Inside the little greenhouse, Ciel exhaled softly.
"Three days have already passed?" he murmured. "Ti really flies."
"Staying here, I barely feel ti passing."
"I have to say, if it were soone else, they probably couldn't handle these three weeks of detention."
"But for , every minute and second is precious experience worth treasuring."
"Being able to practice and cultivate with complete focus... this feeling is incredible!"
Ciel glanced at the system panel, satisfaction spreading across his face.
The silver glow surrounding [Sectumsempra] had deepened significantly compared to three days ago. He estimated that in another day or two, golden flickers would appear, marking his approach to the Gold tier threshold. With one or two weeks until complete advancent, he'd certainly reach Gold-tier Sectumsempra before detention ended.
This achievent alone was deeply gratifying.
Similarly, [Serpensortia] had changed remarkably. Over three days, Ciel had repeated the spell hundreds or thousands of tis daily. Though the underlying operational chanics remained as elusive as looking at flowers through fog, his practical mastery had grown trendously through countless repetitions.
His spell mastery now showed brilliant silver gleams within the rich bronze luster... not far from Silver-tier proficiency.
Ciel casually waved his wand. Black smoke burst forth, forming a serpent over four ters long. The snake slithered forward swiftly, its sharp fangs dripping with venom.
Whether the serpent's combat awareness and agility when attacking or its sheer size had noticeably improved. This made Ciel nod with satisfaction, his eyes showing anticipation.
At this rate, Serpensortia held trendous potential. If he practiced it to extrely high mastery, perhaps he could conjure thousand-year-old basilisks. He might even summon Níðhöggr from Norse mythology, or the World Serpent!
Of course, these were just fantasies for now. Ciel shook his head.
"Keep practicing. Strive to understand Serpensortia's underlying changes as soon as possible. Even understanding just one aspect would be enough for my Transfiguration to break through the bottleneck and enter the Bronze tier. It might even significantly increase progress within the Bronze tier. From there, my overall magical mastery could increase substantially."
Just as Ciel prepared to continue practicing, a small opening suddenly appeared in the protective magic outside. Food, water, and so potions he needed for cultivation in the little greenhouse were sent in.
After three days, he had grown accustod to this sight. Though with his constitution, going without food or water for days wouldn't affect him, Professor Sprout still arranged for Hufflepuff's kitchen to prepare the most nutritious dicinal als for him daily. She insisted he finish everything, worried he might beco malnourished during detention.
He could only smile helplessly at this, having to "squeeze out" ti to eat each day. But the deliciousness of Hufflepuff kitchen's food was unquestionable... a nice diversion from his monotonous life. Eating while clearing his mind was quite beneficial for his condition.
This ti, Ciel took the tray as usual but discovered a piece of parchnt sohow mixed under the food. His eyes showed surprise.
The protective magic Dumbledore had set up was like a firewall with extrely strong filtering capabilities. Nothing could enter except food, water, and cultivation necessities.
What was this parchnt about?
His gaze fell on it. Text slowly appeared on the parchnt.
"Do you want freedom?"
"Do you want to escape from detention?"
"Don't you think this is all unfair?"
"Why should you be treated this way?"
"Ciel, I can help you. I can ensure such things never happen to you again. I can give you the power to enforce fairness and justice."
As these words appeared, his pupils suddenly contracted.
At the sa ti, outside the little greenhouse, Quirrell wore a sinister smile as he slowly turned and left.
The protective magic personally established by Dumbledore was indeed extraordinarily powerful. If its function was simply to seal the little greenhouse and prevent anything from entering or leaving, Quirrell would have no options. Even with Voldemort's power, it would be difficult to shake Dumbledore's magic.
But unfortunately, because this protective magic had a filtering chanism allowing food, water, planting materials, etc. to enter, its complexity was greatly increased. The more complex sothing was, the more loopholes could be found.
