The Admiral of Hogwarts

As the core knowledge of the ancient Nordic Viking culture, the power contained in the runes is no less than the entire modern magic system.

At least, in the few simple experiments Hugo conducted on that island after accepting the knowledge infusion, he discovered that runic magic was not much worse than common magic in terms of spellcasting effects.

However, according to Odin, the biggest problem with runic magic is that it has very high requirements for the caster; on average, only one in twenty wizards possesses such talent. This is also why runic magic is now completely lost.

So, Hugo's so-called learning of this skill is not just about acquiring knowledge, but also a comprehensive improvement of his talent. And after possessing the corresponding talent, he immediately understood the various special aspects of this magic.

For example, the spellcasting tools usable for runic magic range from knives, spears, swords, and halberds to stones, gems, or metal pieces, encompassing everything. As long as they are properly processed, they can be used as spellcasting tools.

Compared to the modern magic's characteristic of using a single wand for everything, this approach of using different spellcasting tools for different spells, although lacking in versatility, is, in some respects, more effective in terms of spellcasting.

In addition, ancient runic magic releases magic power more directly, thus being able to unleash greater power in some combat-related spells.

But with every advantage, there is a disadvantage. To perform precise manipulations with this magic, one must possess extremely high talent and practice repeatedly; both are indispensable.

This is also why runic magic was eventually eliminated by history, because compared to modern magic, which is easy to learn and doesn't require high talent, the accessibility of runic magic was simply too poor.

Fortunately, now that Hugo has exchanged for this skill, he has also gained top-tier talent in this area, so he can learn this complex magic like an ordinary person learning ordinary magic.

In the following time in Norway, Hugo lived a pleasant and fulfilling life. In addition to thoroughly enjoying the beautiful scenery of this small Nordic country, he also completed his introduction to ancient runic magic.

For magic with such a high learning curve, initiation can be said to be one of the most difficult hurdles encountered in learning this magic. And after initiation, he wouldn't encounter too many problems for a long time to come.

Soon, Christmas arrived. Early that morning, Hugo, who had returned to his grandfather's house, was awakened by a chorus of unpleasant owl hoots.

Opening the curtains, he saw a row of owls perched on the windowsill. Each owl clutched packages of various sizes in its claws.

These gifts came from his friends, all sorts of interesting gadgets from the magical world. After briefly counting the gifts, Hugo was pleased to find that he had already sent gifts to these friends in advance.

"Who sent this?" When Hugo arrived in the living room, he saw Hermione frowning as she held a strange-looking hairband.

This hairband looked no different from an ordinary hairband, except that in the place where decorations should have been, there were two things that looked like small, orange-red carrots.

"My roommate Luna gave it to me as a Christmas present. If I didn't know she wasn't the kind of person with bad intentions, I would suspect she was mocking my front teeth for being like a rabbit's," Hermione said to Hugo, who had just come downstairs.

"I think those things on it aren't carrots, but Dirigible Plums. Luna's father's magazine, 'The Quibbler,' introduced this plant," Hugo immediately guessed what Luna wanted to express.

"According to the introduction in that magazine, Dirigible Plums can improve the ability to accept unusual things. So, I think giving it to you might be because she thinks you are a friend worth making, so she wants to give you this thing to make up for the shortcomings she sees in you."

Perhaps because of Hugo's intervention, Luna's school life was obviously much better than in the original story. Neither Hermione nor Venetia fully understood Luna's obviously different way of thinking, but they wouldn't engage in any school bullying because of it.

Even with Hermione and Venetia's personalities, they would actively stop other students from bullying Luna when they saw something was wrong.

So, Luna naturally had obvious goodwill towards her two senior classmates, so she sent each of them a Christmas gift.

Unlike Hermione's hairband, Venetia, perhaps because she often drank coffee, received a jar of Gurdyroots from Luna that could be brewed into a beetroot juice-like pale purple liquid.

After spending a happy Christmas holiday with his grandparents, Hugo and his parents left Oslo on the second day of the new year and returned to England.

Before leaving, because the original Christmas event did not occur, he gained 6 Fate Points, plus the 2 Fate Points he received every year, Hugo's Fate Points had returned to 11.

So, before leaving, Hugo took advantage of the company's plane to cross several countries in one night, consuming 8 Fate Points to summon Väinämöinen, Gustav V, Gotland, and the Lion of the North.

As for not choosing to summon Tirpitz, the reason was simple: he felt that summoning her before summoning Bismarck, who could control Tirpitz, was not a good idea. Moreover, for Hugo now, the number of personnel was more important than quality.

The current identities of the four Nordic ship girls are all indigenous Nordic wizards with a master-apprentice lineage.

Because Durmstrang, located in Northern Europe, does not accept Muggle-born wizards, and because these northern regions retain more traditions than the core areas of mainland Europe, the identities of these four ship girls are naturally very easy to integrate into the current environment.

With these four ship girls, Hugo could naturally project his power into Northern Europe, which was originally a power vacuum.

As a place where various unique supernatural magical creatures survive and where ancient runic magic originated, Northern Europe is a very important region for the wizarding world, and extending his power to this region could gain him more power.

After once again entering the familiar family home, the fatigue of the journey allowed Hugo to rest well for an entire day. And during the last few days of the holiday, they stayed at home and busied themselves with their own affairs.

Soon, the holiday ended. Hugo and Hermione once again boarded the Hogwarts Express and returned to school.

Hugo was still very happy to be able to return to school, but hidden beneath this happiness was a certain anxiety, because until now, they had not been able to confirm who was holding Voldemort's Horcrux diary.

According to the company's report, Hogwarts Castle was very quiet throughout the holiday, and no accidents occurred.

But one not-so-good result was that because there were so few people staying at school, the number of suspicious candidates that could be eliminated this time was only in the single digits.

"It seems that I need to spend more effort on this in the second half of the school year," Hugo thought after reading the company's report. "At least, I have to find a way to catch the guy holding Voldemort's diary before the worst-case scenario happens."