Dark Arts and Quantum Mechanics

On the Edge of the Forbidden Forest.

After the downpour, the wild grass seemed to have grown taller, with its stems growing taller and its leaves larger. It was covered with glistening droplets of rain and dew, and when twigs and sticks parted the grass, the droplets fell in a soft patter, seeping into the damp ground and making the soil even muddier.

"Call out--"

Loren made strange noises as he waved the branch in his hand, causing grass blades to fly and water droplets to splash.

A few drops of water flew toward the girl behind her. Hermione watched the water droplets approach without expression, then hit an invisible film, flowed down the transparent film, and seeped into the soil.

Further ahead were Harry and Ron, also carrying branches and making silly, strange noises.

Loren snapped the branch in his hand with a "click," blinked at the broken branch, and, having lost his weapon and stepped down from his role as the trailblazer, slowly landed at the same level as Hermione.

"Hey, go back to playing." Hermione waved her wand, used Transfiguration to turn a blade of grass into a long, straight stick, and handed it over.

Loren looked at her suspiciously, frowned and thought for a moment. He felt that her gesture of handing him the stick and her tone of voice were a bit strange, like the way Grandpa Bates used to send him out to play when he was a child at the High Mountain Ranch.

"I was clearing a path just now," Loren explained seriously.

"Hmm." Hermione gave a perfunctory reply, shaking the wooden stick in her hand. "Then you can continue clearing the way."

"You seem to have some misunderstanding about me."

I don't think so.

"..."

Loren hesitated for a few seconds, then pushed the wooden stick aside and walked beside her. "Didn't you say that Fairy aren't afraid of people? Why are you looking in remote places?"

It's always like this; when she can't win an argument, she changes the subject. A smile played on Hermione's lips.

But she didn't dwell on it, using the stick in her hand to part the grass. "Although the Fairy is not afraid of people, she will find a quiet place to rest."

"Do you think some young wizards might wander into the depths of the Forbidden Forest? Hagrid might be held accountable again."

"Fang is guarding over there, the other little wizards can't get through."

"I see..."

The two walked into the forest along the dog-chewed path that Harry and Ron had waded through. Sometime later, Loren had picked up a small stick and was leisurely brushing away at the weeds.

"Hermione, what exactly is the definition of Dark Arts?" Loren asked, waving his little stick.

As he parted the grass, he thought of the Sectumsempra. Why did it seem so easy for him to practice the Sectumsempra, and why did he not feel any impact on his soul?

"Ah?"

Despite knowing that this person's ideas were wildly imaginative, Hermione was still somewhat surprised that the topic suddenly shifted from Care of Magical Creatures to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She looked up at him and said, "According to Miranda Gossack's definition, Dark Arts refers to magic that causes intense or even irreversible pain or damage to people."

Loren then asked, "The Shattering Curse can also kill, so why isn't it considered Dark Arts Shattering Curse?"

"Shattering Curse, Sectumsempra ..." Hermione unconsciously made the casting motion of the Shattering Curse while holding the stick, and thought about it carefully. "Although most textbooks now use Miranda Gossack's definition, some scholars also classify the Shattering Curse as Dark Arts, as well as the Blasting Curse, the Powerful Fire Charm ... all of these count."

"It sounds like they classify spells that can kill as Dark Arts. I wonder if my Opening Spell counts." Loren's mind was still on the Sectumsempra.

The wounds inflicted by the Sectumsempra cannot heal, and even a counter-spell will leave permanent scars. The only time he used it on a living person was against Sirius Black Black ...

"That's a very novel way of putting it." Hermione couldn't help but follow his train of thought. Dark Arts still doesn't have a unified definition, but it does sound closely related to murder, like the crime of intentional homicide in the Muggle's mind. Some magic was created specifically for killing...

Hermione for a moment and said, "Perhaps I should talk to Professor Bubage about this."

Loren looked up at her. "Didn't you drop out of the Muggle Studies?"

