Chapter 39. November.
The book only stated that an Obscurus was dark energy caused by suppressed magic, a distorted form of elemental transmutation.
But what if this distortion didn't have only one direction?
What if, in the process of suppression and restraint, the magic didn't fall toward a cold and destructive direction, but instead transformed toward a hot and bright one?
His flame, requiring no spells or wands, coexisting with himself, able to move according to his will - all these things subtly matched the traits of an Obscurial, only the form it manifested was completely opposite.
Edward stood up abruptly, his knee hitting the bookshelf behind him with a "clatter."
Madam Pince glared at him with dissatisfaction, but he didn't notice, his eyes fixed on the two books in his hands, flashing with ecstatic light.
Yes! It must be like this!
His power, perhaps, had the same root as an Obscurial!
This hypothesis was like a ray of light, illuminating his long-standing confusion.
On his fingertips, a faint flame quietly rose, dancing and flickering in the shadows of the Restricted Section, with a warm glow, as if echoing his thoughts.
The feeling of smugness grew like vines in his heart.
So that was it; his power had such a root!
He had finally found his direction and was no longer that lost child, overwhelmed by his power.
Madam Pince's voice came again, with extreme impatience: "Black! Are you leaving or not? I'm going to lock the door!"
Edward came back to his senses.
He quickly carved every word of the key content from "Secrets of the Obscurial" and "The Elements of magic" into his mind - Madam Pince would never allow him to take any book away, not even to copy them.
He cautiously put the two books back in their places, patted the dust off himself, and clenched his fists.
The despondency had long since dissipated, replaced by a burning desire for knowledge.
Even if the root was the same as an Obscurial, so what?
The end of an Obscurus is a tragedy, but his end could be rewritten by himself.
He would find a way to control this power, find the root of this power, and find his own unique path of magic.
Edward walked toward the entrance of the Restricted Section, the golden glow of the sunset falling on his face, making the light in his eyes even hotter.
His footsteps were no longer heavy, but carried an unprecedented firmness.
Madam Pince watched his departing back, muttered "What a troublesome boy" with dissatisfaction, then turned to start counting the books, completely failing to notice that in the shadows deep in the Restricted Section, a dark figure flashed by.
The pair of eyes under the turban, carrying cold calculation, landed on the two books Edward had just read.
Lord Voldemort's voice slowly sounded in Quirrell's mind, with a hint of interest:
"An Obscurial... interesting. It seems the Black boy is much more interesting than I imagined."
And at this moment, Edward was walking in the corridors of Hogwarts, the flame on his fingertips silently dancing in his sleeve.
He was full of his own hypothesis, completely unaware that behind that smug answer, there was still a deeper secret he hadn't yet touched.
By the end of November at Hogwarts, the wind already carried a biting chill. The Forbidden Forest outside the castle was covered in a thin layer of frost, ice shards had formed on the surface of the Black Lake, and holly and mistletoe branches began to hang between the suits of armor in the corridors - Christmas was still far off, but the heat of another grand event had already swept through the entire castle like a prairie fire.
The Quidditch final between Gryffindor and Slytherin was scheduled for Halloween.
The sound of discussion in the corridors was almost everywhere. Students with robes fluttering in the wind gathered in groups of three or five, crowding in front of the bulletin board to point at the schedule, muttering about the tricky trajectories of the Bludgers, the offensive and defensive tactics of the Chasers, and the new Nimbus 2001 brooms the entire Slytherin team had switched to. Draco, in particular, kept "the new broom my father sponsored" on his lips, showing it off to everyone he met, his silver and green school robe hem swinging high, as if he wanted to carve the word "pride" on his face.
Edward's mood, however, was out of place with this clamor. He clutched a piece of parchment filled with annotations, walking quickly through the noisy crowd, the edges of the paper slightly crumpled by his fingertips. On the paper were the key points he had organized from the Restricted Section, concerning the symbiotic characteristics of an Obscurial, Rowena Ravenclaw's four-element theory, and the phased academic conjecture he had deduced from ancient texts during this period. He felt he had touched the edge of the deep logic of elemental transmutation and could not wait to get the most professional academic verification from Professor Flitwick.
The door to the Charms Class classroom was ajar, isolating the noise of the corridor. Professor Flitwick was standing in front of the podium, on his tiptoes, counting the teaching materials for the next stage. Sunlight fell through the window onto his silver-white mustache, gleaming with a fuzzy luster. Seeing Edward enter, he looked up, his mustache curving into a gentle arc: "Black? You've come just in time; I was just thinking that you must have gained quite a lot from your return from the Restricted Section."
"Yes, Professor." Edward walked to the podium and handed over the parchment, his eyes flashing with pure excitement for academic inquiry. "I found records about Obscurials in the Restricted Section, as well as fragments of Rowena Ravenclaw's element theory. Based on these materials, I conjecture that the formation mechanism of an Obscurial's power might be connected to the underlying logic of elemental transmutation - both are alienations of magical form, but the former tends toward cold destruction, while the latter, if actively guided, might head in a completely different, controllable direction."
He spoke rapidly, recounting his deductions, from the principle of magical suppression in Obscurials to the core viewpoint of the unity of light and darkness in the four-element theory, and then to the hypothesis of controllable elemental transmutation. Every sentence was filled with the certainty of academic discussion, and he did not mention anything personal throughout, as if he were merely researching an ancient topic unrelated to himself.
Professor Flitwick listened attentively, his fingertips gently tracing the handwriting on the parchment, nodding from time to time, a light of approval flashing in his eyes behind his glasses. But as Edward spoke, his brows gradually furrowed, and his originally gentle expression took on a bit more rigor.
After Edward finished speaking, the short Professor was silent for a moment before slowly jumping down from the pile of books and walking in front of him. He pointed to the word "Obscurial" on the parchment, his voice carrying the objectivity and prudence unique to a Charms Class Professor: "Black, your spirit of research is commendable, and your logical deduction is very clear. But there are a few key points you seem to have overlooked."
"First, the magical distortion of an Obscurial is passive and destructive. It is a runaway deformity caused by a young wizard forcibly suppressing their own magic out of fear. When the power erupts, even the host cannot control it, often leading to a tragedy where both sides suffer. And the 'controllable elemental transmutation' you deduced is based on active guidance and precise control of magic; these two are fundamentally different and cannot be confused."
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