Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Dylan gazed at the deep lake above, pondering how to use cognitive magic to fulfill his wish of seeing the sky from the bottom of the lake.

He knew that to achieve this goal, he needed a suitable spell as a fulcrum to leverage cognitive magic.

Previously, he had been searching his mind for a suitable incantation, and the magic he had once mastered flashed through his memory one by one.

Suddenly, a thought became clear in his mind—there was a spell he had learned long ago. The spell had no official name, only a single incantation—"Separate Left and Right"—which could open a statue of a hunchbacked, one-eyed witch, and inside the statue lay a secret passage leading to Hogsmeade Village.

At this moment, Dylan wanted to explore more possibilities of cognitive magic, so he decided to try using this spell.

He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and began to cast the "Separate Left and Right" spell in a silent incantation.

Guided by some unseen force, he slowly raised his wand, aimed it at the lake, and then gently flicked it to the side with a slight flick of his wrist.

Prior to this, the underwater creatures that gathered towards Dylan at the bottom of the lake appeared very suddenly, and Ludobagman, the commentator, failed to notice this unusual situation immediately.

Afterwards, he felt deeply remorseful, believing it was a serious dereliction of duty on his part as a commentator.

To avoid similar mistakes in the future, he deliberately fixed the image on the screen to the area where Dylan was, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen, afraid of missing any of Dylan's movements.

Moreover, he had a vague premonition that he might witness something shocking next.

Sure enough, not long after, Ludobagman saw Dylan raise his wand.

He immediately shouted into the microphone, "Look, everyone! Dylan Hawkwood has raised his wand. Looks like he's about to cast some spell!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stared intently at the curtain and continued, "Judging from his movements, he seems to be trying to raise his wand to head height! I really wonder what kind of magic he's going to cast next; it's so intriguing!"

Then, Ludobagman quickly turned to Barty Crouch beside him and asked with a hint of urgency, "Barty, you're experienced, can you tell what Dylan is doing right now? From what I see, he's preparing to cast a spell, right? Am I seeing things?"

Barty Crouch frowned slightly, carefully observing Dylan's movements on the screen. After a while, he gently shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. If it's just a regular spell, it usually wouldn't be cast in this posture. Is he trying to cast a weather spell? It's not entirely impossible, but it doesn't seem quite right."

Ludobagman was still full of doubts after hearing what Barty Crouch had to say.

Then he thought of Headmaster Dumbledore, so he turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Headmaster Dumbledore, you are very knowledgeable. Do you know what kind of magic Dylan is using? Could it be that, as Barty the Elder said, he is planning to use the Weather Charm?"

Headmaster Dumbledore gave Ludo Bagman a gentle look before slowly saying, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what kind of magic he's going to use. But let's wait and see what happens next; perhaps we'll find out soon enough."

Ludobagman nodded after hearing Headmaster Dumbledore's words, then spoke loudly into the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, although we are not yet sure what specific magic Dylan will be performing, judging from the current situation, he is very likely to be up to something! What kind of magical performance will he bring us? Let's wait and see!"

At this moment, the sun was shining brightly, and golden sunlight shone on the lake surface, making it sparkle. The lake water rippled gently in the breeze, creating small ripples, and everything seemed so peaceful and serene.

Most of the spectators in the stands were focused on Dylan's figure on the screen, anticipating his next move.

Everyone noticed that Dylan did not raise his wand above his head.

Then, he gently moved the hand holding the wand.

Just as Dylan completed the action, a sound of flowing water suddenly came from the bottom of the lake.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the lake water beside Dylan's body on the curtain had vanished into thin air!

More accurately, that part of the lake water was gently pushed aside, as if a veil had been softly parted by an invisible hand.

Although the surrounding lake water continued to flow normally, an invisible barrier inexplicably appeared on one side of Dylan's body, completely separating that half of the lake water from Dylan.

This sudden scene froze Ludobagman, who had been giving a loud commentary. His eyes widened, his mouth gaped open, and he was so surprised that he couldn't say a word. He could only stare blankly at the incredible sight on the screen.

The sound of rushing water echoed in the air, but the scene on the lake remained calm—golden sunlight shone on the water, and shimmering ripples spread outwards in circles, showing no signs of anything unusual.

The audience members, who were originally immersed in the images on the screen, were startled by the sudden exclamations around them. They all looked up and shifted their gaze from the screen to the distant lake.

Their reaction was timely; they just happened to see the lake surface in front of them being slowly parted by an invisible force, as if someone were pushing open a heavy window. Starting from the middle, the lake water slowly receded to both sides, gradually revealing a narrow opening. Below the opening, the silt and scattered aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake were faintly visible.

The audience was momentarily at a loss. They first looked at Dylan's figure on the screen, then turned to look at the real lake in the distance, and then looked at Dylan on the screen who seemed to be about to do something again. They felt that one head and two eyes were not enough to see everything—the scene in front of them was too bizarre. The reality and the screen image corroborated each other, making them unable to distinguish whether it was the effect of magic or a hallucination.

Just then, Dylan in the curtain moved.

He gently twisted his wrist, making the opposite movement from before, and lightly flicked the wand to the other side of his body.

The next second, something equally incredible happened—the lake water on the other side of Dylan's body was also pushed to the side by a gentle force.

