"Avada Kedavra!"
Inside the Room of Requirement full of targets, Link, face pale, swung his wand viciously.
A flash of emerald green light burst forth.
In an instant, it carved a perfect arc across the air and shattered every target in its path.
Yet after casting the Killing Curse, Link's face showed no joy, on the contrary, he looked even weaker.
He twisted his neck to count the number of targets that had been destroyed, then finally nodded, collapsing onto the sofa.
The three Unforgivable Curses actually weren't particularly complex or difficult to learn.
Especially the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse.
The key to the Killing Curse was that you had to harbor the deepest, most genuine intent to kill your target in order to force your own magic to move and transform into that terrifying, ominous green light.
The stronger your murderous intent, the more powerful the curse you released.
Similarly, casting the Cruciatus required the caster to maintain hatred and anger toward the target, or simply the desire to torture them.
That was why, for Link, who had mastered self-hypnosis techniques through Occlumency, the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse seemed particularly easy.
In truth, the reason these two spells were listed among the Unforgivable Curses was precisely because they were simple to learn, yet incredibly powerful and vicious.
So in less than two months, Link had fully mastered both the Cruciatus and Killing Curses, and even raised them to level 2.
That kind of skill level couldn't really be called high, but it was already enough for Link to use in ordinary combat.
As for the Imperius Curse and Fiendfyre, those were different.
Their complexity was far beyond that of the Killing Curse.
Take Fiendfyre, for example, casting it not only required sustaining malice in your heart, but also actively twisting curse-power itself and transforming it into fire.
Because of this, even though Link had spent the past two months trying to study and understand them, without anyone personally teaching him, he still hadn't been able to completely master either spell and register them as skills on his system panel.
And after truly delving into the study of Dark Magic, Link finally understood why Mrs. Flamel had been so unwilling to give him Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic, and why she had refused to let him learn the three Unforgivable Curses.
Magic in this world was, in fact, truly idealistic in nature.
The casting of any spell required cooperation from the caster's inner emotions at that very moment.
For example, the Patronus Charm required positive emotions as the root power.
And the Killing Curse required you to carry genuine murderous intent.
Compared to the power of emotions, the magical energy most wizards valued so highly was actually not as important.
The reason Dark Magic was called Dark Magic lay in the fact that its casting generally demanded that the caster stir up the deepest, cruelest malice in their heart.
Even someone with self-hypnosis and Occlumency, abilities to block and shield the mind, if their malice was provoked too frequently, that person would inevitably be affected, growing increasingly wicked and reckless.
This point had already been proven by the examples of many Dark wizards.
Plenty of Death Eaters who committed every imaginable evil were not villains at the beginning.
The reason they ended up appearing before the world as such terrifying figures, aside from Voldemort's coercion and temptation, was that casting too much Dark Magic had corroded their hearts.
So Mrs. Flamel's attempt to prevent Link from contacting Dark Magic was entirely understandable.
This kindhearted mother didn't want her child to fall into darkness, especially since, deep inside Link, there was still a monster hidden.
That point was crucial.
Link had already felt it in recent times.
Mike was actually the personality split off from the original body to carry pain and other negative emotions. All the negative emotions generated by Link when casting Dark Magic were borne by Mike.
The advantage this brought Link was that his own self would never be affected by the mental corrosion from casting Dark Magic.
But as a side effect, Mike, who carried the negative emotions, would become stronger and stronger.
This forced Link, every time he used Dark Magic, to spend time and mental energy to restore Mike, resolving those negative emotions.
Otherwise, Mike would grow endlessly stronger, until he finally broke free of the cage of Link's heart.
That was also why Link had become so weak now, and why it had taken him two whole months to barely raise the Killing and Cruciatus Curses to level 2.
Compared with others, although he suffered no lasting side effects from casting Dark Magic, the mental and temporal cost was terrifyingly high.
"Whew!"
Letting out a long breath, and feeling he had rested enough, Link finally rose from the sofa and glanced outside.
The second task was about to begin, and he had no desire to continue working on the three Unforgivable Curses for the time being.
Otherwise, when the time came, he might not even have the strength to swim.
Heading down the rarely quiet stairs, Link soon reached the dormitory, and naturally discovered the neatly arranged, still-steaming food on his bedside table.
This, of course, was the work of the house-elves.
Ever since Link had thrown himself entirely into the study of Dark Magic two months ago, the house-elves had been secretly cooking extra meals for him, delivering food nonstop.
The most important thing was, it was completely voluntary on their part.
They simply felt sorry for such an excellent Hufflepuff missing meals because he was too absorbed in studying.
Even Professor Sprout, who strictly forbade students from ordering house-elves around, hadn't said anything.
Link didn't bother to check whether any other elves were hiding in the dorm. He simply pressed his palms together in thanks, then buried his head in eating.
After finishing, he didn't clean up. He washed up quickly, then went straight to a nap.
This stretch of studying had exhausted him badly.
And when he woke on time before afternoon class, sure enough, the messy plates on his table had disappeared.
In their place was a basin of freshly washed grapes.
Grapes were Link's favorite fruit.
Once he started eating them, he often wouldn't stop until his teeth went sore.
Unfortunately, today two uninvited guests had come to his room, and thanks to their efforts, the grapes were almost gone.
"You could at least leave me a few."
Looking at the two thieves who, even after seeing their host awake, still didn't run, continuing to eat grapes while winking mischievously at him, Link spoke helplessly.
The first thief, John, seemed a bit embarrassed when he heard this and awkwardly put down the grapes in his hand.
But the other thief, Cedric, wasn't nearly so considerate.
He didn't stand on ceremony at all, he simply stuffed all the remaining grapes into a clean bag, then pulled Link off the bed by the arm.
