Advanced Dark Magic

It was the weekend, and Lynn had a full day of free time.

After completing their daily spell training together, Lynn finished breakfast in the Great Hall with Cedric and went straight to Professor Foxx's office.

Yesterday, Lynn had finally completed his study of the mainstream jinxes of the wizarding world.

This study did not simply mean being able to cast them. It meant fully absorbing and understanding this category of spells.

Finishing his study of jinxes meant Lynn's Dark spell training had reached its final stage: curses!

"So-called Dark magic is actually defined differently by different people. Some believe that any spell containing malice and capable of harming the human body falls within the scope of Dark magic. Others believe that for Dark magic to be called Dark magic, it must inflict tremendous harm on others, such as Blasting Curse, Thunderclap Explosion, and so on. Still others believe that among all spells, only the three Unforgivable Curses can be called Dark magic, while everything else can only be called Dark spells."

Before beginning the practical lesson, Professor Foxx gave Lynn a detailed explanation of how Dark magic was defined in the wizarding world.

"Then where do you draw the line, Professor? What spells do you consider Dark magic?" Lynn asked proactively.

Professor Foxx instead asked Lynn another question.

"What do you think is most important when a wizard casts magic?"

Lynn thought for a moment before tentatively offering an answer.

"Magical power?"

Professor Foxx could not help laughing.

"That answer is not wrong. Without magical power, a wizard cannot use magic. But likewise, without magical power, a wizard can no longer be called a wizard. So your answer is also wrong."

"Then what is it?"

Professor Foxx did not keep him guessing and answered seriously.

"Emotion. No matter what kind of magic it is, the wizard must possess strong emotions. Even Transfiguration is the same; every transformation requires unwavering conviction, believing at every moment that you will succeed. Spells are even more so. If a wizard has no emotions, then no matter how superb his casting technique is, he cannot cast a single spell."

At that, he shifted the topic back to Dark magic.

"The line I draw for Dark magic is this: as long as a wizard harbors the subjective desire to hurt someone while casting a spell, then even if that spell is merely a Scouring Charm, it belongs to Dark magic."

Seeing Lynn's thoughtful expression, Professor Foxx continued explaining.

"The jinxes and poisons you studied before may already fall within the scope of Dark magic in some people's eyes. And the curses we are about to study have a special name."

Lynn was becoming engrossed in the discussion and could not help asking.

"What is it called?"

Professor Foxx took a book from his drawer. He pointed at its cover, which bore a skull and a string of strange English words:

"Advanced Dark Magic: An Exploration"

That evening.

Lynn met Cedric in front of the greenhouse.

"So it's just us? Professor Sprout isn't coming either?"

Lynn looked behind Cedric and asked curiously.

"Professor Sprout is in Greenhouse Two. There seems to be a problem with the Devil's Snare there. It isn't doing very well, so she went to tend to it personally."

The two put on dragonhide gloves in front of the greenhouse, picked up specially made pruning shears, and officially began their work for the night.

Dittany was an herb highly effective at treating external wounds. Once mature, its leaves could be harvested and specially processed into Dittany essence, a white powder that was easy to carry and even more effective at healing wounds.

Lynn and Cedric's work that night was not complicated. They only needed to carefully cut off each whole leaf along the veins at its base.

"Lynn, what do you go to Professor Foxx's office for every day?"

Cedric chatted with Lynn as they trimmed the leaves.

"The professor is giving me private lessons, teaching me extracurricular spells." Lynn had no intention of hiding it; there was no need.

"Then you really are lucky. Professor Foxx was already a renowned spell master twenty years ago." Cedric instinctively scratched his forehead with a finger, forgetting that he was still wearing filthy dragonhide gloves, and ended up smearing dust all over his forehead.

Lynn burst out laughing, then held back his laughter as he asked Cedric, who was awkwardly wiping his forehead.

"Don't you have any prejudice against Professor Foxx?"

"Like you told me before, don't look at things with prejudice. The only reason the others dislike Professor Foxx is because he killed people connected to them."

"You know the people Professor Foxx killed were from pure-blood families? What about you? I remember that you're a pure-blood too, right? Some distant relatives of yours must have been among those pure-bloods Professor Foxx killed."

Cedric replied very seriously.

"They instinctively avoid the fact that those five people were Death Eaters, but I won't. People who do evil should be punished. I don't think Professor Foxx is a bad person. On the contrary, I think he is a hero."

Lynn silently watched Cedric. After a long pause, he suddenly smiled.

"You really are an oddity among pure-blood wizards."

Lynn put away the trimmed dittany leaves and asked again.

"You seem to know a lot about Professor Foxx's past. Can you tell me why he killed those five Death Eaters back then?"

Cedric shook his head.

"I only heard my father mention it. I don't know the exact reason, but Professor Foxx killed them just a few days after the Dark Lord had fallen from power. The identities of the five dead wizards were unknown, and at the time, the Ministry of Magic Aurors believed Professor Foxx was a Death Eater and threw him into Azkaban. Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore kept searching for evidence on his behalf. Two years ago, he finally cleared Professor Foxx's name and proved that the five dead men were the Death Eaters, while Professor Foxx had been wrongly accused."

Lynn listened quietly, frowning as he wondered about something.

There was quite a lot of dittany to handle in the greenhouse. The two worked until after eight, only finishing shortly before curfew.

Professor Sprout gave each of them a bottle of Dittany essence as payment. There was quite a bit of it; even if they had no use for it, they could sell it for a good price.

Under the moonlight, Cedric and Lynn headed back toward the castle together.

Just as they passed the edge of the Black Lake, Cedric suddenly pointed toward the Whomping Willow.

"There seems to be someone over there!"