The story began with the ritual Book had revealed after eating the golden apple. Compared with the previous complicated ritual, which had been far more of a joke than anything practical, the new ritual seemed almost too simple.
First, draw a triangle with unicorn blood, then draw a circle inside the triangle, and finally add a vertical line. With that, the ritual's magic circle was complete.
Next, all he needed to do was place the inanimate objects he wanted to bring to life at the triangle's three corners, then use magic to erase their awareness of themselves as inanimate objects. These lifeless things would then come to life-it sounded positively effortless and pleasant.
But could such a simple ritual really control life and death? Wasn't bestowing souls the Creator's prerogative? As far as Brian knew, controlling life and death was equally impossible for wizards.
The ritual wasn't very credible, but Brian couldn't get it out of his head. For a while, he was frequently distracted, prompting considerate concern from his warmhearted colleagues.
"A new warming black tea?" During afternoon tea, Brian accepted the little box Professor Sprout handed him and joked, "Thank you. I was just planning to find an excuse to ask you for some more."
"Just tell me when you run out. There's plenty," Professor Sprout said, clearly pleased. "I've added some calming herbs to the recipe this time. I hope they'll help."
"That smells very familiar. I would guess there's knotgrass, ginger root, and mugwort in there."
Professor Flitwick approached carrying two boxes of cupcakes and said with a smile, "Exactly the same herbs I added to my cakes."
"Quite right, Filius. In fact, I gave you this recipe a few years ago." Professor Sprout casually picked up a cake and took a bite, then grimaced. "Did