Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 401: Gryffindor students are definitely not just shouting encouragement.
These fluctuations are dreamlike and scattered in every corner of the lake bottom, impossible to observe with the naked eye, and can only be captured by the "feeling" at the level of the soul.

To perceive this fluctuation more clearly, Dylan cast an ancient spell that could enhance the soul's perception.

As he practiced meditation, his perception of the world became clearer, and he could even vaguely sense the flow of energy fluctuations.

Just then, a sense of curiosity suddenly welled up in his heart, as if something was urging him to immediately delve deeper and explore its secrets.

But Dylan was not swayed by these emotions. The dual protection of the Soul Labyrinth and the Brain Occupation Technique allowed him to calm down instantly.

He quickly realized that this sense of urgency did not originate from his own heart, but rather from the energy fluctuations emanating from the "Consensus" magic, which had a slight effect on his soul—this made him even more interested in studying the "Consensus" magic.

“That’s right.” Dylan’s mind cleared up, and he muttered to himself, “The audience in the stands are watching us through the ‘visual projection screen.’ They are eager to know the progress of the second project—this desire to see what happens next is subtly influencing me.”

This intense desire to see the game unfold was like an undercurrent surging beneath the surface of the Black Lake, pushing against his consciousness in waves, trying to pull his attention away from his study of the "Consensus" magic.

Fortunately, Dylan had experience fighting against the Obscurus, and that experience of battling violent energy, combined with the dual mental protection provided by the Soul Labyrinth and the Occupation Technique, allowed him to remain clear-headed and not get lost in the collective desire to "see results."

This wonderful experience made Dylan instantly realize the key to using the "consensus" magic: "So that's it. The core of mastering the 'consensus' magic is to 'go with the flow' rather than to forcibly resist it."

He further analyzed, "The 'visual projection screen' was able to operate successfully precisely because of the special nature of the competition venue—the audience could not observe the lake bottom through conventional means, and this information gap fueled their thirst for knowledge. The 'mirage spell' precisely guided this collective desire and will, which in turn promoted the 'consensus' magic to take effect, thereby strengthening the projection effect and forming a perfect cycle."

Dylan realized that his ability to delve into the magic of "consensus" stemmed from his own desire: "The reason I was able to immerse myself in this magical field and experience its operation firsthand is because I myself wanted to explore the principles of 'consensus' magic. This personal desire resonated with the audience's collective desire to 'know what's going on at the bottom of the lake,' which allowed me to successfully enter the core level of the magic."

He thought to himself, "I was really lucky to have this insight. If I want to study the magic of 'consensus' again, I must actively seek out the 'incentives'—first figure out what kind of collective desire is driving it, in order to find a way to integrate."

He was keenly aware of the relationship between individual will and collective will: "Individual will is like a small boat facing a vast ocean in the face of collective will. It can guide the direction, but it cannot completely resist the huge currents and hurricanes."

……

On the referee's platform, Ludo Bagman stared at the "visual projection screen" in his hand, his face full of doubt. He spoke into the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, an unexpected situation has arisen! For some reason, Dylan Hawkwood of Hogwarts has not continued to explore the depths of the lake to speed up the collection of light points and the lighting of the bracelets in order to finish the competition as soon as possible—he has stopped in place, and it looks like he is... resting?"

Upon hearing this, Karkarov, who was sitting to the side, immediately crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes filled with anticipation, as if he were silently praying: "It would be best to rest as long as possible, the longer the better."

In his view, if Dylan had used up a lot of magic power to freeze the fish and needed a long time to recover, Durmstrang's warriors would have the opportunity to catch up and narrow the gap.

Although Mrs. Maxim did not speak, her tense expression visibly relaxed considerably.

She thought to herself, "If taking down a group of magical creatures at once requires a long rest, then our school's warriors still have a chance. After all, they chose to proceed steadily. Although collecting light points is slower, their magic consumption is more even, so they might be able to catch up later."

"Albus, look what Dylan is doing!"

Dumbledore stroked his long white beard, a knowing glint in his eyes, and said with a smile, "In my opinion, he's probably not resting, but rather pondering a problem or researching some kind of magic. Given Dylan's personality, he would never waste time in a match for no reason."

He paused, then added, "Based on my understanding of him, I suggest everyone prepare themselves mentally—he might just give us an unexpected surprise in a little while."

……

In the stands, the Ravenclaw discussion was even more intense than that of the Gryffindors.

Of course, this is not the reason why Gryffindor students would just shout "Go Dylan! Kill them!" while Ravenclaw would prefer to discuss the reasons behind it.

Michael Conner frowned and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with Dylan? He's usually so cautious, he's definitely not the type to underestimate his opponent, so why would he stop at a time like this?"

"Of course he wouldn't underestimate his opponent!" Anthony Goldstein said with certainty. He speculated, "I think there must be something interesting at the bottom of the lake that has caught his attention. For example, have you ever wondered why those Chirac fish have become so big?"

As Anthony spoke, he gestured with his hands to form a palm-sized shape: "A normal Chirac is about this size."

But these in the Black Lake are at least ten times larger than normal, which is definitely not normal. Perhaps Dylan is researching what kind of potions or spells could have caused the Heracles to swell to such an extent—which perfectly aligns with his thirst for exploring the principles of magic.

“Now that you mention it, you really do make sense!” Michael Corner suddenly realized, nodding in agreement. “This kind of in-depth research into magical phenomena is exactly what Dylan would do. Others might only be thinking about collecting the light points as quickly as possible, but only he would notice these details.”

