Apart from those kinds of books.
Ian also spotted an ancient text that piqued his interest. The cover was made of a stone-like hard material, engraved with reliefs of numerous fantastic beasts.
Its intricate appearance was what initially attracted Ian, but it was the title that prompted him to take it down from the shelf, its heavy and solid weight surpassing the total of the other three books combined.
"Bloodline Origin"
Ian briefly browsed through it, finding a historical account that dates back to before the Wizard Wars, when wizards had not yet become the rulers of today's Magic World.
Whether innately powerful fantastic creatures, or Dwarfs, Giants, Elves, they all possessed far greater powers than the wizards, by countless times.
Human wizards were merely at the bottom of the food chain. In such a survival environment, a batch of researchers emerged among human wizards, aiming to bridge this gap.
Some chose to rely on uncovering Magic Runes, while others attempted to breed with other races to enhance the talents of future generations. There were also those who naively thought they could gain the strength of fantastic beasts through the Transformation Technique.
Regardless of the method, success was always for the few, and most ended in failure. Moreover, there were a batch of more radical wizards who opted for the way of plunder.
Bloodline fusion.
This was the wild approach these wizards discovered.
Even wilder than attempting to transform into fantastic beasts through the Transformation Technique — most wizards died from bloodline fusion, the chances of a tragic death surpassing even the failures in Transformation Technique.
However.
Some wizards did succeed.
This method of seizing the bloodline power of other races, unlike the fleeting effects of magic transformation, could extend down to their descendants for generations.
Many of today's seemingly dangerous species were actually products of this era. Unlike failed Transformation Techniques, the products of bloodline fusion did not impair intelligence or thought.
For instance, the Centaurs in Hogwarts Forbidden Forest were certainly mentioned in this book "Bloodline Origin" as products of bloodline fusion.
And other humanoid species.
Their existence was not a complete success, but undoubtedly they had gained powers that did not originally belong to human wizards. Of course, those truly successful wizards could still primarily hold human bloodline.
"Like the Dumbledore family, perhaps they were among that small successful group." Ian guessed while flipping through the book, interested because of the mysterious mark on the back of his hand.
Fox's recent closeness in the office had caused the mysterious mark on Ian's hand to glow faintly, visible only to him, which was indeed an extremely interesting thing.
[Whenever a member of the Dumbledore family urgently needs help, the Phoenix will come to their aid…] This was a consensus known to many in the Wizarding World.
Ian felt that this consensus might be due to the bloodline. Similar cases existed in many ancient families in the Wizarding World, such as the Snake-man language passed down in Slytherin.
Voldemort's nostrils becoming nearly as flat as a snake's were naturally effects caused by dangerous Magic Transformation, but no one could definitively say that there were no ancestral bloodline factors involved.
After all, many people went mad trying to reshape themselves like magic transformers, but it was Voldemort who acquired powers that were hard for other magic transformers to reach.
Just attributing it to Voldemort's extraordinary talent?
The reasoning is indeed a bit thin.
"The original origin of the field of Magic Transformation might also come from the remaining legacy of bloodline fusion, and the disappearance of the Golden Apple promoted more people to enter the field for research."
"Compared to the difficulty of bloodline fusion, the success rate of Magic Transformation is evidently much higher…"
Ian wasn't particularly attracted to the idea of destroying his own appearance; he just recalled Ariana's gift. If the secret could be unraveled, he might have his own Phoenix too.
"I'll take this book back too!" Ian found plenty of knowledge related to bloodlines in "Bloodline Origin," and he indeed had no resistance to owning a fluffy Phoenix.
Perhaps most people felt the same. Even though a Phoenix's combat power might not be that prominent, it was undoubtedly far more impressive and cool-looking than those stronger creatures.
Its tears, capable of healing injuries and poisoning, could be considered the best nursing aid. Moreover, even though a Phoenix's combat power wasn't top-notch, it was compared to the most powerful fantastic beasts.
"These books are probably enough for me to study for a while..." Ian prepared to find Madam Pince to register the books he wanted to borrow but saw Madam Pince placing some books on the shelf.
Ian noticed a few large boxes by the door earlier, and now that Madam Pince was dragging these boxes to the Forbidden Book Area, Ian realized they were filled with forbidden books.
"Chronicles of Forbidden Spells: Forgotten Dark Power"
"Time Vortex: Reverse Flowing Spell"
"Spring of Eternal Life"
…
These weren't the books that captured Ian's attention; his eyes fell upon a book with a very simple cover, neither dazzling nor frightening.
The book was extremely old.
Many parts of the pages were worn, even the author's name was partially missing—indeed, it was this dilapidated forbidden book that captured Ian's gaze, and he couldn't look away, his emotions inside fluctuating intensely!
"Mrs. Pince, I want to borrow this book too!" Ian quickly grabbed the old book from the box, his astonished gaze reflecting its cover.
"Spiritual Manipulation: From Thought Extraction to Soul Stealing"
Beneath the twisted, ruined title.
Was a face of a Witch with exceptional beauty.
Her gaze was indifferent and cold, with a terrifying deep dark insight, merely looking at the cover made one feel as if they were seeing through souls, frighteningly chilling.
So familiar.
Ian's hand trembled, internally roaring.
"Teacher Mara! You said you couldn't read minds! Damn!"