Then, Erwin Cavendish opened his personal status screen!
[Name: Erwin Cavendish!]
[Age: Eleven years old!]
[Identity: Current head of the Cavendish family, incoming first-year student at Hogwarts!]
[Talents:
Transfiguration Talent: 3/10!
Ordinary Spells Talent: 6/10!
Dark Arts Talent: 9/10!
Potions Talent: 6/10!
Ancient Magic Talent: */10! (Locked, requires a special method to unlock!)]
[Pets: None!]
[Special Skill Cards: Mana Reserve (Gold!), Magical Creature Affinity (Gold!).]
[Spells Mastered: Accio (Level 1), Levitation Charm (Level 1), Shield Charm (Level 1), Expelliarmus (Level 1), Occlumency (Level 1), Expecto Patronum (Level 1), Killing Curse (Level 1), Imperius Curse (Level 1), Cruciatus Curse (Level 1).]
[Magic Proficiency: 5100!]
[Items: Big Diced Meat X3! Magic-Enhancing Potion (Shoddy Version) X2! Grindelwald's Puppet X1! Versatile Robe X1! Mysterious Egg X1! Acacia wood wand!]
[Current Prestige: 600!]
Looking at his status screen, Erwin nodded with satisfaction.
This batch of lottery draws had given him a solid foothold in the wizarding world.
Erwin asked in his mind, "System, can I obtain this magic proficiency through my own practice?"
[Ding! Yes, the host can gain skill proficiency through personal practice! The system is merely a cheat tool; it cannot replace the host!]
Erwin nodded.
If that was the case, he didn't need to rush into using the system's proficiency points.
He could completely practice on his own first.
Erwin tossed the book in his hand straight to the side.
Ridiculous, why would someone who is cheating even read books?
Looking down on cheats, are we?
Erwin flicked his wrist, and his wand slid directly into his hand.
Gripping the wand, Erwin cleared his throat.
Casting spells for the very first time—needless to say, it was quite thrilling.
Erwin recalled the method for casting the Levitation Charm from his mind.
With a swish and a flick: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
All was calm and peaceful; nothing happened at all.
Erwin's face turned as dark as charcoal.
What the hell, his very first spellcasting, and it failed just like that?
He was the protagonist, for crying out loud.
Refusing to believe in such bad luck, Erwin decided to try again.
This time, he intended to be more formal.
He figured the previous result might have been due to his lack of proper attitude.
With that thought, Erwin gave a light cough.
Then, he cast the spell once more.
.......
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed.
Erwin's face was as dark as a piece of charcoal.
An ethereal aura radiated around him—an aura known as bitter resentment.
Heaven knows what Erwin had been through over the past half hour.
He had cast spells over fifty times in total, completely draining the magic power within his body.
His success rate was less than half.
Erwin had to admit a hard truth: it seemed his aptitude really wasn't very strong after all.
Just as Erwin was feeling annoyed, a bird outside the window kept chirping incessantly.
The chirping only made Erwin even more irritated.
Being already in a bad mood and hearing this noisy birdsong, Erwin unconsciously flicked his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
And right after, Erwin was stunned.
He saw a beam of green light shoot directly out from his wand.
The bird was struck by the green light and went straight to sleep.
And once it fell asleep like that, it never woke up again.
Erwin more or less came to understand one thing.
The system's talent ratings were terrifyingly accurate.
It seemed he had a sort of innate talent for the Dark Arts.
But soon, Erwin realized a problem.
"System, is my wand monitored by the Trace?"
[Ding! It was at first, but as the host of the system, the system has a responsibility to clear away all potential risks for the host, so the Trace has already been eliminated by the system!]
That was rather considerate of it; now he could experiment without worry!
Erwin called out, "Tom!"
The bedroom door was knocked upon.
Old Tom, the elderly butler, pushed the door open.
"What is it, young master?"
Whenever Erwin was awake, Old Tom would stand guard right outside the bedroom door.
Just in case Erwin had any needs.
Like right now.
Erwin said, "Where are those two fellows we caught trespassing on our turf last time?"
Although Old Tom didn't know why his young master was suddenly asking about this, he quickly replied, "Rivers has them locked up! You said last time we might find a use for them eventually and not to kill them yet!"
Erwin nodded. "Have Rivers bring them over. Now is the time we can use them!"
Old Tom nodded. "Very well, young master! I'll go right now!"
With that, Old Tom turned and left.
Erwin intended to test whether his Dark Arts talent really was that incredible.
Was it sheer luck, or something else?
Half an hour later, in the forest not far from the old estate.
Two men were kneeling on the ground.
Their faces were filled with terror.
Rivers carried the two of them over like a pair of scrawny chickens and dropped them in a row.
Erwin and Old Tom walked into the woods.
Rivers hurried over.
"Young master!"
Erwin nodded.
Upon seeing Erwin, the two men immediately cried out, "Master Erwin, don't kill us! Please, don't kill us!"
Erwin paid them no mind.
Instead, he instructed everyone except Rivers and Old Tom to wait outside the forest.
After that, Erwin drew his wand.
Rivers and Old Tom watched Erwin with curious gazes.
Rivers's face was full of excitement.
From Old Tom's words, he had already learned of the wonders of the wizarding world.
Lowering his voice, Rivers asked, "Is the young master going to cast a spell now?"
Old Tom placed a finger against his lips.
"Quiet, Rivers! Unless you want the young master's magic to land on you!"
Hearing this, Rivers instantly quieted down.
Erwin pointed his wand straight at one of the men.
"Crucio!"
A dark green light shot from the wand directly toward the man kneeling on the ground.
The next moment, screams of agony echoed through the air.
Erwin put away his wand.
The man was already lying flat on the ground, his face pale and etched with absolute terror.
Beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Erwin frowned.
There was a strange thing: according to the records in the original books, casting the Unforgivable Curses successfully required powerful negative emotions.
For instance, when casting Avada Kedavra, one had to have a strong intent in their heart to kill the other person.
The Cruciatus Curse was the same; one had to possess a fierce desire to torture the other party.
Yet when he had cast it himself, he had completely forgotten all about that requirement.
He had simply given a casual flick, and it had come out instantly.
Was this the bonus of having a level-nine Dark Arts talent?
Erwin felt somewhat helpless; he really was a good person at heart.
Looking at the terrified and frightened man on the ground...
Well, you really had to hand it to them—these Unforgivable Curses were genuinely quite useful.