Chapter 78: Analysis

Allen sank into the armchair in the Gryffindor common room, and his elephant ears now proved useful—he controlled them to cover his face, blocking out sound and light so he could think clearly.

He had just wanted to write down the oath he made with Professor Quirrell for analysis, but the act of writing the oath was clearly a breach of secrecy, and a chill in his chest warned him again.

Allen could only recall the oath in his mind:

You, Allen Finis, are willing to keep secret the matters between Quirinus Quirrell and you?

Combining previous attempts, Allen now reached a conclusion: any direct or indirect disclosure of the secret would violate the oath.

He considered finding a Muggle phonograph, recording the secret somewhere alone, then letting someone else discover it—but he realized this was merely a variant of writing the secret down.

I must still analyze the logical flaw in the oath! Allen thought inwardly.

Allen quickly found a exploitable logical flaw in the oath: “between Quirinus Quirrell and you.”

He felt this limiting phrase might be usable—how could he exploit this condition? He thought rapidly.

He quickly came up with an answer: Quirrell’s plan to steal the Philosopher’s Stone clearly had nothing to do with him, so it lay outside this scope—could he therefore convey this information?

The thought instantly energized him—if he could convey this information, Voldemort’s plan would collapse.

Allen was eager to try immediately; he was in the busy common room, so he could shout out that information right now.

But when he prepared to do so, he was startled to find the chill in his chest reappeared.

Allen couldn’t understand why—yet after repeated thought, an idea surfaced in his mind: had some action of his already become part of Quirrell’s larger act of stealing the Philosopher’s Stone?

Allen instantly recalled how Quirrell always asked him about his experiences in the Forbidden Forest during their tutoring sessions—could this behavior be part of Quirrell’s larger plan to steal the Philosopher’s Stone?

Upon reflection, it seemed highly likely: Quirrell’s inquiries about the Forbidden Forest were a secret between them, protected by the oath’s power; if this behavior was part of his plan to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, then logically, Quirrell’s act of stealing the stone became linked to Allen, preventing him from conveying that information.

Thus, the plan to transmit the information collapsed—and for now, Allen could not think of any other message he could send using this condition.

So he abandoned the idea of exploiting the oath’s limiting phrase to transmit information.

Then his attention turned to the word “secret”—this might be exploitable! After all, not everything is a secret.

He decided to test the boundaries of this “secret.”

He took out his quill and notebook, preparing to write something down, since writing a secret was itself a breach that would trigger the Unbreakable Vow’s constraint.

He thought carefully and wrote the first line: Professor Quirrell knows Dark Magic.

Since most wizards know a few Dark Magic spells, this was not a secret.

As Allen prepared to write the second line—“Professor Quirrell knows many Dark Magic spells”—the Unbreakable Vow’s constraint immediately activated; the chill returned to his heart.

Allen stared at the result, deep in thought.

A bold idea suddenly struck him: I could simply repeat Professor Quirrell’s name over and over.

A name isn’t a secret!

He wanted to try it—but he needed someone who would understand his intent; otherwise, saying it would be meaningless.

He instantly thought of Hermione—her intelligence meant she would grasp his meaning.

At that moment, Hermione entered through the Fat Lady’s portrait hole; Allen quickly called out to her.

Hermione looked at Allen, puzzled by his excited expression: “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t ask—just listen!” Allen said firmly.

He prepared to carry out his plan—but as he opened his mouth, the familiar chill returned to his heart...

The excitement on Allen’s face froze, then slowly faded...

He was utterly bewildered by the Unbreakable Vow’s constraint mechanism.

He didn’t remember how he escorted Hermione to the girls’ dormitory—only that she gave him a worried look at the end.

Allen slumped back into the armchair in the Gryffindor common room, this time filled with confusion.

Everything that had happened today had shaken Allen’s assumptions about the magical mechanisms of this world.

The Unbreakable Vow’s constraint mechanism was simply too intelligent—it didn’t behave like other spells, which were mechanical and rigid...

Allen clutched his head in pain; he felt his understanding of the magical world’s true nature was beginning to shatter...

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Allen—he thought he understood it all...

The key word in the oath was “keep”!

“Keep” was a verb in the oath, representing a subjective attitude.

The constraint’s judgment mechanism depended entirely on Allen’s own subjective thoughts and attitudes.

Specifically, the Unbreakable Vow’s constraint was entirely idealistic—but “idealistic” meant idealistic to Allen’s mind: whenever Allen consciously entertained the thought of revealing the secret, the corresponding action was judged as a breach and immediately constrained.

Allen quickly pulled out his notebook, where he had written: “Professor Quirrell knows Dark Magic.”

He studied the line—he had written it without any intent to leak the secret, but now he considered writing Quirrell’s name dozens of times and showing it to Hermione.

He picked up his quill, ready to write Quirrell’s name—but as he prepared to write, the chill returned to his heart.

He smiled bitterly, covering his face with the notebook—he knew his theory was correct.

The constraint mechanism was still mechanical and rigid—but it could monitor in real time any thought in his mind that might serve as a means of leakage, then instantly classify the corresponding action as a breach, making it appear intelligent.

The Unbreakable Vow judged whether the oath was broken based on the swearer’s subjective thoughts.

If the swearer believed a certain action violated the oath, the constraint activated when that action was performed.

This explained why Allen had previously shown symptoms of straining against the Unbreakable Vow’s constraint in front of Harry—because at that time, he had no thought of leaking through those symptoms; but in front of Professor McGonagall, he had entertained that thought, so the constraint judged showing those symptoms as a breach, and if he breached, he would die instantly...

Now that Allen understood it all, he still had no solution...