Terribt pointed to the bracelet on Dylan's wrist on the screen and said with a smile, "Actually, it wouldn't matter if he stayed a little longer. Look, he just took down a whole group of Heracles in one go, and he's already collected far more light points than the other warriors. The other warriors either don't dare to deal with the fish alone, or they need to team up, and the light points have to be split equally. It won't be easy for them to catch up with his progress!" "Alright, let's shift our attention away from Dylan and take a look at the progress of the other warriors!" Ludobagman said loudly, his finger quickly sliding across the "visual projection screen," and the images on the screen rapidly jumped around, showing the competition scenes in different areas in turn.

"Let's look at the other three warriors of Hogwarts first!" As the image freezes, Harry, Cedric, and Draco appear in the center of the screen. "As you can see, Potter, Diggory, and Malfoy have successfully reunited and are moving along the rocky area at the bottom of the lake. Judging from the way they move their bodies, these three must have undergone special underwater training beforehand; their swimming movements are quite proficient, and they move through the lake with almost no unnecessary movements, making them very efficient!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the situation on the screen suddenly changed—three enormous ichthyrac fish darted out from the cracks in the rocks and charged straight toward the three of them.

"But everyone, please be careful! Chiracs are aquatic creatures, and their speed and agility increase dramatically in the lake! It's quite dangerous!" Ludobagman's voice suddenly became urgent. "Porter reacted the fastest; with his nimble movements, he slid to the left and narrowly avoided being attacked from both sides by two Chiracs!"

At that moment, another Chirac suddenly turned around and rushed towards Draco. Then two more fish came from behind, and the three fish formed an encirclement, trapping Draco in the middle.

"The Chiracles are working together quite well! Malfoy is currently being attacked by three Chiracles at the same time, and the situation is a bit critical! Will Potter and Diggory rush over to help him out?"

As soon as Ludobagman finished speaking, Draco in the scene instinctively backed away to avoid a head-on collision, unaware that a Chirac fish was quietly approaching from behind.

"It's too late! As Malfoy retreated, he bumped right into the Chirac fish behind him! Merlin's whiskers! If he had been pricked by one of its fins, the consequences would have been unimaginable; he would probably have been pierced with several holes!"

Just when everyone thought Draco would be injured, an unexpected event occurred—the moment the fin spikes of the Chirac fish touched Draco's robes, a pale silver light suddenly shone from his body, deflecting the fin spikes.

"Hmm? Malfoy seems to have some kind of protective magic! He doesn't look like he's been hurt at all!" Ludobagman exclaimed in surprise. "Taking advantage of this opportunity, Potter and Diggory also arrived, and the three of them worked together to cast a spell, forcing the four Heracles to retreat and finally driving them away! What a beautiful teamwork!"

……

In the stands, among the Ravenclaw students, Anthony Goldstein pointed to the mermaid village that had suddenly appeared on screen and frowned, saying, "Have you noticed something...? These mermaids look different than before?"

Durmstrang students had previously had unpleasant encounters with the mermaids of the Black Lake. Many students had seen the mermaids in person, including Michael Connor.

Upon hearing Anthony's words, he immediately adjusted the angle of the screen in his hand, focusing the image on the direction of the mermaid village, and asked in confusion, "The mermaids have changed? I didn't notice it before, let me take a closer look."

Michael practically pressed his nose against the screen, his eyes glued to the mermaid in the image, completely absorbed.

After a long while, he straightened up and said with certainty, "You were right, it really does look different! It looks much better than before."

Chrismoon, who was standing next to him, came over and stared at the mermaid on the screen as well, but he couldn't see any obvious difference. He scratched his head and asked in confusion, "How come I can't see it? It looks the same as before, still with that rough appearance."

"You didn't observe carefully!" Michael immediately retorted, recalling the appearance of the mermaids he had seen before. "I remember very clearly, the mermaids in the Black Lake near our school were never very good-looking! Their scales were a dull, iron-gray color, without any luster, and their hair was a dirty, messy, dark green, like a tangled clump of seaweed. Moreover, the male and female mermaids looked very similar, almost indistinguishable. Now look at the male mermaids now, tell me they're much better looking than before!"

Chris stared at the curtain for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "It's not exactly beautiful, but it's not so ugly, is it?"

“That’s right! They used to be so ugly it was unforgettable!” Michael emphasized, pointing to the mermaids on the screen and explaining, “Look at their hair now, although it’s still dark green, at least it’s not tangled together and looks much neater; and their scales are no longer the iron gray they used to be, they’ve turned dark green, and they can even reflect the faint light from the bottom of the lake, giving them a glossy look.”

The change is already quite obvious!

Anthony suddenly frowned, instinctively shrinking away to the side to avoid physical contact with Michael, his tone teasing: "How do you know so much about male mermaids' appearance? You've observed them so meticulously, do you perhaps have some special interest in mermaids?"

"My focus isn't on the male mermaid at all!" Michael blushed and immediately explained loudly, "I've been staring at the screen because I haven't seen a female mermaid yet! The female mermaid is what I want to observe!"

“Oh, I see!” Anthony deliberately dragged out his words, winked at the students around him, and raised his voice, “Did everyone hear that? Michael is studying mermaids in order to find female mermaids. It seems he has a special interest in the female population of mermaids.”

The surrounding classmates burst into laughter, and many girls cast disdainful glances at them.

Michael, both angry and anxious, yanked his wand out, pointed it at Anthony, and roared angrily, "Anthony Goldstein! You've gone too far! Pull out your wand right now, I challenge you to a duel, and I'll make you apologize for what you just said!"

Anthony quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "Don't get so worked up. I was just joking. Why take it so seriously? Besides, if the professor sees us dueling on the court, we'll both be punished."

Michael reluctantly put away his wand after being persuaded by his classmates, but his face was still grim.

(End of this chapter)