Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 246 Battlefield Meat Grinder

Hermione still actively raised her hand to answer: "Stone Axe, Professor."

She paused and added: "Primitive humans have used it to hunt and cut food since about 200 million years ago."

"That's right." Professor Abigail said, "At that time, the Muggles who used such weapons regarded wizards who mastered magic as gods. They knelt down and prayed for the protection of wizards, and gave the best food, clothes, gems, and even their own children to wizards."

"And then, their weapons became these—"

The spear, iron knife, and bow and arrow were suspended in the air one after another, slowly rotating. Professor Abigail picked up the bow and arrow, drew the bow and arrow, and shot at will.

The bow and arrow hit a tree trunk in the distance with a "thump".

Behind the trees, there was a faint rustling sound, leaves were brushed aside, and thin dead branches on the ground were broken by being stepped on.

Students with good eyesight could see part of the centaur's figure in the shadows between the trees.

There were two young centaurs holding bows and arrows, hiding at the edge of the forbidden forest, staring at the teachers and students who were in class.

"This is a bow and arrow. Centaurs still use these weapons today. With bows and arrows, Muggles can hunt from a safe distance, greatly reducing the risk of encountering wild animals."

Professor Abigail said: "They can also use this weapon to sneak attack wizards - no one can maintain the Shield Charm all the time, I can't, let alone you little wizards who can't even use the Shield Charm."

"At that time, Muggles were no longer so in awe of wizards. Even the legendary wizard Merlin was only a close friend and mentor of King Arthur. Muggles no longer worshipped wizards as gods. They even learned to use the power of wizards."

"But gradually, wizards were no longer regarded as prophets and companions. People began to believe that all disasters were caused by wizards. The reason why wizards have magical powers is that they are possessed by evil spirits."

Then, more weapons were displayed.

The cannon appeared in the 13th century, the matchlock rifle was invented in the 15th century, and the flintlock rifle came into being in the 17th century.

There was a "bang" of a gunshot and a puff of white smoke rose up. The centaurs in the Forbidden Forest were startled. Some of them seemed to want to rush out, but were pulled back by their companions.

Professor Abigail said: "So starting in the 15th century, the witch hunts began."

She pointed to a target pierced by bullets not far away and asked the students: "Tell me, if there were several or dozens of such weapons pointed at you, how many of you would survive?"

There was silence for a moment.

Ron muttered, "It doesn't take dozens of them... Even if it was just one, I would probably be dead."

Professor Abigail said: "Your textbooks tell you that during the witch hunts, most of those killed were actually Muggles who were framed... That's true."

"The textbook also tells you how some powerful wizards played tricks on Muggles, such as the witch Wendelin who was burned forty-seven times."

"But many of you may not realize that the Frostfire Curse is a very advanced spell, and there are only a handful of wizards who can master it."

"There are many young wizards of your age who have been killed - because they have neither the ability to escape from the Muggles nor the ability to protect themselves from fire or gunfire!"

"Imagine if you were tied to the stake. Would you be able to laugh at the stupidity of the Muggles like Wendelin did? Would you be able to walk down from there alive?"

The laughter among the students completely disappeared. They looked at the professor, imagining the cruel scene at that time. Their faces turned pale, with anxiety and fear in their eyes.

"And in those days, children, Muggle weapons were still very crude, and they never stopped studying how to kill their own kind."

"Compared to them, most wizards would be helpless if they lost their wands."

“For example, there’s Mr. Nick from Gryffindor who was almost headless. After he was captured by Muggles and his wand was taken away, he couldn’t escape from the Muggle dungeon and was eventually hacked on the neck more than forty times with a blunt axe.” In the past, when students heard this story, they thought Nick was both unlucky and funny, but only now did they realize the horror of it.

Just then, they heard a wronged voice:

"Why use me as an example? That's so rude, professor!"

Nick floated away sadly, and several ghosts followed quickly to comfort him.

Everyone then realized that all the ghosts in the school, including Peeves, were attending the class. Peeves rarely made trouble, so everyone ignored his presence.

Professor Abigail paused for a moment, then ignored the episode and patted the thing next to her that was like a telescope.

She said, "This is the Maxim machine gun, an antique invented almost a hundred years ago. Who wants to come up and experience its power?"

The students had not yet recovered from their previous imagination. When they heard this, they thought that Professor Abigail wanted them to face machine gun bullets directly. They were all so scared that they stepped back, fearing that the professor had a wrong understanding of their strength.

Then, Wade, who took a step forward, stood out, and everyone looked at him as if he were a martyr.

"Professor, I'd like to try," Vader said, raising his hand.

He had never come into contact with this kind of battlefield meat grinder, but had only seen it in military museums.

"very good."

Professor Abigail asked Wade to come forward and taught him how to install the canvas belt and adjust the barrel.

Then the professor waved his wand, and on the lawn in the distance, rows of targets stood up, like a crowd of people standing there in a daze.

"You can shoot now," she said.

Vader did so.

"Da da da da..."

Like a series of firecrackers exploding, the bullet belt moved rapidly and the metal shells clanged to the ground.

Wade's arms also trembled rapidly, and he tried to steady his direction to prevent the bullet from flying around.

The target in the distance fell down as quickly as cut wheat.

The students who saw that Vader didn't have to sacrifice themselves just gathered around him, but then fearfully kept their distance. One Hufflepuff student even accidentally tripped while backing away and fell to the ground.

A long belt of bullets was fired in less than a minute. When Wade stood up, he felt the muscles in his arms trembling unconsciously.

Then they heard Professor Abigail's cold voice: "This is the harvester of life. It once killed more than 60,000 people in one day on the battlefield."

"...Sixty thousand?" someone murmured, suspecting that he had heard it wrong.

"That's right," said Professor Abigail. "This machine gun can theoretically fire 600 rounds per minute."

She moved the Maxim machine gun aside and said, "Now, let's look at the others."

　Special note: Voldemort did not curse his own name during the first war, but did so in the seventh book. Anyone who called his name would be found by the Death Eaters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)