Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

January slipped away quietly amidst the howling of the cold wind.

During this month, Harry and his friends worked unusually hard. With their studies, detention, and Hermione's tutoring, Professor Potter noticed his son's transformation and was extremely satisfied with Harry. He also became even more doting on Hermione, who was helping Harry grow.

Harry's progress in learning Brilliantstone magic is quite good; he can already basically enhance his flail with magic. However, he still needs to devote a lot of focus to maintaining the spell. This level is far from being practical in combat. By Hermione's standards, one should at least be able to perform a tactical roll while anticipating the opponent's next move, maintaining the enhancement spell, and using combat skills. He should even go further and use other spells with his other free hand. Therefore, there is still a long way to go in tutoring Harry.

As for Ron and Neville, the former chose to give up after learning about magical weapons for a while. He was not suited to frontal combat and preferred to use his brain from the back. This was more evident in Wizarding Chess. When commanding the pieces, he usually planned carefully before acting and had a talent for grasping the timing of attacks. However, for some reason, he would forget what he could figure out in Wizarding Chess when he was in close combat. But being unsuited for melee combat does not mean that he lacks courage. No Gryffindor is a coward. It's just that everyone has different preferences and strengths.

So Hermione decided to teach him the most basic Spellstone first, so that no matter what she taught him later, he would at least have a foundation. Ron was also very interested in this spell that had almost killed Draco.

As for Neville, he regretfully expressed his wish to postpone the opportunity, as he was struggling to keep up with his professors' assignments and wanted to catch up with his classmates first. Hermione supported this and would tutor him in her spare time.

However, Hermione's schedule became even tighter. In addition to the previously planned schedule, she would occasionally go to the hall behind the fourth floor after curfew to study and stabilize the brilliance stone. However, Professor McGonagall did not allow her to enter through the main door of the fourth-floor corridor, which was a trap for the Lurkers. She did the same thing as before, going down into the cave through the tunnel behind the One-Eyed Witch statue and then using the Portkey to reach the stone pillar. Fortunately, the large pit in the cave had been filled in, so she no longer needed to use Transfiguration to create a path every time.

During her research on the Philosopher's Stone, she was sometimes accompanied by McGonagall, sometimes by Dumbledore's phoenix, and sometimes by Flitwick or other professors. They would all explain their understanding of the Philosopher's Stone and the magic of the founders from their own perspectives, but they did not impose these on Hermione. Instead, they hoped that she could combine her own theories and innovate.

Hermione lived up to expectations, absorbing the professors' knowledge like a sponge and gradually eliminating the potential dangers of the pyroxene. This made the beautiful blue stone more and more stable, and she believed that even if a bomb were detonated in the hall now, it would not affect its core.

Hogwarts entered a period of stability and peace, and the rescued freshmen, after a month of adjustment, had basically integrated into campus life.

Aside from Seamus Finnigan, who knows what kind of life this kid led before entering Ravenclaw? He's obsessed with the art of explosions, repeatedly making spells look like thunderous explosions in class, infuriating Professor Flitwick to the point of jumping up and down, shouting, "How could Ravenclaw have a student like you!" "You should be sorted into Gryffindor!"

In fact, even Hermione felt that this explosive boy might be a better fit for Gryffindor, but no one could change the Sorting Hat's decision.

When asked about Seamus himself, he said, "At the time, I was focused on learning more about explosions, so the Sorting Hat sent him to Ravenclaw."

As Seamus was a child, his father often took him to see the remnants of past wars. The huge shell craters, the leftover shell casings, and the occasional Muggle battles that broke out in the distance all made young Seamus very interested in explosions. Although his mother always told him that he would be able to do much more than that after he learned magic, it still did not change the place that explosions held in his heart.

Therefore, the Sorting Hat hesitated for almost a minute on his head before finally deciding to respect the child's inner thoughts and sort him into Ravenclaw, a school that values ​​both curiosity and knowledge.

