Ciel's gaze fell on the parchment, and a spell immediately caught his eye.
"Serpensortia..." he murmured quietly. "Or rather, the Snake Summoning Charm?"
Seeing this spell, Ciel recalled the description of the Dueling Club from the second year in the original story. At that time, Draco Malfoy had dueled with Harry, and this was exactly the spell he'd used. The spell's effect was to shoot a massive black snake from the wand, rearing up ready to attack. If it hadn't been for encountering Harry, who happened to be a Parselmouth, this spell would have been quite difficult for second-year students to handle.
Ciel's gaze was somewhat peculiar. He hadn't expected that this time, he might encounter this Malfoy family collection spell even before Draco Malfoy did.
Just then, Professor Sprout asked with concern, "Ciel, what did Lucius Malfoy give you? That fellow's things aren't necessarily all good."
Ciel had nothing to hide about this. He directly handed the parchment containing the Serpensortia spell to Professor Sprout.
"Aunt, it's a spell called Serpensortia, with the effect of summoning venomous snakes."
Professor Sprout took the parchment and frowned slightly. "This counts as an introductory Dark Magic spell, doesn't it? In my opinion, Ciel, you should at least wait until second year before learning it..."
But just as she finished speaking, a voice that no one present expected rang out.
"Pomona, I think you needn't be so conservative. Based on what I know of Ciel's magical accomplishments, this spell shouldn't need to wait until second year."
Professor Sprout looked in surprise at the person who said this. "Dumbledore?"
She never would have imagined that Dumbledore actually supported Ciel learning this Dark Magic now.
Seeing Professor Sprout's astonished expression, Dumbledore smiled. "Serpensortia, I know it. Due to its aggressive nature, it is indeed considered an introductory Dark Magic spell. However, in reality, it doesn't require negative emotions to drive it. Rather, it's a very classic example of Transfiguration... Ciel is exactly at the right time to learn it."
"Moreover..." Dumbledore winked. "I think if Ciel harbored malicious intent toward someone, a beater's bat would be much more useful than a wand."
Hearing this, Professor Sprout finally relaxed and returned the parchment to Ciel. His expression was also somewhat peculiar. Originally, he hadn't had much interest in Serpensortia. After all, as Dumbledore said, just his brute strength alone was enough to deal with most ordinary opponents. Plus, with Sectumsempra as his trump card spell, there really wasn't much need for Serpensortia.
But he hadn't expected Dumbledore to actually speak up about this, believing Ciel could learn this spell and that it would be very beneficial for Transfiguration. In that case, this spell might not be so simple after all.
Come to think of it, in the original story, Malfoy never lacked spells. His spell effects were all very special... some unique spells were never seen used by others. Presumably Lucius had carefully selected them for him using the Malfoy family's influence.
But if it was just simply conjuring a venomous snake to attack people, there were plenty of spells with better effects than this. Lucius was at least the head of a great family and had been a core Death Eater. He wouldn't be unable to distinguish a spell's potential. If Serpensortia had limited potential, why would he give this spell for Malfoy to learn?
Thinking this, Ciel's heart stirred. He suddenly recalled the Battle of the Department of Mysteries from the original story. That was also one of the few recorded direct confrontations between Dumbledore and Voldemort. In the battle, Voldemort seemed to have used the method of conjuring venomous snakes?
Now that he thought about it, could that have been an application of Serpensortia? Just that in Voldemort's hands, Serpensortia was developed to an unimaginable degree. Not only did it not require incantations, but the conjured snakes weren't just one but hundreds and thousands!
Could there even be a possibility that this Serpensortia from the Malfoy family was a reward Voldemort had given to Lucius Malfoy back then? Otherwise, there weren't many snake-related magics in the magical world. Given the Malfoy family's character, they probably wouldn't be enthusiastic about such cold, ugly things either.
When Ciel thought of this point, a flash of lightning suddenly struck through his mind. If this Serpensortia spell really had some connection to Voldemort, then Lucius Malfoy deliberately preparing this spell in front of Dumbledore probably had deeper meaning behind it.
He felt slightly alarmed. Though the Malfoy family in the original story never displayed any powerful combat abilities, and whether it was Lucius or Draco, both suffered considerable losses in front of Harry, sometimes even being quite laughable. But thinking carefully, through several political upheavals in the magical world, whether Dumbledore or Voldemort had the upper hand, the Malfoy family could always remain standing, maintaining quite good positions. This really took some skill.
However, after a moment, Ciel's mind returned to calm. The countless thoughts in his brain were all eliminated. Perhaps there really were treacherous undercurrents behind this so-called academic review. But his involvement had already ended. Do what your position calls for. He was just a first-year little Hufflepuff. Unless someone targeted his plants and Aunt Sprout, no matter how many schemes and calculations there were, they had nothing to do with him.
Farming and practicing magic... those were the proper business!
At this time, Dumbledore also waved his wand. An invisible magical protection also appeared outside the little greenhouse.
"Alright. Before this magical protection disappears, except for food, water, and resources necessary to maintain the greenhouse's operation, nothing else can enter or exit. Ciel, you just serve your detention inside properly."
Seeing this, Ciel also relaxed. With Dumbledore's magic protecting it, the little greenhouse could almost be said to be the safest place in Hogwarts currently. Inside, he wouldn't need to worry about any safety issues.
As for the boredom and monotony of living inside... His lips curved into a slight smile.
"Boredom and monotony. I love them most. Boredom means being able to focus without distraction. Monotony means thousands of repetitions toward perfection. To make progress, they've always been the best companions."
Without the slightest hesitation, Ciel immediately stepped forward, walking within the magical protection. As the little greenhouse door closed, everything from the outside world was shut out. The surrounding world contained only him and the plants in the fields.
His emotions, which had been stirred by various previous events, quickly returned to complete calm in this environment. Only then did his gaze fall back on that parchment. The description of Serpensortia came into view. His eyes showed contemplation. His lips murmured slightly, his wand unconsciously gesturing. His brow alternately furrowed and relaxed. His entire being was immersed in the world of magic.
All the disputes and troubles of the outside world had nothing to do with him. On the system panel, a line of text reading [Serpensortia] began to flicker in and out of existence.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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