"Today, according to instructions from above, I have no choice but to teach you material that I would normally only begin covering in fifth year... knowledge concerning dark magic," Dumbledore said seriously from the front of the classroom.
"I imagine some of you may already have been quite familiar with dark magic before coming to Hogwarts. But today, I want you to set aside everything you think you know about it and start from the beginning as I explain it."
He picked up the Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook in his hand and set it aside.
"Today's lesson is not in your textbook, so I hope you will take careful notes."
The students hurriedly put their textbooks away and took out notebooks and quills.
"First, we need to understand what dark magic actually is. So, can anyone tell me what kind of magic can be classified as dark magic?" Dumbledore looked around the classroom.
Tom raised his hand high.
"Tom."
Tom stood and answered, "Objectively speaking, any magic cast on another person with malicious intent can be considered dark magic. Dark magic also doesn't only include spells. There are curses placed on objects as well, and those are referred to as Dark Artefacts. Certain attacks from Dark creatures can also inflict injuries carrying dark curses."
"Very good, Tom. Five points to Slytherin," Dumbledore said approvingly.
He turned and wrote the words "malice" and "curse" on the blackboard.
"In the wizarding world, the most infamous forms of dark magic are the three Unforgivable Curses."
"The three Unforgivable Curses are the Killing Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperius Curse. I should remind you that these three curses are absolutely forbidden. If the Ministry of Magic learns that someone has used any one of them on another person, that person will be arrested, sent directly to Azkaban without trial, and imprisoned there for life."
The students could not help shivering at Dumbledore's cold tone.
Seeing that the effect was satisfactory, Dumbledore continued.
"These three curses can be said to embody malice in its purest form. Yes, all three require extremely intense malicious intent in order to be cast properly."
"For example, when casting the Killing Curse, a wizard must possess a powerful desire to kill. Only when you genuinely want the other person dead will the curse produce its full effect. The Cruciatus Curse requires the caster to take pleasure in causing suffering. In other words, you must truly want the victim to experience extreme pain for the spell to work. The Imperius Curse requires the malicious desire to completely control another person's free will."
For the rest of the first half of the lesson, Dumbledore focused on the three Unforgivable Curses, covering everything from the negative effects dark magic could have on the caster to the horrific conditions suffered by those struck by such curses.
Dumbledore gave countless detailed examples.
He even displayed slides showing the miserable states of curse victims, along with the ugly faces of Dark Wizards who had excessively practised dark magic.
The students' sanity practically plummeted.
Dumbledore also placed particular emphasis on one point: using dark magic could have a severe effect on one's appearance.
When he mentioned that, many of the girls visibly recoiled.
Even some young witches from pure-blood families, despite being accustomed to seeing dark magic, could not help developing a strong aversion to it.
Wade listened from below with great interest.
After all, he had made those slides himself.
Because the slides he had created for the Moral Education classes had worked so well, Dumbledore had come to him for help.
Dumbledore's request had been simple.
Show the dangers of dark magic as clearly as possible, and exaggerate them as much as necessary.
Wade had no shortage of material for that.
Among the misshapen Dark Wizards under the Senior's control, practically any one of them could be photographed and used as excellent material.
As for examples of curse victims, Slytherin's experimental notes contained plenty.
Judging from the results now, the slides were working extremely well.
Many students who had previously felt some fascination toward dark magic were now filled with resistance toward it.
"In addition, excessive use of dark magic can have extremely serious negative effects on a person's mind. It can even cause mental instability, confusion, and emotional volatility!"
"...In Hampshire, there was a Dark Wizard who used dark magic so excessively that he became mentally unstable and lost his sanity. One afternoon, over a trivial matter, he suddenly went mad and killed all seven members of his family. In the end, he was sent to Azkaban, where a Dementor sucked out his soul..."
As Dumbledore spoke, he adjusted the projector. A clipping from the Daily Prophet appeared on the screen, reporting that very incident.
"And then there is this man. In his pursuit of greater power, he repeatedly subjected himself to dangerous forms of dark magical transformation... and eventually ended up like this."
Dumbledore changed the slide again.
A bald, noseless wizard dressed in black robes appeared on the screen.
"Arg..."
The students all sucked in a sharp breath.
"Whoa! He's hideous!"
Tom stared at the bald, noseless wizard on the screen, looking increasingly puzzled.
"Hm? I feel like this guy looks strangely familiar..."
Pfft~! Beside him, Wade nearly burst out laughing. He had to think of every sad thing from both of his lives before he managed to hold it in.
Tom glanced suspiciously at Wade, having no idea what he found so amusing.
Once Wade finally recovered, he suddenly sensed something and turned towards the back of the classroom.
