On the system panel, after many tense days, as Char gradually relaxed in the pleasant atmosphere of the common room, the golden luster on the words "Occlumency" became increasingly brighter. The extent of the improvement, while not as potent as the surge from a magic potion combined with an electric shock, was not far off. This surprised him. In this moment, he felt no bewitchment, no shaking, no intense pain. Quite the opposite; he felt remarkably relaxed and comfortable. How could this also improve his Occlumency? This was completely different from his previous experiences of constantly enduring pain.
A moment later, Char was lost in thought. "Pain and hardship do indeed help Occlumency grow," he mused. "And it's very effective in a short period of time. It's a shortcut. But perhaps this isn't the only way. It can even be said that this is not an orthodox channel for improving Occlumency." After this period of using the technique and reading a lot of magic-related books, he now knew more about its origins than before. The technique originated from legendary meditation. Originally, it wasn't a means of defending against Legilimency and various mental magics, but was regarded by wizards as a pure means of training to control one's own spirit. The earliest records did not mention the pain wizards had to endure when practicing it; it was even mentioned that there was peace and joy associated with the process.
In the original story, Dumbledore had asked Snape to use Legilimency to attack Harry mentally, just so he would master Occlumency as soon as possible and sever his mental connection with Voldemort. It was a pity that Harry was too resistant to Snape and felt that being able to see Voldemort's perspective was a unique advantage. Therefore, even under such conditions, it was not possible to master the art. It was not until Sirius died that he finally mastered the technique in extreme pain. It could be said that pain is a shortcut that works very quickly. "But relying on pain and pressure for a long time has its drawbacks," he thought. "Just like veterans on the battlefield who have experienced life and death many times and are as hard as iron, they seem that they will not give in or waver. But after leaving the battlefield, there is a high possibility of developing mental problems. Occlumency is similar. You can quickly get started through pain and pressure, but the mind also needs to be relaxed. If you are tense for a long time, even metal will get tired, let alone the mind. On the contrary, tightening and loosening will bring better results." Suddenly, a clear understanding came to his mind.
At the same time, in front of him, the kids had already decorated the common room with ease. The tables were joined together to form one long table. A variety of delicious snacks began to be served from the small kitchen. Pots of black tea, pumpkin juice, and butterbeer were placed on the table. There was even a wide space in the middle of the common room for children to dance. In just a few minutes, the Hufflepuff common room was transformed into a cheerful dance party. Such action made Char feel a little helpless. The lazy badgers, when it came to enjoying life, certainly showed no lack of positivity.
But speaking of it, he had really never participated in the carnival in the common room. Even though he had led the school to win the Quidditch final before, the grand carnival had just begun when he had already slipped away to plant trees in the small greenhouse. But this time, he breathed a sigh of relief. He put all the thoughts about magic, Herbology, this crisis, and that plan into the back of his mind. He forgot it all for now, immersing himself in the cheerful atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room, relaxing the spirit that had been tense for too long.
And at this time, Cedric waved his wand. Immediately, pleasant notes began to play. A group of senior students also waved their wands, and harmonious, cheerful music echoed in the lounge. Then, Cedric looked at Char with "bad intentions." When Char was still a little caught off guard, he heard Cedric say loudly, "In the previous few revelries, our top hero, Char, hasn't even danced yet. Everyone has to keep an eye on him today. We can't let him get away again! Girls who want to ask him to dance, don't miss this opportunity!"
Char's expression froze slightly. Immediately, a warm hand grasped his arm. He subconsciously turned his head to look. It turned out to be Hannah Abbott, whose face was as red as an apple. The little girl seemed to be startled by her own subconscious action, her face full of panic and helplessness. She explained stutteringly, "I, I'm afraid that you'll run away again, Char— and also, there's more." Hannah mustered up her courage. "Char, you helped me a lot. You taught me the Luminescence Charm and the tricks of Transfiguration. I want you to dance…"
Char looked at the extremely shy little girl, and there was also warmth in his eyes. A girl of this age may not understand what love is. Inviting him to dance may be a sign of affection, an impulse, or genuine love. There was no need to go into details. Who hasn't experienced youth and felt that little bit of excitement? Just a dance. He nodded, held out his hand, and gave a helpless smile. "Let me say it first. I've never danced before, so I don't know anything about this. Don't blame me if I accidentally step on your foot later, Hannah."
