Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 152 Artificial Dementors

"Magic is a very strange thing. It has a hereditary attribute. As long as a wizard or a Squib has appeared in the family lineage, it will be contained in the magical genes and will continue to spread outward as the family members branch out."

Nico has an extremely profound understanding of this world, wizards, and magic.

"But in most Muggles, the magical gene is recessive, and only a very small number of offspring have a chance of possessing the ability to cast spells and becoming wizards."

"And when wizards marry each other, or when a wizard marries a Muggle, the probability of the next generation being a wizard becomes extremely high."

"When the magical gene is dominant, the magic power will continue to increase as the wizard ages. This increase is irreversible. However, there is usually a limit to this. The extent to which it can increase depends on the different talents of each wizard."

“However, there is one exception.” Nicole looked at Severus. “This is the most famous way of magical power growth known in the magical world, where magic power exceeds a wizard’s original talent, continues to surge, and eventually engulfs the wizard himself.”

For some unknown reason, Grindelwald suddenly laughed and said something.

"You just said that word, 'silent'."

"Yes, it's Momo Ran!"

Nicole shouted.

"When some young wizards suffer great psychological trauma because of magic, they will suppress their magical power out of self-defense. However, due to a lack of guidance, they do not learn to master and control their power, thus giving rise to parasites—the silent dark magical power!"

"The essence of this power is that magic power expands and grows continuously under suppression until it exceeds the soul power that the wizard originally had to match it. This is completely opposite to the appearance of some Squibs, but it is more harmful to individuals!"

Severus pondered, touching his chin.

"Obscurus? Such a surge in magic power usually only occurs in the bodies of young wizards who are unable to cast spells and have an extreme aversion to their own magic power. It generally wouldn't work on adult wizards, right? And even if it did work, the magic power that swells from an Obscurus is basically uncontrollable."

"This method certainly won't work on you, but this typical example shows that the increase and decrease of magic power, in addition to the wizard's personal talent, is also closely related to the soul itself."

Nicole said seriously.

"If you want your magic to grow to a level that matches your soul, you need to find a way in this area."

“Negative emotions and suppression of magic will cause magic to grow in a negative form as well, while positive emotions will cause it to grow in a positive form?” Severus felt that this matter was starting to make sense.

“That’s exactly the role that magic schools like Hogwarts can play,” Nicole reminded him. “From the age of 11, wizards are in the most active period of magical growth, and a good magical teaching environment is very beneficial to their magical growth.”

“But you can’t go back to Hogwarts now,” Grindelwald said in a lame joke.

Severus shuddered; he couldn't imagine himself sitting in the Great Hall with Harry, waiting to be sorted into houses by the Sorting Hat.

Nico was still thinking. He seemed to recall something, and after a moment of contemplation, he spoke.

“Going back to school is just a joke. At your current stage, the growth of your magic has long since stopped. Even if you did return to Hogwarts, it wouldn't change much. But stimulating your own magic growth through positive and intense emotions is the right thing to do.”

In Nico's hands, the silvery-white snake kept changing, like a liquid without a fixed shape, constantly switching between various runic symbols every second.

Each rune seemed to represent an alchemical ritual that Nico had invented and used. Soon, he found the one he wanted!
"what!"

He shouted excitedly, drawing the attention of Severus and Grindelwald.

"If I remember correctly, I did make some alchemical attempts 264 years ago."

Silver Serpent Abel transformed back into its original serpentine form. It was not only an extremely useful alchemical tool, but also served to store various potions, items, and even memories.

As Nico twirled his wand, guiding it toward the Abel snake's head, a wisp of silver light was drawn from the silver snake and then reinjected into Nico's mind.

Severus's eyes clearly showed anticipation.

"You've made a discovery, Mr. Lemaître?"

Nico began to patiently explain to Severus.

"The magic in your body was basically fixed after you graduated from Hogwarts, and it's very difficult to change it, especially the emotions you generate."

