Duel Club

Happiness, bah, pain is always fleeting.

After Hermione turned her gaze away from Professor McGonagall, Phoebe stopped her little gesturing and used magic to clean up the mess.

In Hermione's eyes, Phoebe was just an annoying person who interrupted her good time, not a philanderer.

So she simply hummed and returned to the Gryffindor table, only to see Phoebe also sit back down at the Beauxbatons table.

And Basil

It would be quite surprising if someone were not influenced by the ocean of the subconscious.

Why is there a Basil Granger at the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff long table?

This is its omnipresent and all-encompassing characteristic.

Even behind Voldemort, who was conducting Thomas Young's light interference experiments in the underground room of the Royal Society in London, there existed a Basil.

He floated in mid-air, his right hand pointing outwards, and Voldemort's brain was dissected and exposed to the air.

Voldemort himself seemed oblivious.

This was not due to Basil's superior skill. Although the cut surface of Voldemort's head was perfectly clean and not a single drop of blood had seeped out, the fluid in his brain seemed to slosh around as if the scalp and skull were still there.

But this is all due to the influence of the subconscious ocean.

Now, the vast ocean of subconscious minds of wizards worldwide is under Basil's control through his live streams.

Not to mention that Basil himself was capable of distorting reality and people's hearts according to his own ideas.

Even if Basil dissected Voldemort alive, he would never discover what Basil had done.

"Interesting. Is this a manifestation of the mind overcoming matter?" Basil exclaimed after examining Voldemort's source of power—his brain. "Because he believed his body was intact, even after removing the top cover, his body could still function normally."

"Wizards are terrifying, but they're not suited for scientific research either."

"The existence of Muggle is also necessary."

Because only wizards can see what they experiment with, and they can only see what they want to see.

Light is composed of elements that they imagine, such as tiny runes, not waves or particles, and it does not have duality.

Only Muggle, who lack the Mental Power, can truly see the laws of physics.

The reason Voldemort could do this was that he controlled his wandering thoughts; wizards with such mastery of Legilimency are always a minority.

"In that case, the Star Era can't be all wizards. But no, it just needs further refinement."

"Ah, we've been divided into departments."

Basil, who was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, disappeared, Voldemort's head returned to normal, growing lush black hair (the current Voldemort was not resurrected through magic; the cloned body has hair and is not disfigured).

Having regained his senses and suppressed his emotions, which had been running almost entirely on his lower body, Basil withdrew his hands from Pansy's thighs and Luna's lower abdomen, and began to listen to the song, the Sorting Hat's Song.

I am the one and only Magic Hat.

You all already understand how important I am.

The repository of the ideas of the Four Founders

The heart of Hogwarts Castle,

The dominant approach is still to categorize you.

The brave will belong to Gryffindor.

A wise person goes to Ravenclaw.

The ambitious settled in Slytherin.

The rest ran towards Hufflepuff.

This classification is both necessary and traditional.

I don't need to explain to you now.

You all already know,

Wizards worldwide already know my name.

The Hogwarts system is admired by everyone.

Even so, I remained diligent and conscientious.

To carry out the duties assigned to me by the Four Founders,

Now let's begin the division into departments.

After saying that, the hat stopped moving again, and applause broke out all around.

But amidst the whispers, everyone in the Great Hall noticed something was off about this year's songs and began to murmur amongst themselves.

"This year's songs are so short."

"And most of them are just bragging about how great they are."

"It must have found out about the content of the live stream from somewhere."

"Have you noticed how much dirtier it looks?"

"Could it be that it was deliberately aged to emphasize the weight of history?"

"I don't know how heavy it is, but the students in the branch must be having a very hard time this year."

Professor McGonagall glanced sympathetically at the students, and without even telling them to be quiet, she lowered her gaze to the long parchment in her hand and loudly announced the first name.

"Euan Abercrombie".

A little boy with unusually large ears reluctantly stepped out of the line, picked up the hat with his fingers, closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and put on the Sorting Hat.

Then the tear beside the brim opened again, shaking off some dust. "Gryffindor!"

