Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 191 The Principal in Action

The grandfather clock ticked away.

It was another duel practice session.

Hermione's face was tense, her lips were pursed, and she seemed a little annoyed.

Last semester's tutoring sessions also included dueling practice, and the gap wasn't obvious then. Through spellcasting techniques and the use of spells, it was easy to drag Harry into my own offensive and defensive rhythm. But after a Christmas break, this gap became clear and obvious.

During the last dueling club practice, when Harry and Malfoy challenged each other to a duel, she was watching from the sidelines and witnessed Harry create an almost overwhelming advantage with just four Disarming Charms, forcing Malfoy into a corner where he could only throw his wand to get a chance for close combat.

Back then, as an observer, the feeling wasn't quite direct. Now, standing directly opposite Harry and witnessing the constant onslaught of the Disarming Charm, a powerful sense of oppression washes over me.

Ever since Harry realized that his Disarming Charm was unusually powerful, he began to cast it repeatedly. Ironically, this trick worked very well for Harry, and Hermione couldn't find any effective way to counter it.

The spellcasting speed is fast, and the spell power is strong...

She meticulously planned for a long time before finding an opportunity to counterattack, but her counterattack would be directly shattered by the disarming spell.

All the feints and real attacks, all the deceptive attacks and surprise assaults, all the changes in position, are no match for the dense barrage of "weapons to eliminate you".

For a little witch whose talents lie in diligence and wisdom, this feeling was extremely frustrating.

But this arduous struggle also yielded results. After these difficult stress-resistance exercises, she was able to endure for longer and longer, and gained a deeper understanding of the professor's explanations and the knowledge in the book.

This situation can be seen as an underage wizard facing an adult wizard. As long as she finds the right way to deal with it, her dueling ability can be greatly improved, and she may even be able to face an adult wizard directly.

Unfortunately, such progress cannot be achieved in a short period of time.

Harry swung his wand, repeating the same spell over and over, while Hermione, who hadn't fully mastered the Iron Man Charm, could only keep changing direction and hastily dodging, gradually being forced into a corner.

The battle situation has become one-sided, and the outcome is already quite clear.

"That's it for today."

After stopping the duel and restoring the office to its original state, Melvin sat on the sofa, poured a glass of hot pumpkin juice for the two of them, and began to comment on Harry and Hermione's fight.

"Fighting isn't like solving a problem; there are no absolutely correct answers. You don't need to think about the best course of action every time, Hermione. You should let go of some of your worries..."

The little witch opened her mouth, hesitated, her face flushed red with suppressed anger, unwilling to admit defeat yet helpless.

Harry kept his head down, worried that the smile on his lips might upset Hermione.

“Harry.” Melvin turned to another student, his tone slightly complicated. “The Disarming Charm is indeed a very comprehensive spell, disabling an opponent’s fighting ability without causing damage. It’s both offensive and defensive, and you’ve mastered it very well. But I hope you understand that combining multiple spells is the best way to deal with different situations.”

Harry felt that Professor Levent's gaze was strange. It was gentle, yet penetrating. His gaze lingered on him, but it was as if he were looking through him at something else, making Harry feel uneasy.

“I…I will try my best,” Harry mumbled.

Melvin smiled faintly. The disarming spell that suited him was like a shortcut, allowing the 13-year-old wizard to easily defeat his peers. Harry realized that all the tactics and skills he had painstakingly summarized were no match for repeatedly disarming him. How could he be willing to return to the original steep path?

“It’s too late today, and I don’t want to keep you from going to bed early.” Melvin pondered for a moment. “How about this, Professor Flitwick will invite Professor McGonagall as a guest to demonstrate the application of Transfiguration in duels during next week’s dueling class. I hope you will all attend.”

Hermione's eyes flickered slightly as she recalled many classic duels recorded in the book, in which wizards used Transfiguration to defeat the strong and the few.

……

"Like the Disarming Charm, Polymorph can be used for both offense and defense, and because of its unique physical properties, it can often play an unexpected role."

