Stacking Passive Effects

Regulus had a rather dangerous idea.

A fatal strike that would work against all carbon-based life forms, with wizards no exception.

What compound could almost certainly kill all carbon-based creatures and be quickly created on the spot through Transfiguration?

Cyanide.

Whether Hydrogen Cyanide gas or Cyanide Ions, both were highly toxic. They could rapidly inhibit cellular respiration, had an extremely low lethal dose, and took effect with terrifying speed.

The air contained Nitrogen and Carbon, while Water Vapor provided Hydrogen.

Theoretically, if his Magic Power control was defying heaven enough, he could instantly capture Nitrogen, Carbon, and Hydrogen atoms from the surrounding environment.

Then forcibly combine them into Hydrogen Cyanide molecules and send them directly into the target's respiratory system...

That required more than control over molecular arrangements. It was the absurd dream of atomic-level manipulation, along with real-time elemental identification and synthesis-path calculation capabilities comparable to a Supercomputer.

At present, it was no different from a fantasy.

But in the magical world, miracles that turned the impossible into possible were never in short supply.

At the very least, this direction pointed to the heights Transfiguration might reach under extreme circumstances.

It would no longer be a support for combat, but the most covert and lethal weapon.

If someone fell victim to it, skilled wizards might be able to save themselves effectively, but inept ones would almost certainly die.

Of course, that was unimaginably far away, perhaps even forever unattainable.

Still, he could work toward it.

Hermes barely dragged himself up from the floor, bracing himself against a bedpost. With his head lowered, he no longer dared look at Regulus.

The arrogance in his heart had been utterly shattered, replaced by deep wariness and fear, as well as a twisted curiosity toward that unknown power that even he himself had not noticed.

The confidence he had once placed in turning things around through Dark Arts now seemed utterly ridiculous.

He needed to reassess everything, including himself, and... how he should face this terrifying roommate.

Silence returned to the Dormitory. A subtle smile curled at Regulus's lips as he picked up a fresh piece of Graphite and began another round of practice.

Though Transfiguration's exploration of the nature of matter was fascinating, Regulus knew full well that it required years of accumulation and could not be achieved overnight.

What he needed now were more immediate and crucial defensive capabilities to deal with the increasingly imminent threat: Voldemort.

Legilimency came first.

The original story mentioned that Severus Snape had relied on this technique to serve as a spy beside Voldemort, a Legilimency Master, without being discovered.

Mastering Legilimency would not only effectively defend against Legilimency, but might even help resist the Imperius Curse.

It was also an indispensable survival skill when facing Voldemort.

However, Legilimency alone was not enough.

He thought of Passive Magic—magic that could remain active without being deliberately cast, or automatically trigger to protect a wizard.

Hogwarts's regular curriculum rarely taught such things. They were often regarded as advanced or obscure magical arts, scattered among the inheritances of Ancient Families or within certain advanced magical tomes.

And Legilimency was the core Passive Magic of mental defense.

For Regulus, entering the Forbidden Section without permission was either zero times or countless times.

That Wednesday night before Halloween, the Castle was especially quiet. He decided to sneak in again.

The process was familiar.

He did not linger long. His purpose was clear, and with his powerful, scanning-style mental reading, he quickly skimmed through and memorized the core information of the relevant books.

He saw quite a few titles:

Mind Fortress: Essentials of Mental Defense Arts

<Ancient Protective Rituals and Permanent Magical Imprints>

<The Nature of Magic Power: On Shaping and Disguising One's Own Magic Power>

<An Introduction to Dark Magic Detection and Countermeasures>

<Soul Resilience: On Resisting Possession and Bewitchment>

<The Hidden Path: Tracking, Countertracking, and Magical Fog>

The depth of Hogwarts's collection was simply unfathomable. It also outlined for him the vast fields of knowledge he would need to explore in the future.

After returning to the Dormitory, Regulus immediately began practicing Legilimency.