Hermione glanced at him and said matter-of-factly, "I just don't attend classes, but I still exchange ideas with Professor Bubage. Professor Bubage is a wizard by birth but has lived in Muggle society, which is the opposite of me. Exchanging ideas is enlightening for both of us."

"You're so energetic..." Loren muttered. "So when are you going to quit your Divination Class?"

"We'll have to wait until at least October 16th."

Upon hearing the girl's answer, Loren tried hard to recall, but ultimately shook his head in dejection. He couldn't remember what terrible thing Lavender had encountered.

Logically speaking, he had eliminated all the accidents this year, and Voldemort was far away in Ilvermorny, so it should have been a stable and safe year.

"Loren! Hermione! Come quick, we've found the Fairy's nest!" Harry and Ron shouted, waving their hands.

Tuesday afternoon.

It's rare that Hermione doesn't have a full day of classes today.

The first period was elective time, with Arithmancy and Ancient Rune taught simultaneously. There were no classes from the second period in the afternoon until dinner time, as they were going to the Astronomy Tower for stargazing that evening. As usual, Hermione attended the Ancient Rune class first, then used the Time-Turner to go back to before the class and attended Arithmancy with Loren.

Professor Victor Septima Victor's lectures are very detailed. When encountering complex calculations, she will carefully explain how each step is calculated, rather than glossing over it and telling students to calculate it themselves.

She required the young wizards to list out detailed calculations, and each calculation could take up an entire page of parchment, making the Arithmancy Class seem dauntingly long.

Loren was particularly troubled by the fact that he could write out several lines of calculations before arriving at the final answer for a polynomial addition problem. He calculated too quickly in his mind and didn't go through the detailed calculation process...

The assignment for the last class was to use Arithmancy to predict a person's character based on the numbers in their name. Professor Victor assigned Headmaster Dumbledore as the person to be predicted.

Arithmancy isn't scary, but Dumbledore's full name Albus Percival Wulfric Dumbledore. The young wizards were practically blinded by the sheer volume of letters and numbers on the alphabet.

After a few classes, only a dozen or so students remained in the class. Clearly, many young wizards had dropped out due to the torment of mathematics.

"We'll continue with the chapter on using the numbers of a person's birthdate to predict their death in the next class." Professor Victor glanced at the time, closed his book, and looked around at the students. "There are still a few minutes left, so let's talk about the homework."

"Oh no, Divination, I copied your answer last time, I just wrote it down."

"Huh? But I figured out that the principal was a housewife who was good at housework and loved sweets. I only realized that I had misaligned the clock after comparing it with Loren's homework."

"Merlin's beard! The headmistress is a housewife? That's such a ridiculous mistake, didn't you even check it?"

"Didn't you notice when you were copying my homework?"

The young wizards in the audience murmured amongst themselves for a while, and even Loren was wondering if his homework would be criticized.

Professor Victor smiled gently, seemingly oblivious to the young wizards' discussion and their panicked expressions. Her voice continued, "I know many of you don't want to show your calculations. When I first encountered Arithmancy, I also thought simple addition and subtraction didn't require showing the steps. But my students, Arithmancy isn't mathematics; it's not a subject that only looks at the result. Numbers that appear repeatedly in the calculations are also a form of revelation. For example, if 13 appears repeatedly, it foretells misfortune. And 7, that Magic Power number..."

"I hope that when people use Arithmancy, they will not only look at the calculation result, but also see the deeper meaning of the numbers in the calculation process."

"It doesn't matter if you're wrong. For example, a little wizard once Prophecy that Headmaster Dumbledore was a housewife. Isn't that a possibility? Unlike Divination, the future in Arithmancy is not predetermined, but full of possibilities."

"Of course, if the Divination result differs too much from the facts, then the calculation process needs to be re-examined. When you have time, you can do the divination for your friends. Anyway, we don't need to open our Inner Eye for Arithmancy."

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson. See you next week, everyone."

After delivering his critique of a certain Divination professor, Professor Victor packed up his books and manuscripts and slowly walked out of the classroom.

