Reviewing the Spoils

The process of creating Horcrux is extremely demanding. As the number of times the soul is split increases, the required level of evil and the difficulty also increase exponentially.

Most dark wizards can only split their soul once, which is their limit. No wizard can split themselves more than twice to create more than one Horcrux. The pain alone is enough to drive the caster to the brink of collapse, and splitting the soul makes the main soul very unstable.

In Skylar's view, it was simply impossible for someone like Voldemort to split his soul multiple times and successfully create multiple Horcrux.

After the soul is separated, the next step is to choose a suitable Horcrux and infuse it with the soul. Any object can be made into Horcrux, but along with the transfer of the soul, extremely powerful spells are needed to protect the Horcrux, as well as sufficient magic power to support the completion of the entire transfer process.

This means that even if a dark wizard is evil enough to split their own soul, they still cannot successfully create a Horcrux without sufficient power.

The book emphasizes that dark wizards must carefully protect their Horcrux. Damage to Horcrux will inevitably affect the main soul, making the already extremely unstable main soul even more fragmented. The most direct consequence is that the dark wizard will lose his mind and gradually go mad. However, his power will not be affected; on the contrary, because his soul has become evil enough, he will be even more adept at using Dark Arts.

Skylar's heart skipped a beat; this was not good news.

So far, he has destroyed three Horcrux made by Voldemort: Tom's Diary, Ravenclaw's Diadem, and Slytherin's Locket. Destroying Voldemort's Horcrux seems to bring him closer to death, but in reality, it does not effectively weaken Voldemort's power; on the contrary, it makes him even more dangerous.

Behind the Horcrux, <The Secrets of the Darkest Art> also introduces many evil Dark Arts. For example, the evil curse "Dementor's Kiss" behind the Horcrux is based on research into the Dementor's Kiss, directly targeting a person's soul, extracting the soul from the body, and condemning them to eternal damnation.

Further on, there are detailed introductions to the creation and control of Inferius, the Three Unforgivable Curses, and so on.

Skylar was not interested in creating Inferius or the Unforgivable Curses for the time being, because, like all underage wizards, he had been Trace by the Ministry of Magic.

The Trace isn't located on the wand like in those overused fanfiction stories from my past life. Think about it, if changing a wand could solve the problem, Mad-Eye Moody would have already Apparition Harry and left in "The Battle of the Seven Harrys," why go through all that trouble, only to lose a life and an ear in the end?

As far as Skylar knew, the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office possessed a mysterious alchemical artifact that had been passed down from Merlin's time. The original intention of its inventor was to use this artifact to discover children throughout Great Britain who were awakening to magic, hoping to begin rescuing them as soon as possible and prevent tragedies from occurring.

Today, this alchemical artifact has been superseded by Hogwarts ' "Quill of Acceptance" and "Book of Admittance." The Ministry of Magic uses it for another purpose—monitoring the spellcasting of underage wizards.

The Ministry of Magic's stated reason was that monitoring underage wizards to see if they were casting spells in front of Muggle violated International Statute of Secrecy. But in reality, all spells within the scope of underage wizards could be detected. In other words, if Skylar had cast the Cruciatus Curse with Lucius by his side, that would have been disastrous, and the Ministry of Magic would have suspected Lucius of breaking the law first.

Of course, some places, like Malfoy Manor, are heavily protected by magic, making them undetectable even with the Trace abilities. But if these spells can only be used within the Malfoy Manor, what's the point of learning them?

Skylar's biggest need right now is time, so he chose to skip over magic that wouldn't be needed in the short term.

Another type of Dark Arts in the book that truly piqued Skylar's interest was the Taboo.

In the original story, Voldemort cast Taboo on his own name, successfully using this to capture many members of the Order of the Phoenix. This spell can mark any word with a tracking mark, instantly locating the person who utters it. Clearly, it's a very practical tracking spell.

Thus, the Taboo was originally invented to create an atmosphere of oppression and panic, and is therefore classified as Dark Arts. However, it is obviously not as eye-catching as the Inferius or the Unforgivable Curses, since this spell can only track and cannot directly harm, and would not be so easily noticed by the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.

(Note: People's Publishing House did not translate Taboo, only writing "a taboo was set on the name", but Taboo in the original English uses a capital T, indicating that it is the name of a magic spell. The author privately translated it as Taboo.)

Skylar put down "The Secrets of the Darkest Art" and picked up another book, "Forbidden Transfiguration."

This is a book that delves into the forbidden realm of Transfiguration. The first page describes many terrifying and irreversible Transfiguration Magic, such as the ancient Greece witch Circe turning sailors who got lost at sea and accidentally wandered onto the Aeaea into pigs; and the McLivvy Family on the Dria Island turning all their rival families into bloodthirsty and insane Quintaped...

(Note: Circe is a character from Greece mythology who appears in the Chocolate Frog Card.)

(Note: Quintaped is Quintaped dangerous Fantastic Beasts that eats human flesh and cannot speak. The official description is that it is covered with thick reddish-brown fur and has five deformed legs. In simple terms, it is a human head with five arms. It moves in a way similar to a spider, but it is more agile than a spider, since its legs are like hands, and it has strong magic resistance.)

Scrolling further down, Skylar came across a familiar spell—the Transmogrifian Torture. He had seen records of people killed by this spell in Lockhart's research notes.

This is an extremely insidious spell. If it weren't for the existence of counter-curses, it would be far more terrifying than the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse. It can create pain and suffering by Human Transfiguration, such as pricking fingertips with needles, piercing eyeballs with needles, or putting a spiked clamp on the penis.

The most terrifying thing is not the pain itself, but the moment before the pain occurs, such as the moment when a sharp needle tip is pointed at the pupil, or the feeling of a barbed clamp gently rubbing against the penis... Not many people can psychologically withstand this kind of pressure.

