If he wanted to become someone respected and revered, what kind of image should he present?
Before the press conference began, Dawn had been thinking about this question constantly.
At first, he had intended to imitate the image of the old headmaster whom he interacted with most often: steady, mature, and approachable.
But after thinking it over, he felt that such an image did not suit him.
And so...
He had allowed a little of his true nature to show through, then wrapped it in a magnificent exterior, disguising himself as a devoted "seeker of the truth."
Therefore, everything was a performance.
Dawn had not truly put his heart into it.
As for the doubts, contempt, and lack of cooperation he had encountered during the press conference, Dawn had not cared in the slightest.
After all, his emotions were not abundant enough for him to take the reactions of every insignificant person to heart.
He lowered his head.
The atmosphere below the stage was still heated.
Dawn curled the corners of his mouth upward, feeling that his performance and speech had more or less achieved their intended goal.
Although cutting off his own head had been a little painful and mildly self-abusive, there was nothing he could do about that.
If he wanted to gain prestige, he could not limit himself to being known as a mere genius.
He needed people to trust and revere him, to grant him a position comparable to that of the old headmaster.
Therefore...
He had to show that he was different.
He had to demonstrate his strength and excellence.
Only then could he rapidly increase his influence in the eyes of others.
Furthermore, through his speech just now, he had quietly promoted the idea that "magic can accomplish anything."
Even if its effects could not be seen in the short term...
As long as he could plant a seed, perhaps with enough time, the Collective Consciousness could be used to pry at the supposedly immutable laws of the world and make them begin to loosen.
Dawn looked forward to such a future.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
But all of this happened within only a few moments.
Dawn did not waste any more time. He came back to himself, and as the commotion began to die down, he clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen. I completely understand how excited you are right now, but our time is limited. Let us get straight to the point."
He had found the feeling he used to have when teaching during the previous school year.
With a wave of his hand, several candles overhead suddenly went out, while the sunlight filtering in from outside also dimmed.
It was a spell Dawn had discovered in a book. It produced an effect similar to the magical device known as the Deluminator.
"Today's press conference consists of only two parts. The first is, naturally, the public release of my spells."
Countless curious gazes turned toward him.
One group was particularly conspicuous.
Dawn looked at the African wizards whose eyes had suddenly lit up, their expectations obvious.
He silently thought that they were dreaming, then continued as though he had not noticed.
"I will be publicly revealing three spells I have recently created.
I will explain their incantations and wand movements, and I will demonstrate each of them in front of everyone to prove that they are genuine.
Of course, if anyone has doubts about the spells previously published in the newspapers, you are welcome to raise your objections directly."
Dawn only spoke a few sentences before quickly moving past the opening remarks.
He gently swept his hand through the air.
Several lines of glowing text immediately appeared, floating in midair.
They shimmered brightly, standing out especially clearly in the dimmed hall.
"The first spell is called the Belief Charm, or, alternatively, the Practice Assistance Charm.
The incantation is Firmly Believe. When casting it, you need only point your wand at the target's heart."
Dawn gestured toward the floating text.
"Everyone should understand that when we wizards cast spells, the most important factors are a firm belief and the corresponding emotions.
The reason practice increases proficiency with a spell is, ultimately, because repeated casting gradually makes us believe in our ability to perform it."
He paused.
"It sounds as though anyone should be capable of doing this, but in reality, it is also something that varies from person to person and depends heavily on talent.
This is especially true for young wizards from Muggle families.
When they first come into contact with magic, mastering it quickly is not always easy.
But once this spell is cast upon them, they will become extremely confident for a period of time, greatly increasing the speed at which they learn spells."
As Dawn explained the spell's effects, he casually pointed a finger and began casting it upon the wizards throughout the Great Hall.
As a matter of fact...
This spell was one of the results of his research into soul patterns some time ago.
Everyone knew that the wizarding world possessed many potions capable of affecting emotions, such as the Anger Potion he had once consumed, or the Calming Draught that could soothe one's mind.
Through studying these potions, he had identified the portion of the special patterns related to emotions.
Then, after studying the changes in the pattern while drinking Felix Felicis, he had created this spell.
Of course!
This spell merely reproduced the confident emotional state brought about by Felix Felicis.