Hannah's eyes lit up immediately. Her two pigtails swung excitedly. "No, I won't. I'll teach you!"
At this time, many girls in the common room regretted that they had not been able to get there first. Hannah skipped to the front with Char. Cedric waved his wand, and the music became soothing, like an invitation at the beginning of a dance. Hannah also grabbed his hand and guided him clumsily. "Here. Take a step here. Turn around again." Char followed her movements, while listening carefully to her explanation of the dance steps. With his current learning ability, plus the coordination of his body, such simple dance steps were naturally no problem. In less than a moment, not only was he able to keep up with Hannah's pace, but he also danced more smoothly.
Then, the music became more cheerful and lively, like there were elves flying in the air. He gently put his arm around Hannah's waist. "Hannah, do you want to do something difficult? How about flying into the sky? I'll catch you."
Hannah's eyes lit up. She had always been timid, but she gave control of her body to him without hesitation. As he exerted slight force, she let out a soft cry. Then she took off into the air, somersaulting beautifully like a difficult move in figure skating. Then he caught her easily. After this action, the little badgers couldn't help but applaud. The girls looked at Hannah, who was now the center of attention, with eyes sparkling and full of envy. Even Hannah herself felt dizzy, not knowing where she was. But there was one thing she was absolutely sure of. That today was simply the happiest day of her life so far. It could be compared to the day she had received her Hogwarts acceptance letter.
Soon, the last dance was over. Char and Hannah returned to their seats amid applause and whistles. With their opening, new pairs of kids came up to dance. The carnival atmosphere became more and more intense. Char was enjoying the delicious food, chatting and laughing with Hannah and Susan next to him, putting aside everything that had nothing to do with the happy scene before him. Even the system panel, he ignored it all. But even so, on the system panel, the words "Occlumency" flickered, but it was still becoming thicker at an increasingly faster rate. It was like a switch was flipped. The weariness that had been pent up in his spirit for so long slowly rose to the surface. This made his eyelids grow heavier. In the end, even he himself didn't know when, in the comfortable seat of the lounge, he fell into a deep sleep that he hadn't experienced in a long time.
After finding that he had fallen asleep, Hannah, who was standing by, had a look of heartache in her eyes. Ever since she had known him, she had never seen him take a break. It was as if he was carrying a mission every minute and every second, constantly moving like a wound-up spring. The rest of the Hufflepuffs immediately lowered their voices. Cedric stood up on his hands and feet, dimming the lights in the lounge. The fire burned brighter. Hannah and Susan covered him with a blanket to keep him from getting cold at night. Then, Cedric whispered, "Everyone, disperse and keep your voices down." The badgers stood up silently. There was no noise during the process. The entire lounge was left to Char.
The night was dark. There was also a carnival in Hogwarts. To celebrate Quirrell's solution to the disappearances in the wizarding world, the young wizards were having a holiday. After the carnival, they were so tired that they didn't even think about going out for a night tour. The corridors of Hogwarts were empty. But a moment later, a tall figure, wearing a cloak darker than the night, was walking silently in the corridor. His goal was clear. It was exactly the direction of the small greenhouse. This figure was naturally Quirrell. The scene of wanting to kill Char during the day but being interrupted came to mind. His eyes were filled with gloom. Char had mentioned the troll paper, which did surprise him. When he was still human, maybe he would have really let go of his murderous intent. But it was a pity. Now, his human form was just a disguise, and he had long since become an inhuman monster. The murderous intent boiling in his heart was like magma. Even though Voldemort had reminded him again and again that now was not the time to take action, he couldn't even control the urge to drink Char's blood, so how could he let go of the urge to kill because of some incidents during the day?
