Infiltrating the Ship

The Durmstrang ship docked at the pier is connected to the shore by a deck, but in recent times, apart from necessary activities such as meals, students have not had many opportunities to step onto the deck.

With a bruised and swollen face, Strong Hartman boarded the large ship, his feet stomping loudly on the deck—if he could, he didn't want to make any noise and would prefer to return to his small quarters in peace and quiet, but that wasn't an option.

Karkaroff had given strict instructions before leaving school that, in order to prevent any unnecessary trouble, every Durmstrang student would be subjected to a magical check upon returning to the ship.

Especially after the conflict between Reinhardt and Wallerup, Durmstrang students were frequently attacked by Hogwarts students, and Professor Karkaroff paid even more attention to this matter.

Logically, he should report it and undergo additional checks, which is embarrassing, but there's no good solution.

As Strong Hartman walked through the ship's corridors, many people saw his pitiful state, but few showed him any sympathy.

On the one hand, the friendship among Durmstrang students is not very strong, especially among Pureblood Wizard, who look down on other Half-blood and Mudblood; on the other hand, everyone knows that Strong Hartman and Reinhardt Nott have a good relationship, and Reinhardt is seen as the source of these troubles.

Strong Hartman really wanted to say that his relationship with Reinhardt was just so-so. Reinhardt usually didn't think much of him, and if it weren't for his good grades, Reinhardt probably wouldn't even give him a second glance.

His own subservient behavior in order to have a powerful clique at school has made him even more dissatisfied.

However, he doesn't have time to think about these things now. He has to go to the testing room. If he doesn't go voluntarily and is discovered afterwards, he will face even more severe accountability.

When I arrived at the testing room, the door was wide open, and there was already someone inside.

Strong Hartman glanced inside and saw Isama Trettor, a member of their clique. Like Reinhardt had a terrible temper and often bullied people on campus because of his Pure-blood status, making him very unpopular.

People hate him, but they also fear him.

However, Isama Trettor didn't look much better Strong at this time; half of his hair looked burnt, and his left calf was swollen like a pillar.

"Those bastards, if you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one—" Isama Tretto's voice was filled with Wrath.

The wizard in charge of the tests had a stiff expression. It was unclear when this professor had been recruited by Professor Karkaroff, but he was currently in charge of various magical tests.

He ignored the grumbling Isama Trettor and calmly waved his wand.

After a while, he waved his hand, indicating that the other person could leave to receive treatment.

When Isama Trettor went outside, he saw Strong, who gave him a perfunctory greeting, then gave a gloating smile when he saw his injuries before quickly leaving.

Sterling suppressed his dissatisfaction and walked into the testing room.

"What happened?" the professor asked calmly.

"We've been set up..." Strong's face was grim.

"Was he/she under a spell such as Stunning Spell or Hypnosis Charm during the process?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I did lose consciousness for a period of time," Strong replied.

The other person nodded, then raised their wand and began the test.

Strong didn't know if the test was supposed to take that long or if something had happened to him, but he even felt like his memories had been spied on.

He was not given permission to leave until half an hour later.

Strong endured the pain; he wasn't going to embarrass himself at the Hospital Wing again. He'd just go back to his dorm and treat himself with the Healing Potion he'd bought.

After the other party left, the wizard in charge of the testing narrowed his eyes.

He closed the door to the testing room, and a moment later, the wooden shelves inside moved, and a figure wearing Black Hood walked out.

"That student Strong Hartman from earlier seems to have some issues; he appears to have a small gap in his memory. However, given that he was unconscious once, a temporary memory loss is normal. Of course, it's possible that a master of Memory Magic tampered with his memory."

The man in the Black Hood nodded and replied in a dry voice, "Don't rule out any possibilities. Send someone to keep an eye on him—ha, that kid is a man who loves to explore secrets. When he made a move against Reinhardt, it meant that he already suspected this place."

The testing wizard nodded to indicate that he understood, and then asked, "How exactly should it be handled?"

The Black Hood said, "We just need to wait for him to take the bait. If that student named Strong Hartman is indeed problematic, then we'll play along—"

He licked his lips excitedly. "Now I'm curious about what the magic of [Pride] tastes like."

——

As night fell, Strong lay tossing and turning in bed, not only because of the lingering pain in his body, but also because of what he had experienced during this period.

I wish I hadn't come to Durmstrang...

This thought arose for no apparent reason.

My experience studying at Durmstrang was far from pleasant. While the school certainly had a long history of magic and its professors were highly skilled, it lacked a sense of human warmth.

Under Principal Karkaroff's "leading by example," the losers didn't fare too well at Durmstrang, except for prodigies like Reinhardt and Krum, whom Karkaroff treated like precious treasures.

He joined Reinhardt's clique simply to have a backer at school; otherwise, someone as isolated as him, even with excellent grades, would still be ostracized by other students—despite his low status within the clique.

And Hogwarts? They are clearly much more united Durmstrang.

When their classmates were bullied, they dared to take action. They were beaten themselves because of their youthful passion, and they sought revenge for their classmates in various ways.

Although he was the one who got beaten up, Strong suddenly felt a little envious—if he had experienced what the other person had gone through, Reinhardt and the others would have also stepped in, but that would have been for the sake of their small group's reputation, not for the sake of so-called friendship.

Afterwards, they might even laugh at their own incompetence internally.

The difference is huge...

Of course, these thoughts only popped into his head suddenly. If Strong were to transfer to Hogwarts or another school now, he would be absolutely unwilling—he had just been beaten up, hadn't he?

Clearing his mind of all distractions, Strong closed his eyes. It was too late; he had to sleep, or his injuries would heal slowly.

