Chapter 497: Advanced Dark Magic Decoded!
Chapter 497: Advanced Dark Magic Decoded!
"Secrets of the Dark Lord?" Sirius Black was very surprised. He suddenly realized that Regulus's death might be related to this, so he hurriedly asked, "What secrets? Did Regulus tell you anything?"
"Regulus did not tell Kreacher", the elderly House-Elf shook his head. "Kreacher only knows that after that, the Dark Lord asked Regulus for a House-Elf."
"It must be related to this Locket!" Lupin said with certainty. If Regulus was willing to risk his life to destroy this thing, it must be important.
Ivan understood that Regulus was likely referring to Voldemort's secret of immortality—the Horcrux!
From this, it could be inferred that the Black Family's Library definitely contained records of Horcruxes.
Regulus probably had some vague memories from reading related books earlier, and he might have been present when Voldemort killed someone to create a Horcrux, or perhaps Voldemort had revealed something elsewhere.
In any case, Regulus had some suspicions in his mind, which is why he returned to the Library to look for more information.
With this thought, Ivan turned to Kreacher and asked, "Kreacher, do you remember which books Regulus read?"
The House-Elf shook his head again. The pile of books Regulus had read over those few days was taller than Kreacher, and it had been over a decade, so he couldn't remember clearly.
"Why don't we just go to the Library and look?" Lupin suggested. They only needed to do what Regulus had done.
"That's true! But you should be prepared; there might be a lot of books!" Sirius said.
A lot? How many could there be?
Ivan couldn't quite imagine it. He had seen several libraries before, and how many could there be that would surpass Hogwarts?
However, when Sirius led them into the underground Library, everyone was shocked.
"There are so many books here!" Ivan looked around and couldn't help but exclaim.
The entire Library was like a square, with rows of bookshelves neatly arranged, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Due to the lack of maintenance for a long time, the shelves were covered in dust, and some tightly packed bookshelves even had spider webs at the joints.
"This is the accumulation of all the Black Family's books over a thousand years!" Sirius explained with a proud smile. There was probably no family in all of Britain with more books than the Black Family.
"But if we have to look through each book, how long will it take?" Harry raised a difficult question.
Sirius's smile froze.
Fortunately, although Kreacher didn't remember every book Regulus had read, he still had some memory of the areas where Regulus had spent time. This directly narrowed down the search area.
Once they had a general idea of the area, everyone split up to search.
Ivan randomly chose a bookshelf, scanning the titles of each book. Knowing about Horcruxes, he only needed to look for books related to souls and advanced Dark Magic.
However, Ivan was a bit frustrated. He knew everything but had to pretend he didn't, and if not for his good acting skills, he would have been exposed long ago.
Now, it was better to bring the matter of the Horcrux to the surface, so he wouldn't have to lie every time it came up.
Ivan scanned the rows of books on the shelves, occasionally pulling out a few to flip through. Finding no records of a Horcrux, he would put them back.
As he walked to the end of the row, Ivan unexpectedly noticed a Magic book that hadn't been properly placed back on the shelf. It was leaning against one corner of the bookshelf.
The cover was dusted, and only the faint outlines of the illustrations and a few intermittent words could be seen.
Ivan felt a sense of familiarity, and when he picked up the book with his hand, the sensation confirmed it. The cover felt distinctly different from other books, almost like touching skin.
"Phew~" Ivan gently blew away the dust, and the book's cover gradually revealed itself. It clearly read—Advanced Dark Magic Unveiled!
Seeing the title on the cover, Ivan's pupils constricted.
He hadn't forgotten that in his first year, he had found an identical book in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts. At the time, he wasn't powerful enough to break the Magic protecting it, and he was busy searching for *The Origin of Bloodlines*, so he didn't have the chance to read it.
It wasn't until his second year that Ivan believed he could break the protection and read *Advanced Dark Magic Unveiled*, but the book had vanished. He searched the entire Restricted Section but couldn't find it. It was likely hidden by Dumbledore, but he never expected to find a copy here!
But it made sense. The Black family, as one of the oldest Wizard families in Britain, with most members leaning towards Dark Wizards, would naturally have such advanced Dark Magic books.
Regulus probably learned the secrets of the Horcrux from this book.
Recalling the protective mechanism he encountered when he first opened the book, Ivan lightly touched the cover, sensing the flow of Magic. After a few seconds, he found the node.
"spell Lock Release!" Ivan pressed his wand to the node, channeling Magic. The title on the cover slowly lit up and then gradually dimmed.
Soon, Ivan felt the book in his hand tremble as if it had a life of its own, and it automatically flipped open.
Unlike the last time, no black mist or faces appeared, nor was there the piercing scream that seemed to strike the soul.
Ivan smiled, then began to read the contents of the book.
However, after flipping through a few pages, Ivan's expression became serious, and a chill ran down his spine.
The book recorded vicious curses, inhumane rituals, and self-mutilating Dark Magic. The content was horrifying.
In summary, it was about harming both the user and the target.
After reading half the book, Ivan's mind was filled with this thought. He also understood why the relatively weak Peter Pettigrew could destroy an entire street with a single explosion.
Peter Pettigrew had used a Dark Magic spell that increased its power through self-mutilation. The more pain and damage he inflicted on himself, the stronger the spell's power became!
This was just the cost of one finger. What if it was an entire arm or a leg?
Ivan couldn't imagine how much the spell's power would be amplified.
Of course, the spell's power being too strong wasn't a good thing. If the caster couldn't control it, the Magic would backfire.
Numerous Wizards had died this way, and it was common to hear about someone being killed or injured by their own Magic every few years.
(End of Chapter)
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