Suddenly, Bellatrix associated this with Lord Voldemort’s sudden change of expression just now.
Combined with his dissatisfaction towards Dumbledore, the matter corresponding to his resentful expression became crystal clear.
He had said that Dumbledore used to be a Master of Magic in the Dark Arts as well, and it was previously mentioned that he is now walking the path of White Magic.
In other words, a person can cultivate both Dark Arts and White Magic simultaneously.
Thinking further, because Dumbledore repeatedly rejected him for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, he even placed a curse on this position, a curse that even Dumbledore was helpless against.
Then, that means he originally wanted to study both Dark Arts and White Magic at the same time.
This conclusion startled Bellatrix.
Lord Voldemort — White Magic?
Such a combination felt truly discordant in another way.
But subconsciously, she felt this must be the truth.
Regardless of whether Dumbledore did not want Lord Voldemort to spread his magic ideology in the school, or whether he was wary of Lord Voldemort’s growing strength, the ultimate conclusion was that he used the power of the Principal to countless times reject the possibility of Lord Voldemort walking the path of White Magic.
You must know that back then, Lord Voldemort’s magical strength was vastly superior to Flitwick and the others, yet even so, he still failed to secure the Professor position.
One has to say that there was some selfishness at play, or perhaps his excessive vigilance.
But it has to be said that the growth rate of Lord Voldemort’s strength did decline somewhat afterward.
Although Lord Voldemort could also practice through the form of an organization, how could adults whose thinking had already set compare with creative youths?
Viewed this way, the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix were merely products of their practice along their respective magical paths.
Wait, a curse?
Lord Voldemort cursed the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor; this must be a piece of Dark Arts, and it should be of his own creation.
This made Bellatrix admire Lord Voldemort’s talent once again.
In fact, thinking about it this way, she even somewhat agreed with Lord Voldemort’s ideas; after all, Dumbledore truly obstructed his magical path!
What if it were her?
…
However, Lord Voldemort’s guidance today still made Bellatrix very grateful.
Although she didn’t know why her father had never talked to her about these things before—perhaps because they were not Masters of magic, or perhaps because they felt she was still too young—ultimately, Lord Voldemort was the first person to provide her with magical guidance, and she had to acknowledge this favor.
As for how to repay him in the future, well…
Bellatrix hadn’t thought it through for the moment.
When she walked downstairs again, Lord Voldemort was long gone, and Cygnus walked up to her with a face full of concern.
“Bellatrix, how is it? Did Lord Voldemort say anything else? Are you alright?”
“It’s fine, he just guided me on a few things. But he truly is a Master of Magic with immense strength.” For some reason, Bellatrix deliberately concealed certain things regarding the path of magic.
Cygnus breathed a sigh of relief, but what he said next startled her as well.
“Lord Voldemort said that you can go to him to ask questions every weekend from now on. It seems he intends to take you as an apprentice.”
Bellatrix knew that the apprentice he spoke of was not the kind of existence that could only follow behind doing menial labor.
In the Wizarding World, the presence of an apprentice held a different meaning for a Master of Magic; it meant that he might hand over all his heritage to you.
And with the blessing of magic, the essence of inheritance was to pass on the magical path to descendants when one could no longer advance further on it.
The inheritance of a Master of Magic was no simple matter for a Wizard family like this.
Unfortunately, based on Bellatrix’s understanding, Lord Voldemort would never take anyone as an apprentice.
He was forever confident, and coupled with the fact that he had already embarked on the path of seeking immortality using Horcruxes, he would never believe that he had a day of death.
Therefore, an apprentice to inherit magic held no meaning for him whatsoever.
Bellatrix suddenly thought of the meeting she had accidentally overheard before going to Hogwarts.
It seemed that Cygnus’s branch had now been chosen to support Lord Voldemort; in other words, from the perspective of the House of Black, the destiny of their branch in the future would be tied to Lord Voldemort’s victory or defeat.
This was also why Cygnus felt that if Bellatrix could have a closer connection with Lord Voldemort, it would be a good thing for them.
“Mm, I know!” Bellatrix curtsied to indicate she understood, and then returned upstairs once more.
Regarding Dark Arts, White Magic, Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore, and the fate of the House of Black, all of it seemed to swarm forward at once, engaging in a fierce debate within Bellatrix’s brain.
She seemed to have lost the calmness that usually made her most proud.
At this moment, she suddenly remembered the work she had focused on the most this school year: brewing that special healing Potion.
She had a House-elf send over the Potion ingredients, and this time she ignored those chaotic thoughts.
She treated all her messy thoughts as Potion ingredients and the cauldron as a trash can; with every ingredient she put in, she felt her brain become a bit more relaxed.
At the same time, during the process of brewing the Potion, the flame constantly fluctuated, sometimes surging high and sometimes looking as if it were about to go out.
This time, she didn’t deliberately try to feel that fluctuation; instead, inspiration struck her.
When she stirred the Potion, she used a lot of force, as if she wanted to smash everything to pieces, yet her stirring technique was exceptionally gentle.
Several times, the Potion seemed about to splatter out, but it always drew back at the very last moment.
By the time the Potion was finally finished and taken off the heat, she seemed to have also sorted out her thoughts.
The single most important thing for her now was to enhance her strength as much as possible.
Whether it was Lord Voldemort or Dumbledore, anyone who could help her was fine.
As for the future, she would always find an opportunity to repay them.
Having thought everything through, she looked down at the Potion in the cauldron.
Unlike the Potion brewed by Professor Slughorn, the Potion she brewed was also a clear blue, but there was no floating stardust in it; instead, one could see what looked like a black ribbon flowing inside.
Seeing this Potion that differed somewhat from the Professor’s, she was somewhat curious: could the effect of this Potion also be different?
As a result, after testing it several times, she made a discovery, one that left her expression uncertain.
This Potion could serve a healing function, but unlike the Professor’s Potion which could neutralize external magic, the effect of her Potion was unexpectedly to devour external magic and then form a barrier on her own magic nodes.
For Bellatrix, this barrier had almost no effect—her magic remained unaffected—but for others, this barrier would cause a certain degree of anti-magic effect.
At the very least, after drinking the Potion, within a day, the first Charms cast would find it very difficult to succeed.
It was as if she had integrated a part of the magical principles of the ‘Flaying and Bone-Stripping Curse’ into the Potion!
Could she be considered successful?