At this moment, while Ciel shot laser spells into the sky, forming words to attract the Quintapeds, far outside the underground Forbidden Forest, the professors rushing toward this location also saw the faint words projected from within.
Professor McGonagall's eyes were red-rimmed with unshed tears. "Ciel. This child..." Her voice broke with emotion.
The more emotional Professor Flitwick was nearly crying openly. "What a good, brave child! To protect other young wizards, he deliberately exposed himself and attracted those dangers. May Merlin bless him!"
Snape's expression was tense as iron, his lips pressed tightly together. Even when his lips were bitten through and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, he remained unaware of the pain.
In all of Hogwarts, perhaps only he knew how much power Ciel was truly hiding. That seemingly indestructible, untiring body. Formidable Occlumency mastery. Battle-hardened practical experience far exceeding his peers.
Not to mention he possessed ancient magic capabilities that defied conventional understanding.
If Ciel truly wanted to hide himself, even if he inevitably encountered danger, Snape still believed he had a good chance of surviving until rescue arrived.
But now, deliberately exposing himself changed everything completely. Ciel's survival rate was plummeting with each passing moment.
Snape cursed under his breath: "Fool! This absolute fool!"
But the blood trickling from his mouth and his bulging veins revealed Snape's true feelings beneath the harsh words.
His mind replayed scenes of his interactions with Ciel throughout the year. This little badger could be said to be one of the few who held absolute trust in him. Not to mention Ciel seemed to understand his impossible position better than anyone.
So far, Ciel was the only one who had told him he hoped he could live, hoped to change his destined tragic ending.
"Damn it. After all that big talk, you need to stay alive first!"
Professor Sprout needn't be mentioned. After seeing signs of Ciel deliberately exposing himself to attract monsters, her face had already lost all colour.
Her entire being emanated a feeling gloomy enough to fall into an abyss. Her vacant, pale gaze fixed deadly on Dumbledore, her voice hoarse with barely contained fury:
"Dumbledore. If anything happens to my Ciel because of your foolish decision, I can't guarantee what I might do."
Sensing the aura emanating from Professor Sprout and the undisguised anger and despair in her words, plus the hatred this usually kind and gentle professor had never shown before, Dumbledore's complexion paled visibly.
The self-blame and regret in his heart were indescribable. He could completely understand Professor Sprout's feelings.
If it were him discovering that a relative he thought was dead was actually alive, like Ariana, or if she returned to his side but was killed again due to someone's stupidity, Dumbledore didn't dare imagine what he might do in response.
His blue eyes reflected Ciel's flickering words glowing in the darkness. Dumbledore's gaze was full of respect and heartache.
"Ciel Sprout. You're the greatest young wizard I've ever seen, inheriting both Hufflepuff's diligence and Gryffindor's courage. Even if there's only a thread of hope, I won't let you die before my eyes. Hold on."
Meanwhile, compared to the professors watching from afar, the young wizards also trapped in the underground Forbidden Forest felt the laser-spell text clearly visible in the dark sky above even more intensely.
For instance, at this moment, behind a thick tree trunk, two young wizards were huddled in hiding. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably, not daring to breathe.
Because not far from their hiding place, a monster covered in red hair, one glance at which would give them nightmares for a month, was there, using its long, grotesque head to search the shadows behind every tree.
The subtle sounds were like death knells to these two young wizards. Whenever the monster's head emitted low, strange laughter and forcefully inhaled, seemingly sniffing for scents, they couldn't help their bodies' instinctive fear and trembling.
The various wounds from falling from the surface brought stinging pain. They'd never encountered anything like this in their sheltered lives.
Worse still, the blood seeping from their wounds seemed to have been detected by the monster. That strange laughter grew closer and closer to the tree where they hid.
Until the next moment, violent commotion erupted. The two young wizards could no longer contain their terror. Their minds went blank as they screamed.
But what met their eyes wasn't the monster's gaping maw but the Quintaped's hurriedly departing figure rushing toward something more appealing.
The two young wizards, hearts still pounding like war drums, only then saw the flickering text in the dark sky above.
Instantly, relief at surviving was overwhelmed by shock, gratitude, and crushing guilt.
"Ciel, it was him who exposed himself and lured away the monster. He saved us?!"
These two Ravenclaw students recalled their subtle disdain for Hufflepuff throughout the past school year. The shame in their hearts was indescribable.
They struggled to huddle deeper into the shadows, hiding within while gazing blankly toward the direction of the laser spell's glow.
