Can You Control Dark Magic

"Newt Scamander, the most famous magical creature expert in the world, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

"Professor Flitwick mentioned to me that the Scamander Family is very skilled in applying the Undetectable Extension Charm."

Dumbledore stroked his beard with a chuckle.

"Yes, that Newt. I thought you'd be very surprised when you heard the name."

A trace of amusement appeared in Lucien's calm eyes.

"As the greatest wizard of our time, I wouldn't find it strange no matter who you knew or exchanged letters with."

That made Dumbledore laugh, and he handed the letter to Lucien.

Lucien opened the letter and began reading. The beginning was blank, probably the old-friend pleasantries Dumbledore had hidden, so he went straight to the main text:

"Using Undetectable Extension to accommodate living creatures is not purely a matter of Charms. It also involves Transfiguration and even Alchemy..."

"If that junior student has also dabbled in Transfiguration and Alchemy, he may read the following basic magic books. They should offer some inspiration..."

Sure enough, an object created with the Undetectable Extension Charm that could house living creatures was extremely complex.

He should have no problem with Transfiguration. As for Alchemy, analyzing that Transfiguration Pocket Watch would let him grasp some alchemical knowledge too, but it might not be in the right specialty. He still needed to go to the library and find some books on Alchemy.

Mm. In the letter, Newt had only mentioned how to construct a single space. Simultaneously building multiple varied environments probably belonged to the Scamander Family's secret inheritance.

Old Dumbledore was actually this enthusiastic? Just because of a new student's question, he had written to an old friend to ask.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. No wonder he was also praised as Hogwarts's greatest headmaster.

"Thank you, Headmaster. I didn't expect you to go out of your way to ask about something like this for me."

Dumbledore waved a hand, his bright blue eyes narrowing with a smile.

"No need to be polite. Helping students pursue knowledge is also a teacher's duty."

"Have you settled in at Hogwarts?"

Lucien nodded, indicating that he was getting along very well with his classmates, and that the professors had helped him a great deal too.

"Oh, right. I also made an arrangement with Professor Quirrell to go to him once a week for tutoring and learn practical skills in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Hearing this, Dumbledore set down the honey water in his hand, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes, but he said without much hesitation:

"Mm. He graduated from Ravenclaw too, so he is your senior."

"Quirrell's theory is very solid. He may simply not be very good at communicating with students, but that doesn't affect his teaching."

"There is, of course, no problem with tutoring."

After receiving Dumbledore's reply, a relaxed smile appeared on Lucien's face, but his heart gave a thump.

Wait, this reaction didn't seem right.

Had Dumbledore not noticed the problem with Quirrell? Was he that reassured about him—or rather, reassured about Tom's character?

He had brought this up on his own initiative for safety's sake, but why was old Dumbledore's attitude so calm?

"Lucien, I remember you come from a Muggle family. You must be very curious about the magical world, yes?"

"Yes. That's why I bought a lot of magic books from Flourish and Blotts before, and borrowed some from the library as well..."

The two chatted back and forth, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

"Lucien, have you ever seen an introduction to a certain kind of magic in a book?"

"What kind of magic?"

"Dark magic."

As he spoke, Dumbledore even picked up a Lemon Sherbet and tossed it into his mouth, as if he had only just said an utterly ordinary word.

Lucien's thoughts began racing.

Dark magic?

Had old Dumbledore misspoken?

The dignified headmaster of Hogwarts would ask a new student whether he had heard of dark magic?

It wasn't as if he were some pure-blood descendant. How would he have come into contact with dark magic in advance?

No way. Dumbledore couldn't possibly think that what he wanted to learn from Quirrell wasn't Defense Against the Dark Arts, but dark magic, right?

No, from an outsider's perspective, even if one knew Quirrell had a problem, a student seeking tutoring from a professor was perfectly normal. There was no way to connect it to dark magic.

And what was with Dumbledore asking so directly? Shouldn't he be secretly observing him first?

Where exactly had the problem come from...

Lucien quickly went over his conversation with Dumbledore, and even the details from when he had just entered the Headmaster's Office surfaced one by one.

The Phoenix, the Sorting Hat...

The Sorting Hat!

A sentence suddenly flashed through Lucien's mind:

"...As expected of the most gifted young wizard I've seen in all these years."

Talent? The Sorting Hat could probe a wizard's talents?

His strongest talent was Transfiguration, to the point that it had even reached an extraordinary level.

If Dumbledore had learned about this from the Sorting Hat, then some things made sense.

For example, writing to an old friend to help a new student ask for advice.

A new student who simply performed outstandingly probably wouldn't be worth doing that for. But what if he was a young wizard even the Sorting Hat acknowledged as "the most gifted it had ever seen"?

If that assumption held, and the Sorting Hat could sense his talent for Transfiguration, then what about his other talents?

What was the talent second only to his Transfiguration?

Dark Magic!

Of course, Lucien had never displayed any talent for Dark Magic in front of Hogwarts's teachers and students. In fact, he had never learned a single piece of Dark Magic at all.

But what if Dumbledore had already learned from the Sorting Hat about his frighteningly high talent for Dark Magic?

So after he proposed going to Quirrell for tutoring, that was why Dumbledore had been so calm, and why he had brought up the topic of Dark Magic in a seemingly inexplicable way.

Lucien glanced at Dumbledore and found him leisurely drinking Honey Water.

Heh, so this was where he had been waiting for him.

Newt's letter was probably just a lead-in. What Dumbledore truly wanted to understand was his attitude toward Dark Magic.

Was he worried? Worried that another Voldemort would appear in the world, or even another Grindelwald?

The reason he had asked so directly was that he felt Lucien was still a child, and it would be easy to tell whether he was lying.

Fine. It was just his attitude toward Dark Magic. Everything he said next would be the truth.

Lucien quickly settled on his wording.

The process of thinking it through was very brief—just long enough for Dumbledore to blow on the steam rising from his cup a few times.

"I've seen some scattered descriptions of Dark Magic in books. Basically, words like terrifying, powerful, evil, and so on."

Dumbledore nodded and said noncommittally, "Mm. What are your thoughts on Dark Magic?"

In a calm tone, Lucien uttered a single word:

"Control."

This answer surprised Dumbledore a little. He set down the cup in his hand and looked at Lucien with great interest.

"Control? Control how?"

Lucien looked straight into Dumbledore's eyes, without the slightest evasion.

"As you know, I'm Muggle-born. In the Muggle world, people master knowledge and make use of knowledge."

"But after I came into contact with the magical world, I felt that set of rules didn't necessarily apply. In the wizarding world, knowledge can be equivalent to power—real, tangible power!"

"Dark Magic is powerful, but it also easily goes out of control. More importantly, Dark Magic can also affect a person's nature."

"Then in the end, is the person controlling Dark Magic, or is Dark Magic controlling the person?"

After a pause, Lucien's gaze toward Dumbledore grew even deeper.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, as the greatest wizard of this era, if you used Dark Magic, could you control it one hundred percent?"

After Lucien asked that question, the Headmaster's Office fell into a long silence.

The old man, Dumbledore, lowered his head and looked at the ripples spreading in his cup.

Yes, control. Could it truly be controlled...

How many years ago had it been? In Godric's Hollow.

Three angry young men had argued, and in the end, drawn their wands and fought fiercely.

Amid the chaos, a curse had killed Dumbledore's younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore.

No one present knew who had cast that Dark Magic.

Those three young men back then, Dumbledore back then—had they been controlling Dark Magic...

Pain from long ago could now only turn into silence.