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

Chapter 99 Apprentice (13 chapters released after initial release)

Just when Lux thought she was going to die here today, a majestic and furious voice boomed like thunder: "Aurors! Heed my command!"

A middle-aged wizard, dressed in a high-class Auror uniform, with a thick mustache and sharp, eagle-like eyes, strode over, accompanied by several much more elite-looking Aurors.

His beam of light first swept across the ravaged hall and the raging flames with shock and anger before landing on Lux and Eve, who were trapped inside.

"Director Chevanov!" The Aurors around him shouted as if they had found their pillar of support.

Chevanov ignored them, staring intently at Lux and Eve, especially Eve, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose breathing was unsteady. He demanded sharply, "Who are you?! What is your relationship with that arsonist?!"

Lux's mind raced, trying to come up with a plausible lie—

"Master! Li Huo—Li Huo is out of control!" an Auror cried out in panic.

The eerie blue flames seemed to possess intelligence, splitting into several enormous fire snakes that lunged in different directions, threatening to ignite more areas and even endanger the evacuated crowds!

Director Chevanov's expression changed drastically. He had no choice but to temporarily put down Lux and Eve, turn around, raise his wand, and loudly chant a complex counter-spell at Fiend. The elite Aurors he brought with him immediately stepped forward to help, working together to suppress Fiend.

But even for them, dealing with it proved extremely difficult.

In that instant when the focus of the chaos shifted—

Lux felt her arms being grabbed from both sides again!

Carl appeared like a ghost between her and Eve, a satisfied smile on his face.

"The bait has been cast; we can go now."

The next second, a phantom-shifting, pulling sensation came.

The last thing Lux saw was Director Chevanov's face, which was filled with shock and anger as he turned around abruptly, and a dazzling magical beam of light that he futilely shot towards Karl's original spot, but the light only hit air.

When Lux regained her sight, she found herself slumped on the cold floor of a dilapidated wooden hut, the air thick with dust and mildew.

Eve stood to the side, breathing slightly rapid, the bloodshot in her eyes not yet completely gone.

Carl stood calmly by the window, as if he had just taken a walk rather than set a devastating fire at the Ministry of Magic.

"You—you—" Lux was so angry that she was trembling all over, pointing at Karl, and she could barely speak.

"You're a madman! A complete and utter madman! What are you trying to do?! Do you know we almost died there just now?!"

Karl turned around, the gentle pretense on his face completely vanishing, replaced by indifference.

"What do I want to do?" he repeated softly, pacing to Lux and looking down at her. "I just did something that should have been done a long time ago: assessed this building constructed on the ruins of Tsarist Russia..."

The dilapidated building, formerly known as the Soviet Ministry of Magic, only had a few sturdy logs left.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips: "The result is regrettable, but also expected. The bureaucracy is cumbersome and slow to react. The Aurors are poorly trained, and their equipment and tactics are at least twenty years behind. Apart from Chevanov and his few old geezers, who are somewhat capable, the rest—ha, utterly vulnerable. Even when dealing with Fiendfyre, they seemed so flustered. How can such a Ministry of Magic cope with the coming storm?"

Lux's heart sank: "Storm? What storm? You—who are you—"

Karl smiled slightly, slowly raising his hand. A faint blue afterimage of fiery afterimages seemed to flash across his fingertips. His voice was deep and seductive: "For a greater good—who do you think the magical world, with its power and organization, yet so closed off and resistant to change, deserves? Or perhaps you can call me a saint."

saint!

"Grindelwald's Saints?!" Lux's mind went blank for a moment.

"You're a member of the UMNO?!"

"I want to go back! I want to go back right now!" Lux jumped up and rushed towards the door, trying to escape this suffocating truth.

But as soon as she opened the door, she was met with despair to find that outside was a completely unfamiliar coniferous forest covered with thick snow, with no roads or signs of human habitation in sight.

In this desolate heart of the Soviet Union, without Karl, she wouldn't even be able to find her way, let alone get back to England on her own.

Karl's voice rang out leisurely behind her, tinged with a hint of mockery: "Go back? Of course, I said I'd send you back, but wasn't it a one-month deadline? And, in the safe way I promised, now—"

Do you think you'll be able to leave?

Lux stood frozen in the doorway as Karl placed his hands on her shoulders from behind.

"You are a smart and talented witch, Lux. The fighting instincts and composure you displayed in the chaos just now far exceeded your age, but you lack truly lethal weapons. Your spells are more like a good student's classroom assignments—standardized, but lacking in killing intent and efficiency."

He reached out, his fingertips almost touching Lux's cheek, his voice deep and seductive: "Follow me, and for this month, I can teach you things that Hogwarts will never teach you—the power that will truly allow you to survive any storm, even to control it. Think about it, aren't you curious?"

Don't you want to become stronger?

Lux was struggling internally.

Reason told her that getting involved with Grindelwald's people would have dire consequences.

On the other hand, Karl's effortless and manipulative power, along with the profound magical knowledge beyond formal education revealed in his words, exerted an irresistible allure on her.

She did crave power, a desire to be in better control of her own destiny, especially after everything she had been through.

At least next time you can run by yourself, right?

Seeing the intense struggle in her eyes, Karl smiled with complete control. He knew his prey was hooked; all that was needed was a final push.

"So, Lux, do you choose to stay here as a wizard apprentice who might learn something real, or do you choose to push open this door now and gamble on the Siberian snowfields and your luck? Which is more merciful?"

The cabin was deathly silent, save for the occasional crackling of the fireplace and the howling wind outside the window.

Lux clenched her fists tightly, and finally, with great slowness and difficulty, she released her grip on the doorknob, looked up, and met Karl's unfathomable eyes.

"—You'd better keep your word." Her voice carried a hint of resignation, yet concealed a barely perceptible yearning for power.

"Return me safely to Hogwarts in a month, and—what are you planning to teach me?"

Carl's smile widened; he knew he had won the first step.

"A wise choice, the first lesson: let's start with the Unforgivable Curse, shall we?"