"Magic usually only fluctuates dramatically when faced with purer, newer emotions, which is why the Obscurus only appears in children."

Severus blinked.

"So, you mean there's no other way?"

"Your own emotions may not be good, but you can collect other people's emotions, especially the emotions of all kinds of children! The purer, the more sincere, the more intense, the better!"

Nico's answer left Severus and Grindelwald momentarily speechless. Seeing their bewildered expressions, Nico came up with a suitable analogy.

"You should know what Dementors like to eat, right?"

Severus's eyes widened.

"You want me to be a Dementor? To suck the positive emotions out of children?"

“Of course it won’t be as evil as a Dementor.” Nico shook his head. He seemed intrigued and stood up, pacing back and forth. “But two hundred years ago, when I was researching that ritual, my inspiration also came from Dementors. The island had only been discovered not long before wizards learned about Dementors for the first time, and I went along to join the fun.”

“After returning to France, I had an inspiration! Emotions are an extremely important part of the soul. Dementors feed on positive emotions, which is to say, they feed on human souls.”

"But Dementors eat everything, like eating a cake with a spoon. With each bite, a chip appears in the cake. I was thinking, could we create an alchemy that also collects emotions, but without the brutality of Dementors? If we continue to compare emotions to cake, it would simply collect the aroma emanating from the cake, because Dementors are lifeless monsters, while humans can be influenced by emotions!"

"So I started the experiment and eventually succeeded in developing something, to be precise, a roll of paper made using the phoenix relief book in my hand as a template!"

Severus had clearly grasped the key point.

"That thing can help me collect people's positive emotions without affecting other people in the slightest?"

“Yes!” Nico was pleased that Severus reacted so quickly. “But there’s a prerequisite: you have to get the person’s consent! Only when the other party is willing to sign their name on it can their emotions at that moment be officially handed over to you.”

“But what happens after I get those positive emotions? How do I use them?” Severus felt a glimmer of hope.

Nicolas Flamel truly deserves to be called a great sage, a living fossil.

He really has the ability to come up with ideas and produce results.

“Eat it!” Nico said firmly. “Eat all those emotions you’ve gained! Your magic will be activated!”

At this point, he suddenly became melancholy again.

"But this kind of emotional growth magic can only be maintained at a certain level in most cases. If it is not maintained by external forces, it will eventually drop back down."

"Use external force to maintain it?" Severus frowned as well.

This touched on a blind spot in his knowledge; he really didn't know anything that could freeze magical states and maintain wizarding magic.

At this moment, Grindelwald, who hadn't said much until now, suddenly looked slowly at Severus and asked.

"I remember you mentioned to me that you used to be a Potions professor at Hogwarts?"

Upon hearing him ask this question, Severus perked up.

He could sense that Grindelwald had an idea!

“That’s right, I am the Head of Slytherin and also the Potions Professor.”

"How good are your pharmaceutical skills?" Grindelwald asked.

When the topic turned to pharmaceuticals, Severus spoke with utmost seriousness, without a trace of joking.

"If I used to only dare to say that I was at the top level among pharmacists, now, even two potion masters combined might not be able to beat me!"

He was just telling the truth.

Given that their potion-making memories are exactly the same as those of Snape the Ghost, their combined understanding and skill in potion-making are far superior to that of two potion masters of equal skill combined!

"In that case, I actually have a rather uncommon medicine formula here."

Grindelwald laughed.

"It once belonged to my great-aunt Bathilda Bagshot, who compiled textbooks for the history of magic courses at Hogwarts. In those historical materials, she discovered an ancient wizard's recipe for a potion used to stabilize the special changes in magic within a wizard's body."

"That formula seems useless now, since wizards rarely have the opportunity to change their own magic, but it's clearly a good thing for your current situation."

Severus and Grindelwald's eyes met, and he paused slightly in his breathing.

He could tell that Grindelwald wouldn't give him something like this for nothing!

What do you need me to give in exchange?

(End of this chapter)