Perhaps it was because Dylan's control over Arnold was too deep, or maybe Arnold had some unique trait of his own.
Whatever the reason, under Dylan's care, every time he cut Arnold's wounds, the dragon would show an expression of pure satisfaction.
This surprised Dylan.
How did a perfectly good dragon end up being raised into something so... unusual?
Could it be the result of the Unforgivable Curse controlling his mind?
Dylan wasn't sure.
Looking at the already opened trapdoor next to the three-headed dog, he saw a passage leading further underground.
After a moment of thought, Dylan pulled out his enchanted, beautified wizard robe. He had spent a bit of money to turn it into an invisibility cloak.
Slipping it on, he jumped down without hesitation.
The moment he entered, vine-like tendrils shot out, attempting to wrap around him.
"The Devil's Snare, huh?"
A shield of flames instantly ignited around Dylan—just a second shaping of Fiendfyre.
The blazing fire incinerated the approaching tendrils. The ones still at a distance froze mid-motion before hastily retreating.
Dylan dropped down unimpeded. The height wasn't particularly dangerous, so he didn't even need a spell to cushion his landing.
Upon reaching the ground, he surveyed his surroundings.
Once he confirmed there were no traps left by Quirrell, he proceeded forward.
Magical energy rippled in the air.
Dylan lifted his gaze and saw a swarm of winged keys, shimmering with a metallic gleam, darting chaotically in all directions.
"A trap set by Professor Flitwick?"
A smile tugged at Dylan's lips.
At this moment, he felt like a student facing a trial left behind by his teacher.
With a subtle flick of his fingers, his wand landed firmly in his palm.
Raising it, he let his transparent magical energy flow.
He slightly turned his body and parted his lips.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Instantly, a vast yet invisible force swept across the entire space, radiating an oppressive aura as it surged toward the flying keys.
Wherever the magic reached, the air churned as if stirred by unseen hands, creating ripples visible to the naked eye.
Sensing danger, the keys became even more frantic, crashing into each other with sharp clinking sounds.
Feeling their desperate resistance against his magic, Dylan's smirk only deepened.
Because they were struggling against his spell, their movements became even more erratic. Though they still darted around chaotically, they no longer carried the same effortless agility.
"Professor Flitwick's spellwork is quite powerful."
Dylan chuckled softly, lifting his wand high before flicking his wrist in a smooth arc.
"Immobulus!"
The moment he spoke, an invisible wave of magic rippled outward.
The magical energy swept across the entire swarm.
In an instant, every single winged key froze mid-air, as if hit by a full-body bind.
The metallic keys glinted coldly but remained motionless.
Dylan crossed his arms, letting his wand hang casually by his side. His gaze swept across the still cluster of keys.
"Come here."
With a simple beckon of his finger, the keys floated toward him, forming a shimmering metallic curtain before his eyes.
Narrowing his gaze, Dylan carefully examined the mass of keys, searching for the right one.
It didn't take long for him to find it—the key that looked significantly older than the rest. Even under the effects of his dual spells, it still trembled slightly, as if trying to resist his control.
"Accio!"
With a sharp whistle, the key shot forward, bypassing the others and landing precisely in Dylan's palm.
Toying with it, he walked up to the locked door.
"This level of security… Quirrell could probably bypass it easily."
Dylan clicked his tongue.
He wasn't sure if Flitwick was overconfident in his own spells or if there was some other reason for this setup.
In the end, this challenge was nothing more than a flying game.
Dylan couldn't understand where the difficulty was supposed to be.
If he weren't interested in testing Flitwick's spells, he could have simply blown the door apart from the start.
Coincidentally, he had just learned a variation of the Blasting Curse—Burst Break.
"Hm… Should I give it a try?"
Dylan hesitated for a moment, then casually tossed the key into the air.
—Before that, he made sure to slightly bend one of its wings.
At the same time, he lifted the control over all the other keys.
