When the invisible barrier, now completely covered by a platinum luster, suddenly shattered, Char's magical perception underwent a seismic shift. The world before his eyes began to undergo an earth-shaking transformation. At this moment, without needing to resort to his platinum-grade night vision, he could see magic particles of different colors and properties dancing in the air. These particles sometimes gathered and sometimes dispersed. Sometimes it seemed they would react, meeting each other only to become silent, or to be reborn into something new. Every minute, every second, the scenes of the magical world before his eyes became extremely bizarre and wondrous. No matter how powerful his imagination had been, he could not have conceived of the magnificence of magic until he had experienced it with his own eyes.
"This is the Platinum-level magical perception enhancement," he breathed. "Finally, my perception of magic has moved from the macro level to the micro level." He took a deep breath, feeling as shocked as if he had gone to university in his previous life and suddenly discovered that all the science he had learned in high school had been overturned and reconstructed. His previous perception of magic wasn't wrong, but before coming into contact with the microscopic level of magic, no matter how profound his understanding was, it was only the tip of the iceberg. No wonder his magical attainments had stalled. After all, starting from the Platinum level, each spell gradually touched upon the microscopic level of magic. When he couldn't even sense the state of magic at this level, no matter how much he practiced, it was just like a blind man touching an elephant. Only by truly seeing could he find the right direction.
However, this did not mean that the foundation Char had accumulated over such a long period of time had lost its effect. Quite the opposite. Just like when physics had transitioned from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics, the masters of classical mechanics were basically still masters in the new field. After all, the macro and the micro are two sides of the same coin, and the macro is a collection of the micro. Accumulation at the macro level was also of great benefit to the micro level. Char only needed to act according to his now completely different perception of magic, to reorganize and reconstruct his understanding, and his previous foundation would be quickly transformed into nutrients for his magical enhancement. This could be seen from the flashing lights on his system panel. Just like when some plants were in metamorphosis, his magical abilities—such as the Loosening Charm, Pruning Charm, and Lumos—all flickered with light. At their brightest, even within the platinum color, a very faint diamond light was emerging. Once he completed this transition stage, his magical attainments would definitely grow by leaps and bounds.
At the same time, he began to understand more and more why the outstanding geniuses in the magic world behaved so bizarrely. Snape, whose magical attainments had surpassed those of seventh-year students when he first entered school, was still within the realm of "genius." But Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald, and others were even more exaggerated. Almost all of them had achieved magical attainments while still in school that most geniuses would never be able to reach in their lifetimes. But it was probably also inseparable from their innate, super magical perception. Relying on the system, Char had spent so much time and energy before he was finally able to perceive magic at a microscopic level. But maybe for these true geniuses, from the first moment they came into contact with magic, the world before them was closer to its essence than even his was now. According to the system's rating, he guessed Snape's magical perception was at the Epic level when he was in school. Dumbledore, Voldemort, and others probably had Legendary-level magical perception talents. And just as he was able to improve his perception bit by bit, their talents could also be improved through training, and the improvement was estimated to be far greater than his. Over the years, Snape probably now had Legendary magical perception. The magical perception of top wizards like Dumbledore might even be heading towards the Mythical level in the system's rating.
When he realized this, the excitement on his face turned slightly into a hint of bitterness. The talent of ordinary people, after working so hard for so long, still couldn't even see the taillights of genius. But a moment later, he swallowed that bitterness. Perhaps these geniuses possessed talents that were currently beyond his reach, but he also had a unique advantage: the planting system. The Platinum level of magic perception had been broken through. If he kept improving like this, one day, the Mythical level that Dumbledore and others had not touched might be touched by him first.
But at this time, several more goldfish plants matured. The reward light balls sank into his body, but this improvement in magical perception was so slight that he couldn't even distinguish it. There was no change on the system panel. This made him frown slightly. Indeed, he now had the Forbidden Forest Troll Tribe under his command, and with nearly a hundred trolls, the production of goldfish spider plants had been greatly increased. But after his magic perception broke through the Platinum level, the reduction effect of the light ball reward seemed to be becoming more and more obvious. A large number of bonus light balls could indeed bring benefits, but he wanted to push his magic perception from Platinum to Diamond. The time and energy consumed were probably several times more than upgrading from Gold to Platinum. Unless there was another explosive growth in the number of trolls in the next year, driving production to rise again, he wasn't sure his magical perception would be able to reach the Diamond level by the end of his second year.
