From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 589 The Gryffindor Sword Saint
A sudden burst of intense light shone through the window of the Weasley Studios, stinging the eyes of the people inside.

With his eyes stinging and burning, Director Longbottom suppressed his shock and swiftly and accurately fired a spell at the spot where Ivy was standing.

However, apart from knocking away a boxing telescope and spilling two boxes of canary cookies on the ground, the spell did not cause any damage.

Ivy and Cassandra have both disappeared from the store.

Director Longbottom looked out through his tear-blurred eyes and saw a group of Aurors lying haphazardly on the street, without even having time to utter a warning or a scream.

Ivy can imbue Apparition with various magical effects, from explosive entrances to repulsive dissipation. Using the blinding light of a flash to deprive enemies of their sight is just one of the most harmless methods.

Ivy, who landed in the middle of the crowd, could easily knock out a group of Aurors of average strength with just a few casual incantations.

If you can't keep up with Ivy's speed, you're likely to be crushed.

Ivy casually caught the ice cream ball that Cassandra was slipping off with a levitation charm, and looked at Director Longbottom, who jumped out of the Weasley Studios, with a leisurely air: "Come on, let me see what you're capable of."

“You’ll find out soon enough!” Master Longbottom’s face was resolute. His thick beard and wide wizard’s robes could not completely conceal the scars on his body. He was a brave warrior who had always fought on the front lines, never afraid and never retreating, a true Gryffindor.

"Except your weapons!"

A red light formed by a spell flew towards Ivy, but he simply flicked his fingers and easily brushed the spell aside.

"Is that all?" Ivy continued to exert psychological pressure. "Then you probably won't be able to protect anything today."

"Thunder Explosion!" Without wasting words, Director Longbottom quickly approached his opponent and fired another explosive spell.

The light formed by the spell was as fast as lightning, but Ivy's palm had been waiting in its path for a long time.

No wizard would dare to block a spell with their bare hands; even an adult Hungarian Tree Bee Dragon would be torn apart by the explosive spell.

However, Director Longbottom's expectations were ultimately dashed. With a simple clench of Ivy's fair and powerful hand, the incredibly powerful Explosion Spell was silenced.

Chief Longbottom's heart sank, but he did not give up his momentum. He reached into the tattered pocket at his waist with his free hand. The pocket was secured to his waist with two leather straps and bounced up and down with his running.

Ivy, of course, noticed his movements and focused intently on anticipating any possible projectiles.

However, Chief Longbottom drew a silver longsword with a gleaming hilt inlaid with a large red gemstone.

For any traditional wizard, melee combat has never been part of their training, let alone fighting with weapons other than a wand.

Director Longbottom is always at the forefront, and this is not a metaphor or description, but a fact. His forte is using spells to cover his charges and launching attacks at close range.

Gryffindor's sword can pierce any protective magic, while the basilisk's venom ensures that those wounded by it will quickly lose their fighting ability. If faced with a vicious dark wizard, the respected Master Longbottom will even slow down his detoxification efforts due to exhaustion, ensuring they cannot escape Azkaban.

Those eyes that had been filled with mockery from beginning to end finally showed surprise. Director Longbottom felt a sense of pleasure. Those dark wizards who were good at torturing others and creating tragedies would also show a similar expression. They originally thought that the wounds on Director Longbottom's body were proof of the power of their spells, but in fact, they were just a flaw that he deliberately revealed.

All you need is a very short wound.

Chief Longbottom murmured to himself, he could even see the gleam of the sword's blade. With just a short, shallow wound, the basilisk's venom would soon render the enemy immobile.

The clang of metal against metal, accompanied by an unusual vibration from the sword hilt, halted Chief Longbottom's charge in a way he could never have imagined.

The sorcerer who had effortlessly dispatched a group of Aurors pulled out a sharp military knife from somewhere and completely blocked Chief Longbottom's charging attack.

bass--

The sound of metal swords rubbing against each other erupted between the two men. Chief Longbottom felt a tremendous force coming from the hilt of the sword. The high-frequency vibrations made his fingers weak, and he could only try his best to grip the sword tightly.

