27 Chapter 25: Indirect Help
[Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office]
It was Christmas day, and Dumbledore sat at his desk, unpacking his presents. Instead of using a spell to do it quickly, he chose to savor the experience of unwrapping each gift.
In front of him, a pile of books awaited his attention—some he had read before, and others were new. It was clear that these were his presents.
On the opposite side of the table, Professor and Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall worked diligently on paperwork. Her task was to compose thank-you letters for everyone who had sent a gift to Dumbledore. Many of these gift-givers were prominent figures in the wizarding world, so each letter required a personal touch. They worked in silence.
"Has the boy received his gift?"
"I placed it under the tree; he'll find it when he wakes up."
"Hmm."
Then Dumbledore came across a small box that had been hidden among the larger ones. "This must be the boy's," he said, remembering.
"Tell me, Minerva, what do you know about that new student named Christopher?"
"Oh, yes, a very gifted child. Why do you inquire?"
Dumbledore opened the box and was taken aback to find a set of thick woolen socks.
"Socks? Why would someone give you socks for Christmas?"
"What can you tell me about his family?" Dumbledore asked
"You mean Christopher's family? I'm familiar with them. In fact, I was the one who delivered his Hogwarts letter."
"That's good. Can you tell me about his adopted brother?"
"Isn't he a Muggle? Why do you need to know about him?"
Dumbledore proceeded to explain the summer camp concept. And his meeting with Rohan.
"Now that you mention it, he was rather unusual. Typically, Muggles react with excitement or fear when they encounter magic, but he was quite indifferent. He seemed as though he was almost disappointed seeing magic and showed no fear when exploring Diagon Alley. Even when he encountered goblins at Gringotts, his brother, a wizard, appeared more shocked than he did."
Dumbledore pondered the socks for a moment but eventually dismissed the matter.
[Rohan's POV]
I woke up feeling refreshed, both in body and mind. With most of the dangerous work behind me, I could now fully focus on learnung the AI. It was becoming easier as I grew more familiar with the basics, but there was still much to learn. To accomplish that, I needed a safe space, and that place was the library. While many libraries were closed for Christmas, some remained open for limited hours, so I decided to go there and study in a quiet corner with few people around.
After getting ready, I made my way to the breakfast table where everyone was already seated, enjoying their morning meal. I joined them, and Elena cast a curious glance in my direction.
"Are you heading to the library today?" she asked.
"Yes, after breakfast. Why do you ask?" I replied. Visiting the library had become a routine for me since I started staying here.
"It's nothing. What exactly are you doing there?" she inquired further.
"What does everyone do in a library? They read," I responded with a grin.
"What are you building that requires so much reading?" .
"You'll find out when it's finished. Until then, it's a secret," I teased.
"What are you two talking about?" Chris asked, his curiosity piqued.
George explained to Chris, "Your brother has been working on something related to computers, and he's been completely absorbed in it since he got back."
"Wow! Is it a video game? Brother, tell me! Tell me! Is it a video game?" Chris excitedly asked. I did make many games back in the day that he played a lot so he was interested.
"Unfortunately, no. Its a program," I explained.
"Boring." Chris was immidiately disinterested.
"Speaking of programs," Elena reached into her backpack, retrieved a bunch of floppy disks, and placed them in front of me. She then revealed, "This is a beta version of MS Windows 3.1."
"3.1? Really?" I eagerly picked up the floppies. One might find it strange that someone who had used modern operating systems would be so excited about an older one. However, when I first got a computer here, it didn't even have a graphical interface. I had to learn to use only command prompts, and it was a frustrating experience.
From what I remembered, Windows 3.1 was somewhat similar to modern versions, which was a big plus for me. It promised to make things a lot easier.
My immediate plans temporarily changed; I wanted to try it out as soon as possible. However, Elena interrupted my enthusiasm.
"Not so fast, Rohan. There seems to be a compatibility issue with DR DOS. For now, it only works with MS DOS. You should try it when you have some free time."
