Under Grindelwald's brutal training, it took Kyle only a single morning to become proficient in using Finite Incantatem.
As for the Fiendfyre Curse—despite being a Dark Arts spell a hundred times more dangerous than Snape's Sectumsempra—its learning difficulty was actually far lower than that of the latter.
The greatest difficulty with Fiendfyre lay not in the summoning, but in its control.
If it were merely a matter of summoning, even a third or fourth-year young wizard could perform it with ease. Of course, if there were no one else watching over them, the young wizard who summoned the Fiendfyre would face nothing but a dead end.
Controlling Fiendfyre wasn't a major issue for Kyle; instead, several other problems now stood in his way.
The first was his total magical capacity.
Finite Incantatem was generally performed by three or more wizards working in tandem. Although Kyle's magical reserves far exceeded those of wizards his own age, he could not handle a large-scale Fiendfyre on his own.
The second issue was the caliber of opponents he might face.
A wizard capable of forcing Kyle to use the Fiendfyre Curse would generally be no ordinary individual. For example, Voldemort.
It was just like that previous encounter in the Forbidden Forest. Voldemort's control over fire was far superior to Kyle's; back then, Kyle had merely cast a Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction at him, yet Voldemort had been able to forcibly seize control of the flames. If Kyle had summoned Fiendfyre at that moment, it would have been nothing short of suicide.
Therefore, until Kyle's control over Fiendfyre reached a certain level, it was better for him to cast this magic as sparingly as possible.
As another session of Fiendfyre control training came to an end, an idea suddenly surfaced in Kyle's mind.
If the defensive barrier formed by the Shield Charm (Protego) could block the vast majority of instant-effect spells manifested as light...
And if Finite Incantatem could suppress large-scale, continuous magic...
Then, by combining the two, would it be possible to withstand the vast majority of magic in this world?
Furthermore, the defensive barrier formed by the Shield Charm was not limited to a spherical protective dome. It was usually shaped that way because it was the most effective form for guarding against magical attacks from all angles while also being the most mana-efficient.
But what if he shaped it into the form of a skeletal ribcage to envelop himself?
On that basis, could he further develop it into the "Karasu-Tengu Armor" form?
If he did that, wouldn't it be possible to pilot a Gundam... no, to manifest a Susanoo in this world?
As long as he combined Finite Incantatem with Protego Totalum, and then used Fiendfyre to coat the Susanoo in a layer of "Armor of Kagutsuchi," who in the wizarding world could possibly defeat him?
It was a brilliant idea, but the moment Kyle proposed it to Grindelwald, the old Dark Lord gave him a scathing earful.
"How do you expect to maintain three spells simultaneously?"
"Even if you could maintain three high-difficulty spells at once, how would you resolve the conflict between Finite Incantatem and Fiendfyre?"
"And even if you did resolve that conflict, is your magic capacity sufficient to support the spell you've envisioned?"
Kyle scratched his cheek awkwardly. He couldn't solve a single one of the problems Grindelwald had raised.
However, now that there was even a slim possibility of developing a Susanoo, it was impossible for Kyle to just give up. Although he couldn't solve these problems currently, there would come a day when he could.
Without the ability to manifest a Susanoo, how could he be worthy of "starting the dance"?
While Kyle was busy boosting his own strength, the "troublemaking trio" back at Hogwarts hadn't been idle either.
The Polyjuice Potion that Hermione had been brewing since November was finally complete. Today was the best opportunity for the trio to sneak into the Slytherin common room to investigate.
However, their method of infiltration was still far too crude.
True Infiltration: Going full "Dynasty Warriors" and carving a path into the Slytherin common room, eliminating all witnesses, then catching Malfoy and interrogating him through torture to find out what he knows about the diary.
False Infiltration: Using Polyjuice Potion to trick him into talking.
Facts proved that the troublemaking trio's infiltration skills were quite poor.
They did successfully obtain the final ingredient for the Polyjuice Potion—the hair of the person to be transformed—from Goyle, Crabbe, and a Slytherin girl named Millicent.
However, during the stage of consuming the Polyjuice Potion, a problem arose.
Hermione and Ron successfully transformed into Goyle and Crabbe.
But Harry—he turned into a real-life "cat-man."
Don't ask why Harry was the one who drank the portion containing Millicent's hair; the answer is "no comment."
Harry tragically ended up in the hospital wing; he would have to spend his Christmas Eve there.
After Hermione and Ron sneaked into the Slytherin common room, they failed to coax any confirmation out of Draco that he was the Heir. Instead, they ended up clearing Draco of suspicion.
If it wasn't Draco, then who exactly could the Heir of Slytherin be?
The two of them emerged from the Slytherin common room full of confusion, but they soon had no time to worry about the puzzles in their hearts.
Another attack had occurred in Hogwarts Castle; another student had been petrified.
And just the day before, the Centaur tribe and the Unicorn tribe in the Forbidden Forest had been subjected to a bloodbath. In addition, the Merfolk tribe in the Black Lake had also been attacked.
The Centaurs and Merfolk had both sent messengers to find Dumbledore to tell him of the tragedies in the Forbidden Forest.
Dumbledore could infer that, besides the Centaurs, Merfolk, and Unicorns, most other creatures living in the Forbidden Forest had likely also met a gruesome end.
This matter was undoubtedly the work of the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets. However, what exactly did that mysterious attacker want to achieve by slaughtering so many creatures?
To plunder enough flesh and blood to construct a physical body?
No, that wasn't right.
Using energy obtained from the sacrifice of a large number of creatures to reshape a body would only allow Dark Magic's negative energy to erode one's own form. Forget a young Voldemort—not even the main soul of Voldemort would do something so stupid.
To use a Dark Magic sacrificial array to summon Dark creatures?
That wasn't right either.
Voldemort's diary was merely a remnant soul; furthermore, his memories and knowledge were frozen in his youth. Even with the help of the person who opened the Chamber, the strength of the two combined would not be enough to make summoned creatures obey their commands.
Dumbledore felt as though he had grasped a flicker of inspiration in the dark, yet it also felt as if he had grasped nothing at all. Without sufficient clues, any effort was just a futile exercise.
He could only sigh helplessly and shift his energy to other matters.
Just as Dumbledore was overwhelmed with the affairs of the forest tribes, the culprit who opened the Chamber chose this exact moment to orchestrate another attack within Hogwarts.
Upon hearing the news, Dumbledore hurried to the hospital wing.
Seeing another student lying stiffly on a hospital bed due to petrification, Dumbledore sighed. He turned to face the professors before him.
"We must search the Hogwarts plumbing. Students who encounter the Basilisk cannot be this lucky every time—avoiding direct contact with the Basilisk's gaze and only being petrified."
"If a student actually dies, the only path left before us will be to close the school."
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