Playing with Hearts Was Another Kind of Magic

The green light at the tip of the staff burst forth as Grindelwald's Killing Curse struck himself.

Before Sean's incredulous eyes, the aged yet still imposing body opposite him fell straight down.

"Bang!" The dull thud echoed through the office as the body slammed into the floor.

"No, it's just for teaching purposes. There's no need to make such a big fuss, is there?" Sean's lips twitched.

He certainly didn't believe Grindelwald would commit suicide; he guessed that was what the other person had just mentioned about how to deceive and how to discern someone's true motives.

However, this old man's teaching method is a bit too rough...

Sean stood there for a moment, but Grindelwald on the floor still didn't get up.

He walked forward helplessly, muttering, "Sir, do I really have to help you up?" as he reached out to pull the other person up.

Grindelwald's hands were already cold, his eyes were vacant, and his pupils were completely unfocused.

Sean twice, but the other person still didn't move.

"Sir, you've only been dead for a few minutes. You can't be cold that quickly..." Sean said helplessly.

However, Grindelwald seemed determined to take the joke to the extreme. Sean stood there for more than ten minutes, but the other party still didn't make a sound.

"Sir, a young man's time is precious, and it won't take me that long to come and get a timetable, will it?" Sean tried to shout, but Grindelwald remained lying there stiffly.

"What the hell..." Sean muttered as he crouched down and examined the seemingly lifeless body.

Just then, the office door was pushed open.

Vita Rosier appeared at the office door.

"Lord Grindelwald, I have something to say..." She had just looked up to speak when she froze on the spot.

Before her, Grindelwald's body was lifeless, and Sean poked at the corpse with his hand out of boredom.

"You... you! What have you done!" Vita's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and her face and body trembled.

"No... Professor Rosier, Mr. Grindelwald isn't dead. He was just joking with me..." Sean hadn't expected this to happen, and he quickly stood up to explain.

But the middle-aged woman opposite her completely lost her mind. She took out her wand and instantly fired a spell.

Wait, is this for real?!

Sean quickly shifted his body, narrowly avoiding being hit by the curse.

"Boom!" The curse shattered the lattice window behind them, shards of glass scattering everywhere, and the Austria night wind howled in.

"Calm down, Professor!"

Vita showed no interest in listening to him, and the curses followed one after another.

This is insane! You old geezer, aren't you going to wake up yet?!

While dodging the opponent's powerful spells, Sean loudly explained the current situation.

Wait, something's not right... Sean dodged a curse and muttered to himself.

Vita Rosier was Grindelwald's confidante, and she had just been at the dinner party, so she should have known that Grindelwald would take her away for a talk.

Moreover, she showed Grindelwald great respect, entering the room without knocking when she knew he was having guests.

Besides, her first reaction should have been to check if Grindelwald on the ground could be saved...

Damn... this weird old man...

Sean poked his head out and shouted, "Sir, isn't it a bit inappropriate to become Professor Rosier?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Vita Rosier, who had been looking completely crazed, suddenly stopped. Her whole body contorted, and she transformed into a smiling Grindelwald.

Sure enough... Sean stood up from behind his desk, his lips twitching slightly.

Grindelwald walked over with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.

"Not bad, whether it's your ability to dodge spells or your basic logical reasoning. Sean, I'm glad to see that you're willing to use your clever brain more."

For the first time, Sean rolled his eyes so rudely. He plopped down in his chair and said irritably, "Mr. Grindelwald, can't you teach in a more normal way?"

Grindelwald chuckled and sat down beside him, stroking his beard with a smug grin. "I've always felt that a key way to improve teaching effectiveness is to leave a lasting impression."

"Thank you." Sean looked speechless.

"This is what I just told you, deception and motives, how to deceive people and how to distinguish lies, can all be approached from the perspective of emotions," Grindelwald said without the slightest embarrassment. "Because of our previous interactions, plus your intelligence, you won't be deceived by me, but what about other people? We can use this situation to achieve our own goals."

