Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 23 Quirrell's Dark Magic Lesson

"Master, I...I don't understand..."

"You don't need to understand! What you need to do is find a way to get past that damned beast as quickly as possible!"

"Yes, Master..."

……

Leaving the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, Ike broke out in a cold sweat, his legs went weak, and he almost stumbled and fell. He forced himself to make it to the eighth floor, and as soon as he entered the Room of Requirement, he collapsed onto the sofa.

"That's terrifying!"

Ike felt a wave of fear wash over him. Despite being mentally prepared, he was still nearly overwhelmed when the Dark Lord took over the second half of the conversation. In the final eye contact with Quirrell, Ike felt a strange power in those eyes, drawing him in irresistibly.

"How dare they use Legilimency on a studious young wizard! They have no shame!"

After taking several deep breaths to calm down a bit, Ike realized for the first time that the useless notepad system was actually useful.

Brain Occupation Surgery, Customized Version, No Upgrades

(Your most secret will remain unknown to others if you don't tell them; as for the rest, that's up to you.)

Brain lock therapist

(The fog protects your brain and hides your most secretive secrets.)

As Ike had expected, the titles and skills bestowed by the system were able to prevent Voldemort from knowing Ike's true, secrets that no one else could know; he could only sense Ike's intense desire for dark magic.

And that is true.

Ike had always learned spells by practicing on his own according to the descriptions in the book.

Some of the simpler ones were fine; once you understood them, you could succeed after just one or two tries. Ike had already learned enough of these simple spells. Coupled with the hindrance of the useless notepad system, Ike no longer dared to practice spells like before.

However, the study of spells cannot stop, so it is not hard to understand why one would choose to study dark magic, which takes longer and is more difficult.

After learning the Disillusionment Charm, as long as he avoided certain troublemakers, the forbidden book area was practically undefended for Ike. Even if he only selectively picked up some theoretical books, he still inevitably came into contact with a lot of knowledge about dark magic.

This dangerous, difficult-to-control yet exceptionally powerful magic naturally piqued Ike's interest.

However, practicing Dark Arts at Hogwarts would undoubtedly be dangerous, and no professor would instruct a first-year wizard on Dark Arts. This is where Quirrell's value becomes apparent.

As an outstanding Ravenclaw graduate, former Muggle Studies Professor, the new Dark Lord's temporary Horcrux, and current Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirrell's magical abilities are certainly quite good, and with the Dark Lord present, his Dark Arts skills must also be considerable.

Given Ike's outstanding performance and the strong yearning for power and dark magic he revealed to Quirrell, he naturally attracted the attention of the Dark Lord.

And indeed, after Ike's performance, Quirrell agreed to teach Ike dark magic.

Ike knew very well that this must have been at the behest of the Dark Lord. Voldemort would not have agreed, and Quirrell would not have dared to do so even if he had eight lives!

Saturday arrived quickly, and at 7 p.m., Ike knocked on Quirrell's office door precisely on time.

After receiving a response, Ike pushed open the door and entered, bowed slightly to Quirrell, and waited quietly for the lesson to begin.

The smell in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office had become much fainter; it was almost undetectable unless you sniffed very closely. The office had also been rearranged, leaving an empty space that occupied half of the room.

Quirrell waved his wand, and a box opened, from which three glass bottles containing spiders flew out and landed in front of Ike.

"Now, Mr. Strayed, please take out a spider and cast the killing curse on it."

"The Death Curse?" Ike feigned surprise, his tone hesitant. "Isn't this... too difficult?"

"Difficult?" Quirrell laughed. "In fact, the reason why the Death Curse is listed as one of the three unforgivable curses is not only because it is instantly fatal and has no counter or undo function, but also because it is the simplest of the dark magic spells."

"As long as you have a strong determination to kill the other person and recite the incantation, the spell will succeed."

"Remember, the incantation is Avada Kedavra, and you must shout it out loud, with murderous intent!"

