Hogwarts doesn't need a savior

Although he was not injured, he was in a very miserable state.

Behind them came the staggering figures of Helga and Rowena—and a shattered wreck.

Chapter 512 Failure and Gain

It was the next morning when Lynn and Euphemia received the news of their failure.

Given the case thousands of years ago, Lynn was not that surprised. He was just surprised that Rowena and Helga's souls would also be traumatized in the explosion.

Fortunately, as Rowena herself said, someone who has died once cannot die again. Knowing this, the two of them took the initiative to stand in front of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, enduring most of the explosion and curse.

With Nico's magic gem, they can rest for a few days and nothing will be wrong.

But such a setback is frustrating, especially for Grindelwald - he didn't even meet Lynn, and left Hogwarts with the broken body of the false god and went straight to Gringotts in London.

It is not difficult to imagine that in the future, the fairies who planned to assassinate Iaie and the representatives of Leviathan hiding behind them will feel real pain.

The same was true for Dumbledore, but he knew everything early on and was more mentally prepared. He also made a plan and recorded the entire process in detail.

After finishing the last practical class of the semester for the third-grade wizards, Lynn and Euphemia sat side by side at the desk and opened the record of the experiment that had failed even after four top wizards joined forces.

-----------------

There is not much content in the notebook. Half of it is guesswork during the experiment, and the other half is a summary after failure.

In just a few words, Lin En and Euphemia knew the general situation -

Grindelwald took the initiative and used the experience gained from studying Voldemort's Horcruxes on the dying and shattered false god, trying to separate its soul from its body to avoid any possible connection.

However, after several attempts, even with the help of Dumbledore and the support of Rowena and Helga, there was still no progress, so they had to end it hastily, leaving the first conjecture:

[The false god's soul and body cannot be separated. It seems that there is some special fusion state, or there is no real body.]

When the first trick failed, Rowena proposed another plan, which was the plan that the four giants had broken through their opponents' self-destruction before they could perform it a thousand years ago. He used a powerful confusion spell to break through the mental defense and complete the memory search.

This method had a certain effect. In the face of the cooperation of Dumbledore and the Elder Wand, even if these self-proclaimed monsters were known for their souls, it was meaningless. They soon opened their minds and allowed several people to search and read.

Rowena remained cautious. Not only did she remain vigilant at all times, but she also increased the number of sealing magic and protective magic again and again.

In theory, such defenses should be foolproof.

The four of them thought so too, but they still remained vigilant as they conducted investigations and obtained a lot of useful information, the most of which was about Leviathan's layout in North Africa and the Middle East.

Dozens of large and small strongholds are scattered across the map like a large network. One of them is located in the ancient city of Tozeur in Tunisia. It has existed for two hundred years under the cover of the black market and was only abandoned recently.

There is no doubt that the murderer who assassinated Mundungus Fletcher came from here. He reacted quickly and used ruthless means.

In addition, there is the nature of the "life extension method" that makes those wizards who are about to die very fast go crazy.

The means used for external partners are real, but they are not from the false god. Instead, they are improvements on some formulas circulating in the wizarding world, which retain most of the efficacy while reducing costs.

This is what the vampire Lestat used. For most wizards who desire immortality but don't know how to do it, this is the best alternative option. Even if they have doubts, they have no choice.

After all, high-quality life-extending methods are a scarce resource among pure-blood wizards - there is no shortage of long-lived people in the magical world who live to be over 200 years old, but that is the absolute number, not the most important relative number.

Most wizards do not live much longer than Muggles, so the number of potential collaborators for Leviathan is large.

In addition, another method of prolonging life is the false god's trump card to create the "real Leviathan".

When they find humans or other intelligent races worth using, the ritual that happened to Lynn and Dumbledore will be performed.

The so-called promotion ceremony and blessing from gods are not the so-called prolongation of life, but a unique way of transforming the victim into an intermediate state between human and ghost, and the victim is controlled by others from then on.

As for the extension of lifespan, it is merely a by-product of incorporating some of the pseudo-god's magic power. On the surface, it maintains life and can even ensure a youthful appearance, but it cannot prevent the decay of the soul at all - this is also the core reason why those red-robed wizards are so lifeless.

The traces of time are just covered up, but still exist.

This is noteworthy information. Just from the handwriting, one can see Dumbledore's agitated mood at the time - no wizard would be willing to see his own kind suffer such blasphemy, not even a cold-blooded animal like Voldemort.

