The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

evening.

The students who had had dinner briefly left the auditorium, and when they came back again, it had been decorated as a duel club.

The stage was erected in the center of the auditorium, placed between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables.

Students gathered around with wands in hand, excitedly waiting for the duel that was about to begin.

"Hey! Ash."

As soon as Ash walked into the auditorium, the twins came up to say hello. George asked curiously, "You actually came to join the Duel Club? I thought you were not interested in this."

Fred added:

"After all, you didn't even come with your little girlfriends yesterday."

Ash explained with a somewhat helpless expression:

"That's just because I was delayed by other things last night. It's not that I'm not interested in the Duel Club."

Fred and George looked at each other and winked at Ash:

"So you don't deny that they are your little girlfriends?"

Ash asked back:

"Will you change your mind if I object?"

"No!" the twins said in unison.

They were laughing and joking and just about to continue teasing, they suddenly caught sight of Hermione and the three at the entrance of the auditorium, and they wisely closed their mouths.

Hermione asked curiously:

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just a small talk."

Ash covered it up casually and asked doubtfully, "Where are Harley and Cassandra?"

Hermione explained softly:

"Cassandra said she wasn't feeling well, and Harley stayed with her to rest in the dormitory."

Although she said that, even Hermione was a little doubtful. She was fine in the afternoon, so how could she suddenly feel unwell? If Cassandra was really ill, shouldn't she go to the school hospital?

The so-called physical discomfort is more like an excuse to avoid certain things.

"Ash, I..."

Hermione was about to discuss this matter with Ash, but Setsuna suddenly rushed to Ash, speaking in an extremely expectant tone:

"Master, Setsuna wants to mend the demon!"

"Repair magic?" The unfamiliar vocabulary made several question marks appear above Hermione's head.

Setsuna waggled her tail excitedly, with anticipation written on her face:

"Yeah! Setsuna hasn't healed her demons for a long, long time. Setsuna needs the master's energy!"

"Wait a moment."

Ash gently stroked the girl's silky white hair, and his tone was both doting and helpless, "Bai Zi, watch Setsuna, don't let her mess around!"

Bai Zi nodded slightly and caught Setsuna's tail that was swaying gently under his cloak.

"Hey! No, not there!"

"Ah! No, it hurts..."

Amidst Setsuna's screams and cries, Bai Zi pulled her tail and forcibly dragged her away from Ash. Although Shiroko and Setsuna also have the need to replenish their demons, she doesn't need to be as hungry as Setsuna because she often eats secretly.

Hermione looked at Ash with innocent curiosity:

"What is magic replenishment?"

"It literally means replenishing magic power."

Ash's serious explanation did not dispel the girl's suspicion, but she was obedient and did not continue to ask further questions.

At this moment, the girl caught a glimpse of several tall figures entering the auditorium through the oak door. They were the professors of Hogwarts!

Obviously there were only two professors, Lockhart and Snape, in the Duel Club yesterday, but today, for some unknown reason, all the professors from the school came to the auditorium at the same time, and among them were three strangers that Hermione had never seen before. man.

"That's Cassandra's father, Lucius Malfoy."

Ash's voice fell in Hermione's ear, and the girl subconsciously asked, "What about the other two?"

The richly dressed man with dazzling blond hair was Cassandra's father. It was not difficult to identify him.

The remaining two strangers also have their own characteristics. One is a thin man in ragged clothes and a sickly pale face, while the other is the opposite. He is tall and strong, and looks at the former with a look in his eyes. A little contemptuous.

Ash did not explain, because Snape had already stepped onto the stage at this time, and his cold voice spread throughout the auditorium with the blessing of the loudspeaker:

"Quiet!"

Thanks to Snape's long-established harsh image, his warning had an immediate effect, and the originally noisy Great Hall immediately fell silent.

Needing no introduction, the skinny man in ragged clothes and the tall and muscular man stepped onto the stage at the same time and walked to the center of the stage.

Snape's eyes swept across the faces of the students in the audience, frowned slightly, and yelled:

"Everyone, take five steps back!"

Snapped!

The crowded crowd retreated, leaving a vacuum zone around the stage.

Dumbledore walked through the crowd and stood near the stage, nodding slightly towards Snape.

Snape stood between the two of them, his tone extremely cold:

"The spells used in the duel are limited to Expelliarmus and Stunned. Is there any doubt?"

Sean Gower grinned:

"No."

"Me neither." Lupine's voice was very soft.

Of course, a formal duel will not have similar restrictions, but this is always a school, and there are a large number of students watching the duel. If a large-scale destructive spell is used, it is easy to accidentally injure students.

"I'm counting to three."

Lupine and Goyle also walked to both sides of the stage at this time. Snape also jumped off the stage and spoke slowly:

"one two three……"

Lupine raised his wand and waited intently, but Goyle had already taken action at the count of 'two'!

