#45 - Section 45

"Ethan, you must remember, learning and using the Unforgivable Curses are not illegal. What is illegal is using them on wizards, understand?"

"You are different from other students. You are more talented and willing to put in the effort. Good students like you naturally receive special attention from teachers more easily."

Qirrell had anticipated Ethan's panicked expression. It would have been strange if Ethan had calmly or enthusiastically said he wanted to learn.

"You can come find me anytime after you've considered it. My promise is valid within this semester. Also, take this."

Immediately, Qirrell opened a drawer and handed Ethan a slip of paper.

After receiving the permit for the Restricted Section, Ethan bid farewell to Qirrell and left the office.

"Master, is it really worth it to take the risk of exposure to win over this young wizard?"

Qirrell muttered to himself in the empty office.

"Fool, what do you know? Do you think Dumbledore hasn't suspected Qirrell? Even Snape can sense something is wrong with Qirrell. Dumbledore isn't senile yet, let alone you now."

Voldemort's raspy voice echoed from the back of Qirrell's head.

"And this exceptionally talented young wizard, with a great interest in dark magic, will be my best aid in the future."

[Thank you to大佬 catseye for the reward! Thank you,大佬!]

Chapter 69: Nagini's Whereabouts

"Ethan, my owl brought your letter back."

Inside the Room of Requirement, Cassandra handed Ethan a letter sealed with wax.

He had received it after dinner tonight.

"Thanks!"

Ethan took the letter. It was from Dennis.

More than a week ago, right after Ethan helped Hagrid feed the baby dragon, he was pondering where Voldemort got the baby dragon.

Then, he went to Cassandra to borrow an owl and write to Dennis and the others.

Although Hogwarts has owls and they are free, this was being sent to Knockturn Alley. Who knows if using the school's owls would be safe, after all, it's public property.

The Vorley family's owls didn't have this problem. Isn't it normal for pure-blood families to have connections with Knockturn Alley?

In the letter, Ethan only asked Dennis one thing.

Recently, have any wizards in their Slytherin organization purchased Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon eggs or baby dragons?

The Slytherin organization has a certain reputation internationally, and its scale is not small. Voldemort might have spent money there again.

The transaction details could also reflect some of Voldemort's condition.

Ethan tore open the envelope.

There wasn't much information inside. Ethan scanned it at a glance.

The Slytherin organization did sell a dragon egg, a Ukrainian Ironbelly. Dennis naturally didn't dare to ask Ethan how he knew, and could only write down the answer he found out.

The Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon egg was sold in Greece in the Balkans, which is next to Albania.

The colleagues in Greece had the egg for quite some time. To maintain its vitality, it needed to be roasted with flames from time to time, which led to it hatching soon.

But because the hatchling would be difficult to sell, the organization could only try to reduce the temperature of the flames provided, in order to slow down the hatching, but they still couldn't find a suitable buyer.

Until someone wearing a hooded wizard's robe came over, wanting to trade a dragon egg for a snake with deadly venom.

Originally, this kind of transaction was not in accordance with the rules, but the egg was about to hatch and they couldn't keep it, so the personnel in Greece could only agree to the transaction.

They exchanged the dragon egg for a venomous snake.

Now the snake is locked up in Greece, and they haven't found a buyer yet.

Information about this snake has been sent to members in other countries, hoping that colleagues in other places can help find a buyer.

This is a mutually beneficial thing. Every transaction made has a commission.

According to the organization's internal appraisal, this giant serpent, a magical creature never seen before, is approximately XXXX. Its physical strength is generally average, lower than most XXXX other magical creatures, but its speed is good. The venom can dissolve muscle and is quite deadly. A hit to a vital spot can be fatal, and wounds to non-vital spots are not easy to heal, which is why it was determined to be XXXX.

Since it is an unseen species, this snake is still somewhat valuable.

Seeing this, Ethan knew who the snake was.

Nagini, Voldemort's last Horcrux, was made after his resurrection.

