Ciel's eyes suddenly beca bright. The gloom that had been depressing him for several days was suddenly torn apart. He finally understood what the formation condition was for that ancient magic reward from Shadow Thorns.
"Light—that's the key. Shadows can't exist without light, and the more intense the light, the deeper the shadows it casts. The greenhouse lighting system is deliberately diffused to promote healthy plant growth, but that ans it can never generate the concentrated illumination needed. That's exactly why the Shadow Thorns reward kept wavering between existence and nothingness, never quite materializing."
Having figured this out, Ciel's mood imdiately beca excited. He hurriedly left Hagrid's hut. He didn't even have ti to harvest the newly matured batch of Goldfish Vines. He rushed back to the little greenhouse, eager to verify his hypothesis.
Taking out that section of Shadow Thorns root, the information that appeared was exactly the sa as before. [Extrely small amount of Ancient Shadow Magic insight (Black Iron Tier)]—this information was still flickering in and out.
But imdiately after, Ciel took out his wand. The Lumos charm he knew by heart. "Lumos!"
An additional beam of light shone on the Shadow Thorns. The reward information was still flickering, but his gaze shifted slightly as he noticed sothing. This ti, the information appeared for a longer duration.
"It's working. But ordinary Lumos is still too weak? Try strengthening the intensity of Lumos?"
Soon, another Lumos burst from his wand tip. Bright light like a powerful flashlight shone on the Shadow Thorns again. This ti the effect was imdiate. The reward information lasted nearly twice as long as before. The previously vague text was now much clearer. But it still hadn't completely ford. Still in a flickering state.
Ciel frowned slightly. Regular Lumos at this brightness was already quite extre. Still not enough?
Suddenly, his mind recalled his previous attempts after Lumos advanced to the Platinum tier. Adjusting the magical particles inside Lumos. Tuning their frequencies to be consistent. This could produce light beams far exceeding Lumos's brightness and concentration. In his conception, this might eventually evolve into sothing like a "Laser Charm."
But his magical perception was still far too lacking at the ti. So this idea had never been attempted again. And now, although his magical perception had improved, the "Laser Charm" concept definitely still couldn't be realized. But following this conceptual direction, the light beam produced might be able to make the Shadow Thorns reward completely form.
With this thought, Ciel took a deep breath. "Lumos!"
The third Lumos was cast. This ti, he focused all his attention inside the Lumos charm. Nurous micro-Lumos charms appeared in his mind. These countless particles were each emitting light at different frequencies, ultimately manifesting Lumos's properties macroscopically.
And now... Ciel held his breath and concentrated. Using the frequency light charm techniques he learned from Professor Flitwick, he adjusted as many particles' frequencies as possible. Making them as close to the sa frequency as possible.
At this ti, compared to when he first attempted this technique, his magical perception had advanced from Silver to Gold tier. Plus many spell masteries had also advanced to the Platinum tier. He had recently entered the door of Transfiguration. His understanding of spells' microscopic levels far exceeded the past.
He easily reached his previous limit. A small portion of the particles in Lumos instantly entered the sa frequency. This manifested as the light gushing from his wand tip becoming several tis more concentrated than before. The brightness also suddenly soared.
A beam of light, like a searchlight, directly hit the Shadow Thorns. Imdiately, the reward information on Shadow Thorns beca unprecedentedly clear. Except for imperceptible flickering, it had almost completely ford. The shadow cast by Shadow Thorns under this light beam was also unprecedentedly deep and black.
For a mont, Ciel even seed to see these shadows writhing on their own, as if about to co alive? His eyes imdiately burst with strange light. This shadow... could it be the part related to the Ancient Shadow Magic reward in Shadow Thorns?
"But it's still a bit short. This brightness still isn't enough? If it's not enough, let try harder."
After a mont, Ciel exceeded his previous limit. Nearly half of the Lumos particles began synchronizing frequencies. The Lumos beam shrank considerably compared to before. But the brightness at the center had reached a level impossible to look at directly. One glance was like having that dazzling mark burned into the retina.
Of course, though he had only increased the number of controlled particles by nearly double, the burden increased exponentially. In just one or two seconds, sweat beads the size of soybeans appeared on his forehead. Like an athlete desperately trying to solve a complex spatial geotry problem. Nearly overloading!
Fortunately, in this brief ti, the Shadow Thorns reward information finally completely ford. Even after the light beam from his wand tip disappeared, the text no longer flickered in and out. Even the iron luster on it was much richer than before.
Seeing this scene, Ciel finally breathed a sigh of relief. He sat tiredly on the ground, rubbing his temples that ached from excessive ntal strain.
The small greenhouse now appeared noticeably dimr than it had before. Had his eyes grown accustod to the intense light he'd just experienced, making the regular illumination seem inadequate by comparison?
Then Ciel suddenly ca to his senses. His gaze fixed on that Shadow Thorns root. Or rather, on its shadow under the light. Without the strong light from before, Shadow Thorns' shadow was still so pitch black and deep. Even under his gaze, the shadow really began to writhe like a living thing.
Then Shadow Thorns' shadow suddenly extended toward Ciel. Shadows intertwined, like so monster opening its bloody maw, letting out an ancient roar. He suddenly widened his eyes, instinctively gripping his wand.
At the sa ti, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Quirrell stumbled and erged from a corner. Walking hurriedly with a pale expression toward the castle. In his mind echoed Voldemort's cold, angry voice.
"Quirrell. Why are you borrowing my power again? The unicorn hasn't been found yet, and this is already the third ti."
Quirrell's face showed fear and so resentnt. He gritted his teeth and conversed with Voldemort in his mind.
