"Hey! Hey there!" Professor Kettleburn called out, his voice breaking through Morris's intense concentration.
"Morris?" he tried again, louder this time.
It wasn't until Professor Kettleburn actually reached out and physically patted Morris's shoulder that he finally snapped out of the absorbing world of anatomical diagrams and dissection procedures.
"Oh, sorry, Professor," Morris said somewhat sheepishly as he reluctantly closed the heavy book with a soft thump. "This book was rather captivating. I completely lost track of time."
At this honest response, Professor Kettleburn revealed a strange expression, his eyebrows were rising intensely.
'This gruesome dissection manual was really captivating to an eleven-year-old?'
Even he himself, a professional who'd dedicated his entire life to magical creatures, if not for the urgent need to save his friend's seriously sick Crup, wouldn't have willingly come here to read this particular disturbing book at all. It was unpleasant even for him.
This child was definitely unusual.
"May I borrow this book to study further?" Morris asked hopefully, clutching it to his chest. "I promise to take excellent care of it."
"Generally speaking," Professor Kettleburn began slowly, his tone becoming more formal and professional, "borrowing books from the Restricted Section requires explicit consent from Madam Pince. She guards her collection quite jealously. But—"
He paused, then smiled warmly. "I consent to this loan, and my authority overrides hers in special cases. Consider it approved."
"Thank you so much for your help, Professor," Morris said with genuine respect and gratitude.
This was the first time he'd encountered such an accommodating and understanding professor at Hogwarts.
After successfully obtaining the forbidden book, Morris's night wandering adventure came to a satisfying end.
Although Professor Kettleburn had generously overlooked his rule violation tonight and lent him the restricted book without official paperwork, as a professor he still felt obligated to issue the standard warning.
He told Morris firmly not to come to the Restricted Section again without permission. When Morris needed to return the book, he should go directly to Kettleburn's office to find him rather than sneaking back here.
To this official warning, Morris naturally agreed verbally with appropriate seriousness. "Of course, Professor. I understand."
But privately... well, those who understand such things, understand.
The Restricted Section was such an incredibly enticing place, filled with forbidden knowledge and secrets. Morris had a strong premonition that he would inevitably become a regular visitor to these shadowy shelves despite his promise.
He just needed to be considerably more careful in the future to prevent something similar to tonight's awkward encounter from happening again.
When Morris finally returned to his dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower, it was already well past one in the morning.
He felt absolutely no drowsiness at all despite the late hour. His mind was racing with possibilities.
Morris immediately retrieved from the trunk beside his bed the Crup skeleton fragments he'd purchased weeks ago and then mostly forgotten about in the excitement of school starting.
The bones clinked softly as he spread them out on his desk.
He opened the borrowed book to the detailed skeletal diagram section and carefully tried to assemble the scattered pieces by following the anatomical pattern shown in the illustrations.
It was like a complex three-dimensional puzzle.
The work took nearly two full hours of intense concentration. His fingers ached from the delicate positioning. But eventually, finally, the assembly was complete.
The full skeleton stood on his desk, gleaming with a pale ivory luster under the lamplight. Despite being just assembled bones, it possessed a strange kind of austere beauty.
Unfortunately, Morris noticed with growing disappointment, whether lost during transport from Knockturn Alley or due to the seller's careless shipping error, a small portion of the toe bones on the left front paw of the Crup skeleton was completely missing.
This directly resulted in the skeleton lacking an entire toe, creating an asymmetrical imperfection.
Seeing this defect, Morris clicked his tongue lightly, a trace of regret welled up in his heart and spoiling his satisfaction.
It wasn't perfect.
Regarding this annoying point, he made a mental note to eventually return to that shop in Knockturn Alley to complain and demand the missing pieces to complete the set properly.
But for now, his primary goal had been achieved regardless of the minor flaw.
He could finally attempt to transform this assembled skeleton into a true, functional undead creature. His third creation.
Morris stood and waved his wand, transforming a basin of clear water sitting on the table into thick red paint with a simple Transfiguration. Then, using a blood-drawing charm he'd perfected, he carefully mixed several drops of his own blood into the paint, turning it a deeper crimson.
Next, he transformed his wand itself into a slender brush with fine bristles.
Ten minutes later, a complete and standard Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle had been carefully drawn on the dormitory floor.
Throughout the entire meticulous process, Morris worked with proficiency. He'd done this twice before now, and the movements came naturally.
During this time, Tin-Tin and Sparkles both emerged from wherever they'd been hiding, probably hunting mice or exploring the castle. Originally rowdy and energetic, they were now sitting quietly and attentively beside Morris's bed, staring intently at their master's every movement with interest.
The completed magic circle glowed with an eerie dark red light against the stone floor. The reserved position in the center was perfectly sized to accommodate the Crup skeleton.
Morris carefully lifted the fragile skeleton with both hands, treating it gently, and placed it precisely in the center of the glowing magic circle.
Then he straightened up to his height and exhaled lightly, steadying himself.
This was always the moment of truth.
"The world of the living has not yet forgotten you; death's slumber is not your final chapter," Morris chanted clearly, speaking the familiar incantation.
