Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 294 Hufflepuff's Confusion

"Really?!" Daphne and Astoria were both in a state of disbelief after receiving Rice's sudden invitation.

"Professor White only invited you after all..." Astoria was still a little uneasy after the excitement subsided.

"No problem, you can all go ahead." Rice knew her old friend too well; she would never complain about having too many people coming to enjoy the food.

Unlike Rice and his two companions, who were engrossed in the upcoming dinner, the students in the Great Hall were more focused on what Professor White had said in class the day before; the topic of dark magic was always the most sensitive.

The professors in the faculty section were no exception; as soon as Hufflepuff sat down, their eyes fell on her. Professor Sprout spoke first. She had a good impression of this old man skilled in food magic and naturally didn't want to see her get involved in any trouble.

"Professor White, I've heard rumors that you said in class that we should practice dark magic. That must be a misunderstanding, right?"

To Sprout's astonishment, Professor White readily admitted to the "accusations" against him. This made the kind-hearted Hufflepuff witch uneasy. She said to Helga with a serious expression, "The laws may differ in your time, but here, dark magic is strictly forbidden."

The modern magical community has become extremely secretive about black magic. Among the world's renowned magic schools, only Durmstrang is openly relatively tolerant of black magic.

Opposing black magic is the politically correct stance in the modern magical world, and Helga and Rice's actions can be described as bold—however, because Helga's target is relatively large, most people have not noticed the role Rice played in this incident.

"In my time, many wizards also had reservations about dark magic, and so did I." Helga's next words silenced all the professors: Pomona had offered such obvious two ways out, but Professor White refused to take them, which was troublesome.

They were certain that once this news got out, it would cause a huge uproar. Even though many of the students' parents were Death Eaters who were fascinated by dark magic, they would definitely be the first to step forward and distance themselves.

"But as far as I know, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic have been authorized to use the Unforgivable Charm, so it is still necessary to understand dark magic."

Helga's statement left the other professors somewhat speechless. At this point, Dumbledore, who had remained silent, spoke up.

"Smith, the three Unforgivable Curses weren't popular in your time, were they?"

Hufflepuff nodded. In her opinion, apart from the Imperius Curse, the other two spells were somewhat useless. The Cruciatus Curse was purely for torture and had no other purpose—if a wizard wanted to extract a confession, he had better options.

The Killing Curse's instant death effect sounds powerful, but Helga only finds it laughable: a spell without tracking effects, which can be dodged by moving around, really deserves to be called the Unforgivable Curse? The spells invented by her old friend Salazar Slytherin are far more "unforgivable" than Avada Kedavra.

In her time, the practicality of magic was paramount; it would be a miracle if these flashy but impractical spells became popular.

"That's not surprising," Dumbledore nodded. "The three Unforgivable Curses can only be activated when driven by strong negative emotions. For example, the Cruciatus Curse requires the caster to have an immense desire to inflict pain on the target and derive pleasure from it in order to be effective. If such a curse is cast frequently, it will have a very negative impact on the soul."

Hufflepuff: ...

This is unbelievable! Why do dark wizards of your time like to use these ineffective spells with shockingly large negative effects? Can't you learn from Salazar and use some powerful spells that are less harmful to yourself?

Hufflepuff experienced the disconnect between eras for the first time.

Before entering Hogwarts, although she had investigated the contemporary wizarding world, how could the books available on the market possibly contain detailed information about the casting techniques of the Unforgivable Curse? Therefore, Hufflepuff's understanding of the Unforgivable Curse was limited to its name and effects. Her old friend Rhys had gone a little further than her; after all, he had witnessed the Killing Curse.

"Smith, your idea is indeed a bit extreme, but it is indeed necessary to let children know about dark magic," Dumbledore finally concluded, offering a compromise.

The events that Hogwarts has encountered in recent years have made Dumbledore feel a sense of crisis, so he decided to loosen his control over dark magic slightly in preparation for any eventuality.

What Dumbledore didn't say was that he actually agreed with White's remarks to some extent.

Having lived for over a hundred years, he had a broader perspective and was well aware of the differences between wizards in the 1940s and modern times. In half a century, wizards' combat abilities had declined drastically, and everyone seemed to prefer focusing their energy on life-related magic, but cleansing spells were no match for dark wizards.

To fight a dark wizard, one must have some understanding of dark magic! It's definitely not going to work for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to not teach any dark magic at all, as he has done in the past few years, which is why he didn't stop Professor White.

Dumbledore's gaze swept across Helga's face, a realization dawning on him: In Madam White's eyes, we've regressed quite a bit, haven't we? I wonder what the wizarding world was like a few hundred years ago…

Just when the professors thought the matter was settled, Smith White spoke up again, asking in a puzzled tone, "Since these three spells have such severe negative effects, why do those dark wizards still use them? In terms of power, they don't seem that strong—except for the Imperius Curse."

This question stumped all the professors present. After thinking for a while, they came to a common conclusion: since they were dark wizards, wasn't it normal for them to use such evil spells?

Hufflepuff: ? ? ?

She couldn't quite grasp the logic: why would a dark wizard use such an inefficient spell? Were they out of their minds?

Her gaze swept across Rice's face as he happily enjoyed his breakfast in the audience, and then she realized something.

In Helga's mind, her old friend Salazar Slytherin could actually be called a dark wizard, but he and the dark wizards of the modern magical world were completely different species—the two had nothing in common except for their names.

The reason modern dark wizards study the Unforgivable Curse is simply because these three spells are evil enough! Power is secondary. My previous observation was spot on; modern dark wizards are truly out of their minds—literally.

Having figured this out, Hufflepuff fell silent, then sighed heavily: "I never imagined that even dark wizards would have regressed to this level a thousand years later..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Here's the second update, goodnight everyone~

Tomorrow's update will be at midnight.

(End of this chapter)