On the system panel, a powerful transformation was underway. The part of his Ancient Weather Magic that had been tinged with the dull luster
On the system panel, a powerful transformation was underway. The part of his Ancient Weather Magic that had been tinged with the dull luster of black iron was now blazing with a rich bronze light, already sparkling with flecks of brilliant silver. Although some of the writing was still dim, and the overall system evaluation had not yet reached the Black Iron level, it only required Char to make up for the shortcomings. The attainment of his ancient magic could be greatly improved in a short period of time. It was possible to directly jump to a level close to Silver.
At the same time, the words on his Occlumency were also bright and vibrant. As his consciousness was immersed in the will of nature, with every minute and every second that passed, the golden light became brighter than before. The Potion of Amplification had really worked. Even though he was unable to increase the intensity of the lightning, he could still rely on the effects of this wonderful potion to come into contact with a more intense will of nature. Although Char didn't know whether the will he was experiencing was real or just an extremely vivid illusion created by the potion, the changes on his system panel were undeniably real.
Just when Char was about to continue to indulge in the wonderful feeling of transforming into a thunderstorm, to make even more progress in his ancient magic and Occlumency, an extremely violent mental force broke into his mind. It was Snape's voice, sharp and urgent. "Idiot. Have you forgotten? While you're immersed in that feeling, your body is suffering. These painful sensations will also be amplified. If you continue to prolong this, the pain will come all at once. You think your Occlumency can handle it?"
Snape's rude interruption woke Char up immediately. Although his ability to withstand it should be higher than the limit Snape had estimated, the Potion of Amplification was not a unique resource. Once it was used up, it was gone forever. Why push himself to the limit and put himself at so much risk? In that moment, his Occlumency was fully operational. All distracting thoughts in his mind were eliminated. Even the experience of being transformed into a thunderstorm was driven out of his mind. On the system panel, the glittering ancient weather magic and Occlumency fell silent.
But in reality, a bigger wave was coming. Just as Snape had said, while Char was enjoying the benefits of the potion, it had also been amplifying the pain. Now that he was conscious, a torrent of agony, far exceeding the sum of all he had ever endured, spread along his nerves and every inch of his flesh. Char's expression suddenly turned as pale as paper. He didn't know what it felt like to be under the Cruciatus Curse, but he thought it was probably not much different from this experience. Excessive pain can directly destroy a person's spirit. Just like Neville's parents, who were tortured by the Cruciatus Curse again and again, leaving them with mental injuries currently untreatable in the wizarding world.
Fortunately, his Occlumency at this time was much stronger than before he entered the Room of Requirement. Facing the sudden flood of pain, although the load on his mind increased sharply, feeling as if it would collapse in an instant, Char gritted his teeth and persisted. The protective barrier had somehow not been breached.
Until the pain finally dissipated. Char's body, which had been curled up in a tight ball of agony, finally relaxed. He was breathing heavily. The skin, which had become as black as charcoal from the electric light, cracked in waves, and new skin emerged beneath. Waves of pain and itching were felt, but Char had become somewhat accustomed to this feeling. While gritting his teeth, he still managed to squeeze out some spare energy to thank Snape, who was standing beside him with a tense expression, constantly sprinkling some healing potions on him. "Professor. Thank you for reminding me. Otherwise, I would have been in more trouble."
Snape's expression was still tense, as if he hadn't recovered from the anxiety. If you looked closely, you could see the slight trembling of his hands as they sprinkled the powder. He squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth. "Char Sprout. I must have been insane to agree to prepare that potion for you. If you had died here today, or become crazy, everyone would definitely think that I had tortured you with the Cruciatus Curse. If you want to send me to Azkaban, just say so."
Char gave a wry laugh. What had just happened was indeed a bit risky. If Snape hadn't stopped him in time, maybe his Occlumency really would have been broken by the intense pain. But when his eyes fell on the system panel, and he saw the progress of his ancient weather magic and Occlumency—even his lightning resistance now had a bronze sheen within its black iron luster—a fiery look returned to his eyes. The hard work was not in vain. This increase in progress was equivalent to being electrocuted for a whole day. If he did this a few more times, he was very confident that before Quirrell returned, he could directly push his ancient weather magic to the Silver level. Maybe his Occlumency could even reach the Platinum level.
