Chapter 260: Hermione, and Ivan's original intention.

In fact, Ivan was no less scared than Malfoy. He didn't even think he was going to cast this dark magic, let alone succeed.

This black magic that attacked the soul was very deep and complex, and required strong magic and deep magic theory as a base.

At Ivan's level, he didn't think he could do it.

Although it was only an inadvertent success, it also proved that Ivan's recent strength had improved greatly, but he was not happy about it at all.

He stumbled into the Gryffindor common room. No matter who had spoken to him, he couldn't hear anything.

He sat alone on the couch in front of the fireplace for a long time and kept thinking about it.

Thinking about the consequences of that dark magic, Ivan realized that his inner fears were coming true.

He kept asking himself why he had studied Dark Magic when he knew there would be such an outcome.

At the time, he also didn't know if he should continue with those studies.

If he continued, he might have great power, but he could not guarantee that he would not lose himself and become an evil Dark wizard like Voldemort.

The temptation of power makes it sometimes very difficult to decide.

Perhaps, I should think differently....

In the middle of the night, besides Ivan, there was no one in the Gryffindor common room.

He stared at the leaping fire in the fireplace, sitting alone, stunned.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the stairs and someone came out of the dormitory.

Ivan turned and saw Hermione in pink pajamas approaching him.

"Why haven't you slept yet?" asked Ivan in surprise.

"I was worried about you, what happened?" Hermione sat down on the couch next to Ivan and said uneasily, "You're very abnormal tonight. When I said goodnight to you, you just nodded your head."

"I was thinking about... things; I didn't hear your voice." Ivan explained.

"What were you thinking about?" Hermione moved closer.

She looked closely at Ivan, and in the candlelight, her brown eyes shone with a mesmerizing light.

Seeing Hermione's beautiful, intelligent eyes, Ivan lost it a little.

It took him a moment to come to his senses.

Ivan was all too familiar with Hermione. He knew what she might have noticed. If he didn't explain it clearly, she wouldn't give up on him and leave things as they were.

He hesitated for a moment and decided to tell her everything.

Even though the study of the Dark Arts was taboo and had to be kept secret, Ivan didn't want to keep anything from Hermione.

He believed in her, not to mention he wanted to hear her opinions as well.

"I just met Malfoy and his friends on the stairs; they were ready to ambush me!" Ivan hesitated. "Don't worry, Hermione, I didn't get hurt or anything. I used a magic to push them back, it was dark magic, very deep, very complicated and very evil, I didn't think I would do it successfully!"

"Dark magic?" Hermione looked at Ivan in surprise.

"You know, I've been doing research on magic recently. In fact, I've been working on black magic books from the black collection." Ivan said with a stiff head, he noticed the increasingly surprised expression on Hermione's face.

"Oh my god, you're studying black magic?" Hermione said incredulously, "I can't believe it, how can you do that? This is wrong. All the textbooks say that dark magic is very bad. Only dark wizards..."

"To increase my strength, in the face of dark mages and the uncertain future, it's always good to know a thing or two about black magic." Ivan's voice was growing fainter and fainter, his words seemed unfounded, and he looked at Hermione with pleading eyes.

"You mean you don't learn these Dark Arts to use them, or to use that knowledge to do something bad, but to understand them better?" asked Hermione.

"Exactly, that's it!" even Ivan himself felt that this reason was a bit convoluted.

Regardless of whether others believed it or not, he really believed it.

From the beginning to the end, Ivan was not ready to learn and master black magic, and his research purpose was not to use them.

He did not want to be an evil dark magician, perhaps because of his preconception, and he had always been deeply prejudiced and vigilant against dark magic.

But as an important part of magic, dark magic was indispensable. To become a powerful magician, he had to study black magic. This was an indispensable part. Only a deep knowledge of black magic would enable him to cope with it better. This was what Hogwarts' teaching philosophy in Defense Against the Dark Arts had been insisting on.

But it is undeniable that Black Magic is too strong, giving one a very easy path to power.

As one's research progresses, one will inevitably be subject to various temptations and trials.

Faced with these temptations, many people did not hold on to their original intentions and eventually lose their way.

"I don't think it's a problem if you study it to understand it." Hermione said worriedly, "But after all, it is BLACK MAGIC, you have to be careful."

"I know, in fact, what happened tonight led me to realize that my recent study of magic has gone down the wrong path, which is very dangerous! That's what I've been thinking about," Ivan explained, "But I don't know what to do, I'm hesitating."

"Don't push yourself too hard." Hermione looked carefully at Ivan for a long time, and suddenly she reached out her small hand, grasped Ivan's tightly and slowly said, "I once said that no matter what happens, I will always believe in you. Ivan, promise me that you won't let me down, okay?"

"I promise I won't let you down." Ivan nodded his head and replied very seriously, "Thank you Hermione, thank you for believing in me all the time!"

Seeing Hermione in front of him, Ivan finally made a decision.

On the comfortable couch in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, they chatted for a long time, until midnight, and then Hermione went back to sleep in the dormitory.

When he was alone again, Ivan took out his recent research notes and threw them into the fire, watching them burn to ashes.

Since the study of black magic was inevitable, he could not give up, but decided to change his research strategy. Based on this black magic, he intended to deeply analyze the principles, structures and theories of magic, study ways to resist them and improve his own strength.

In doing so, magical research would be several times more difficult than before.

But his gains were much smaller, and Ivan could not improve as quickly. However, he had no regrets. As he promised, he didn't want Hermione to be disappointed.

Ivan was under the impression that Dumbledore had been involved in dark magic in his youth, and he could have faced the same choice.

In the end he paid a terrible price, and his sister lost her life, and he repented and came to his senses.

This was the greatest regret of Dumbledore's life, after which he vowed to fight against Dark Magic.

Ivan reminded himself that he should not repeat the same mistakes, that he should only know the right path after losing like Dumbledore, or become a puppet of power like Voldemort.

For Hermione, for himself, he had to remain ever vigilant.