I'll Just Look, I Won't Learn

The moon shone bright beneath a sky full of stars.

Inside the quiet little house.

Soft moonlight filtered through the half-drawn curtains, falling in mottled patches across the wooden floor and draping the tranquil night in a veil of silver. The air carried a faint scent of pine.

Ian sat upright before an oak desk that might have been older than he was. In one hand, he held his Elder Wand, the Light Source at its tip illuminating the forbidden book on the desk.

"Secrets of the Darkest Art"

This was the "Dark Bible" written by the infamous old-era Dark Wizard Orr Brock. Its shadow could be found behind all manner of major events that took place throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.

Voldemort, who had plunged the entire Wizarding World into panic and terror, had gained the power he desired from this book and laid down foreshadowing that ran throughout the Seven Steps of Magic.

Many people might only know this.

Voldemort had obtained the method of creating Horcruxes from this book, successfully splitting his soul into seven pieces and thus gaining the confidence to face defeat before Dumbledore.

However.

This book clearly contained far more than just the method for creating Horcruxes.

It also held advanced content involving Dark Magic. Yet because the original work had limited space, that forbidden knowledge had become little-known secrets.

Now.

By a twist of fate.

This forbidden book, for which one might be sent to Azkaban for merely glancing at it, lay quietly before Ian. Of course, he could not help being curious about its contents.

To be fair.

The magic recorded in this book was certainly fraught with danger. After all, Dark Magic had become forbidden knowledge not merely because of its power and the harm it could inflict upon wizards.

One had to know.

There were many powerful spells.

However.

Most magic classified as Dark Magic did not merely cause harm through its effects; the magic itself was also a corruption and a threat to those who learned it.

One slight misstep.

And one would fall into irredeemable madness.

Most of Voldemort's Death Eaters were so unhinged that it was hard to say their half-baked Dark Magic had not eroded their minds. After all, their leader had learned himself into a noseless lunatic.

"Since Grindelwald gave this book to his descendants, it probably doesn't contain anything that terrifying, right?" Ian's knowledge of the First Generation Dark Lord was limited to the pitiful few lines in the original work.

He had actually leafed through his A History of Magic textbook just now, but its introduction to Grindelwald, Dumbledore's archenemy, contained only vaguely worded information.

Regarding that period of history.

The upper echelons of the Wizarding World clearly did not wish to mention it. Still, one answer could be found in the scant records: Grindelwald had not been as insane as Voldemort.

He was a Dark Wizard.

An ambitious man.

A genocidal butcher.

The source of a chaotic era.

Yet even Grindelwald's enemies did not deny his extraordinary brilliance. Unlike Voldemort, they did not regard him as a dangerous lunatic devoid of reason.

This man.

He had treated his followers far more kindly than Voldemort had.

On that point alone.

Ian felt that Grindelwald probably would not casually use dangerous knowledge to harm his own descendants.

Of course.

Letting a child who had only just reached Hogwarts admission age come into contact with a textbook like Secrets of the Darkest Art was, more or less, beyond the bounds of ordinary understanding as well.

"Knowledge may be poisonous, but knowledge itself is clearly innocent."

After struggling with himself for a long time, Ian finally opened the book, full of apprehension.

Many Dark Wizards might spend their entire lives searching in vain for knowledge casually mentioned within its pages. Now that it lay right before him, few wizards could resist such temptation.

Ian was no exception.

He had no interest in magic that split the soul, but he truly wanted to collect the Three Unforgivable Curses. They could at least serve as a trump card while attending the dangerous Hogwarts.

The noseless one would come sooner or later.

Even if he had no intention of entangling himself in the Savior's karma, simply being at Hogwarts carried uncertain dangers. Having a few more means of protecting himself would let him rest easier.

"Look at it critically, analyze it dialectically. This isn't yearning for darkness. It's the same as General Kim playing Steam critically and driving a Maybach critically."

As he brainwashed himself like this.

Ian brought the wand in his hand closer to Secrets of the Darkest Art.

Compared to a dim Oil Lamp.

The Light Source released by the Lumos Charm was steadier and brighter, and it could also raise his proficiency a little before he went to sleep. Most nights, Ian chose to light the room this way.

The Wizarding World did have convenient lighting tools, such as the Alchemical Creation known as the Deluminator. It could absorb Light Sources and produce them as well.

But.

Such a priceless Alchemical Creation.

Was clearly a rich man's toy that a penniless Young Wizard like Ian could never afford.

Besides.

Was the Deluminator as useful as the Lumos Charm?

It couldn't raise proficiency!

"I'll just look, I won't learn... I'll try not to learn much."

As Ian murmured words of questionable credibility, he brought the Light Source from his wand closer to the book before him. The words on the opened page became clearly visible.

This was a book compiled in modern times.

Although most of the Dark Magic within still bore traces of Ancient Magic, it ultimately belonged to the category of modern spells, so it was not as complicated and difficult to read as Runes.

"As expected."

Ian had only opened the first chapter when his earlier guess was confirmed. The first page of the book bore notes written in quill, containing precautions and stern warnings.

And that was not all.

As he continued turning the pages.

Nearly every page had ink annotations explaining and warning about its contents... The instruction was incredibly detailed, and it felt as though the annotator understood the material even more deeply than the author of Secrets of the Darkest Art.

This was clearly a textbook Grindelwald had specially prepared for his descendants.

It had even greater Gold Content than the original work.

Just as Ian had imagined, the method of creating Horcruxes was merely a short section in Secrets of the Darkest Art.

Perhaps the author of this book did not care much about Horcruxes either. Compared with knowledge related to Horcruxes, other Dark Magic made up by far the largest portion of the book.

Starting from the first page.

Step by step.

From simple to difficult and complex.

As he read the first page and saw a spell marked simple, not dangerous, and most suitable for the Elder Wand, Ian unconsciously began reading it in earnest.

"Inferi Conjuration..."

The Young Wizard, focused on reading.

May have forgotten that he was holding a wand.

At the same time.

He may have underestimated the quality of Grindelwald's instructional annotations, as well as... his own talent in certain areas.

Inferi Control Charm: (Level 1): 2/100

He did not notice the panel update in time.

Because at that moment, he could sense the flow of magic with unprecedented clarity.

Ian was horrified.

He watched as the Light Source at the tip of his wand changed from a warm white glow into a sickly green. The entire room seemed to have been dyed with a chilling hue.

"Crack... crack... crack..."

The old floorboards.

Were rising and falling.