Chapter 206: Spell: Rationale Dream Curse
"I also want to visit Zonko's Joke Shop, Dylan. Do you want to come along then?"
Hearing Neville's question, Dylan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't really want to." Neville paused, surprised. There were only a few shops in Hogsmeade Village. If he didn't go to Zonko's Joke Shop, where else was there to have fun? Just Browse candy?
Neville tried to persuade Dylan to come with him. "Seamus said Dean told him that Zonko's Joke Shop has many strange and unusual things, and many of them are things we never see normally." Here, Neville cautiously looked left and right, then lowered his voice. "Seamus and Dean have even prepared their Galleons—they're going to buy a lot!"
Dylan heard a few of the things Seamus and his friends planned to buy and raised an eyebrow. "Those are all forbidden items."
Neville smiled. "As far as I know, most of them are indeed on the banned items list." He added, "Seamus secretly told me this. I'm telling you, but don't tell anyone else, okay?"
Dylan waved his hand. "I'm not interested in talking about those things with others, and I'm not very interested in those forbidden items—to be honest, haven't the Weasley twins also come up with a lot?" He continued, "I saw someone privately trading with them the other day, so instead of buying things from the joke shop, it's better to support a classmate's business."
Neville blinked. "That makes sense, actually."
Dylan shrugged. "Don't you think George and Fred's crazy ideas and the gadgets they've concocted are more interesting than what's in Zonko's Joke Shop?"
Neville pondered for a moment, then nodded gently. "That's true. Last week, I heard they made a type of Canary Cream. It looked no different from ordinary cookies, but after eating it, it would turn you into a big canary! You'd have to wait a minute for the feathers to fall off and turn back to normal."
Dylan nodded. "I know. This kind of item requires a high level of Transfiguration. They even came to me for advice."
"Ah?" Neville glanced at Dylan. "No wonder. How did they succeed so quickly with this human-transforming cookie? I heard them talking about developing this cookie last year, and there was no progress for a long time, but recently they've even made the finished product."
Dylan chuckled. "That's why I have no interest in Zonko's Joke Shop. Many people who have been to Hogsmeade Village say that the store's merchandise hasn't been updated for a considerable time." He added, "I believe that one day, Fred and George will open a joke shop more interesting than Zonko's, and it will definitely become famous nationwide."
Dylan and Neville walked along the path. Just then, a voice suddenly emerged from behind them.
"My old Merlin's stinky boots! Hey, what do I hear?"
"A prediction made by a third-year Divination Master certified by the Divination professor?"
"Exactly! That's it!"
Two voices, one after another, entered Dylan's ears. Listening to the exaggerated, rising and falling tones, Dylan's eyelids twitched violently. Oh no. These two are going to get inexplicably confident.
"What I meant was, later on..." Dylan tried to clarify. However, the Weasley twins gave him no chance to continue, immediately squeezing in.
"Oh, Dylan, why didn't I ever hear before that you supported us so much?"
"Isn't that right? It's rare praise! It's so much better to say such things to our faces! You should praise people early!"
George bumped Dylan's shoulder, winking and grinning, his face full of wrinkles. Fred also moved closer, deliberately pushing George towards Dylan. "Quick, tell us, which of our beloved inventions is your favorite?" "Was it the Sonic Whistle that made the Slytherin dungeons echo with donkey braying last time?" "Or was it the Flash Flour that made Hufflepuff's kitchen explode with a star shower last month?"
Dylan was squeezed back and forth by the two, almost pressed against the wall. He couldn't help but twitch his mouth, and his gaze sharpened. "Fr—ed—"
"I'm George!"
Seeing that the situation was not right, the twins dared not boast any further. They immediately took two steps back in unison. "Let's go, let's go. We have an item we're researching back in the dorm. We need to go check on it quickly." The two sped off like the wind, leaving only a few voices floating back.
"We'll meet in Hogsmeade Village then!"
"No, it's Honeydukes Sweetshop! We'll be waiting for you there!"
"We'll show you the secret weapon we've prepared for you!"
The two ran off. Dylan sighed helplessly. Those two... They always have so many strange prank ideas. Secret weapon? Dylan clicked his tongue.
Neville stood by, watching the Weasley twins inexplicably appear and then quickly disappear, his eyes tired from blinking. "Alright, let's go." Dylan beckoned to Neville. After talking for so long, he was hungry. Neville nodded and followed Dylan.
..
The following days passed quickly. In the days leading up to Halloween, although Hogwarts was still surrounded by Dementors, most third-year students weren't thinking about it.
After all, it was their first time being allowed to go out during school, so many were very excited, even euphoric. Dylan clearly felt that these students' enthusiasm in class had been stimulated. Especially in Professor Snape's Potions class, it was even more exaggerated!
Even though Professor Snape consistently singled out Gryffindor, almost everyone except Dylan would be criticized by Professor Snape. Yet, even in the face of Professor Snape's sarcasm, none of the little Gryffindor lions talked back.
Instead, they changed whatever the professor said. They actually achieved complete obedience. Professor Snape was stunned. Perhaps out of being touched, Professor Snape then found fault with everyone again and deducted points from Harry. Actually—isn't this also a kind of good teacher who treats everyone equally?
The day before Halloween, the morning light had just spilled over the castle spires. Hogwarts' stone path was already crowded with restless students. It was finally the day they could go to Hogsmeade Village and move freely. This year's third-year students were all invigorated, gathering in groups.
At the same time, Filch, like an old cat with bristling fur, blocked the archway in the entrance hall. —From a distance, he actually looked like a nail. His hooked nose almost poked everyone's face as they passed.