He waved his hand, and the ravaged office returned to normal, his own corpse disappearing from the floor.

"Sir, you've achieved your goal, and I'm certainly impressed..." Sean sighed, "But was it really necessary for you to be dead for so long?"

Grindelwald frowned in displeasure. "Do you know why I took so long to show up?"

"Because you're bored?"

"No, because you didn't shout or yell. You have to understand, being over a hundred years old is the age when you love to play. You should satisfy my desire to perform," Grindelwald said seriously. "And by the way, I'll teach you another thing: how to read people's expressions."

Sean: "..."

Okay, I understand...

Grindelwald continued speaking at length, "And to achieve the effect just now, you also need to understand the importance of another thing. That is—power."

"I can use spells to deceive your senses, that's my power, and as the headmaster of Newmontgard, I have the freedom to Apparition within the school—so I can teleport outside and Transfiguration, that's my power."

He smiled and opened his arms, "Child, manipulating people's hearts requires not only wisdom, but also strength—and this will help you leave safely when your deception fails."

Sean nodded thoughtfully. He understood what Grindelwald was saying, but this was the first time he had heard such a detailed and vivid explanation.

I must say, I benefited a lot—of course, I also had my share of frights.

"By the way, I'll teach you a little spell," Grindelwald said, raising his wand, "Avada Kedavra!"

The green light struck the unsuspecting Sean, Sean then saw a layer of green light emanating from his hands, while a warm current began to flow within his body.

"Is this interesting?" Grindelwald chuckled and crossed his legs. "The same spell, but by changing the gestures and the emphasis of the pronunciation, and by bringing joy to your heart, will become a spell with a slight healing effect—very effective for colds."

It's true... Sean stretched out his hands and found that the green light on his body had disappeared, but the warm current was still flowing.

"Sir, did you improve this yourself?" Sean asked curiously.

"No," Grindelwald shook his head. "To be precise, the Killing Curse is the modified spell, while the Healing Spell is the original. Its original intention is indeed destruction, but the target of destruction is not the soul, but disease."

The Killing Curse has such an origin? Sean waved the spell in surprise, releasing it according to Grindelwald's demonstration.

The green light struck the ground in front of it, but there was no explosion; the green light only flashed briefly.

"Hmm, you're learning pretty fast," Grindelwald said with a smile. "However, don't use it too often—otherwise it won't be as effective when you're trying to scare people."

"I understand." Sean nodded.

He shared Grindelwald's idea that the wand was good for scaring people—and could even be mixed with a truly soul-destroying Killing Curse after multiple uses.

Grindelwald stood up. "I think that's enough for today's lesson. You need some time to process it— Sean, think carefully about everything I just said. Remember, wizards manipulate magic, and the only magic that doesn't require power is manipulating people's hearts. Many times, the power we can utilize isn't limited to ourselves."

"Besides," he winked at Sean, "As a coward like me, you don't like taking risks either, right?"

Sean nodded, but he didn't understand the meaning of the other person's last sentence. Grindelwald was a coward? This didn't seem like it at all...

Perhaps there are other hidden stories involved... Sean thought to himself.

He stood up. "I have benefited greatly today. Thank you for your guidance, sir. Shall I go back now?"

"Go ahead, by the way," he handed over a stack of parchment, "This is your class schedule. Your dormitory is on the far east side of the first floor. Remember to distribute it to your classmates when you get back."

"Yes, sir." Sean took the pile of parchment and glanced at it, then was surprised to find that the top parchment had more than a dozen spells he had never seen before.

Grindelwald held up a finger to his lips and said, "Don't be surprised. These are just some practical spells, like the Disillusionment Charm and the Color Change Color Changing Charm that I used before. They have no destructive power, but I think a wizard should have knowledge in all aspects. Unfortunately, most of these spells are troublesome and difficult to learn. Nowadays, students prefer things like the Explosion Charm."

He maintained his smile, "Go back. These spells are very difficult, but consider this a small test. If you can master them within this semester, I will teach you other things."

