Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 323 Professor Moody, a Master of Stealth

Why is that?

Hermione, who was standing nearby, asked with some curiosity.

The Hogwarts students had already watched the replay of the first project. While marveling at the warriors' meticulous thinking and the organizers' bold attempt, they also learned a bit about the other two warriors participating—mainly Fleur. After all, Viktor Krum was an internationally renowned Quidditch prodigy before participating in the Triwizard Tournament, and he made a name for himself in the World Cup during the summer vacation, making him a household name now.

However, on the other hand, the first project mainly tested the warriors' wisdom. At that time, they couldn't even have wands, let alone fight. So how did Professor Moody determine that the other two warriors were not as strong as Ken?

Sometimes, small details are enough to provide enough useful information.

"Moody" turned to look at Harry and his group beside him, while the giant magic eye spun halfway around on its own, continuing to watch the match on the big screen: "For example, the subtle expressions they made when they lost their wands, and their delicate movements when revealing the truth and facing Karkaroff at the end..."

"If you've observed closely, you'll notice that when they don't have wands, Krum and Delacour often act a bit stiff. Sometimes their hands will unconsciously reach for where their wands used to be, but then they panic and don't know where to put their hands after realizing they don't have wands..."

"Isn't this normal?"

As Harry asked, he subconsciously touched his wand: "Most wizards would feel disoriented if their wand, which they've used for years, suddenly disappeared, right?"

"You're right, but you also said 'the vast majority'."

Moody lowered his voice: "And that Ken—after losing his wand, I saw no discomfort in his demeanor or movements, nor any lack of confidence in front of others with wands. This either means he's gotten used to solving problems without a wand, like those students in Vagabond, or it means…"

"Is he confident he can protect himself without a wand?"

Ron, who had been listening quietly for a long time, couldn't help but chime in with surprise.

"Judging from his current behavior, that's probably the case."

"Moody" pointed to Avada, who was skillfully dealing with the Ukrainian iron-fisted man on the big screen, nodded slightly in affirmation of Ron's statement, and continued, "And there's one more thing, at the end when the three of them faced Karkarov together and explained the truth of the case to the public."

"When the other two warriors are talking, especially after Karkaroff and Crouch suddenly make a move—such as slamming their fists on the table and shouting loudly—they often unconsciously turn slightly to the side, lean back, or spread their legs to lower their center of gravity... This is a very obvious move to retreat."

"And at these times, Ken—whose physique does not change at all, his arm will even be raised slightly."

"Because you want to use bare hands to cast spells in preparation for any potential attacks?"

"It could also be because of trust in Dumbledore."

Moody shrugged. "Dumbledore was sitting right next to Karkaroff and Crouch at that time. He was perfectly capable of subduing them before they could launch an attack. Even if he missed one or two attacks, he couldn't have cast any particularly powerful magic in such a short time... But even so, since Ken dared to use wandless spells to deal with the impending crisis, he must have had considerable confidence in his own abilities, and this confidence was based on his knowledge of his opponent's strength..."

He turned his head and stared at the rapidly moving figure on the screen for a long while before slowly sighing, "This student... is not simple."

"You have excellent taste, Professor."

Harry couldn't help but praise, "You can glean useful information from so many small details!"

"I taught you this; it's a required course for infiltration."

Moody nodded, somewhat pleased: "Always be aware of the information in your surroundings. When facing strangers, quickly piece together their true personality from details that you inadvertently reveal, so you can choose your own course of action while infiltrating..."

"But, Professor?"

Ron, standing to the side, asked with some confusion, "I heard my father mention before that you seem to be the kind of Auror who's better at head-on combat... but why have you been focusing your lectures on stealth techniques all this time?"

"...That's because Arthur has only ever seen me in direct combat."

Harry wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Professor Moody seemed to stiffen for a moment after hearing Ron's question before continuing to answer as if nothing had happened: "And before the so-called 'frontal battle' even began, I had been lying in wait for who knows how long—disguising myself, infiltrating the enemy camp, gathering intelligence, disrupting logistics, analyzing weaknesses... The work of an Auror is far from as glamorous as it seems."

"Shouldn't these things be handled by your subordinates? As the leader, do you need to do them personally?"

"Then guess why those people are subordinates and I'm the leader?"

Moody rolled his eyes with his normal eye: "Isn't it because I'm better at these things than them... that I'm almost always the one who goes infiltrating when there are particularly tricky situations? And for most ordinary wizards, stealth skills are indeed more practical than combat skills—after all, it's the simplest and most effective way to protect themselves."

……

Durmstrang, on the field.

After a charged stone pillar was suddenly collapsed by the Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon sitting on it, Avada managed to calm herself down from her near-collapse and began to guide the dragon's behavior little by little, following the patterns she had previously discovered.

And this sudden turn of events brought him an unexpected bonus—after being thrown from a height of over ten meters, the fire dragon seemed to have suffered some damage to its limbs, visibly slowing its pursuit. This made it easier for Avada to create distance between himself and the fire dragon, forcing it to use its breath attack…

Finally, after guiding the fire dragon to destroy a few more fragile stone pillars and obtaining some minor items such as invigorating potions, devil's net seeds, and healing potions, he finally saw a striking red light in the vast field—and it was dozens of meters away from the fire dragon!

"Our luck has finally turned around!"

Avada was overjoyed and quickly manipulated the shapeshifting birds to harass the fire dragon from a distance. Before the stone pillar rose, they swiftly returned to his side, and a wave of heat slowly emerged from between the fire dragon's teeth once again.

"roar!"

A tongue of fire, hundreds of feet long, struck the crimson stone pillar that had just emerged from the ground, instantly illuminating it. The dragonfire seemed to be directly absorbed into the pillar, then slowly rose and purified within it, finally re-emerging at the very top and surging towards the platform floating in mid-air…

As the purified dragon flame was completely absorbed, a number slowly appeared below the floating platform – "1".

(End of this chapter)