The moment they were freed, the keys scattered in panic, shooting toward the ceiling as if they had encountered some terrifying beast. None dared to approach the ground anymore, staying as far away from Dylan as possible.
Drawing his wand, Dylan raised his arm high, pointing directly at the locked door.
"Burst Break!"
His voice rang clearly through the chamber.
Suddenly, an immense magical force surged toward the door.
The instant the two made contact—
A deafening explosion erupted!
**BOOM!**
The door trembled violently, its wooden surface contorting and splintering under the force.
Cracks spread like a spiderweb across the entire structure.
Then, with an earsplitting crack, the entire door shattered into countless tiny wooden fragments, spraying outward in all directions.
Dust filled the air.
As the haze settled, Dylan, wand in hand, stepped forward at an unhurried pace, crossing through the now-destroyed entrance.
"Professor Flitwick's enchantments made the door immune to unlocking charms, and it was also protected by another layer of magic to prevent brute force entry."
That was what Dylan had sensed when he cast his spell earlier.
But clearly, his mastery over offensive spells was high enough.
Even a door reinforced by Flitwick couldn't hold him back—it was blown to pieces instead.
"The explosion was a bit loud… Hope it doesn't attract the professors' attention."
Stepping into the next chamber, Dylan swept his gaze over the walls.
"Huh? These walls… they don't seem to have any protective enchantments on them?"
Dylan was momentarily stunned.
So this broken door is even harder to destroy than the walls?
"Maybe I should have just blown up the wall instead."
The thought crossed Dylan's mind, but he quickly shook his head.
If he blew up the wall, the noise would be too loud, and there was a good chance the entire room would collapse.
As he stepped into the next room, a massive chessboard came into view.
A group of chess pieces, nearly as tall as a person, stood erect in the middle of the board.
"Chess, huh?"
If it were any other challenge, he wouldn't mind. Since this was a trial set up by Professor McGonagall, he was still somewhat interested in giving it a try.
But if the condition to proceed required him to play chess, that would be a problem.
Dylan had a clear goal—he walked straight toward the tightly shut door on the other side.
Just as he was about to draw his wand and blast the door open—
Suddenly, the entire chessboard trembled violently.
The chess pieces on the board, as if infused with life, began to move.
"Oh? This level of Transfiguration... it's truly exquisite."
Dylan raised an eyebrow as he observed the towering knight pieces swinging their lances, the castle pieces hoisting heavy iron gates, and a swarm of armed pawns charging at him aggressively.
But he remained unshaken.
With a swift motion, he waved his wand through the air.
**"Petrificus Totalus!"**
A burst of magic shot forth, and the leading pawns were instantly frozen in place, transformed into rigid statues.
However, the assault did not stop. Though the front row was immobilized, the pieces behind them continued their relentless advance.
**"Protego!"**
Dylan instantly summoned a transparent, shimmering protective shield in front of him.
The oncoming chess pieces crashed into the shield, producing deep, muffled sounds.
Without missing a beat, Dylan flicked his wand once more.
**"Ferula!"** *(Reversal Transfiguration)*
A surge of magic rippled outward, weaving through the protective shield and ensnaring the attacking chess pieces.
In the next moment, something miraculous occurred.
The knights' lances softened into delicate tree branches, their shining armor transformed into fluttering, multicolored feathers.
The castle pieces' heavy iron gates turned into thin sheets of paper, floating aimlessly through the air.
The pawns' weapons morphed into blooming flowers, their once-intimidating demeanor now appearing comically absurd.
Though the chess pieces remained in their attacking stances, the sudden transformation of their weapons threw them into complete disarray.
A knight attempted to swing his newly-formed tree branch at Dylan.
But the branch simply bounced harmlessly off the protective shield with a light *thud.*
The castle pieces stared at the sheets of paper in confusion.
The pawns looked down at the flowers in their hands, utterly baffled.
Dylan chuckled.
"So, I can finally handle Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration."
However, he soon sensed a shift. The objects he had just transfigured were now being enveloped by another force of magic.