At this moment, the eagle that prided itself on soaring the skies bowed to the badger that burrowed in earth.
"Ciel, he's a wizard we'll never match. He must survive; he must!"
Such feelings filled the hearts of all young wizards in the underground Forbidden Forest who were saved because of Ciel's sacrifice.
Even those lucky enough not to encounter Quintapeds directly, now hiding among the trees, could hear waves of strange laughter, bloodthirsty roars, and spine-chilling evil magic rapidly passing through the forest.
At this moment, Ciel's flickering laser spell seemed to represent dawn breaking through darkness. It became their pillar of hope in this nightmare.
If normally they prayed to Merlin, then at this moment, every single young wizard in the underground Forbidden Forest was silently praying to Ciel in their hearts!
Just then, Ciel's eyes showed surprise. A strange feeling arose in his heart. He'd experienced similar sensations before, when the trolls gained new homes and worshipped him and when he led the Hufflepuff Quidditch team to create history and win the long-awaited Quidditch Cup, earning Hufflepuff's adoration.
But none of those times compared to the intensity of this feeling.
Ciel focused his spirit on his brow. The mental eye gained from advancing Occlumency and enhanced sixth sense opened slowly.
The world before him was quickly covered by countless lines and chaotic colours. The underground Forbidden Forest was shrouded in deep black and blood-red. Even those disorderly lines expressed an oppressive, maddening feeling.
But among these lines and colours, pure white lines extended toward him like reaching hands.
"This is the power of faith? Rich, pure faith?!"
After a moment, he realised what was happening. Never before had he received such intense faith power from young wizards.
After all, though his actions had caused great reactions in Hufflepuff and earned the little badgers' affection, it wasn't enough to reach worship or faith levels.
Human thoughts were too complex, even for young wizards. Making them feel the same reverence for him as the trolls did was nearly impossible.
Perhaps only Dumbledore might have that possibility!
But now, facing this life-or-death crisis, he appeared as dawn salvation in their darkest hour. This experience made the young wizards place profound hope in him, generating so much faith power.
His mouth couldn't help showing a slight smile. This was an unexpected harvest.
So much faith power, in just moments, it equalled all the faith power he'd previously obtained combined.
If absorbed by Demeter's Chalice, the ritual magic he'd just performed could probably cool down again very quickly.
Whether using ritual magic to ripen other plants or combining it with Quintaped blood to forcibly mature mutant Human-Face Glowing Mushrooms and obtain ancient ash, both meant opportunities for him to rapidly increase his strength.
Thinking this, his previously somewhat troubled mood from the trial's changes and plot disruption immediately cleared.
No matter how the Philosopher's Stone plot changed, at least these changes weren't entirely bad for him. There were quite a few benefits to be gained.
Then, before his thoughts could settle, something even more delightful occurred.
From the rich faith power extending to him, he sensed emotions, thick emotions. It seemed like calling for hope in desperation.
And this caused significant changes to Demeter's Ritual Magic on his system panel.
Originally, after advancing to the Bronze level, Demeter's Ritual Magic text showed little change, even after he used blessings and performed new rituals.
But now, the bronze lustre was visibly intensifying. Even in the blink of an eye, silver highlights began spreading across it.
Though after silver highlights covered about half, the change rate slowed; such transformation still delighted him immensely.
He'd grasped the key to Demeter's Ritual Magic advancement.
"Ritual magic is magic used by divine priests conducting celebrations. Its advancement naturally relates to rituals and believers' prayers. When do believers pray most devoutly? Naturally in their most desperate moments."
"Calling for hope in despair, devoutly beseeching deities, such voices can reach divine ears through ritual magic and priests. Olympian mythology has many such examples. I overlooked this."
Looking at Demeter's Ritual Magic, now not far from the Silver level, he showed anticipation.
Even if this wasn't enough for advancement, having found the key, he should soon push Demeter's Ritual Magic to the Silver level.
Last time advancing to Bronze added a Blessing Seed ability to Demeter's Chalice, benefiting him considerably.
Who knew what surprises advancing to Silver level might bring?
But soon he focused his mind. He was still in the underground Forbidden Forest, not yet out of danger. No time for such fantasies.
Though he had many methods and trump cards like Legendary Strength and Legendary Life, fully unleashing his power would make dying here difficult.
But caution ensured longevity. Moreover, this incident would certainly attract much attention.
These sublimated legendary abilities were trump cards better kept hidden.
