"That's quite a surprise..."

Grindelwald avoided Dumbledore's silent, accusatory gaze, a slightly embarrassed expression on his aged face.

This was, indeed, a surprise—although Albus didn't seem to believe him.

After all, he was getting old, and his memory wasn't as sharp as it used to be.

You see, while he had left Nurmengard Castle and come to Hogwarts, it had only been less than two months. But so much had happened in those two months that it was richer than the past few decades combined.

So, in Gellert Grindelwald's memory, giving the Deathly Hallows pendant to Ellinor seemed like it had happened [247 days] ago. It was almost unavoidable to forget it.

After a few seconds of pause, the first Dark Lord pretended to examine the shimmering necklace around Ellinor's neck, a perfectly timed look of surprise appearing on his face. He said in a tone of sudden realization, "A magical amulet with a *permanent Protego* charm? Without a doubt, since the spell appeared, it has been the most popular protection spell in magical combat—besides the Killing Curse, it can withstand almost all common spells."

"However... Ms. Kaslana, you are not alone at the moment."

Grindelwald glanced at the three little witches gathered around Ellinor, saying meaningfully.

"Shields activated by magical items are never as flexible as magic mastered on one's own. Just like the Blue Team, when you are the only one left on the Red Team, it is still counted as the end of the round."

"Clearly... appropriately modifying unreasonable rules is a necessary thing."

"I'm sorry, Professor Apokalips, but I don't quite agree..." Dumbledore frowned slightly.

"It's just a game."

Grindelwald shook his head, looked at Dumbledore, and his lips moved slightly, "Valuing the power of protecting what you cherish, isn't that what you've always hoped to see? I'll explain about the pendant to you privately tonight."

Before Ellinor's magical abilities improved, this kind of face-to-face whispering magic trick was just too useful.

Except for Albus Dumbledore, everyone else could only hear the first half of what Grindelwald said. As for the latter part, even if they got close to Grindelwald's lips, they wouldn't be able to hear a single sound.

???

These two old geezers are starting to have private chats again, that's too much.

Ellinor narrowed her eyes slightly, looked around, and her expression gradually became serious.

Although she didn't know what deal Grindelwald and Dumbledore had reached, she had already guessed what was going to happen next based on Grindelwald's eyes and tone.

Since they couldn't deal with her, they would definitely target her wings. That was the most common strategy of a Dark Lord.

Hannah, Luna, and Hermione gathered behind her. However, in such a circular open space, there was no strict sense of front, back, left, or right. Attacks could come from any angle.

But it's okay...

If Professor Dumbledore maintained the same intensity of spell attacks as before, she only needed to stand between Dumbledore and Nana-min at any time. With the physical condition of that centenarian, he couldn't make attack trajectories beyond her reaction speed.

As for the spells released by the other young wizards, they were like being lightly patted on the butt, not painful or itchy at all. With Hermione and Hannah's strength, it was more than enough to deal with a group of mediocre students' spells...

"No effect!"

"Still no effect!"

"Sigh, it's so boring!"

The little tuft of hair on Ellinor's head swayed triumphantly, her face filled with an infuriatingly smug expression.

It had to be admitted that the magical amulet produced by the first Dark Lord was of excellent quality—both in terms of protection area and defensive strength, it was top-notch.

Since the light curtain would automatically "format" all spells into the most basic mana impact, even Dumbledore couldn't break Grindelwald's *Protego* charm with conventional magical intensity before the magic stored in the pendant ran out.

Looking at the two old wizards with complex expressions, and the increasingly desperate Blue Team children, Ellinor's mood became better and better—after playing enough, it was time to enter the next phase of the plan.

[Save Grindelwald Plan—Impeachment]

"It's a shame, Professor Apokalips... it seems there are slight problems with your teaching plan. Perhaps you are more suited to teaching History of Magic as a substitute, rather than a subject that requires strenuous exercise."

Although from beginning to end, whether from the course's purpose or teaching form, Grindelwald seemed to be considering and designing the entire teaching session from her perspective, it was precisely because of this that Ellinor couldn't sit idly by and watch Grindelwald fall into danger.

Compared to the future army of followers of the third Dark Lord, Ellinor was more concerned with how to reasonably get Grindelwald to leave the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's position as soon as possible, to avoid being persecuted by the will of this strange world.

"Undoubtedly, we can't learn anything this way."

Ellinor shrugged and suddenly looked at Dumbledore without a smile, her face incredibly sincere.

"Moreover, Professor Dumbledore, you don't want to write a paper either, right?"

"As the headmaster of Hogwarts and a former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, I think you might need to recruit a suitable substitute professor as soon as possible, rather than sitting idly by and watching Mr. Apokalips mess around like this."

"Compared to this kind of magic combat that easily undermines everyone's confidence, I think Professor Quirrell's teaching mode was obviously more suitable for us first-year students. Completely abandoning textbooks for teaching is too early. Professor Apokalips's experience is undoubtedly quite rich, but I have some doubts as to whether he can successfully pass the Ministry of Magic's written exam."

Since deciding to break the "Defense Against the Dark Arts Curse," Ellinor had prepared different countermeasures for various situations. Even if Grindelwald's current teaching method was not exactly what she had imagined, she could still find a point of entry.

As an ordinary student, if she only disrupted class order or organized everyone to strike, the greatest probability was that she would be placed in detention, lose points, or even be advised to withdraw, rather than causing a course to be unable to continue.

Conversely, if she could prove that a professor was unable to undertake the teaching task, then that was another matter.

"I'm sorry, I admit that I was indeed inconsiderate in this regard."

Just then, Grindelwald suddenly drew his wand and pointed it at himself.

The next moment, a blue magical mark lit up on his body.

"It seems that even with Professor Dumbledore joining, the strength of the two camps is still not balanced. After all, magical items are also part of the wizards' strength. Five points to Hufflepuff as a reward."

Grindelwald gave Dumbledore a look and slowly walked to the opposite place from where Dumbledore was standing.

"Ah, of course," Grindelwald said slowly.

In Ellinor's disbelieving eyes, the first Dark Lord's lips turned up in a joyful smile.

"Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn't prove that there is a problem with my teaching plan. Don't worry, although I will join the Blue Team, only one spell appearing in front of you at the same time will be of the highest power level."

"So, now, let the duel begin again."

Grindelwald raised his wand, and Ellinor suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next moment, a spell appeared silently at the tip of Grindelwald's wand.

At the same time, Dumbledore, who was originally in front of Ellinor, also shook his head helplessly, raised his wand, and gently tapped it. Another magical beam flew towards the girl—perfectly echoing Grindelwald's spell.

Accompanied by the tacit attacks of the two old wizards, the young wizards who had lost confidence looked at each other and frantically re-gripped their wands, clumsily beginning to recite spells into the light curtain.

Huh?!

Can't afford to lose?!

Never won before?!

As Ellinor dodged the pincer attack of the spells, a million question marks and a million courteous greetings flashed through her mind. These two old guys, where's your face?! Where's your face?!

"Quick, dodge, Hannah! You can't take that spell head-on!"

"Hermione, watch out on your left... never mind... Luna, be careful not to step on Hermione."

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*Gu ya~* Wuwu, didn't write it out...

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