A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

McGonagall frowned, pondering, "Of the five schools, Beauxbatons' attitude towards Dark Magic is indeed similar to Hogwarts', so the possibility you mentioned exists. As for the remaining three... Durmstrang goes without saying; their students have mastered at least most of the Dark Magic on the list, and Ivermony will selectively choose. The only uncertainty is Vagado..."

What are your thoughts on Vargadu?

Felix shook his head slightly. "I don't know much about it. Some of the information is hearsay and can't be taken as fact."

McGonagall glanced at the other professors and made her decision. “Then I will agree to Iphamoni’s request, Philius, Felix, Professor Moody,” she said, looking at the group. “Can we find alternative spells to replace some of the obscure magical effects here?”

“Of course,” Flitwick exclaimed. “For example, the corrosive black magic here can be replaced with a softening charm, which can soften the scales of magical creatures or hard stones.”

“Okay,” Moody said gruffly.

“I’m fine with that too,” Felix said. “Also, we can change our thinking—we don’t necessarily have to imitate. We can find ways to prevent it, such as ‘blood tracing.’ If students are aware of how to avoid being tracked, they can completely avoid this danger in advance.”

……

After the meeting, the professors dispersed.

Felix took Snape to Flitwick's office as a guest. Flitwick brought out some biscuits and tea, and while the professors ate and drank, they deciphered most of the dark magic on the list.

Of the three, Flitwick is a master of spells, with extensive knowledge. The spells he has mastered are not limited to dark magic or other categories, while Snape simply enjoys them. This tendency was subtly revealed in his previous remarks at the meeting.

As for Felix, he also spent time studying black magic, but in terms of quantity, he couldn't compare to the other two.

In fact, his strategy is very similar to that of Iphamoni—only choosing what is suitable.

Fiendfyre is a standard, powerful form of dark magic, but it's one of his most proficient spells. Its power has reached a certain limit; aside from the Ironclad Curse, which has the potential to surpass this level, others are at best similar to Fiendfyre.

The following weekend, Hogwarts' prospective champions gathered in a makeshift practice area between the Quidditch pitch and the Forbidden Forest. Students from both schools would spar and practice magic there.

However, this has little to do with Harry and his friends.

Professor McGonagall forbade them from participating; she simply gathered a dozen or so candidates from the sixth and seventh grades and ignored them completely.

"Why didn't you call us?" Ron complained.

“Because we’re hardly worthy of being called warriors, and apart from what Professor Moody taught us, we have no experience dealing with dark magic,” Hermione said loudly, also reminding the group of restless students around her.

“Who said that?” Ron muttered. “As long as you find Professor Hyp’s memory in classroom number seven and choose the black market, you’ll find a room full of dark wizards—and every time it ends in a chaotic battle.”

Harry and Ron weren't the only ones who felt resentful.

Neville, the Weasley twins, Susan Bornes, and Eddie Emilie were all there. They hid in the shade of the trees, too young to do so, and could only watch enviously as the older students and Ilfamoni's prospective warriors sparred, with the professors providing guidance.

“You look like abandoned swallowtail puppies,” a drawn-out voice came from behind them.

Harry felt a surge of disgust and turned to glare at Draco Malfoy. Unsurprisingly, he saw Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's two henchmen, with him. However, there were two other people with Malfoy: the Greengrass sisters.

In some ways, Astoria, as the younger sister, is more famous, especially for her hobby of riding her serpent mount along the Black Lake.

Harry hadn't spoken to her, but Hermione had. Strangely enough, she was arguably Daphne Greengrass's friend, or perhaps rival? Harry couldn't figure it out; the two argued whenever they met, yet never actually fought.

Hermione's view of Astoria was that she was a spoiled little girl, very immature. Her only redeeming quality was that she had no prejudice against Muggle-born wizards.

"Granger, I challenge you to a duel on behalf of my sister!" Astoria shouted, pointing at Hermione.

But her arrogance was immediately suppressed by Daphne patting her head.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry said sternly.

“Don’t make me sound like you guys,” Draco scoffed. “If I wanted to see, I would go out and see, not hide here like a bunch of wronged babies…”

He stopped talking, because everyone's eyes were blazing with anger, and several had already drawn their wands, looking at him with ill intent.

“Let’s go,” said Draco Malfoy, “to say hello to my friend Iphamoni!” He strutted arrogantly toward the clearing with the Slytherin students.

“I have a good relationship with Victor, and the Grevis family has a high status in the American magical world…” His smug voice drifted over from afar, reaching their ears and making them itch with curiosity.

The remaining people looked at each other in bewilderment, and Fred suddenly said, "We also know people from Iphamoni."

“That’s right,” Harry immediately agreed.

“Then…” Ron looked at everyone eagerly.

"Shall we go take a look?" Fred suggested tentatively.

“Good idea,” George replied without hesitation.

After a moment of silence, they marched in unison toward the training ground.

Chapter 377 Sparring

There were about twenty students scattered around in the temporary open space, sitting on the grass in twos and threes. Including the professor, there were barely thirty people.

They stared at the two figures constantly crossing paths in the center, exchanging spells back and forth.

"Cedric, go for it!" Roger Davis shouted.

"Viktor, keep it up!"

Cedric dodged a spell, "Protect Your Body!" He erected a magical barrier, took a breath, and the spell from the other side flew over like a sword, slamming into the barrier with loud bangs.

The boy named "Grevis" had neatly styled short black hair, and the power of his spells was terrifying. He grinned, looking confident of victory.

"Watch your step, Viktor!"

