The council was in a chaotic state. No one knew why or when someone had conceived a new forbidden spell. The news spread faster than the spell it self and they could do nothing to prevent it. Soon they were accused of incompetence and the crown held them accountable for their unawareness. Certainly, leisure and pleasure occupied most of the council member's time, not because they were lazy, but, mostly, due to the lack of any event that could have required their attention. Although they, from time to time, made some sort of magical inquiry throughout the land to keep rogue mages in check, their magical knowledge and might was enough to keep anyone from causing trouble.
The crown was displeased, mostly due to fear, with the council and a magical inquisition was ordered. All lands were scouted in search of the culprit and while the magic community was uneasy, normal folk continued their usual lives. Several reasons, there were, for keeping anything magical related in secrecy. One was that magic was a weapon and as such, it was the kingdoms property and it could not be allowed, its knowledge, to scape borders; another, was to have a strong grip over mages, deciding and controlling who could learn what, when and how much. The means to achieve all that was the magic council and although they might not be the strongest or wisest, they were the best equipped and knowledgeable, and the crown held absolute power over them, for a demonic contract was force onto each member to ensure total obedience, this, of course, was a secret.
Out of a hundred persons only one would have the ability to perceive magic and out of those, one of ten thousand could be able to control it. For each person the way of controlling the power of the world is unique, so, having an universal method for everyone to learn magic was basically impossible. Although the lesser spells can be cast alike by all, only the ones who discover, by self-awareness, their own path of magic can truly become a master. Spending time exploring the universality of magic meant little time to improve oneself, which is why magical research was another duty of the council, and by doing so, they could hold better control over mages.
In this world mages had two paths: improve their own magic or focus their lifetime in magical research; and, in this predatory world, the second option was not the popular one. So, having a self-taught mage inventing a forbidden spell wreak havoc among the council. This event did not only proved that a mage could do both things but, he could excel in both, thus rendering the council useless. If mages no longer needed the backup of the council and the crown, they could take over the world.
While all resources were devoted to scout the source and inventor of the spell, a particular and very mysterious event, which, otherwise would have not been passed unnoticed, took place.