According to the book's description, the core of Legilimency lay in strictly controlling the leakage of thoughts and emotions, while constructing complex false or solidified Mind Mazes in the depths of one's consciousness to confuse intruders.

The practice was divided into several levels.

The first was the Basic Barrier: concentrating one's mind and constructing a simple wall around the outer edge of consciousness to prevent surface thoughts from scattering freely or being read.

The second was sorting and partitioning thoughts, categorizing different memories, knowledge, and emotions and storing them in separate rooms.

Then came the generation of false memories or thoughts: actively creating seemingly plausible but irrelevant or misleading fragments of thought, then automatically pushing those decoys toward the intruder when invaded.

Finally came Deep Solidification and Automatic Defense, training the defensive mechanism into instinct so that even without active maintenance, the subconscious would automatically operate the Basic Barrier and Decoy Deployment.

Only the deepest and most critical thoughts would be tightly protected, with access paths that were extraordinarily complex.

With Regulus's powerful mind and soul stability, which had been continuously tempered through Star Orbit Meditation and had long surpassed those of his peers and even many adult wizards, getting started with Legilimency was almost effortless.

He quickly grasped the construction of the Basic Barrier, and his Mind Partition Management was also orderly and precise.

However, he felt that to reach the point of completely deceiving a Legilimency Master on Voldemort's level, he might need more practice and tempering in higher-level techniques.

But the door had already opened to him. What remained was mostly Grindstone Work and Situational Adaptation.

He even came up with an idea: could the dynamic model of Star Orbit Meditation serve as the core of a special Mind Maze?

He could hide his most important secrets within the ever-shifting patterns of the Star Orbit Model, whose calculations were immensely complex.

Even if an intruder broke through the outer defenses, they would likely become hopelessly disoriented before that boundless, ever-moving Starry sky, which required immense computational power even to understand, and be unable to find any truly useful information.

Over the next two days, while consolidating his Legilimency, he also began trying to study other Passive Magic.

He understood the Prototype of Constant Shield Charm as shaping his own Magic Power into an exceedingly thin but evenly distributed protective layer over the surface of his body.

This required constant and subconscious Magic Fine-tuning and consumed a great deal of attention. For now, he could only maintain it for short periods.

Danger Sense, meanwhile, combined with his already sharp Magic Perception. He began consciously training himself to notice even the slightest hostility directed at him within his surroundings.

Every kind of Passive Magic was difficult to learn and master.

They did not pursue explosive power in an instant. Instead, they demanded exceptionally precise control over a wizard's own Magic Power and mind, as well as long-term, subtle transformation.

But the benefits were equally obvious.

Once successful, they became Armor and Radar truly integrated into one's instincts, functioning around the clock and providing warnings before danger arrived.

They could automatically provide the first layer of cushioning when Attacks came, and protect one's deepest secrets when someone tried to pry into them.

For someone who needed to maneuver within the Dark Faction, these abilities were no less important than any powerful Attack Magic.

Friday afternoon, Potions Class ended early.

As usual, Regulus headed for the Library, but in a Secluded Corridor connecting the Underground Classroom to the Main Staircase, he heard familiar clamor and mocking laughter.

It was James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin, who looked as though he was trying to stop them but was having little success.

They had surrounded Severus Snape.

Snape's robes had been splashed with some Sticky Potion Residue that continuously gave off a strange stench, and his hair was soaking wet.

His face was dark enough to drip water. He gripped his wand tightly, but faced with four people—especially James and Sirius flanking him from both sides—he seemed isolated and helpless.

"Look who it is. Is dear Snivellus conducting another Potion experiment? Is he planning to create a new Stink Attack this time?" James jeered loudly.

"Let go of me, Potter." Snape's voice was hoarse and resentful, as though the words had been forced through clenched teeth.

"Let go? We're only kindly helping you clean that unidentified substance off your robes. It's really filthy—just like you."

Sirius lounged against the wall, wearing that smile full of rebellion and delight in mischief.

Regulus stopped walking. He did not step forward immediately, merely watching in silence.