Chapter 54: Test

Back in his dorm, Allen felt uneasy, tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep.

He looked at Harry, who was sound asleep, and suddenly wanted to test the binding power of the Unbreakable Vow—he wanted to tell Harry, “I’m learning Dark Magic from Professor Quirrell.”

So he shook Harry awake.

“What’s wrong, Allen?” Harry mumbled sleepily, then let out a huge yawn. “It’s so late—what’s going on?”

Allen’s heart rose to his throat; his throat felt parched. He dared not look at Harry, his voice hoarse: “I...”

Then he froze. A coldness suddenly pierced his chest, his body screaming warnings—his hairs stood on end, sweat began to bead on his skin, and his sixth sense screamed that if he spoke another word, he would die.

Allen still refused to believe it—he wanted to press further.

“...in... and...” He forced out those two words. The coldness in his chest spread—he felt his entire heart freeze. Every cell in his body trembled at the impending destruction. Death’s warning echoed in his mind. His lungs felt gripped by a giant hand, stealing his breath. He knew he could still speak the rest—if he did, he would die the instant he finished.

Allen still held onto his reason. He knew he had tested enough. He violently crushed the thought in his mind of continuing to speak.

Instantly, he felt his whole body relax. The coldness in his chest vanished. All discomfort disappeared. He gasped for air, as if he had been drowning for hours.

“Allen, what’s wrong?” Harry now noticed his abnormality. He reached out and touched Allen’s forehead—covered in cold sweat.

“What’s going on? Are you having stomach trouble again? Should I take you to the school infirmary?” Harry’s sleepiness vanished—he grew frantic.

“No,” Allen had recovered now. “I just felt a bit unwell. I’m fine now. Don’t worry about me—go back to sleep!”

Harry stared at Allen, still uneasy: “If you’re not feeling well, don’t push it. I can take you to the infirmary anytime.”

Looking into Harry’s worried eyes, Allen felt warmth in his heart: “I’m fine, really. I feel nothing now. If anything happens, I’ll come to you.”

Harry still looked doubtful, frowning deeply, then finally warned: “If anything happens, wake me up right away!”

“Yes! Yes!” Allen gave Harry a helpless, tired smile.

Harry finally returned to his bed...

Allen lay back on his own bed, staring at the ceiling of his canopy, lost in thought.

The binding power of the Unbreakable Vow was indeed immense—no wonder it was listed first in *Studies in Oath Magic*. The vow’s restraint was terrifying—he still trembled at the memory of that deathly sensation.

The effect matched exactly what the book described. Professor Quirrell hadn’t lied. Hopefully, he’ll keep his promise and teach me Dark Magic.

He pulled out his notebook from his trunk, written in Chinese, recording the short videos he’d once scrolled through about Harry Potter. Of course, he replaced sensitive names and places with terms only he understood—no one else could decipher their meaning.

He carefully read through the entries, trying to piece together plotlines—especially those from the first year. He’d done this countless times before, but each effort ended in failure. He couldn’t reconstruct a single coherent storyline, couldn’t recall even useful details.

He felt trapped in thick fog, with dangers lurking all around. He didn’t know where the threat would come from—only that it would come. Fear gripped him, for the most terrifying thing was the unknown.

He began to resent himself again—for never having watched the Harry Potter films or novels in his past life, only scrolling through fan-made shorts.

Allen quickly realized he was slipping back into anxiety. He pulled himself out with his own method—he knew the situation was fixed. Complaining and panicking changed nothing.

Now, he could rely on no one but himself. Begging heaven or others was useless—only strength mattered. If he became powerful enough, every difficulty and villain would crumble like paper tigers.

Thinking this, Allen suddenly looked forward to his next private lesson with Professor Quirrell.

What powerful spell would he teach me?

With this thought, Allen drifted quickly into sleep...

Unaware, it was again the 10th of the month. As usual, Allen went to Professor Snape to collect his monthly potion.

Professor Snape remained expressionless as ever. Again, he didn’t let Allen enter the room—just made him drink the potion at the door.

Allen staggered back, feeling Professor Snape’s villainous aura growing stronger.

Back in his dorm, Allen went through his familiar pre-routine for wand-talent transformation. Soon, he fell asleep...

The next morning, he once again transformed into a Thunderbird’s eye. He returned to his usual spot to record Ancient Runes.

But the Ancient Runes for his other mastered spells were too long—he couldn’t copy them all in one day. Would he have to copy them in parts?

Allen quickly realized he was being foolish—he’d been foolish before.

He had used the recorded Ancient Runes to expand the uses of the Lumos, Scourgify, and Alohomora spells (Alohomora still had no known application). Each expansion came from analyzing the meaning of keys with empty values. So why copy every key-value pair? Why not just copy the keys with empty values?

Allen acted immediately. In a short time, he recorded only the keys with empty values for all the spells he knew.

He didn’t even miss his morning class.

Professor McGonagall was fascinated by Allen’s third Thunderbird eye transformation. She told him she’d sent photos of his eyes to a man named Newt Scamander, asking about them. She’d just received Newt Scamander’s reply.

She let Allen read the letter. Newt Scamander confirmed Allen’s eyes were indeed Thunderbird eyes, expressed interest in his talent, and said he would visit Hogwarts to meet Professor McGonagall and Allen when he had time. He also invited Allen to correspond with him.

Allen once again fulfilled his agreement to assist in research. This time, Professor McGonagall collected his tears and some eyelashes. Allen didn’t want to recall the process.

As he left, Professor McGonagall brought up again Newt Scamander’s invitation for Allen to write to him. She thought it was a great opportunity for him.

But Allen was clearly distracted—he felt knowing famous scholars wouldn’t change his current danger. Still, he promised Professor McGonagall he’d look into Newt Scamander.