If there were no pressure, he could just wait slowly. But in his fifth year, he would most likely face Antonius Dolohov. After that, the war in the magic world would gradually begin. What's more, there was a guy suspected to be a "god" lurking in the temple. He certainly hoped to take the initiative in this series of events. "If only I could obtain higher-level, mass-produced plant seeds that could enhance magical perception. That would be great. Even at the Bronze level, it's enough to significantly reduce the reduction effect."
Such thoughts emerged in his mind. What a pity. Although he had never given up on looking for seeds of this kind of plant, the goldfish spider plant was still the only one he could find. If he wanted to find a better one, he was afraid the hope was very slim. After thinking for a moment, he felt that there was a more feasible solution. Maybe he should cultivate the goldfish plant itself. If he could obtain a goldfish plant with greatly optimized traits, perhaps the reward level would also be upgraded from Iron to Bronze. To achieve this goal, the Silver Cup of Demeter in his hand had the power to bless plant seeds, but the scope of its abilities was not broad. It could only affect dozens of seeds at most. He now had two more means: the dark magic of Transfiguration and curses. "Use a combination of the three methods. The probability of inducing a new variant should be higher than when using a single method before." The ideas in his mind became clearer. The only thing was the study of curses. He currently had neither experience nor cases to refer to. He really felt like he didn't know what to do. But for this matter, the sooner he started planning, the sooner he would see results.
"To the Restricted Section of the library. There's even a method for making Horcruxes there. In the field of item curses, perhaps I can find some research notes or documents." Immediately, he returned to Hogwarts. He first got another note from Professor Sprout for the restricted area, then walked towards the library without stopping. He entered the restricted books area with ease. After entering, the books on the surrounding bookshelves immediately exuded a malicious magic. The words on some of the covers began to bleed. Some of them made bewitching sounds, tempting him to open them. But these things had no effect on him even before he had learned Occlumency, especially now. He walked between the bookshelves, completely ignoring the temptation from these dark magic books, searching only for books related to curses.
Time passed by minute by minute. Until the sky turned from dark to light, and sunlight streamed in through the library windows, only then did he stop searching. He looked quite surprised. He had searched all night, but there were very few books related to the study of curses. It took a lot of effort for him to find a few, and they were all about extremely bloody and evil "traditional" curses. As for the items that he hoped to search for, curse-related, several books combined didn't even add up to two pages. It was not surprising when you thought about it. Dark wizards pursued Horcruxes because they had real benefits. They pursued the dark magic of Transfiguration and could also gain powerful combat power. But curses were not very direct, and item curses were even more useless. A cursed item often had to be spread for hundreds of years before it possessed lethal magic. It was normal that books on this subject could not even be found in the restricted area of Hogwarts. But this made him sigh. If he couldn't find any references, he could only figure it out on his own.
"Never mind. Give me a couple more days to search. Maybe there's a bookshelf I've missed. If I really can't find any reference, I'll just start my own research." Immediately, he took a step forward and left the restricted area. What he didn't expect was that outside, there was a figure waiting for him. It was Hermione Granger. When their eyes met, her face was filled with shock. It seemed like a guess that she had been unwilling to believe for a long time had finally come true.
She strode towards him. "Char. I can't believe it. You really went to the Restricted Section. Do you know what's in there? These are the most profound dark magics, extremely dangerous. Students who enter rashly will be expelled!"
He was stunned for a moment and frowned slightly. Although he would not confront the trio just because they had reported him, it didn't mean he would be kind to them. Facing Hermione's constant lecture, he said coldly, "What book I'm going to read doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, Hermione. Besides, I followed the formal procedures and obtained permission to enter. If you have any opinions, you can tell the professor. I'm very busy. If there's nothing else, I'll leave first." Then, he moved around her and walked out without looking back.
Hermione saw this, her face turning pale. In her opinion, it was obvious that he had already gone astray on the path of dark magic and refused to turn back. If things continued to develop like this, maybe he would be thrown directly into Azkaban. Thinking of this, she ignored his cold attitude and quickly chased after him, trying to continue to persuade him to mend his ways. But just as she chased out of the library, she saw a scene that took her breath away. Draco Malfoy was in this corridor. And the moment he saw Char, a strange look appeared in his eyes. Even his usually proud head immediately lowered. He seemed extremely humble in front of Char.
Draco Malfoy said something that made Hermione's mind go blank. "Char. Thanks so much to you. Just as you said, the Flint family really disappeared. Father said that this time, our Malfoy family made a fortune. We divided up the best part of the Flint family's high-quality assets." As he said this, his face was filled with excitement. "Father asked me to express my gratitude to you. Also, as long as you need it, the Malfoy family will do everything they can to help you."
