Looking at Ciel's pained and ferocious expression, Snape's own expression was full of surprise and uncertainty.
Ciel is still so young. Where did he experience this pain of losing something important?
Then, Snape seemed to remember something. He recalled that Ciel's family had been attacked by Antonin Dolohov. Ciel's parents had died on the spot. Could it be that Ciel still remembered what happened when he was a child? If so, it would be normal for him to feel such heart-wrenching pain.
Snape's eyes showed a complex expression. He sighed lightly in his heart. Besides sympathy, a hint of shame was also churning within him. After all, once upon a time, he and Dolohov were colleagues. If it weren't for Lily's matter, he might not have joined Dumbledore's side.
His thoughts were in turmoil. But after a moment, they were cut off by his cold mind. He said coldly, "It seems you have some understanding of the pain of loss. Then what are you still standing there for? If an enemy were standing in front of you now, he would have killed you countless times while you were immersed in your pain. Don't wallow in pain! Use it!"
Reminded, Ciel also suddenly came back to his senses from his memories. He took a deep breath. The pain and anger still lingered in his chest.
Ciel waved his wand. Like a slash of a sword. "Sectumsempra!"
With a low shout, Ciel felt the pain in his heart become substantial, mixing with his magic. A magic more sharp and ruthless than ever before, as if wanting to tear everything apart, was born within him. This magic spread to his wand.
Unfortunately, due to Ciel's insufficient magical strength, Sectumsempra still failed to form.
Witnessing this scene, Snape secretly shook his head. Magical strength, a talent that is almost impossible to change... For a spell of Sectumsempra's level, Ciel's magical strength is too much of a disadvantage. What a pity.
But Ciel seemed oblivious to Snape's sigh. On the contrary, after this failed Sectumsempra, his eyes lit up. Because on the system panel, Sectumsempra, which had made little progress for a long time, its iron luster had suddenly become much more intense than before. This progress was already greater than the sum of all his recent efforts.
At this rate, it shouldn't be a problem to advance Sectumsempra to Bronze Tier before the Christmas holidays. By then, as soon as he harvested the two rewards, Sectumsempra could become Ciel's secret weapon!
Thinking of this, Ciel's enthusiasm for practice soared even higher. "Sectumsempra!"
One Sectumsempra after another was cast. Ciel was almost completely immersed in it, forgetting the passage of time.
Until Snape coldly called him to a halt. Ciel, who was about to continue practicing, showed a look of confusion.
Snape scolded him. "Idiot. Did I not tell you that all dark magic is driven by negative emotions? Sectumsempra is no exception. If you practice it so many times in a short period, even if the influence of Sectumsempra is weak, it could accumulate and change your mental state. I don't want to teach a madman who wants to make the world feel pain and kills people like flies. Otherwise, Pomona would definitely come after me."
Then, Snape took out a bottle of potion and made Ciel drink it. When the potion entered his mouth, Ciel couldn't help but shiver. He felt an extremely cold current flowing through his body. It instantly wiped away the pain and anger that had been rising again and again. His entire mind felt as if it were soaked in ice and snow. He could feel nothing but cold.
After a good ten minutes, this feeling finally disappeared. Snape carefully examined Ciel again. After confirming that he was not affected by Sectumsempra, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He said coldly, "No more practice today. Come back tomorrow."
Ciel showed a grateful expression. As he walked out of the Potions classroom, a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. Once he truly mastered Sectumsempra, even if Quirrell still wanted to make a move on him, Ciel was confident he could make him suffer a great loss.
Then, he quickened his pace. Ciel walked towards the greenhouse again. He began the magical plant routine that had become a part of his life. Spreading out the leaves of the Piranha Algae so they could receive maximum sunlight. Cleaning out the poorly developed algae leaves in the tank that couldn't get enough light to avoid them taking away nutrients from the other healthy leaves.
Just caring for these Piranha Algae required two to three hours of patient and meticulous work. Besides this, the newly planted Guardian Trees also needed careful care. It was worth mentioning that after last night, Professor Sprout had given him five more sets of Guardian Tree materials. This meant that Ciel would need to brew one or two batches of Sacred Tree Potion almost every day from now on. Only then could the ten Guardian Trees grow strong and healthy.