However, halfway through Dumbledore's record, a streak of ink appeared on the paper.

That's when the accident happened.

When Grindelwald tried to find the principle behind this ritual, the unconscious false god suddenly struggled, his eyes turned red, and his whole body was shining with red light.

It was faster than a thousand years ago. In less than a second, the violent explosion broke through the previous defensive magic. Thanks to the fact that several people were prepared, no disaster occurred.

But this also cut off the clues to the truth and cast an even thicker cloud of doubt over it.

[The monster may have some kind of self-destruction mechanism that transcends instinct and self-awareness. Once triggered, it will forcibly destroy everything on its own and attack the people around it indiscriminately.]

[Considering the survival instinct of living things, there are two hypotheses: First, the false god is not a living thing, but some strange quasi-organism with self-awareness; second, the self-destruction mechanism comes from external forces, and there are more dangerous existences behind the false god]

The handwriting of the two paragraphs is completely different. The first half is still written by Dumbledore, while the second half is written in a clear and elegant handwriting, which is written by Rowena.

Lynn turned another page. There was no more content, just a blank sheet of paper. The research ended there.

"What do you think of Rowena's two conjectures?" Various possibilities flashed through Lin's mind quickly. He did not rush to make a decision, but asked softly.

"According to the information provided by Batty, their round table has eleven ordinary seats and one obviously different main seat. I think the latter is more likely. It is the dangerous guy you noticed yesterday. It might also be the one that Moody observed with his magic eye outside the church. I'm just not sure why it would reveal its aura."

Euphemia gave her own analysis, but she did not use a positive tone.

"Maybe it's because of Voldemort." Lynn thought for a moment and took out the note Barty left yesterday morning. It contained his and Voldemort's recent schedules, as well as the secret actions of those red-robed wizards. "That guy is not an easy person to deal with either. Sooner or later, they will have a fight."

"That's possible." Euphemia nodded and was about to say something else when she heard a knock on the door.

"dong dong dong"

"Professor, it's me, Cedric."

A young boy's powerful voice came from the crack in the door.

Only then did Lin En notice that dinner time had already passed without him noticing.

Chapter 513 Cedric's Request

"Come in, the door is not locked."

"Okay, Professor." Cedric responded and politely opened the door. "Professor, Ms. Fox, I'm sorry to bother you. Good evening."

"Good evening, Cedric." Euphemia asked with a smile, "It's almost holiday time, don't you want to rest?"

In the last week before the Christmas holidays, Lynn, as usual, did not assign homework to any grade. Logically, the two assistants, Cedric and Hermione, could have a break.

But Cedric still arrived on time - of course not to kill time, but for another purpose.

As expected, hearing her ask this, Cedric shook his head: "The professor told me that learning magic requires accumulation day after day, and you can't slack off. And Doris and I hope to share some of the pressure for you."

"You are more reliable than Fleur." Euphemia stood up with satisfaction and patted his shoulder. "You haven't graduated from Hogwarts yet, don't put too much pressure on yourself, sit down. Lynn and I were just dealing with what you said."

"Yes, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Not yet." Lynn put away the notebook and pressed his temple. "Tell me, what did you come to ask me? Did Skeeter come to you again, or do you have any new ideas?"

Cedric said, "Neither, Professor. It's just that Professor Garcia came to me today and said that you will be away for a period of time during the Christmas holiday this year. The scheduled holiday special training will be done by her for a period of time. The warriors of Castrobushe and Ilvermorny will also be there, so I wanted to ask."

Lynn nodded. "That's true. Euphemia and I are going out before Christmas. We're not sure when we'll be back. She and Regulus will take our place."

"Is there any special mission? I would also like to act with you if I can help. We haven't received any mission since the gathering."

"Oh?" Lynn was a little surprised by the eagerness in Cedric's eyes. "I thought it was something else, but it turns out to be this... But no, you have to stay in school."

"Why? Is my level not good enough?"

"In most cases, your magic level is sufficient. Many stargazers who are not good at fighting are probably not as good as you and Doris. But not this time."

Lin En said calmly, "You are one of my favorite students. I don't intend to hide it. The enemies you may encounter in this operation are not what you can handle yet. I originally planned to act alone."

"...!"

"As for you and Doris's concern about not having your own tasks until now, it's because you are still young. The most important task is to train your abilities, just like Brian and Andrew - there will be a time when you will be needed."

"You mean... I understand." Cedric's expression became serious, "I will continue to work hard."

