Anton knew Dumbledore meant well.
The old man restricted him from casting dark magic, forcing him onto the right path, and also granted him open access to all non-dark magic books in the library, promising to help him with any questions at any time.
Not to mention how busy Dumbledore himself was, just consider those books.
Those most precious and advanced books, while seemingly kept in the library, were ones that most students would likely never even get a chance to see the cover of in their entire lives.
Hoping to get a permission slip from a professor for a specific book was incredibly difficult.
This was Hogwarts' precious treasure.
Dumbledore had opened up a long list directly to Anton.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't moved, and a lie to say he wasn't frustrated.
Quirrell had already shown clear hostility, and Anton desperately needed a life-saving trick, The Shield Charm seemed decent, but it couldn't block Avada Kedavra.
Besides, passive defense had never been his style, he needed a way to counterattack!
Sigh.
"Relying on just the Shield Charm won't be enough." Anton's brow was tightly furrowed.
Dumbledore still had that same smiling expression, "I heard from Fiennes that you were previously focused on the Dislocation Soul-Jinx, intending to use it as your usual self-defense method."
!!!
The old wizard really told him everything, huh.
Traitor, you've laid all my cards on the table!
Anton pursed his lips, "I believe that specializing in a single spell is more useful than mastering a whole bunch of flashy ones."
"You should try more things, the wizarding world has too many wonderful sights waiting for you to explore, don't limit yourself to one spell," Dumbledore advised.
He thought for a moment, "If you really plan to specialize in a certain spell, my advice is, don't consider the spell's power, but rather consider what you like the most, doing so will not only be twice as effective with half the effort, but you'll also find a lot of fun in it."
Makes sense!
But...
"What I like..." Anton murmured, his eyes suddenly lighting up, "There actually is one."
Dumbledore smiled, "You can demonstrate it for me, I can give you some advice, at least to help you avoid some detours."
"This is a secret technique I learned from the goblins, I call it 'Moving Figurines', I especially like it, but it has very big limitations, it needs soil, I never considered using it as a means of defense."
Speaking of this, Anton became exceptionally energetic, his face beaming with excitement.
He rubbed his hands together, "I need some soil."
Dumbledore clapped his hands lightly, everything on the desk vanished, and a pile of soil appeared in the middle.
Wow~
This is so convenient.
Anton loved the wizarding world so much, magic always managed to deeply captivate his heart in every little detail.
He drew his wand and, like a conductor, gave it a gentle wave, two small clay figures stood up from the pile of soil.
Snape and Quirrell.
Then, the two figures began to argue and fight.
This was the course of their battle last night at the entrance to where the Philosopher's Stone was kept.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "This isn't Transfiguration!"
"Right, this is a goblin secret technique, I'm using my magic to imitate it."
"The Bionic Charm, a spell of your own creation, Fiennes mentioned it to me." Dumbledore looked at Anton with a smile, "It seems you are on a magical path, and with remarkable results, this is a topic worth delving into."
Anton was simply at a loss for words with the old wizard.
He told him everything, didn't he?
You're being a little too well-behaved, aren't you? Huh?
Sigh.
"This can only be a hobby, even if I turn all these clay figurines into powerful puppets, I'm still limited to terrain with soil." Anton pouted, a little regretful, "The combat scenarios are limited to forests, completely useless."
"It seems you haven't spent enough effort on Transfiguration."
Dumbledore looked at the small clay figures with a sigh, and with a gentle wave, the soil turned into a three-headed dog.
Then he waved again, and a burly werewolf appeared out of thin air in front of the three-headed dog.
A werewolf covered in muscles that looked like a black bear, with no tail.
Appeared out of thin air!
"When you study Transfiguration to an advanced level, you can conjure real objects out of thin air."
Anton nodded, "Vold... Professor Quirrell explained the characteristics of the 'Arrow-Shooting Spell' and 'Flock of Birds' spells, I still can't understand this kind of conjuring from nothing."
"It is the manifestation of magic in the real world, a reflection of our inner emotions, it is not without a source," Dumbledore explained.
He looked at Anton with some emotion, "Your complex upbringing has left you with a lack of security in your heart, and this is a very strong inner emotion."
Anton nodded.
The good-boy old wizard told Dumbledore everything, what could he do.
Smile, and nod.
With a gentle wave of Dumbledore's wand, a wooden door at the bottom of the bookshelf by the wall opened, and a book floated out, landing softly in Anton's hands.
"Given this strong emotion, you are well-suited for this spell, perhaps it can help you go deeper on your path of research."
Anton looked down.
It was a handwritten magic notebook.
On the cover was a line of large, gilded words—"The Loyal Guardian".
Below were the names of the authors who wrote the book, there were two—Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
"The Guardian Knight Charm was an exploration from my youth." Dumbledore looked at the book in Anton's hand and smiled with a hint of nostalgia, "During that time, the other author and I were crazily obsessed with Transfiguration, and this 'Guardian Knight Charm' was our invention."
"Of course, we also developed many other interesting spells based on Transfiguration." He waved his hand gently, and the wooden door of the bookshelf closed.
"When your Transfiguration studies reach a certain level, you can come to me to borrow them."
Anton curled up in the large high-backed chair and eagerly opened the book.
Similar to his 'Moving Figurines', this spell could transform nearby objects into a knight in heavy armor.
It had two states, one was riding a tall horse and holding a four-to-five-meter-long lance, capable of charging at enemies.
The other was on foot, carrying a heavy shield up to two meters high, which could provide defense for the wizard.
The incantation was 'The Loyal Guardian'.
The wand movement was also very simple, elegant and concise, it was a spell that could be continuously controlled.
When mastered to an advanced level, one could even summon a small squad of knights to obey the wizard's command.
The whole book was very thick, its volume alone was one foot by half a foot, and it was a full ten centimeters thick.
"You can take it back to read at your leisure, it has been enchanted with protective and restorative spells, so you don't have to worry about it being damaged. After you finish reading, you just need to tell the book, and it will automatically fly back to my office."
Dumbledore's expression turned serious, "I must remind you, learning this spell does not mean your Transfiguration has reached this level, this is just a clever trick, you must seriously master every foundation of Transfiguration to go further."
Anton nodded seriously, "I understand."