The Professor's Tacit Approval

Clearly.

Snape intended to "recreate" the bizarre scene Ian had described, aiming to prove that Ian's words were nothing but a pack of lies.

However.

Ian did not feel nervous because of this.

Although it was not as good as Grindelwald's annotations in Secrets of the Darkest Art in terms of exposition and pedagogy, the magic Snape was recording was clearly not of a high difficulty level.

"Is hostility required..."

Ian was very meticulous.

He did not grasp the entire spell all at once.

Perhaps it was because the magic wasn't dark enough?

Ian, who had already gained some self-awareness regarding his talent for Dark Arts, thought to himself.

At this moment.

"Heh, putting on a show..."

Snape was just waiting for Ian to admit defeat.

During Ian's process.

He drew his wand.

With a wave of his hand, the wooden planks stacked in the corner began to assemble into individual coffins, and those scattered corpses were pulled by an invisible force, floating automatically into the coffins while wrapped in tarpaulins.

"Clatter~"

The coffins were buried into the soil one by one.

The dirt piled up in the room also began to refill the ground.

Soon.

The entire living room was restored to its original state.

What Ian had spent an entire afternoon failing to complete was finished by magic in just a few minutes, and those corpses didn't even need to be forced into a single coffin anymore.

Actually, if it weren't for the fact that the corpses had burst out of their coffins when Ian summoned them, he wouldn't have needed to rebuild coffins to compensate the dead.

One could only say he had a conscience.

But not enough of one.

There was no help for it.

Nailing coffins was exceptionally tiring, and Ian had only been trying to save time by pondering whether to bury multiple corpses together. After all, these corpses had found a new home, hadn't they?

"Mr. Prince, I do not have time to wait for you to continue stalling."

After cleaning up the mess.

Snape, with a dark expression once again, reminded Ian, who was standing in the corner.

"Professor."

Ian finally looked up, having disengaged from his focused study.

"If you want to confess for leniency, it is not too late."

Snape snorted coldly.

"Professor, this spell of yours is Dark Magic, isn't it?"

Ian spoke as if he were in a bit of a dilemma.

"Of course."

Snape glanced at Ian sideways.

"Will I get into any trouble if I learn it?" Ian continued to ask.

Snape showed an impatient expression.

"You weren't worried about getting into trouble when you learned the [Corpse Control Curse]?" Snape sneered, staring at Ian with eyes that seemed to see through his tricks.

"Don't give me any ridiculous reasons as a lame excuse for the fact that you actually can't learn it. Didn't you find a note and learn the [Corpse Control Curse] just by curiously trying it out?"

"This isn't even a standard piece of Dark Magic. Given your own vastly inflated boasting, I should think a tiny little spell like this wouldn't be able to stump a magic genius such as yourself."

Snape placed special emphasis on the words "magic genius."

The sarcasm was palpable.

"I am not making up any excuses or reasons, you have misunderstood, Professor." Ian blinked, looking at the new Level 1 skill that had appeared on his skill panel.

"I just thought..."

Ian drew his wand and pointed it at the remaining pile of wooden planks in the distance.

"Sectumsempra!"

Ian whispered softly. As his voice fell, a subtle, almost imperceptible ripple stirred in the air. Like a phantom, the invisible blade carved through the space, as if an unseen sword were being swung in a frenzy, shredding everything in its path into pieces.

A harsh, tearing sound rang out.

Shards flew in every direction.

Wood chips and dust filled the entire living room, drifting down like rain.

"It isn't that difficult to learn."

Covered in a layer of debris, Ian tucked his wand away and brushed off his clothes, looking at Snape with a slightly sheepish smile.

"Perhaps, Professor, you should bring out a more difficult spell. That way, I might actually fail to learn it. You would finally get your wish and see me flustered and distressed."

He was full of anticipation.

His words sounded entirely as though he were looking out for the other's interests.

He received no response.

Standing on the other side, the sneer on Snape's face had frozen solid.

The atmosphere in the room turned somewhat eerie.

"Professor?"

Ian continued, unwilling to give up.

"Really, something harder, just a little harder, and I truly wouldn't be able to learn it." His thirst for knowledge was so pure that even his insincere words felt filled with genuine sincerity.

"..."

Snape was covered in wood shavings; because of his greasy hair, the debris clung to him firmly. However, he clearly had no mind to worry about his hair at the moment.

"What is wrong with you!?"

Snape's facial muscles twitched violently.

"As you can see, I was almost stumped by you."

Ian put on an expression of lingering fear.

It was just as absurd and bizarre as his previous claims.

Snape, likewise, did not take the bait.

At this very moment.

The professor, who could spend half an hour insulting someone without ever repeating a phrase, opened his mouth, yet for a long time, he could not manage to utter a single word.

There was no helping it.

Who could have imagined it?

A young wizard he had only recently brought out of an orphanage.

A boy who had only purchased his wand a few days ago had actually succeeded in slapping him in the face, proving to him what "purely self-taught" magical talent really meant.

Is this even human?

What kind of monster is this!

Twenty minutes, all told?

Even Voldemort would have to hand you his wand!

Snape's expression was somewhat dazed.

"Professor, Professor, haven't you thought of one yet? I suggest you stop giving me Dark Arts; why not test me with Fiendfyre instead?" Ian's voice chirped incessantly.

"Shut up!"

Snape just wanted to calm down.

Good grief!

Fiendfyre?

How much bolder could you possibly be!

"Alright..."

Ian shrank his neck.

It took a long while for Snape to recover from his dreamlike state of bewilderment. He scrutinized the boy before him, forced to re-evaluate Ian's claims.

Perhaps.

Had a dark wizard really dropped a scrap of paper?

"Where is that paper you picked up?"

Snape still refused to admit he had misjudged the situation.

"It's gone. Last night was truly chaotic, with a pile of corpses crawling out; I have no idea where the note flew off to." Ian immediately put on an expression of annoyance.

"You are not to mention yesterday... or today's events to anyone!" Snape's expression was filled with complexity, and he did not continue to press about the whereabouts of the note.

The look Snape cast at Ian held not only shock and disbelief, but also a faint trace of worry. Displaying extraordinary magical talent at such a sensitive time was by no means a good thing.

Voldemort was returning soon.

Grindelwald's Acolytes and descendants were also active in the vicinity of Hogwarts.

At this thought.

Snape suddenly seemed to realize something.

Perhaps.

The note this brat in front of him had picked up was dropped by one of Grindelwald's Acolytes? If it were a note originally intended for teaching Young Grindelwald, then it would all make sense!

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Unknowingly.

Snape seemed to stop doubting Ian's story.

There was no helping it.

Who could blame him when he had seen with his own eyes just how incredible this brat's talent was.

"School starts soon. You listen to me: you are forbidden from using that spell you just learned on any student at school! Even if someone you dislike provokes you, the same rule applies!"

Snape was already beginning to regret why he had brought out Sectumsempra.

Who could have imagined!

That this guy would actually learn it!

"Alright, alright, I understand, of course. I have always been kind to others."

Ian nodded hurriedly, offering his assurance.

He took Snape's words to heart.

After all.

Snape only said he wasn't allowed to use Sectumsempra on students he disliked, but he never said he wasn't allowed to use the [Corpse Control Curse] he had learned yesterday on the ancestral graves of those students' families.

Hmm.

This must be a tacit approval from the professor!