"Finally you're awake! If you hadn't, I'd have woken you with Aguamenti."
In just a few swift moves, Cedric tidied Link's slightly rumpled robe from his nap, then shoved the bag of grapes into his arms.
"Today's Hagrid's first class since he came back, we've got to hurry! As for the grapes, keep them for yourself to eat during class."
With that, without waiting for Link's agreement, he dragged him and John straight outside.
Hogwarts in February was at its coldest.
Snowflakes had been falling almost nonstop from the sky for over a month, blanketing the entire castle in silver, while the snow on the ground had piled several centimeters thicker.
Still half-groggy, Link was instantly awakened the moment the icy wind, carrying snowflakes, struck him.
"I really can't stand you two!"
He muttered complaints under his breath, casting a warming and water-repelling charm over himself and the other two just to keep out the razor-sharp cold wind.
John and Cedric didn't argue with his grumbling. They only gave him a silly grin, then quickened their pace.
Some time ago, due to public pressure, Hagrid had been temporarily removed from his post as Care of Magical Creatures professor.
Only recently, once the outcry subsided, was he reinstated.
During that time, Cedric and the others had been campaigning for him, even joining forces with Gryffindor.
So now, with Hagrid's return, they naturally felt they had contributed some of the credit.
That was why they seemed so excited and impatient.
Unable to resist them, Link could only sigh in resignation and hurry along too.
The three of them trudged through the snow, crunching underfoot, until they reached the Black Lake.
Though class hadn't started yet, an unusually large crowd had already gathered, even Hagrid himself was there.
What's more, Hagrid was holding a young unicorn.
Such a beautiful creature, radiating holy light, looked even cuter and more enchanting as a foal. It instantly won the hearts of all the girls, who crowded around so tightly there wasn't space to breathe. From the group came occasional squeals of joy.
Link guessed someone must have actually touched the unicorn.
As for the boys, they could only watch from afar.
Though manly as they were, they too liked unicorns.
But the pity was that unicorns only allowed contact with pure, beautiful maidens, refusing to let stinky men touch them.
Today's Care of Magical Creatures lesson was with Slytherin.
So from afar, Link quickly spotted Emily among the crowd.
She wore a fluffy hat with red flower patterns, topped with a dangling pom-pom that bobbed with her movements.
The baby unicorn, which ignored others, acted like a kitten in her hands, letting her handle it however she wished.
Many around her cast envious, jealous looks.
But Emily didn't care. All her attention was on the little unicorn.
From her slightly open mouth, the smile at her eyes, and her faintly flushed cheeks, she clearly loved unicorns dearly.
Unfortunately.
She soon noticed Link running toward her.
Startled, she immediately slipped out of the crowd, leaving the little unicorn dropped into the snow, looking lost.
"She's still mad at you," John said with a wicked grin. "I bet you must've done something with Fleur, otherwise Emily wouldn't be this angry."
Hearing that, Link only gave a helpless shrug, neither admitting nor denying, his gaze still fixed on the unicorn now scooped up again by another girl.
This unicorn-themed lesson had actually been the idea of the substitute teacher during Hagrid's suspension, Professor Grubbly-Plank.
Unlike Hagrid, Professor Grubbly-Plank was a true Magizoologist. Her arrival instantly freed students from the nightmare of raising Blast-Ended Skrewts and delivered them into the dream of unicorns instead.
At the same time, her arrival also made many students realize that maybe Hagrid really had only become a professor through Dumbledore's favoritism.
Otherwise, why hadn't an excellent teacher like Grubbly-Plank been chosen before?
When this rumor reached Hagrid's ears, it made him miserable for days.
So, after reflecting, the very first thing he did upon returning was to copy Professor Grubbly-Plank's teaching methods.
And judging by now, the results weren't bad.
Link was also glad.
At the very least, Hagrid should learn some lessons from this, like never again raising illegal and dangerous creatures like Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Hey! Cedric! John! Link! You finally made it!"
Just then Hagrid spotted them.
He immediately abandoned the group of students clamoring for more unicorns, and with a booming laugh, ran toward them. Sweeping all three into a bear hug, he cried,
"Ha ha ha! I can't thank you enough!"
Laughing loudly, Hagrid hugged them tighter and spun them around.
Though Hagrid looked shabby, he actually wasn't dirty, nor did he smell.
The only problem was his sheer strength. His hug was so powerful Link felt his lunch was about to be squeezed out.
At last, he managed to force some strength into Hagrid's arms, loosening them enough to escape.
"Bloody hell, are you trying to kill us?"
Before Link could speak, John was already clutching his chest and swearing first.
He had it worst, having been sandwiched between Link and Cedric.
And Hagrid truly showed his giant heritage, the magical resistance in his body was incredible. After only a moment, he freed himself from Link's loosening charm, scratching his head in embarrassment and apologizing nonstop.
The three of them took turns scolding him for a while, even each gave him a kick before they finally cooled down.
But after all that, Link was already feeling tired again.
Smiling, he asked, "Hagrid, how are you planning to run this lesson?"
"Well…" Hagrid glanced back at the students crowding around the unicorn. "This is my first class since I came back, and since everyone likes unicorns so much, today let's just let them have free time to get close to the unicorns."
At that, John and Cedric were dissatisfied again.
To them, Hagrid should've seized this moment of return to rally his spirits, bringing back some fierce beasts for them to play with.
Unicorns weren't interesting at all.
But Link didn't agree.
Hearing this, he yawned and said, "In that case, I'll go take a rest. Call me when class is over."
With that, Link turned toward the paddocks. Cedric frowned, ready to stop this skipping behavior, but before he could speak, Hagrid held him back.
In Hagrid's eyes, someone as outstanding as Link didn't need lessons anyway. A good rest was what he truly needed.
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