He clutched a list in his hand, the entire parchment almost dragging on the ground. —He wondered which shop was producing such exaggerated parchment.
"No one not on the list is allowed through! If anyone tries to sneak out and I catch you, you'll be in big trouble! I'll have your Head of House come and collect you!" Filch's voice was like a rusty saw scraping stone—sharp, piercing, and with a sticky nasal whine. Every syllable sounded as if it had been soaked in spoiled milk.
When Dylan slowly walked over, Luna was beside him. And behind the two, Neville, who wanted to step forward but was too shy, followed. "He looks just like a magical creature," Luna's gaze fell on Filch ahead. The latter was still comparing the departing young wizards to the list, completely oblivious to Luna's interested gaze.
Dylan turned to look at her. This girl, she's not even interested in Filch, is she? Is she going to research Filch and put him in her dad's magazine as material? Dylan clicked his tongue. "I'm going ahead. Remember to watch over Luna for me, and say hello to Mist."
Luna thought for a moment. "If possible, while you're there, please keep an eye out. If there are any undiscovered rare creatures, remember to come back and tell me."
Dylan nodded. "No problem, but I don't think I'll encounter any special creatures. Don't get your hopes up too high." —If there really were any undiscovered creatures, they would have been caught by the wizards of Hogsmeade Village long ago.
How could a young wizard on an outing happen to stumble upon them? Luna gently nodded, her golden hair fluttering slightly in the wind.
Dylan had met Luna in the hallway when he was leaving. So, Dylan naturally came out with her.
"It's okay, just keep an eye out for me."
"Alright." After saying goodbye to Luna, the two parted ways. Luna walked in another direction. Neville also quickly caught up with Dylan. —What was with that inexplicable sense of relief? Neville swallowed, carefully glancing at Dylan.
Suddenly, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione together in a corner ahead. Neville paused. "Harry said his aunt and uncle absolutely refused to sign any documents for him."
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I didn't hear Harry mention it."
"Uh." Neville looked at him. "Perhaps—because you haven't talked to Harry much recently?"
"I see." Dylan nodded. It seemed that was the case. These past two days, his research had made new progress. —He had made a new breakthrough in magical methods of memory alteration. Previously, he could directly protect Hagrid's memory, preventing others from investigating Hagrid and exposing his affairs. This was already a very high level of magic.
It was just a bit crude, forcibly obscuring his existence. If Hagrid's entire memory were extracted and examined piece by piece, some inconsistencies could still be found.
But now it was different. Dylan could not only directly sever certain parts of others' memories but also make these parts appear "reasonable" in the eyes of others, and thus overlooked.
It was similar to him being able to cast a Fidelius Charm on a specific part of someone's memory. However, it was also different from the Fidelius Charm. It didn't just simply turn the memory into a secret.
Instead, it allowed others to still see this memory but not find anything wrong with it. This memory would even change on its own to better fit the investigator's "logical" expectations.
Dylan named this spell: Rationale Dream Curse!
Rationale Dream Curse! The "Rationale" part refers to the spell's ability to manipulate the logic of memories, making flaws appear as "reasonable" gateways. "Dream" echoes its natural, traceless infiltration, like a dream, while possessing distorted yet natural cognitive characteristics.
However, the conditions for using this magic were much stricter than for Mnemosyne's Veil. Mnemosyne's Veil only required Dylan to cast the spell directly on the target he wished to affect.
However, Rationale Dream Curse first required Dylan to be close to the cursed person. Through prolonged contact, it would infiltrate the target's memory. If the target had advanced memory-related abilities—like Professor Snape and Old Dumbledore—then there was a very high chance they would realize Dylan was casting a spell!
At the same time, they could also easily break Dylan's spell. Even aside from these, Dylan needed to constantly maintain the spell's effect on the memory. Therefore, Dylan was currently researching how to make the spell work without a trace.
—Although Dylan primarily intended this spell to prevent bigmouths like Hagrid from spreading information about him, following the principle of perfection, Dylan naturally wanted to perfect this spell. And to research this magic, Dylan spent a lot of time tinkering with Portkeys, the Fidelius Charm, Mnemosyne's Veil, the Memory Charm, and other spells.
He also spent a lot of time secretly meeting with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest every night—using Hagrid to test his spell's effects. Fortunately, the big fellow had a lot of strength but wasn't very adept at magic.
Dylan successfully protected Hagrid's memories related to him—mainly the parts about Norbert. Coupled with so many other things going on, he naturally didn't have time to pay attention to Harry and the others.
And Harry hadn't come directly to him to complain, so that should mean there's no problem, right?
But the Dursleys... Dylan narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed that next holiday, when he visited Harry, he should properly teach those two what it truly means to nurture a child's growth with care.
"Harry's aunt and uncle are his guardians, so if they don't sign, Harry can't go to Hogsmeade Village," Neville said.
Dylan thought for a moment. It seemed this wasn't a sudden development, but part of the existing storyline. If that were the case, he wouldn't need to do anything to help Harry at all. Let him fly on his own.
"Oh, right, I should indeed interact more with Harry and the others recently." Dylan suddenly thought. He had been so busy obscuring Hagrid's memories recently that he had forgotten about Harry and Ron.
Coming closer to Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione briefly united their front. As soon as he approached, Dylan heard the two of them comforting Harry.
"I really don't understand why Professor McGonagall knows Harry's guardians are those two, yet still won't let him go to Hogsmeade Village with us!" Ron said angrily. "With us around, is Harry going to get lost or something?"
....
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