Shadow Prefect Challenge

These words not only appealed to freshmen, but also to upperclassmen.

Three assignments! They'd be thrilled to have one less assignment to do. Three assignments would give them a whole weekend to play to their hearts' content.

As for where these three assignments came from? Those who know, know. They all came from the "support" of other ordinary students for the Shadow Prefect's work.

Tom waved his hand, signaling the older students to take the new students down to familiarize themselves with the dormitories. The tables and chairs in the lounge automatically flew to the wall.

He then waved his wand, using the Undetectable Extension Charm to double the size of the lounge.

Hogwarts Castle itself possesses immense magical power, making it arguably the most powerful magical artifact in Britain. Altering its spatial structure is no easy task.

Tom couldn't do it at all last year, and he can barely do it this year, but the effect of this Undetectable Extension Charm lasts for a day at most, and it will return to its original state after that time.

"First-year students, please observe. Starting with second-year students, the previously Shadow Prefect will step forward and accept the challenge."

Zabini and Daphne immediately stepped forward, even though Tom usually didn't get involved.

Zabini was in charge of all the work of the Shadow Prefect, so naturally no one else could take on the challenge.

The girls all took a step back in unison, none of them daring to challenge Daphne. On the boys' side, however, there was one who was fearless.

"I want to take on the challenge!" Malfoy strode out with an arrogant air, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky.

"Blaise, you're always busy fiddling with that crucible, how can you possibly help Tom with his work? Let me take over for you!"

Malfoy finally understood: the closer one is to the center of power, the more power one has.

Who isn't polite to Zabini now? Why can Zabini, but he can't?

Zabini hadn't expected anyone to actually dare to challenge him, especially Malfoy, whom he hated the most. His anger flared instantly.

Without wasting words, the two went through the challenge process perfunctorily and immediately started fighting.

"Ugh—" Malfoy hadn't finished speaking when he was struck by Zabini's spell.

"Stupefy!"

Bang--!

With a flash of red light, Malfoy fell straight to the ground, fast asleep, unaware that he had bumped his head and was still unconscious.

Young people always have such good sleep quality.

"Who else?!" Zabini, having knocked out Malfoy with a single blow, surveyed the entire arena with an air of triumph and confidence.

His Stunning Spell was a modified version that Tom had specifically taught him.

The casting and firing speeds are twice as fast as ordinary Stunning Spell, making it a devastating blow to those of the same age.

After a long silence, Tom finally let Zabini return to the group and then arranged the challenges for the third graders.

Most Slytherin are Pure-blood, and during summer vacation they have the opportunity to practice magic, with guidance from elders.

Anyone with ambitions to become Shadow Prefect has been busy this holiday, and parents, seeing their children's progress, have been sharing their knowledge and skills.

So after the holiday, everyone's skill level improved considerably, and the candidates for the Shadow Prefect changed quite a few times.

Even the sixth-grade Prefect was defeated by Rosier, his face turning as black as the bottom of a pot, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

After Rosier won, he immediately gave Tom a fawning smile, which Tom found completely baffling.

He felt that the two Rosier had been acting strangely lately, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Tom was quite satisfied with the overall level of the Slytherin students.

Putting aside their academic achievements, in real-world competition, the other three colleges are simply no match for them.

That's enough. If a conflict really breaks out, it's a contest of fists and spells. Are you suggesting we present a report card to the enemy's face?

Finally, it was the turn of the first-year students. Few were able to fully unleash the spell, and in the end, a close-quarters battle determined the winner.

The older students burst into laughter. Although everyone had been through this stage, they were all grown up now.

They show absolutely no mercy when mocking newbies.

The freshmen blushed, secretly vowing to learn the battle spells as soon as possible so they would never be laughed at again.

Astoria did not run for office; one of her roommates was elected Prefect.

Daphne can give Astoria a few words of advice later, and Astoria won't be wronged.

It was already quite late, so Tom didn't say anything more. He waved for everyone to disperse and went back to his dorm.

After washing up and lying in bed, his consciousness entered the Study Space.

I was busy with trials and alchemy during this holiday, so my progress in learning regular magic slowed down considerably.

After the start of the new semester, it's time to shift our focus back to the basics; after all, competence is the foundation of everything.

"Tom, you don't need to rush to learn new magic right now," Gellert Grindelwald's voice echoed in the space, his tone carrying a hint of guidance.

"What you should do now is analyze the different incantations of the same spell to study the essence of magic."

Different spells for the same magic? Tom was taken aback; he had never really thought about it from this angle before.

Spells and incantations are not universally applicable; after all, Britain did not conquer the world, and although many people speak English, there are a wide variety of languages around the world.

The spells for the same magic vary from country to country, and even within the same country, the language used to cast spells can differ.

The spells Andros taught him were mostly in Mycenaean, for which he spent a long time studying ancient texts.

Gellert Grindelwald, however, was born in an era of advanced modern communication, and the spells taught to him were in English, which suited his habits, so there were no communication barriers.

"Could you be a little more specific?" Tom put away his silly attitude and, unusually, humbly asked for advice.

"You've read Plato's Republic, haven't you? There's a cave allegory in it," Gellert Grindelwald said, not answering directly but instead posing a question.

Tom nodded and immediately replied, "A group of prisoners were locked in a cave, their hands and feet bound so they couldn't turn around."

"There was a wall in front of them, and the torches shone on it, casting their shadows. They thought that was the whole world."

"Until a prisoner climbed out of the cave and saw the real world, he began to doubt, 'Why is this the only real thing?'"

Gellert Grindelwald smiled with satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad at all. Much better than those idiots in the Wizarding World. I don't need to waste my breath explaining."

"Actually, we wizards are just a group of prisoners searching for the real world, only each of us is at a different level."

"A spell is a shadow; it reflects the reality, but it is not the reality itself."

"Everyone sees a different shadow, but these differences ultimately point to the same essence."

"You mean, that real magical core?" Tom immediately replied, already roughly understanding what Gellert Grindelwald meant.

"Yes." Gellert Grindelwald nodded. "Because of regional differences, wizards use magic in all sorts of ways, but in the end, they all arrive at the same destination."

"Only by seeing more and observing more broadly can one understand the same magic from different perspectives."

"Only by perfecting one's own understanding can one truly climb out of that 'cave'—this is also the path one must take to become the King of the Century."