"Expelliarmus!"

Gower recited the spell loudly, and a dazzling red light shot from the tip of the wand towards the unsuspecting Lupine, and Gower's face already showed a smile of victory. So what if it was a sneak attack? Anyway, he is the one who wins!

However, what he never expected was that when the curse was about to hit Lu Ping, it was suddenly rebounded by an invisible barrier.

"Iron Armor Curse! Silent casting!"

Goyle changed color slightly, but Lupine had already made his counterattack the moment he completed his defense.

But this time, it was still silent!

boom!

The dazzling red light hit Goyle's armor spell and was quickly bounced towards the ceiling.

But this didn't make any sense, because before Gower could launch a counterattack, one curse after another came like a violent storm, without giving him any chance to breathe, and the situation on the field was instantly reversed!

Under Lupine's continuous attacks of silent spells, Goyle was unable to fight back. He kept retreating in embarrassment under Lupine's pressing step by step, and finally fell off the stage with his foot in the air, and his body fell heavily to the ground.

boom!

Lupine slowly put away his wand and did not continue to attack. Because in a duel, if either party leaves the limited venue, it will be considered a loss.

Gower's victory was declared the moment he fell off the stage.

Lupine glanced at Snape, who had a gloomy face, and then looked at Dumbledore on the other side, but before he could speak, a voice full of hatred suddenly sounded in his ears:

"Reducto!"

It's Gower!

After being knocked off the stage, Goyle struggled to get up from the ground. Being humiliated in front of everyone made him furious. With his anger, he unleashed a curse on the unsuspecting Lupine on the stage!

At this moment, not only Dumbledore, but also Snape and Lucius changed slightly!

Aren’t you completely unable to afford to lose?

Lupine obviously didn't expect Goyle's sudden attack. He just heard Goyle's spiteful voice and turned around subconsciously. But when he realized that Goyle was casting a spell on him, he was too late to defend himself.

Because even if the spell is cast silently, the user does not need to say the spell out loud, but they still need to accurately recite the spell they want to use in their hearts and make matching actions.

But at this time, Lupine had no time to recite the Iron Armor Curse silently in his heart, nor did he have the chance to wave his wand to make an action. Lu Ping's eyes were full of surprise and astonishment, and he could only watch the curse flying towards him.

"impeccabilis!"

Ash waved his wand and released a purple spell that spread like mist, blocking Goyle and Lupin. And when the magic spell released by Gore touched the purple 'mist', the bright light group was instantly 'melted' by the mist and turned into nothing.

"Expelliarmus!"

Snape followed suit and knocked Goyle's wand out of his hand with a curse.

However, even at this point, Goyle's heart was still filled with unknown anger. He climbed onto the stage and rushed towards Lupin with his fists waving.

"Gol!"

Lucius had a sullen face, and his angry voice echoed throughout the auditorium, "Get out of here!"

Hearing Lucius's voice, the inexplicable anger in Goyle's heart was instantly taken over by fear. His face suddenly turned pale, as if he suddenly realized the consequences of his previous actions.

Before Dumbledore could speak, Lucius said in a deep voice:

"I will give you an explanation for this matter!"

Dumbledore's eyes moved slightly, but he nodded slightly and said nothing.

The Malfoy family has always attached great importance to rules, which is specifically reflected in the fact that the Malfoy family likes to exploit loopholes in the rules to achieve their own goals. But this also means that people in the Malfoy family will never openly break the rules or challenge the rules, and they also hate those who break the rules.

Because once the rules are broken, no one needs to abide by them, and the Malfoy family will no longer be able to exploit loopholes in the rules.

And Gower's behavior just now was undoubtedly playing into Lucius's minefield.

Lucius can allow Gower to cheat, allow him to take action early in the duel, allow him to wear an 'anti-spell cloak' to participate in the duel, and even allow him to use magic spells beyond the limits of the rules to achieve his goals. As long as he can win, everything will be done. All means can be used - but the premise is that Gore can win through it.

If it fails, it will only be more humiliating.

You can't win even if you cheat, what a valuable thing, WDNMD!

And Gower's behavior just now was even more wise. He actually cast a magic spell behind his back in anger when he lost. This was completely beyond Lucius's expectations!

He didn't forbid Gower to retaliate, but at least you were behind someone else's back! Wouldn't you secretly find a place where no one is around to solve it? If you insist on making a sneak attack in full view of the public, this will not only embarrass Gower, but also slap Lucius in the face who recommended him!

For all Goyle's actions, whether or not they were directed by Lucius, he must be held responsible for them. That's why he spoke before Dumbledore, at least not to continue to embarrass himself in public.

