreed. “A simple touch switch, integrated into the Ansuz rune, activated by pressing with a finger. This would greatly extend the standby time after a single charge.” He immediately sketched it out on a draft paper.

"How many pairs do you plan to make?" Fabian asked. "The craftsmanship doesn't look simple."

"First, we need to make sure each of the four of us has one, forming a small network," Karen said thoughtfully. "Then we need to send a pair to Professor Nico and Professor Castor for long-distance testing and daily communication. And my family, although they're not wizards, could perhaps have a one-way receiving version made. I write a letter, and they can automatically copy it, which would be faster and safer than owls." He imagined the excited look on Lily's face when she received these "magical letters."

"For mass production, the key is the matching and processing of feathers and the precise inscription of runes." Ernesto picked up a half-finished product. "I can help calculate and optimize the rune array to reduce unnecessary magic loss."

"I can handle the pretreatment and soaking of the feathers," Fabian volunteered, "to ensure the consistency of the materials."

"And what about me?" Wesley asked urgently. "What can I do?"

Karen smiled. "Your task is important, Wesley. You'll be in charge of the practical testing. Simulating the stability and accuracy of communication under various conditions—such as movement and slight magical interference. We need to know where its limits lie."

"Leave it to me!" Wesley puffed out his chest, very satisfied with the task.

Looking at the pair of quills on the workbench that had successfully achieved synchronized writing, Karen felt a surge of pure accomplishment. This wasn't some earth-shattering magic, but a creation that could genuinely change the way we communicate and improve efficiency. This joy of transforming theory into a practical tool was no less than mastering a profound spell. It stemmed from wisdom and served life—this was precisely what Ravenclaw championed, and it was also a manifestation of the essence of alchemy.

"Well then," Karen picked up her tools, "let's begin optimizing and building. First, let's solve the physical switch problem Ernesto mentioned."

Under the lights of the Eagle's Nest, the four of them once again threw themselves into their intense and passionate work.