Unlike the Cruciatus Curse, this Dark Arts does not require malice to unleash its full power because it is a Transfiguration, not a curse. The Transmogrifian Torture has only two requirements: first, an extremely high level of Transfiguration, and second, extremely strong and precise control over the mind.

Skylar perfectly met both conditions; this magic seemed tailor-made for him.

Further on, there are all sorts of evil transformation spells, such as the "Aging Charm" that turns people into old women or old men, the "Quadrupedal Transformation Curse" that forces people to walk on all fours like animals, and the "Corpse Transformation Curse Transfiguration spell" that turns people into ugly and terrifying Zombie.

These Transfiguration are not very practical, except perhaps for a few cruel and perverse wizards.

What truly interested Skylar was the "Statue Transformation," a magic that could turn a person into a stone statue. Once turned into a stone statue, the recipient would not die, nor would they age, and would even retain their own consciousness and be able to perceive their surroundings, but would be unable to perform any actions or movements.

This differs from the petrification effect produced by indirect eye contact with the Basilisk, which causes complete stiffness, paralysis, loss of movement, and loss of consciousness. Aside from being unable to move, the victim's appearance remains unchanged, much like someone suffering from myositis.

The stone transformation spell truly turns the recipient into a stone statue from the outside in. Unless carefully examined by a skilled wizard, most people would only see it as a statue.

Interestingly, both the Basilisk's petrification effect and the stone-transformation spell can be countered with Mandrake Restorative Draught made from Mandrake.

[Forbidden Transfiguration obtained!]

Besides these two books, Skylar received another big surprise from the House of Black's Dark Arts books—it was Abatair Volume Three!

The House of Black's ancestral spells focus on soul magic, suggesting that the Abatair Volume Three must correspond to the realm of soul magic. It was through a fortuitous encounter that the House of Black's ancestors obtained this fragment, enabling them to create the family's core heritage. It is no exaggeration to say that this fragment is the foundation of the House of Black's legacy.

In Skylar's view, soul magic and mental magic have many overlapping aspects, and if used properly, they can complement each other and achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of their parts.

As mentioned earlier, there are two factors that affect the rate at which magic power increases: mental strength and soul strength.

Skylar's mental strength had already reached its limit, and he flipped through the book with great anticipation, hoping to find inspiration to enhance his soul's power.

[Obtained <Abatair Volume Three>!]

Skylar had lost count of how many times he had marveled at his extraordinary luck.

He was far luckier than Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw only got to see one volume of Abatair in his entire life and had to die with regret.

Skylar is only 14 years old (he just celebrated his birthday three weeks ago), and he has already collected three volumes: the Spirit Book, the Soul Book, and the Curse Book. He has a long future ahead of him, and who knows, he might actually be able to fulfill Ravenclaw's last wish and collect all eight books.

June 30th arrived in the blink of an eye, and the young wizards boarded the Hogwarts Express.

On the train, in Skylar's compartment, besides the usual trio, Astoria was also present.

"Skylar, I got first place this semester! Is there any reward? Hehe!" Ever since Astoria kissed Skylar after the Dingo incident, Astoria seemed to have let go of her girlish shyness and reserve. At this moment, she showed a mischievous expression and cutely flirted with Skylar.

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Skylar's eyes, but he smiled gently. "My Tori, of course there will be a reward. Don't worry, this summer will definitely give you an unexpected surprise!"

Then, as if casually asking, "How did the others in your year perform?"

"Hmm..." Astoria tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then replied, "The students from other houses this year are also very strong. Besides me, only the Carrow Sisters in Slytherin have decent grades. Hestia Carrow, the older sister, ranked fifth, and Flora Carrow, the younger sister, ranked sixth."

The Carrow Family? A thought that was impossible to fathom flickered in Skylar's eyes.

Then, Skylar frowned. "Is that all Slytherin has to do? That shouldn't be the case!"

Since he established his influence in Slytherin, the Little Snakes' behavior has changed a lot—they are united and helpful, value knowledge, and respect their teachers. Moreover, Astoria has received a lot of academic tutoring from Skylar in private. Skylar had instructed her to share Skylar's study notes with her classmates, which would not only build strong friendships but also improve the overall strength of Slytherin.

"So, who are the second through fourth place winners?"

"Second place goes to Melinda Bobin of Ravenclaw. Her Potions and Herbology are exceptionally well-rounded, far exceeding the level of a first-year student, and even second-year students might not be as strong as her. Third place goes to Demirza Binns of Gryffindor. Her spells, Transfiguration, and flight are all quite good; Professor McGonagall even said she has a great imagination! Fourth place goes to Joanna Derwent of Hufflepuff. Like the other Hufflepuff, she's unremarkable most of the time, but unexpectedly, she shone brightly in the exams."

Skylar suddenly noticed something interesting: the top six were all young girls! How could this be? Where was the little wizard?

"There's Quidditch World Cup this summer!" Daphne exclaimed. "Didn't you promise my dad you'd come to my house? Let's go see the Quidditch World Cup together, okay? Dad's sure he can get tickets."

"Yes, yes, Skylar, let's go together!" Astoria said sweetly.

Skylar turned to Meredith, who shrugged. "Since my parents passed away, it's just me and the House Elf in the house. I already promised Uncle Gareth that the Shafiq Family would become a vassal family of Greengrass, so that perhaps the family's glory can continue. I'll be spending this summer at the Greengrass Manor. If you can come, we can go to the Quidditch World Cup together."

Skylar planned to use the early part of summer vacation to do his own things. He considered the time and said, "Okay, then how about this? I'll come and meet up with you guys a few days before the Quidditch World Cup starts, and we can go watch the games together!"