After all, this wasn't some previous life's fantasy novel world where he needed to display all power and talent to compete for resources.
His aunt was a Head of House, so resources weren't a concern. Better to stay cautious than show off.
Then his gaze fell on the corpse of the modified Quintaped before him.
With wand movement, remaining blood was continuously extracted and collected in bottles he carried.
While extracting blood, he carefully examined this spine-chilling corpse. Then a shocking discovery emerged in his mind.
This monster's base was incredibly weak!
He examined it again carefully, finally confirming this discovery. This was most likely a bottom-tier dark wizard from Knockturn Alley, possibly never even having studied at Hogwarts.
Such situations weren't uncommon. Though Hogwarts's appearance ended the widely popular mediaeval wizard apprentice system, some dark wizards still favoured wizard apprentices.
After all, who didn't like free labour and experimental materials?
They sometimes deceived Squibs desperately craving magic, or certain individuals who weren't strictly Squibs, capable of unstable magic but not meeting Hogwarts admission standards, to serve as wizard apprentices.
This unfortunate soul transformed into a Quintaped was likely such an existence. After all, the magic he sensed from him was indeed pitifully weak.
But this was the most shocking aspect. Such a wizard apprentice, who would be defeated by first-year Hogwarts students, after undergoing Voldemort's dark magic transformation, had actually increased in power, becoming a fierce existence capable of matching 5X-level magical creatures?
Voldemort's dark magic transfiguration had truly reached miraculous, almost unimaginable levels!
He recalled the original story where Dumbledore personally admitted Voldemort had pushed certain magical fields to unimaginable peaks. Dark magic transfiguration was probably one such field.
Remembering Voldemort's attempts to tempt him through letters, mentioning that using magical creature blood with dark magic transfiguration could easily break talent limitations and gain unimaginable power, those words were probably true.
He exhaled softly. No wonder so many were obsessed with dark magic. Gaining power through dark magic was indeed a shortcut.
He, relying on his system to surpass talent limits and improve magical perception and strength, had to work tremendously hard.
But for a wizard apprentice to gain magical strength and perception exceeding his, they just needed to undergo one dark magic transfiguration and survive.
He shook his head. Without his system, trapped by talent limits with no breakthrough in sight, he might have been tempted by dark magic too.
But now, forget it. No matter how strong dark magic transfiguration was, even Voldemort, who pushed it to its peak after countless transformations, still couldn't reach mythical level.
With his system, he had the potential to reach mythical level directly. Why make himself neither human nor ghost?
Though he didn't need dark magic transfiguration himself, this advanced dark magic still had extremely high value. Especially for plant modification, a quite promising avenue.
Not to mention combat assistance, often creating miraculous effects.
This transformed corpse was precious material that would drive countless dark wizards mad. Magic that Voldemort pursued and Dumbledore treated carefully; he wasn't arrogant enough to consider it worthless.
Then he more deeply investigated the transformation traces Voldemort left on this monster.
A brief examination revealed scenes that made even his scalp tingle with horror. Unimaginable distortion and malice...
He couldn't imagine what terrible treatment this transformed dark wizard apprentice had endured.
But simultaneously, he couldn't help admiring Voldemort's magical mastery. Ignoring character, the noseless monster's magic was truly exceptional, talented enough to amaze even Dumbledore.
He had previously obtained precious, rare Blue Star Flowers. Cultivating them to maturity could yield rewards for resisting one fatal injury.
But the cultivation difficulty left him temporarily without solutions. Because it required constantly balancing the magical power between Blue Star Flowers and Iron Wire Trees.
Even herbology masters couldn't maintain this delicate balance constantly. Dynamic maintenance of two magical power types' balance was already so difficult.
Yet now, on this transformed corpse, he sensed at least six different magical powers intertwined, forming exquisite balance!
"The dark wizard apprentice's own magic, plus magic from different wizard limbs transplanted from five other sources. Forming balance and thus greatly enhancing this monster's post-transformation magical strength. Reaching levels ordinary wizards can't match. Six magical powers' balance – how was this achieved?"
Strange light flashed in his eyes. If he could understand these principles, perhaps the Blue Star Flower cultivation problem could be solved!
But the next second, rustling sounds erupted from bushes ahead. He immediately raised his guard, wand ready.
Was it a modified Quintaped? But in his previous sensing, the nearest Quintaped should still need time to reach him.
Then three heads suddenly appeared before him. His pupils contracted slightly with surprise.
"What?!"