Hogwarts continued its leisurely pace and had now reached the Mediterranean coast. However, the castle was too heavy, limiting its movement to near-shore areas. Further afield, even thick ice might not be able to withstand its weight.

Based on the direction of the wind, Hermione could roughly tell that they were heading west, but she wasn't sure where they were. She was just hoping that spring would come soon so that the storm outside would stop and the earth would regain some of its pitiful vitality.

That evening, Hermione went to the fourth-floor hall as usual, and Professor McGonagall accompanied her.

"We've decided to announce to the outside world that the saturation of the saturation stone has stabilized," Professor McGonagall suddenly said while Hermione was engrossed in her magical research.

Hermione looked up, somewhat surprised. "Won't the outside powers be even more envious?"

McGonagall said seriously, "The wizarding world needs a boost in confidence. The pressure from goblins and Muggles is increasing every day. A stable and strong rear will make wizards more willing to believe in the future of the wizarding world."

Hermione thought for a moment: "Is it also to lure out that Green Flame party member hiding in the school?"

"I guess it's Lucius."

Professor McGonagall smiled with slight surprise: "Dumbledore said you would guess the real purpose, but I didn't expect you to guess the real culprit as well."

Hermione shrugged. "That's not difficult. Of all the professors who've been with me these past few days, only this Head of Slytherin hasn't shown up. But won't such blatant xenophobia arouse his suspicion?"

McGonagall shook his head: "Although he participated in the protection of the Radiant Stone, he was unaware of your existence. In fact, he only realized he had been kept in the dark for a long time when he learned that the Radiant Stone had been stabilized."

"The nominal master of Malfoy Castle is actually cooperating with the Green Flame Party. What benefits did Voldemort give him?" Hermione wondered.

McGonagall shook her head: "It's nothing more than fame and fortune, an opportunity to take a step further. But Dumbledore also gave him a chance. If he had stopped in time, we would have pretended not to know anything."

"Why not just arrest him?"

"Because we can't directly break ties with the nobles, Hogwarts can't do without the support of Malfoy Castle." McGonagall's expression was somewhat helpless.

"Food, clothing, textbooks, potion ingredients... We are just a school, a castle cannot be completely self-sufficient. And to take action against a headmaster, the head of the Malfoy family, and one of the Hogwarts board members without any evidence would put the school in a completely passive position."

"And this time?" Hermione's implication was that the school was ready to break ties with Malfoy Castle.

"We'll catch them red-handed!" McGonagall declared firmly.

"At the same time, the stability of the brilliance stone is a great boost. The other nobles of Malfoy Castle will not give up the opportunity to befriend Hogwarts because of a scheming head of the family."

Hermione understood. Hogwarts used to be walking a tightrope with a bomb in its hands. The relationship with Malfoy Castle seemed to be mutually dependent, but in fact, Malfoy Castle always held the initiative. After all, without Hogwarts, they could still choose Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, but if Hogwarts lost Malfoy Castle, they might only be waiting for the Brilliant Stone to explode in a state of scarcity.

Now that there is a stable supply of Brilliant Stones, Hogwarts has become a hot commodity. Everyone wants to replicate the technology of the Magic Source. Even though the success rate is very low and the difficulty is extremely high, with the precedent of Hogwarts, many people are willing to risk their lives to try.

If Malfoy Castle were to sever ties with Hogwarts, Dumbledore could simply take his technology and move on to other wizarding communities. While the world may be in decline, Malfoy Castle is not the only dominant force. They could go to Asia, Africa, or the Americas, where plenty of people would be willing to accept them.

"Then what do I need to do?" Hermione asked.

"The professors have already made all the arrangements, and you..." McGonagall hesitated for a moment, "Actually, it's because of some personal reasons of mine. We didn't originally intend to involve a child, but... if something unexpected happens, I hope you can hide with the Brilliant Stone. As long as you're in the school, Hogwarts won't lose its magical source. Come through the One-Eyed Witch's secret passage, take the Brilliant Stone, and run. As long as Lucius can't find you, he'll inevitably fail."