Ivy raised the Beastbite Sword high and kicked Chief Longbottom in the chest, sending him staggering back a few steps. Only then did he realize that the tattered pouch hanging from Chief Longbottom's waist was actually the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

“A real Gryffindor?” Ivy raised an eyebrow. He had never imagined he would be engaged in close combat with an opponent in the wizarding world. “The headmaster of Hogwarts actually allowed you to take the relics of the four great masters out of the house? That’s really…”

"You have no idea how great the Principal is!" Having regained his footing, Director Longbottom thrust his sword again, his fighting style still the same desperate, risk-taking style. He didn't care how many openings he exposed, because he believed that as long as he pushed the tip of his sword into his opponent's body, he could end the battle.

“Greatness?” Ivy stepped to the side, slashing her sword at the weak side of the Gryffindor sword, causing the charging Master Longbottom to fall to the side. “True greatness never needs to be said.”

With a difficult turn, Director Longbottom took a step and slashed horizontally, seemingly poised to cut his opponent in half. However, Ivy simply leaped back and left Director Longbottom's attack range.

"That's a reckless fighting style." Ivy had already seen through Director Longbottom's intentions. "You seem certain that if that sword hits me once, the battle will be over quickly. Why is that?"

"Is it because of the poison?" Ivy was not quite sure at first, but seeing the expression on Director Longbottom's face, she nodded knowingly.

In the normal timeline, Tom Riddle's diary was pierced by the fangs of the Basilisk, and the weapon that killed the Basilisk was the Gryffindor sword. Based on the sword's ability to absorb other magical substances to strengthen itself, this fairy silver sword, which had been passed down for thousands of years, immediately gained the ability to destroy Horcruxes.

It was precisely because of the basilisk's venom that Neville Longbottom in the normal timeline was able to decapitate Voldemort's Horcrux, Nagini, with a single blow.

Having his trump card exposed by Ivy, Director Longbottom fell silent, only swinging his sword more and more wildly.

The Beastbite Sword unleashed streaks of brilliant light, each time precisely intercepting the Gryffindor sword's unpredictable sword path. The recoil from the weapon clash caused Chief Longbottom's arm to go weak.

"Let go." Ivy snapped, startling Chief Longbottom. He involuntarily released his grip, and by the time he realized what was happening and tried to regain control of the Gryffindor sword, a heirloom passed down for millennia, it was too late. He could only watch as it flew into the air and embedded itself firmly in the marble slab of Diagon Alley. "The Bell!"

Despite losing his weapon, Chief Longbottom did not give up the fight. He once again drew his wand from his quickdraw and pointed it at Ivy.

The bright white light emitted by the wand was almost unavoidable at this distance, but Longbottom couldn't imagine what it would be like for his opponent to be hit by his magic.

As expected, Ivy deftly spun the blade, blocking the incantation across the sword. The impact of the incantation couldn't even cause the Beastbite Sword to bend in the slightest.

Ivy pointed her index finger at her opponent, but before he could draw his wand or hear any incantation, the red light of the disarming spell still struck Chief Longbottom squarely.

“You’ve never systematically studied swordsmanship. I’ve lost interest in continuing this boring fight.” Ivy twirled his sword, caught Longbottom’s wand, and walked towards the Gryffindor sword. Of the four great masters’ relics, this was the only one he hadn’t handled.

“You…don’t even think about it!” Chief Sorter Longbottom reached into the Sorting Hat at his waist again and pulled out the Gryffindor sword that was stuck in the distance.

As the cooked duck flew away, Ivy paused for a second, then heard Director Longbottom's roar.

"Sigh... You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences." Ivy spun around like a top, cleaving the attack of the fairy silver sword with one stroke, severing the sword-wielding arm of Chief Longbottom, and snatching the Gryffindor sword from the severed arm.

The pain of losing an arm is unbearable for most people, but although Chief Longbottom, who was kneeling on one knee, had a distorted face and bloodshot eyes, he did not make a sound.

