"First, we'll practice the hand movements for memory extraction... They—they're the most basic aids."
"The—the wand tip needs to have a subtle, small tremor."
Quirrell waved his wand, just as Ethan had seen in the book.
The posture was somewhat like extracting one's own thoughts and placing them into a Pensieve.
Ethan imitated Professor Quirrell's movements.
The light brown, horizontally ribbed hornbeam wand traced graceful arcs in the air, accompanied by tiny tremors.
The movements were perfectly precise, absolutely standard.
In fact, he performed them with even more aesthetic appeal than Professor Quirrell.
He looked like an elegant performer, not a Parkinson's patient.
"...You—you did really well, Mr. Vincent."
Quirrell twitched his mouth.
Although he was slightly amazed by Ethan's speed in grasping it in one go, he only thought Ethan had practiced beforehand, so he didn't pay it much mind.
The difficult part was yet to come.
"Then—then let's move directly to the next stage."
"Learning the auxiliary spell for memory extraction."
"It—it's not mandatory; in fact, it doesn't have a simplified version of the spell..."
"Beginners—beginners must repeatedly chant it until—until they can skillfully cast the magic even without chanting."
"It contains Ancient Runes, which you—a young wizard your age—haven't even begun to learn yet."
Quirrell raised his wand and meticulously wrote a long string of complex spells in the air.
—This was the first time Ethan had seen Quirrell write on a board.
One could imagine how superficial his classes usually were.
Ethan observed the words.
Some of them were similar to the Erised spell he had learned.
"Listen to me read..."
Quirrell cleared his throat, pointing with his wand as he dryly recited the words.
It was like a child reading a textbook.
Completely devoid of any aesthetic appeal.
Ethan frowned.
He looked up, scrutinizing the floating spells.
Their strange forms were reflected in his cobalt-blue eyes.
A portion of it was Ancient Runes.
It hadn't evolved into a spell more suitable for modern wizard babies.
It reminded Ethan of the Erised spell, giving him a sense of familiarity.
Under the effect of [Erudition], Quirrell only read it once, but those difficult-to-pronounce sounds were deeply imprinted in Ethan's mind.
Combining the spell with the knowledge he usually studied, those tadpole-like Ancient Runes gradually revealed their intended meaning.
"Th-this spell is very difficult, extremely difficult. Don't rush, I'll teach you slowly..."
Seeing Ethan staring at the spell in silence, Quirrell couldn't help but let a smug smile creep onto his lips.
So what if Ethan was the "genius" everyone praised?
The gap in age and experience was evident here; how could Ethan compare?!
Quirrell felt no shame in comparing himself to an eleven-year-old child.
If Ethan could even recite this entire spell by the end of tonight's lesson, Quirrell would have to praise him as "talented."
"Cough, cough, come, I'll teach you word by word again—"
Before he finished speaking, a young voice interrupted him.
Like an elf's chant under the moonlight, beautiful and ethereal incantations flowed from Ethan's mouth.
"~~~~~~"
As he chanted, the surrounding air seemed to ripple, as if resonating with him, emitting specks of shimmering light.
"..."
Quirrell slowly widened his eyes.
He stared in astonishment at the fluently chanting Ethan, as if he had seen a humanoid monster.
It wasn't until Ethan had completely finished the chant and looked at Quirrell with a smile that Quirrell suddenly snapped back to reality.
—Not a single word missed!
Ethan really learned this spell after hearing it only once!
In fact, he recited it even better than he did!
Regarding souls and memories, even though it was for the study of Living Paintings, it was already bordering on Dark Arts!
Why was Ethan, a first-year young wizard, so proficient in Dark Arts???
Is this still Hogwarts!!!
[Magnificent talent…].
In his mind, Lord Voldemort suddenly spoke.
His tone was filled with deep admiration.
[To remember and understand all the words after hearing them only once, even if this child had studied beforehand, he can only be described as a "monster"…].
[Heh, if I had been in the same year as him back then, what kind of sparks would have flown…].
Changing his tone, Lord Voldemort's voice became manipulative:
[You useless wretch! You can't even compare to a single one of this child's toes! If there were no other way, I would never consider coexisting with you!].
"..."
Quirrell bowed his head deeply, trembling all over.
Jealousy, resentment, and various twisted, dark emotions filled his chest.
Ethan quietly watched Quirrell, who looked as if he was about to mutate at any second.
Just now, Lord Voldemort must have been pushing Quirrell hard.
Driven by the pursuit of desire and power, and the erosion of Dark Arts, Quirrell no longer possessed Ravenclaw's pure pursuit of knowledge.
Pah, trash!
However, Ethan was quite satisfied with the current teaching speed.
Quirrell is running out of energy, Lord Voldemort, push harder—
"...W-wait for me, Mr. Vincent, I'm going to get the teaching aids!"
Quirrell looked up, twitched his mouth, and then hurried out of the classroom.
As he turned, his face was filled with uncontrollable malice.
He had to prove that he was stronger than Ethan and more useful to his master!
Even with a good memory, able to perfectly recite the spell.
But when actually casting it, gestures and incantations alone are far from enough.
Soon, Quirrell returned with several glass jars.
Inside were several bumpy-looking toads.
Cute little things~
Ethan happily curved the corners of his eyes.
"Alright, we'll use these toads for practice."
Quirrell said hoarsely.
He raised his wand, pointed it at a toad, and his lips silently mumbled a few words.
A wisp of white smoke floated out from the toad's head, coiling around Quirrell's wand.
Visibly, the toad's eyes became dull and lifeless.
"This is the toad's memory, and a part of its soul fragment... It's somewhat similar to the Imperius Curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses. It merely extracts thoughts."
"Come, you try."
Quirrell said, deliberately not telling Ethan the spell's magical model.
Without a model to assist, it would be utterly impossible to succeed!
Ethan was well aware of Quirrell's little tricks.
But he had already learned the magical model for soul magic from forbidden books.
All that remained was practice.
Ethan waved his wand, chanting the spell.
As expected, nothing happened.
"Ribbit."
The toad remained motionless like a rock.
"Hmph..."
Quirrell couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, a joyful smile appearing on his face.
Good, good.
There were things Ethan couldn't do too.
His mastery of Dark Arts was still far superior to Ethan's!
At this moment, Ethan didn't focus his attention on Quirrell.
His gaze slightly solidified in mid-air—
[Through practice, your mastery of knowledge has advanced further].
[Continue practicing, and you will gain new "Erudition"].
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