Unbreakable Vow

At Dumbledore's instruction.

Cypher only needed to assume the most comfortable position he could.

And listen as Fawkes the phoenix sang a song for him.

The most comfortable position?

After giving it some thought, Cypher gave up on lying flat on the floor.

Instead, he sat cross-legged.

"If possible, find and maintain the feeling you had just before the magic was activated."

Was it the feeling I had when I saw the barrier over the Black Lake?

Cypher's heart stirred as Mage Hand slowly guided him.

He saw it. His perspective resembled the red-and-blue imagery of infrared vision.

The entire room was shrouded in a pale blue glow. At its center were two sources of magic, one blue-violet and the other gold-red.

Without opening his eyes, Cypher knew they were Dumbledore and Fawkes.

At that moment, Fawkes seemed to sense something. It spread its wings and slowly circled above Cypher's head.

Cypher felt threads of warmth. He understood that Fawkes was about to begin its blessing ritual for him.

Generally speaking, a phoenix would only do this upon meeting someone new for the first time. If that person passed its trial in one attempt and earned its recognition, it would compose a unique song for them and sing it once.

The last song Fawkes had sung was for the young Dumbledore.

Its song was difficult to capture in words, capable of elevating one's soul. If the resonance was strong enough, it could also greatly increase one's total magical power.

After a long while, the singing ceased. The exhausted phoenix nodded to Dumbledore, then vanished from the room in a flash of fire.

It needed to find somewhere to recover its magic. Dumbledore had activated defensive measures here, leaving too little ambient magic from outside.

In his previous life, Blue Star had been an era of information explosion, so Cypher had been especially skilled at appreciating and resonating with music.

Naturally, he immersed himself perfectly in the insight the phoenix had brought him.

When Cypher opened his eyes again, he felt utterly refreshed.

His magic responded more flexibly to his commands.

"From now on, use the wand I made for you. Throw away your old one."

Only then did Cypher realize that Dumbledore had altered the wand he made to look exactly like his previous one.

"There are many things you cannot know yet. Once you have learned Occlumency, I can reveal some of them to you."

Cypher nodded to show that he understood.

"Then it seems you truly need Legilimency in order to learn Occlumency..."

Dumbledore frowned, weighing the gains and losses.

If he had never encountered Tom, he believed he would not have had so many concerns.

Yet he had discovered that Tom agreed with him on the surface while continuing to do exactly as he pleased.

If Cypher came into contact with this magic...

No. Tom was merely an orphan who had never made any friends, while Cypher had a warm family and close companions to walk forward with him...

"Cypher, I can teach you the Legilimency spell right now. I can even give you my notes from when I studied magic."

Cypher perked up. Usually, this was when the conditions came.

"But... you must agree to two conditions. First, you must learn the Patronus Charm before practicing these spells. Second, you must make an Unbreakable Vow with me that you will not actively harm your fellow students."

Cypher nodded without hesitation.

"Fawkes! Bring Miss Iris and Miss Luna to my office!"

"Learning the Patronus Charm can reveal whether your mind has been corrupted by magic. As for the vow, I fear that you..."

"I understand!"

Cypher understood. The Patronus Charm was like the psychological tests of later generations, reflecting whether one had been influenced by power.

The vow was because Dumbledore feared he would be unable to withstand temptation.

After all, no matter how mature Cypher appeared in Dumbledore's eyes, he was still only an eleven-year-old child.

"Professor, can the two of them learn these spells as well?"

Dumbledore froze, his expression turning strange.

"If you can teach them."

Was it really that difficult?

Cypher scratched his head.

"Once you learn the Patronus Charm, come to me for a Restricted Section permit. If you cannot find a book, come find me in my office."

Within a few sentences, a bird and two girls appeared in the center of the office.

It was Fawkes, carrying Iris and Luna.

"What do you need our help with?"

Iris came before Cypher and looked him over from head to toe.

"I feel like you've changed somehow."

She muttered softly.

"It's nothing major. I'm about to make a vow with the professor, and I need the two of you to serve as witnesses."

"Eh?!"

Dumbledore held his wand and traced complex patterns through the air.

The three of them stood to one side, staring foolishly.

This was not something they could understand yet.

Luna, who understood a little, quietly told the other two that this was highly advanced knowledge of magical runes.

Once Dumbledore finished drawing.

He beckoned Cypher forward, positioning him opposite himself.

Iris and Luna stood on either side, the four forming a diamond formation.

"What do I need to do?"

"Raise your wand and point it at me."

Then Dumbledore began chanting under his breath.

A golden band of light emerged from the tip of Cypher's wand and wrapped around his arm.

Like a little snake crawling along, it spread backward until it reached his shoulder.

An identical band of light formed at the tip of Dumbledore's wand.

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, vow to fulfill every reasonable request made by Cypher Corvin!"

As soon as the words fell, the band of light on Dumbledore's arm rapidly recoiled and wound around his wand.

Cypher was astonished. Dumbledore had actually agreed to fulfill all of his reasonable requests. Originally, Cypher would have been satisfied with occasional guidance from him.

"I, Cypher Corvin, vow that at any time, I will not actively cause harm to any student enrolled at Hogwarts!"

With Dumbledore's demonstration, Cypher quickly spoke his own vow as well.

Dumbledore hesitated briefly, but ultimately accepted Cypher's vow.

It was enough that Cypher cared about the young wizards within the school. He reassured himself.

As both sides accepted the vows, the two ribbons intertwined at the tips of their touching wands.

Finally, Luna and Iris touched their wands to the entwined ribbons.

"The vow takes effect!" ×2

The two ribbons merged together, then divided into two copies.

They sank respectively into Cypher's and Dumbledore's wrists, leaving behind red tattoo-like lines.

As the ritual ended, the magical fluctuations gradually faded, and the markings slowly vanished from both of their wrists.

"A major matter has been successfully settled. Shall we have a drink together in my office to celebrate?"

From Dumbledore's tone, it sounded like he intended to keep the three of them for some guidance and hear about their upcoming plans.

Cypher was naturally willing. He looked toward the two girls, who indicated that they would follow Cypher's lead.

Seeing this, Cypher led the three of them over to sit before Dumbledore's desk.

"Cypher, Luna did not point out where your Transfiguration problem lies because she has not studied alchemy."

Seeing that all three had conjured comfortable sofas, Dumbledore smiled as he explained.

Then he opened a drawer, took out four cups, and tapped his own with his wand to fill it with honey water.

Cypher discreetly glanced at the nearby drinks cabinet and saw that the liquid level in one bottle of honey water had dropped substantially.

"What about you? Black tea? Honey water? Pumpkin Juice?"

The three exchanged glances and left the choice to Cypher, their nutrition expert. He hurriedly said,

"Two cups of plain water, and one cup of honey water."

Seeing how thick the drink in Dumbledore's cup was, Cypher's face paled.

Who knew why Dumbledore had turned a perfectly good drink into something like concentrated syrup? Could this be one of his peculiar hobbies?

Amid Dumbledore's amused and helpless expression, Cypher used his wand to thoroughly mix two portions of water and one portion of honey water in the air, then divided the mixture into three portions and dropped them into the cups.

"Just right!"

Cypher took a sip and said with a smile.

The two girls also sat primly to one side. As they drank the sweet water, they repeatedly nodded in agreement.

"It seems my tastes really are somewhat unique."

Dumbledore appeared a little dispirited.

"Then, the three of you, could you tell me about your plans from here on?"