In just a few seconds, the entire lake surface was clearly divided into two parts by Dylan's body, forming a narrow passage in the middle. The passage was filled with damp lakebed silt, and a few tenacious aquatic plants swayed slightly on both sides of the passage, as if welcoming this strange sight. This sense of "nature" made it all the more extraordinary—no one could imagine that a young wizard, with just a wand, could forcefully part the vast lake surface and create such a passage leading to the lakebed.

……

The lakeside stands were unusually quiet at this moment, not even the slightest whisper could be heard.

Most of the audience members had the same expression as Ludobagman earlier—their mouths were agape, their eyes were wide open, filled with shock, and they couldn't utter a word for a long time.

They just stood there, staring intently at the distant lake, as if trying to confirm that what they were seeing was not an illusion.

The Hogwarts professors had much more expressive faces than the average audience member.

They all straightened their chests, slightly shrugged their shoulders, and their eyes, besides showing the same surprise as the audience, also revealed an undisguised pride and self-satisfaction.

Everyone was thinking to themselves, "These are students trained by Hogwarts! These are students I taught!" This pride stemmed from their identification with the school, but even more so from their satisfaction with the students' outstanding performance.

The atmosphere on the judges' platform was equally quiet; the only clearly audible sound was probably the heavy breathing of the principals, which sounded like blowers.

Barty Crouch opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin.

He sighed with great difficulty, turned his gaze towards Dumbledore, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes held a complex mix of emotions—surprise, doubt, and a barely perceptible worry.

Dumbledore felt Barty Crouch's gaze. He slowly turned his head, gently waved to Barty Crouch, and nodded slightly, as if to comfort him or to explain.

The movement was gentle, yet it carried a reassuring power.

Ludobagman snapped out of his daze and involuntarily kept repeating, "Merlin's beard! Merlin's beard!"

He stared at the lake's surface, now bisected in the distance, his voice filled with disbelief: "What more can I say? Dylan Hawkwood actually divided Black Lake in two! He really did it! It's simply..."

At this point, Ludo Bagman paused abruptly, swallowing back the words he almost blurted out: "He's practically the second Dumbledore."

As a former Quidditch pro and a star hitter on the field, Ludo Bagman has his own insistence on "labels".

In his view, the praise a person strives for should be that when everyone cheers, they shout out their unique name, rather than being prefixed with "the second so-and-so" when their supporters praise them—this is not only a lack of recognition of personal efforts, but also an invisible constraint.

Having gone through that phase himself, he understands better that being remembered as "Dylan Hawkwood" is the best recognition for him.

Ludobagman turned his gaze back to the screen in his hands—Dylan in the picture was standing in the center of the passage formed by the dividing lake. Sunlight shone through the parted lake water and fell directly on him, gilding his figure with a soft golden glow, making him look like a wizard who had stepped out of mythology, holy and dazzling.

After a long while, Ludobagman reluctantly turned his attention away from the curtain.

He took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and shouted into the microphone, "To be honest, I find it hard to describe the excitement and shock I feel right now!"

He paused, his tone becoming incredibly firm: "But I know one thing very clearly—after today's test, every audience member present will remember the name Dylan Hawkwood! The miracles he created with magic deserve to be remembered by everyone!"

As soon as Ludobagman finished speaking, the lakeside stands erupted in cheers.

A deafening roar of cheers pierced the sky as countless spectators rose to their feet, waving flags and scarves and chanting "Dylan Hawkwood" in unison. The sound rose in waves, as if shaking the entire Black Lake.

in the crowd.

Ravenclaw's role.

As a devoted fan of "Ward the Wizarding World", Terribott clenched his fists and his cheeks flushed red with excitement.

As he joined the crowd in shouting, he said to Anthony and Chris beside him, "Did you see that? He actually split the Black Lake in two! This is the Black Lake! Even in those imaginative comics, authors wouldn't dare to draw something like this! I still can't believe that a wizard could do something like this!"

"I can't believe such a miracle actually happened!" Terry said, getting more and more excited. "After the competition, I'm definitely going to submit my work to the comic book editorial department and ask them to include Dylan's amazing feat in 'Ward the Wizard and the Wizarding World'! I want all readers to know that real-life wizards are even more powerful than the protagonists in comic books!"

Anthony Goldstein was equally excited. He patted Terry on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I think it's not that the comic book authors are afraid to draw it, but that 'Ward the Wizard and the Wizarding World' lacks imagination! Today, Dylan proved with his actions that wizards can really do such unimaginable things!"

Hearing their conversation, Chrismoon curiously leaned over and looked at Anthony, asking, "Anthony, from what you're saying, do you know some inside information that we don't? Tell us about it."

Anthony took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his agitated emotions, and slowly said, "I do know a little about the inside story, but you all know my situation—I didn't actively seek out this information."

He paused, then continued, "I overheard this by chance. My maternal great-uncle never told me about it to my face, so I can't be completely sure if the news is true or not. But you know my maternal great-uncle's character; he's never been a liar, so I think it's probably true."

“Got it! Got it! We know all about this!” Michael Conner quickly chimed in, urging, “Anthony, stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us! We’re all dying of curiosity.” (End of Chapter)