Victor Grevis was startled to discover that two thin streams of water were meandering down, over the grass and mud, and flowing stealthily in the direction of his feet.

He raised his wand, intending to do something. Just then, Cedric suddenly rushed out, a red light shooting from the tip of his wand. Grevis hurriedly turned to defend himself, but the spell missed completely.

Suddenly, the nearby water burst open, and a large plume of scalding steam rose from the grass, engulfing Cedric and Grevis, their figures becoming hazy and indistinct.

"Thunderous explosion!"

It seemed like a long time had passed before Cedric's incantation reached the ears of those around him.

In the mist, Cedric whispered an extrasensory spell to himself, enhancing his five senses as he tried to capture the hazy shadows.

The people around held their breath. Even Draco and his five companions, who had just walked over, stopped seven or eight feet away, staring intently at the fog.

fast!

It's so fast!

Everything happened within seven or eight seconds, and many people didn't even have time to react.

Flitwick exclaimed in a sharp voice, "Brilliant! Cedric has set a trap."

Felix nodded: "He seems to have been prepared."

“Yes, he asked me a few spells… I already know what he’ll do next,” Flitwick said expectantly.

The mist thickened. Not just mist, but large plumes of white smoke quickly spread, sealing off a space of thirty or forty feet in radius, like an upside-down goblet covering everything inside.

The arc of the incantation, like lightning, suddenly illuminated a patch of clouds, causing the students watching to retreat in disarray.

“It seems Cedric intends to use the fog as a battlefield. This is probably intended for some large animals, as it is convenient for both fighting and retreating... I didn’t expect it to be so effective for wizards as well.”

Felix thought for a moment, "He actually needs to improve two things—cut off the opponent's vision as much as possible, turning them into blind people. And increase his own detection capabilities as much as possible, it would be even better if he could ignore smoke."

“He’s quite good at transferring spells,” Moody said.

As they spoke, the clouds churned violently, and layers of blackness spread out from one point. It was like unsightly mold growing on a pure white spore, and this mold spread rapidly, accompanied by a pungent smell of gasoline.

"Did Cedric do it?"

"No, that's black magic."

Flitwick waved his wand in front of him, and the mist automatically parted to avoid them.

Half a minute later, two figures rushed out, coughing violently, tears streaming from their eyes, and their eyes turning red from the smoke.

"Ankexiao" (a cough remedy).

Felix pointed at Cedric, whose expression immediately softened.

The student on the other side also quieted down, and the two of them stepped forward and shook hands, their eyes both red.

Professor Wilkinson of Ifamoni exclaimed, “Well done, children, you’ve all done very well… wait, where did these students come from?”

Felix and Flitwick had already spotted Harry and his friends, but neither of them said a word. Moody, standing nearby, said in a low voice, "I told you, Professor Wilkinson, they're among the underage ones..."

Among the crowd, Byers glanced at Neville in surprise. Many of the people here were his friends from Gryffindor. He had asked about their grades, and apart from the twins, the rest were mostly fourth-year students.

Wilkinson looked at Harry and his friends with suspicion, and Harry straightened up as much as he could to appear taller. "And what about this little girl?" he asked, pointing to Astoria. "Did she also pass your selection?"

“It’s surprising, but… that’s right.” Felix shrugged. “She’s only a second-year student. She’s too young to participate in training. The rest of us, like the sixth and seventh-year prospective champions, receive the same treatment at Hogwarts.”

“Okay, as long as they don’t scream.” Wilkinson reluctantly agreed, offering no further objections. The group breathed a sigh of relief.

“The luckiest thing is that Professor McGonagall wasn’t there; she left halfway through,” Fred said, winking.

George gave a thumbs up.

Over the next few minutes, a group of professors commented on the battle, especially the dark magic aspects. When it was Felix's turn, he reminded the Hogwarts students, "Don't forget that some of you know the Light spell; it can dispel magical fog..."

Collins stared at him. She hadn't chosen Ancient Runes, so she wasn't a member of the Runes Club. In this respect, she was inferior to Astoria, because Dumbledore had very generously agreed to her request to join the Runes Club in order to appease the little girl.

Next, the students took turns going on stage, and each duel ended quickly.

It wasn't the kind of speed Harry encountered in Duel Class; he thought for a long time before coming up with a suitable word.

Rhythm.

The rhythm of their attacks was incredibly smooth, a smoothness he had never experienced in dueling class before, and had only had a similar experience with Sirius or in Room 7.

As for the summer training in his second year and his several encounters with Professor Haipu, he was completely outmatched and had no enjoyable experience whatsoever.

An hour later, each of the older students had taken their turn.

Felix, seeing Harry and the others looking at him expectantly, smiled slightly and said to Wilkinson, "Professor Wilkinson, why don't we let these younger students give it a try?"

"no problem."

Wilkinson nodded in agreement. He didn't find it difficult, even though the Hogwarts professors were lavish in their praise of these students, he considered it an exaggeration. They were several years younger than the actual champion candidates, and the age gap wasn't so easily bridged.

Moreover, he specifically asked and found that most of the people here had not passed the OWLS exam.

Iphamoni also had a similar exam, so he naturally knew what kind of transformation students would undergo after going through this year.

“Go up and have some fun! But don’t use dark magic,” Professor Wilkinson said to Ilfamoni’s students. Then he lazily sat down on the grass, pulled a bottle of wine from his cloak, and took a swig.

Yuria and Besni exchanged a helpless glance. Yuria said, "Byles, you go."

Biles nodded in agreement.

He stood in the center, grinning, a smile that made Harry and his friends eager to join in.