Loren immediately stood up, turned around, and grabbed Hermione's sleeve, pulling her back. "Hermione, come on, let's go see how that person figured out Dumbledore was a housewife. I must tell Dumbledore."

Seeing his excited and impatient expression, Hermione sighed helplessly, "Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn't want to hear this."

Loren retorted, "How do you know he's not interested if I haven't told him?"

"No normal person would be interested."

Do you think Dumbledore normal?

"..."

Hermione moved her textbooks and notebooks to Loren's desk. "You can take a look. I'm going to ask Professor Bubage about Dark Arts."

"Dark Arts?" Loren looked away from her, his expression puzzled.

"You mentioned that Dark Arts is connected to murder. I think this is a matter of law and the definition of magic, which might explain some differences in social consciousness between Muggle and the Wizarding World. I have some questions I'd like to ask Professor Bubage," Hermione explained.

"..."

when?

When did he stop understanding what Hermione was saying?

"Hmm," Loren nodded with a frown, his expression serious. "I think you have a point. Go ahead and come back and tell me about it."

Hermione smiled, pursing her lips, and didn't expose him.

See you tonight.

After dinner, the young wizards lined up to climb the Astronomy Tower, where they would observe the celestial phenomena under the guidance of Professor Sinistra.

Astronomy is a compulsory course in grades one through five, and an elective course in grades six and seven. In the Astronomy course, students will learn the names of stars, constellations, and planets, their positions and movements, and the environments on these planets or moons.

The course content isn't extensive, but the class time is too limited, making it seem like it covers a very long period.

Hermione and Loren walked at the back of the group, talking quietly about the topic of Dark Arts.

"Professor Bubage said that there are also records of Dark Arts among Muggle. It was during the Middle Ages, when many ordinary people believed that wizards were evil and all magic was evil, so it was all Dark Arts," Hermione said in a low voice.

"It sounds like a moral description and definition," Loren said.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Before Miranda Gossack defined it, the prevailing view in the Wizarding World was that if magic was evil, then it was Dark Arts."

"The Three Unforgivable Curses, including the Killing Curse, were invented to harm or control life and soul, so they are undoubtedly Dark Arts."

"As for the controversy surrounding curses and poisons like the Shattering Curse, Professor Bubage believes that they are both Dark Arts and not Dark Arts."

Loren asked with interest, "Quantum mechanics exists in the Wizarding World too? Schrödinger's Dark Arts?"

"Schrödinger's Dark Arts, huh..." Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Professor Bubage means that many spells cannot be simply divided into Dark Arts and white magic. When a wizard uses them properly, they are just ordinary magic. When a wizard uses them to harm life, that is Dark Arts."

"So Professor Bubage's claims are idealistic?"

"You could say that," Hermione said thoughtfully. "It's like our Defense Against the Dark Arts. Although the course is called Defense Against the Dark Arts, so far we've only learned how to deal with dangerous Magical Creatures. While we generally categorize them as dark Magical Creatures, no creature is born evil."

Loren immediately gave a counterexample. "The Basilisk, its gaze can naturally take life."

"That's what I also disagreed with Professor Bubage on," Hermione laughed. "But it was an artificial creature bred by a dark wizard. Perhaps the ritual of hatching the Basilisk was itself Dark Arts, which is why it had that evil look in its eyes."

Loren recalled his Sectumsempra, which he had initially used primarily to process Potions ingredients, only using it against Sirius Black... He was certain he had malicious intent to harm life that time, but Loren wasn't sure if his soul had been affected.

Does Dark Arts only affect the soul when it harms life?

If changes in the soul are difficult to detect...

Loren asked, "So, how do we determine whether a spell is Dark Arts?"

"This..." Hermione looked up at the night sky, remembering what Professor Bubage had said that afternoon.

"Hermione, I can't strictly define what Dark Arts is, but show me the circumstances under which that magic is used, and I'll know whether it is Dark Arts or not."

It's late September, and a week after the new moon, the crescent-shaped moon has transformed into a half-circle waxing crescent, gradually becoming full...