HP: The Duelist of Hogwarts - 384

Chapter 384: The Gaunt Shack

[Duel Won!]
[Conditions Met: Victory Against Magical Opponent.]
[System Commencing Random Ability Extraction from Defeated Target: Voldemort Soul Fragment (Harry Potter).]
[Extracting...]

A cold, calculating sensation rippled through Sean's wand hand—dark magic manifesting as writhing shadows that seemed eager to corrupt and destroy before settling into controlled power.

[Extraction Complete!]
[New Curse Acquired: Arcanum Manus LV3]

Seeing this spell, Sean was momentarily stunned but quickly realized he'd extracted an ability from the Voldemort soul fragment inside Harry's body. According to the panel display, this Arcanum Manus spell appeared extremely similar to the Putrefacio used by Voldemort—manifested from the soul fragment in Ravenclaw's Diadem.

However, in terms of attack power and flexibility, Arcanum Manus wasn't as powerful as Putrefacio with its decay abilities. It seemed Voldemort had modified Arcanum Manus to obtain the more powerful Putrefacio spell. Because of this, Voldemort abandoned further development of Arcanum Manus, switching to Putrefacio. This explained why Arcanum Manus was only Level 3.

It must be said, Voldemort's magical talent was truly astonishing. He could create or modify spells at will, and the magic he created or modified was quite powerful. If he'd taken the righteous path, publishing a paper in the highest-level charms journal, The Wand every six months would be no difficulty at all.

[Duel Won!]
[Conditions Met: Victory Against Magical Opponent.]
[System Commencing Random Ability Extraction from Defeated Target: Harry Potter.]
[Opponent Strength Assessment: Above Average. Drawing Two Abilities.]
[Extracting...]

Sean felt a warm, almost instinctive connection to magic itself flow through him—natural talent crystallizing into tangible skill, as if the very essence of spellcasting had become easier to grasp.

[Extraction Complete!]
[New Spell Acquired: Disarming Charm LV3]
[New Talent Acquired: Magic Affinity LV2]

The Disarming Charm needed no explanation—Sean's own had already reached Level 4, so Level 3 was meaningless. But the Magic Affinity talent greatly surprised Sean. He'd guessed Harry possessed extremely rare talents, like the Skilled Casting talent obtained in second year, which always helped Sean learn magic with half the effort. In gaming terms, it was an experience multiplier card that consistently helped Sean more easily understand magic's essence and master spells faster.

This talent was already amazing, but seeing Magic Affinity still greatly surprised Sean, especially when viewing the detailed description.

Magic Affinity—a talent that comprehensively enhanced a wizard's magical qualities: magic learning speed, proficiency growth rate, casting speed, spell power. All of these fell within Magic Affinity's enhancement range.

Fortunately, Harry's Magic Affinity was only Level 2. Otherwise, if it reached Level 4 or 5, given ten years, he could beat Voldemort easily.

Of course, even Level 2 was sufficient. This explained why Harry's strength improved rapidly whenever he met a good teacher. If Dumbledore had personally taught Harry with full effort from the first year, current Harry might not beat Voldemort, but beating one or two ordinary Death Eaters would be completely manageable.

Whether Arcanum Manus or Magic Affinity, both significantly enhanced Sean. This training session with Harry and others wasn't completely without gain. Moreover, with more training sessions ahead, Sean could gradually extract all of Harry's talents.

Great Hangleton, about four to five miles from Little Hangleton.

Sean came to a nearby village. After paying some money and using Legilimency cooperatively, he finally found the Gaunt shack where Voldemort's mother's family lived.

The Gaunt family was actually Slytherin's descendants, which was why Voldemort claimed to be Slytherin's heir. However, most people didn't know Voldemort's father was actually a Muggle. Strictly speaking, he was a half-blood—a pureblood and Muggle mix, an origin greatly despised by pureblood wizards.

Sean looked at the shack before him.

Moss covered the walls; many roof tiles had fallen, exposing the wooden framework inside. Waist-high nettles surrounded the shack, reaching the windows, which were thickly covered with years of accumulated grime. On the door was nailed a rotting dead snake, emanating a strong ominous presence.

If there are no curses here, I'll do a handstand and have diarrhea.

Examining the shack, Sean scratched his chin. Tricky.

Although curses weakened over time until disappearing, and after decades only one-tenth of this shack's curses remained and were extremely weak, Sean remained very cautious. After all, this was Voldemort's work—Sean felt he should be careful.

Drawing his wand, walking around the shack, and casting Muggle-Repelling Charms and concealment spells, Sean then took out numerous metal balls from his Undetectable Extension Bag and threw them forward.

These metal balls immediately transformed into numerous alchemical puppets and puppet dogs upon hitting the ground, crawling through the broken door and empty windows under Sean's control to search inside.

However, as soon as Sean's alchemical puppets entered, six lost contact. The number losing contact kept increasing. In just ten minutes, half had completely lost contact without making any sound—quite eerie.

How should I put it... Worthy of Voldemort's curses. This defense method is truly astonishing.

While thinking, Sean took out another handful of metal balls and threw them down. This time they became puppet dogs and puppet birds, entering the Gaunt shack from above and below to search for Voldemort's Horcrux—Marvolo Gaunt's ring.

Next, Sean threw out two more handfuls. The alchemical puppets nearly filled the entire Gaunt shack before finally getting news. One puppet bird found the target, but these puppets couldn't approach the cabinet containing Marvolo Gaunt's ring, as if magic protected it.

Sigh... People really can't be lazy. After all this, I still have to go in myself. Troublesome.

Marvolo Gaunt's ring was on the shack's third floor, so Sean didn't plan to walk up from the first floor. Instead, he flew up directly, hovering before a third-floor window. Black smoke swirled around him, forming a large hand that grabbed the dark window and tore open half the wall, letting sunlight into the shack and dispelling the gloomy atmosphere.

Sean entered the third-floor room, looked at the broken alchemical puppets waiting there, and walked straight to the cabinet storing Marvolo Gaunt's ring.