On the way back to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione explained to Harry in a lighthearted tone, "Transfiguration has played a crucial role in many classic duels. Just think, if I used the Transfiguration Charm to create a big dog and a lot of birds to stand between us, would your Disarming Charm still be so difficult to withstand?"

Harry quickly realized that this flexible and adaptable style of dueling suited Hermione well, but he refused to admit defeat and stubbornly insisted:

"Can't I use Transfiguration? I'll conjure a lion and an eagle, and snatch your big dog and bird." "I'm not arguing with you. You'll see how powerful I am during our next duel practice..."

Hermione greeted the Fat Lady and was about to slip into the portrait hole when she suddenly slapped her forehead. "Oh no, I forgot to ask Professor Dobby!"

"Don't you understand yet?"

Harry shook his head and walked past her into the common room. "Asking won't get us any answers. Neither the professor nor the headmaster will tell us the result directly. Dobby will have to figure this out himself."

……

Late at night, in the principal's office.

Dumbledore stood by the window, a cup of hot cocoa in his hand. The portraits on the wall stared at the table, which was covered with silverware and documents, as well as an open diary with ink that glowed softly in the candlelight. There was also a sapphire crown engraved with wise parables.

Dumbledore, inhaling the sweet aroma of hot cocoa, began to tell Dobby's story:
"Freedom cannot be measured in money, cannot be sold, cannot be given away, and certainly cannot be bought on credit. Melvin wanted to tell Dobby that only when he truly understood this could he truly break free from the shackles and enslavement of others."

“Hogwarts is getting worse and worse, actually paying lowly slaves?” a hoarse voice said in the room.

Dumbledore turned to look, and a cloud of dark mist rose in mid-air, with raven-shaped shadows floating inside, and upon closer inspection, a pair of scarlet eyes could be vaguely seen.

"Tom, souls have no inherent value. Whether you're a wizard, Muggle, werewolf, centaur, vampire, or house-elf, I believe all lives are equal." Dumbledore spoke calmly, taking a leisurely sip of hot cocoa.

Voldemort's soul fragment flapped its wings in raven form and let out a sneer: "I only see a senile headmaster and a stupid, laughable professor."

"Oh? Is that what you think?"

Dumbledore returned to his desk and sat down. "You know, Melvin and you got along very well at 16. You were close friends."

"As a professor, finding a student's diary, he actually went to great lengths to fabricate lies and gain the student's trust. He's despicable and cunning, even more disgusting than you were back then!" Voldemort said coldly.

“I don’t think so. Melvin is an excellent professor. His knowledge of Muggle psychology helps him understand his students better and help them grow,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Ha! Psychology..."

Voldemort continued to scoff, "What use is something created by Muggles without magic? Can it compare to Legilimency?"

"In my opinion, it is often more useful, more convenient, and more comprehensive than Legilimency." Dumbledore looked directly into the raven's eyes, his deep blue pupils gleaming with a metallic, cold light.

Voldemort's gaze suddenly changed. He remained silent, scrutinizing Dumbledore with suspicion and uncertainty.

"Later, you claimed to have conquered death because you forged Helbo's Horcruxes, and not just one: your student diary, Ravenclaw's tiara, Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket..."

Dumbledore spoke slowly, "Tom, what number is yours? How many are there in total? Where are the other Horcruxes?"

"Do you think I'd tell you?" Voldemort asked hoarsely.

“You see, this is the limitation of Legilimency,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “It cannot work on skilled wizards. Even the most powerful Legilimency master is no match for Occlumency, and it also cannot work on fragments of the soul, such as you right now.”

"..."

"But knowledge of psychology can come in handy."

Dumbledore stared at Voldemort, his speech slowing even further. "Based on the premise that you gave the diary to Mr. Malfoy, I can deduce that you also gave other Horcruxes to other Death Eaters. Let me think... Mr. Lukewood? Mr. Nott? Mr. Crouch? Mrs. Lestrange?"

“A foolish attempt, do you take me for a fool?” Voldemort said coldly.

"What a pity," Dumbledore clicked his tongue regretfully. "If it were Melvin, he probably could have gotten the right answer out of him."

(End of this chapter)