The research on the ring progressed smoothly afterward. The reason for its danger was indeed that Lys Black was more susceptible to its allure than anyone else. Even the curious professors and students who had secretly touched it experienced no issues.
However, Lys had realized why. Targeting one's soul… that was the true danger.
Before Lys remembered to retrieve materials from Hagrid, the runes on the ring had already been translated. They were consistent with Lys's memories—rituals that converted the dissipating waves of the soul into power.
But this method had been abandoned three centuries ago. Evidence showed that such conversion harmed a wizard's essence. Wizards who practiced this for long periods had significantly shortened lifespans, and even the enchanted portraits created to preserve their memories and thought patterns would fall into prolonged dormancy.
In the end, Professor Flitwick summoned a cluster of black flames to carefully burn the ring. Not even a melted piece of metal was left behind, as Lys could no longer avert her gaze from the ring.
When the ring burned, Lys felt a mix of numbness and reluctance, followed by an overwhelming sense of relief.
Professor Flitwick asked Lys where the item came from, and Lys directed him to Hagrid. However, when Flitwick questioned Hagrid, the latter stammered and could only say he found it in the Forbidden Forest.
The professor shrugged, indicating his understanding. With Hogwarts' millennia-long history, it was no surprise that oddities might be tucked away in its nooks and crannies.
After taking her scheduled dose of the soul stabilizer, Lys felt a wave of fear once she calmed down. The influence of the ring had been far too strong—her mind had been bewitched even though she had been on guard.
Now, she dared not tamper with her soul further to remedy the situation. She could only hope that once her soul and body fully assimilated and stabilized, such occurrences would cease.
To serve as a warning to herself, Lys decided to craft a ring identical to the one that had been destroyed, complete with the ouroboros design.
This reminded her that she hadn't yet sorted the materials from Hagrid.
Carrying a cloth bag, Lys once again took the path to Hagrid's hut. She glanced back several times, and thanks to her sharp eyesight, she confirmed that it was Severus Snape standing at the edge of the forest. But what was he doing there?
Not dwelling on it, Lys knocked on Hagrid's door with her bag in hand, only to hear the sound of sniffling inside. Lys called out loudly, "Hagrid, I'm here for the materials. If it's inconvenient, I'll come back tomorrow." Hearing no response, she turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, the door opened. Hagrid stood there, and behind him, sitting on the sofa, was a red-eyed Lily Evans.
She nodded slightly at Lys, then continued sitting quietly on the sofa. Lys tilted her head and said to Hagrid, "Then just give me the materials. I'll handle them outside."
Struggling, she carried two boxes of materials to Hagrid's small vegetable patch. Much to her annoyance, Hagrid muttered under his breath about "you Slytherins" because of Evans' situation.
Lys snapped a bone she was holding and threw it into the materials box.
What does this have to do with me?!
Control your emotions, control your emotions. The stabilizer was supposed to be working—calm, stay calm.
Exhaling deeply, Lys focused on processing the materials in her hands. However, her irritation caused a slight flaw in her technique.
Just as she placed a bird feather into a wooden box, a shadow fell over the materials. Lys, still irritable, looked up, ready to snap at the intruder, only to see it was Snape.
Rolling her eyes, Lys cast a Transfiguration spell on a nearby small pumpkin, turning it into a crude, hard wooden stool.
"Sit. If you fancy something, pick it yourself."
Lys redirected her attention to the eggshells, scraping off the bird droppings with a small silver knife. As she scraped, her impatience grew. "Seriously, Snape, can't you just go apologize? Why are you staring at me?"
The boy opposite her, with sunken cheeks and a slightly ashen complexion, looked at Lys with a half-dead expression, his eyes slightly narrowed.
"You heard everything? You… you still remember?"
Lys stabbed the small knife into the pumpkin in front of her and looked seriously at Snape. "Snape, I was drunk, not overdosed on Forgetfulness Potion. My actions were completely out of control. It's not that I didn't stop you from talking; I was so drunk I couldn't even find where you were."
Snape seemed reluctant to discuss the matter, slightly turning his head without speaking or leaving.
Lys shook her head helplessly. "She's crying inside. Sobbing."
Pulling out the small silver knife, she added, "Aren't you going to check on her? Why are you glaring at me?! What does this have to do with me? As long as you don't regret it." Lys lowered her head and meticulously scraped the bird droppings off the eggshells, focusing so intently that she didn't notice when Snape left.
It wasn't until nightfall that Lys finished sorting everything. Hagrid, wearing a glowing lion badge on his chest, came out to patrol. "Oh, I thought you'd already left, Lys," he said, scratching his bushy hair. "Let me walk you back; these things are heavy."
Lys didn't refuse. At the castle entrance, she politely bid him farewell. Hagrid stood there, feeling a bit regretful. Whenever Lys was particularly polite, it meant she was angry. But at the time, Hagrid couldn't help himself.
The term "Mudblood" was one of the most severe forms of bloodline discrimination, and Slytherins were the most notorious for it. Hagrid himself… well, his attitude had indeed been poor, so Lys's anger was understandable.
Touching the glowing badge on his chest, Hagrid returned to his hut to continue his patrol.
Lys successfully recreated an ouroboros ring from her memory. The more she looked at it, the more she felt something was missing. She hollowed out the snake's head and embedded an opal, then finely polished two pieces of amber to fit into the snake's eyes.
The design became increasingly familiar. Glancing at the white-headed, yellow-eyed Gawp on the floor, Lys added a piece of metal to the ring, making the band much wider.
Looking at Gawp again, the design was indeed less elegant than before, but it suited her hand shape and matched the ammolite ring on her index finger.
Sliding the ring onto her middle finger, she inscribed it with magical runes for mental clarity and soaked it in a highly concentrated Baffling Brain Potion. The potion had taken Lys a great deal of effort to make. She dared not drink it, only use it in materials, as she could only guarantee the success rate of such advanced potions, not their quality.
Pondering over medical books, Patronuses, and soul-related texts, Lys decided to delay working on her father's spine until she was absolutely confident.
After organizing her trunk and sorting all her belongings, Lys stuffed the Muggle books under her bed. When she came across an anatomy book, she flipped through it briefly, though she already knew every word and image inside by heart.
Looking at the cold, clinical terms and descriptions, Lys scanned a few pages before tossing it into the box. To her, there was nothing shameful about those scientifically named organs and body parts. However… she threw in two more books, repelled by the lewd malice emanating from them.
The leisure time after exams was coming to an end. In a few days, the Hogwarts Express would take the young wizards back to their homes.
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