“Let’s talk about demons,” Harry said, trying to change the subject to prevent Hermione and Ron from arguing again. “By the way, Evan, didn’t you encounter a demon before? That time when you went with Sirius and Hagrid to find the giants. Tell us in detail … what does a demon look like?”

“Demons come in different forms. They have no fixed shape or appearance. The one I saw in Dijon, France, was once a witch hundreds of years ago, but when I saw her, she no longer had any human form.”

“Was she a ghost?”

“Much scarier than a ghost,” said Evan. “Well, how should I describe it? Imagine a devil … the way you picture one in your mind; cold, pale gray skin, with sharp fangs sticking out of the mouth, black horns on the head, deformed claws for hands, and…”

“Terrifying,” said Elaine, who had not yet heard from Evan about the experience.

“Yeah, really terrifying!” said Evan, his memory went back to that night, recalling the ghosts wandering in the Owl Castle, the strange and cunning skeleton, the mirror containing the demon, and the sorrowful past filled with emotional entanglements. “In short, it was a disgusting creature. But the real scary thing was not the demon, nor the powerful magic or strength she possessed, but the human heart.”

What impressed Evan deeply about that experience was not the demon, but the love triangle full of hurt and lies.

A seemingly kind but inwardly twisted wizard.

A witch so ruthless she didn’t hesitate to kill even her own parents.

And Shukrya, the witch doctor who, for love, resorted to using a love potion and even poisoned everyone in the castle. She was a victim, but also a murderer.

The human heart is the most terrifying thing, blinding, like the midday sun, impossible to look at directly.

Devils and demons are nothing but the embodiment of the ugly human heart.

Once they take on a physical form, they become less frightening because they can be defeated, destroyed.

“Human heart?” Elaine repeated, and said directly, “I don’t understand. It seems so complicated.”

“It is very complicated, and I can’t explain it clearly,” said Evan. Seeing Elaine staring at him intently, he remembered the consequences of not explaining how to become a real vampire last night, and hurriedly added, “Actually, you can ask Dumbledore later. I think he should be able to explain what the human heart is.”

“Forget it. I’m not too interested in these things. They sound inedible,” Elaine shook her head.

“I’m curious, how were demons born?” Hermione asked.

“Different demons come into being in different ways. There are many methods, but they all involve a Demon Altar, the core item for summoning demons,” Evan explained. “Through the Demon Altar, a wizard can transform a person, an object, a name, a soul, or even the product of certain thoughts into a demon; an immortal, physical, supernatural being that can serve them.”

“That sounds good,” said Ron. “A powerful demon servant that can help you accomplish whatever you want.”

“Many ancient sorcerers and wizards did exactly that,” said Evan. “They raised demons to gain power and success. The most famous example would probably be King Solomon and his seventy-two demons. He’s well-known among both Muggles and wizards.”

“Yeah, King Solomon! So, how do you build a Demon Altar?” Ron immediately asked. “Is it difficult?”

“That, I don’t know,” Evan replied. “Demonology was once a thriving branch of magic in ancient times, but it has completely declined by now. Even if some knowledge has been passed down, it’s considered forbidden Dark magic, extremely dark and evil. As for how difficult it is to summon a demon, I’d say that as long as you have the right method and materials, it shouldn’t be too hard. It mainly depends on what kind of demon you want to summon.”

Summoning a demon like the seventy-two demons of Solomon? That would probably be impossible, even if you worked yourself to death.

But the summoning they were going to perform later, that is, the demon in the form of a house-elf, was not very difficult.

Evan had studied it many times, and all he needed was a house-elf corpse and some magic power.

In fact, he actually knew two methods for constructing a Demon Altar.

Both were recorded in Secrets of the Darkest Art, a book on Dark magic that Evan had gone through multiple times. The spells weren’t too difficult, but since they were included in such a book, one could only imagine how sinister the casting process and required materials must be.

Just like making Horcruxes, it was a completely forbidden act, so it was better not to speak about it.

Since they had discussed similar topics many times before, the conversation quickly died down.

They walked down the staircase, their footsteps echoing through the empty castle.

The murals on the walls on both sides were empty, and no one knew where the portraits had gone.

Everyone was nervous. The eerie silence gave the illusion that the five of them were the only ones left in the entire castle, and the descending staircase seemed endless.

Ten minutes later, they came to the portrait of a gigantic silver fruit bowl in the stone corridor of the basement.

Dobby didn’t tickle the green pear in the portrait, which was the way to get into the kitchens.

He simply tapped the edge of the portrait with his fingers, and the pear began to change, revealing a low, dark, deep hallway.

Except for Elaine, Evan, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had all been to the kitchens multiple times before.

Evan had accompanied Hermione for her advocacy efforts. Harry and Ron had sneaked out in the middle of the night to find food.

They walked in one by one, and were soon surrounded by a group of noisy house-elves who came out from nowhere and asked them what food they needed.

Seeing over a hundred house-elves packed together was always a shocking sight, no matter how many times one witnessed it.

But the moment they realized Hermione was among them, their faces twisted in terror, and in an instant, they all vanished, hiding away.

“Am I that scary?” said Hermione unhappily. “Why are they running away?”

“Miss Granger is not scary at all. Dobby thinks Miss Granger is the best witch, second only to Master Evan and Harry Potter,” said Dobby immediately. “Dobby knows that the other elves are just not used to it yet.”

For a time, Hermione had worked hard to sew sweaters for the house-elves in the kitchens.

That had probably terrified them. Even though she had long since stopped, the fear she had instilled in them was not so easily erased.

To make so many house-elves flee at the sight of someone, there was likely no one else in all of Hogwarts who could achieve that except Hermione.

In the eyes of these house-elves, Hermione, who was dedicated to protecting their rights, was probably a demon.

The five of them walked through the corridor and entered the kitchen, which was arranged exactly like the Great Hall above.

Dumbledore was sitting at the Gryffindor table, with a cup of steaming coffee and a dessert of toffee eclairs in front of him.

Many house-elves stood at a distance, surrounding him with wide, awestruck eyes…

Hey there! Translating_Wizard here! Chapter 1628 just dropped on Patreon! If you've enjoyed reading and want to read more, I'd greatly appreciate your support ♡

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