The Broad Minds of the Mentally Ill

Andy shared the same view of the Dark Arts as the author of that book.

The Dark Arts were indeed evil, but that did not mean their merits should be ignored simply because they were evil.

If White Magic was the study of external matter, then the Dark Arts were the study of the human body itself.

Perhaps that was also the main reason the system had separated the Dark Arts from the spell system.

The reason the author had recorded the Dark spell Disease Erosion in his book was that it involved magic power eroding the human body.

The author believed that although wizards could use magic, wizards themselves were not magical beings. They were fundamentally different from Magical Creatures that were born able to use magic.

Andy agreed with that view as well.

Wizards needed to use wands to cast spells, and that was the best proof of it.

Wizards had attained their current status in the Wizarding World because humans were intelligent beings, while Magical Creatures were not.

The author had put forward an interesting idea: if a wizard used magic power to erode his own body day after day, would he eventually become a magical being? Of course, Andy had no intention of trying it.

Because the author of that book had died as a result.

The final few chapters of the book had been written from the author's hospital bed at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He had died after finishing them.

The book had then been donated to Hogwarts.

But the idea had undoubtedly given Andy a reminder.

Andy had once seen photos of Voldemort online. Though he still looked human on the surface, he no longer had any human appearance at all.

Scarlet eyes, pale skin, no hair on his head, and two long, narrow nostrils that looked like electrical sockets.

Maybe Voldemort had conducted some dangerous magical experiments on himself too, Andy thought.

Then what about Dumbledore? Perhaps Dumbledore had secrets of his own as well.

"Incendio!"

A flame burned the weed to ashes. Andy straightened his clothes, returned to Honeydukes Sweetshop first, then went back to Hogwarts through the Secret Passage.

After emerging from the Secret Passage, Andy looked around to his left and right.

"Good, no one's here!"

Andy first went to the Owl Shed and mailed the candy he had bought to Isabel. Then he made his way to the Abandoned Classroom on the Sixth Floor of the castle.

When he pushed open the door, he found Hermione, just as expected, practicing magic there alone.

"You scared me!"

Hermione shot Andy an annoyed look. "You came in without even knocking. I thought a professor had come in."

Andy could not help complaining, "What kind of image do professors have in your mind? If they saw you practicing magic so diligently here, they'd be thrilled."

After thinking it over, the Little Witch realized Andy was right. She had not done anything wrong, so why was she so afraid of the professors? She glanced at Andy, then suddenly understood.

She had done nothing wrong and was even practicing magic diligently. But whenever she practiced magic with Andy, she always felt as though she were doing something bad.

Andy did not know Legilimency, or he would have cried injustice. How can you pin this on me too? I've been at Hogwarts for almost a week now—what bad thing have I even done?

"So where exactly did you go?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't I say? You'll find out in a few days. Anyway, it's a good thing." Andy continued to play coy.

"Fine, don't tell me!" Hermione huffed.

No longer paying him any attention, the Little Witch went back to practicing magic by herself.

There was still plenty of time before dinner, and Andy did not want to waste it, so he began practicing magic as well.

The book he had read earlier contained quite a few refreshing theories of magic, and Andy intended to test them out.

The author had not approached magic through emotions, but through magic power itself.

What was the essence of magic power? No one in the Wizarding World could explain it clearly.

Just as Professor Flitwick had said, magic power was like blood flowing through their veins. It was inside their bodies, but difficult to control.

But intense exercise could speed up blood circulation.

They could not directly control magic power, but they had ways to influence it indirectly.

Andy practiced magic according to the method described in the book.

During his first attempts, Andy found that his casting had become extremely awkward. It felt like someone used to writing with their right hand suddenly having to write with their left.

Uncomfortable!

Andy did not stop. He kept trying over and over again. After more than a dozen attempts, a hint of irritation rose in his heart.

According to the book, feeling irritated was normal.

Andy decided to trust the book! Then...

Boom!!! The explosion startled Hermione, and even Andy himself was left dumbfounded.

"Did my spell fail?"

Andy hurriedly tried casting normally, only to discover, to his surprise, that his spellcasting seemed to have become much smoother.

The feeling was faint, almost as though it were merely Andy's imagination.

Andy quickly tried again.

It was not an illusion!

It felt like someone who had held it in for hours suddenly letting it all out at once.

Two words: pure relief!

"Y-you're okay, right?" Hermione looked at Andy with a worried expression, as though he had finally gone mad.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Andy calmed down and considered the principle behind this change.

In the end, it was still emotion affecting magic power.

As Andy repeatedly attempted that awkward form of casting, the growing irritation in his heart naturally caused the spell to fail.

And that irritation was itself a kind of emotion. Once it reached a certain threshold, it naturally affected the magic power within his body.

"No wonder the author ended up killing himself with his experiments."

Andy discovered that books written by wizards who had died from failed magical experiments often contained some genuinely useful material.

By contrast, authors who had died peacefully of old age—or were still alive—usually just repeated established teachings, at most adding a few of their own insights on top of their predecessors' work.

So... the next priority is finding books written by wizards who died in magical experiments?

Or finding a chance to visit St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and discuss magic with the patients there?

So mentally ill people really do think outside the box, huh?

Andy felt that he might be going mad.

But the truth was that only wizards who dared to try could truly put their magical theories into practice.

Whether they succeeded or failed, the fact that they dared to try meant those theories had some basis in reality.

Perhaps all they lacked was a laboratory, or a platform for exchanging ideas.

From the perspective of magical research alone, the Wizarding World of today was indeed far too complacent.

The Ministry of Magic had certainly managed the Wizarding World effectively, but it had also trapped wizards in meaningless trivialities and constant struggles for power.

It was strangling the future of magic!