Hogwarts: Lacus doesn't want to be a witch who destroys nations.

Anthony's face darkened, his eyes turning icy. "Vova, what do you know? Wizards are born superior! Muggles only know how to tie our hands and feet with their laws! Your little magic is nothing more than fixing roofs and fixing leaks for Muggles—a complete waste of wizarding power!"

Vova wanted to argue, but Ivan tugged at his sleeve and shook his head.

Although people are quite averse to Anthony's rhetoric, he is indeed the leader of this organization.

Vova bit her lip and eventually retreated, but she didn't loosen her clenched fist.

They are now under the control of the Parasites. Without Anthony's organization, they would most likely be sitting in some prison. They have something special about them, but they are not special enough.

A soldier carrying a rifle could take them down.

Anthony ignored him and turned to the crowd: "Show us all the skills I've taught you. Stop hiding them. We are wizards, not farmers who only know how to count wheat seeds!"

Sergei was the first to step forward, raising his homemade wand towards the tin bucket in the corner: "Blazing Flames!" A few sparks flew from the firewood in the bucket, but it went out in a couple of seconds. He scratched his head awkwardly: "The firewood was too wet today..."

Several people tried one by one, but none of them succeeded, while Vova just watched without saying a word.

Anthony frowned, his eyes filled with disappointment. Just then, he noticed Lux ​​staring at the pile of damp firewood, and his eyes flickered: "Why don't you give it a try?"

Lux thought to herself, "Using a stick as a wand? How can a beginner possibly learn that?"

But she still cooperated and stepped forward, took the small wooden stick that Martha handed her, and waved it silently at the firewood to "clean it up," and the water droplets on the firewood disappeared instantly.

Then, Lux twitched her fingertips, and a faint flame leaped from the tip of her staff, landing precisely on the firewood, and soon ignited into a warm fire.

Everyone was stunned. Aunt Martha couldn't help but exclaim, "This is...this is too easy!"

Anthony's eyes lit up, and he walked over to examine Lux closely: "Your technique is very skilled. Who taught you?"

Lux shook her head, pointed to her throat, and pretended it was natural. After all, it was too suspicious for an Englishman to appear in the frozen ground thousands of miles away. Lux was thinking of staying a few more days.

Although this underground wizarding organization is incredibly weak, they all have public identities, which can effectively cover up Lux's investigation.

Anthony nodded thoughtfully: "It seems to be an innate talent; ancient blood has awakened within you."

He patted Lux ​​on the shoulder, his tone softening considerably. "Stay, little mute. Follow me, and I'll show you what true wizarding power is."

Lux chuckled inwardly, but outwardly feigned surprise and bowed to Anthony.

Vova watched from the side, his brows furrowing even more, but he didn't say anything more.

He knew that few people would agree with him now, and that he lacked the necessary strength.

For the next few days, Lux stayed with the others.

During the day, Sergei taught her how to tighten screws with a wrench, and Martha taught her to recognize seeds. At night, Anthony would give everyone lessons, using extremely poor magical teaching methods to talk about Grindelwald's great achievements and the nobility of wizarding blood.

Lux realized after listening for a few minutes that Anthony had a lot of hidden tricks up his sleeve and wasn't genuinely trying to teach them magic.

While pretending to be mute, Lux secretly observed this peculiar little group. Among them, Vova would always find a few people to whisper to after class. Sometimes they discussed how to use magic to help their neighbors repair farm tools, and sometimes they worried about food rations. Vova had little interest in powerful spells like the Fireball spell; his magical interests always revolved around daily life.

If he were at Hogwarts, he would be an excellent Hufflepuff student.

Of course, Lux didn't forget the purpose of her trip.

Lux squatted on a half-rotten wooden stake at the village entrance, taking small bites of the roasted potato Aunt Martha had given her—it was frozen solid, and chewing on it felt like chewing on a bullet casing. The cold wind whipped snowflakes against her face, and she was thinking about how to shake off Vova and the others and go off on her own when suddenly the heavy crunching sound of leather boots crushing ice shards came from the dirt road at the village entrance.

Several Soviet soldiers in bulky military overcoats were knocking on doors, their movements rough and their faces showing the usual impatience of a search. The lead corporal's voice was gruff: "Open the door! Search! Have you seen any suspicious outsiders?!"

Lux's heart skipped a beat, instinctively thinking that her identity as a "mute" without proof of identity had been exposed. Almost reflexively, she shrank to the side, her wand flashing rapidly in her sleeve: "Shapeshift!" Her body instantly became blurry and transparent, melting into the shadow of the low wooden house of the Vova family next door like ink dripping into water.

She had just slipped along the cold wooden wall into the crack of the not-quite-closed door of the Vova family's house when several soldiers slammed the door open.

"Comrade Vova!" The soldier paused for a moment when he saw the man bending over and organizing his tools inside the house, then straightened up and saluted, his tone noticeably more polite. "Excuse me, it's a routine search! I've been ordered to search all the surrounding villages!"

Vova straightened up, his injured leg making him move somewhat stiffly. He nodded calmly: "What happened?"

The soldiers exchanged glances. The one on the left sighed and lowered his voice: "There's been a murder in the camp. Corporal Kovacs and two other soldiers were found dead in the storage shed this morning. The manner of their deaths is rather bizarre."

"How is it strange?"

"His body was so dry it looked like all the blood had been drained from him, his skin was so dry it clung to his bones, like a dried-up corpse that had been sitting for half a year," another young soldier chimed in, his tone tinged with lingering fear and a hint of joking.

"It might have been done by one of those old legends. After all, the way the body died was too strange. Even the forensic doctor had never seen anything like it. We were ordered to search the surrounding area for suspicious persons to see if there were any strangers from outside."

As soon as he finished speaking, Vova's brows furrowed. He had seen Anthony use magic before and knew that there were magical creatures. Their desiccated, corpse-like appearance made it seem as if their life force had been drained by some kind of magic, rather than that of ordinary creatures.

He stood up, limped over to the soldier, and said, "May I go to the barracks to see the bodies? Maybe I can spot something wrong."

The soldier looked troubled: "This... Comrade Vova, we appreciate your kindness, but these are extraordinary times. You've already retired, and according to regulations, outsiders can't freely enter or leave the camp, especially crime scenes. We're just following orders, so please don't put us in a difficult position."

Vova was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "I understand, thank you for your hard work."

The soldiers quickly scanned the simple house again, found nothing unusual, saluted, and left. Vova stood there, brow furrowed, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, clearly racking his brains for a solution.

Vova wanted to pry open the barbed wire fence at the back gate of the military camp, even if it was just to catch a glimpse of the corpses from afar.

Just as I took a step, my ankle suddenly hit an air obstacle, and I stumbled and crashed into the table. The tin cup on the table fell to the ground with a clatter, spilling water all over the floor.

He instinctively reached out and grabbed the wooden table next to him, while looking down at it.

Suddenly, Lux, dressed in a tattered cotton-padded jacket and wearing a scarf on her head, appeared out of nowhere on the ground that had been empty a moment ago. She was grimacing and clutching her buttocks, clearly having tripped over him quite badly.

"Lux?!" Vova exclaimed in surprise, almost shouting out loud, then immediately lowered her voice, "What are you doing here? Just now...you've been here the whole time? You heard everything?"