Dumbledore watched Lucius and Goyle leave, then stepped onto the stage, with a kind smile on his face and loudly said:

"Everyone, I am very happy to announce to you that Mr. Remus Lupin won the duel just now. He will serve as our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, filling the vacancy left by Professor Lockhart's resignation!"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

"Selected through a duel?"

"He just used a silent spell, did you see it?!"

"cool!!"

Amidst the noisy discussion among the students, some people soon cheered and applauded.

Soon, thunderous applause echoed throughout the auditorium.

The students at Hogwarts are very excited about this novel method of selecting professors!

This not only allows them to watch a wonderful duel in vain, but also allows them to see the strength of these professors with their own eyes. At least it can ensure that there will not be people like Lockhart and Quirrell who are just pretending to be good!

Amidst the applause of the students, Lu Ping walked off the stage, came to Ash, and said solemnly:

"Thank you, Mr. Black."

Apparently, Dumbledore had introduced Ash to him.

"It should."

Ash smiled and held out his hand to Lupine, "Congratulations, Professor Lupin."

Lupine was startled for a moment, then a smile soon appeared on his face, and he stretched out his hand to shake Ash's hand.

"Did you just use your own magic spell?"

Snape's cold voice sounded in his ears.

"Yes."

Ash did not hide anything and nodded lightly, "It has no lethality. Its only function is to offset other people's spells. In a sense, it can be classified as a spell similar to the 'Iron Armor Curse'. I call it It’s impeccable.”

Snape's expression changed slightly, but his evaluation remained merciless:

"A good idea, but too inefficient."

"really."

Ash shrugged, noncommittal.

Everything in modern magic is based on 'efficiency', and any kind of spell focuses on maximizing efficiency.

For example, magic spells can be roughly divided into some broad categories, such as blasting spells, disarming spells, cutting spells, armor spells, etc. There are at least hundreds of spells of each type. Their spells are different, but their functions are similar.

In the case of similar functions, efficiency becomes the core key to the use of magic spells.

Only the most efficient spells are qualified to be promoted in the wizarding world.

Give me a chestnut.

When it comes to disarming spells, the first thing wizards think of is Expelliarmus.

Not because the disarming spell can only disarm you, but because among the hundreds of disarming spells, the disarming spell is the most efficient.

Among the blasting spells, the most commonly used ones are thunderbolt explosion, blasting rumble and flying sand and stone. These three are all blasting spells, and their efficiency is also different. However, because the power is not the same, none of the three have been eliminated.

The so-called efficiency, in the final analysis, means using the least amount of magic power to do more things.

If the armor's magic power consumption is 1 and its effectiveness is 10, then its efficiency is 10.

As for Ash's 'Invulnerable', its cost is 100, its effectiveness is 20, and its efficiency is only 0.5.

In terms of efficiency, the former is twenty times that of the latter.

But if we just talk about the effectiveness of magic spells, invulnerability is actually twice as effective as armor.

If they had to choose between two spells, most wizards would prioritize efficiency and choose armor for protection.

But Ash is different. He has no shortage of magic power and doesn't care about the efficiency of the spell at all.

As long as the efficiency is high enough, it doesn't matter how low the efficiency is. Ancient magic is a typical representative of this idea.

Of course, this doesn't mean Ash can't improve his 'efficiency'.

Taking Invulnerability as an example, Ash can completely increase its efficiency from 0.5 to 4 or even 5, an increase of eight to ten times.

However, for Ash, he never thought about promoting his self-created spell to the outside world. Instead, he hoped that the efficiency would be as low as possible——

The purpose of improving the efficiency of spell casting is actually to lower the entry threshold so that more people can learn this spell.

In other words, the higher the efficiency, the lower the threshold and the more people will use it.

On the contrary, the lower the efficiency, the higher the threshold and the fewer people will use it.

And that's exactly what Ash expected.

He never intended to selflessly dedicate the magic he developed to others.

——

Outside the auditorium, Lucius looked at the dejected Gower with cold eyes and said in a cold tone:

"Goyle, you did a good job!"

Goyle's body trembled involuntarily, and he hurriedly defended, "Lou... Mr. Malfoy, I didn't... didn't mean to do it. I didn't intend to do this at the time, but an unknown fire came from nowhere and made me faint. Got the mind..."

Lucius laughed angrily:

"Are you still going to tell me that you were under the Imperius Curse and that's why you're out of control?"

How funny!

Because he lost the duel, couldn't control his emotions after losing, and now he actually wants to take the blame! Who can you blame?

After all, where does this anger come from? Isn’t it your own choice?

It can't be something others instilled in you, right?

Although Lucius's reprimand made Gower quite frightened, the resentment in his heart still took over and he whispered bitterly:

"If he hadn't stopped me..."

Lucius sneered again and again:

"If Ash hadn't stopped you, you would have been sent to Azkaban right now!"