Quirrell had been a rare genius scholar at Hogwarts. Now parasitized by Voldemort, his magical level was even higher than before through constant exposure. After three days of research, he had finally found a loophole.
Using this loophole, he cast a Confundus Charm on an interactive parchnt, sending it into the little greenhouse as "food."
His eyes glead. He didn't believe that after three days of detention, Ciel could have no grievances. Seeing the parchnt he'd sent in, he must be tempted.
As long as Ciel was moved by these words and began writing responses on the parchnt, Quirrell believed he could use the slight insight into human nature he'd gained from Voldemort to easily extract the mutant Devil's Snare subspecies's weakness from him.
"Now then. Ti to wait for the harvest."
"Ptui! Ptui! Ptui!"
"How unlucky!"
Seeing the text appearing on the parchnt, Ciel's face turned as black as a pot bottom. He'd been staying peacefully in the little greenhouse, eating and drinking well while freely grinding magic and cultivation progress. While enjoying comfort and singing songs, how had sothing dirty gotten in?
He didn't even need to think... he could guess with his toe who had sent the parchnt. Co on, would Quirrell ever stop?!
Ciel took a deep breath. Though Dumbledore's protective magic should prevent things emanating Dark Magic from entering, just to be safe, he didn't even want to look at the parchnt anymore.
He imdiately went to the field where Patronus Trees were planted. Gently touching the Patronus Tree saplings that were much taller than before, waves of sacred protection against Dark Magic fell upon him.
Only then did he finally relax slightly. He waved his wand, tearing the parchnt into pieces. After pondering for a mont, he scattered and buried these parchnt fragnts near the Patronus Tree saplings.
This way, even if the parchnt contained any Dark Magic power, it would be annihilated by the Patronus Trees that restrained Dark Magic. After all, this was the work of a double agent... no amount of caution was excessive.
After finishing this, Ciel went to a place farther from the parchnt fragnts to continue his practice.
At this ti, Quirrell waited in his room for Ciel to write a response on the parchnt. But as ti passed minute by minute, the parchnt in his hands never showed any reply.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "This little brat has no reaction? Is he too cautious? Right, Hufflepuff students are always very timid. Seems he needs more motivation."
So Quirrell held his quill, writing line after line of seductive text on the parchnt.
In the little greenhouse, ink flowed on the parchnt fragnts. Wisps of extrely weak, mind-influencing magic emanated from the text, only to be annihilated by the Patronus Trees' sacred magic the next mont.
Quirrell wrote continuously for over half an hour until his wrist ached but still saw no response. His expression suddenly turned annoyed.
"Damn little brat. Why be so guarded? I've written so many sentences without a single response... does he understand politeness?"
Then he thought of an unpleasant possibility. "He wouldn't have thrown away my parchnt, would he?"
Thinking this, Quirrell gritted his teeth. But soon he cald down.
"Calm down, calm down. It's only been three days. Ciel's anger and dissatisfaction about detention haven't peaked yet... that's understandable. But as ti passes, I don't believe he won't develop such emotions. Continue the offensive!"
The next morning, Ciel carefully checked the parchnt fragnts buried under the Patronus Trees. He found all the ink had completely disappeared... it looked like the most ordinary parchnt. Only then did he relax slightly.
But soon, the protective magic opened another gap. Today's breakfast was sent in. What made his heart sink and his expression angry was another new parchnt pressed under the food.
Text continued appearing on it endlessly.
"Ciel, you don't need to be afraid."
"This is Hogwarts, the safest place in the magical world."
"I just want to help you."
"Fairness and justice are pursuits everyone has in their heart."
He didn't even bother looking. He again used the sa thod, tearing the parchnt into pieces and burying them under the Patronus Trees.
Half an hour later, Quirrell gritted his teeth, still trying to attract Ciel's attention.
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? Ciel, are you watching?"
But except for his own writing, there was no other feedback on the parchnt. This made his expression darken.
"Damn little brat! I've written so much... at least give so reaction! What's the aning of this cold treatnt?!"
