Looking at the Patronus Trees that had undergone such dramatic transformation, Ciel's face radiated uncontainable excitement and joy. Dumbledore's Patronus Charm had delivered an enormous surprise that exceeded his wildest expectations.
Originally, his conservative estimate for harvesting these trees had anticipated Defence Against the Dark Arts mastery somewhere between Gold and Platinum levels. As for Dark Magic Resistance, reaching Silver level would have been satisfactory.
But now, when these Patronus Trees reached full maturity, under the influence of dozens of reward orbs blazing with platinum and diamond radiance, his Defence Against the Dark Arts mastery would most likely advance directly to Diamond level. This would become his second Diamond-level magic-related ability after the temporarily enhanced Serpensortia.
Though Defence Against the Dark Arts was a general term rather than a specific spell, Diamond-level mastery remained extremely precious. It could potentially elevate his magical understanding significantly, especially regarding methods for countering Dark Magic.
No matter how he calculated, this represented absolutely massive profit.
Additionally, his Dark Magic resistance should reach Platinum level after harvesting. This meant considerable immunity to the vast majority of Dark Magic attacks. In the original plot, the thick-skinned three-headed dog with Dark Magic resistance had held off Quirrell for nearly an entire semester, leaving him completely helpless.
Even though the original Quirrell was in a weakened state, the three-headed dog's troublesome nature was evident. If Ciel possessed Platinum-level Dark Magic resistance, combined with his once-sublimated Legendary Life and Legendary Strength, aside from lacking the Dark Magic damage in the three-headed dog's teeth, he would be far superior to that guardian in every aspect.
Ninety-nine percent of Dark wizards would probably feel only despair when facing current Ciel. Defence Against the Dark Arts mastery plus Dark Magic resistance alone would give him dimensional advantage against dangers appearing at Hogwarts in coming years.
Not to mention Occlumency enhancement. He had already gained rich rewards from that mental art, but advancing Platinum-level Occlumency further had become increasingly slow. The enhancement gained from this harvest would save tremendous time.
"Massive profit. Truly massive profit!"
Finally, his gaze fell on the Silver-level Patronus Charm enhancement, his expression growing strange. In the original story, the Patronus Charm appeared frequently and often played key roles when Harry's trio fought Dementors. He had once thought the Patronus Charm was created specifically to combat those soul-sucking monsters.
But after learning magical history and knowledge about magical creatures, he had discovered a confusing point. Dementors were first discovered on certain islands. The discovery time wasn't particularly ancient. Yet the Patronus Charm was one of the most ancient spells currently accessible to wizards.
This seemed unreasonable. If the Patronus Charm's only purpose was combating Dementors, why would wizards create this spell before Dementors were even discovered?
As for using Patronus Charms for messaging, spending such effort practicing this high-difficulty magic just to do what owls could easily replace seemed even more unreasonable.
With this confusion in mind and the magical world's most accomplished Patronus Charm practitioner nearby, Ciel simply asked Dumbledore directly:
"Headmaster, was that the Patronus Charm just now? Books say this spell is used to combat Dementors. But as far as I know, when this spell was created, Dementors hadn't even been discovered yet."
Hearing his inquiry, Dumbledore first showed surprise, then an appreciative expression. "Very keen observation, Ciel. In this regard, you're the most perceptive I've seen. Even many praised geniuses can't compare to your analytical ability."
Then Dumbledore's expression became serious. "I think you've entered the Restricted Section multiple times. Perhaps you've noticed the Patronus Charm is also placed among forbidden magic. Theoretically, Hogwarts students wouldn't encounter this magic until graduation. Have you wondered why?"
Ciel had indeed been curious about this. When reading the original in his previous life, he'd wanted to complain about Dumbledore being overly restrictive regarding students accessing advanced magic. Even the Patronus Charm, representing justice and light, wasn't allowed for young wizards.
But now, seeing Dumbledore's grave expression, there seemed to be hidden circumstances. He focused his attention, listening carefully.
Soon after, he heard Dumbledore reveal rarely known secrets:
"Actually, the Patronus Charm is one of the few known spells created near the end of the Olympian era. At that time, the glorious Olympian era collapsed. Temples that once constantly showed divine miracles never again transmitted oracles. Even Mount Olympus and the wizards worshipped as deities there vanished completely."
Dumbledore's voice carried the weight of ancient grief. "Many surviving wizards were devastated, nearly broken. It was an era when faith began collapsing. Most wizards' wills were scattered, immersed in pain over lost glory. And you surely know that strong will to accomplish something is a prerequisite for advanced magic to work."
He paused, blue eyes distant with memory. "But we must admit most people live mediocre lives without lofty aspirations in their minds. Their will is naturally lacking. Such wizards can hardly achieve great magical accomplishments. Much less in that era's context, where decadence, drinking, and debauchery were popular, and wizards' magic declined at an alarming speed."
"A visionary genius wizard believed Olympian era glory could be reforged, but the prerequisite was for current wizards to collectively manifest willpower to reforge glory."
At this point, Dumbledore paused and drew a deep breath. "So after extensive cruel, bloody experiments on Muggles and even fellow wizards, this genius wizard finally understood the mysteries of magic, spirit, and will. An amazing spell was created. This was the earliest version of the Patronus Charm."
His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "At that time, this spell's effect was to forcibly manifest a wizard's will. Manifested will driving magic could achieve incredible abilities, sometimes even surpassing the wizard themselves!"
Ciel's eyes widened, never expecting to hear such secrets from Dumbledore. The Patronus Charm's origin was actually this? The earliest version wasn't for combating Dementors but for awakening and condensing wizards' will, even forcibly manifesting that will to let it use magic independently?