That strange sensation of inspiration flashing through the mind, as though one's intuition had been greatly enhanced, was something Dawn had failed to replicate.
But...
This was enough.
If he could truly create a perfect replacement for Felix Felicis, he would never have been willing to publicly release it.
Meanwhile, below the stage...
Although most people who had been affected by the spell could feel its effects, most of them were simply treating it as something interesting to try and were not paying much attention.
The school staff, however, were particularly interested.
Professor Flitwick was one such person.
After feeling the effects of the Belief Charm, he thought for a moment before casting a Levitation Charm on the corner of his robes.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
As an experienced Charms professor, he could be certain that Dawn had not lied.
The spell really could help young wizards learn magic more quickly.
"How remarkable."
Flitwick murmured inwardly as he looked at the boy on the stage. A trace of gratification flashed through his eyes.
At that moment...
A second group of text appeared in the air.
Dawn spoke again.
"As for the second spell, I call it the Body Strengthening Charm. The incantation is Body Strengthening. It is a spell that primarily affects the body.
Although we wizards mainly rely on magic and magical power in our daily lives, there is no denying that, sometimes, a strong body can help us accomplish many things.
After casting this spell, to describe it in Muggle terms, the resilience and density of your bones and flesh will increase, granting you greater strength, speed, and resistance to impact.
The effect is temporary and can only be used for emergencies.
But with long-term use, combined with proper exercise, it is enough to significantly improve one's physical condition."
As Dawn spoke, he explained the wand movements required to cast it.
There was nothing complicated about the origin of this spell.
He had created it after comparing the differences between the special patterns of numerous creatures.
Then...
Dawn waved his hand once more.
Once again, he subtly demonstrated his mastery of wandless and nonverbal magic, leaving everyone with an even stronger impression of his power.
This time...
The people who reacted most strongly were the decadent wizards from the pure-blood families.
They indulged themselves in pleasure, and their bodies had suffered badly from years of excess.
Naturally, they were particularly fond of this spell.
Professor Sprout's reaction was no less enthusiastic, her expression filled with obvious delight.
But...
Her reason for being interested was considerably more respectable than that of those pure-blood wizards.
For experts in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, they frequently had to travel through remote wilderness, and there were many occasions when they could not use magic.
Having a stronger body was naturally a tremendous advantage.
"Wow!"
Ron could not help exclaiming from nearby.
He looked down at his clenched fist in astonishment, feeling strength surging through his body.
"This strength... If I hit Malfoy with this, he'll be crying for days!"
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and ignored the comment, continuing to watch Dawn on the stage with the same seriousness she would have shown during a lesson.
"Finally, the third spell. Universal Healing. It is a spell capable of healing certain forms of injury."
Dawn continued.
"I have conducted detailed comparisons, and I can guarantee that under identical conditions, its effects are considerably stronger than Episkey.
Whether it is a minor injury, a severed limb, or missing bone, as long as it is related to the physical body, this spell can heal it.
Furthermore, for minor spiritual damage caused by spells such as the Imperius Curse and Memory Charms, it possesses a certain healing effect as well."
Dawn's voice remained calm.
The audience, however, erupted into another wave of noise.
This time, the uproar was even greater than the previous two combined.
Dumbledore tried the spell himself.
After confirming that its effects were genuine, even he could not help but sigh.
Dawn had truly done something good this time.
Since ancient times, healing injuries to the soul had been among the most difficult forms of treatment imaginable.
If a single spell could accomplish such a thing with relative ease, it would be a tremendous benefit to every wizard.
Only Fudge, sitting among the Ministry officials at the very front, seemed to understand what this meant.
He continuously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
What did Dawn mean by "detailed comparisons"?
What did he mean by being able to heal both body and soul?
How many experiments had this boy conducted to determine all of this?
The Minister of Magic was screaming inwardly.
...
Dawn paid no attention to the commotion below.
He looked at the three groups of floating text before him, thought for a moment, and waved his hand.
A large number of candles descended from the ceiling of the Great Hall.
Under the influence of magic, they transformed in an instant into sheets of paper bearing the three spells, then floated through the air and landed in everyone's hands.
"All right, everyone."
Dawn raised his voice.
"You can take your time experimenting with these three spells after the press conference ends. Now, we come to the most important part."
He stroked the feathers of the raven perched on his arm and gave it a gentle shake.