Thinking of this, he said to Snape, "Professor. Once is new, twice is familiar. Since we already have experience with this and nothing has happened, it shows that the safety of this method is still guaranteed. Those materials should be enough to make more than just one Potion of Amplification, right?"
Snape heard this, and his cheek twitched. He felt that he had been crazy enough when he was in school. He didn't expect to see someone crazier than himself today. Snape said coldly, "If you take this potion continuously within a short period of time, it's possible that you'll be immersed in hallucinations permanently. The next time you take it, wait at least seven days. Of course, you can also try it with a lucky mentality. Do you want to take that risk?"
Hearing this, Char revealed a look of regret. Since Snape said so, this side effect proved to be quite troublesome. Forget it then. It was better to wait quietly for another seven days. Moreover, even if he didn't take the potion, he could still increase his progress during the electric shock. It was just that the effect would be much worse. "Never mind. Then I won't take the medicine for now. Professor, I want to be electrocuted here for a while longer. You should go back and rest first."
Snape's eyes widened. He still remembered how Char had been electrocuted, his entire body charred black, with flesh and blood growing out from underneath. Even without counting the effect of the potion that amplified the senses, this kind of pain was definitely a hellish experience. But this little one… he still wanted to continue? Before he knew about this, how many times had Char been shocked in this room? How many times had he repeated this process? For a while, even Snape, who was under pressure that ordinary people could not imagine, was silent. Char Sprout was a young boy who was not favored by all the professors when he first entered school. He was truly extraordinary. Professor Sprout's solemn declaration at the beginning of the school year emerged in his mind. "My Char has the makings of a legend!"
Snape's mouth slowly curled into a strange smile. He murmured in his heart, "Legendary talent? I thought you were exaggerating, Pomona. But now it seems that even you have underestimated your little one." Inexplicably, Snape, who had anticipated his own dark ending countless times, suddenly wasn't so pessimistic anymore. Perhaps this little injection of chaos could really change something.
In Char's surprised eyes, Snape said, "I'll research the Potion of Amplification. I will try to reduce the interval between doses and also reduce the amplification of negative sensations such as pain. It will take a while."
Char's eyes lit up. If this was really possible, it would be a huge help for him to study runes or get started with other ancient magics in the future. "Thank you, Professor."
He followed Snape out of the Room of Requirement, which had dimmed its electric light. Snape then walked towards his office, and Char turned around again. He re-entered the Room, faced with streaks of lightning swirling around him. Although it did not have the effect of the potion to amplify the sense of natural will, and the growth rate of his abilities immediately slowed down, little by little, it added up to a lot. The growth was still quite considerable. He repeated this process again and again, until the night had become extremely dark and thick. When the deepest darkness before dawn came, he then gently rubbed his aching temples to soothe his tense spirit and walked towards the small greenhouse.
And while he was taking action, in the shadows of the seventh-floor corridor, Harry and his two companions, who had been huddled under the Invisibility Cloak all night, suffering from back pain and sleepiness, suddenly became energetic. Char kept going in and out of this strange door. Finally, there was some movement. They had spied on Snape many times before but had found no clues. Now, perhaps there could be some breakthrough here with Char.
With this thought in mind, the trio quietly followed him. When they saw Char walking towards the small greenhouse, their eyes widened. There was only one thought left in their minds. "Is he serious? He's been busy all night, and it's almost four in the morning. He still has to go back to the greenhouse to work?!"
Hermione, who always felt that she had worked very hard and was confused as to why she could not catch up with Char, whose talent was far inferior to hers, felt the resentment in her heart disappear immediately. She even felt like laughing. How can this be compared? This boy hardly slept all night. How could she possibly catch up? If she continued this kind of routine for two days, she was afraid she would die suddenly.
