Though he didn’t agree with the views of the book, it did spark a question in Dawn’s mind.

If magic was simply magic, then why were magical creatures only able to wield specific, singular abilities?

One could stubbornly argue that dragons, unicorns, and the like lacked the intelligence for diverse spellcasting. It wasn’t entirely implausible.

After all, goblins possessed enough intelligence and had once been able to use magic—until they lost a war against the wizards and were forced to give up their spellcasting publicly.

But what about centaurs?

They too were highly intelligent, yet they never exhibited magic in the way wizards did.

Was it merely because the original works never mentioned it?

Once again, Dawn found his mind wandering.

He realized that if he wanted to encompass everything in the magical world within his own framework of understanding, there were still plenty of gaps and hurdles to overcome.

Still, he never doubted his abilities, nor did he believe his interpretation of magic was fundamentally flawed.

Maybe…

Maybe it just needed a little bit of refinement?

Dawn pondered.

Rather than feeling frustrated by these remaining mysteries, he found them increasingly fascinating.

His thoughts drifted for a while.

Eventually, Dawn snapped back to attention and continued flipping through the book.

……..

The wizard who wrote this book, in an effort to solve the problem he proposed about how different kinds of magic affected transformation spells, conducted a bold and forward-thinking experiment.

Organ transplantation.

The author tried modifying the human body to adapt to the magic of magical creatures—thus enabling transformation!

Good grief!

Dawn hadn’t expected to stumble upon something like this in a book written four hundred years ago!

He immediately perked up and read on with growing interest. But to his immense frustration, the book contained no detailed records of the actual experiment!

Following the description of the idea came only a short conclusion—

“All things considered, I believe my theory is very likely correct! Though the strange changes that occurred in the test subject at the end made me deeply uneasy, I’ve decided to attempt it again!”

Changes?

What changes?!

Dawn stared at the words in the conclusion, his curiosity nearly driving him mad.

And the author claimed his idea was correct?!

He frantically flipped through the few remaining pages, hoping to find any more information related to the experiment.

But the following pages only re-explained earlier theories, offering no new content.

However—

On the final page of the book, after the main text ended, Dawn did find some relevant information.

“Celeste Soley, born 1464, a famously mad wizard in the magical world, claimed in 1552 that he had resolved the key issues preventing wizards from transforming into magical creatures.”

“However, after word of his theory spread, countless wizards—including myself—sought him out for proof, but none of us ever received a concrete answer.”

“He merely insisted that he had succeeded—but that we couldn’t see it.”

“In 1571, Celeste Soley died in his home. Scattered manuscripts were recovered from his residence.”

“Although their accuracy could not be confirmed, the theory of classifying magic by type still held some research value.”

“As such, after removing certain inhumane and bloody passages, we decided to compile and publish the manuscripts.”

No wonder the book had no listed author—it had been compiled from someone else’s manuscripts!

The realization clicked into place for Dawn, and he focused on the final line.

“Note: The details of the experiment are included in the Dark Arts book [Mad Magic: Blood and Taboo], distributed only in limited circles.”

Dark Arts book…

Dawn mulled over those words.

Thinking calmly, it actually made perfect sense that the experiment details weren’t included.

After all, this was a book openly available to young witches and wizards in the library.

In that light, some of the book’s content already seemed a little over the top.

But Dawn had no interest in figuring out what standards Madam Pince used to judge and approve books.

What he really cared about now was—

Was [Mad Magic: Blood and Taboo] stored in the Restricted Section of the library?

Thinking it through carefully—

Dawn figured the chances were high.

After all, even [Secrets of the Darkest Arts], which documented the Horcrux and the method for immortality, had once been found in the Restricted Section.

The only issue was—

After the rise of a dangerous figure like Voldemort, had Dumbledore purged the Restricted Section?

And if so, had he removed the very book Dawn now sought?

Dawn could no longer sit still.

He wanted to rush into the Restricted Section right this moment!

But the bright sunlight outside the window made him pause. He had to suppress the bubbling impatience in his chest.

Stay calm…

At the very least, wait until nightfall.

Dawn exhaled with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he had regained his composure.

Still—

There was no way he could focus on reading any other books now.

After a moment’s thought—

He pulled a cracked broomstick from his leather pouch, a few damaged alchemical artifacts, the Marauder’s Map, and a small box containing the diadem of Ravenclaw.

Dawn decided to switch gears and study the alchemical items he currently possessed.

Naturally, the most valuable of them all was the diadem, corrupted by Voldemort.

Even though Dawn had already come to understand his abilities, he still had no reliable method to deal with the soul fragment attached to the diadem.

If he really pushed the boundaries of imagination…

He figured he might try transforming the traits and patterns within the soul fragment into those of wood—turning the intangible soul into something physical, and then separating it.

But this kind of technique was clearly far beyond him right now.

Not to mention the potential complications of converting matter and soul attributes—it was already apparent, from how his previous transfiguration of a toad only lasted briefly, that his current magical reserves were likely insufficient.

Perhaps the most straightforward approach was to replicate the diadem itself, using its runes and magic circuits as a reference.

But then again—

Just because a Muggle could understand a theorem didn’t mean they could solve equations based on it.

During his self-study in the past, Dawn had focused mostly on spells. His knowledge of runes only began after a magical outburst forced him to better understand his power.

So even if he wanted to replicate the diadem, it was still far too early.

With a sigh, Dawn gave up on the idea of experimentation. He carefully returned the unopened wooden box to the deepest corner of his pouch.

………

Then—

He unfolded the Marauder’s Map, something he hadn’t yet had time to study since acquiring it.

Dawn was very curious about how this thing had been created.

At first glance, the map seemed no different from other alchemical objects—constructed with runes and magic circuits.

But that was the problem!

He remembered that the original series never mentioned any of the Marauders being skilled in alchemy or runes.

Were they hiding their talents?

Or was there something else going on?

Dawn instinctively felt it was the latter. But he had no way to confirm this without finding one of the Marauders themselves.

After a moment’s thought, he pointed his wand at the map and whispered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Instantly—

The map was flooded with overlapping names in countless colors.

Dawn concentrated on observing the magic circuits within, but he couldn’t find any evidence that the map was connected to the castle’s consciousness.

Then again— The idea that the castle had a consciousness was just a baseless guess he made when crossing the Black Lake.

Dawn stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Perhaps…

Replicating it himself might yield different insights?

After all, compared to the Ravenclaw diadem, the magic circuits in this map were drastically simpler.

If he wanted to replicate it, it would definitely take a lot of time—but Dawn believed he could pull it off.

________________

Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/BloodAncestor

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep