Chapter 58: The Correct Usage of the Mirror of Erised

Allen adjusted a few more positions, but it was still the same.

He couldn't help but fall into deep thought; the Mirror of Erised could show a person's deepest desires, yet he could see nothing at all.

He knew himself best; he knew he was not the type of person who had no desires and a transcendent state of mind.

So where could the problem lie?

Could it be that the Mirror couldn't see into his own heart?

Suddenly, he remembered a conversation with the Sorting Hat upon his arrival, and it seemed he understood something.

The Mirror truly couldn't see into his own heart!

Allen felt a bit disappointed; this thing was indeed useless to him!

But another thought jumped into his mind: Could he let go of his heart? It seemed he could try!

Then he began to attempt it.

He tried his best to relax, constantly giving himself psychological suggestions in his heart, suggesting that this was a particularly safe place and that he should lower his guard...

Sure enough, images began to appear in the mirror; the content showed him standing on Voldemort's head, striking a victorious pose, while countless wizards around him looked at him with awe and worship...

Yet Allen frowned again; he felt something was wrong. Wasn't the thing he desired most in his heart to return to his familiar little nest on Earth, open a bottle of Fatty's Happy Water, and then happily binge-watch dramas and play games?

However, he soon let it go; memories of Earth were the deepest secret in his heart, and this level of psychological suggestion was impossible to make him completely let go of his heart.

Then he thought of another possibility, so he immediately began to test it.

He filled his heart with his desire for money, then tried to let go of his heart.

Then he saw himself in the mirror, but the scene had changed this time; he saw himself stuffing handfuls of Jin Jin Jialong into his pockets, then the Jin Jin Jialong turned into bundles of red banknotes, with the portraits of the instructors on them clearly visible...

Allen knew his guess was correct, but what use was that?

These spiritual opiates were of no use to him; they would only make him lose his fighting spirit.

He bitterly smiled, wanting to exit the range of the Mirror, then lift the spells on Harry and Ron, and take them back directly.

But he always felt something was a bit off, so he began to observe the images in the mirror again!

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened; he knew where the problem was, and he carefully observed the portraits of the instructors on the red banknotes in the mirror again.

He felt the patterns of the instructor portraits on them were too exquisite, too clear; he went on to observe other details on the banknotes and found them equally exquisite and clear.

He suddenly understood the problem: even someone who dealt with money every day couldn't possibly remember every detail of the Renminbi, and the fifth series of Renminbi was first issued in 1999, so it couldn't possibly exist in this world; the Mirror couldn't display things that didn't exist in this world, so the details of the Renminbi in the mirror must have come from his own memory.

So this Mirror must be able to restore every detail of the things in his memory!

This was the power of magic! Allen began to marvel in his heart.

So how should he utilize this function of the Mirror?

An answer instantly jumped out:

The Transfiguration Spell!

Previously, with the Thunderbird's eyes, he could see the light screen generated when casting a spell; the screen displayed information composed of ancient runes. He could see the information on the light screens generated when casting other spells, but he alone couldn't see the information on the light screen generated when casting the Transfiguration Spell.

Because the information volume of the Transfiguration Spell was too large, hundreds of times that of other spells; precisely because of this, the flow speed of the information on the light screen was too fast, so fast that Allen couldn't possibly see it clearly.

But the appearance of the Mirror provided him with a new means of observation.

The light screen generated when casting the Transfiguration Spell must be in his memory.

Perhaps he could use this ability of the Mirror to restore the details of the information on the light screen when casting the Transfiguration Spell.

Although he didn't know if it would work, he definitely had to try.

So he cleared his mind once again, constantly recalling the memory of the first time he used the Thunderbird's eyes to view the Transfiguration Spell light screen, letting the emotion of wanting to see the information on the light screen clearly fill his heart, and then letting go of his heart once more.

Sure enough, this time he saw himself standing beside a huge light screen in the mirror; the light screen was static, and every ancient rune on it was clearly visible...

He knew he had succeeded; a new world had opened its doors to him...

Allen suppressed his excited feelings and began to carefully observe the ancient runes in the mirror.

Soon he realized there weren't enough ancient runes in the mirror; the moment this thought appeared, the light screen in the mirror actually turned a page...

Allen quickly figured out how to manipulate the mirror to display the content he wanted to see.

He devoured the content on it, but he soon felt something was wrong.

He frowned tightly, repeatedly studying the light screen in the Mirror.

There were actually only three key-value pairs in the light screen!

To be precise, there were only three key-value pairs on the outermost layer, and the value corresponding to the first key was itself a collection of key-value pairs, and a multi-layered collection of key-value pairs.

For example, if Allen were to fill out his student profile, the structure would be like this:

Student Profile: {

Personal Information: {Name: Allen;

Age: 11;

}

Education History: {Primary School: Orphan Primary School;

Middle School: Orphan Middle School;

}

}

This is a multi-layered collection of key-value pairs. (A collection of key-value pairs is called a dictionary in programming data structures; hereinafter referred to as a dictionary.)

The first key-value pair of the Transfiguration Spell has this structure; you can treat its key as "Student Profile," and the value corresponding to the key is a dictionary with many layers. - (Not understanding this paragraph does not affect subsequent reading.)

Allen looked at the dictionary of the first key-value pair; this dictionary contained thousands of key-value pairs. He tried hard to identify the ancient runes within it, attempting to translate their meanings.

He quickly found some familiar ancient runes within it; their meanings were respectively: length, width, height, color...

He instantly understood something; the information in this dictionary was the transformed result imagined in his mind when casting the spell, transcribed; therefore, the information stored in the first key-value pair was the information of the expected transformation result.

And this structure of the first key-value pair of the Transfiguration Spell meant that any imagination a wizard had regarding the transformation result would be transcribed into information and transmitted to the Will of the World; this also meant that compared to other spells, the Transfiguration Spell had infinite possibilities.

Taking the "Ouroboros Deployment" spell as an example, the keys in this spell's key-value pairs are all fixed; there is no "color" key within it, and the spell's effect is to summon a black snake, with this "black" being the default, so Allen cannot summon a green snake.

However, the key-value pairs of the Lumos spell contain a "color" key, so Allen can summon light orbs of various colors.

Thus, this structure of transformation spells means they can achieve any transformation effect, though of course there are still various restrictions within, such as the famous Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

Although he had only reached a conclusion that was already known for a long time, Allen was still extremely exhilarated, because as long as the underlying principles were understood, there would be room for operation.

Then Allen went on to decipher the remaining two key-value pairs, but his expression suddenly became dull...

Because the values of the remaining two key-value pairs were both empty!

Empty?