Quirrell looked at Ike expectantly, while Ike slowly took a spider out of the glass bottle. Only when he held it in his hand did he realize that these spiders had already been treated by Quirrell; although still alive, they couldn't move—they were living, stationary targets.

Ike placed the spider on the ground and stepped back to Quirrell's side, turning to look at him hesitantly. Quirrell smiled, his eyes full of encouragement.

Ike tightened his grip on his wand, pointed at the spider on the ground, and remained motionless for a long time. After a while, he finally exhaled deeply and, as Quirrell had instructed, shouted loudly and with murderous intent:

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

A flash of green light appeared, and the spider flipped over, lifeless.

Ike's hand gripping his wand trembled as he resisted the urge to look at the fleeting "Death Curse Lv1 Achieved" message. He kept his eyes tightly shut and it took him a while to recover.

The Death Curse truly lives up to its evil and cruel reputation, exerting a profound influence on wizards. The moment the curse succeeded, Ike felt an inexplicable surge of rage within him, an urge to rush out and unleash a rampage of Avada Kedavra. Fortunately, having learned from his previous near-loss of control, Ike suppressed the urge, looking at Quirrell with suddenly bloodshot eyes and a forced smile on his lips.

"Professor Quirrell, this...this..."

"This is the Death Curse, Mr. Strayed." Quirrell's tone was flat, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"The simplest and most deadly spell in black magic. It is not complicated, even simpler than the disarming spell."

"Just a flash of green light, and a life vanished." Quirrell exclaimed, his face filled with rapture. "How wonderful!"

"What do you think, Mr. Strand?"

Ike looked at the dead spider, then at the small creatures crawling around frantically in the other two bottles, and murmured, "Yes, what wonderful magic..."

Quirrell nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Now, continue with the Killing Curse. This time, let the curse shatter the bottle and kill the spider inside!"

"Remember! To do this, you also need the conviction to destroy everything in front of you!"

Ike nodded slightly upon hearing this, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

Two green lights flashed one after the other, and the glass bottle shattered instantly. Two dead spiders flew out with the broken glass, crashing against the wall before falling down.

"Very good! Excellent!" Quirrell applauded Ike, whose performance had exceeded his expectations. The fact that the Death Curse could repel, destroy, and shatter showed that Ike's foundation was very solid and his control over magic had reached a certain level.

Although this level of killing curse can only work on insects or small animals and may not necessarily have an instant-kill effect on humans, that is limited by the magic of the junior wizard.

Quirrell, or rather Voldemort, was increasingly satisfied with Ike's talent after using the Death Curse to such an effect in just three uses.

Quirrell handed Ike a piece of chocolate, straightened his robes slightly, and said, "Mr. Strayed, you are the most talented young wizard I have ever seen. I don't think anyone else could have done this at your age."

Pointing to a box in the corner, Quirrell's tone became serious.

"I put ten hares in that box; they won't be as easy to deal with as spiders."

"What you need to do next is release those ten rabbits, and then use the Death Curse to kill them one by one!"

Ike took a deep breath, ate the chocolate, and calmed himself down before waving his wand to open the box and using the Levitation Charm to release the rabbit.

Just as Ike had expected, these rabbits had also undergone special treatment. As soon as they landed, they scattered and ran around, their speed significantly faster than that of ordinary rabbits.

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

"Avada Kedavra, eating a giant melon!"

Ike waved his wand, and beams of green light shot towards the fleeing rabbits. Some were hit, while others only left a small crater in the floor.

It took Ike nearly twenty repetitions of the incantation to kill these adorable little rabbits that were running around everywhere. Sweat was already dripping down his forehead, and the rage in his heart was almost uncontrollable, causing his whole body to tremble uncontrollably.

"Mr. Strayed, it seems you can't continue." Quirrell used magic to clean up the craters, shards of glass, and corpses on the ground. "That's enough for today. Rest for a while, and then you can go back."

"OK!"

"Professor Quirrell..."

(End of this chapter)