Quirrell wanted to imdiately grab his quill and curse Ciel thoroughly. But after a mont, he still gritted his teeth and restrained his impulse to explode.
"I don't believe it... could soone really be so satisfied while detained? Isn't that sick?! Persist, Quirrell, you must persist. Send parchnt in every day... soday this little Hufflepuff will take the bait!"
So for the next three days, almost every al, Quirrell stuffed a parchnt into the little greenhouse, trying to gradually break through Ciel's defenses.
This day marked exactly one week since his detention began. Looking at yet another parchnt sent in, he felt like he was seeing a persistent adhesive plaster. What was wrong with Quirrell?! As a double agent, instead of figuring out how to steal the Philosopher's Stone, why was he sending harassnt letters daily?!
His expression was grim. He again tore the parchnt into pieces as before, then walked toward the Patronus Tree field to bury them under the trees.
Just then, his gaze fell on the Patronus Trees. He suddenly paused, his expression quite puzzled.
If he rembered correctly, these Patronus Tree saplings hadn't been this tall before, had they? In just a few days, how had they visibly grown taller?
Moreover, he observed carefully and noticed the edges of the sapling leaves had developed a faint, hazy silver color. This made his heart tighten. Could these parchnts be poisonous, causing problems with his Patronus Trees?
He quickly checked the information on the Patronus Tree saplings. At that mont, he discovered a new line had quietly appeared in the reward information.
[Extrely Weak Occluncy Enhancent]
This reward information was so faint it was barely visible, not even having an Iron-tier rating. Clearly, forming this reward information was quite forced.
But his eyes suddenly burst with strange light. Occluncy enhancent?! This was a property the Patronus Trees had never displayed before.
His gaze fell on the parchnt fragnts buried under the trees. A hypothesis ford in his mind. Could it be that these parchnt fragnts emanated Legilincy magic, and in the process of annihilating this magic, the Patronus Tree saplings gradually developed corresponding characteristics? This ultimately led to Occluncy rewards that could resist Legilincy appearing in the reward information!?
Thinking it over, this seed to be the only explanation. When Ciel realized this, the gloom in his heart from days of parchnt bombardnt suddenly vanished.
Occluncy was definitely a good thing. Though actively using Legilincy on people was seriously illegal in the magical world, so wizards skilled in Legilincy almost passively possessed the ability to capture others' thoughts. Especially Voldemort. His Legilincy ability was practically an innate talent.
Even now without a physical body, he could easily probe others' thoughts. This ant that when Ciel moved around Hogwarts, even occasionally encountering Quirrell or just passing by, he had to stay tense and focused. To avoid accidentally having his thoughts probed by Voldemort if he happened to wake up.
He had worried that if he talked in his sleep soday, he might accidentally reveal things. Perhaps no one would take it seriously, but better safe than sorry. What if his increasingly conspicuous performance aroused curiosity?
The system was his greatest reliance... he never wanted to risk even the slightest chance. But with Occluncy, these wouldn't be problems.
Thinking this, he looked at the parchnt he'd originally despised with sowhat fervent eyes. After hesitating for a mont, Ciel called Shadow over.
The shadow danced, wrapping around a quill to write a crooked line on the parchnt.
At this ti, Quirrell had already lost interest. His enthusiasm was nearly worn away, and he'd begun doubting whether his strategy was wrong. But the next second, a line of text appeared on the parchnt.
"Who are you?"
This made Quirrell jump up imdiately, his expression becoming excited. "He replied to ?! I knew my strategy couldn't be wrong! I, Quirrell, am a genius! Right, right, how should I respond now?"
His thoughts raced through his mind. Finally, he had an inspiration. To gain the trust of a naive young wizard like Ciel, the best thod was to disguise himself as the opposite sex.
So after a mont, Quirrell slowly wrote a line of shy text.
"Hello. I'm your senior. A very beautiful one. As for how beautiful... hehe, guess?"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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