Blocking Is Worse Than Draining

As soon as Lucien left the Headmaster's Office and the door closed behind him, the portraits of the principals, who were still conscious, erupted in chaos.

"Albus, aren't you being too lenient with that boy?" The first to speak was a male wizard, whose beard trembled as he spoke.

"In all my years of teaching, there has never been a precedent at Hogwarts for teaching students the Dark Magic!" another witch chimed in, her wizard hat swaying slightly with her excited tone.

"Do you want Azkaban to have even more prisoners? Or perhaps you want to build another prison on par with Azkaban and Nurmengard?"

"He's only twelve! A twelve-year-old kid saying he wants to learn Dark Magic and curses, what about later? You're actually considering teaching him?"

"Albus..."

The portraits began to chatter, their voices rising higher and higher, turning the once quiet Headmaster's Office into a lively scene reminiscent of the Leaky Cauldron at night.

Phineas stroked his goatee and waited until the others had finished speaking before speaking in his signature high-pitched voice:

"If that kid really goes astray, can you stop him?"

A brief silence fell over the Headmaster's Office after these words were spoken.

Because that statement carries a lot of weight.

It's almost saying that once Lucien masters more powerful and profound magic and truly matures, he will possess strength Dumbledore's.

By then, if he wants to do something, who can stop him?

We've already had Tom Riddle, we've already had Voldemort, isn't that enough?

Just then, a clear, cold female voice came from the other side of the portrait wall:

"But a true Ravenclaw cannot be blind to knowledge."

Accompanying the voice was a beautiful woman wearing silver-rimmed glasses.

Sharon Wendrian, the headmistress from Ravenclaw, had her portrait appear in front of the rows of bookshelves, as if she had always been there, only that no one had noticed her earlier.

Upon hearing Sharon's voice, Phineas, who had been shouting loudly, immediately fell silent.

He glanced subconsciously in the direction of Sharon's portrait, his gaze sweeping over her hands—empty, she wasn't holding that thick book as thick as city wall bricks.

Phineas relaxed slightly, but his grip on his goatee tightened.

Dumbledore finally spoke, his voice tinged with weariness, yet still gentle:

"Instead of simply stopping him, it's better to guide him appropriately. It's always better for me to be watching over him than for him to secretly explore and try things on his own."

He paused, then looked at the portraits. "That's even more dangerous, isn't it?"

The group of portraits fell silent. Yes, to let a gifted young man study Dark Magic alone without guidance?

After all, a mediocre person who learns Dark Magic but goes astray is likely to kill himself, but a genius who learns Dark Magic but goes astray can lead a group of people to their deaths!

Who knows, Hogwarts might be blown up before graduation!

Sharon nodded, adjusting her silver-rimmed glasses.

"The more intelligent a person is, the less they can tolerate ignorance."

"Albus, remember to give him the original copy of my book, * Curses and Counter-Curses *, not the revised version."

To make it more accessible to a wider range of wizards, the revised edition has removed much information related to Dark Magic.

Dumbledore: "It's already been given."

Sharon remained silent upon hearing this.

Her words were, in effect, an endorsement of Lucien.

If Lucien truly harbored ill intentions, he could have waited until he graduated safely, far away from Hogwarts Dumbledore, before traveling the world to study and explore Dark Magic.

No one will know, and no one can stop it.

Wasn't that exactly what Voldemort did back then?

But Lucien didn't.

He chose to be honest with Dumbledore and directly admitted that he wanted to learn Dark Magic and curses.

This honesty is itself an attitude.

Dumbledore sat quietly in his chair, his gaze fixed on the teacup in front of him. The tea had long since been drunk, leaving only a thin layer of tea stains at the bottom of the cup.

The moonlight slanted in through the window, filling the empty cup perfectly.

Dumbledore's thoughts drifted away, and suddenly an idea occurred to him—

Should we go to Nurmengard again?

Ask him a few more questions?

It's about curses... about resisting the effects of Dark Magic on the mind...

Dumbledore's eyes flickered slightly.

And Lucien has recently become very interested in fire-related magic... Fire...