This meant even the weakest wizard could condense a firm, focused will manifestation using this magic. The spells this manifestation could perform might even far exceed the wizard themselves. Such magic was truly incredible!
Seeing his amazed expression, Dumbledore sighed softly, his voice carrying amazement, admiration, and deep regret. "This was indeed a very powerful, magical, practical spell. If it had spread, it could have changed the entire magical world and subsequent magical history."
"But Ciel, have you considered something? If a righteous, kind wizard is weak and cannot use powerful magic, at least he won't harm others. After his will is manifested, this would naturally be good. He'd have power to help others."
Dumbledore's eyes grew haunted. "But what if it's an evil-hearted wizard who, due to weakness, lacks the power to fulfil his evil intentions, and his will gets manifested into an evil, malicious form with full capability? What would happen?"
Understanding crashed through Ciel's mind like lightning. "Disaster."
Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Correct. Disaster. Even 'disaster' cannot describe it adequately. Initially when this spell was invented, everything seemed thriving. But soon, those manifested evil wills began unimaginable mutations."
His voice became haunted. "How could weak wizards control such manifested evil? The first thing they did was seize everything from their masters... flesh, spirit, memories, life, even all beautiful things in existence. What remained in the shells was just extremely evil will, insatiable greed, constantly craving to steal others' happiness, even feeding on others' souls..."
Lightning seemed to flash through Ciel's mind. "This couldn't be...?"
Dumbledore said softly: "This is the origin of Dementors. If they hadn't once been wizards, why would these monsters wear wizard robes, know wizard language, and so hungrily seek wizards' happiness and souls?"
The revelation hit like a physical blow. "After Dementors appeared, wizards realised something was wrong. Fortunately, though Dementors were numerous, wizards with kind wills weren't few either. After a brutal struggle, wizards defeated the Dementors."
"But these monsters' lives had been stripped by will. Nothing resembling life remained in their shells. Since there was no life, they couldn't be destroyed, so Dementors were exiled to remote islands and magically sealed there."
Ciel's expression showed profound shock. The Patronus Charm's origin and Dementors' history had such connections. No wonder Dementors showed such terrifying malice yet couldn't be destroyed. This made perfect sense.
But then Dumbledore looked at him sadly. "Do you think the Patronus Charm's remaining troubles end there?"
Ciel was stunned. "Dementors were exiled. Wasn't this trouble controlled?"
Dumbledore's mouth curved into a smile that seemed both mocking and bitter. "Wizards then thought so too. Their modification to this magic was preventing evil wills from manifesting. Only kind wills could manifest. This even distinguished who was kind versus evil. With kind people holding power and evil people restrained, wouldn't the world become wonderfully perfect?"
His voice grew heavy with irony. "But what followed, whether in magical history or Muggle history, I think you've read about extensively. Countless pages describe these remaining troubles."
Ciel's expression showed confusion, then growing horror. Could religious rise and bloody cruel judgements be due to this spell's influence? He also understood why this happened. Everyone has their own definition of kindness, but one person's kindness might be cruelty to another. When kindness loses control, how does it differ from evil?
Only now did he fully understand why the Patronus Charm, compared to Dumbledore's described ancient version, had been severely modified. No longer able to forcibly manifest will for weak wizards, but requiring firm will and positive emotions first to summon an obedient guardian that could only combat Dementors or deliver messages.
Even so, it was still placed in the Restricted Section. This spell had indeed caused too many painful lessons. In a sense, mediaeval persecution of wizards was all lingering poison from this spell!
But one question lingered in his mind. "Headmaster, if those once out-of-control evil wills left Dementors in this world, didn't the out-of-control kind wills also leave something?"
Sharp light flashed in Dumbledore's eyes. He looked deeply at Ciel, blue eyes particularly profound. "That's an excellent question. I'd rather we never know the answer."
Then, as Ciel wanted to enquire further, Dumbledore waved his hand, seemingly unwilling to continue. He simply took out parchment and wrote down the Patronus Charm's incantation and usage:
"Ciel, you now have the qualification to use the Patronus Charm. Though this spell once caused countless disasters, the good news is the current version truly has no hidden dangers. You can practise with confidence."
"Additionally, though its once incredibly powerful, magical effects are unrecognisable; the summoned Patronus is still a will manifestation that can integrate your spiritual will. Even subconscious will can condense under its influence. This has considerable benefits for magical improvement. For a wizard aspiring to reach the peak, the Patronus Charm is essential magic."
Finishing, Dumbledore left the greenhouse wearily. "The Defence Against the Dark Arts exam... Harry and the others' safety in the Forbidden Forest is in your hands."
Ciel watched Dumbledore's departing figure and drew a deep breath. The secrets just revealed had shaken him profoundly. Those evil will manifestations that briefly appeared before being exiled had left behind immortal, indestructible Dementors in this world.
So what would those "kind" will manifestations that persisted so long leave behind? Even Dumbledore seemed unwilling to mention these things. The magical world's waters truly ran deep.
But soon after, his thoughts returned to calm. As always, when the sky falls, tall people hold it up. With Dumbledore around, why worry so much? Moreover, this was just his speculation. The original story had no clues about this period. No need for unnecessary worry.
Focusing on current matters was most important. His gaze fell on the Patronus Trees. After Dumbledore's previous Patronus Charm, not only had the trees' level improved, but their maturation time had greatly accelerated. At this rate, they could be harvested before the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam.
Even bringing Harry's trio as burdens, he had complete confidence. Then he looked at the parchment Dumbledore left him, strange light flickering in his eyes:
"Patronus Charm, huh? I wonder what my Patronus will be?"
He gripped his wand and slowly moved it. "Expecto Patronum!"
Silver smoke immediately poured from his wand tip, swirling in the greenhouse air like liquid starlight.