In addition, Ciel still had to attend classes. And find time for spell practice, Quidditch training, and processing potion ingredients for Snape. By the time he finished all these tasks, it was often already early morning, and a new day was about to begin.
If it were anyone else, they might be extremely tired of this monotonous daily life. But Ciel, seeing the growing reward orbs every day, and the slight progress on the system panel, felt only fulfillment and joy.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, another week passed. On the system panel, under Ciel's daily practice, Sectumsempra finally produced a faint bronze color within its dark iron luster. The dozens of tanks of Piranha Algae... the reward orbs above them were only a sliver away from being completely full.
Ciel's face showed joy. "At this rate, the Piranha Algae should mature tomorrow. As long as the Piranha Algae matures, with the effect of Underwater Enhancement, my magical strength will also be greatly increased. Then I can truly start using Sectumsempra. By then, the improvement efficiency will definitely be higher than now. Advancing to Bronze Tier before Christmas is a sure thing."
Double happiness. This made Ciel's mood quite cheerful. He also walked lightly out of the greenhouse and towards the Quidditch pitch. The mental impact of practicing dark magic could be released on the pitch. This was also Snape's suggestion. Ciel tried it once and indeed felt it was quite effective. In the repeated flights and hits, his body and mind became more relaxed.
But today, he hadn't been practicing on the pitch for long. Cedric Diggory announced something.
"Let's call it a day for today's training. Everyone go back and have a good rest. Don't forget, tomorrow is our match against Gryffindor. This is our first match and also the last match before Christmas. You wouldn't want to go into Christmas with the regret of being defeated, would you?"
Upon hearing this, Ciel was stunned for a moment. He had been so immersed in spell practice and herbology lately that he had forgotten about the Quidditch match. Tomorrow is Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor?
Ciel thought carefully. He didn't remember any description of this match in the original story. In the original, only the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match in first year was described in detail. The others were barely mentioned.
But this time, Ciel knew the schedule for this school year. As usual, it was a round-robin tournament between the four houses. Each house would play against each other once. Finally, the top two would be selected based on points, goal difference, etc. Then they would compete for this season's championship. In the original story, Gryffindor and Slytherin played against each other twice. This meant that these two houses probably defeated the other houses, and they played in the final.
Thinking about it, it was reasonable. After all, Ravenclaw was self-explanatory. There were more girls, and even more so on the Quidditch team. This was a big disadvantage in match confrontations. And the little badgers had never been good at competitive sports. It wasn't strange for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to be at the bottom.
But at this moment, a strange light flashed in Ciel's eyes. Professor Sprout's expectations for him surfaced in his mind. Winning this match would perhaps be the best Christmas gift for her.
His expression became serious. "Tomorrow, I'll use my full strength."
The little badgers beside him also clenched their fists. The usually gentle badgers were now filled with a desire for victory.
Coincidentally, in the Gryffindor common room, Harry and the others also shifted their attention from searching for Nicolas Flamel to tomorrow's Quidditch match.
Ron seemed particularly excited. "Harry. Tomorrow you can teach that bastard Ciel a good lesson on the pitch! That bastard, Snape's lackey, you'll beat him to a pulp tomorrow, right? Just like you caught the Golden Snitch in the first match and beat Slytherin!"
Hermione whispered, "Ron. Don't be so mean."
Ron snorted heavily. "It's a fact. Right, Harry?"
Harry's mind involuntarily recalled the scene of the Hufflepuff team he had once seen. And Ciel's amazing performance. But after a moment, the experience of defeating Slytherin made Harry feel confident. The feeling of being cheered by the crowd also brought a smile to his lips.
He clenched his fist tightly and whispered to himself, "There's nothing to be afraid of. As long as I catch the Golden Snitch, the match is over. Maybe I can catch the Golden Snitch right at the beginning."
His eyes lit up. "Maybe we can shut out Hufflepuff!"
Hearing this, Ron also got excited. "Then the next time Ciel sees us, he won't even be able to lift his head!"
Hermione heard Ron and Harry's discussion. But in her mind, Ciel's incredibly calm demeanor surfaced. She opened her mouth several times, wanting to remind Harry not to get too carried away. But obviously, Harry wasn't in the mood to listen right now.
This made Hermione feel an even stronger sense of foreboding. Tomorrow... could they really win?
[Chapter Complete]
***
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