Fiendfyre Curse! School's About to Start!

Time flowed by in silence.

Like fine sand slipping through fingertips.

Before he knew it, the day before school started had arrived.

Ian had also grown quite a bit.

The magic within Secrets of the Darkest Art was not particularly difficult to learn. Aside from the knowledge regarding Horcruxes, Ian had already gathered the standard trifecta of the Three Unforgivable Curses.

[Killing Curse (Level 1) 11/100]

[Imperius Curse (Level 1) 1/100]

[Cruciatus Curse (Level 1) 3/100]

Since he was currently in the real world, Ian certainly dared not use his wand to practice these strictly illegal spells. He had essentially gained mastery over them through the contemplation of theoretical knowledge.

Ian's exceptional talent for Dark Arts played a part in this, and the annotated explanations by Gellert Grindelwald within Secrets of the Darkest Art were also indispensable.

Of course.

Beyond the Three Unforgivable Curses, Ian had only dabbled in other Dark Arts like [Reducto] and the [Torture Transformation Curse], without delving any deeper.

After all.

It is better to master a few things well than to learn many things poorly.

To increase the level of his spells later on, Ian would need to invest time into grinding proficiency. He felt that being able to control enough Dark Arts to handle most situations was sufficient.

"Learn slowly; sooner or later, it will all be etched into my brain."

Ian was not in a rush.

He would also spend his days studying the contents of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1.

It served as a palate cleanser from his study of the Dark Arts.

These spells, required for first-year Hogwarts students, needed a bit of practice for Ian, though his magic level was no longer as feeble as it had been at the start.

In the span of a few days.

Although Ian had not finished the entire The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1, he had reached a level where he could competently cast most of the easier spells.

That is to say, Level 1 spell proficiency.

The only magic that somewhat stumped Ian was Transfiguration. The simple task of turning a match into a needle had plagued him for several days without yielding any proficiency.

[Transfiguration (Level 0) 17/50]

This could truly be called slow progress.

He wondered if he was even inferior to the average young wizard.

In truth, Ian could vaguely sense his own problem—just as Dumbledore had warned him before, he perhaps focused too much on the principles and logic behind how magic was formed.

This was especially true under the influence of [Enlightenment of Wisdom].

This was a world of fairy tales.

Imagination and the power of belief held a pivotal position.

Mara, his teacher in the Limbo, had once mentioned a similar situation; her lifelong knowledge could not compare to Pandero's conviction of "I think I can, so I can."

Compared to those wizards full of imagination who believed magic was a miracle, Ian's engineering-student mindset left him trapped in an obsession with logic and principles.

There was no helping it.

Realizing this.

Did not mean he could correct it in a short amount of time.

"Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of Hogwarts, was also a wizard who valued reason, yet her Transfiguration was equally outstanding. There must be a balance to be found."

"I did attend a few days of painting classes after school back in the day. Even though the tutor said I didn't have the talent for it, I must have at least a little bit of artistic flair and imagination, right?"

Ian did not doubt his ability to learn Transfiguration; he just didn't know when he would find that balance between reason and imagination.

That would take time.

"Transfiguration has shattered my confidence; only this precious knowledge can help me rebuild it." Whenever his attempts at Transfiguration grew difficult, Ian would return to leafing through Secrets of the Darkest Art.

The entire volume of Secrets of the Darkest Art recorded numerous spells, roughly categorized into hexes, jinxes, and curses, increasing in danger and malice accordingly.

Beyond these three categories of Dark Arts, there was another, more peculiar type of magic—the Curse.

"So that's how the noseless Voldemort managed to secure the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor..." Ian had no intention of researching curses.

He had always been kind to others.

Where would he find an enemy that required him to use something like a curse?

If he had that kind of time.

Wouldn't it be better to use the Killing Curse, or perhaps crank up the intensity of the Fiendfyre Curse? Yes, after returning from the nameless bookstore, Ian had naturally studied the famous Dark spell, the [Fiendfyre Curse].

As of now.

The Fiendfyre Curse had effectively become the Dark Magic he was most proficient in.

[Fiendfyre Curse (Level 1) 76/100]

Due to the same concerns, Ian dared not use his own wand to cast or practice such a severely punished spell; he felt that perhaps he should get himself a spare wand at some point.

He wondered if Knockturn Alley offered custom orders?

Regardless.

Without practice, it was truly difficult to improve his proficiency; that [Fiendfyre Curse] could reach such a level was entirely thanks to the records and annotations within Secrets of the Darkest Art.

It had to be said.

The ruthless Miss Grindelwald was not wrong; regarding the mastery of the [Fiendfyre Curse], Ian could sense the unparalleled genius of her grandfather, Gellert Grindelwald, through the written notes alone.

At this current level of proficiency.

Ian had not even finished reading all the annotations and explanations regarding this spell.

"School starts tomorrow, and it will be difficult to read this book once I'm there." Ian looked forward to the start of the school year, yet he also felt some regret that he would no longer be able to freely study these extraordinary spells.

Of course.

Learning other magic would be nice too.

He would be able to study the alchemy required by Professor Mara, and Ian truly hoped that under the guidance of Professor McGonagall, he would be able to successfully find the balance between reason and imagination.

"It will certainly be a fulfilling life!"

Ian was full of anticipation for the future.

He sat at his desk and began his studies for the night.

"Studying the final content of the Fiendfyre Curse today, Grindelwald was actually able to effectively prevent Fiendfyre from harming the caster, and could even imbue the fire with his own will."

"What a truly gifted improvement!"

Ian lit his wand and, unable to wait, began his final night of study. He was a cautious person; he decided to bury Secrets of the Darkest Art beneath the living room floorboards when he went off to school.

Hmm.

It would have to be placed inside the most putrid coffin. Surely, even if Snape returned to live in this place, he wouldn't be perverse enough to dig up a corpse just to have a heart-to-heart.

"Is the reflection of the soul particularly important... The more profound the magic, the more it seems to emphasize this point. At a certain stage, Dark Magic and White Magic almost share a commonality."

As his proficiency slowly increased.

Ian turned the pages related to the [Fiendfyre Curse].

Outside.

The night wind whispered.

In this book from Miss Grindelwald, at the end of the final annotation for the [Fiendfyre Curse], Ian saw a line of text that left him feeling somewhat inexplicably surprised.

"May you learn much, my friend."