Chapter 16.

  The time quickly arrived at the Easter holiday.

  Over the past month, Soren had instructed Dobby to retrieve the dragon egg and diary and hand them over to him. The dragon egg was hidden in a locked et in the dormitory, while Soren found the diary to be quite intriguing.

  It turned out that Professor Quirrell was also a gifted academic with a deep uanding of magical theory. However, due to his weak, timid, aic personality, he was often bullied and mocked at Ravencw. Unhappy with himself and wishing to prove his worth, he gradually became ied in dark magic, harb a tent desire to earention of others.

  What truly piqued Soren's i was that after the end of the 1990 academic year, Quirrell resigned from his post as a Muggle Studies professor, using the excuse of seeking first-hand practical experieo embark on an adventure journey across Europe and Africa.

  Iy, his true aim was to seek the traces of dark wizards, motivated partly by curiosity and partly by a desire to feel signifit, having never received attention before. At least, Quirrell fantasized about being the oo track down Voldemort, hoping to learn the skills that would prevent him from being ridiculed.

  He entered vampires and hags in Germany's Bck Forest and got into some trouble; he also helped a prin Africa deal with a troublesome living zombie—these were all real experiences. Soren couldn't help but click his tongue, recalling that in his previous life, most readers believed these were merely tales fabricated by Quirrell himself.

  The diary taiailed ats of his travels throughout Europe and Africa, further proving that Quirrell was a man who liked to express his innermost thoughts through writing and was rather introspective and reserved.

  The notes tinued until he tally discovered that Voldemort's residual soul was likely wandering in the jungles of Albania, after which they abruptly stopped. The subseques would naturally lead to Quirrell entering Voldemort and being ensnared by him, so this part of the story was something he could her write nor dare to write.

  However, the st few pages of the diary tained some fragmented and disjointed notes, and Soren had a premonition that these notes would be of great use to him. So, he patiently reanized and piled the notes bit by bit, trying to restore their inal tent.

  Thanks to Soren's deciphering ability and patience gained from his past experiences, he finally pieced together the scattered notes before the Easter holiday arrived—this was the first skill Quirrell had learned from Voldemort.

  At that time, Quirrell entered a severely weakened Voldemort, who was uo do anything to Quirrell in his current state. Instead, Voldemort first offered Quirrell some temptations, and only ter used his overwhelming power to lure Quirrell into the depths of corruption.

  This skill ell-casting teique ied by Voldemort. A skilled wizard would master some unique spell-castihods. Back when Dumbledore was still a student, he had already created a unique spell-casting teique and received the Barnabas Finkley Award for Outstanding Spell-Casting Teiques.

  A powerful spell-casting teique not only makes the casting process smoother but also enhahe precision of magitrol to reduce magical energy ption.

  After spending two days mastering this spell-casting teique, Soren sighed, aowledging that it was indeed a method created by Voldemort. Using this teique allowed Soren to cast two spells in an astonishingly quick succession, and he also discovered that his casting process became fluid and effortless—under certain ditions, this teique would shine brightly if Soren o release multiple spell binations.

  [Voldemort's Spell-Casting Teique Learned!]

  Unfortunately, Quirrell's diary did not record any more abilities learned from Voldemort—apparently, he had shaken hands with Harry at the Leaky Cauldron before the school year began. Soreed that Quirrell had been possessed by Voldemort after failing in the heist at Gringotts and no longer dared to write about his experiences and thoughts in the diary.

  That night, at one o'clock, Sore with Daphne and Meredith in the Slytherin on room.

  Daphne couldn't help but ask, "Soren, ck of sleep is a girl's nemesis. Why did you call us out at this te hour?"

  With a mysterious tone, Soren replied, "Do you remember what the headmaster said on the first day of school?"

  Meredith frowned, "Are you saying...?"

  Soren coughed lightly and said, "It's about the restricted area on the fourth-floor corridor. Professor Dumbledore said that if you don't want to end up dead by act, you shouldn't go here. I've found out that a few professors set up defeo prevent students from entering. So, what do you think? Are you ied in joining me for a rare adve will also be a good opportunity to assess yical bat skills."

  Daphne was so excited about the idea of an advehat she could hardly wait to leave. Meredith, however, was more posed aantly said, "But it's so te, and we would be going to a clearly forbidden area. What if we get caught by Filch or some professor?"

  Soren smiled and said, "Don't worry. I've already made preparations for this." With that, he gently tapped Daphne's head with his wand, and she was shocked to find that her body seemed te with the surroundings.

  Meredith, as a well-bred girl with broad knowledge, immediately showed an expression of surprise. "Oh my, you've already mastered the Disillusio Charm? That's a spell at the level of an Auror!"

  Soren smiled fidently, "I've tested this charm on mice several times, and aside from Professor Dumbledore, I'm fident I evade any other professor at Hogwarts." After saying this, Soren cast a Sileng Spell on Daphne, making her footsteps soundless as well. This spell was at the level of a fifth-year student, but havihe Disillusio Charm, both Daphne and Meredith were already aced to such magic.

  Having witnessed Soren's abilities, the two girls felt fident about this adventure. However, they also sensed a heavy pressure; Soren's performance was truly outstanding.

  Both girls came from prestigious backgrounds and had been instilled with the importanaintaining their family honor since childhood. Future marriage partners were of utmost importance. Finding a partner with a promi family background and outstanding talents would greatly be both themselves and their families.