She was right. My computer here ran on DR DOS, and if I wanted to switch to MS DOS, it would take some time. So, I decided to head to the library for now.
I got up from the table, and that's when Chris stopped me. "Um, brother, can you take me with you? I want to go as well."
Looking at him and noticing the boredom in his eyes, I realized that he must have been getting tired of being home alone. I agreed, "Alright, but don't disturb me."
At the library, I picked up a few programming books and headed to an empty corner, leaving Chris to explore on his own. The library was nearly empty, so I had no trouble concentrating. The books were fro show, i just hid the phone behind it. After a couple of hours, I felt satisfied with my progress for the time being and went in search of Chris.
I found him at a table, engrossed in six or seven books, most of which were related to history and myths. I didn't know why he was so interested in these topics, and I didn't feel like asking at the moment. We eventually left the library and headed back home.
That night, I was finally ready to install Windows 3.1. I had tried various methods to install it alongside DR DOS, but all my efforts had been in vain. The installation just wouldn't work, and I couldn't figure out why it was causing errors. So, I made the decision to switch to MS DOS and proceeded with the installation.
I was thrilled to see it working smoothly, but a nagging suspicion crept into my mind. There was no logical reason why Windows 3.1 shouldn't work with other DOS systems, In a sense, windows was just a program like any other, the DOS was the real Operating system so that thought troubled me. "Hadn't Windows 3.1 been released in my world as well? was there the same problem then?," I mused.
I glanced at my phone, which lay on the table nearby, and decided to ask the system a casual question, not expecting a conclusive answer.
"System, why doesn't Windows 3.1 work on other DOS systems besides MS DOS?"
It had been a while since I had asked the system anything. Its responses were devoid of human characteristics, and its personality was none, with no emotional elements. Consequently, I preferred to type my questions rather than engage in verbal conversation with it.
This was just a casual question and i didnt expect an useful answer however, this time, I was in for a surprise. The response I received revealed something called 'AARD' code. It turned out that Microsoft had deliberately designed Windows 3.1 to not work with other DOS systems. as they were getting more popular. During installation attempts on any non-MS DOS systems, the software would check for MS DOS, and if it didn't detect it, it would display fake error messages.
"Fucking Bastards ! " I was furious. Elena had invested quite a lot in DR DOS and if MS Windows 3.1 doesn't work on it. This will hurt the reputation of the company and even her. She might even be kicked out of her own company.
I wanted to run to her and tell everything right now but I stopped. I thought for a second, if this AARD came out now, Microsoft would just say that it was a single employe who did it and they would throw AARD under the bus.
"No… can't let go that easy " I smiled with a wind grin. I will wait for 2 to 3 months, then when they are sued, they will have to pay out of court for damages and if I am lucky, I can get a share of the pie.
" I hope Elena would forgive me for this. The upcoming months will be tough for her. "
And why was I so sure that Microsoft would pay, an out of courts one at that? It is because Elena's company might be small compared to Microsoft but there was another one that Microsoft wanted to fuck over; IB fucking M. Elena told me they were makeing a deal and most importantly IBM had its own DOS named PC DOS so they were also getting effected and i knew this would be front page news so Microsoft would like want to dismiss it quickly so out of court was most likely.
Thinking of all this, I almost laughed like a villan, then I stopped myself. Because it would be cringey to do so.
====
Fast forward a few days and everything is well, everyday I would go with Chris to the library and stay for few hours.
Now I was getting curious to what he was looking for but no matter how many time I asked her didn't answer so now I was at the library secretly observing him.
From my hiding spot, I saw he had pile of books on the table and he was looking through all of it.
If my guess is correct, he would be done with the whole ancient history section today.
Then I saw a librarian walking up to him so I kept my ears open
"Did you find what you are looking for ?"
"No… do you have anything about famous mythical figures from Europe?"
