Hagrid's hut was warm and cosy, the fireplace radiating heat that kept the wind and snow firmly at bay outside.
The air was filled with the aroma of rock cakes and black tea.
Hagrid wiped at the corners of his eyes, his voice slightly choked.
"...I really have to thank you, Lucien. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I really would have ended up taking a trip to Azkaban."
He could not help shuddering.
"That place is no place for a human! Those Dementors, they're absolutely terrifying..."
"Dementors?" Ron asked curiously from the side. "What are those?"
Hermione immediately answered for him.
"They're the guards of Azkaban, a type of dark magical creature. They can suck away your happy memories, leaving you with only the most painful ones. They can even perform the Dementor's Kiss, which removes your soul from your body..."
Harry and Ron turned pale as they listened, instinctively shrinking their necks.
"Hey! Don't worry," Hagrid quickly reassured them, trying to sound cheerful. "As long as you behave and don't end up in Azkaban, you'll never have to see those things!"
Lucien silently took a sip of tea, muttering to himself inwardly.
No need to go to Azkaban. You'll see them at Hogwarts next year.
Hagrid's mood quickly improved again, his face becoming rosy.
"Now that the truth from fifty years ago has finally come to light, the Ministry of Magic officially informed me that I'm allowed to go back to Ollivander's and buy a new wand! From now on, I can use Magic openly and properly!"
Ron blinked, as though suddenly remembering something, and turned to Harry.
"Wait, Hagrid. Harry told me that when you picked him up from the Dursleys, you turned his horrible cousin into a pig, or something?"
Hagrid's large, hairy face instantly went pale, and he waved his huge hands frantically.
"Shh! That... that was an accident! You mustn't tell anyone! Just pretend it never happened, alright?"
Everyone promised in unison to keep the secret.
Harry and the others were still somewhat confused, but Lucien's gaze drifted toward the conspicuous pink umbrella beside Hagrid's bed.
Although Hagrid's wand had been snapped by the Ministry of Magic fifty years ago, Dumbledore had secretly repaired it with the Elder Wand, and it had remained hidden inside the umbrella ever since.
As they chatted, Hermione accidentally glanced at Lucien and suddenly felt that his dark green eyes seemed even deeper than usual.
The moment their eyes met, she felt a slight sting and involuntarily closed her eyes with a soft hiss.
Noticing her reaction, Lucien asked,
"What's wrong?"
Hermione shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
"It's nothing... it's just that looking into your eyes feels strange."
Harry nodded beside her.
"I felt the same thing just now. For some reason, I didn't dare look directly at them."
Ron refused to believe it. Leaning over, he stared straight into Lucien's eyes.
Two seconds later, he hurriedly turned away.
Hagrid spoke in a muffled voice,
"I don't feel anything. They look the same as always to me."
Deep in thought, Lucien took out his silver-rimmed glasses from his pocket and put them on.
"How about now?"
"Much better!"
After thinking it over, Lucien understood the reason.
He had only recently completed the modification of his Eye of Peering Magic using the Basilisk's eyes. His magical power had not yet fully settled, causing some of it to leak out unintentionally.
All of his original abilities had been enhanced to varying degrees, including tracking magical flows, dynamic vision, microscopic magnification, and more.
But the most unique aspect of these eyes was the new ability they had acquired.
As long as he established eye contact with a living creature, the target would experience varying degrees of rigidity.
It was somewhat similar to the Basilisk's death stare, though the effect was far weaker.
After all, he had merely used the Basilisk's eyes as materials for the modification. A wizard's magical circuits were fundamentally different from those of a Basilisk, making it impossible to perfectly replicate the original ability.
Lucien had experimented with a large rooster he had borrowed from Hagrid.
If he maintained eye contact long enough, the target's stiffness would gradually deepen, eventually reaching a lethal level.
The problem was that the process was far too slow.
Even against a chicken, he had to stare for several seconds before bringing it close to death.
Afterwards, he compensated the rooster with a nice hot bath and a generous assortment of seasonings.
In any case, it had smelled rather delicious.
Further experiments revealed that a brief glance could induce varying levels of rigidity depending on the target's magical strength.
Simply put, the stronger the target's Magic, the weaker the effect.
Although he had never tested the lethal effect on stronger opponents, Lucien could already deduce that if he wanted to kill someone merely by staring at them, he would probably need to stock up on eye drops. Prolonged staring made his eyes painfully dry.
As a result, Lucien found the ability somewhat mediocre. He suspected it would have little effect on true powerhouses like Dumbledore.
Perhaps the ability was also influenced by the gap between his own magical strength and that of his opponent.
Lucien speculated that as his own Magic grew stronger, both the rigidity and lethal effects would become more powerful.
He planned to conduct further comparisons and experiments after his magical power had increased significantly.
Still, he felt this ability was best suited for overwhelming weaker opponents.
Against someone far beneath him, a mere glance could kill them, but aside from looking impressive, there was little practical value in that.
Against opponents of comparable strength, however, the rigidity effect could create opportunities.
Lucien glanced at Hagrid and pondered why he had not felt anything earlier.
Besides the fact that Lucien had not actively used the Eye of Peering Magic and only a trace of magical leakage had occurred, another factor was Hagrid's extraordinary magical resistance as a half-giant.
Lucien suspected that even without a wand, Hagrid could probably swat an entire crowd to death while shrugging off spells from ordinary wizards.
The conversation soon shifted to plans for the Christmas holidays, and Lucien mentioned that he did not intend to remain at Hogwarts this year.
After all, he had quite a few things to deal with outside.
Ron said excitedly,
"I'm going home! Fred and George have been saving up money to buy me a new wand!"
"They've been saving for a whole month! They usually love teasing me, but when it really matters, they're proper big brothers!"
Harry listened with undisguised envy in his eyes.
He had always longed for the lively and loving atmosphere of the Weasley family.
Lucien, however, looked slightly puzzled.
The twins had spent an entire month saving money to buy Ron a wand?
A wand only cost seven Galleons.
Were the wages he paid them really that low?
Sigh, that kid Ron...
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