Deep in the Forbidden Forest, Leo looked at the mass of purifying fire floating before Aurelius, murmuring to himself, "Can't use magic to process Qilin horn; ordinary tools can't cut it either. But it turns out purifying fire can melt Qilin horn."
In that crimson-gold flame, wrapped within was a white jade-like short horn. And Aurelius's forehead was already completely bare. Over these past few days, Aurelius had finished shedding both horns.
But Leonardo figured one Qilin horn would be enough for now, since he wasn't even sure whether making it into bullets was feasible. The remaining one could be saved—perhaps it would have other uses later.
Leo glanced at the round-headed Aurelius. Having horns looked more dignified. Fortunately it was just horn shedding—they should grow back in a few days.
He shifted his gaze back to the purifying fire wrapping the Qilin horn. Under the high-temperature refinement of the compressed crimson-gold flames, the Qilin horn's surface gradually softened. Finally, droplets separated from it, each dispersed within the fireball, still maintaining a molten state.
Leonardo pulled out a mold with holes of various sizes. He needed to test how much volume or mass of Qilin horn could still maintain that anti-magic effect.
Placing the mold on the ground, he had Aurelius control those melted droplets to fall into the holes one by one. After collection was complete, Leo had Aurelius continue melting while he began experimenting.
The method was simple—just test each one while wearing a Shield Charm. Finally, Leonardo picked up a Qilin horn bead. This size would be enough to make into a bullet tip.
But he still needed to verify something—the Qilin horn's anti-magic effect was within a one-centimeter range. If he wanted to combine it with Belated Truth, would the explosive effect still work, or would it be nullified?
This alchemical potion's main materials were Erumpent explosive fluid and Acromantula venom—whether the materials themselves or the finished potion, both contained magical power. During the expansion and explosion process, it would inevitably contact the bullet tip made from Qilin horn—would it still produce the original effect then?
Leo tossed the Qilin horn beads into the purifying fire before Aurelius to continue melting. Then he entered his alchemical laboratory with its golden flask.
This time he stayed quite a while. He needed to design the bullet structure and forge its mold. Both the mold and the bullet itself couldn't be created using Transfiguration or other magic. Otherwise, the moment they came into contact with the Qilin horn, the magic would be dispelled, and they'd revert to their original form.
Leonardo enjoyed this process immensely. The greater the Qilin horn's restrictions on magic, the more surprising the effects would likely be. The more magic the bullet tip made from it could break through, the more enemies it could deal with.
When Leo emerged from the flask, Aurelius had just finished melting that one Qilin horn. Placing the new mold on the ground, those flowing jade-colored droplets gradually filled it.
After everything cooled, Leonardo extracted the bullet tips. He assembled a brand new bullet. Except for the white jade-colored tip, the rest was all bronze. Through careful construction, Leo still managed to add Belated Truth inside.
"Keep it simple—let's call them Anti-Magic Bullets."
Hopefully it would still work. If the explosive effect was poor or simply failed, he'd consider alternatives. Or perhaps purely anti-magic bullets would work?
Those ordinary bullets just lacked the power to shatter wizards' protective measures, but bullet tips made from Qilin horn could. As long as someone took one hit, whether wizard or Muggle, they'd experience excruciating pain and could hardly maintain mobility. Moreover, if Qilin horn is truly embedded inside a wizard's body, it should also affect magical power circulation.
He'd try it when there was a chance.
Leo pulled out the brass-colored transformation pocket watch. After infusing magical power, the watch pointer fell on the revolver icon. While loading bullets into the chamber, he mused, "Fortunately, transfigured items with magical solidification can resist the Qilin horn's anti-magic effect for a certain time and won't be immediately dispelled. Otherwise I couldn't even load bullets into the revolver, let alone shoot."
Leonardo had not only tried using Qilin horn to dispel solidified transfigured items but also tested loading it into Undetectable Extension containers. It should be due to similar principles—after adding extra magical solidification, the Undetectable Extension Charm wouldn't be immediately dispelled by the Qilin horn.
Moreover, perhaps because the space was expanded, the Qilin horn's influence on Undetectable Extension containers was very small. Fortunately, this made carrying anti-magic bullets convenient, and he didn't need to specially store them before entering Undetectable Extension spaces.
Leo aimed at a large rock. "Bang!"
After the dust settled, Leonardo walked to the boulder and observed. The explosion range was much smaller, but for targeting human bodies, it was sufficient. The dissolution effect also wasn't as strong as before. Because the Qilin horn bullet tip still affected Belated Truth? But again, for dealing with people, it was enough.
Leo's fingertips rubbed the cartridge case. For conventional use, Truth Bullets with that level of explosive effect were sufficient to handle many situations. When encountering tough opponents, he could intermix Anti-Magic Bullets for unexpected effectiveness.
Inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, while Quirrell practiced teaching content, he channeled his magical power. Silent and eerie hoarse whispers emerged from his throat, yet didn't affect Quirrell's normal speech.
"Master, fool that I am, I've finally learned the Dark Magic you taught me..."
"Enough. With all this time, if you still couldn't learn it..."
Hearing Voldemort's cold voice, Quirrell felt pain at the back of his head and immediately became more humble. "Yes, the Dark Magic you developed is too powerful. For someone like me to grasp even the basics is already an honor."
After a pause, Quirrell asked somewhat hesitantly, "Master, when I use this Dark Magic, I need to maintain stable magical power. If that brat Leo senses something wrong and forcibly interrupts me..."
Voldemort's impatient voice sounded again. "Fool, I said before—without extensive study of Dark Magic, without extremely high aptitude for it, how could a young wizard detect it?"
"Yes, my master. But what if that kid really has that kind of talent? Last time that strange laughter..."
However, Quirrell's thought wasn't fully expressed.
"Enough! Talent? You mean his Dark Magic talent would be higher than mine? This is a curse I developed!"
Voldemort's words were cold and harsh. After experiencing the pain of splitting his soul and the Killing Curse's backlash, his temperament had become increasingly twisted and unstable—sometimes calm, sometimes frenzied!
If he didn't currently need to conserve power, if he hadn't lost his body, if keeping Quirrell alive wasn't still useful... Daring to question him like this—Quirrell would already be dead!
Quirrell immediately felt needle-like pain, his skull alternating between burning heat and freezing cold. Tortured like this, he was forced to collapse on the floor, his body curled into a tight ball, trembling continuously.
After what felt like an eternity, Quirrell moaned painfully, "Great master, please forgive my cowardice and ignorance... Tomorrow, tomorrow during tutoring, I'll apply the first curse... To remove any obstacles in your path..."