Chapter 18: Saintly Father System

Should he carefully study Darren's bloodline?

Dumbledore wondered with curiosity.

However, he suppressed this thought; the bloodline of any family is not something an outsider should probe.

Even if Darren were still a small child and very kind, and even if he wouldn't refuse if Dumbledore asked, Dumbledore was unwilling to do such a thing.

He now needed to investigate another matter: whether Lily's blood protection charm had fallen upon Darren.

That spell of Lily's could protect all the family members she acknowledged.

Logically speaking, Darren should have it.

But when he had checked the threads of this spell back then, there was not the slightest trace of Darren, which was why he had assumed Darren was already dead.

Now that Darren was clearly alive, he wanted to know what exactly was going on with him.

Could it be that because Lily thought Darren was dead at the time, this blood charm did not fall upon him?

That was possible, but unlikely.

Dumbledore cast several spells on Darren; his expression gradually turned grim, but for fear of frightening Darren, he forced a smile.

An Obscurus!

Darren is an Obscurial!

How could this be?

No wonder Lily's blood charm did not fall on Darren; perhaps it had been neutralized by the Obscurus.

Both are considered Dark magic, so it is normal for them to cancel each other out.

Although Dumbledore had not witnessed the scene, he believed this was the only possibility.

As everyone knows, Obscurials do not live past the age of ten.

Therefore, Dumbledore had never imagined that Darren could be an Obscurial.

But now the fact was right before his eyes; Dumbledore had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Yet he had never seen the scene of an Obscurus appearing in Darren's memories!

"Darren, have you ever felt an extra force in your body—very powerful, very evil…"

Dumbledore asked solemnly.

Darren paused for a moment before realizing he must be talking about the Obscurus.

Fine.

Adding fuel to his tragic childhood.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore. When I was little, I always felt there was some strange power in my body. I was afraid to use it, and later it just disappeared.

Oh, right, it might still be hidden in my body… but it seems it has never come out all these years. I feel it must be very kind; it has never hurt anyone, so I haven't worried about it."

Darren said in a simple, innocent tone.

It left Dumbledore stunned.

He understood magic turning into an Obscurus.

But he truly could not comprehend an Obscurus being kind.

Yet he roughly understood what Darren meant.

"You mean, the Obscurus—that is, the power lurking in your body—has never appeared, and you subconsciously feel it poses no harm to you?"

Dumbledore summarized.

Darren nodded vigorously.

Although he knew this was a bit of a stretch, he couldn't exactly say his Obscurus was a gift from the system, costing 1,000 Saintly Father points per minute.

He had no choice but to make it up as he went.

However, the wizarding world is quite idealistic; Dumbledore should be able to understand that, right?

Dumbledore fell silent.

Although wizards using magic is also idealistic—a strong will can trigger magic.

But the idea that an Obscurus could be kind and controllable was something he truly couldn't idealize.

Yet, to insist that Darren's Obscurus was a dark force didn't seem quite right either.

After all, Darren had lived until now without ever using the Obscurus, nor had he used it to hurt anyone; he was completely different from other Obscurials.

Everyone knows that Obscurials appeared back before Muggles hunted wizards.

It was a powerful force that emerged when wizards tried to suppress their magic to hide their identities and avoid persecution.

But as time went on, if wizards couldn't control them, they would be controlled by the Obscurus in turn.

An Obscurus is an unstable, uncontrollable dark force that suddenly launches attacks and then vanishes.

Nowadays, it mostly appears because young wizards don't understand and end up extremely disgusted with their own magic.

If an Obscurial doesn't use magic, they suffer a backlash.

If they do use magic, they can't control it, causing great damage to their bodies.

That is why Obscurials die young.

Therefore, Darren's Obscurus was very un-magical!

And its appearance was also very strange.

Logically, a young wizard would have to be particularly disgusted with their magic for it to appear.

Yet Darren was only a little afraid of his magic, and then the Obscurus appeared.

Then, instead of forcing Darren to use magic, it seemed to absorb all the magic in his body.

It hid in the deepest part of Darren's body, letting him spend eleven quiet years like a Squib.

Wait.

Like a Squib?

No wonder Darren's name didn't appear in the Book of Admittance.

Perhaps because of this Obscurus?

Then what was the catalyst for Darren's name appearing in the Book of Admittance?

"Professor Dumbledore, before you came to pick me up today, I think I used this power."

Darren followed Dumbledore's train of thought, hurriedly trying to clear his own suspicion.

Well, he certainly couldn't mention getting magic from the system, so he might as well push everything onto the Obscurus!

"Oh? Tell me in detail."

"It's like this, Kenley was trying to give me trouble back then, so I…"

Dumbledore perked up.

Could this child be wanting to resist Kenley?

It seems this child isn't too foolish.

Darren didn't know his thoughts; he continued: "So I intended to run a bit further away, I used a little bit, and then I really did run a bit faster."

Dumbledore: "…"

A wasted moment of excitement.

This silly child used the Obscurus just because he wanted to run a little faster.

And the Obscurus actually obeyed and made him run a little faster.

Hmm?

A little?

It really wasn't a "billion" but just a little?

Is the Obscurus that controllable?

"I will teach you the simplest spell, Wingardium Leviosa; it can make objects float."

Dumbledore taught Darren twice and then handed his wand to Darren.

Darren took it carefully and felt a powerful energy appear within his body.

The Elder Wand!

Darren's first reaction to holding the Elder Wand wasn't that he had become powerful, but that this old silver-tongued fox, Dumbledore, was testing him.