As expected of a notorious Dark wizard—he could effortlessly change someone's perception. If Cecil wanted to, could he forcibly alter a person's will and make them commit suicide?
Such a method of manipulating the mind was truly terrifying; without making a sound, he could accomplish so many things.
Eda had no idea how Cecil did it. If it were magic, then why hadn't she sensed any fluctuation in magical energy?
This technique seemed more like hypnosis or psychological suggestion, but even those couldn't be executed as effortlessly and undetectably as Cecil's method.
Fortunately, Eda still had "The Last Glory." The ring's passive ability, Unyielding Resolve, was designed precisely to counter this kind of manipulation.
It was the brief flash of light just now that snapped Eda out of it, preventing her from being fooled by Cecil once again—saving her from metaphorically thanking him after buying herself a wheelchair.
She had already been influenced twice by Cecil's tricks—at least, those were the instances she was aware of. Who knew if there had been others she hadn't noticed?
With her notoriously bad temper, how could she possibly tolerate this?
Eda's eyes sharpened as she glared fiercely at Cecil.
Anyone with functioning eyesight could see Eda's fury. She made no attempt to conceal it—her piercing gaze and the slight lift of her golden hair in the air were clear indicators of her anger.
An enraged person was capable of anything, just like in Muggle murder cases, where crimes of passion were always the most common.
Cecil hadn't expected Eda to turn hostile so quickly. He, of course, knew why she was angry, and he also knew that if he provoked her further or made any sudden moves, she wouldn't hesitate to strike. Realizing he had pushed things too far, Cecil dropped his smile, took two steps back, and spread his hands open to show that he held no weapons.
"Forcing you to agree with my viewpoint using this method was my mistake," Cecil said. "But if you had no trust in me at all, this magic wouldn't have worked in the first place."
This technique was something Cecil had discovered in an ancient book. It required no magical energy to activate—only trust. It was a spell designed specifically for betrayal, a blade meant to stab those closest to you.
By the Black Lake, Cecil had first laid the groundwork using his status as a professor. Then, he had woven a tragic story that built a foundation of trust between him and Eda. Only with these conditions in place had he been able to successfully cast the spell on her.
Moreover, using this magic came at a cost—the greater the effect and harm inflicted, the heavier the price to be paid. Today, he had only forced Eda to momentarily agree with his perspective, so the impact on himself was negligible. But the spell he had cast by the Black Lake had taken a significant toll on him, worsening his already fragile condition.
"This is what trust is," Cecil continued. "Even a professor who has treated you well might turn on you when you least expect it, or even push you into the abyss. That's why I say—never trust anyone, unless you have the strength to handle potential betrayal."
"Maybe I'm naive," Eda said, "but I still believe there are people in this world whom I can trust unconditionally. The deeper you are in darkness, the more you must yearn for the light—otherwise, you'll be consumed by the dark."
"Let me tell you a story I heard in Azkaban," Cecil said. "I personally guarantee that this one is true, but whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Without waiting for Eda's response, he began his tale. "Once upon a time, there were four Gryffindor boys. Their bond was stronger than even yours with the Weasley twins..."
"Let's call the protagonist of this story J," Cecil began. "J lived, ate, and trained alongside three other people for seven years. Even after graduation, they trusted each other with their lives. Their strong friendship could have lasted a lifetime—unfortunately, it didn't.
"A terrifying Dark wizard set his sights on J, intending to kill him. But J and his three friends together were no match for this wizard, so J had no choice but to go into hiding. He used the Fidelius Charm to protect his location, entrusting one of his three friends as the Secret Keeper."
Cecil paused in his storytelling and turned to Eda. "That kind of life-or-death friendship—would you say it's even stronger than the bond you have with the two Weasley brothers? You'd think J was completely safe, wouldn't you? His closest friends would never betray him… right?"
The story sounded familiar to Eda, though it felt like a shortened version, missing some details. But the ending likely remained unchanged—J's friend had betrayed him, and he had lost his life.
Even if she hadn't heard this story before, Eda could easily guess J hadn't met a good end.
After all, Cecil had been repeating the same lesson—never trust others. If the story had a happy ending, wouldn't that contradict everything he was saying?
Knowing how it would conclude, Eda answered truthfully, "J was betrayed by his friend. He died, and the one who sold him out was sent to Azkaban."
"Exactly," Cecil nodded. "J was betrayed by the person he trusted the most and died at the hands of the Dark wizard."
He then added, "The only people in this world you can even slightly trust are your parents. No one else is reliable. But… sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something painful for you."
Cecil had spent the whole day talking and circling around one point—without enough power, Eda shouldn't trust anyone. The only person she could truly rely on was herself.
The idea was selfish and dark, but it was close enough to reality—because the truth was always so cruel that people could hardly bear to face it.
"Have you really never trusted anyone in your entire life?" Eda asked. Her tone was harsh, and she didn't bother with any form of respect.
Cecil lowered his head in silence, saying nothing for a long time. Finally, after a while, he spoke. "There was someone once. But she betrayed me. She was also the first person I killed using Dark magic."
With just that one simple sentence, Cecil stopped talking. Even though decades had passed, he still didn't want to bring up that part of his past. When he died, the memory of it would die with him.
Glancing at the sky, Cecil murmured, "It's about time."
"What?" Eda hadn't heard him clearly; his voice was too quiet.
"You and I—we need to leave the cemetery," Cecil said.
"Professor McGonagall is coming to pick me up in the afternoon. Until I see her, I'm not going anywhere," Eda replied. Right now, Cecil had zero credibility in her eyes—there was no way she would leave with him.
"If you don't want this late lady's gravestone to be destroyed," Cecil said in a soft yet persuasive tone, "then you'd better come with me."
But to Eda, those words sounded especially harsh—making her feel as if Cecil was using Lady Mary's grave to threaten her into submission.
Eda stepped in front of Cecil, shielding Lady Mary's grave behind her. At the same time, she raised her wand and said, "If you want to leave, you can go on your own. I'm not going anywhere. Professor McGonagall will be here soon."
The moment she raised her wand, it meant that she had officially torn apart all pretense with Cecil as her professor. She also deliberately mentioned Professor McGonagall's name, hoping to use it to intimidate Cecil.
Cecil was increasingly convinced that he had played his hand too recklessly. He really shouldn't have used that spell earlier—then things wouldn't have gotten so troublesome.
Normally, Eda always put on a well-behaved front in front of the professors, making them overlook the fact that she was a Gryffindor with a rather bad temper.
Now, he wasn't sure how to convince Eda to leave the graveyard with him. Cecil had no desire to die right here in the cemetery. Would it be too late to start digging his own grave now?
But, in fact, Cecil didn't need to think about how to persuade Eda—because, just as he was racking his brain, someone else was already doing it for him through action.
Three curses, filled with intense malice, shot toward them from three different directions, attacking both Cecil and Eda.
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