Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 427, Section 421: Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Upon hearing that Dali and his friends planned to stay in Durmstrang for a few months for exchange studies, Viktor immediately dropped everything and came over. Incidentally, he was already a seventh-grade student and would be graduating this year.

As for his job after graduation, he naturally went to work as a professional Quidditch player for the Bulgarian national team.

With the arrival of Viktor, Viktor replaced Karkaroff in leading the tour and explaining things to Dali and the others, while Karkaroff went to arrange their dormitories.

From the great lake in the mountains all the way to Durmstrang Castle (it was warmer inside the castle than outside, due to a spell), the students walked and introduced the place, showing them the locations of classrooms for each subject. Along the way, the Durmstrang students curiously observed Dudley and his friends, especially their gazes lingering on Dudley, Neville, and Harry.

Besides being skilled in dark magic, Durmstrang is also proficient in various forms of martial arts magic. Therefore, the strength of the students here is directly proportional to their physique; the more robust their build, the stronger they are. Unfortunately, there is really no one in the same grade who can match Dudley's physique, not even Harry and Neville.

Viktor was already among the strongest, but he was still slightly inferior to Harry and Neville.

"Your bodies have become much stronger."

Viktor looked at Neville's pectoral muscles with envy.

"If he had that physique, he could definitely play any position in Quidditch."

"If you don't mind, Krum, you can join us for morning exercises starting tomorrow," Dudley invited Viktor. "A wizard needs to be in good physical condition."

Viktor was overjoyed and readily agreed, completely unaware of the strange expressions on Harry's and the others' faces. The poor boy had no idea what kind of training he was about to face.

The other students who came with Viktor were filled with envy. They also wanted to join, since the rule here was that strength equals power. Unfortunately, it was their first meeting and they didn't know how to start the conversation. They decided to observe Viktor's training first and then figure out how to join later.

Harry and the others silently hoped that Viktor could hold out longer, so that having another person to share the firepower would make things easier for them.

Before the banquet was even over, Viktor gave everyone a quick tour of the school.

During their visit, Dudley and Hermione briefly observed the overall magical level of Durmstrang School students and concluded that it was inferior to Hogwarts. They decided not to compare Hogwarts' fifth year, which was absolutely beyond the curriculum, but it was also inferior to other years.

The overall level is slightly lower than Hogwarts.

It is said that during Karkaroff's rule, Durmstrang's teaching standards plummeted due to his encouragement of a culture of fear and intimidation, leading many parents to take their children away and send them to other schools (official setting).

I don't know if this is why the best students all went to other schools, and the overall level of the remaining students is not very good.

Producing one Victor is already considered extremely lucky; it would be incredibly difficult for the overall level to improve together.

"The Black Magic course was also mediocre."

The group visited a Dark Arts class, and not long after they came out, Ron started muttering complaints under his breath.

"It's not as detailed as the explanation of dark magic in Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Although Mr. Ronald is the worst among the six, we have to consider who he is with. There is no one in the Discipline Group whose level is lower than that of an adult wizard.

It's true that Durmstrang doesn't prohibit the study of Dark Arts, and it's also true that he actively offers Dark Arts courses as electives, but it's also true that the content of the courses isn't in-depth. Of course, this is from Harry and his friends' perspective; they don't even consider who their Defense Against the Dark Arts professors are.

"I don't know what I can learn here; the black magic lessons are just a gimmick."

Draco shook his head and complained. Lucius had originally planned to send him to this school, but Narcissa preferred Draco to go to Hogwarts. Now, he realized that his mother's choice was a wise one.

"I just don't know if the library has what we need."

Hermione's biggest concern was the library, and this was the 128th time she had said this after this visit.

For Hermione, knowledge is the greatest wealth.

"I want to see Durmstrang's greenhouse. Professor Sprout said that ice flowers, which only grow in extremely cold regions, can be found here."

Neville chimed in, "I want to transplant it to Hogwarts. The freezing potion made from Icerock Flower is of the highest quality, capable of being cast by ten adult wizards at once."

"I've heard that there are quite a few of these things here, such as sneezing grass, scurvy grass, and sleep-inducing beans."

Whenever herbs are mentioned, Neville gets all excited and starts talking non-stop.

Sleepy Beans are shriveled, pearly-white beans, the fruit of the Sleepy Grass, resembling enlarged mistletoe berries. They possess many magical properties and are an ingredient in magical potions. Consuming the silvery sap squeezed from a Sleepy Bean will erase a person's memories.

Sneezing grass is a poisonous plant that can easily cause encephalitis, leading to agitation and recklessness. It is often used in sedatives and disorientants. Its dried leaves can be used to make sneezing powder.

As for the rotten blood herb, it is a herbaceous plant from the magical world that can easily "cause encephalitis," making people irritable and reckless. It is often used to make confusion drugs and bewildering agents.

Herbalism is a required course in Potions. Neville is nothing like the timid character in the original books. He is confident, sunny, and muscular. His potion-making skills are second only to Dudley and Hermione among the six. As an aside, Harry's potions skills are severely unbalanced. He is best at making poisons, even better than Hermione, but he is not good at other potions, only slightly better than Ron.

"I heard there's treasure hidden on those ghost ships on the beach of the mountain lake. I asked Bill and Charlie about it before I came. Shall we go explore?"

Ron also offered his suggestion. Although he was not short of money, his eyes would light up whenever treasure was mentioned.

Seeing that the others weren't very interested, he turned to his friend Harry and asked, "Shall we...after dinner? Hmm?"

"I can consider it." Harry wasn't very interested in it, but he had nothing else to do, so he didn't mind.

Draco was more laid-back: "Do whatever you want. I just want to see our dorms; if not, we'll have to stay in tents again."

In short, all six members of the discipline team have made their own arrangements.

As for Dudley? Of course he went to the library, no doubt about it!

(End of this chapter)