Infusing thought into a poppet is not a readily mastered magic, but Bode was an outstanding graduate of Ravenclaw, with several subjects' N.E.W.T.s results reaching "Outstanding" standards; therefore, he ultimately completed it successfully.
The poppet slowly opened its eyes, initially expressionless, then gradually softened its expression, even showing a touch of solitary lancholy, looking sowhat like Bode.
Bode waved his hand in front of it, then withdrew his hand amidst the poppet's bemused gaze, nervously asking, "Hello? Do you know who I am?"
"Master," the poppet slowly said.
"Okay!" Bode asked again, "Explain the potential risks of irreversible transfiguration... Oh, also tell the seven elents of spatial magic and the computational formula for constructing magic space."
Vid glanced at Bode, nodded secretly.
The first question is of N.E.W.T.s exam level; the latter two are not even accessible from school, possibly known only to a few as a research outco of the Departnt of Mysteries.
Bode used this thod to verify how much of his knowledge the poppet had inherited after infusing thought.
After the poppet answered one by one, Bode almost jumped with joy.
"Did you hear, Vid? It knows everything! Even better and more organized than I thought! rlin, the best poppet I could imagine is just like this!"
"As long as you're satisfied," Vid leaned against the wall with arms crossed and said with a smile, "Shall we give it a na?"
Bode seed to have thought of it long before and said without hesitation, "Caspien."
Vid said, "Caspian?"
"Yes, also 'Guardian of the Jewels,'" Bode said eagerly, "He will provide trendous help to our research."
Vid gestured for Bode to step aside and then whispered to him, "Let remind you, Mr. Bode, although Caspien was created to assist your research, you'd better not mistreat him."
Bode nodded, "I understand, he's like your own child to you, right? Rest assured, I will cherish him."
"Not just for that reason," Vid corrected, "The reason why we never sell this custom-designed large poppet is actually to prevent unfortunate events from happening."
Bode: "… Unfortunate events?"
Vid looked at him and asked, "Mr. Bode, can you guarantee that your thoughts will never betray you?"
Bode wanted to decisively say "No," but after hesitating for a mont, he shook his head.
He had seen many incredible phenona in the Departnt of Mysteries and heard of various bizarre incidents handled by colleagues at the Ministry of Magic.
Bode knew very well that human thoughts are diverse. Even in the sa person, reason and desire, morality and emotion are often at odds, and everyone's mind may harbor many contradictions, often negating and betraying oneself.
"See, that's the problem,"
Vid said, "We set many restrictions on the items sold by the Magic Workshop to ensure that poppets won't harm or betray their masters. But you asked for such a high level of intelligence that I had to reduce so restrictions, so he..."
"He might betray?" Bode asked with an unpleasant expression.
"No, it's not that easy. He is like a child you need to raise by hand; what he grows into will depend on how you treat him."
Vid said, "Most children don't betray their parents, but if you frequently abuse or hurt him, giving him negative emotional feedback... I can only say, a poppet's loyalty isn't higher than that of a house-elf."
Bode was filled with worries, but after hearing this, he relaxed a bit: "I understand... Vid, even if you don't trust my character, trust my wallet—I don't have a second batch of Galleons to buy a new poppet."
Bode joked, shrugged, and said, "So... certainly, I won't casually cause him any harm."
"In fact, even with house-elves, I've never punished them... I know so of my colleagues take pleasure in this, but I've never done it; I find it cruel."
"Cruel?" Vid asked, "What did they do?"
Bode shook his head and said, "Don't ask, you wouldn't want to know... In any case, thank you very much for the help in our magic research; it was the promised paynt... and the necklace."
He put a leather bag on the table, opened it, and stretched his entire arm inside, groped around for a while, then took out several heavy money bags and placed them on the table, followed by a very old-looking wooden box.
Vid first opened the wooden box; inside was lined with black velvet, and compared to the soft sheen, the stone necklace looked like a mischievous child strung it up casually.
He first cast several detection spells and confird it was not a dangerous Dark Magic item before picking up the necklace for a closer look.
The flat stones varied in size and shape, reminding Vid of Fiona's tal box collection of various buttons.
Both sides of the stones were engraved with ancient runes Vid couldn't understand, so he directly asked, "Do you know what these runes an?"
"My colleagues have deciphered it, thinking it might be an ancient spell, sothing like this—"
Bode held the necklace and murmured, "Ogi, Fata, Teiaamogen, Layuta, Nupuslangayuta..."
After muttering a string, the stone necklace emitted a faint glow, followed quickly by dimming, as if it was low on power.
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