“How come you look like you just ate an entire bowl of rock cakes?” Inside Hagrid’s hut, three days after they had submitted the proposal to Dumbledore.
The half-giant spoke while handing a cup of hot tea to Thorne, who was slumped in a chair looking like he had lost all will to live.
“Heh.” Thorne took the cup and gave a dry, humorless laugh.
“If you had to cut open living people every single day and pull something out of them, I imagine you’d have the same expression.” He took a sip of tea and his face eased a little.
“People?” Hagrid blinked.
“Aren’t you cutting up Pheromone Caterpillars—oh, sorry, I forgot… you see them all as…” He trailed off as he realized something, his voice dropping and an apologetic look appearing on his face.
“It’s fine, Hagrid.” Thorne waved a hand, tone light.
“We’re friends.
No need to apologize for that.
How about we toast instead?” “Yeah, all right.” The two men clinked their cups together and smiled at each other.
Thorne tilted his head back and took a big gulp, then let out a long sigh.
“Still, whether you’re cutting bugs or cutting people… both have to be some of the worst jobs imaginable.” “Sigh…” He shook his head, voice full of exhaustion.
“And I really didn’t expect this either.” “The mosquito—sorry, Professor McGonagall—would throw herself into a plan that didn’t even have a clear direction like this.
She’s acting like a kid who just got a brand-new toy.
I need to take a day off.” Right now, Thorne’s job was to obtain and store as many souls as possible.
McGonagall was in charge of testing which materials could stably store souls the way he had described.
And the foundation for all these experiments was a massive supply of soul samples.
So the dirtiest, most tiring, and most mentally draining work had naturally fallen on Thorne’s shoulders.
He had been so busy he hadn’t even had time to explore the castle.
So far, Hogwarts Castle’s exploration progress had only reached around 40%.
He had barely been anywhere else.
They were currently waiting for Professor McGonagall to come by and pick up the latest batch of collected souls.
Hagrid nodded, a hint of confusion in his voice.
“Yeah… actually, I’ve been wondering about that too, Thorne.” “Seems like… you’re the only one who can obtain souls this way, right?” “The efficiency really isn’t great.
Even when I try with the caterpillars, I don’t get the same result you do.” Thorne nodded.
“That’s why, starting from the beginning of term, I’ll have to teach the students how to obtain souls.” As he spoke, he suddenly snapped his fingers and changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, Hagrid, are you heading to Diagon Alley anytime soon?” “Oh, right.” Hagrid blinked his beetle-shell black eyes.
“Thorne, you want to buy a wand, don’t you?” “Perfect timing.
I also need to pick up an old friend’s kid and take him shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley.
We can go together.” As he spoke, he popped another rock cake into his mouth.
Crunch— The crisp sound made Thorne’s teeth ache.
He unconsciously touched his cheek and silently looked away.
“That’s perfect.” Thorne gave a dry laugh.
“As for the wand… yeah, that’s one of the reasons.” “Once I have a wand, I can cast softening charms.
That way—” He glanced at the rock cakes on the table.
“I might actually be able to taste this ‘delicacy’ properly.” He picked up a rock cake, examined it seriously for a few seconds, then very sensibly put it back down.
“But more importantly, I need to buy some bones to use as teaching tools.” Thorne’s tone turned serious.
“People like you… who aren’t ‘vessels,’ need tools to obtain souls.” “And the most suitable raw material is bone.
The stronger the creature, the better the effect.” Hagrid stuffed another rock cake into his mouth and blinked.
“Vessel?
What’s that mean?” Thorne set down his cup and scratched his chin.
“Well… how to explain it—” He didn’t get to finish.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Hm?
That should be Professor McGonagall.” Hagrid stood up and went to open the door.
When it swung open, standing outside was a large, furry bat.
Hagrid froze.
“Professor Snape?
Here to pick up some caterpillar extract?” The big bat shook his head.
“No, I still have plenty in stock.
I came to see Professor Thorne.” As he spoke, he walked straight into the hut, carrying a container in his hand.
It was one of the containers Thorne had previously given to Professor McGonagall for storing souls.
Inside, half a jar of white gas-liquid mixture was still slowly swirling.
Snape set the container in front of Thorne and spoke with a blank expression.
“I’ve been researching whether souls can be used in potion-making—specifically, how they interact with the human body and how they can be used to treat wounds.” He looked up at Thorne.
“I already discussed it with Professor McGonagall.
You should have time, right?” Thorne forcefully suppressed the urge to reach out and pet the furry creature and nodded.
“No problem.
Sounds a lot friendlier than dissecting people.” As he spoke, he opened the container and scooped up a portion of the soul matter with both hands.
“The process of using soul to restore the body is called ‘condensation.'” Thorne’s tone was steady as he began explaining the most basic application of soul magic.
“It’s the most fundamental use of soul magic.
As for the technique…” He looked down at the faintly flowing white light in his palms.
“When it comes into contact with your body, imagine that you are a crystal, and these souls… are light being projected into it from outside.” The moment he finished speaking, the soul in Thorne’s hands visibly sank into his body.
The big bat frowned and rubbed his chin with what might have been a wing or an arm, falling into thought.
Watching this, Thorne’s mind suddenly produced a completely inappropriate thought.
He kind of wanted to try throwing this guy off the top of Hogwarts Castle just to see if he could actually fly.
Hagrid, meanwhile, considerately brought Snape a plate of rock cakes, then tactfully made himself scarce.
“I’ll go get Professor Snape some caterpillar extract.” With that, he pushed the door open and left the hut.
Snape, still deep in thought, absentmindedly reached out and picked up a rock cake.
Then he immediately realized what a terrible decision he had just made.
Snape’s hand froze in mid-air.
In the end, he silently stuffed the rock cake into his pocket, clearly having no intention of challenging his own weakness.
It seemed Snape did not belong to the group of professors at Hogwarts with iron jaws.
He quickly refocused on the experiment.
Copying Thorne’s earlier movements, Snape scooped up a small clump of soul matter from the container.
The white gas-liquid swirled slowly in his palm.
Before actually trying, he glanced up at Thorne for confirmation.
Thorne gave him a very encouraging—almost expectant—smile.
Snape took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and followed Thorne’s instructions, silently repeating in his mind: “Crystal… crystal…” Then—nothing happened.
The soul remained quietly in his palm with no sign of merging into his body.
Forget crystal.
He felt like a rock.
And not even a smooth one.
Snape opened his eyes, brows drawn even tighter, and looked at Thorne doubtfully.
“Are you sure students can actually learn this?” “I didn’t understand what you said at all.
Is there some other technique?” To be honest, if even a professor couldn’t succeed on the first try, was this really something suitable to teach first-year students?
Thorne rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
“Well… there is actually a shortcut.
It’s how I learned it back then.” He paused, then added, “But Professor McGonagall banned me from using that method.
She said it would have a negative impact on the students’ mental health.” Snape let out a clearly disdainful cold laugh.
“Heh.
McGonagall and Dumbledore are always like this.” “If there really is such a technique, then it should be promoted widely—” Thud!
Before he could finish, the dull sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out.
Snape stiffened violently and looked down in disbelief.
A sharp boning knife.
The very same one he had given Thorne earlier.
It was now buried straight into his abdomen.
The next moment, Thorne yanked the knife out.
Blood gushed out visibly.