Anton's gaze swept around, finally landing on his own Head of House, and he smiled slightly, "Spells are not inherently good or bad. A knife isn't evil; what's evil is whether the person holding it uses it to kill or to cook for their family."
Snape crossed his hands on his desk and shook his head, "That's not an excuse."
Anton showed no sign of panic, "You should know that I live with Lupin."
Snape shot him a cold glance, then瞥ed at Dumbledore and McGonagall. Lupin was a member of the Order of the Phoenix back in the day. Is this little wizard trying to pull some strings?
He sneered, "That is still not an excuse!"
"No!" Anton smiled, a particularly brilliant smile, "It is the reason!"
"Uncle Lupin is tormented by his werewolf identity. He can't even live a normal life. No one could help him, until he met a genius." Anton stuck up his thumb and pointed it at himself smugly, "Me!"
He calmly picked up his wand from the desk.
"As I said, spells have no good or bad. I used the Cruciatus Curse's characteristic of affecting the soul to cure his problem of transforming into a werewolf on the full moon."
"Merlin's beard!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, standing up and looking at Anton in disbelief, "You cast the Cruciatus Curse on Lupin?!!!"
Anton still wore that same smiling expression as he looked at Dumbledore, "Headmaster, you promised before to let me introduce my research plan to you. This is the perfect opportunity."
He gently waved his wand with his right hand, "Crucio."
The light of the spell shot towards his own left hand.
"Stop!" Dumbledore and McGonagall shouted. Snape quickly drew his own wand, and Quirrell shivered in fear.
Someone was actually casting the Cruciatus Curse on themself!
The four professors had truly only seen this once in their entire lives!
What kind of absurd behavior was this!
The light of the spell extended from the tip of the wand, dancing on the fingertips of Anton's left hand.
The long beam of spell light twisted into a semi-arc in mid-air, maintaining the state of being cast, looking like a blinding stream of plasma.
The electric light illuminated the young wizard's eyes.
The young wizard smiled brilliantly, "I am honored to introduce to you my epoch-making invention, the Soul Scalpel!"
Anton really liked Hogwarts and cherished his time here.
Here, he had two professors who thought highly of him, a pair of twins he got along with, a tsundere but always helpful and cute roommate, and many other good friends.
But it wasn't like he couldn't live without Hogwarts.
If they won't have me here, someone else will. At worst, he could go to Durmstrang Institute, where the tolerance for Dark Arts was incredibly high. And Mr. Rosier, as a school governor, would definitely help him enroll. He wasn't worried about that at all.
It was like how Snape, when faced with a choice between love and his personal pursuits, chose his pursuits.
Snape would never give up the Dark Arts for Lily.
And Anton would never give up the Dark Arts for Hogwarts... my ass!
He didn't care at all whether he used Dark Arts or not.
He had followed the old wizard, Rosier, and Pedro before, and the spell he had studied most deeply happened to be the Cruciatus Curse. That was the reason he used it, and that was all.
He had no choice.
As spells that affect social stability, the Dark Arts were destined to exist outside the rules.
Coming to Hogwarts this time, he had originally planned to learn techniques he could use openly and honorably. Besides, his method of turning the Cruciatus Curse into a scalpel had already hit a bottleneck; he was out of ideas.
Sigh.
Life was really tough for him.
He didn't have a choice before; he had always wanted to be a good person.
Was it really that hard?
Now that he was in a predicament he couldn't back out of, he wouldn't retreat! This was a lesson learned from his time living under the old wizard's wand. Breaking character would only lead to suspicion and doubt. Whether good or bad, he would become someone who couldn't be trusted.
What a pity...
He probably couldn't stay at Hogwarts anymore.
Right now, the only thing he needed to fight for was to explain his reason for casting an Unforgivable Curse, to prevent Dumbledore from sending him to Azkaban.
He understood Dumbledore. The white wizard himself was also extremely skilled in the Dark Arts, and old Dumbledore's principles weren't actually that rigid.
He would favor Harry Potter, always awarding points to Gryffindor, just enough to be a few points higher than Slytherin.
After imprisoning Grindelwald in the castle, he withstood pressure from everyone and protected Grindelwald's Acolytes.
You have to know, after Voldemort's fall, the Death Eaters were not as fortunate as the Acolytes.
Of course, he also protected the number one Death Eater, Snape, for the sole reason of having him as a spy to prevent Voldemort's return.
To stuff such a Death Eater leader, who had harmed so many people, into his own school for protection required withstanding an immense amount of pressure.
This was also why Anton brought up Lupin.
I, Anton, researched this for Lupin's sake.
He hoped old Dumbledore would let him off the hook for Lupin's sake.
But Anton was also proud.
Yes, he, Anton, a transmigrator, had forged an unprecedented path of bionic magic based on the old wizard's foundation, and had developed the Soul Scalpel from the theories of the witch Volkanova. Why shouldn't he be proud!
Just like back then, he could suck up to Snape to get by, but he could also draw his wand and fight Snape to the death.
He wanted to live.
Even more, he wanted to live brilliantly.
To live in a way that made everyone see him for who he was, not to live hidden in the gutter like the old wizard.
_If Hogwarts can't accept someone like me, fine, I'm out!
Bringing up Lupin was just to avoid being sent to Azkaban. As for whether he could stay at this school, Anton was quite open-minded.
The light of the Cruciatus Curse danced on his fingertips, and Anton's smile grew wider. He was as proud as a big rooster.
"Whether it's ordinary spells, curses, jinxes, potions, or wolfsbane, none can be separated from a wizard's will. When a person is affected by a spell, it's actually their own will that is being interfered with."
"So, what better tool is there than the Cruciatus Curse."
"It can perfectly adjust a wizard's soul and will. With just a gentle prod, cut, or alteration, we can change this interfering will."
He looked at Dumbledore and the others seriously again, "The Dark Arts are a knife, and I am the one using it to do good. Potions contain so many poisonous ingredients, yet they are also used to save people. This is not something difficult to understand!"
His words were resolute.
Professor McGonagall's mouth fell open in shock. She looked at Dumbledore, somewhat at a loss.
Snape's expression was complicated. Watching this young wizard who stood firm in his beliefs, he couldn't help but recall his own aggrieved past.
Quirrell swallowed hard, thinking no wonder this little wizard was noticed by the Dark Lord. He was practically a young version of the Dark Lord, full of potential. Professor Dumbledore, what are you waiting for, hurry up and kill him, lock him up in Azkaban!
Dumbledore extended an aged hand, about to touch the plasma of the spell shooting from Anton's wand. McGonagall quickly grabbed him.
Old Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, then reached his hand into it.
He squinted his eyes, "The level of the spell has been reduced to a minimum, but its power is still sufficient. A very clever technique."
"Clearly, you have a very deep understanding of the Cruciatus Curse."
Anton chuckled. How could it not be deep? Not to mention how many times he had cast the Cruciatus Curse, he himself had endured it an unknown number of times, each experience seared into his memory.
That feeling, he wouldn't tell just anyone about it.