As soon as these words were spoken, Char's eyes lit up slightly. He found that he seemed to have overlooked something. The products of item curses were mostly very exquisite jewelry. After thousands of years of circulation, the curse power of these jewels had become increasingly stronger. But pure-blooded nobles had a tendency to collect this kind of jewelry. They believed that the beauty of these cursed jewels was beyond the reach of ordinary jewels. Dangerous, charming—it could be regarded as a symbol of pure-blooded aristocratic taste. In the original book, when Malfoy had received the mission to assassinate Dumbledore, the Death Eaters had prepared an exquisite piece of cursed jewelry. This showed that this kind of thing should be concentrated in the hands of pure-blood nobles. On the contrary, there wouldn't be too many left in the restricted area of Hogwarts.
Thinking of this, the hope he had lost was rekindled. He asked Draco Malfoy, "Does your family have any books on items like cursed jewelry? It would be best if there was a physical piece of cursed jewelry."
Draco heard his question and was stunned for a moment. Then he said immediately, "Cursed jewels? I'll ask my family—" While talking, he took out a crystal ball that Lucius Malfoy had prepared for him, which could communicate with another crystal ball. Compared with owl messaging, this method was much more convenient and timely, but the price was extremely expensive. Lucius had been really shocked by what had happened to the Flint family last time, and his assessment of Char's importance had skyrocketed, which was why Draco held the crystal ball to facilitate the timely transmission of news.
At this time, as the crystal ball lit up, in Malfoy Manor, Lucius received a message from Draco. "Char needs cursed jewels?" This made him stunned. Not because it was difficult, but because it was just too simple. Pure-blooded nobles would collect cursed jewels as a way to show off their dignity and taste. Of course, the Malfoy family was no exception. There were at least dozens of cursed jewels stored in the jewelry cabinet, and no one had ever looked at them all year round. But he didn't expect that what Char asked for were these things. "What are you going to do with all this?" he wondered. He immediately dismissed the idea of Char showing them off. This young man was definitely not such a superficial person.
Suddenly, a guess emerged in his mind. He had never known how the Flint family had fallen, or what methods Char had used. But now, a horrifying thought emerged. "Could it be… a curse?!" The more he thought about it, the more certain he became of his guess. Except for a strange and vicious curse, what else could make Bacon Flint and the wizards employed by the Flint family disappear without a trace? Apart from sending a letter, Char had had no contact with them throughout the whole process. Perhaps it was that letter that had come with a powerful curse. Thinking of this, Lucius was even more shocked. How profound must Char's understanding of curses be? A first-year student who usually showed extraordinary strength in Herbology, but secretly, quietly, he had achieved such accomplishments in such a remote field of dark magic. What was his intention behind this? "This young man… he was so scheming that even Dumbledore couldn't detect his disguise. Maybe even the fact that he was assigned to Hufflepuff during the Sorting was intentional. It was to lower Dumbledore's guard. Otherwise, if he had behaved like this in Slytherin or Gryffindor, Dumbledore would have already put his sights on him." The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. But then, a bright light burst from his eyes. "This boy has the potential to be a Dark Lord! The Malfoy family must not miss this investment." What were a few cursed jewels compared to befriending Char and maintaining relationships?
A moment later, Lucius gave an immediate reply. And it took no more than two minutes. Accompanied by the loud cracks as a house-elf apparated, a large box was brought to Char. After he opened the box, what came towards him was a burst of brilliant jewels and precious stones. Dozens of exquisite jewels sparkled brightly. Many of them were famous all over the world. The Heart of the Ocean and the Bloody Crown were now packed in a box like common items. And what caught his attention even more was the strong smell of curses emanating from these things. These cursed jewels had been passed down for centuries. He didn't know how many masters they had cursed to death. The curse magic on them was of great research value. These were definitely excellent materials for studying curses.
And in the box, among these cursed jewels, there was also a booklet that he had not expected. When his eyes fell on it, his brows furrowed slightly. There was a look of surprise in his eyes. "This material is… human skin?!" But compared to its material, the handwriting on it was what surprised him the most. The pamphlet had no cover title, only a signature in ancient Greek. It didn't seem to be a formal book, but a note left casually. But this ancient Greek name… it was famous throughout the history of magic.
"Herpo…" he breathed, his voice barely a whisper. "The creator of the first basilisk, the most infamous dark wizard in history… Herpo the Foul?!"