It took him quite a while before he finally fell into a deep sleep, his brows furrowed.

As the night deepened, the waves of the Black Lake lapped against the boat, making a soft, rustling sound. Strong had been fast asleep, suddenly sat up.

His eyes seemed to have lost their luster, and he moved slowly toward the dormitory door like a walking corpse.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes flashed by.

"Strong Hartman is indeed suspicious; someone has tampered with him." In a Chamber of Secrets of the ship's cabin, a dark figure was reporting the situation to the man in the Black Hood from that day.

The Black Hood let out a shrill laugh, "I couldn't resist any longer. That kid named Wallerup —ha, I didn't expect him to be a master of Memory Charm, able to weave such suggestive new memories, achieving the effect of Imperius Curse on another level. Truly remarkable—"

Strong Hartman was walking toward the deck, wondering what Wallerup was going to do with him.

The Black Hood smugly poked his head out, revealing half of his twisted, ugly face. "No rush, let's see what he's going to do—"

At this moment, Strong had lost consciousness and was acting solely based on Memory Weaving in his mind, slowly walked onto the deck. His eyes were vacant, and he mechanically turned his head and body, slowly raising his wand.

Under the starlit night, Durmstrang's ship stood motionless like a giant rock on Black Lake, adorned with starlight, with only a small black dot on it moving slowly.

Chamber of Secrets, Strong's movements were also reported in real time.

"Hartman seemed to be observing the situation on the entire deck, with his gaze mainly focused on the sails and the gunwale."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, the Black Hood licked his lips excitedly. "Planning to set it on fire? Not a bad choice. If the ship is on fire, everyone will wake up. Even if they are on high alert, in the chaos, his chances of sneaking into the ship will suddenly increase. Go, have Karkaroff weaken some of the Magic Barrier on the side of the ship closest to the water. But don't rush it. We need to weaken it after the fire gets going. We are still on full alert. I reckon that kid is already waiting for his chance in the water."

"I see."

The hunter in the darkness raised his wand, waiting for the fish to leap into the large net he had woven.

The only thing that puzzled them was that Strong's movements were a bit too slow. Perhaps it was because he couldn't control himself freely based solely on the hints in his memory. He had been standing on the deck for almost twenty minutes without making a move.

"He hasn't made a move, just kept his wand raised in his hand, which looks like a magical blockage," the shadowy figure reported.

"Tsk, looks like tonight will be another long battle, but it doesn't matter. There's no need to show up, and the Magic Barrier will remain fully alert." The Black Hood said unhurriedly, "For me, the least valuable thing is time. Even if tonight is just a test, I have plenty of time to play with him slowly."

His eyes widened with excitement. "Just thinking about that unseen magic of Pride makes me tremble with excitement—but impatience often leads to failure. That kid is cautious; we don't need to rush, take it slow!"

While all this was happening on deck, in the corridor of Chamber of Secrets at the very bottom of the ship, the air rippled almost imperceptibly. In the dim light, no one noticed anything amiss.

Within this forbidden zone where Durmstrang students are prohibited, the doors to six Chamber of Secrets are firmly locked. The students have no idea what lies within. They have speculated, of course, that it might contain Professor Karkaroff's carefully collected Magical Item, some kind of magically sealed item left behind by Durmstrang, or even some evil book of Dark Arts spells.

Which School of Magic doesn't have a place where students aren't allowed to enter?

This is normal.

Of course, there are also such places on the transportation from school to Hogwarts, though they are a little strange.

At the entrance to the restricted area, there was no one except for a professor on duty. This place was located inside the Durmstrang ship and was surrounded by layers of Magic Barrier. Only those recognized by Durmstrang could pass through the barriers, and students never came here.

The wizard on guard did not relax his vigilance in the slightest after nightfall. He held up his wand, his eyes wide open, watching every corner of the vicinity like a hawk.

He had just received a message from Black Hood that if the ship caught fire, he should pretend to be going up to check and deliberately leave an opening or exit as a clue.

He didn't understand the purpose of doing so, but he knew that all he had to do was obey orders.

He glanced down the corridor toward the Chamber of Secrets, but finding nothing amiss, he turned his gaze away.

At that moment, the air above the corridor rippled slightly, but the guard wizard did not notice this subtle change, as his attention was mainly focused on the entrance and exit of the corridor.

A ring was silently affixed to the wall of one of the Chamber of Secrets.

If someone possessed the ability to see through a Master-level Disillusionment Charm, they would have discovered that Durmstrang's student, Isama Trettor, was now invisibly concealing himself, pressing one side of the ring tightly against the wall.

Of course, this wasn't Isama Treteau, but rather Sean Wallerup after taking the Polyjuice Potion.

Black Hood never expected that Sean Wallerup, whom he had been so wary of and even prepared to use a trick to capture, had already silently appeared at the very bottom of the cabin.

Sean was never one to make plans on his own. Strong Hartman was certainly part of his plan, but he wasn't sure if the woven memories could completely escape the other party's notice. In this situation, betting on only one thing would not be in line with his style.

Isama Trettor had been knocked unconscious and imprisoned by Sean without anyone knowing, and he had infiltrated the ship disguised as Durmstrang's student.

As expected, just as Isama Trettor had explained, the Great Ship Barrier only recognized Durmstrang's people, but Polyjuice Potion was not within the barrier's recognition range—especially after Strong Hartman had attracted all the attention.

Sean quietly affixed the ring to the wall, while his "spies" silently entered the Chamber of Secrets.

A moment later, he felt the ring tremble, then it completely vanished again, calmly leaving right under the guard wizard's nose.