Edward went into the Headmaster Tower and used the password to enter the office. Upon his entrance, he did not see the professor but heard him rummaging through something on the back.
Instead of sitting and waiting for him, Edward approached Fawkes and used the charm Nature's Voice to talk to the phoenix.
"We had a deal, now it's time for you to hold your end of the bargain."
"Fine, since you fulfilled your end through my Christmas present, you can have as many bottles of blood you want," replied Fawkes. As he was a phoenix with a sense of honor, he would not go back on his words.
Edward nodded, then proceeded to take a large syringe and a few crystal bottles. He then drew a lot of blood from the phoenix. Unfortunately for him, by the time he finished, he realized that he may have gone overboard.
Fawkes had turned pale, his red and gold feathers had lost most of their lusters. He became thin, and by the looks of it, he seemed to be about to be reborn again.
Knowing that he was a little too zealous, Edward hurried to take out a few bottles of potion from the little sack he had hanging on his waist. After making sure that Fawkes was alright, Edward sighed in relief, then he looked at the headmaster that was sitting on his chair and said, "Sorry about that."
"It's fine since Fawkes said that you could get his blood, then he has to deal with the repercussions of his words."
Fawkes then looked at Dumbledore for a brief moment, then ignored him as he went back to rest and recuperated.
"Professor, so how was your holiday?" asked Edward, trying to make small talk.
"Enjoyable. I quite like the candy you gifted me. Each one of them had a different flavor based on emotions. I did not like the one that tasted like grief."
"Well, you're not the only one. My cousin Susan sent me a letter complaining that she did not like both the 'grief' and 'fear' one."
"Well, it is understandable given her age. So, Edward, how was your holiday? Did you spend time with any special someone? A lady perhaps?"
"Well, a few."
"That made sense. You were quite promiscuous when you were in school."
"I prefer the term 'romantic', professor."
While the two were having their little chat, Dumbledore had already used his wand to order tea and sweets for the two of them. After finishing his food, Dumbledore took a deep look at Edward.
"Are you going to use bloodline modification to break the Limiter?"
"Limiter?" asked Edward after taking a sip of his tea. Although he had an inkling of what the professor was talking about, he was not sure.
"Knowledge about the Limiter is very ancient, and almost lost in modern times. I have only learned about it from Nico.
"You should be aware of the Magic Core Theory?"
Edward nodded as he knew that his discovery of the magic core was not a unique development. Many of the ancient books that he has read have mentioned it, however, most wizards in modern times do not believe it is real.
"As a wizard continues to age, his magic power will continue to grow until his magic core reaches a limit, the Limiter. Most wizards will spend most of their time not being able to reach the limit of their magic cores, while a few talented ones will do so in their later years.
"Only a rare few of them will reach this limit in their youth; like me, Tom, you, and an old friend of mine."
'He must mean Grindelwald. And this so-called Limiter was probably the shackle I felt after my magic power reached 25 times that of an adult wizard.,' secretly thought Edward, while still calmly drinking his tea.
"Professor, could you elaborate on this Limiter?"
"Well, from what I understand, there should be 3 Limiters. Currently, you are facing the 1st Limiter. Once you succeed, your magic power will reach the same level as mine.
"According to Nico, he believed that some of the founders of Hogwarts--like Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin have broken the second Limiter. As for the third one, we believed that probably only Merlin and Morgan Le Fay had breached it, however, the proof we have is very scarce."
Edward started thinking to himself. If what the professor said is true, then the first Limiter provides magic power between 25-50 times that of an adult wizard. The Second Limiter is between 50-75, while the third is 75-100.
However, Voldemort had a magic power of 60 times that of an adult wizard, could he have broken the second Limiter. However, after a quick review of the Dark Lord's memories, he realized that this was not the case.
Voldemort only broke the first Limiter, but forcibly expanded his magic core through the energy created by splitting his soul. This is the reason that his magic power could not reach the full 75 times.
"Professor, something does not add up. Godric Gryffindor was known as a very powerful duelist that has never lost a match. How come he is not on the list of people who broke the second Limiter?"
"Edward, you have to understand that breaking a Limiter merely increases a wizard's magical powers. A truly powerful wizard is based on their knowledge, skills, and use of charms and spells. A large amount of magic power is not worth anything if the person does not know how to use it."
Edward nodded as he agreed with the professor's words. As a person with a vast amount of knowledge about magic, Edward truly understood the meaning of these words.
For example, just his versatility in a battle is enough to make any wizard have a headache. In a duel, he could use ordinary charms, he could use elemental magic, spatial magic, or even necromancy.
Most ordinary wizards can only use a few charms proficiently.
"Professor, if you do not mind me asking, how did you break your Limiter?"
According to his speculation, Grindelwald most likely used the Elder Wand to break his, and he already knew how Voldemort broke his. Since Nicolas Flamel knew about the Limiters and told Dumbledore, he must have broken through it as well. So, Edward speculated that he must have either used the Philosopher's Stone, or his long life resulted in him breaking it naturally.
As for Dumbledore, Edward speculated that he might have used Fawkes as a way to do it. However, he was not entirely sure.
(AN: I know that this Limiter thing looks a little like cultivation, but I promise it is not. I am just using it as a way to show the strength of certain characters, and to show Edward's magical growth and progress throughout the early stage of the story.)
HP pick-up line: Have you heard of Platform 9 and 3/4? Well, I can think of something else with the exact same measurements.
