Seven days later, 11:00 p.m.
Andy got dressed, used the Disillusionment Charm to leave his dormitory, and used the Time-Turner in one of the lavatory stalls to turn back the clock three hours.
8:00 p.m.
There were still a lot of young wizards wandering around the castle corridors.
Andy disappeared and left the castle alone, going to the Forbidden Forest. Using the Apparition Spell, he arrived at the entrance of the laboratory.
Pulling out his wand, he conjured a glowing orb of light to hover around him, then Andy cautiously entered the cave.
After passing through a tunnel more than 20 meters long, Andy arrived in the stone chamber. Waving his wand, he set the torches in the chamber alight.
The dim light cast Andy's shadow long and stretched.
Walking to a corner of the stone room, Andy waved his wand and unlocked the trapdoor. After pulling open the trapdoor, Andy threw the light orb of the Wand-Lighting Charm in.
The faint light allowed Andy to see the scene in the basement—Reed was still in the iron cage, and he looked as if he were asleep.
At the same time, an unpleasant smell drifted up.
Andy lowered the rope and slid down to the basement.
Waving his wand, he conjured up a few more light balls, and with the help of the light, he looked at Reed in the cage and said indifferently, "Playing dead?"
Reed looked rather dishevelled after seven days without washing. His hair was a bit greasy, and his beard had grown quite long.
Clang!
Reed suddenly opened his eyes, and with a fierce expression, he pounced on Andy.
However, the cage was sturdy, and without his wand, all he could do was glare at Andy through the bars with a fierce expression. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was a little hideous and a little fearful.
"Ahhhhhhhhh"
Reed shouted, "Let me out! What do you want? Let me out quickly; I will kill you!"
Andy ignored Reed's yelling, walked around the cage once, and then waved his wand lightly.
"Scourgify!"
Andy uttered the incantation, and the filth in the cage was instantly cleaned up.
'It seems that it will take a little while for the disgusting smell to go away,' Andy seemed a little embarrassed.
As Andy walked around the cage, Reed followed inside – wherever Andy went, Reed followed, glaring at Andy with murderous intent.
It was as if he was trying to 'kill' Andy in this way.
"If I were you, in this situation where I can't fight back, I would never anger the person who imprisoned me...because that won't do you any good."
Andy said calmly, "Of course! In a situation where you are powerless to resist, fighting back with all your strength can also preserve your last shred of decency and dignity."
Reed seemed to have regained a little sanity, and he asked hoarsely, "What do you want?"
Andy did not reply.
Seven days of living alone in this dark basement was truly a terrible ordeal—loneliness, silence, and no hope in sight.
Andy needed Reed to regain some sanity, which would help with the dark magic transfiguration ritual that was about to begin.
Clang!
"Speak!"
Reed pounded on the bars of the cage angrily, his eyes red as he looked at Andy. "You speak to me! What do you want from me?"
"Speak, you demon!"
Andy paused, turned his head, and looked at Reed. "I need to complete a magic experiment."
"I would prefer to get the results of the experiment on someone else than on myself."
Andy took two steps towards the iron cage. "If you can survive this experiment and Vow allegiance to me... I can let you live after the experiment is over."
Reed desperately squeezed his head between the bars of the cage, trying to get closer so he could see Andy's face.
"You're dreaming! Dreaming!"
Reed shouted, "Kid, I'm going to kill you!"
Andy said with an expressionless face, "Tenacious will... I like you even more."
Suddenly, the basement became quiet.
Apart from the occasional gasp of breath from Reed, there was no sound.
Andy waited patiently.
Although Andy would definitely use the Imperius Curse to control Reed and complete the dark magic transfiguration ritual.
Strong emotions would cause the hormones in the blood to surge.
After all, the ritual was performed with blood, and Andy felt that it would be better to wait until Reed calmed down.
In addition, the emotions might make Reed break free of the control of the Imperius Curse—even if he only regained a little lucidity for a short time, it could still disrupt the entire ritual.
But Reed obviously didn't feel comfortable with the silence. He had been quiet for far too long. For seven whole days, he had not seen a single ray of light, nor had he had anyone to talk to.
"Talk!"
Reed yelled, "Aren't you going to perform some magic experiment? What are you waiting for?"
At this, Reed suddenly cracked open his mouth, "Are you afraid to let me out?"
"I'm waiting for you to calm down." Andy's tone remained calm, as if he were talking about an unrelated matter.
Reed was taken aback.
Then, he once again cracked open his mouth, revealing a hideous smile, "I'm calm now."
Andy ignored him and just quietly watched.
It was clear that the intense emotions could not be maintained for long.
Especially when no one paid him any attention and no one argued with him, he would adjust his emotions on his own.
Reed was still clinging to the bars of the cage, his eyes fixed on Andy.
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," Reed suddenly said.
Andy controlled a ball of light to float next to him. "My name is Andy Collins."
As he spoke, Andy also let out a sigh of relief.
It seems that Reed has calmed down a bit.
When someone is agitated, it is best not to pay them any attention. The more you pay them attention, the more they will act up.
On the other hand, if no one pays them any attention, they will get bored and stop.
When they stop acting up, their emotions will calm down.
Reed still looked at Andy, and after a while, he said again, "It was in the newspaper; the Daily Prophet reported your deeds."
"Hey, hey! They never would have thought that you, the evil young wizard, would experiment on living people for your new spell."
Andy asked curiously, "So what else? What else did you read?"
Reed thought for a moment and said, "The Patronus Charm, right? Was that spell successful only because you experimented on other people?"
"And the Animagus, you're the eighth!"
"What's next? Hehehe...what do you want from me?"
Andy leaned in a little closer and observed the look in Reed's eyes.
"It seems that you have calmed down."
Andy said, "Able to think, and you can even recall the content of a newspaper you read a long time ago."
Having said this, Andy suddenly raised his wand.
"Imperio!"
Reed: "..."
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