"A single enchantment that allows continuous material transformation?"
Dylan's eyes lit up. He could feel the magic creeping in, counteracting his reversal spell.
In less than fifteen minutes, the paper would turn back into iron gates, and the tree branches would revert to lances.
"This method of maintaining Transfiguration—why didn't Professor McGonagall teach me this?"
Next time, he would have to pester her to teach him how to make Transfiguration permanent.
If a transformation could resist other transfiguration spells, then essentially, it would also have the ability to counteract magic itself.
And this was all happening without the original spellcaster even being present.
If Professor McGonagall were here in person, Dylan suspected he wouldn't have been able to transfigure the chess pieces at all.
Keeping his protective shield intact,
Dylan pointed his wand at the chess pieces.
**"Burst Break!"** *(Explosive Rupture)*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
A surge of immense magical energy erupted like a detonated bomb, radiating outward from Dylan's position.
The chess pieces at the front were the first to be hit. The impact forcefully enveloped them.
A deafening chain of explosions erupted.
One by one, the chess pieces were crushed as if seized by an invisible giant hand.
Each piece shattered into fragments, accompanied by dazzling flashes of light and flying debris.
The repeated bursts of illumination reflected in Dylan's eyes.
He stood firm amidst the fire and scattered remnants of the chess pieces.
The shockwave from the explosions sent his hair and robes billowing. Even his cloak flapped violently in the wind, momentarily revealing his face.
Shards of debris flew past his body and face, yet Dylan didn't so much as blink.
Every fragment that came near him was repelled by the protective shield.
In the blink of an eye, the entire swarm of chess pieces was reduced to rubble. Dylan remained calm, gently lowered his wand, and casually dusted off the ash that had settled on his clothes. Then, he turned around.
**"Burst Break!"**
*BOOM!*
Another explosion tore open a new doorway.
Dylan couldn't help but reflect on something.
No wonder some wizards could roam the magical world by mastering just a single spell.
It really was the case of "one trick pony, but it works everywhere."
From start to finish, Dylan could have solved everything using nothing but *Burst Break.*
If it weren't for his curiosity about Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration on the chess pieces, he would have simply blasted everything apart from the beginning.
"Have I been learning offensive spells a little *too* fast?"
Dylan smacked his lips, then stepped into the next room.
*"Ugh—"*
A revolting stench instantly assaulted his senses.
He nearly gagged.
"A familiar stench... even worse than last time."
Once again, Dylan found himself overwhelmed by the pungent, nauseating odor that clawed its way into his nose, as if every individual hair in his nostrils was being forcefully yanked.
**"Bubble-Head Charm!"**
With practiced ease, Dylan encased his head in a transparent bubble of fresh air.
The foul stench was also expelled along with the bubbles.
Looking ahead, Dylan saw a massive corpse lying at the very center of the room.
The corpse of a giant troll.
**"ThermoVision!"**
A wave of magic slowly enveloped Dylan's eyes.
This spell, taught to him by Professor Flitwick, allowed him to see heat signatures.
As Dylan looked forward, his vision abruptly shifted—everything around him emitted varying degrees of glow.
The giant troll's corpse at the center of the room, in particular, radiated a faint red halo under the effects of the spell.
That was the lingering heat, dissipating with its final breaths.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Dylan carefully observed the intensity and range of the glow on the troll's body. From this, he roughly estimated the time of death—around an hour ago.
**"But if there are no wounds…"**
Dylan quickly arrived at a conclusion.
Beneath the troll's body, he noticed shallow claw marks on the ground. They weren't deep—evidence that the troll had struggled briefly before succumbing.
**"Whoever cast the Killing Curse was really sloppy. Letting the troll struggle even a little? If they're this bad at it, they might as well ask me to be their master. I wouldn't even charge much—just one of Voldemort's souls would do."**
Muttering sarcastically, Dylan plucked off the troll's beard and snot without hesitation.
(End of Chapter)