"For example—" Grindelwald's body twisted and turned into Dumbledore's appearance.

Not only their appearance, but even their tone of voice, mannerisms, and movements are exactly the same. "For example, my Transfiguration, child."

Sean's heart skipped a beat. Grindelwald's Transfiguration!

This is truly heaven-defying magic!

Among those rare, innate talents, Metamorphmagus is one such talent that allows him to change his appearance.

However, the Metamorphmagus can only change his face; the complete Transfiguration of his body and voice can only be achieved by Polyjuice Potion, except by Grindelwald!

This is too precious... Sean, his eyes filled with envy, glanced down at the incantations. He wanted to be polite and show his gentlemanly manners, but it smelled so good...

Dumbledore waved his hand gently. "Go back to sleep. Sweet dreams, child."

"Oh—okay, goodnight, sir." Sean, his heart burning with passion, glanced at the other person with reluctance before leaving.

Long after Sean left, Grindelwald returned to his original form. He looked at his hands and slowly muttered to himself, "What a fine student... Albus, I finally understand why you insisted on leaving his future to him... So much like him, so much like him..."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "However, Albus, your thinking is still too lenient... Regardless of whether the ' Sin ' is absolved or not, the Wizarding World needs a fresh start..."

Unlike Hogwarts, Newmontgard didn't have winding, self-moving staircases. Sean quickly returned to the Hogwarts students' quarters. When he went in, the selected student representatives had already returned and were explaining Newmontgard's school rules to everyone in the Common Room.

"... You must not be late for any class, or you will lose three points; you must not go out at night, or you will lose ten points; you must always keep your wand with you, or you will lose ten points if you are caught without it."

A Ravenclaw boy with short grey hair and blue eyes was reciting the school rules. He was Raoul François, a fourth-year student, a nice upperclassman, one of the very few students who wasn't scolded in Potions, and Sean had overheard one of his secrets.

While using the restroom, this guy muttered to himself in the stall, "Merlin, please bless me and let me get a Hufflepuff girlfriend before my OWLs exam."

Do I have to specify which college I'm looking for in? Is that considered an obsession...?

Raoul finally shrugged. "A dozen or so school rules, not many, but if you get ten points deducted, you'll be sent to solitary confinement—believe me, you definitely don't want to go to the Newmontgard Detention Room, it's much worse than wiping trophies or cleaning the Owlery."

The students looked at each other in bewilderment; it seemed that Newmontgard was quite strict.

Percy, who had finished writing down the school rules, saw Sean walk in.

"Sean, why are you back so late?"

"Oh, Mr. Grindelwald is very hospitable..."

"It certainly looks like that—by the way, is this the timetable? Give me the Gryffindor one," Percy said.

"I didn't specifically distribute them. I think it's fine for everyone to just send them to each other," Sean said.

This is Sean's little idea. The four houses of Hogwarts are too distinct in many ways. Although the houses are different, they are still students of the same school, especially now that they are in different schools. They need to be united. So Sean wants to gradually eliminate the distinction between houses in the minds of Hogwarts students.

The key point is that this time, Slytherin doesn't have Crabbe Goyle and his bunch of idiots. The elite Little Snakes have all come out of their holes. Sean thinks it's worth trying to unite everyone together.

He walked into the center of the room and handed a stack of timetables to a blonde Slytherin girl.

"Miss Vieri? Could you help distribute them?" Sean asked with a smile.

Vieri paused for a moment, then took the stack of timetables.

Sean specifically gave her all the fourth-year timetables so that she would have to speak with people from the other three houses.

He used the same method again, this time targeting Slytherin students—the same few who usually didn't engage in sarcastic remarks. As a result, the usually quiet Slytherin found themselves bustling around the Common Room.

As the atmosphere in the room shifted from initial awkwardness to several people actively engaging in conversation with Slytherin, Sean, who had been watching all this, smiled to himself.

Let's just consider this the first step...