Anna and Dark Magic

Pedro the Goblin was a renowned doctor among Wandering Wizards and in places like the Land of Chaos.

He was also a wise man who had mastered all manner of exquisite Goblin magical machinery and large Time-Turners.

However, when it came to potions, healing, and research into the human body and soul, he was clearly far inferior to the Old Wizard.

The clearest example was that Anton had been allowed to stay in the Goblin's home.

He climbed the crooked stairs, pushed open a door, and found a forest fragrant with earth on the second floor.

Above him stretched a vast sky and a light drizzling rain.

In the distance, the forest's edge was nowhere to be seen.

Only when he looked back did he see a stone archway.

Anna Rosier stepped out of the archway as though passing through transparent rippling water.

Seeing Anton's interested expression, she explained, "A Shuttle Door. Goblin magic. Much cleaner than Floo Powder through a fireplace."

With that, she turned and walked down the stone path to the left. "I'll show you where you'll be staying."

The little girl had clearly received excellent training in posture. Her steps were elegant, and interestingly, no matter how she walked, she never looked at the ground. Her eyes remained level, and her head stayed so still that it seemed as if it could not move.

Just watching her made Anton feel tired.

The winding path opened up after they had walked for a while. Vines climbed over shrubs, forming a low wall around a small open space.

Three tall oak trees stood there, each with a small wooden cabin built at its fork. A staircase made of nailed planks wound around each trunk and extended down to the ground.

Anna pointed at the treehouse on the left. "The one with wind chimes hanging in the window is mine. Choose one of the other two for yourself."

Then she added, "Put any clothes that need washing in the wooden bucket by the back door. The House-elves will take them to be cleaned. At mealtimes every day, they will set your food on the table by the window, so you'd better not put anything else there."

Anton stared. "There are House-elves here?"

He had not seen a single one since arriving.

Anna smiled faintly. "A good House-elf is one whose presence goes unnoticed."

Anna did not show much enthusiasm over his arrival. Everything was simply in accordance with etiquette. Once she had explained what needed explaining, she turned her proud head and left.

Anton did not mind. Though he had the body of a child and looked about the same age as her,

he was, in essence, an adult in his twenties. He had little interest in chatting with some brat.

He casually chose the oak treehouse on the right and climbed the stairs.

When he pushed the door open, the inside of the small cabin was exactly as large as it appeared from outside: a bed that looked soft, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small round table by the window.

It was not large, but it was clean.

So this would be his temporary residence for the time being.

He had chatted with Lupin for a few moments earlier, but the poor child had soon drifted off into a drowsy sleep again. Pedro had no solution either.

The Old Wizard had said that certain potions might ease it, but they would have to slowly search through that long list in his memories.

So Anton suddenly had nothing to do.

Anton had had many dreams as a child. After becoming an office drone, only one dream had remained—Sleep Well.

Yet in this perilous world, he had somehow developed a habit of never being able to sit idle.

There was nothing much to unpack, so he simply went into the forest, followed the path to the stone gate, and crossed over to the other side.

There was nothing here but trees after trees.

It was especially suitable for practicing spells.

"Soul Displacement!" His wand swung, and a semi-transparent Dark Blue glow flashed out and struck a tree.

It consumed very little magic, which clearly meant the spell had not been successfully cast in full.

But it was enough for him to practice again and again.

He had to turn this spell into a conditioned reflex, not the Cruciatus Curse.

"Soul Displacement!"

"Soul Displacement!"

"Soul Displacement!"

They said that if one read a book a hundred times, its meaning would reveal itself. As he cast the spell over and over, Anton vaguely sensed something.

But he had no way to think about exactly what it was.

At that moment, his heart was filled with the extreme emotion of "resistance" required by the spell. His entire being knew only to repeat the action endlessly.

It was a contradictory matter.

If he wanted to properly study the spell, he needed to remain rational, yet casting it required emotions intense to the extreme.

"What spell is that?"

A voice suddenly came from behind him. Anton was so startled that he nearly fired a shot toward where the voice had come from.

Anton turned around. It was the little girl, Anna.

Anna looked at him in confusion. "Although I still can't cast spells, I memorized every spell in the Compendium of Spells. I've never heard of this one!"

Anton raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it was omitted."

"Impossible!" Her expression was firm. "The Rosier family possesses a magical legacy with a long history. It couldn't possibly have omitted it."

"Oh? What kinds are there?" Anton became interested.

"My favorite is the Patronus Charm. I look forward to the day I can cast magic and have a Patronus to keep me company." Anna spoke calmly.

Anton looked her up and down and shook his head. "That spell requires happy memories."

This little girl had been molded into the image of an "elegant lady." There was almost no emotional expression visible in her at all. Even when unhappy, at most she secretly rolled her eyes. She was as stiff as an exquisite piece of wood.

He found it strange that a magical family would raise such a wooden person. It was not that there was anything wrong with it. If she truly were an aristocrat, that would be understandable, but wizards needed highly emotional states. Such training was instead unsuitable for becoming a wizard.

Anna did not know what he was thinking. She lifted her proud little head. "Of course I have happy memories."

She rarely tilted her head. "My mother's Animagus is a rabbit. She loves me very much, and I love her too. Perhaps my Patronus will be a rabbit."

Heh. Whatever makes you happy.

Anton curled his lip, unwilling to meddle in someone else's affairs, and prepared to continue practicing.

"I answered your question, but you still haven't answered mine." Anna asked again, slightly furrowing her slender brows to show that she was angry.

"..."

Anton waved his wand. "It's a type of Dark Magic used to displace souls."

"Dark Magic? No wonder." Anna suddenly understood. "There isn't any Dark Magic in the Compendium of Spells my mother left behind."

That wasn't right, was it?

The Rosier family was a famous Dark Wizard family.

Anton could not understand. "Your family doesn't know Dark Magic?"

Anna shook her head. "My mother doesn't. After marrying into the Rosier family, someone originally intended to teach her. Though she was somewhat reluctant, she said she was willing to give it a try."

"My aunt studied with her as well, and then something bad happened."

Anton suddenly remembered the Old Wizard's witch lover, who had gone mad learning Dark Magic and blown herself into chunks of flesh.

"My aunt went mad."

Anton fell silent. Was the cost of learning Dark Magic really so great that even Pureblood families could not escape its harm?

Anna sighed. "It was because my uncle found other women outside and even brought a child home. My aunt couldn't accept such a thing. She rode a Flying Broomstick into the sky, then jumped off and fell to her death right in front of my uncle."

"..." Anton's mouth twitched.

"My mother thought learning Dark Magic was unlucky. She never touched it again after that."

What a character.