  Soren, in front of them, met all their requirements—ing from the wealthy Malfoy family, possessiraordinary magical talent, coupled with handsome looks and a gentle personality, he was the perfect choice out of their dreams.

  However, they faced a signifit dilemma; they likely felt unworthy of Soreing aside family background, just the talent and potential Soren had dispyed made it clear that he was no ordinary individual. Moreover, his style of a hihat he was someoh lofty ambitions, destio achieve great things iure.

  If that were the case, the talents aation of his future wife would also o be ensurate with his status. The two girls were not foolish; in fact, they were more mature and wise than the boys in this regard. They were well aware of each other's feelings ae their friendship, it did not stop them from secretly paring themselves.

  Soren was pletely unaware of these thoughts from the two girls. her in his past nor in this life was he adept at navigating the world of emotions—he had been too immersed in adventures around the world and had never cultivated a sincere long-term retionship; in this life, he spent most of his time enhang his strength and plotting various pns.

  Once Soren had cast the Disillusio Charm and the Sileng Spell on all three of them, they made their way through the dimly lit corridor to the end of the restricted fourth-floor corridor.

  Soren took out a music box he bought in the Muggle world from his pocket and had doubled several others, handing them to the two girls. At that moment, both Daphne and Meredith looked fused, not uanding what was happening.

  Soren wound up the music box to produce a clear sound. "The first obstacle after we open the door is a three-headed dog imported from Greece by Hagrid. It is aremely dangerous beast, with bat capabilities parable to a young dragon, usually tamed by wizards to guard treasure entrances. A three-headed dog only be defeated by more than five adult wizards, but it has an unknown weakness—it is pletely defenseless against musid will fall asleep upon hearing it. This music box probably st for twenty to thirty seds, so you will take turns winding it to keep the music pying, ensuring the three-headed dog remains asleep."

  After receiving nods from both girls indig they uood, Soren arrahe order, took out his wand, tapped the door lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!" With a click, the door unlocked.

  With the creaking sound of the door being pushed open, there was no low, barking growl heard in the background. At the moment the music box began to py, the big dog's eyes started to droop. It swayed and shook for a bit before quickly lying down on the floor and falling into a deep sleep.

  "Do you see that trapdoor behind the three-headed dog? Quickly, open it," Soren began direg the two girls. "Remember not to let the music stop; I don't want to be torn to pieces by it."

  As the two girls nervously approached the three massive heads, they could feel the hot and smelly breath ing from the dog's mouth. Daphne frowned and said, "Ah, this dog is lying on top of the trapdoor."

  Meredith had a sudden fsh of inspiration and used the levitatiohey learned in css to move the three-headed dog's body off the trapdoor, the down to pull the t the trapdoor. The door suddenly swung open, revealing a dark hole below, and she couldn't help but shoroud expression on her face.

  Soren nodded in satisfa, signaling the two girls to take turns releasing the spring of the music box, then looking around at them and asking, "We 't see anything down there, and there's no dder. We o jump down directly. Who will go first?"

  Meredith had an obvious look of hesitation on her face; the dark passage below really didn't provide her with much sense of security. Just as Meredith was wavering, Daphne gritted her teeth and said, "Let me go first." After saying that, she was about to leap down, but Soren stopped her.

  "Having the ce to face the unknown is good, but recklessness is not. In this situation, it's best to cast a cushioning charm on yourself before jumping; I'm sure you know how to do that, right?" Soren stared at Daphne. Daph out a sigh of relief and nodded. Although her ability was not on par with Soren's, she had learned quite a few spells in her first year, and the cushioning charm was one of them.

  After Daphne jumped down, she nded on something soft with a strange, dull thud. She started to feel around as her eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the dim light, only to find that she seemed to be sitting on some sort of pnt. She then called up toward the hole, "No problem! It's a soft nding; you jump now!"

  After Soren jumped down, Meredith followed suit, leaving only the music box on the ground still making sound, but the music would soon stop, and the sleeping three-headed dog would eventually wake up.

  Even though there was a devil's so cushion the fall, Soren didn't want to plunge directly into it, so he cast the cushioning charm, ing to an abrupt stop in mid-air. Seeing this, Meredith followed suit and cast the cushioning charm on herself, h in mid-air alongside Soren, slowly drifting down like a feather.

  Soren poi the pnt on the ground and asked, " yhis pnt?"

  Meredith thought for a moment and then suddenly seemed to remember something, exg in surprise, "That's the devil's snare!"

  At that moment, the devil's snare began to around the legs of the three. Daphne desperately tried to pull off the vines, but the more she struggled, the tighter they became. Meredith quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't struggle! The more you struggle, the tighter the devil's snare will around you." After p for a moment, Meredith added, "The devil's snare likes darkness and dampness; it fears fire and light."

  The three used fire spells to disperse the devil's snare. Daphne, looking a bit flustered, said irritably, "Are you two deliberately watg me make a fool of myself? Why didn't you mention the way to break it earlier?"

  Soren wore a teasing smile and replied, "Didn't I say? These challenges are to test your knowledge from your studies, to see if you apply it flexibly in real situations, not just in answering exam questions. Besides, I think it's also very important to train your ability to stay calm and think clearly in various situations. If you had been able to think calmly just now, you would have realized that this challenge was really just at a first-year level."

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