Chapter 33: On Genius

The conversation in the office continued.

Allen didn't know whether he was shocked by Professor Quirrell's words or repelled by his tone; in any case, he stood there stunned.

And Professor Quirrell was stunned too, because he had just used Legilimency on Allen, but it was like a mud cow entering the sea, with no feedback at all; yet he kept his expression unchanged, tried again quickly several times, but the result was the same.

Professor Quirrell looked at the antlers on Allen's head today and seemed to understand something; however, even without Legilimency, he felt he could deal with Allen, after all, he had seen too many such young wizards.

After a long while, Allen finally raised his head and looked directly into Professor Quirrell's eyes, saying softly: "Then are there any other means to deal with Malfoy?"

Professor Quirrell smiled eerily: "There are many means; they can make him suffer more, allow you to knock him down faster and more covertly! They can even inflict injuries on him that will be difficult to cure for a lifetime! Make him live in fear of you for the rest of his life!"

Allen hesitated now, feeling the topic had strayed too far today, and said hesitantly: "We only have a small conflict; is it necessary to go this far?"

"A small conflict? I have heard of your situation; he almost caused you to lose your life! Is this a small conflict?" Professor Quirrell said coldly.

Allen was still hesitating.

"Kindness makes us weak, and weakness is our greatest enemy on the path to pursuing power; moreover, I can give you even more, such as many powerful spells and precious potion recipes I possess; these can make you stand out among your peers and become the focus of everyone's envy..." Professor Quirrell said, pacing around Allen while speaking to him in a seductive tone.

At this moment, Allen clearly sensed that something was off with Professor Quirrell; if he were an ordinary eleven-year-old young wizard, perhaps he would have been seduced by Professor Quirrell, but he happened to have a mature soul, so he quickly detected the anomaly: which normal teacher would guide their student like this?

But now he must pretend to be seduced; otherwise, if Professor Quirrell discovers he is different from other eleven-year-old young wizards, the situation could become difficult to handle! Allen continued to ponder deeply, thinking about what to do next.

And Allen's hesitation was interpreted by Professor Quirrell as a sign of wavering will, so he decided to increase the stakes.

He waved his wand, summoning Allen's Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook into his hand, and pointing at the ancient runes on it, said: "I can also teach you ancient runes; this is knowledge few people possess! And I have studied ancient runes for a long time, possessing more ancient runes than the academic world!"

The final weight of ancient runes quickly tipped the scale in Allen's heart; although he felt something was wrong with Professor Quirrell, after all, he was a teacher who had taught at Hogwarts for many years, so his recent behavior was merely a matter of teaching philosophy.

Moreover, ancient runes are something one can encounter by chance but not seek; the benefit to his future development is the greatest, so Allen decided to hesitate no longer.

"Then may I learn it?" Allen quickly raised his head.

"If you want to learn, I can teach you!" Professor Quirrell quickly responded to Allen; he had finally waited for Allen to say these words; the fish had finally taken the bait.

Before Allen could be happy for a moment, Professor Quirrell changed his tune.

"But why should I teach you?" Professor Quirrell looked at Allen with a half-smile.

Now Allen was choked by Professor Quirrell's unexpected move; he never expected such a turn; just moments ago he was being gently guided, and suddenly there was an emergency brake.

"If you were an unparalleled genius, I would certainly impart all my knowledge to you, because only such a person can inherit and utilize my knowledge well; whereas an ordinary mediocrity inheriting my knowledge would only harm him! But you are clearly not a genius!" Professor Quirrell looked at Allen playfully,

as if looking at prey already pinned under his claws, unable to resist playing with it a bit longer.

But Allen took it seriously; however, he knew he indeed was not an unparalleled genius; his magical talent was obviously very ordinary; he learned spells only a bit faster than others, with nothing outstanding.

But Allen was made somewhat indignant by Professor Quirrell's words, and asked in a somewhat stiff tone: "Then what kind of unparalleled genius is in your mind?"

Professor Quirrell saw the "prey" beginning to struggle and felt even more amused.

He chuckled softly: "In my mind, there are two types of unparalleled geniuses: one is someone with exceptionally high magical talent who can quickly master various spells and various magical knowledge; the other is someone who can do things ordinary people cannot, such as inventing or improving a spell; so which type of genius do you belong to?"

Professor Quirrell looked at Allen mockingly, admiring his embarrassed expression, feeling that his suppression of the prey had succeeded once again; the prey's psychological expectations had dropped significantly; next, he should offer a sweet date, and the prey would be grateful to him. Professor Quirrell thought coldly in his heart, enjoying this feeling of playing with people's minds.

But after hearing this, Allen's eyes lit up, yet he felt some hesitation in his heart, unsure whether it was good or bad to reveal his Lumos like this, but the temptation of ancient runes knowledge was simply too great.

The improved Lumos spell is merely a golden egg, while ancient runes knowledge is a golden hen that lays golden eggs; which is heavier and which is lighter is obvious at a glance.

Moreover, the settings for the last two parameters of the Lumos spell are so counter-intuitive and inhumane that even if Professor Quirrell saw them, he could not guess how to cast it; the bonus from the Ministry of Magic would still be mine.

So Allen made up his mind; he looked seriously at Professor Quirrell and confirmed again: "Does the second type of genius you mentioned mean that improving any spell counts?"

Professor Quirrell was amused; he looked mockingly at Allen's serious expression; he thought this was merely the last struggle of an eleven-year-old boy for his ridiculous dignity; he decided to deliver the final blow to this boy and crush him completely.

"Yes! Even if you improve the simplest Lumos spell, I will consider you a genius; I will impart all my knowledge to you without holding back. Come on! My little genius!" Professor Quirrell said mercilessly mockingly; his voice became shrill; after speaking, he burst into loud laughter, as if he had heard something particularly amusing.

"WOCAO!" Allen felt he could barely hold back in his heart; "If I don't play along with this opportunity handed to me, I'll be struck by heaven's thunder!" Allen thought quickly in his heart; he was still hesitating.

And his hesitation was interpreted by Professor Quirrell as discouragement; he decided to stop teasing his prey.

"You just need to do one thing for me, and I will teach you all this knowledge!" Professor Quirrell switched back to a seductive tone and whispered in Allen's ear.

But Allen heard a tone of contempt in it, which made him make up his mind...

Allen drew out his wand and recited the spell he knew best:

"Lumos!"

"Lumos!"

Then two red orbs of light appeared above Professor Quirrell's head, flying rapidly.

Professor Quirrell's laughter stopped abruptly; he raised his head and looked up at the constantly flashing and flying orbs in the sky with surprise and doubt, squinting his eyes to carefully identify the two letters formed by the trajectory of the orbs.

After a long while, he said puzzledly:

"S-B?"