"Master. There are really too many dangers in the Forbidden Forest. Earlier I went to a place to look for unicorns, and there was actually a group of Acromantulas there. This is definitely that half-breed Hagrid's doing! Also, every night, Hogwarts professors act like they have nothing better to do. They actually take turns patrolling the Forbidden Forest."
Speaking of this, Quirrell was grinding his teeth in hatred. "How many Galleons do these professors make per month? They have to patrol the castle and guard the Forbidden Forest edge. That old bastard Dumbledore is simply an old capitalist, exploiting professors like this... he should be hanged from a lamppost! Master, these professors patrolling the Forbidden Forest are causing too much trouble, seriously affecting my progress in finding unicorns."
Hearing Quirrell's complaints, Voldemort snorted coldly. But he didn't overly bla Quirrell. After all, he only had Quirrell as a useful subordinate now. The carrot-and-stick approach was sothing Voldemort was very familiar with.
After a mont's contemplation, Voldemort's expression darkened with frustration. "We have no alternative. Without locating that unicorn soon, my diminished power won't be sufficient to overco the protections ahead. Quirrell, compose an anonymous ssage to Lucius Malfoy. Instruct him to create a distraction at Hogwarts—sothing significant enough to draw Dumbledore and the other professors away from their vigilance. For the content, write exactly this... I'll also show you a thod to deliver it untraceably, directly into Lucius's hands."
Hearing this, Quirrell was imdiately overjoyed. "Yes, Master. As long as Lucius Malfoy can do sothing useful and distract those professors, I will definitely find the unicorn."
Then Quirrell, back in his room, imdiately disguised his handwriting and wrote a letter. He waved his wand. The letter burned to nothing in a strange black fla.
At this ti, in the magnificent Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy suddenly gripped his wand, his face pale. He stared at the black flas on the desk before him. And the letter gradually forming in the flas. Fear that had been absent for years surged through his heart again. This thod of sending letters... Lucius had only seen it once in all these years.
"Hiss..." Sohow, the Dark Mark on his arm seed to phantom ache. Lucius stood frozen for a long ti. His gaze lingered on the contact information for the Ministry and Dumbledore. But finally, his gaze passed over the Malfoy family photo on the desk. His mind filled with the scene of this strange letter, completely ignoring the Malfoy family's defensive magic. He still used trembling hands to carefully pick up the letter.
The content made Lucius pause. Then he let out a long breath. His whole body nearly collapsed. His face was full of relief at surviving a disaster. Great. The letter's content wasn't asking him to kill soone. Or to convene another Death Eater gathering. It was rely asking him to use his influence as a school board mber to cause so trouble for Hogwarts. Just keep Dumbledore and the professors busy for a while... that would be enough.
Though it wasn't sothing he could do casually, compared to the worst-case scenario Lucius had imagined, this was much better.
After a long ti, recovering from his fear, Lucius began thinking about how to complete this task. Soon, the scene from today's Hogwarts Great Hall ceremony appeared in his mind. And before this award ceremony, there was his scene of objecting to giving Ciel Sprout the little greenhouse usage rights.
To be honest, though Lucius Malfoy had heard from Draco that he had suffered many losses at Ciel's hands, his previous objection was partly to vent for his son. But more importantly, it was to assert the school board's presence. Otherwise, if everything went so smoothly, would there be any need for the school board to exist?
Occasional opposition, regardless of results or the proposal itself, was sothing the school board had to do. Just like Dumbledore would occasionally yield to the board's objections, taking back certain proposals to revise before resubmitting. It was all unspoken understanding.
But now, Lucius had no choice. He really had to cause trouble for Hogwarts from this angle. Otherwise, the one in trouble might be the Malfoy family.
Lucius's eyes betrayed his fear as he obediently began composing the letter.
"Dear..."
"Dear Father?! What? What did you call ?"
In the little greenhouse, Ciel had originally been fully on guard against the shadows extending from Shadow Thorns. He had even gripped his wand. But when those intertwining shadows spelled out the word "father" on the ground before him, his brain couldn't help but short-circuit.
The Shadow Thorns' shadow seed to nod, spelling out another line of shadow-ford text. "Father." Even the magical aura emanating from Shadow Thorns visibly beca more cheerful.
After observing for a long ti, Ciel could finally confirm. Shadow Thorns hadn't undergone so dark magic transformation. It was truly expressing emotion, treating him as "father."
His expression grew troubled and uncertain. "I'm aware that many magical plants possess emotions. So can even speak and display intelligence rivaling that of humans. Yet every text I've studied on Shadow Thorns contains no ntion of such capabilities. Could the Deathly Hallow's influence, combined with its absorption of Ancient Shadow Magic, have transford my cultivated specin into an entirely new subspecies? One with emotions, consciousness, and even rudintary literacy?"
Ciel gazed at his Shadow Thorns with a mixture of wonder and disbelief. Even though it felt incredibly weird, he found himself gradually accepting that the plant had decided he was its father. This was the British wizarding world, after all. Compared to everything else that happened here, maybe this wasn't so strange?
More than becoming a father, Ciel was currently more curious about sothing else. His gaze fell on the dense shadows extending from Shadow Thorns.
"Son. Ah no, I'll just call you Shadow. Your shadow... is this the so-called Ancient Shadow Magic?"
Shadow Thorns' shadow swayed in confusion. Obviously, having just gained consciousness, it didn't know the term "Ancient Shadow Magic." So Ciel, after pondering, pointed to a stone not far away and gave a more direct command.
"Use your shadow to attack it."
The next mont, the shadow extending from Shadow Thorns surged, wrapping around the stone like a monster. Silently, the hard stone was torn to fragnts. His eyes imdiately showed a strange light.
"This power?"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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