The raven suddenly transformed into a table and dropped to the floor with a thud.
"I know that if I merely revealed these three spells, many of you would feel unsatisfied, or perhaps think that they don't live up to what I said earlier.
So, from this moment onward, I will temporarily play the role of a doctor.
Any incurable disease, whether it is a blood curse or something else, can be brought to me. I will treat it here, in front of everyone!"
Dawn spoke with confidence.
He conjured a chair, sat down behind the table, and began the second attraction of the press conference.
The wizards below stared at one another before erupting into an uproar.
Any incurable disease could be treated?
Even the director of St. Mungo's would not dare make such a claim!
Their curiosity was immediately aroused.
They looked around, hoping that someone would hurry up and go forward to test his claim.
Unfortunately, almost every wizard present was healthy.
There was hardly anyone there who actually needed treatment.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall grew somewhat awkward.
But...
It did not matter.
Dawn had anticipated this long ago and had prepared a plant in advance before the press conference began.
His gaze shifted toward a nervous-looking man with golden curls in the audience.
Dawn smiled faintly.
"Mr. Greengrass, I have heard that your family carries a blood curse that causes its victims to die young."
"How about it? Would you like me to give it a try?"
"Of course!"
After a moment of silence, remembering his daughter's condition, Gervais Greengrass knew he had no reason to back down.
He took a deep breath and carefully took the hand of the blonde girl beside him.
He walked along the path the crowd opened for him and stepped onto the stage, stopping across the table from Dawn.
Dawn tilted his head as he studied the girl.
Although she had been born into a pure-blood family, there was something gentle about her.
He subconsciously rubbed his chin.
Astoria Greengrass.
Gervais's second daughter.
A first-year student who had just begun attending Hogwarts this year.
And, in the original story, the girl who would eventually marry Draco Malfoy.
"H-Hello."
Astoria felt somewhat frightened by his stare and spoke nervously.
It seemed Gervais had told her something beforehand.
"Don't be nervous. Just give me your wrist."
Dawn did not waste any words.
After the girl nervously extended her left hand, he placed two fingers against it, allowing his magic to seep inside.
First, he shattered the black lines.
Then he narrowed his eyes and glanced at Daphne Greengrass, who was sitting below the stage with a tense expression.
Using her pattern as a template, Dawn began modifying Astoria's pattern.
The Greengrass family's blood curse was far gentler than the Blood Curse Beast transformation.
It affected only the physical body without causing problems to the soul or sense of self.
Therefore...
Dawn's treatment was extremely simple.
All he needed to do was use the special pattern belonging to her sister as a template and proportionally reproduce the abstract patterns related to the body, excluding her appearance.
That way, even her bloodline would remain unchanged.
And so...
Very soon, Dawn withdrew his fingers.
Astoria had not expected the treatment to be so fast.
She froze for a moment, but almost immediately, she felt a strange lightness spread through her body.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Dad, I..."
She instinctively looked at Gervais, who stood beside her nervously, then carefully felt her body again.
Her expression was bewildered.
"I... I think I'm really all right?"
All right?
Already?
Gervais recalled the barely two minutes during which Dawn had touched her wrist.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
He simply could not believe it.
Worried that his daughter had been deceived, he quickly grabbed her shoulders and used the method passed down through his family to examine her condition.
In the end, however, he could only stare blankly.
The blood curse that had plagued their family for centuries had really been cured just like that?
"Thank you, Mr. Richter. Thank you so very much!"
Gervais took a deep breath and bowed.
His voice contained considerably more sincerity than before.
Dawn, however, did not particularly care.
Whether Gervais was sincere or not, the Unbreakable Vow already inscribed upon his wrist made the distinction largely irrelevant.
He simply waved his hand, motioning for the man to clear the space.
Then he looked toward the audience.
"Is there anyone else?"
The crowd became increasingly restless.
They looked at Dawn, then at Gervais.
Some wondered whether the two had arranged this beforehand.
After all, the treatment had been so absurdly simple.
And a condition like a blood curse, whose long-term effects could not immediately be observed, could they not simply claim that it had been cured?
Still, remembering the three spells Dawn had just demonstrated, quite a few people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
They began sending messages through various means, contacting friends and acquaintances who suffered from incurable conditions.
