Even Professor McGonagall, at some point, had drawn her wand and taken up a guarded stance.
Her expression visibly dimmed, as if she were deeply disappointed by Harry's actions.
Yet in the midst of all this chaos and tension, Snape did not simply go along with the crowd.
He stood there in silence, his gaze as deep and unreadable as a dark pool, giving no hint of what he was thinking.
Even more surprising, his wand was not aimed at Harry, the focus of everyone else's attention, but instead was slightly lowered and quietly trained on the somewhat theatrical Quirrell.
The professors' reactions only made the air grow more stifling. Looking at the standoff unfolding before him, Harry immediately realized everyone had misunderstood. He hurried to explain:
"No, that wasn't the Killing Curse just now. It was a spell I invented myself—the Disintegration Curse!"
"Disintegration Curse?" Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes slightly and muttered under her breath. The hand holding her wand relaxed a little, but her tone was still stern as she said, "What is the incantation for this Disintegration Curse, what does it do, and why is it so similar to the Killing Curse? You must give us a reasonable explanation."
Harry began to explain why he had created the Disintegration Curse and what its incantation was:
"I've always had a good memory. Even events from when I was very young, I still remember fragments of. I recall that when I was very little, You-Know-Who broke into our house and used a green spell to kill my parents."
Harry paused. These memories were hardly pleasant for him.
He went on, "I heard the incantation of that spell—'Avada Gnaw-a-Melon'. Later I found out it was actually the Killing Curse, 'Avada Kedavra'.
"Before I fully understood it, I tried to recreate that green magic, and by using 'Avada Gnaw-a-Melon' as the incantation I successfully created a Disintegration Curse strong enough to break down anything. That's the spell I just used to defeat the troll."
The three professors and the gathered students fell silent. The three professors, in particular, understood more keenly than any of the children just how weighty Harry's words were.
A first-year student, relying only on hazy memories from toddlerhood, had managed to develop an entirely new spell.
And judging from how this so-called Disintegration Curse behaved, it was an attack spell of truly terrifying power—on par with the infamous Killing Curse, perhaps even more so.
Wait a minute. On top of the Disintegration Curse, Harry had also created a new spell called "Super Electromagnetic Cannon," along with a whole series of lightning-based spells.
Even if those lightning spells were a bit weaker than the Disintegration Curse, they still spoke volumes about Harry's talent.
Just these spells alone would be enough to secure his place in the history books!
Professor McGonagall's face remained stern, but after hearing Harry's explanation, it softened considerably. She said to him, "Demonstrate this Disintegration Curse for us—on the washbasin."
Harry did as he was told. A flash of green light shot out, and the washbasin crumbled into fine dust and vanished before their eyes.
"It is indeed not the Killing Curse. The Killing Curse doesn't do this… but this spell isn't much better."
In fact, Professor McGonagall even felt that the Disintegration Curse might be more wicked than the Killing Curse.
After all, victims of the Killing Curse at least left a body behind. Anyone struck by the Disintegration Curse left nothing at all.
She couldn't help wondering if the Disintegration Curse could disintegrate souls as well. If it could…
Then it truly would be a spell born wicked.
Seeing the look on McGonagall's face, as if she were already thinking of punishing Harry, Hermione and Ron grew anxious and rushed to speak up for him.
"Professor, Harry's spell only looks evil. In reality, the effect—" Hermione started.
She had wanted to say that the effect wasn't evil at all, but when her eyes fell on the thin layer of troll dust still on the floor, she simply couldn't force that sentence out. She had to change tack: "But he only used it to help his classmates. If he hadn't brought us here in time, Pansy would have been killed!"
Ron bobbed his head like a madman. "Exactly, exactly!"
Hearing herself mentioned, Pansy also stepped forward, her face full of urgency as she pleaded with Professor McGonagall. "That's right, Harry isn't a bad person at all. If he hadn't shown up in time to stop the troll, I and a lot of other students might already be dead! You can't punish him!"
Ron kept nodding vigorously. "Exactly, exactly!"
At that moment, Quirrell stepped forward, wearing a grotesquely fake expression of righteous indignation. His features were twisted slightly by the strain of trying to look so solemn.
"Deputy Headmistress McGonagall," he said, "we absolutely must not let a wizard suspected of using something akin to an Unforgivable Curse go unpunished. I suggest that we notify the Ministry of Magic immediately and have Aurors escort him to Azkaban!"
"You—!"
"Harry is not a criminal!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Pansy, Hermione and Ron all rounded on Quirrell in anger.
Professor McGonagall spoke up, cutting off the brewing clash between the teacher and the students. "That's enough. I will report this matter to Albus and leave it to him. He will handle everything perfectly."
At that, even Quirrell fell silent. As the "White Dark Lord," Dumbledore's authority had sunk deep into every wizard's heart; even the Dark Lord held him in considerable fear.
If Dumbledore made the final decision, no matter what the outcome was, no one would dare object.
In the end, Professor McGonagall announced her ruling on the matter:
"Consider yourselves lucky this time. There aren't many first-years who can stand up to a grown troll. For that reason, everyone who took part in the fight with the troll will receive five points apiece. I will inform Professor Dumbledore of what happened. You may all go now—Potter, stay behind."
Harry spread his hands. Once again, it was that familiar phrase: "Potter stays." In the few short months since term had started, he'd lost count of how many times he'd heard it.
…
A burst of hurried footsteps shattered the quiet of the headmaster's office. Dumbledore withdrew the finger with which he'd been teasing Fawkes, and, as though he had been expecting this, calmly waited for his visitor to enter.
He inclined his head slightly, his gaze warm yet tinged with scrutiny, and said softly, "Harry, cast the Disintegration Curse once more."
Harry nodded, glanced around, and then leveled his wand at a teacup on the desk, firing a beam of green light.
Dumbledore watched the teacup crumble into drifting dust, his brows knitting as he pondered. After a moment, the worry in his eyes slowly faded, and he let out a faint breath.
"You can relax, Minerva. This should not be classified as dark magic. Even if the Disintegration Curse is cast repeatedly, it will not cause the caster's soul to degenerate and sink into shadow."
Professor McGonagall also sighed in relief. It was wonderful news that this wasn't dark magic. She was very fond of Harry, and she had no wish at all to see this promising young wizard locked away in Azkaban.
"So what exactly does this spell do?" she asked offhandedly.
"The Disintegration Curse can break down both physical matter and souls. It has an even higher lethality than the Killing Curse and is even harder to evade."
"I see," Professor McGonagall said, nodding automatically. But once the meaning of Dumbledore's words really sank in, she froze, then abruptly went white as a sheet. Her emotions surged and she burst out, her voice rising:
"And you're telling me that's not dark magic? If this doesn't count as dark magic, then the Cruciatus Curse might as well be a children's toy!"
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