Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 392 (390): The Budding Talent of Dark Magic
Tonight, the starry sky above the Ravenclaw Tower is exceptionally bright.

Sheen sat on the small sofa by the window, a book in his hand, while the small fireplace, which he had been bouncing around to, burned quietly.

His thoughts drifted, and he recalled what Headmaster Dumbledore had said in the Great Hall.

Sheehan realized something naturally: Headmaster Dumbledore seemed to be getting more and more... kind and approachable.

The pages of the book in her hand turned another one with the gentle breeze, and for some reason, Sheen thought that this was already good enough.

In the distant principal's office, the portraits seemed to have more to say.

"Yes, Albus, choosing to believe is not easy, especially for someone who has made a mistake..."

Principal Delis De Winter said with a joyful smile.

Albus Dumbledore, unusually, did not reply; he simply gazed out the window at the distant horizon.

In the forbidden forest, the dark treetops swayed like inky waves, while the sky was a pale pink with starlight.

He directed the quill pen and wrote a big "Approved" on the application form for the Magical Creatures Protection class teaching assistant.

A long time ago, people had applied for teaching positions.

That time, he rejected it without hesitation;
Now, he could no longer happily agree.

"You won't fall into the same river twice..."

Dumbledore's voice sounded like a sigh, or perhaps a lament.

……

After the lively last day of the Christmas holiday, the young wizards will soon have to force themselves back into study mode.

Amid the strong academic atmosphere at Hope Hut, the members soon found themselves unable to find Sheen anywhere.

Even in the auditorium, you could only see his fleeting back as he passed by.

The reason for Sheen's unpredictable whereabouts is quite simple: after Professor Flitwick thanked Snape for the third time, Sheen was basically locked up in the cellar and couldn't come out.

His cat-and-leopard cookies were in their final stages, so he had to devote all his remaining time to the construction of the magical ritual.

These past few days, the warm winter sun has been shining on Hogwarts.

Inside the castle, people's mood improved.

One afternoon, while helping out at the greenhouse, Professor Sprout happily told them that the mandrakes had become moody and taciturn, which meant they were rapidly leaving their childhood stage.

"Once their acne heals, they can be transplanted again."

Sheen and the others listened attentively to the professor's patient instruction.
"Then, before long, we can cut them down and boil them over a fire."

This is how the mandrake resurrection potion is made.

We can use it to restore appearances altered by curses or polymorph; its powerful effect can restore the user to their original state.

This is no simple potion; at least for Sheen, whose potion-making talent is blue, it is more difficult than fighting the basilisk alone.

The task of brewing naturally fell to Sheen.

Professor Snape announced in a chilling tone:

“Impressive, ‘Hero’ Grimm—I hope brewing this potion is easier than defeating the basilisk.”

So Sheen studied Professor Sprout's methods very carefully. He planned to develop a will-guiding method for the Mandrake resurrection potion within three days, so that his week-long confinement would be completed ahead of schedule.

Regarding his confinement, it was said that he was practicing brewing potions, but in reality, he spent most of his time learning dark magic and how to counter it.

Professor Lockhart's dueling club became Sheen's training ground. Every weekend, upperclassmen from Slytherin would "volunteer" to try and take a few moves from him.

Unfortunately, apart from that first time, they found it difficult to achieve this again.

So much so that defeating a certain Mr. Grimm became a firm belief for some upperclassmen Slytherins.

After all, everyone only uses dark magic spells, minor curses, and defensive magic, yet they still can't defeat their opponent. This can only be attributed to a difference in skill.

It is difficult to admit that you are not as skilled as a second-year wizard.

Whenever the Slytherins were determined to defeat Sheen, Snape could hardly suppress the sneer on his lips.

Perhaps only he could clearly realize that it was foolish to try to defeat him in dark magic... it was better to hope to utterly crush him in transfiguration.

Even fantasy has its levels of difficulty.

Through continuous learning and practice, Sheen's Divine Sharpness Shadowless Spell also reached the [Master] level.

He only needs two more [Master] level dark spells to become a master of dark magic.

Although it's not a good title, having more trump cards is always a good thing.

Now, Sheen is tasked with perfecting the final magical ritual for the cat-and-leopard biscuits.

……

January turned into February before we knew it, and the biting cold weather remained unchanged.

Shortly after February, Hufflepuff had a match against Slytherin.

Slytherin won, but it was a close call.

According to Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, this is good news for Gryffindor, as they can finish second if they also beat Hufflepuff.

So Wood increased the team's training sessions to five times a week. This meant that Harry only had two evenings a week to do all his homework.

He now has to admit that he no longer puts all his energy into Quidditch as much as before.

He began to cherish his time learning magic more and more, and sometimes he even wanted to skip a few Quidditch training sessions.

But just as he was thinking this, Sheen was so busy that he couldn't even assess his progress in learning spells.

He could only challenge Sheen at the Duel Club, and then he was easily defeated with a single move.

Despite how busy Sheen was, he didn't seem as nervous as Hermione.

Hermione's self-imposed, heavy workload seemed to have finally become too much for her to handle.

Every night, Hermione could be seen sitting in Sheen's Hut, with textbooks spread out on the tables in front of her: a rune dictionary, diagrams of Muggles moving heavy objects, and stacks of densely filled notes.

She hardly speaks to anyone, and when disturbed, she is always verbally abusive. Moreover, she is often harsh with herself as well.

"Do you know why Sheen had to face the basilisk alone? Because you can't help him!"

She would even say that to herself.

Compared to the changes in the people at Hope Hut, Sheen remained in his familiar busy state.

He solved the problem of the Mandrake Revival Potion, although Professor Snape took a sip and commented that "no fool would drink it."

Then, I made cat and leopard cookies.

(End of this chapter)