Ivy tossed the severed arm beside him and casually said, "If we find a good doctor quickly, it can still be reattached. I'll borrow this sword for a couple of days, and then I'll return it to the Hogwarts headmaster myself."

“Come, Cassandra.” Ivy, holding two swords, beckoned to her adopted niece. “We should go home.”

Cassandra, who had witnessed the whole thing from outside Florin's ice cream shop, had stars in her eyes. She ran over and took Ivy's arm: "We still have some things we haven't gotten."

"Ah." Ivy placed both swords into the Grimoire of Destruction. "I almost forgot."

The three Weasleys—two adults and one child—stood dumbfounded in the Weasley Studios, never imagining things would develop this way.

“Please take him to St. Mungo.” Ivy pointed to Chief Longbottom outside the door, who had lost all his weapons. “If we delay any longer, he might be crippled.”

Before George and Fred could react, Ivy swept up a pile of joke merchandise from the ground and vanished using Apparition.

"Neville!" Although the Weasley brothers had never gotten along with the authorities, no one wanted to see someone from the same house seriously injured.

The two Weasleys rushed out of the store and ran towards their former buddy. They were particularly adept at handling minor magical accidents, having spent their school days using all sorts of newly invented pranks on themselves. However, they hadn't really encountered anything like a severed arm.

“White cinnamon essence! Uncle George!” Viktoria rushed out of the two men’s workshop, holding a bottle of emergency medicine for preventing serious injuries.

“Oh… this stuff is very expensive, Director Longbottom?” Fred breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the medicine bottle, and even had time to joke. For a wizard, treating a simple severed arm is much simpler than dealing with the splitting accident that occurs during Apparition.

"We still have a score to settle with you!" Director Longbottom said through gritted teeth, "Those explosives..."

“They were all stolen by some mysterious black wizard!” Viktoria pointed to a large empty shelf in the shop window.

"What black wizard!" George exclaimed in surprise.

"What explosives?" Fred immediately chimed in.

"We only saw a great wizard bravely protecting innocent people!" the two exclaimed in unison, while winking vigorously at Viktoria. "He is the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the real Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom!"

Director Longbottom nearly fainted due to excessive blood loss.

By then, a large number of Aurors had rushed to the scene and surrounded the two shops at the end of Diagon Alley.

"Oh... Neville!" The Leaky Cauldron owner rushed over anxiously upon hearing the news. "You're injured again! I've never seen you bleed so much!"

“It’s just a minor injury…” Director Longbottom tried to stand up, but found his legs weak and sore.

The Weasley brothers lifted him up on either side, their faces full of worry as they said to Mrs. Longbottom, "Don't listen to his nonsense! His arm's practically fallen off! You really need to keep an eye on him, Hannah! If he keeps taking these risks, the wizarding world will lose another truly honest and reliable person!"

“Neville!” Mrs. Longbottom, her eyes brimming with tears, was about to speak when she was stopped by Director Longbottom, whose face turned deathly pale.

He picked up the Sorting Hat hanging at his waist and listened respectfully. Everyone else who saw this couldn't help but step back, even the Weasley brothers who had been supporting Lord Longbottom let go.

The crumpled hat ripped open a crack, looking like an ugly mouth: "What happened, Neville? Where's the Gryffindor sword?"

Chief Secretary Longbottom took a deep breath and forced himself to answer the question: "It was my fault, Headmaster... that man stole the Gryffindor sword... I couldn't even pull it out of the Sorting Hat..."

"What kind of magic did he display?" The voice sounded like it was suppressing anger, repeatedly asking about everything that had just happened.

"He defeated me with a weapon that I couldn't tell was either a sword or a knife... As for magic, I didn't hear him chant any spells, nor did I see his wand... He could even cast powerful disarming spells with just his fingers..."

"Only a disarming spell?" the headmaster pressed. "No spells like throwing boulders or summoning lightning?"

"A Summoning Charm and a Weather Charm?" Director Longbottom asked, puzzled. "No, he only used a Disarming Charm."

(End of this chapter)