Unknown Liquid (Bonus Chapter)
Having sorted out the "pressure" power he now possessed, a new round of plans and schemes gradually took shape in Skylar's mind.
Time is running out. It's already the end of March, and there are only three months left until Voldemort's resurrection. Skylar needs to make sure every piece is in the right place.
Having considered all this, Skylar turned his attention to the profound meaning of "****".
According to Skylar's understanding, this should be an invincible spell; once unleashed, all witches would submit, and all demons would kneel before it. So—
Why would Slytherin have a formidable enemy they felt they couldn't defeat? Even setting aside the fact that this was merely a figment of Skylar's imagination, wizarding history clearly records that Slytherin and Gryffindor once publicly clashed, resulting in a draw. This battle is the foundation upon which the Four Founders, despite their differing ideologies, were able to co-found the school on equal footing.
This means that this magic must have limitations that Skylar doesn't fully understand. It's definitely not the kind of magic that's absolutely invincible.
The reason he was able to use such a terrifying effect on Sarf was likely because the two of them had a master-servant contract, and Sarf, as the servant, was naturally easier for him to control.
So, what would the effect be if it were someone else?
Assuming Skylar's conjecture about "Slytherin's formidable enemy" is correct, then this magic must be ineffective against those who are stronger than themselves in some way. That aspect could refer to "personal strength" (i. e., willpower and resolve), "mental strength," or even "magical power."
The Imperius Curse serves as a good reference. Both the Imperius Curse and Voldemort's Imperius Curse are spells that influence or even control the minds of others. The difference lies in the fact that the Imperius Curse uses extremely intense pleasure to cloud the rationality of others, making them willingly submit to being driven and become puppets. However, the pleasure will fade over time, and the controlled puppets will eventually be able to break free from the Imperius Curse's control. For example, Barty Crouch Sr. in the original books successfully did so, breaking free from Voldemort's Imperius Curse to run to Hogwarts to deliver a message.
The principle of "****" is not to use any emotion to cloud reason, but to completely distort a person's personality and change their cognition. Skylar could imagine that the person who was under this spell would not know that they were being controlled, nor would they remember their former personality and character. It was almost impossible for them to break free from the control.
But regardless of their differences, both require the same premise for a successful spell:
One must penetrate the other person's mind and soul in order to erode, influence, and transform their intellect.
This is extremely difficult to achieve. Even with the power of Voldemort Dumbledore, they could not Legilimency on Snape, which is why he was able to serve as a double agent. Even Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr., after trying a few times in class, could no longer cast the Imperius Curse on Harry in his fourth year.
Based on the example of the Imperius Curse, Skylar made several deductions:
First, a person with strong personal character cannot be easily manipulated by "****".
Secondly, people with strong mental fortitude, or those skilled in Occlumency, also have a certain resistance to "****".
Third, the so-called invasion of the mind and brain is actually achieved using an invisible energy that combines mental and magical power. In other words, even if the opponent's mental and personal strength is insufficient to resist "****", as long as their magic power is strong enough, it is very likely that the caster will need to increase their energy expenditure when invading the mind and brain. As long as the opponent's magic power level is not less than one's own, it may be able to exhaust one's own magic power until it is completely depleted.
Thirdly, the "****" spell is far less effective than the Imperius Curse. This is because the "****" spell requires far too much energy, and the invading side will inevitably suffer much greater mana loss than the side simply defending. Therefore, this is something to be very careful about. If you accidentally run out of mana and the spell fails, you will truly be at the mercy of your opponent.
Let's get back to the scene in the basin right now.
Dobby used the cleaning magic unique to Sprite to begin clearing away the weeds and rocks on the ground. As it cast spells, it moved using Apparition, its busy figure visible throughout the basin. Meanwhile, Sarf transformed into a giant snake, slithering across the ground, attempting to search the entire basin with her serpentine sense of smell and perception.
Just as Skylar opened his eyes, a gasp came from where Sarf was.
Skylar quickly ran to Sarf's location, where Dobby was already already there. It turned out that when Sarf transformed into a giant snake, she found a small hole under a rock. The hole was just big enough for a giant python to crawl into, so Sarf crawled in. Inside, Sarf found a completely new and mysterious cave, and hurriedly backed out to call for help.
Skylar left Dobby behind as a watchman and guard, while he and Sarf transformed into giant snakes and burrowed into the ground.
Beneath the ground lies a hidden world, a space filled with powerful magical energy fluctuations. Numerous protective magic arrays are inscribed around it, isolating it from the outside world and preventing any magical energy from leaking out. This is why Skylar missed this cavern with his Magic Eye. And unlike Sarf, no one would simply walk into a snake hole upon seeing it, making this cavern extremely difficult to discover.
The cave wasn't large; it was the kind of place where you could see every corner at a glance.
In the very center, there is a stone platform with a large, emerald-green bowl on it, filled with a dark black, unidentified liquid.
With Skylar's alchemical skills, he only needed to sniff it closely. Although he couldn't tell exactly what it was, it wasn't hard to tell that the liquid was a poison that targeted a wizard's magic power. It might not be fatal, but it could definitely cause a significant reduction in magic power in a short period of time. If someone took it, even someone with Dumbledore's level of magic power might end up like Muggle.
Skylar guessed that the truly important thing was hidden at the bottom of the bowl. It could only be obtained by drinking most of the poison. As for using magic to remove the poison, Skylar didn't even consider trying; the renowned Slytherin wouldn't make such a basic mistake.
Hmm? This tactic seems familiar...
It can only be said that Voldemort truly deserves to be called the last descendant of Slytherin; even their thoughts and actions are so similar.
In fact, after careful consideration, Skylar realized that this arrangement was quite reasonable. Both Slytherin and Voldemort were, in a sense, the same kind of people—those who prioritized achieving their goals and results, resorting to any means necessary, and were cunning and shrewd. Therefore, their enemy, the one they least wanted to have their possessions taken away, must be someone like Dumbledore or Gryffindor— a person who valued principles, morality, and universal love.
This arrangement is quite effective against those kinds of people because they would never allow an innocent person to take the risk of drinking poison; their sense of righteousness and moral standards would not allow them to do so.
But it's a different story when it comes to Skylar is also from Slytherin House.
Although Skylar was sentimental and had compassion for his enemies, he was not the type to act recklessly in such an important situation.
Yes, he would never let anyone around him take that risk; yes, he wouldn't even let Dobby, who was completely loyal to him, take that risk; he even doubted whether he had the resolve to grab an innocent Muggle and make him drink that bowl of water.
However, this doesn't mean he has no other options.
He pulled a man petrified into a statue from his Suitcase Space. That was his first nemesis— Gallup Lestrange.
He waved his wand, releasing Gallup from the petrification. Without his wand, Gallup was self-aware enough to know he was at the mercy of others and had no will to resist.
This is good, it saves Skylar from using the Imperius Curse on him.