"I want you to understand it, and to learn how to use it."
Snape said this as he flicked his wand in a sharp, slashing motion, serpentine in its movement.
A burst of fire erupted from the tip of his wand. It began as a small flame, but it seemed to possess a will of its own, constantly searching for things nearby to consume. As the discarded materials in the dungeon caught fire, the blaze rapidly grew larger.
And as it grew, beasts began to emerge from within it.
"Fiendfyre summons cursed flames with a will of their own.
These flames actively seek out and devour everything in their path—especially… life.
Once they have consumed enough, the fire takes the shape of enormous beasts.
It is extraordinarily hot, unbelievably destructive, and one of the few substances capable of destroying almost anything."
Snape explained the Fiendfyre curse in an even tone.
In the firelight, Sean could clearly sense that Snape's level of control over Fiendfyre was a full tier above Professor Quirrell's.
The moment Quirrell's fire-beasts had taken shape, he had already started struggling.
Snape, by contrast, still looked calm and entirely in control.
"This is an extremely advanced curse. Only a very small number of powerful and… ah yes, 'morally dubious' wizards would ever dare attempt it.
But let me tell you this—when fools fear a blade, do they truly fear the blade itself?"
Snape let out a contemptuous laugh and fixed Sean with a burning stare.
"What they fear is themselves. They fear the version of themselves that cannot control power—or authority."
With that, Snape drew back his hand. When he waved his wand again, the flames died down in an instant.
Sean guessed he had done it with a nonverbal spell.
"Remember this well: once Fiendfyre is unleashed, it is extremely difficult to extinguish or control.
Ordinary fire-extinguishing charms are completely useless against it. The only way to counter it is with magical power far beyond that of the caster—strong enough to suppress it and alter it."
Snape cast a light glance at a chair that had already been burned to ash, then flicked his wand again. A plank in the corner hopped and twisted, transforming into a new chair.
"And as for facing Fiendfyre when it goes out of control, Green, I expect to see the fastest running speed of your life."
That was how Snape concluded.
The days spent learning Fiendfyre were exceptionally dangerous.
The first time Sean summoned it, the flames roared outward and filled half the room. Nearly half of Snape's private stores were destroyed.
It was the first time Snape had visibly shown fear. He cast Finite Incantatem without hesitation and forced the flames under control, then looked at the exhausted young wizard with a strange expression.
"It's controlling you, stupid… Green!"
he snapped, face dark.
"Professor… how am I supposed to control it?"
Sean asked, carefully, with some effort.
"I'd wager that troll-sized brain of yours is filled with images of Fiendfyre after it fully forms. If you imagine it as something that powerful, then you are doomed never to control it.
You have to be far stronger than it is, Green."
Snape explained coldly.
So Sean's second attempt began. This time, he imagined Fiendfyre as something very weak, and only then did a thin ribbon of flame begin to rise.
Unfortunately, because his control was still lacking, the fire still formed beasts within seconds.
A fire-breathing giant serpent, a chimera, and a fire-dragon began hunting down and devouring everything in their path, and another third of Snape's collection vanished.
Caught off guard, both Sean and Snape stared blankly at the cupboards. They stood empty now, with only drifting ash left behind.
"Professor… maybe we should practice outside…"
Sean collapsed into a chair and said this very carefully.
"Right here!"
Snape suddenly roared.
His face looked dreadful, but his stubbornness had only hardened into something even more immovable.
Only here—down in the dungeon, in the place where he had redesigned the magical wards—could they avoid being interrupted by a certain meddlesome wizard.
He agreed with Dumbledore in principle.
But he trusted that idiot to control himself.
Time was running short. Once the Dark Lord's power weakened to a certain point…
No one knew what he would do.
The training continued for a long time. By the third attempt, Sean had already unlocked Fiendfyre.
Now it was steadily advancing toward Beginner.
At the same time, he discovered something strange about how the spell was judged.
The panel only rated the powerful Fiendfyre he cast as Apprentice, but when he cast a Fiendfyre that was strictly controlled, it was rated Skilled.
That broke the pattern he had known so far. For example, with the Wand-Lighting Charm, the brighter the light, the higher the proficiency rating.
"If your intelligence hasn't already been burned away along with the cupboards, then you'd better take out paper and write this down right now.
In Dark Magic, control matters far more than destruction.
I know too many examples of idiots who were killed by their own Dark Arts. So remember this well, Sean Green.
Real power lies in building inward, not grasping outward—"
After saying that coldly, Snape slammed the dungeon door shut with a bang.
If it could still be called a door at all—it had already been burned away by Fiendfyre, half-consumed.
Staring at the ruined cupboards, Snape's expression was impossible to read.
He couldn't help thinking of those vast flames erupting naturally, of the fire-beasts that had awakened in such a short span of time.
Something complicated flashed through his eyes before hardening back into resolve.
Outside the dungeon, Sean was still thinking about Snape's final words.
When it came to Dark Magic, Snape was undoubtedly a rare genius. According to Sirius:
Even when Snape had first arrived at school, he already knew more curses than half the seventh-years.
And if Snape believed that, in Dark Magic, a wizard's ability to control it mattered more than increasing its raw power—
then did that mean that in Dark Magic, a wizard's ability to shape and master their own beliefs mattered more than simply hardening those beliefs?
Ravenclaw had said: when magic was still in its wild age, the ancient wizards set foot on a road that led straight to magic's source.
They explored the essence of magic, and used knowledge and wisdom to build themselves a faith that could not be broken.
Wizards explored magic, strengthened their beliefs, then unleashed stronger magic, and then continued exploring those stronger forms of magic…
That was what the ancient wizards had gone through.
But before all that—before wizards began exploring magic—they had been simpler beings.
They used no wands. They spoke no incantations.
In Ravenclaw's memories, wizard duels from that era sometimes looked less like magic and more like contests to see who could become angrier first.
Whoever first stirred their magic through rage won.
So at that time, forget challenging dragons—survival itself was difficult.
And yet later, wizards rose to stand at the very top of the magical world.
What changed along the way?
~~~
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