After listening to his question I knew what he was looking for "so he is looking for clues about the Nicolas Flemal. That reminds me, wasn't Chris the one who told everyone about the Phelosopher's stone in the movie? . "
At night I was working but my focus was still on Chris. He would go to the library everyday and practically stayed the whole day there searching for clues. It was almost end of his winter break so he would surely find something in the next few days,
Thinking about this, I really wanted to help him. I wanted to do everything i could to help him be it giveing him clues but how do I do that without looking suspecious ?
The name Nicolas Flamel was a very specific and I couldn't just strike a conversation about him.
Then I looked at my phone sitting on the table and got an idea. A fun one at that. And it would work perfectly.
I got to work, I took out my notebook and started to write copying from my phone.
===
The next day morning, everyone was having breakfast as usual. Elena was not there. I then sat down with my notebook.
" Good morning everyone " I greeted
"Morning " everyone said in return
"Where is aunt?" i asked not finding her
"She had some urgent work so she left early." George said
So its only us then, good. I looked at Chris and he already looked exhausted. He had a 'didnt want to go to the library but he had ' face . I didn't talk to him, my focus was on George.
I sat down and started a conversation with him. "Uncle, can i ask you something "
"What is it you want to ask?" George said looking at the newspaper in his hand
"Well, when i was in school, i was getting bored so i decided to write a story, can you check if it is worth publishing? "
"You are writing a book ?" George's ears rose up. This was his expertise, he had felt dishartened when everyone talked about computers and he didnt know a thing about it but now the children were asking something he was good at so ofcourse he was excited.
"Cant say its a book, a few chapters at most. Just some casual writeing"
"Sure, where is it, let me see" George now had a stoic face trying to look proffesional
" i found the notebook last night in my luggage and remembered about it." i told as i handed him the notebook.
George then opened the notebook, at the same time Chris was drinking milk slightly interested in what i wrote.
"Lets see… 'The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel' "
As soon as he said the words, Chris chocked on his milk and looked at him in shock
"Oh Chris, I told you to drink slowly, look what happened" George scolded him.
"Wha what did you say ?" Chris ignored it and asked in disbelief
"What ? the book? It's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel' why?" George had no clue so he answered in confusion
"Nicholas Flamel?" Chris looked at me with wide eyes and asked
I looked clueless and answered "Yes, he was an Alchemist, they say he found the secrets of immortality using something called the Philosopher's stone. " I answered finally giveing him the clue. Feeling happy that my plan worked. This was an actual book that was released long ago in my world and it was average at best. But i didnt care about that. what i needed was the tital of the book, so i copied a few chapters on my notebook and the rest was history.
"This is good Rohan, taking a legend and expanding it, the story so far is also engageing, this has potential " George complemented reading the first page quickly
"you could write a lot based on NIcolas Flemal. there are a lot of legends sorrounding him" George said sipping his tea
"you know about NIcolas Flemal, George ?" i asked genuinely surprised
"well, i did work in an antique book store in my younger days so i have read a lot of old books." George said
"George, what more can you tell me about Nicolas Flamel ?" This time Chris asked him.
"Well, no one knows if he ever existed but in the books i have read, he lived in the 13th century, Legends say he was a very accomplished Alchemist, He not only was the only one to turn lead into gold. But it is said that he played an integral part in reducing the outbreak of the Black Death that happened in his time. Sadly that is all i know, its a nice story passed down from history" George recalled
"He played a role in the black death?" I didnt know that. this was probably true for this world's version as he was real here.
"Oh yes, the book said he used to help people who had diseases using alchemic potions and whatnot. During the Black Death, he helped contain its spread. That is where the legend of the Elixer of life and the Philosopher stone comes from actually. It is said he was so good at treating diseases that he had created the Phelosopher's stone that he used to create the Elixer of life that could cure all diseases makeing you immortal." George went on to summarize all he could remember in great interest.
That is when I realized something "an accomplished man who is an expert in alchemy and human physiology". This was an Eureka moment for me. I had found my man. Someone who could possibly help me make my very own Super Soldier serum. Nicolas Flemal !