"That little one. He is always busy in the small greenhouse at this time." Under the cloak, something was moving, about to come out. Until Quirrell arrived at the door of the small greenhouse, he found that there was no movement inside. The door had been locked. A sign was hung up. "Temporarily closed, preparing for the final exam." The murderous intent that filled Quirrell's body was vented nowhere. He could only roar in frustration. "Char Sprout!" After venting, he looked towards Hogwarts Castle. He seemed to be assessing the possibility of sneaking into the Hufflepuff common room and killing him. But a moment later, Quirrell frowned, slowly calming down. This was extremely difficult. The Hufflepuff common room was the most heavily guarded of the four houses. And unlike some other houses, they didn't have fancy entrances and exits. The protection was simple and unpretentious. It would detect malicious intent. Any wizard who attempted to enter with malicious intent would trigger protective magic and alarms. Even Occlumency would find it difficult to escape the detection of the protective magic. And even if you entered it, once an attack was launched against the students, the protective magic would take effect immediately. It was like a tight safe house. Even Quirrell, who had been transformed by the Quintaped, could do nothing to protect the Hufflepuff common room. He wanted to get in and strangle Char with his own hands. Even if it could be done, the price would be something he couldn't afford. His goal had always been the Philosopher's Stone. Thinking of this, there was also a hint of reluctance on his face.
But soon, he seemed to have thought of something. There was a weird and malicious look in his eyes again. The protective magic at Hogwarts, especially within the common rooms, was indeed powerful. Quirrell really couldn't enter it himself. But this did not mean that some strange forces could not penetrate. For example—a curse. This strange black magic was one of the few methods that could be effective through protective magic. No matter how tightly guarded the common room was, it could still be penetrated by a curse. If he just wanted to use a curse to kill Char, it would still trigger the protection. This was not what he wanted to see; it would affect his actions. But if it was just to torture him with a curse, to leave him mentally ill and scarred, he could still do this. So a moment later, Quirrell looked grim as he left the small greenhouse and returned to his room.
He cut a piece of cloth from his cloak. Soon, a small, strange rag doll was made. It was extremely crude, but the simply outlined facial features on its head carried a creepy evil. As he waved his wand, a strong curse magic wrapped around the rag doll. The next moment, it seemed to come alive. There were bursts of laughter. A smile appeared on Quirrell's lips. This was a special curse magic he had learned while traveling—the voodoo doll. Once successfully crafted, this thing would continue to haunt the target it cursed. Hallucinations would keep them awake at night and make them terrified. At the same time, it absorbed the negative emotions of the object and strengthened itself. The original voodoo doll did not have a particularly powerful curse magic. But Quirrell at this time was no longer the same as before. After being transformed, the nature of his magic had quietly changed. When it came to casting these vicious curses, it was as if he had divine help. This voodoo doll had also become unusually weird and spiteful, enough to bring unimaginable mental and physical torture to the cursed person. He took out a piece of homework he had received from his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was Char's name written on it. The voodoo doll came up and sniffed, as if confirming the scent. Then, there was a burst of cold laughter. It strangely turned into a piece of paper and slipped out from the crack in the door. A sinister smile also appeared on Quirrell's face. This continued until his plan began. This voodoo doll would haunt Char, slowly torturing him and making him suffer in fear and pain. As for whether Char could deal with it, the thought had never even occurred to Quirrell. The study of curses was such an unpopular field. If he hadn't gained some knowledge from the Dark Lord, in addition to the unique advantage his magic now had in this field, he was afraid it would be difficult to use such means. As for Char, just a little boy, what kind of curse could he understand?
It was at this time, in the silence of the Hufflepuff common room, with only the fire in the fireplace casting a warm glow, that Char slowly opened his eyes. Interrupted thoughts emerged in his mind. Did I fall asleep without realizing it? Thinking of the deep fatigue that had spread from his mind earlier, he was also shocked. He didn't expect that he had accumulated so much mental burden without realizing it. If this continued, perhaps it would lay the foundation for some mental problems. But then, he took a look at his current condition. A hint of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes. He felt refreshed. An unprecedented refreshing feeling spread throughout his body. It was like countless invisible burdens had been lifted off. Unparalleled ease. It even reminded him of the day when the college entrance examination results were released in his previous life. No, it was even easier than that feeling. The speed of his thinking seemed to have increased a bit.
Immediately, his gaze fell on the system panel. The changes that came into view made his eyes widen. "This is?!" Only seen on the system panel, the Occlumency technique had just been upgraded to Gold level not long ago. The words on it not only shone with golden light, but more than half of it was already covered with platinum luster. This meant that the technique was not far from being promoted to the Platinum level. At this rate, maybe with the use of another magic potion and two electric shocks in the Room of Requirement, it would allow his Occlumency to be completely upgraded to Platinum. The speed of progress was so fast that he had never expected it. Then, he had a thoughtful expression. "Maybe, in fact, my Occlumency skills should have reached this level. It's just that my spirit was too exhausted. I haven't been able to relax completely in a long time, so much so that it's been hindering my progress. It wasn't until today, after a good rest and releasing all the accumulated fatigue, that I was finally able to unleash my full power in Occlumency."