Every year, countless wizards were injured by magic.
Among them were many who suffered no immediate threat to their lives but whose injuries could never be completely healed.
Dawn sat calmly behind the table and waited.
During the boring lull, however, he raised his eyebrows and swept his gaze across the crowd once more.
His eyes lingered discreetly on Lupin among the professors.
Lupin did not seem to trust him very much.
Or perhaps he simply did not want to expose the fact that he was a werewolf.
He looked hesitant but did not step onto the stage.
Dawn shrugged.
Fine by him.
It did not matter much.
He had considered using the treatment of a werewolf as a way to make a name for himself.
If Lupin really came forward, Dawn was confident that he could restore his body to normal.
But when it came to the soul, there was a possibility that something could go wrong.
If Lupin stayed away, that also removed one possible source of failure.
Bang!
A sudden noise came from below.
Dawn's gaze shifted.
He saw Neville suddenly shove his way through the crowd beneath the stage and run out of the Great Hall as though he had gone mad.
Dawn rubbed his chin.
He understood immediately.
The chubby boy had probably thought of his parents, who were still in the hospital, and wanted to bring them here.
Dawn could not help recalling his past interactions with Neville.
But before he could dwell on them for long, another sound came from nearby.
Whoosh.
He turned his head.
The fireplace beside the Great Hall suddenly burst into flames, and a haggard woman around thirty years old stepped out of it.
As she felt the eyes of the entire hall turn toward her, she instinctively gripped the sleeve covering her left arm.
She took a deep breath.
"Sorry for interrupting. I heard that there was a doctor here who could treat my condition, so I came to take a look."
"Madam, please come up."
Dawn's voice carried across the hall.
Perhaps she had received accurate information beforehand.
Even after seeing that the person offering treatment was only a thirteen-year-old boy, the woman did not show any surprise.
She simply walked to the other side of the table and carefully rolled up her left sleeve.
A thin, shriveled arm covered in black, charred-looking flesh was revealed.
"This..."
The woman took a deep breath, her expression bitter.
"This is a curse I contracted last year while working as a curse-breaker in Egypt.
Ever since then, my arm has remained like this. No matter what method I tried, I could not cure it.
Even cutting it off and allowing it to regrow produced the same result."
Dawn raised an eyebrow.
When he heard that it was an Egyptian curse, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Driven by curiosity, he placed his hand against the woman's shriveled wrist.
Magic seeped inside.
Dawn's understanding of the special patterns governing the human body was already deep enough.
With a slight adjustment, the barren flesh of the woman's left arm immediately began to fill out.
But...
Before the woman could show any delight, the newly restored arm began withering again at a visible speed.
"Does it... not work?"
The woman stared at the familiar sight.
Remembering the despair brought by countless failed treatments in the past, her heart sank.
Dawn said nothing.
He merely clicked his tongue and discreetly glanced at the wizards watching from below.
If he wanted to maximize his reputation, this was precisely the sort of moment when he absolutely could not afford a failure.
Dawn narrowed his eyes and began thinking.
From the way the curse manifested itself, its effects should be limited to the physical body.
He carefully examined the woman's pattern floating within the silvery mist.
But after a moment, he still found nothing wrong.
This was troublesome.
Dawn quietly clicked his tongue.
The only explanation was that the special pattern affected by the curse did not belong entirely to the woman herself.
It existed outside her body.
Just like Anubis had been.
But...
He was not completely helpless.
After thinking for a moment, Dawn pressed his hand against the floor of the Great Hall.
He first used the Secret Charm to open a space within it, then beckoned toward the woman.
"I have a way to remove this curse. However, the entire process requires a quiet space. If you're willing, come with me."
With that, he jumped directly into the floor.
The woman was equally decisive.
Knowing that she had already reached the point where she had nothing to lose, she immediately followed Dawn and jumped down after him.
In an instant...
The stage was completely empty.
Dumbledore slowly frowned.
He had an instinctive wariness whenever Dawn left his line of sight.
For a moment, he hesitated, unsure whether he should follow them and take a look.
But before he could make up his mind...
A pure white arm suddenly reached out from the floor.
The woman then climbed out after it, her face filled with wild joy as she shouted:
"It's gone! It's really gone! The curse on my arm is gone! Merlin's beard! This is incredible!"
___________
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