Accompanied by those words, the magic circle transformed into a swirling vortex of energy, drilling entirely into the skeleton with rushing force. The bones absorbed the magic like dry earth drinking water.
The skeleton took on an enchanting shade of deep red, glowing from inside, then gradually returned to pale white as the magic settled.
The next second, deep within the empty eye sockets where eyes had once been, two clusters of ghostly blue soul-fire suddenly ignited with a soft whoosh.
"Clack, clack..."
The sound of grinding bones rang out as joints moved for the first time in who knew how long.
The skeleton slowly, stiffly stood up on four legs, its posture was somewhat awkward and uncertain, yet somehow possessing the unique gloomy temperament characteristic of all undead creations. That aura of death.
Morris knew with certainty that the undead creature transformation ritual had been completed successfully once again.
This was his third undead creature: a skeletal dog.
Tin-Tin and Sparkles approached cautiously, curiously examining their new colleague with suspicious eyes. They circled it, sniffing (in Tin-Tin's case) and observing.
At this moment, the skeletal dog seemed to be familiarizing itself with its new body and the strange sensation of movement. It kept walking around the room experimentally, testing its range of motion. The rhythmic "clacking" sound of grinding bones echoed with each step it took.
"Come here to me," Morris commanded it.
The dog naturally understood its master's meaning and immediately rushed enthusiastically in his direction.
However, likely because it wasn't yet familiar with the mechanics of running on four legs made of disconnected bones, the dog tripped awkwardly on the carpet.
"Thud."
It tumbled hard to the ground in an undignified heap. Several bone components went instantly flying off its body from the impact, scattering around the floor with clattering sounds.
A rib here, a vertebra there, the missing-toe paw over by the bed.
"..."
Morris was momentarily speechless, staring at the disaster.
All he could think was: the drop rate is really impressively high.
Sparkles and Tin-Tin watched this clumsy scene from the sidelines, and Morris could somehow sense their judgment. They clearly felt that their new colleague seemed a bit foolish and clumsy.
Those eyes, composed entirely of blue soul-fire with no actual substance, showed no sign of intelligence or awareness at all.
Just then, before Morris could move to collect the pieces, those scattered bone fragments suddenly came to life as if possessed by invisible force. They flew back precisely to the dog still lying on the ground, pulled by what looked like invisible magnetic threads.
The bones clicked back into their proper positions automatically.
Having reassembled all its components in seconds, the skeletal dog shook its skull vigorously side to side, stood up again on slightly steadier legs, faced Morris directly, and opened and closed its jawbone.
"Woof—"
A dog's bark rang out clearly in Morris's mind, not heard with his ears, but felt directly in his consciousness.
This genuinely surprised Morris, his eyes widened in surprise.
It appeared the undead dog not only had the extremely useful ability to automatically repair and reassemble itself when damaged, but also possessed some kind of telepathic communication function.
Interesting.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Cheerful barking echoed enthusiastically one after another in his mind, seemingly conveying some kind of pure, simple joy.
However...
"What actual use is this telepathy!" Morris couldn't help but complain aloud with frustration.
As a dog, even an undead magical one, it could only bark through their mental link. It was completely unable to convey complex information, detailed observations, or useful intelligence.
This could at best be considered irritating noise.
A Mental spam.
He rubbed his brow wearily and commanded with some exasperation, "Quiet down!"
His mind fell blessedly silent for a moment. Then came a single drawn-out, somewhat confused and dejected sound: "Woof... whine?"
The mental equivalent of a sad puppy.
Morris sighed heavily. "Go sit in the corner like a good dog. Stupid dog."
The undead dog silently walked to the corner of the room and crouched down obediently, and the blue flames in its eye sockets extinguished completely, transforming it back into an ordinary, lifeless skeleton.
Morris now understood that his undead dog had absolutely no capacity for independent thought or reasoning.
This was completely normal and expected, he reminded himself. After all, a undead dog had no brain at all, just empty skull.
It could only understand and follow simple, direct commands.
As for actual combat ability, the creature didn't look particularly strong or threatening either. It would probably fall apart if hit hard.
But this fundamental limitation didn't particularly matter to Morris.
He had transformed this undead creature without any specific practical purpose in mind anyway.
It was simply that he wanted to do it, wanted to see what would happen.
He just wanted to observe what that skeleton would look like when it moved and lived again, nothing more complicated than pure curiosity.
Sometimes, doing something doesn't require a clear purpose or far-reaching grand schemes. Sometimes experimentation for its own sake is enough.
Morris preferred to act on that kind of instinctive intellectual curiosity rather than always planning everything carefully.
It was already very late now. Morris returned to his bed, yawning despite his excitement.
Now, finally, it was time to sleep and let his exhausted body rest.
Before closing his eyes and surrendering to unconsciousness, he habitually checked the Mage's Book one final time as always.
To his absolute delight, at some unknown point during the night's activities, a brand-new spell had appeared on the pages!
Bone Summoning
In an instant, all his drowsiness was completely driven away by a surge of burning curiosity and excitement.
A new spell! And it sounded useful!
It seemed... he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight after all.