Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

"Be careful. If you encounter any danger, blow your whistle, and I'll come as fast as I can," Professor McGonagall said, placing Hermione outside in the deadwood and sitting on a broom.

"Although not many people dared to be exposed to such an environment before Dumbledore cleaned this place, the professors still cannot let their guard down. We will patrol the area until all the children have returned to the castle," Professor McGonagall said, before flying back into the sky.

Hermione watched the professor leave before slowly walking into the woods.

She wore a standard Gryffindor robe, the magic of which made her immune to the cold. In her small satchel, besides food and water, was a small, not-so-sharp dagger, for clearing a path or for self-defense.

In reality, this place, which has experienced nuclear contamination for the second time, is so dangerous that even the most resilient mutant beasts cannot survive here. Before Dumbledore suppressed the radiation, it was a true no-man's land. Even now, only wizards can move around here normally without being affected.

Thanks to the mysterious magic, even an eleven-year-old girl can take a walk in a forbidden zone.

She walked through the forest, her steps uneven. Although it was a forest, the tallest branches were only a little over two meters high due to the fallen trees. After years of wind and frost, they were very fragile and would crumble into dust if stepped on, but this did not affect her progress much.

[Inclination] is a very mysterious concept. Hermione didn't know where she should go. She just wandered around the forest as she pleased. She could see guns, bones and clothing left behind by Muggle soldiers, but they were all basically in the process of being scrapped. As for wands, she didn't have that kind of luck.

Out of caution, she clutched the magic whistle in her hand so she could call for help in time, and she did not let her guard down even in the quiet, cold, and deathly silence around her.

"Huh? This must be a fairy?" She discovered a skeleton, short in stature, not even as tall as herself, wearing a beret and a well-fitting Soviet military uniform. Its skeletal features were similar to those of a human, yet distinctly different.

The bones even emitted a faint, eerie glow, resembling beautiful jade in the dim light—both beautiful and strange.

"They must have absorbed a lot of radiation before they died... but radiation is such a thing..."

Just as she was about to step forward for a closer look, she suddenly felt a whooshing sound behind her.

"knock down!"

Having died in a sneak attack in her previous life, Hermione in this life has learned the Faded Ones' exquisite rolling techniques. She rolls to the side before the invisible force arrives, but she is still a step too slow. Her hand holding the whistle is grazed, and the whistle flies dozens of meters away.

"Tsk~ What a slippery thing."

That familiar, smelly farting voice... it's Malfoy.

Hermione quickly stood up. The one who attacked her was Draco, the Slytherin prince. He had a malicious look on his face, his right hand holding a dagger, and his left hand held out with three fingers pointing forward, aiming at Hermione. It seemed that he had just used a gesture spell.

"Your dad just said not to gather in groups, right?" Hermione said expressionlessly.

"If the students are all gathered together, how can I possibly make a move?" Malfoy laughed smugly. "Don't try to pick up the whistle; I don't believe you can dodge the next one."

"Judging from your expression, you probably haven't found the right materials either. Are you in such a hurry to teach Mudplant a lesson?" Hermione was a little puzzled. The power of hand gesture magic was not strong. She was fully confident that she could defeat Malfoy head-on, so she took her time to get information out of him.

With his advantage, Malfoy launched into his villainous speech: "Only a foolish follower of Dumbledore would believe in wand selection. How can anything dug out of the junkyard be worthy of being the wand of the Malfoy family heir!"

He sized Hermione up with ill intent: "The finest wand materials have never been magical creatures."

Hermione was startled and suddenly realized what was happening.

Compared to unicorns, phoenixes, and dragons, wizards themselves are the most powerful magical creatures! No wonder Malfoy looked at her like that yesterday, thinking that the young wizard was too precocious; it turns out he had already regarded a part of her body as material for his wand.

Her gaze towards Draco turned icy: "Did Professor Malfoy tell you to do this?"

A flicker of panic crossed the latter's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "That's the case throughout Malfoy Castle! Of the twenty-eight remaining pure-blood families, aside from a few traitors, the families that truly understand honor have all adopted the technology of the Bone Wand!"

Hermione remembered Lucius's bone cane and suddenly realized.

Draco swallowed hard, seemingly to hide his nervousness: "A fledgling wizard, knocked down in a duel, his hand bones severed in agony, his tongue pulled out in wailing! Use tears as glue—that's the perfect wand!"

He tried to put on a fierce expression: "Give up struggling. You don't know any magic. All I can do is cut off your left hand and tongue. Just blow the whistle, and when the professor arrives, Hogwarts can heal you in just two weeks. You can come back next year."

"Aren't you and your father afraid of Dumbledore's wrath?"

"Hogwarts can't do without the support of Malfoy Castle! Where do you think all the supplies we consume every day come from?" Draco laughed smugly, a triumphant smile on his face. "Food, clothing, cauldrons, and parchment... Dumbledore might be furious, but as long as no young wizard dies, time will heal all wounds. Dad will receive some minor punishment, that's all."

"He's still a child," Hermione lamented inwardly. Just like the ordinary people of the Borderlands, those children of Queen Marika whose eyes once shone with divine light, they turned into mindless zombies after the law was broken. Humanity is never a static flower; the environment changes people, and the mud pollutes the flowers it produces. How lucky must a child who grows up in sin be to see the light?

"Why choose me? Muggle wizards make up the majority of the new students, right?"

Draco, dagger in hand, slowly approached. Hermione appeared to have given up resisting: "Dad overheard Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout's conversation. You deflected the Deathly Curse; you're the most talented in this class!"

His forehead was covered in sweat from nervousness; whether from excitement, fear, or the cold, his body trembled slightly: "I deserve the best!"

He lunged at her, not aiming the dagger at any vital points, but simply trying to pin her down with his body and then cut off the parts he needed.

It was clear that he had not received any close combat training and was not as skilled as the Finger Witch had been. Hermione simply jumped back lightly and gave him a push, which almost made Malfoy fall to the ground.

"One last question," Hermione asked the boy with a hint of pity, "Have you ever been afraid?"

Enraged, Draco regained his footing and lunged at him again: "You've really pissed me off!"

This time, he pointed three fingers forward with his left hand: "Knock out!"

An invisible force surged forth, but Hermione, who was prepared, easily dodged it.

Her brown eyes were as cold as frozen wasteland. She raised her palm, and a fluorescent blue light condensed in her hand—the power of stars.

"Pyroxene Magic Particle".

A flash of blue light disappeared in an instant, and the boy was thrown out and fell to the ground.