Amidst the applause of the Gryffindor students, he patted his hair and shoulders, staggered over to their table, and sat down.

This sorting process was particularly lengthy. Because of the appearance of the Behind-the-Scenes God, Hogwarts, which is considered the center of both worlds of the live broadcast, suddenly became famous, so many wizarding families chose to come here to study.

This summer, in that unassuming, locked tower that no students had ever visited, the [The Accepting Quill] and the [The Book of Admission] were almost smoking with busy work.

Harry understood this as Ron's stomach rumbled.

However, the other thing that came to his mind first was that his affair with Ron Ginny on the train was probably known all over the world.

His face was deathly pale, and even Ginny's small hands could not soothe his current worry.

The last time this happened was a month ago when I learned that a magazine named after him had been founded, and that his mother was the one who founded it.

Lily said at the time, "Instead of letting others criticize my son and spread rumors, we should start it ourselves and keep this power firmly in our hands."

"I really hope the trial can start right away," Harry couldn't help but sigh.

Meanwhile, the last minor wizarding house, clearly from Germany, came to an end.

"I also hope the dinner can start soon." Ron, whose mind was dominated by hunger, misunderstood what he was saying.

Harry was touched for a moment. Look, he was so hungry and he still noticed me talking. And Ron said he didn't care about me?

"Yes." Harry nodded repeatedly.

However, Ron is not alone; the Sorting Ceremony has indeed taken far too long.

So after the Sorting Ceremony, Dumbledore's usual speech was shortened, but he paid attention to it.

Let's get straight to the point.

After all, the newly arrived Professor Horace Slughorn and his Slug Club had already become famous after Harry's birthday party, and his position as Potions Class Professor was widely known, so there was no need for introduction.

"Welcome to our new students! Welcome to our returning students—even though most of you haven't actually left! But this isn't the time for trivialities; there's plenty of time for speeches. Let's just enjoy the food to our hearts' content!"

A burst of applause and enthusiastic applause filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore sat down properly, tossing his long beard over his shoulder so it wouldn't obstruct his plate—a delicious feast had suddenly descended from the sky.

The seven long tables were suddenly piled high with large chunks of beef, pies, plates of vegetables, bread, jam, and jugs of Pumpkin Juice, groaning under the weight.

"Great!" Ron sighed with drooling, grabbed the plate of ribs closest to him, and began piling them onto his, Harry's, and Lavender's plates.

This order is not a sequence, but rather a ranking of frequency, from high to low.

Ginny noticed this too.

It's heartbreaking, but true heartbreak isn't about making a scene.

Lavender wasn't as important to Ron as Harry.

She's accepted Roan, Draco, Harley.

So she just sighed deeply.

Hermione noticed it too (not referring to Ginny's reaction).

But she felt no remorse for introducing Lavender to Ron.

In her view, the fact that Ron, despite being so hungry, still remembered Lavender and was willing to share his food with her was already quite remarkable for Ron, much like Draco Malfoy's slander of Pure-blood as worthless because of a girl.

In short, this only shows that Ron was sincere in his feelings for the relationship.

"Mmm~ It smells delicious." Hermione began to enjoy the food with a clear conscience.

By the time she came to her senses, it was already the latter half of dessert time.

She put down the blueberry cream peanut sandwich in surprise.

Ignoring the surprised looks from those around him, Ron remarked, "She can eat even more than me, what's wrong with Hermione?"

Hermione looked at Basil, wondering if he had expended too much energy in the carriage, since the entire seat would have been soaking wet if it hadn't been Scourgify.

Basil blinked, feigning ignorance.

He knew what was going on.

This is a physical modification of Hermione, planting a latent seed through physical contact, which then slowly erupts during meals, allowing Hermione to complete the modification through the abundant food in front of her.

The modification doesn't target her strength perception for now; it simply makes her more resistant to damage, and some metabolic waste products from her body that she might not be aware of will automatically disappear.

Hermione herself noticed that her skin was smoother and firmer, and she had more energy.

"Perhaps I'm just really tired." Looking into Basil's sincere eyes, Hermione touched her hair, which was no longer dry and split, and stopped following her intuition to doubt.

