Deep in the Forbidden Forest.
Lucien gazed at the cluster of pure flame floating before Lumen and murmured,
"The Qilin horn can't be processed with magic, and ordinary tools can't cut it."
"But it's like searching for a candle with a lantern—turns out… Pure fire can melt the Qilin horn."
Within that crimson-gold blaze, a short horn that looked like white jade was encased.
Lumen's forehead, however, was now completely bare.
Over the past few days, the little Qilin had finished shedding both of its horns.
Lucien figured that one horn would be enough for now—he wasn't even sure yet if making it into a bullet was feasible.
The remaining one could be saved for later; it might have other uses.
He glanced at the now round-headed Lumen.
It definitely looked better with horns. Fortunately, they would grow back in a few days.
Lucien then turned his attention back to the pure fire engulfing the Qilin horn.
Under the searing heat of the compressed crimson-gold flames, the surface of the Quilin horn gradually softened.
At last droplets began to peel away from the horn, dispersing within the fire cluster while remaining molten.
Lucien produced a mold with holes of various sizes. He needed to test how large a piece of Quilin horn could still retain its anti-magic properties.
He set the mold on the ground and had Lumen guide the molten droplets into the holes one by one.
After collecting enough, Lucien had Lumen continue melting more. Then he began his experiments.
The method was simple: test each sample one by one while protected by a Shield Charm.
Finally, Lucien picked up a Quilin-horn bead.
"Hmm—this size is enough to make a bullet head."
But he still had to try. The horn's anti-magic effect operated within about a one-centimeter range. If he combined it with Billywig Sting Extract, would the explosive effect still occur, or would it be nullified?
The main ingredients for this Alchemical potion were Billywig Sting Extract and Acromantula venom. Both the raw materials and the finished potion contained strong magical properties.
During expansion and detonation, the mixture would inevitably come into contact with the bullet head made of Qilin horn. Would it still function as intended under those conditions?
Lucien tossed the Qilin horn beads back into the pure fire before Lumen, continuing to let them melt.
He then entered the golden gourd he used for Alchemy.
This time, he stayed inside much longer.
He needed to design the bullet's structure and forge its mold.
Neither the mold nor the bullet itself could be created directly with magic, such as through Transfiguration—otherwise, the moment they touched the Qilin horn, the magic would be dispelled and everything would revert to its original form.
Still, Lucien was thoroughly enjoying himself.
The stronger the Qilin horn's resistance to magic, the more unexpectedly useful it became.
The more spells the Qilin-horn bullet could nullify, the more enemies he could defeat.
By the time Lucien emerged from the gourd, Lumen had just finished melting the horn.
He set the new mold on the ground, and the flowing, jade-colored liquid gradually filled it.
Only after everything had cooled did Lucien remove the bullet heads.
He assembled a brand-new cartridge.
Aside from the white-jade bullet head, the rest was bronze-colored.
Using a special internal structure, Lucien had still managed to incorporate the Billywig Sting Extract.
"Let's keep it simple—I'll call it the Anti-magic Bullet."
"I hope it works. If the explosive effect is weak, or even fails entirely, I'll consider other options."
Or perhaps a purely anti-magic bullet would suffice. Ordinary bullets lacked the power to break a wizard's protections, but a Qilin-horn head might.
"Hmm—if it connects, an ordinary person, wizard or Muggle, will feel searing pain and find it hard to move normally."
"Moreover, if a Qilin fragment were truly embedded in a wizard's body, it should also disrupt their magical circulation."
He'd test it when he had the chance.
Lucien produced his brass-colored transforming pocket watch; after channeling magic into it, the hand stopped at the revolver icon.
As he loaded the bullets into the chambers, he smiled.
"Fortunately, items created through Transfiguration, once solidified with magic, can resist the Qilin horn's anti-magic effect for a certain period and won't immediately revert."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to load the bullets into the revolver, let alone fire them."
Lucien had experimented by using the Qilin horn to dispel solidified Transfigured objects and by placing it inside items enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
It seemed to follow a similar principle—because of the added magical stabilization, the Undetectable Extension Charm wasn't immediately neutralized by the Qilin horn.
And perhaps due to the expanded spatial nature of the charm, the Qilin horn had only a minimal effect on such containers.
That was a relief—it meant he could safely carry the anti-magic bullets without needing to remove them before entering a space expanded by magic.
Lucien aimed at a large rock.
Bang!
After the dust settled, he walked over to examine it.
The explosion radius was noticeably smaller, but it was still powerful enough to deal with a human target.
"Hmm, the corrosive effect isn't as strong as before either."
Could it be that the Qilin-horn bullet head had weakened the effect of the Billywig Sting Extract?
But again, for dealing with people, it was enough.
Lucien ran his fingers lightly over the bullet casing.
Using Billywig Sting Extract bullets on a regular basis, the explosive power was more than sufficient for most situations.
When facing something more troublesome, he could alternate them with anti-magic bullets to create unexpected effects.
…
In the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office.
Quirrell was practicing his lecture while stirring the magic in his body.
A faint, eerie, hoarse whisper came from his throat, though it didn't affect his normal speech.
"Master, your humble servant has finally learned the Dark Arts you bestowed upon me…"
"That's enough. If you still haven't mastered it after all this time—heh…"
At the sound of Voldemort's cold voice, a sharp pain shot through the back of Quirrell's head. He immediately lowered his tone even further.
"Yes, the Dark Arts you created are far too powerful. For someone like me, it is already an honor to learn even a fraction of them."
He paused, then asked hesitantly,
"Master, when I use this Dark Art, I have to maintain a stable flow of magic," Quirrell said cautiously.
"What if… what if that boy, Lucien, notices something strange and forcibly interrupts me—"
Lord Voldemort's voice cut in, sharp and filled with irritation.
"Fool! I've told you before—without delving deeply into the Dark Arts, without an exceptionally high affinity for them, how could a mere boy perceive anything?"
"Yes, yes, my Lord, it's just that… what if that boy really does have talent in that area? That strange laugh last time—"
Quirrell didn't get to finish his thought.
"Enough! Talent? Are you suggesting his Dark Arts talent surpasses mine? This curse was created by me!"
Voldemort's voice was icy and harsh. After suffering the pain of a shattered soul and the backlash of the Killing Curse, his temperament had grown increasingly unstable—sometimes eerily calm, sometimes violently manic.
If he hadn't needed to conserve his strength… if he still had a body… if Quirrell weren't still useful to him... haah..
The professor would have been dead long ago for daring to question him like that.
Quirrell immediately felt a stabbing pain, the back of his head alternating between searing heat and freezing cold.
The agony forced him to collapse to the floor, his body curling up like a boiled shrimp as he trembled uncontrollably.
He didn't know whether it lasted seconds or minutes before he finally managed to gasp out between groans,
"Great… great Master, please… forgive my cowardice and ignorance… Tomorrow—during the remedial class—I will cast the first curse… To… to clear the obstacles in your way…"
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11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1