Chao Feng Admits Defeat

Hogwarts was immersed in a rare calm that weekend.

Yet Lin Du had no intention of resting. Instead, he locked himself in the private study attached to his office.

Heavy curtains hung down, shutting out the outside light and sound. Only several floating magical lamps provided a steady source of illumination.

Just as he had told Dumbledore, one important reason he had accepted the teaching position was the vast collection in Hogwarts' Restricted Section, especially the strictly controlled forbidden knowledge—

Such as the deeper, lesser-known core principles behind the Three Unforgivable Curses.

His years of travel and research outside the castle, combined with that conversation with Dumbledore, had nearly reached the limit of what he could find in the "outside world."

To make a breakthrough, he had to return to this ancient treasure vault.

Several hefty tomes borrowed from the Restricted Section lay open across the desk, while parchment scrolls were covered in densely packed notes and derivation formulas.

The materials he had copied as an Exchange Student formed the foundation, but the deeper and more dangerous records had clearly been hidden more thoroughly. Only his current status as a "professor" allowed him to access them without attracting excessive suspicion.

His research focus was on the mechanism by which the Unforgivable Curses affected their casters in return.

The common understanding was that using such spells would "taint the soul," but exactly how it did so and what the mechanism was remained vague.

Lin Du's fingertips brushed over the blurred words in the ancient text as he conducted rigorous deductions based on his understanding of the nature of Magic Power.

His formidable Mental Power and Logical Thinking Ability worked like the most precise instruments, analyzing those obscure clues.

"...A curse's might depends on the Purity of Mind... Killing Requires Cold Determination, Domination Requires Absolute Arrogance, Suffering Requires Immersed Pleasure..." he murmured as he read an ancient description, his brows faintly furrowed.

"Pure Malice... Immersed Pleasure..." He turned those phrases over repeatedly, simulating in his mind the way Magic Power operated when driven by particular emotions.

"Hmph, isn't that obvious?"

Chao Feng slid out of the shadows and landed on one corner of the desk, its amber eyes fixed on the ancient books. "You force the filthiest emotions into your soul, then expect to remain spotless? You human wizards can be laughably naïve sometimes."

It tapped the section on the Imperius Curse with the tip of its wing, its tone mocking. "Especially this 'Absolute Arrogance'—you have to believe from the bottom of your heart that the other person is your puppet, that his thoughts and will should be kneaded and shaped however you please. And then there's this 'Immersed Pleasure.'"

Its wing pointed toward the section on the Cruciatus Curse. "You have to sincerely enjoy every moment of the other person's suffering, savoring his screams like honey. This isn't merely 'using' a curse. It's actively embracing the demon within!"

Lin Du listened in silence, his gaze sharp.

"Theory requires verification," he said calmly, his eyes sweeping over the names of those two dangerous curses.

Lin Du raised his wand and tried to evoke the feeling of having everything under his control.

He imagined himself freely manipulating another's will, making them obey his commands completely.

Yet for some reason, a voice in his mind kept coolly analyzing every detail of the process, leaving him always like an observer, unable to truly immerse himself in it.

The tip of his wand merely flickered with a faint glimmer before going dark again, unable to produce even a proper Magical Fluctuation.

"Pfft—" Chao Feng could not hold back a laugh. "Give it up. With your personality, you think you're bullying a House-elf just by asking it to prepare one extra dessert, and you want to control someone?"

Ignoring the teasing, Lin Du tried again to recall the moments when he had been angriest.

But the more deliberately he tried to remember, the blurrier those emotions became.

His wand glowed faintly again, but even more weakly than before.

"See?" Chao Feng fluttered down onto the edge of the desk. "You take things too seriously. Even when you want to do something bad, you have to understand the principles first. These curses need genuine emotion, not an act."

Lin Du lowered his wand and regarded Chao Feng thoughtfully.

"You're right," he suddenly said. "When casting on a person, I may indeed lack that kind of Pure Malice. But what if the target isn't human?"

Chao Feng froze halfway through preening its feathers.

"For example," Lin Du said evenly, "casting the Imperius Curse on a noisy Contracted Spirit Beast that always meddles in my research? 'Absolute Arrogance'—the belief that your will should naturally submit to mine. That logic seems much smoother."

Chao Feng's feathers puffed up at a visible speed.

"Y-you, what do you mean?!" Its amber eyes went wide, and its voice abruptly rose. "Lin Du! I'm warning you, don't even think about it! The contract doesn't say anything about that!"

"Just a theoretical discussion." The corner of Lin Du's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. "But in principle, when casting on a Non-human Intelligent Creature, the threshold for the required 'purity' of emotion may be lower. After all, there is no need to overcome Moral Empathy for one's own kind..."

"Stop! Enough!" Chao Feng shot over in front of him, its wings beating nervously. "I admit defeat, all right? Stop researching this stuff! It's too twisted!"

It hurriedly paced two steps across the desk, then suddenly pointed its wing at another page in the tome.

"Look at this! Fiendfyre! The legendary flames that can destroy Horcruxes!" Chao Feng's tone was almost pleading. "Wouldn't it be better to study this? At least its danger is obvious—either you control it, or it burns you. That's better than those things that quietly corrode people's hearts!"

Lin Du looked at the spirit beast that had suddenly admitted defeat, and a trace of amusement flashed in his eyes.

Following the direction of Chao Feng's wing, his gaze fell upon that dangerous term—"Fiendfyre."

"Fiendfyre?" he mused.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Chao Feng nodded frantically. "This is so much more practical! Studying it won't turn you into a madman who enjoys torturing people, and I won't have to worry all day about you using the Imperius Curse on me!"

Lin Du's finger traced over the term, and focus returned to his eyes.

"Indeed,"

he said slowly, "the principles behind Fiendfyre's formation, the methods of controlling it, its destructive properties... all have considerable research value. And it does not rely on the caster's malicious emotions. It leans more toward pure Magic Power control techniques."

He glanced at Chao Feng. "At least studying this won't turn me into a madman who enjoys torturing people."

"Exactly!" Chao Feng let out a breath, its feathers gradually settling. "At least if we study this, both of us can sleep soundly."

It retreated into the shadows, though it still added a habitual jab. "Being burned to death at least leaves a whole corpse behind. If you turn into some twisted monster, I'll be the first to stay far away from you."

After a pause, it shook its feathers with malicious delight. "Though come to think of it, if Fiendfyre really chased you around the room, that would be quite a sight."