Chapter 32. Poison Curse
The day after the poison curse attack..
After his morning Transfiguration class, Lynn went to Professor Fawkes's office.
"What brings you here today?"
Professor Fawkes seemed very busy, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment with a quill.
Lynn pulled up a chair and sat down, asking with a puzzled look.
"Professor, aren't you worried about the rumors circulating in the school?"
Professor Fawkes stopped what he was doing, rolled up the parchment filled with writing Lynn couldn't understand, and placed it on the bookshelf beside him.
He crossed his arms, his face still bearing his usual smile.
"Rumors?
They're making it sound so convincing, it's like I did it all. Why don't you believe them?"
"Everyone's saying you did it." Lynn picked up the teapot on his desk and poured himself a cup of black tea, taking a sip.
"But I have my own judgment. I don't think you're the kind of person they're talking about, Professor."
Fawkes's smile deepened; he seemed touched, his eyes almost squinting with happiness.
"It's good to have your own judgment, but smart people don't always stick to their own.
The rumors among the students don't affect me, but you should be careful lately.
Minerva also asked me to check on that student.
The attacker's methods were very sophisticated; he should be a seasoned practitioner of dark magic.
His motives for this attack are unclear, so the possibility of a second attack cannot be ruled out."
Lynn hadn't intended to let his guard down, but he had another matter to discuss with Professor Fawkes today besides the rumors among the students.
He took the book with the pure black cover from his robe pocket and placed it on the desk.
Professor Fawkes looked somewhat puzzled: "What? Did you encounter a curse you found difficult to master?"
Lynn blinked. "No, Professor. I've already learned all the curses in this book, so I'm returning it.."
Professor Fawkes looked extremely surprised, his narrowed eyes widening.
While the curses recorded in the
*Book of Wicked Words*
weren't particularly difficult to learn, their difficulty was certainly higher than the curses in the first-year textbook.
Including the day he gave the book to Lynn, only two days had passed; he simply couldn't believe that Lynn could master the nine curses in such a short time.
But knowing Lynn, he knew Lynn wasn't one to boast.
So Professor Fawkes stood up from his chair, intending to verify it himself.
After casting an Ironclad Charm on himself, he gestured to Lynn,
"Then let me test your learning success. Come, try casting a Distraction Charm on me."
Lynn didn't immediately act, but looked at him suspiciously.
"Professor, your Armored Charm won't reflect my spell, will it?"
Professor Fawkes chuckled. "Don't worry, my Armored Charm isn't that strong; at most, it can only neutralize your spell."
Hearing this, Lynn picked up his wand with relief.
"Relax and Dissipate."
A bright red beam of spell energy shot from Lynn's wand, striking Professor Fawkes's Armored Charm, which was two centimeters in front of him.
Lynn's Dispel Charm vanished instantly, while Professor Fawkes's Armor Charm barely caused a ripple.
Lynn was somewhat dissatisfied with the effect of his spell; he hadn't been delusional enough to try and break a professor's Armor Charm, but it had been neutralized far too easily.
Professor Fawkes, however, was delighted, nodding in praise.
"Accurate pronunciation, steady and swift movements, and the effect is equally impressive.
If I didn't know you'd never encountered Dark Arts before, I would have thought you were a Dark Wizard."
Lynn pondered Professor Fawkes's words, feeling something was off about his praise.
Professor Fawkes, however, seemed to have taken a liking to this. He removed his Armor Charm and said to Lynn,
"Continue, cast a Repel Charm on me."
Lynn hesitated again, thinking Professor Fawkes might have suffered internal injuries from the shock and was now mentally unstable.
"Are you sure, Professor?"
Professor Fawkes waved his hand and said, "I'm absolutely sure. Come on, Lynn, let me feel the power of your spell."
Since he said so, Lynn didn't hesitate any longer. He waved his wand and skillfully chanted the spell.
"Full Speed Back."
The curse struck Professor Fawkes squarely in the chest. He groaned and then staggered back several steps until his back hit the wall.
His face was slightly flushed, but he looked unusually excited.
"I'm certain again that my choice was right!" Professor Fawkes shouted without even pausing to catch his breath.
"You're a genius when it comes to dark magic!"
Now, Lynn could finally be fairly certain of the level of his 7 points of dark magic talent.
To be praised as a genius by a wizard like Professor Fawkes, who specialized in dark magic, meant he must be among the top in the entire wizarding world.
"So, Professor, what should I learn next?" Actually, the students at Hogwarts were really relaxed. If he didn't find some magic to learn, Lynn didn't know what to do every day.
Professor Fawkes calmed himself down, sat back in his chair, and finished his tea before speaking.
"Step by step, even the greatest talent must start from the basics. Now that you've learned all the evil spells in the
*Book of Evil Words*
we can begin practicing poison spells."
"Poison spells (Hex)?" Lynn repeated the word Professor Fawkes had uttered.
"That's right, poison spells. They are also a type of dark magic.
Among the three different levels of dark magic, poison spells can cause moderate inconvenience or harm, stronger than evil spells but weaker than curses.
The difficulty of learning them is the same."
Lynn was now eager to try.
He had a great desire to learn more different spells, like the gacha games he played in his previous life—whether a card was strong or not was one thing, but he had to have it in his inventory.
"So, what book should I read this time?"
Professor Fawkes shook his head and asked seriously.
"You might be able to learn evil curses on your own by simply reading books, and even if you make a mistake along the way, it won't be a big problem.
But poison curses are different.
These kinds of curses already have a certain degree of danger. If you make a mistake while learning them on your own, it will threaten the safety of you and those around you.
Therefore, until you have completely mastered it, you can only practice poison curses in my presence."
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(End of Chapter)