"Let's start with the Transfiguration that Dumbledore taught you. I believe you will make a wise choice. You have indeed made great progress." Lynn said gently, "Regulus and Inès are also outstanding wizards. You will gain a lot from studying with them."

"Yes, Professor, I'll keep it in mind." Cedric stood up suddenly, his handsome face tense, "I won't let you down."

"Don't rush to train, sit down for a while." Lynn said, "You have never let me down, and I don't think there is anything that can stump you, but I have something to tell you."

Seeing that Lin En was serious, Cedric sat down with a puzzled look on his face. Scenes flashed through his mind quickly, but he couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Did I do something wrong, Professor?"

“Not really.” Lin En sat up straight, his tone serious, and then changed the subject, “I just want to talk to you about the Christmas dance. Have you found a dance partner?”

"……what did you say?"

No matter how intelligent he was, Cedric had never expected that such a question would make the professor so serious.

He suddenly realized that he might have been fooled. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and his expression became complicated and subtle.

He thought of his own teacher's habits - although he was extremely reliable most of the time, he always had some bad taste in his mouth towards his students.

"You're kidding me again. You scared me."

Lin En stared at him seriously: "This is not a joke. The Christmas dance is the highlight of this holiday. You represent the face of the school. Answer me, have you found a suitable dance partner?"

"...Not yet." Cedric lowered his head and answered honestly, "I haven't had time to think about it."

"Then you can think about it now. I hope you can give me an answer before the holiday on Friday." Lynn said meaningfully, "I remember that boy Boyce invited Doris?"

"It seems to be the case, Professor." Cedric said vaguely, "I don't know who to invite."

Many figures appeared in his mind, but he couldn't seem to find any suitable candidate.

There are indeed some girls with whom I have a good relationship, such as the Ravenclaw Seeker and Pavla...

But he had devoted most of his attention to magic in the past few years, and absorbing the knowledge Lin En taught him might not be enough, so he had no time to think about these things.

Seeing his conflicted look, Lin En felt both angry and amused, and Euphemia's eyes also became more mischievous.

"Your student is a bit like you were back then." She teased half-jokingly and half-seriously, "He has a wooden head."

"I... ahem! Anyway, you'd better hurry up and think about it. If it's any later, I'm afraid the girls will have found their own dance partners. I don't want to see that."

Feeling inexplicably embarrassed, Lynn could only use a dry cough to cover up his embarrassment, and spoke in a deep voice under Cedric's hesitant gaze.

"As your teacher, I don't really want to interfere in these private matters, but my students shouldn't be people who only have magic in their heads. I still hope you will think about it carefully, especially what I told you before."

"...Okay, Professor." Cedric seemed to understand what he heard, scratched his head and stood up, "Then I'll go first. Doris and the others have arranged for me to train tonight."

"Go ahead, and give it to Luna and Neville for me. Ask them to pass it on to me when they meet Firenze."

"Okay, Professor."

The small package felt a little heavy in the hand, like a small but dense piece of iron. Cedric didn't ask any more questions and quickly left the office.

There was no conversation along the way, and soon we arrived at the Room of Requirement.

Doris was taking Boyce, Pavla and the others to do warm-up training with the alchemy dolls.

Seeing him finally arrive, Doris knocked down her opponent and asked excitedly, "What did the professor say?"

"He said I can't participate because the mission is too dangerous. I can only stay in school and practice magic. The professor said to give this to Firenze."

Cedric sighed and handed the package to Luna who came over. She seemed to have known about this for a long time.

"You'd better stay in school." Doris spread her hands, showing a helpless expression, "Do you want to have a one-on-one duel training?"

"Not yet, I need to take a breath..." Cedric, feeling tired, walked slowly to the round table and said to Pavla, who was packing up and looking for her notebook, "Are you going to attend the Christmas ball this year?"

"Eh?"

Pavla stood there as if she had received an electric shock, blinking her eyes and not moving, and the notebook in her hand fell onto the chair.

"You know, we need to lead the dance for this party, so..." Somehow, Cedric also became a little reserved, "If you want to participate in the dance, can you be my partner? Of course, it's okay if you already have a partner."

"I... don't have a dance partner yet." Pavla whispered, a faint blush on her fair face. She frantically tried to find the things she had dropped. "Let's start practicing first, and we'll talk after we finish."

It was the first time that Cedric realized that this girl, who had been close to him since fourth grade, was actually very beautiful.

"Okay... later then." He said unnaturally.

Chapter 514 Young People's Troubles