Goyle shuddered, he would rather die than go to Azkaban!

Lucius extremely regretted bringing Goyle to Hogwarts at this time. He thought that Goyle would be smarter than Crabbe, but Goyle's performance was actually worse than Crabbe. But there is no point in pursuing responsibility now. He doesn't want to stay here for a minute now. The longer he stays in Hogwarts, the more Lucius can feel the burning pain in his cheeks! ——

After watching Dumbledore leave, Snape looked at Lupine, who took over the Duel Club for him at Dumbledore's suggestion, with a gloomy expression on his face. He couldn't stay for a second and left directly.

Lupine also saw Snape leaving, his eyes a little complicated.

The conflict between them has been going on for a long time and cannot be resolved in a few words.

"Cool! Professor Lupin!"

The Geminis were the first to gather around Lupin, and George asked excitedly, "Which school did you graduate from before?"

"Gryffindor."

Lupine looked back and answered the students' questions in a gentle voice, "I used to be a Gryffindor prefect."

"So are we!"

The twins suddenly raised their brows, extremely proud of the college they were in.

As the prefect of Gryffindor, Percy also looked at Lupine with admiration and asked with some expectation:

"Professor Lupine, can you teach us how to use the Silent Charm?"

Lu Ping smiled and nodded:

"Of course. The Silent Curse is a required course for sixth graders at Hogwarts. Haven't you learned it before?"

Percy shook his head slightly:

"Lockhart never taught any of this."

Percy is now in his sixth year, and Lockhart is a complete loser. He doesn't even know the Silent Charm himself.

Not to mention Percy, even the seventh grader failed to master the Silent Charm.

Because it was Quirrell who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts last year, and Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort and didn't even want to teach silent spells.

Lupine encouraged with a gentle smile:

"Since I serve as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I will teach you everything that needs to be taught. However, it is very difficult to cast a silent spell. You must be mentally prepared. Not everyone can do this. Master it.”

Hermione felt a little unsure and asked in a low voice:

"Ash, do you think I can learn the Silent Charm?"

"Don't worry, I believe that with your talent, the silent spell is simple, isn't it? Even casting a spell without a wand is not difficult!"

Ash touched Hermione's head, and the unabashed compliment made Hermione blush. Wasn't this too much of a compliment?

"Ash, do you think we can learn it?" Fred asked with a wink as the Gemini came over to join in the fun again.

Ash stared at the two brothers for a while and replied softly:

"I don't think so."

George was obviously unconvinced and asked:

"Do you think our talents are poor?"

"Yeah, we're not Ron!" Fred immediately helped.

Ron's face turned dark when he was given an 'example', you are really brothers!

Ash shook his head slightly:

"No, whether you can learn the silent spell is not only related to talent, but also related to the wand."

"Magic wand?" George and Fred raised their wands in surprise, "What does this have to do with wands?"

Ash explained casually:

"Just like wand cores, different wand woods have different effects on different spells. For example, pine wands are extremely sensitive to silent spells, and willow wands are suitable for casting advanced silent spells. Among all wand woods, alder wands are The finished wand is the most suitable for casting silent spells."

"On the other hand, dogwood wands are just the opposite. Most of them refuse to cast silent spells. And if I'm not mistaken, should all your wands be made of dogwood?"

The twins' expressions suddenly froze, because their wands were indeed made of dogwood wood!

As a wand shop that has been around for thousands of years, Ollivanders has always been very unique.

For example, the price of their wands is always 7 Galleons, which is much lower than the cost price. It is completely a charity.

For another example, the process of buying a wand at Ollivanders is not that the wizard chooses the wand, but that the wand chooses the wizard.

For example, wands with unicorn hair as the core will only select wizards with pure hearts to become their masters. This condition is undoubtedly very harsh. But fortunately, those who buy wands are eleven-year-old wizards, and most of them still retain their innocence and kindness.

Wands made of dogwood wood are more peculiar and mischievous. They have a playful nature and like to find owners who can bring them excitement and joy, which coincides with the personalities of Geminis.

That's why Ash concluded that their wands were most likely made of dogwood wood.

Lu Ping looked a little surprised and asked softly:

"This is the first time I've heard of this theory. Have you ever been exposed to wandology?"

"Know a thing or two."

Ash's modesty did not have any effect, because the eyes of other students around him, including Lupine, changed slightly.

Because wandology is not a required course at Hogwarts, it is not even an elective course.

The vast majority of wizards will never come into contact with wandology throughout their lives. Only a very small number of wizards, such as the Ollivander family that has been passed down for generations, are qualified to learn systematic wandology.

And there are only three such families in the whole of Europe!

There are no more than ten wizards in Europe who truly understand wandology!

Being able to learn wandology at least proves that Ash has a close relationship with those families.