They saw Char opening the door of the small greenhouse. The trio looked at each other, immediately quickened their pace, and followed him in. Just immediately afterward, a scene taking place in the small greenhouse made their faces suddenly turn pale. Char walked straight to the corner, to the mutant human-faced glow mushroom. His eyes fell on the reward light ball on it. A strange look flashed across his eyes. The reward light ball was already quite full. It was very close to maturity. It might even be the last time he needed to feed it his blood. Thinking of this, his eyes flashed. This time, I'll feed them a little more. If it matures sooner, I might be able to find the Quintaped's weakness sooner.
The next moment, Char sliced his palm open without a second thought. A dark arc of crimson sprayed across the soil where the mutant mushrooms grew. The unprecedentedly rich blood, packed with tremendous vitality, made these already bloodthirsty mutants go crazy. The human faces above all had their mouths wide open, as if they wanted to breathe in the sweet blood. Strands of strange and disgusting red hairs were constantly waving, sucking in all the blood they could come into contact with.
Under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and the other two smelled the strong, coppery tang of blood. Their expressions were all pale, and they felt their stomachs churning. They had never expected to see this scene. Char was actually using his own blood to feed a plant that looked so evil. Harry, who had a rich imagination, immediately thought of the series of disappearances. Could it be that those were caused by something similar to this plant? Did Snape win over Char just to use his talent for growing plants to make these things?
Suppressing their nausea and fear, Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. "We need to get closer. Look carefully at what those plants are. Only then can we figure out what Snape is trying to do." Ron and Hermione nodded, covering their mouths. They took slow steps, walking towards the mutant mushrooms. The closer they got, the more creepy they felt. There was a chill and fear in Hermione's voice. "I've never seen anything like it. There's not a single plant in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi that matches it."
"This must be a product of Dark Magic," Harry clenched his fists. "That's for sure. There must be something fishy about this plant. We have to do something—"
Just the next moment, under the Invisibility Cloak, Ron's body shook. If Harry and Hermione hadn't been quick enough, one grabbing him and the other covering his mouth, he would have screamed out loud. "Ron! What are you trying to do?!" Hermione whispered.
After Ron stood firm, his face pale, he pointed at his leg. "I just accidentally touched that disgusting thing. I felt like it pricked me… I think."
Harry and Hermione looked quickly towards Ron's legs. Hermione frowned. "Ron. Except for your leg hair, there's no wound on it. Are you sure you were hurt?"
Ron flushed. "First of all, I said it was possible I was stabbed. Secondly, I didn't say I was stabbed. I might have just been rubbed, but it was disgusting, you know?!"
Just when both of them looked a little unhappy, Harry quickly stopped them. "Stop talking. There was a lot of noise just now. Char seems to have noticed something." The three of them immediately held their breath. Sure enough, they saw Char frowning and looking around, as if searching for something. Fortunately, they were all wearing invisibility cloaks. He couldn't find them. A moment later, Char walked to the door and opened it, as if to ventilate the strong smell of blood. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the trio hurriedly left the small greenhouse.
After walking a long way, their voices finally grew louder. "Alright! Now we finally know what Snape and Char are up to. If we figure out what that thing is, maybe we can stop a big conspiracy!" They discussed this excitedly, no longer feeling sleepy.
And at this time, Char's gaze fell on the slightly sunken soil at the entrance. He probably guessed something. "Harry and his trio, wearing invisibility cloaks, came to investigate me?" He shook his head. It didn't matter. He wasn't planning on getting involved anyway. These three reckless Gryffindors could think whatever they want. Compared to their ideas, at this moment, he closed the door of the small greenhouse, his burning gaze falling on those reward light balls. After feeding them a large amount of blood, these mutant mushrooms seemed to have finally taken the final step towards maturity. Each reward light ball was like a heavy, ripe fruit.
After taking a deep breath, he reached out and touched it gently. The next moment, dozens of light balls immediately poured into his body. On the system panel, the writings of [Curseology] and [Quintaped Transfiguration] suddenly appeared.
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