A moment later, he no longer dwelled on the reasons for the rapid progress. One way or another, he had come to this point. Instead of worrying about it, it would be better to think about how to upgrade the technique to Platinum as soon as possible. After all, there was a huge gap between Platinum-level and Gold-level capabilities. It was not just an ordinary gap; it was a complete qualitative change. He had experienced this before. But he had never experienced the qualitative effect of Occlumency, a magic in the spiritual realm. But he had a hunch. If the technique could be upgraded to the Platinum level, the qualitative change it would bring might give him a great surprise. There was only this little progress left. How could he fill it up? He could practice on his own, but the growth rate was visible. It would take at least two months to complete this promotion. For him, this was still too slow. As for using the magic potion and going to the Room of Requirement, of course, this would work quickly. But now, Quirrell was back, and the risk was high. Looking at what Quirrell had looked like during the day, he was afraid that as long as he had the chance, he wouldn't mind taking action against him if he was alone. Quirrell could no longer be judged by human nature. Unless necessary, he didn't want to take such a risk.
And just when he was struggling, suddenly, he seemed to hear something in his ears. It sounded like the laughter of children, from far to near, from blurry to clear, approaching slowly. But it couldn't be compared with the laughter of the little badgers at the dance party before. This laughter was even more childish, like that of a five or six-year-old child, but there was no childlike innocence in it that should be there at this age. Instead, it was full of malice. It made one feel cold and creepy when they listened to it. He frowned. Then, his pupils shrank slightly. He looked at the crack of the door leading from the common room to the corridor. The security of this door was obvious to everyone. If you were not a member of the house, it was impossible to open the door from the outside. But now, a strange thing, as thin as paper, slowly drilled in from the crack. As soon as it got in, it stood up. It also bulged up. It turned out to be a strange rag doll.
His brow furrowed even more. With his current Platinum-level attainments in curse studies, of course, he knew what this was. "A voodoo doll? But this one seems unusual. The cursed magic shrouding it is very strong, even stronger than some of the cursed jewels I have on hand. Is this thing for me?" Immediately, he understood who had done this. It seemed that Quirrell had gone to the small greenhouse to look for him, but couldn't find him. And he had no way to break through the common room's protective magic. That's why he had chosen to use the curse of the voodoo doll against him.
Just as he was thinking, the voodoo doll's gaze also fell on him. It seemed like it didn't expect to find the target so easily. The mouth sketched casually on its clumsy face slowly curled up, and it gave a malicious smile. A chilling laugh came towards him. The laughter was mxed with curse magic. It was was also accompanied by the Legilimency magic that Quirrell had left on the voodoo doll. This complemented the doll's curse, making it easier to find the mental loopholes of the cursed and drive them into maddening hallucinations.
The voodoo doll looked at Char, ready to see his panicked expression. It would hide in every corner, absorbing his fear every moment of every day to become stronger, constantly torturing him.
However, when the voodoo doll's laughter, filled with Legilimency and curse magic, reached Char's ears, his eyes lit up instead. This combination of Legilimency and curse magic had an extraordinary effect on mental penetration. Although it couldn't shake his increasingly powerful Occlumency, it was, after all, a magic inextricably linked to Voldemort. As Char's Occlumency resisted the invasion, the flashing platinum spots on his skill were actually increasing slowly. While not as effective as the hallucination potion combined with electric shock, it was much faster than practicing on his own.
This made Char look at the voodoo doll, his eyes suddenly growing hot. "This little thing... a free meal delivered to my door?!"
The voodoo doll's smile suddenly froze. It didn't feel any panic or fear from Char. Instead, he looked at it as if it were some kind of treasure. There was only one thought left in the voodoo doll's mind. No. Why isn't he afraid of me? If he's afraid, then I can absorb his fear and pain to increase the power of the curse. But he's not afraid of me. The instructions didn't say what to do in this case! What should I do?!
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