In the original story, Nagini also killed Snape, injured Arthur Weasley, and was eventually beheaded by Neville with the Sword of Gryffindor.

Is Voldemort so down on his luck now?

He even sold Nagini for a dragon egg. What will he use for his last Horcrux?

This is unintentionally changing the big picture!

But since Nagini hasn't been made into a Horcrux yet, Ethan is going to take her down.

A beautiful snake from Indonesia, who was able to experience that era's wizarding war and still be alive, has considerable strength.

Who wouldn't like this kind of eye-catching and powerful girl? It's just that her identity is a bit complicated. Dumbledore and the older generation know her. If they see Nagini in human form, it would be difficult to explain.

Furthermore, it is not easy to restore Nagini to human form. This blood curse becomes more frequent with age, until she completely turns into a snake, without any memories or habits from when she was a human.

Blood curses are generally hereditary, and specifically target the female side. Later, Draco's wife, Astoria Greengrass, also had a blood curse, but these two blood curses were different. Astoria would not turn into a snake, but was just physically weak and died in her thirties.

It is certainly not easy to lift the blood curse. Nagini must have asked Dumbledore for help, but it was still useless. She still turned into a snake and eventually wandered into the Albanian forest.

As one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, Astoria Greengrass eventually married Malfoy, and it can be said that her status in the entire British wizarding world was quite high, but she still could not be cured.

Ethan wasn't sure if he could cure her, but there was still a chance. After all, Ethan had the system cheat, and who knows when he would draw a magic or potion that could cure her.

Immediately, Ethan wrote a letter to Dennis, telling him to take down the snake.

Bruno's Potion Alchemy Shop has made a lot of Galleons during this time. Polyjuice Potion is still selling very well, and with Ethan's alchemy products, it is a very good business in Knockturn Alley.

If there's still a shortfall, Ethan can also come up with some.

After all, the Baruffio's Brain Elixir has been selling all along, and many students feel they can't live without it. Ethan can earn about three Galleons per bottle, and although this money isn't a lot, it's enough to support Ethan's expenses.

"Cassandra, send this letter out first thing tomorrow morning, to the usual location."

After sealing the finished letter with wax, Ethan handed it directly to Cassandra.

Cassandra was really becoming more and more well-behaved.

"Okay!"

Cassandra immediately accepted it, without even asking what was written inside.

Then, Ethan began to teach Cassandra how to practice the Fiendfyre Curse.

After these past few days of practice, Cassandra could already skillfully unleash the Fiendfyre, but her control was lacking.

"Focus your mind on controlling it, don't rush. Every time you get anxious, the fire expands and you lose control."

Ethan reminded her, watching the wisp of flame emerging from the tip of Cassandra's wand.

Magic is a power of the mind. The deeper your understanding of yourself and the greater your confidence, the greater the power you can unleash. Using magic also tends to be much easier.

Hearing Ethan's reminder, Cassandra quickly calmed down. Instead of increasing the power, she started to control the flame.

She was much stronger than Draco's lackey, who was burned to death. Ethan remembered that after that guy released the fire, he couldn't control it at all, and couldn't even sever his magical connection, so the tip of his wand kept spewing fire.

"Add a little more magic, then slowly control it, change its shape."

Seeing that Cassandra's control was not bad, Ethan immediately reminded her.

"Stop, just like that! Control it well!"

A fireball about a meter in size was just right for Cassandra, a beginner.

After all, not everyone was like Ethan, who had stacked multiple buffs, and could recklessly unleash Fiendfyre on his first try.

Ethan occasionally gave her some pointers, and sometimes even demonstrated his own Fiendfyre Curse. It wasn't until Cassandra could transform it into a rather abstract fiery wolf that Ethan finally left.

"Senior, how is your Ancient Runes study going?"

Penelope had been specializing in Ancient Runes recently.

On the one hand, Penelope had chosen Ancient Runes as an elective, which was one of her O.W.L. examination subjects this year.

On the other hand, she wanted to learn Ethan's ancient magic, Mjolnir.