Grindelwald was standing at the rear door with a dark expression, glaring at Dumbledore at the front of the room.
"Heh..."
Dumbledore looked straight at Grindelwald and let out a mocking chuckle.
Grindelwald's face darkened further before he turned and left.
With Dumbledore "maliciously discrediting" dark magic like this, there was no chance the students would be eager to learn it.
Grindelwald's educational reform had only just begun, yet he had already run headfirst into Dumbledore.
The first round clearly belonged to Dumbledore.
After class, everyone filed out nervously.
After seeing all those slides, their sanity had taken a serious beating.
Those disgusting images were far too much for young witches and wizards their age.
Dumbledore did feel somewhat guilty about it, but these really were the negative consequences of dark magic.
He was merely being a responsible professor and kindly warning his students.
As everyone packed up and began leaving, Tom suddenly grabbed Wade.
"Wait... that bald guy. The more I think about it, the more familiar he looks."
"Ahem..."
Wade took several pieces of parchment, stacked them together, and Transfigured them into a set of slides.
Together, the slides formed an image of Tom.
Then Wade began removing them one by one.
When he removed the first slide, Tom's hair disappeared.
When he removed the second, Tom's nose vanished.
When he removed the third, Tom's eyes became snake-like.
"Shit! Wade Reynolds! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tom was so furious his nose nearly twisted out of shape.
So that hideous bastard from the slide had actually been him?
"You should be thanking me, Tom. If I hadn't pulled you back from that path, and you'd kept pursuing dark magic, you might really have ended up looking like that!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure! I thank your ancestors eight generations back!"
...
Dumbledore single-handedly managed to make the entire school wary of dark magic.
Even the pure-blood students who had already been taught dark magic by their families were affected.
Wade knew that Grindelwald would never let the matter end there.
Still, at least Dumbledore and Grindelwald were now competing within the rules. Compared to before, things were much safer.
Wade did not pay too much attention to their struggle and continued focusing on his own affairs.
However, he also began meeting with Helora more and more frequently.
On the one hand, Helora's cooking really was delicious. On the other, Wade was extremely curious about her and hoped to learn more through other means.
First of all, Headmaster Dippet definitely knew her true identity, and there had to be a reason why the old Headmaster was so certain that she was a good person.
Because Wade visited Helora so often, the other club members gradually began joining him.
Anyone who came even once was inevitably won over by her food.
Even Dumbledore could not help hoping that she might give the house-elves some new recipes.
During this period, Wade also learned more about the Senior from Helora, including more about several of her closest friends.
This gave Wade a much clearer impression of those people.
One day, Wade visited her office again.
"Every night, I talk with her in my dreams..." Helora said with a smile as she placed some food in front of Wade. "I've also learned from her how you intend to free her. It really is somewhat risky. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. I promised her I would," Wade said.
"Could you show me your ancient magic? I don't mean anything by it. I just want to see... how confident you can afford to be," Helora said.
"Of course. But not here." Wade stood up. "Let's go to the Forbidden Forest. I'll show you there."
Ten minutes later, the two of them appeared in a clearing deep within the Forbidden Forest.
This had originally been the place where Grindelwald set up the tents for the trials, but after the location was changed, it had been abandoned.
Wade stood in the centre of the clearing and quietly looked up at the sky. Then he put two fingers to his lips and gave a long whistle.
As the whistle rang out, a small black dot appeared in the distant sky.
As it drew closer, Helora said in surprise, "A phoenix?"
Sure enough, a fiery red bird landed on Wade's arm.
"A phoenix? Are you certain?" Wade asked.
"Yes. The magical fluctuations are extremely strong. It should indeed be a phoenix," Helora said.
For a witch of her level, identifying a magical creature was often not simply a matter of judging by appearance.
From the intense magical fluctuations alone, this truly did seem to be a phoenix rather than something created through Transfiguration.
However, in the next moment, the phoenix rapidly changed and transformed into an owl.
"What about now?" Wade asked.
Helora stared at the owl in surprise.
The powerful magical fluctuations from before had now become extremely faint, making it seem no different from an ordinary owl.
"This owl..."
"No. It isn't actually an owl."
Wade raised his arm.
The owl spread its wings and flew upward. But after travelling a little over ten metres, its body suddenly began expanding rapidly.
The owl vanished, replaced by an enormous Hungarian Horntail.
Helora stared in shock as the dragon soared into the sky.
Now she understood.
This was not ordinary Transfiguration. It was ancient magic.
And being able to shrink and transform a dragon without even using a wand was enough to demonstrate just how powerful Wade's ancient magic was.
"Wade, judging from this, even without my help, your chances of rescuing her are already very high. And with my help added..." Helora said happily, "My poor friend will finally regain her freedom very soon!"
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69