Dumbledore didn't give her a chance to continue thinking.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Dumbledore stood up. "Alright, now that we're all digesting another incredibly delicious meal, I ask that you all be quiet for a moment while I speak as usual about the important points for the new semester."

"Before the trial begins, because of the live-streamed lessons from the Rune Card World, your courses may be frequently adjusted accordingly, making the learning tasks more demanding. I hope you are mentally prepared in advance."

A series of wails suddenly filled the Great Hall.

The returning students, who have been at school for almost two months, understand best. During the original summer vacation, their coursework was already very heavy due to live streaming.

After school started, the addition of the original curriculum and homework was a nightmare (except for Hermione, who was already getting excited, excited that she wouldn't have to go to the library to find additional knowledge to burden herself).

After the students had calmed down a bit, Dumbledore continued, "As you all know, because of the existence of Summoning Card, fighting has been repeatedly banned but not stopped, and the Forbidden Forest has even become Beast Arena for some students."

"Hagrid begged me to stop it, because many innocent small animals were also attacked by some students."

(Fred and George, who attacked the 'small animal,' felt utterly wronged. 'That was Venomous Leopard, the most dangerous creature alive that could wipe out an entire village with a single breath.')

"But through conversations with Absie Dumbledore, I learned that the Feast Fighting is actually an event that greatly improves the personal qualities of both summoned beasts and young wizards."

("Exchanging letters?" Harry, who knew nothing about this, looked at Cedric.)

"Therefore, the school will arrange a special venue to set up Duelling Club."

Upon hearing this, the scene instantly erupted in excitement.

"Marvelous!"

"Dumbledore, I love you!"

"I'll show everyone the power of Ragnarok!"

"[Ragnarok]? Do you possess the Hungarian Horntail, or some other level 5x beast?"

"Hungarian Horntail? My Ragnarok is the Augurey! The Augurey that drives all creatures around it mad!"

"A level 3x dangerous Augurey?"

"Alright, quiet down." Dumbledore gave the order, and the situation was instantly brought under control.

"Here I will explain the specific rules."

"All Magical Creature can initially be categorized and fought based on their respective danger levels."

"That is to say, a level 1x Magical Creature and a level 1x battle."

"Only after a ten-game winning streak can you challenge the next level of Magical Creature."

"No duelist may force another to duel, and the invitee may refuse."

"Beting is not allowed; off-site gambling is prohibited."

(Fred and George, who had been rubbing their hands together, eager to make a fortune, slumped down.)

"Duelers may only fight in designated areas."

"At the same time, and most importantly, junior wizards who possess summoned beasts of level 4x or higher must have a High-Risk Beast Card Creation Certificate in order to summon beasts of level 4x or higher in the Duel Arena."

"That's not fair!" Ron stood up and shouted.

His Bird Serpent is also level 4x (dangerous/requires specialized knowledge/skilled wizards to deal with).

However, the danger classification of Fantastic Beasts refers not only to the degree of danger they pose, but also to the risk of being punished by law for harming them.

For example, the Golden Flyer is rated 4X, but it is actually not dangerous.

However, its feathers and eyes are particularly precious, and coupled with the popularity of Quidditch, it almost went extinct, making it a protected animal.

The Bird Serpent is an animal that possesses both characteristics.

If we disregard its danger, it should actually be classified as level 3x (a level that a capable wizard can handle).

"I understand what you mean," Dumbledore replied patiently. "In fact, a classification table of the dangers of Fantastic Beasts has been published, and it will be posted on the bulletin board in your respective common rooms along with the dueling rules."

"By the way, everyone should also remember to check Mr. Filch's regulations, which are posted on the door of Mr. Filch's office."

"It contains regulations prohibiting the use of magic in the hallways, as well as a list of toys that are forbidden to be brought to school, such as the Werewolf Fang Disc."

"Finally, I'd like to mention that there have been two changes to our teaching staff this year."

"As you all probably already know."

"Professor Slughorn will replace Professor Snape as Potions Class teacher."

"Professor Snape will take over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from Professor Moody."