A Past Event

"The Twenty-Seven Wonderful Uses of Nonverbal Spell"--this restricted book was just as Madam Pince had said, located on the sixth row from top to bottom and the fourth book from left to right in the third cabinet of the Restricted Section--curling itself up into the shape of a scroll.

"Let's see what this is." Brian pulled out the rubber baton Madam Pince had specially prepared for him, saying, "Behave, buddy."

That ball of a scroll trembled in fear, returning to the appearance a book ought to have.

"There's nothing unusual about this name either, why would it be placed in the Restricted Section?" Brian handed The Twenty-Seven Wonderful Uses of Nonverbal Spell to Professor Flitwick, asking somewhat strangely, "Just because it likes to curl up?"

Judging solely by the title, he would have thought this book was on the same level as "Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests"--a book every wizarding family best have on hand for backup.

"No, this book is not as simple as it looks..."

Professor Flitwick took the book with a solemn expression, opened it to a certain page, and handed it back to Brian.

"Take a look at this page and you'll know. I stopped flipping further back then when I saw this--the problem lies in the word 'uses'. Everyone has a different understanding of the word 'uses', but if someone shares the same understanding of 'uses' as the author of this book, he will meet only one end--"Dementor's Kiss"."

"A punishment more terrifying than the death penalty." Professor Babbling assumed Brian didn't know much about the wizarding world yet and explained, "Everything of yours will be stripped away, leaving only a cold shell--not even as good as an Inferi, at least Inferi have the urge to drag people down into the water."

Brian nodded gravely, indicating that he understood the terrifying nature of this book--he first saw the title--"How to precisely lock onto the weak points of your attack target when using the Nonverbal Killing Curse, so as to achieve over seventy percent of the power of the Verbal Killing Curse."

The illustration was a moving image--

An adult male with vacant eyes, as if his mind was controlled by someone, had his bare upper body marked with many circles drawn with a marker. The text accompanying the illustration clearly stated that these circles represented suitable points to select when launching a sneak attack with a Nonverbal Spell.

"The author of this book... is he still alive?" Brian couldn't help asking.

"I checked the records. When the author of this book wrote it, the guards of the Wizard Prison were not yet Dementors. He was finally executed under the gaze of a crowd of wizards."

Professor Babbling took the book, saying with a complex expression,

"Undeniably, he was indeed a genius... I'm not making excuses for him... He killed too many innocent people... Unforgivable..."

"I'm so glad this guy is already dead." Brian breathed a sigh of relief.

"I found it--you guys come take a look at this page." Professor Babbling spread the book open to a later page, "A diary entry about the greatest setback this fellow encountered in his life, and also concerning the fundamental reason why he wrote this book."

Brian and Professor Flitwick crowded over together.

"Hello, reader of this book--please allow me to share with you here a story about myself, hidden deep in my heart.

"At the age of thirteen, while exploring the suspected tracks of a Graphorn somewhere, I was kidnapped by a passing group of Dark Wizards--they cut out my tongue, mounted me over a fire, and roasted me like pork, enjoying the whimpers I made before death--just when I thought I was going to die in such a cowardly manner, an incredible man saved me--by means of a Nonverbal Spell."

A passage of description.

"While skillfully using various spells of astonishing power and repelling that group of Dark Wizards single-handedly, he healed my injured body using a Nonverbal Spell--I must emphasize that these two things happened simultaneously--meaning that at the exact same time, he maintained two types of magic."

"The power that healed me was not the magic I was familiar with, but another strange force so forceful that I was completely unable to resist. Clearly I was being healed, yet I felt unusually weak--as if my entire body and mind were controlled. When I was healed, the magic power inside me had been eaten clean--a powerful force, terrifying, mesmerizing."

A passage of inner monologue.

"Waking up from unconsciousness, I found that the tongue I had had cut off had grown back--this terrified me--for I had seen with my own eyes my tongue being swallowed into the stomach of a Dark Wizard--this resulted in the fact that even though I had a complete tongue, I could never speak a word again--I made up my mind to take revenge on all Dark Wizards, and the Nonverbal Spell became my only redemption."

A large section of crossed-out words.

"Today, I killed the hundredth Dark Wizard I encountered. This should be worth celebrating, but I didn't feel much of anything."

"My Nonverbal Spells have become very proficient. Through practice, I can now use verbal magic with slurred words--yet I still haven't found the trick to using verbal magic and nonverbal magic at the same time."

"One hundred and forty-seven."

"One hundred and eighty-five."

"I accidentally killed a Muggle."

"The Muggle's acquaintances found me and wanted to execute me--no choice, I had to kill them all."

"I must be crazy."

"Don't touch Dark Magic."

"I made a decision."

"So, he originally researched Nonverbal Spells just to take revenge on Dark Wizards." Brian felt a turmoil of emotions in his heart, "How did he finally get caught?"

"Surrendered--before that, he poked out his own eyes." Professor Babbling said, "Simply a miracle--he had killed so many people, and his mind had long been worn down into a complete mess from abusing Dark Magic. Yet when he was rescued, his consciousness was still clear."

"I must admit one thing, I underestimated this guy somewhat before--he actually has quite a bit of resolve." Professor Flitwick, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "If all this is true, then perhaps someone really can use two types of magic at the same time."

"Of course, Filius--Ancient Magic." Professor Babbling smiled and said, "Domineering, unstoppable, only Ancient Magic can achieve that."

"Well, even if what you're saying is right--where on earth are we going to find someone who can use Ancient Magic?" Professor Flitwick rubbed his temples and said helplessly, "I can't, you can't, could it be that Brian can?"

Brian blinked and said, "I... will try my hard best."

Dumbledore still asked him to keep his ability to use Ancient Magic a secret--as for the purpose, it went without saying: to deal with Voldemort.

"Haha, then please be sure to work hard."

Professor Flitwick tried to make himself look a bit happier, but he still looked somewhat depressed,

"Bathsheba, I shouldn't have argued with you about Nonverbal Spells. We should both be happy on our day off."

"Uh... I'm sorry." Professor Babbling said with some embarrassment, "Filius, actually I did harbor some intention of letting you read this book."

Brian dusted off The Twenty-Seven Wonderful Uses of Nonverbal Spell, put it back in its original place, and said earnestly:

"I think we should feel glad for his eventual return from the wrong path."

"But it's better to let fewer people see this book." He added another sentence.

"Mr. Brian, what are you doing?" Cedric filled out his book-borrowing slip and couldn't help asking.

Brian moved his attention away from that withered pot of flowers in front of him, smiled, and said:

"I'm trying to bring this pot of flowers back to life."

"Is it just by looking?" Cedric pondered and asked, "How about some fertilizer?"

"Not by looking, but by heart." Brian suddenly remembered something and handed a box of Almond Toffee to Cedric, "I used your name earlier to coax Moaning Myrtle. Sorry, please forgive me, this is my small apology... Next time you take a bath, pay attention to safety."

Cedric scratched his head: "Ah... haha... it's fine... I know Moaning Myrtle... In fact, ever since the year I entered school, she would pop in from time to time while I was taking a bath..."