Louis gently closed the textbook and rubbed his aching temples.
Speaking of which, from the time he went to Atlanta to save Merle to the thrilling resolution of the Walker night attack last night, the various events during that period could fill more than twenty chapters if written as a novel, but in reality, it had only been a few short days.
"I've been a bit too reckless lately," his voice carried a hint of fatigue, "I need to be more thorough in my considerations from now on."
When he saved Merle before, he relied too heavily on his reflexes and miscalculated his physical and mental energy consumption, leading to a coma directly caused by over-casting.
And this time with the Walker attack, although there was an early warning, he was forced to make a big scene in front of everyone because of that "Great Prophet," Jim.
While there were elements of coincidence involved, ultimately, it was because he wasn't cautious enough.
The longer he stayed after transmigrating and the more he intervened, the more unpredictable and uncontrollable the future would become.
Although everyone in the camp was very friendly to him now, excessive attention would also limit his freedom.
Since he had initially integrated into the team and established a certain level of "value" and influence in the minds of the camp members through last night's performance, what he needed to do next was to appropriately lower his presence and return to the right track of "low-key development."
Studying magic in peace and improving his strength was the most important thing right now.
"Regardless," Louis's eyes flickered, "before truly starting my 'seclusion,' I still need to make a trip to the CDC."
This decision seemed to contradict the "low-key development" strategy he had just set, but he had a reason he must go.
He wasn't going to save the world, nor was he following some plot; he was going to solve a key mystery concerning his own magic and survival.
The reason was simple—Louis needed to find out if the walker virus was actually in his body!
This question was like a thorn that had been stuck in his heart ever since he discovered the anomaly of the "Episkey" spell.
From a magical perspective, the difference in the effect of "Episkey" on himself versus others was far too obvious.
If this huge difference was truly because it needed to combat or suppress the walker virus within the recipient, then it meant this spell possessed potential far beyond healing external wounds—
It might be able to delay or even stop the transformation of humans into Walkers to some extent!
This possibility was too important. Once confirmed, even if it only delayed it for a few hours, it would be enough to change many people's fates at a critical moment.
Of course, this might just be his whimsical speculation; perhaps there were other reasons for the difference in magical effects.
But at the very least, it provided a clear direction for verification to solve a mystery.
Even if he didn't consider the magical level, taking a step back—
If testing with CDC equipment proved that Louis really wasn't infected with the walker virus, that would also be highly significant!
It could mean he had some kind of natural antibody, or that the essence of his soul was different from the humans of this world.
In either case, it would be enough for him to understand his own "uniqueness," so he could prepare responses and disguises in advance when contacting larger, better-equipped survivor groups or needing a physical examination in the future!
It was better to figure out such secrets involving his fundamental self sooner rather than later.
As for whether the examination would expose the existence of magic? Louis wasn't too worried about that.
Based on his knowledge of the original HP works, magic didn't seem to be something modern technology could easily detect; otherwise, the wizarding world would have been exposed long ago.
When those young Wizards saw a doctor for a cold or fever in Muggle hospitals, he hadn't heard of anyone being caught and studied as an anomaly.
Thinking a step further into the darker side, even if the old equipment at the CDC could truly detect the magic fluctuations in his body, so what?
Facing a doctor who was bent on dying and clearly lacked a military threat now was much safer than facing a full-body scan in a large, strictly managed survivor base with military weapons later when he was stronger.
Louis went over the issues he hadn't had time to organize and his preliminary plans for the future in his mind, then let out a long sigh, stretched, and stood up.
The aftereffects of continuous spellcasting were still there, and his body was still a bit weak, but the mental fatigue had mostly dissipated.
He was just about to unzip the tent and go out for some fresh air when his eyes inadvertently caught sight of the pile of "Potion ingredients" that several children in the camp had excitedly given him earlier.
Speaking of which, he had originally intended to wait until he had rested, then take these things directly to the river to wash and boil them.
After all, this was just a gesture from the children; he couldn't actually expect to brew a magical Potion using ordinary ingredients.
But having just thought so much about magic, spells, and his own anomalies, looking at this pile of "gifts" now, an extremely absurd idea suddenly popped up uncontrollably.
"What if... I use Transfiguration to turn these things into the appearance of magical ingredients first, and then throw them into the pot to see if they can be brewed into a Potion?"
As soon as he said it, he was amused by his own ridiculous idea.
"It's still daylight, why am I starting to daydream?" He shook his head and laughed.
Using Transfiguration to create real magical materials? One would know that's fundamentally impossible just by thinking about it.
Even if Louis hadn't deliberately studied the limitations of Transfiguration in HP, he understood that if magical materials could be casually transfigured, then what would be the point of the subject of Potions?
If Transfiguration were truly that powerful, why would everyone work so hard to learn other spells?
Couldn't you just transfigure whatever you wanted directly!
This was just Transfiguration, not a Wishing Spell.
Furthermore, taking a step back, even if a type of Transfiguration that could create things out of nothing did exist, it was definitely not something a half-baked wild Wizard like him could master.
"But then again..." Louis stroked his chin, looking at the basket of mushrooms and wild herbs, "Since I've already thought of it, and I'm idle anyway, I might as well give it a random try and treat it as Transfiguration practice."
At least he could try to see if he could turn them into the appearance of magical ingredients and then turn them back, to see what level his current Transfiguration had reached. There was no harm in practicing, after all.
Thinking of this, Louis became a bit interested.
He took the thick book, "magical potions and draughts," out of his backpack and carefully opened it.
He flipped directly to the first-year Potions section and quickly found a recipe that didn't look too complicated—the Wiggenweld Potion.
"Wiggenweld Potion, a powerful healing Potion capable of healing minor injuries and awakening the drinker from magically induced sleep..." Louis softly read the note written in quill in the corner of the page.
"Was this Potion in the original work? I don't seem to have heard much about it."
He recalled that in his first-year Potion Class, Snape seemed to be mainly teaching how to brew the Cure for Boils; he didn't expect there to be such a practical healing Potion in the lower years besides the Forgetfulness Potion.
He looked closely at the recipe: "Main magical ingredients... leaves of Dittany... juice of Horklump..."
He knew about Dittany; it was a magical plant with excellent healing effects. A Horklump was a magical creature that looked like a fleshy pink mushroom and secreted juice.
Louis put down the book and turned his gaze to the few ordinary, dusty mushrooms in the basket. He took a deep breath and pulled out his ebony wand.
Then, he concentrated, pointed his wand at the mushrooms, and recited the opening syllables of the Transfiguration spell with the most standard pronunciation possible.