Ethan didn't refuse this, after all, Penelope was going to sell herself to Ethan as a maid for the entire summer vacation.

Although this magic was precious, there was no need to be stingy with his own people.

However, there was a prerequisite: Penelope had to understand the corresponding Ancient Runes before Ethan could teach her how to use Mjolnir.

But teaching Ancient Runes was out of the question. It relied purely on comprehension, and it was very troublesome to teach.

Although each Ancient Rune had a fixed meaning, the power unleashed by different understandings varied.

With Ancient Runes, if you don't understand it, even if someone tells you, it's not yours, and instead, you'll have a lot of problems.

That's why Hogwarts had an elective course in Ancient Runes, and not many people chose it.

Even Hogwarts graduates who had taken Ancient Runes usually only had a superficial understanding of it. It was all rote memorization, just to pass the exam, and they couldn't apply it in practice at all.

Ancient magic required combining and arranging the power of these Ancient Runes. If the understanding wasn't thorough enough, you could accidentally blow yourself up.

This was also the reason why ancient magic was basically lost. Simple and crude was just the way of casting and expressing it, but learning it was not simple at all.

Cassandra was also envious of Mjolnir and Gungnir, but she didn't have any knowledge of Ancient Runes at the moment, so she could only put it at the back of her mind.

"It feels pretty good. Once I've thoroughly digested this, I should be able to try learning it."

Penelope brushed her hair and gave Ethan a bright smile.

Afterwards, Ethan went forward and shared some of his own understanding, then retreated to the side. Whether it could help her depended on Penelope's ability to absorb it.

Walking to the side of the incubation room, Ethan casually threw a blob of Fiendfyre in. This was a daily necessity.

He didn't know what was going on. He had taken over for so long, and had been using fire to bake it, but it just wouldn't hatch. Moreover, the color was getting darker and darker. It used to have some reflection, but now there was no such feeling at all, like an abyss, absorbing all the light around it.

Walking out of the incubation room, a ball of pale flame appeared in Ethan's palm. This was the result of recent efforts.

Without using a wand, Ethan directly opened his five fingers and gently swiped at the ground. The pale flame landed and immediately burned around Ethan, forming a circle while spreading around.

This was a combination of Fire Release: Body Protection and the Fiendfyre Curse, while the Demonic Flames of Uruk were still lacking. He didn't know where the problem was, but he couldn't integrate them.

Ethan also didn't know why the black flame of Fire Release: Body Protection combined with the orange-red Fiendfyre would turn white.

However, the temperature of this white flame was higher, and it also possessed the characteristics of both.

If it weren't for 《Fire Affinity》, Ethan would not have been able to succeed at all. The combination magic of two powerful dark magics directly exploded at the beginning, and the entire space was filled with flames.

If Ethan hadn't practiced the Fire Release: Body Protection magic to the maximum level at a very fast speed before this, and also had the Fire Affinity characteristic to assist him, he would have been blown to death on the spot.

[Thank you to the big boss skxi for the monthly ticket, thank you to the big boss].

Chapter 70: Dumbledore's Summons

"Cream Scones!"

As soon as the words fell, the stone statue in front of Ethan immediately split in two, revealing a spiral staircase.

Following the stairs, Ethan came to the Headmaster's office again. Everything was the same as the last time he came.

During today's Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall conveyed Dumbledore's intention to see him and told him the password to open the door.

That's why this scene happened now.

Ethan also had some guesses as to why Dumbledore wanted to see him this time.

Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, had contacted him again, and it was probably related to this matter.

Besides that, Ethan couldn't think of any other reason. He had been quite honest during this period, and hadn't had any conflicts with anyone, except for wandering around at night and strolling through the Forbidden Forest.

But not getting caught doesn't count as a violation. That's Hogwarts' unspoken rule.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm here!"

Ethan directly woke up Dumbledore, who was dozing off, without any awareness that he shouldn't disturb the old man.

"Sorry, I'm getting old. At this time in the afternoon, I always tend to doze off."

Dumbledore put on the glasses that were on his desk, his eyes still a little dazed.