Dumbledore's Probing

Damon walked into the stone platform, looked at the Philosopher's Stone embedded within it, and waved his wand.

The stone platform transformed into an upheld palm, grasping the magnificent red gem in its hand—no unusual phenomena occurred.

Damon used Transfiguration to create a tiny magical figure, which stepped forward and took the gem—still, no unusual phenomena occurred.

He relaxed slightly, maintained the Protego shield, reached out, and grabbed the legendary stone, holding it in his hand.

But the moment he touched it, he realized this Philosopher's Stone was a fake.

The Philosopher's Stone, a legendary stone capable of turning base metals into gold, was based on the "Philosopher's Stone" in alchemy, a legendary treasure that could achieve miracles by ignoring the principle of "equivalent exchange."

But the one in his hand was merely a massive source of magical power, containing at most less than a thousandth of the energy of the real Philosopher's Stone—usable, but of little use. At the very least, Voldemort couldn't rebuild his body with such a paltry amount of energy.

It was likely that even this energy was meant to deceive and lure Voldemort.

It seemed Dumbledore was more cautious than he had imagined. The Philosopher's Stone here was just bait, and perhaps he himself was among those being fished for?

Damon placed the counterfeit Philosopher's Stone back onto the stone platform, having no interest in using it—such a meager amount of energy wasn't worth the risk. Who knew what Dumbledore would misunderstand if he found out Damon had taken the stone?

After thinking for a moment on the spot, he waved his wand again:

"Ordinatio Magica"

He re-differentiated the counterfeit stone back into its previous arrangement, then decisively left.

And after he left.

From the shadow in the corner, a tall figure slowly emerged.

He had white hair and piercing blue eyes fixed on the direction Damon had gone, his gaze deep and calm like water.

Why had Damon appeared here? Could the child also be interested in the Philosopher's Stone—no, it would be abnormal not to be interested in the Philosopher's Stone. Since he could trigger the setup, at the very least, he was merely curious about the stone and had no intention of using it—even if only for an instant.

But that single instant was enough. Based on that alone, Dumbledore could conclude that this child had no connection whatsoever to the Death Eaters—even though linking a twelve-year-old child to the Death Eaters was an utterly absurd notion.

But there was no help for it. Who could have known that something even more absurd had just happened? No one could have imagined that White's Transfiguration Law, which had stirred up storms outside and caused both the Wizengamot and the Ministry of Magic's council to make a great fuss, originated from a twelve-year-old child.

When the next issue of "Transfiguration Today" was published, many wizards who had spent their lives immersed in Transfiguration would likely face the awkward reality of having their understanding overturned.

As for this child, he had only one last thing to verify.

Compared to Damon, who had already confirmed the authenticity of the Philosopher's Stone and even played through the entire trial, the three little ones were very nervous over the next few weeks.

Every time they passed the corridor on the fourth floor, they would stop and listen to see if Fluffy was still growling low inside. Snape strode around the school all day long, his temper as irritable as ever, which undoubtedly meant the Philosopher's Stone was still safe.

It wasn't until the end-of-term exams approached that Hermione lost her composure—even though they still had ten weeks left.

She grabbed Ron and Harry and launched into intense revision, while Damon remained aloof from them.

Inside Professor Flitwick's office.

"Protego totalum"

Damon waved his wand steadily. Transparent currents of air expanded like fluid throughout the entire office, wrapping everything in a transparent film without a single omission.

"Perfect casting. You've finally solved the problem of not being able to perfectly cover the protection target."

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands, applauding warmly for the most outstanding student in a century.

Damon smiled in thanks, showing no satisfaction with his achievement, and continued, "Professor, may I start learning the next spell with you?"

"Of course. What would you like to learn?"

"Apparition."

"...Damon, that might be a bit difficult." Professor Flitwick's face showed a troubled expression. "Apparition is only permitted for witches and wizards aged seventeen and above. You haven't reached the age requirement yet."

"Oh—no exceptions?"

Professor Flitwick shook his head. "Apparition is forbidden within the castle. Only when sixth-year students are learning it is the protective magic of one area temporarily lifted for practice."

"Even if I taught you, you could only learn the theory without practice—but I think you've probably already studied the theory in advance?"

"Besides, even if I secretly taught you, once you learned Apparition, you'd still have to go to the Ministry of Magic's testing center to take the exam and get a license. This spell is strictly controlled by the Ministry; you couldn't hide it no matter what."

"It seems I'm out of luck with this magic for now?"

Damon hadn't expected so many restrictions on learning Apparition. It looked like learning it at school was impossible—he'd have to find another way.

As if afraid Damon might be disappointed, Professor Flitwick immediately spread his hands to console him: "How about learning another high-level spell instead? For example, I could teach you the Patronus Charm. From now on, you could have your own Patronus!"

"Rather than that—Professor," Damon looked at Flitwick with a sincere expression, "could you teach me Occlumency?"

"Occlumency? Where did you hear about that spell? Ordinary wizards shouldn't have access to such content..."

Professor Flitwick was genuinely surprised. Then, remembering Dumbledore's instructions to him, he said with a complicated expression, "I can teach you, Damon. But do you have any understanding of Occlumency?"

"To be honest, I don't know much. I only know that mastering it allows one to resist mental intrusion from others."

Professor Flitwick nodded, wrote him a note, and said:

"This is my authorization slip. You can use it to borrow relevant books from the Restricted Section. I recommend two for you: one is Forgetting and Resistance: A Guide to Memory Magic Defense, and the other is Soul, Mind, and the Boundaries of Magic. Once you've read through them, you can come find me again."

Damon thanked Professor Flitwick and, slip in hand, headed straight for the Restricted Section.

Come to think of it, this was his first time here. He had always been fixated on solidifying his foundation, believing that dabbling in advanced spells too early would skew his thinking and lead to overreaching.

After verification and guidance from the librarian, Madam Pince, Damon made his way to Section B, Row X3, and found the two books he needed.

Thump.

Just then, a book with a brownish-black leather cover fell from somewhere, landing squarely at Damon's feet.

Damon bent down to pick it up, flipping it over casually to see its cover—elegant yet sinister purple lines on both sides, framing the title at the center:

Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic