Deep within Hogwarts Castle... Black Magic Defense... or, more precisely, what should be called "The Dark Lord's Trial," the final stage.

The magical bronze throne forged by the Gringotts goblins hovered silently in mid-air. The young goblin empress, the third-generation Dark Lord, the master of Gringotts, the darling of destiny... Aileen, at this moment, leaned back on the throne, legs crossed, right hand propping her chin, left hand resting on her knee, observing the three young witches below with great interest.

Even with the magical effects amplified by the goblin throne, Aileen couldn't avoid showing a trace of fatigue on her face after completing a series of "Binary Reversal Architecture Magic" spells, so she took this opportunity to rest for a while.

Beneath Aileen's smooth silver hair, it wasn't the Hogwarts standard school uniform that the girls were familiar with.

Instead, it was a unique, somewhat European-style fancy dress. The main color of the skirt was black, with gold and red lace trim along the edges, and bright yellow, symbolizing Hufflepuff, inside the skirt.

The four-color patterns of the four Hogwarts houses adorned Aileen's waist, like a string of magical runes.

In addition, occupying more than half of the front of the skirt were the house crests representing the animals of each house. Due to the angle, Hermione and the others could only see the yellow and black badger on the front, and parts of the gold and red kitten and silver and green snake on the sides. Below the white knee socks, adorned with four-colored bows, were a pair of traditional English leather shoes.

Gu ha ha ha—

Accompanied by a familiar cry from the girls, an owl the size of a fist landed next to Aileen's throne, spread its wings triumphantly, flapped them vigorously, and a look of excitement appeared on its round, chubby face. The sleepy three-headed puppy also wobbled to its feet, letting out a childish roar.

Undoubtedly, this will be an…

"A-Aileen?! What are you talking about?"

Hannah was so shocked that she could hardly breathe. The series of reversals was happening too quickly.

Aileen smiled slightly and snapped her fingers to release the silencing charm on Luna's lips.

"I said," she said calmly, "I was the one secretly recording your actions along the way; I was the one adjusting the difficulty and controlling the magical mechanisms; the trolls and spiders in the fifth stage were all tamed by me, and I was the one who made them attack; I wrote the wonderful scripts for the sixth stage, and I cast the spells that struck around you."

Aileen spoke slowly and calmly, seemingly not at all concerned about the time passing in the hourglass next to her.

"So naturally, the final stage of this exam is to face me. Is there a problem?"

"But I originally thought—you were our partner—"

"Partner? Did you think this was a picnic on the edge of the Forbidden Forest?"

Aileen curved her lips playfully, shaking her head with some regret.

"Hannah, you naive simpleton, and Hermione, you're not much smarter in this regard. You always like to cleverly skip what I said before the start of each test. The creatures in front of you are all your enemies. Yes, Voldemort and the Death Eaters seem very scary, right? But do you really think that those ragged black wizards, who have been hiding and disappearing for decades, could possibly hurt a hair on my head?"

Hannah still couldn't understand or believe any of this.

The mastermind behind the scenes, who had designed all the difficult trials that had made them grind their teeth in anger every night in bed, and who they wanted to catch, was actually this white-haired dumpling, who was unanimously judged by many upperclassmen and classmates as having a "good identity."

"But you wanted to give us braised food before, to help us pass the level!"

"Yes, that's right. The Dark Lord's gifts all have a price. There is no free gift in this world. I must admit, you made a very wise choice at the end of the fourth stage. If you had really used Fluffy's power to skip a stage, then what you would be facing now would not be this little one, but a terrifying behemoth."

"That was a trap? Everyone would encounter it? It wasn't a privilege for us?"

"Of course," Aileen replied calmly. "As an exclusive plot that can only be used once, it would be too wasteful. All the little wizards who have passed the first four stages will get this shortcut. This will at least ensure that most people can successfully pass the sixth stage, instead of being almost completely wiped out like you. Of course, taking shortcuts will ultimately pay a heavier price, which is reasonable, isn't it?"

"You're lying again, Dumpling! Draco and Harry didn't get this treatment last time."

Hermione Granger curled her lips, looked at the girl sitting on the throne, and unhesitatingly exposed her.

Aileen was stunned for a moment, nodded without changing her expression, and explained generously.

"... Well, the levels are constantly being optimized, some bugs will be fixed, and some places that are too difficult will be adjusted or given some hints. For example, the third level won't be so easy next time."

Aileen lightly snapped her fingers, and a miniature chessboard light and shadow appeared in the air.

As if it were a playback of the previous chess game, the black pieces were recklessly exchanging pieces to kill each other, and with each piece falling, a golden light would emerge from the body of the piece that killed the opponent, becoming larger and more solid.

"See, I made a little bit of insignificant changes, so as not to make the level too boring."

"So, you also temporarily replaced the Acromantula level with trolls?"

"Very correct, it seems Hermione you have gradually caught up with my rhythm—in my opinion, making stinky trolls fight magical girls would be more challenging, and also give you a little surprise. Facts have proved that you are indeed more prone to panic in front of these big guys—"

"Okay, the Q&A session is over, Hermione."

Aileen glanced at the hourglass on the armrest, which was already halfway through, and slowly stood up.

"What a pity, you wasted half of your attack time, so my health bar is full again."

Only then did Hermione realize that there was a strange thing floating above Aileen's head.

It was a rectangular red and green strip, but the little bit of red was gradually shortening, and soon all turned green, like some kind of ribbon with mysterious power, with a conspicuous white [XO] at the back.

"Are you naive enough to think that I won't take the initiative to attack you?"

Aileen's eyes flashed with a dangerous coldness, and she glanced around the little wings, "Hannah, you pulled my dumbo hair; Hermione, you pinched my butt; Luna, you tickled my waist—now, it's time to settle the score."

"Ready to welcome death..."

The Veela's wand flicked casually.

In the next moment, the marble floor in front of Hermione, Luna, and Hannah twisted and deformed, as if three strong arms grew out of the ground, ruthlessly hammering towards the bellies of the three young witches who had not yet reacted.

"Ugh—"

Hermione's pupils dilated subconsciously, letting out a painful groan, and were almost simultaneously knocked away.

"Struggle... as much as you can..."

The Dark Lord's Trial, officially begins—

Without using UR runes, RUA runes, the Explosion Charm, Binary Reversal Architecture Modification Magic... all abilities mastered or demonstrated by the challengers, end the battle within ten minutes, with (0) allowed failures.

Reward: Eliminate one unbreakable vow.

Test subject: Aileen Kaslana.

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