Alina saw Old Carrot and Old Potato just as she stepped out.

The two were chatting and laughing as they walked from around the corner of the corridor, looking as if they were just passing by. The sky outside the window had completely darkened, and the light from the torches on both sides of the wall flickered, echoing the footsteps of the two old wizards.

The sudden appearance of the girl did not seem to attract their attention, and they were still focused on discussing something.

"Yes, Hogwarts Castle has quite a long history, more than a thousand years, I believe."

"You can see that the decorations here are very charming. It is indeed..."

Alina raised an eyebrow and looked at the two old wizards who were still acting out their "passing by" scene.

The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts is on the top floor of the castle, while Professor McGonagall's office is on the second floor, a difference of five floors—if these two old men were really unable to bear the loneliness and wanted to take a walk, they wouldn't go so far out of their way at night.

Moreover, the content of their chat was all meaningless small talk. It was too fake!

Before she could take the initiative to speak, Dumbledore suddenly turned his head and asked with a look of natural surprise.

"Oh, Miss Kaslana, did your Transfiguration class end early tonight?"

"Yes, it just ended less than half a minute ago… What a coincidence, Professor."

Alina glanced at the Headmaster, who didn't know how long he had been squatting nearby, and said meaningfully in a soft voice.

"If I didn't know that you usually have a habit of wandering around the school, I would have almost thought that you had been guarding Professor McGonagall's office, waiting for me to finish class. Obviously, that's impossible. You clearly said that you trust me and Professor McGonagall... right?"

"Of course—" Dumbledore replied without changing his expression, his smile without a trace of embarrassment.

"I really don't know what you're worried about. I know how to protect myself. This isn't a year ago."

Alina pursed her lips and didn't continue to dwell on this issue.

She had long been accustomed to Dumbledore's distrust.

Even though she had been much more mature, well-behaved, stable, and peaceful during this period than before, Dumbledore was still paying attention to her at all times, as if guarding against a time bomb. For example, in the classroom just now, if she and McGonagall "failed to negotiate" and started fighting directly, within three seconds, the two most powerful wizards of the present day would burst into the office.

Of course, depending on the alignment of the two, their choice of whom to help might be slightly different.

"How was it?" Grindelwald asked softly.

The old man's gaze fell on the wand in the girl's hand, and he frowned slightly.

"Are you okay, Alina?"

"Hmm... I'm fine... I should be fine."

Alina shrugged easily, dispelling the thought of pretending to be aggrieved.

"But I have good news to tell you—I suddenly understood how to cast Transfiguration just now..."

She briefly explained what had happened and her conjecture.

"Hmm, you... you mean..."

Dumbledore pondered, gesturing for Alina to walk upstairs with them, the firelight flickering on his half-moon spectacles.

"Transfiguration—this magic that we call transformation—is essentially another concept?"

"High-level replacement of information coverage, it should be."

Alina said softly as she put away the wand in her hand and pointed to her head. "You know my problem. My perspective on the world is different from that of ordinary wizards. If it can be achieved, it means I have found the direction."

Grindelwald breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Just as I thought," he said.

"What do you mean... Just as you thought, hmm?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Albus, think about it—the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration—you should be most familiar with this, and the new theory of Transfiguration that the girl just said can explain the reasons for those exceptions... The magical world has been trapped in some wrong quagmire for too long. You can never study the correct result in the wrong direction."

Grindelwald rubbed Alina's little head, his tone filled with pride.

"I told you a long time ago that no one is qualified to make the girl follow and learn unconditionally... I, you, we all belong to the twilight of the past, and her perception and ideas are the future of magic!"

Girl?

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Then why didn't this theory exist before, if it's really that simple?"

"Hmm, who knows," Grindelwald grinned, "Maybe everyone was stupid before, or perhaps more importantly, all the teachers told the students that, didn't they? Professor Dumbledore. How did you teach Miss McGonagall back then?"

"... Hogwarts is a school for wizards, not an academic research center."

Dumbledore replied politely, turning to look at Alina.

"So, what are you going to do next? [The Fool], the Fairy Queen, or a new identity?"

"Do nothing—" Alina said, "No plans, no arrangements—we don't have enough scientific research personnel. This is an academic dispute that professors should consider. This is not a field suitable for children like me to get involved in, Professor."

Alina gently twirled a strand of silver hair hanging over her shoulder, saying casually.

"This is war, the magical research war... Right or wrong is not important for the time being, what's important is... who will become the heretic."

Whether in the modern scientific community or the theological world, the birth of a new concept and theory will inevitably come at a price—academic heretics and religious heretics are no different in essence. Humanity has never disappointed anyone for thousands of years.

And the magical world, between the Middle Ages and the modern era, will naturally avoid this bloody law.

"Very reasonable, anyway, I don't think there's anything wrong with it!"

Grindelwald said, glanced at Dumbledore, and gave an accurate assist without thinking.

"Teaching and educating people and inheriting magical knowledge is originally the business of magic schools... Albus, if you still let Alina preside over these matters, then you might as well hand over your position as Headmaster of Hogwarts early. You don't really think so, do you?"

Dumbledore massaged his forehead with both hands, as if trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

"Uh... of course..."

He put down his hand and sighed wearily, "But I think... this still depends on Minerva's thoughts... After all, she is the Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts. If she thinks it should be reformed and changed, I will naturally help..."

"That's what I think too. It still depends on Professor McGonagall."

Alina nodded in agreement and smiled slightly, "So, at the end of class today, I added a sentence, inviting Professor McGonagall to come to the [Academy City Research Institute] for guidance and visits tomorrow. Would you like to accompany her then?"

"What about you, tomorrow—"

"Tomorrow is the weekend, Professor Dumbledore. I'm only in second year..."

Alina blinked slyly, her face full of incredulous accusation.

"If it weren't for the after-school tutoring you arranged, I should be happily attending a social gathering in the Gryffindor common room, instead of wandering on this... hmm... staircase that who knows where it leads—"

"...This staircase leads to the Gryffindor common room. By the way, remember to jump—"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Alina was stunned for half a second, then quickly reacted.

Right! The trick step on the Gryffindor staircase!

The source of all evil that caused her dignity to be swept away in the second-year A class of Defense Against the Dark Arts!

She quickly stopped and took a step forward on the staircase cautiously.

Huh?

Safe?!

Then, Alina took several more tentative steps forward.

It was still a safe passage, and she didn't encounter any sudden sinking prank stairs.

(*￣0￣)

Alina looked at Dumbledore suspiciously. Was this old carrot deliberately teasing her just now?

"Well—it's okay. Maybe today is not the trigger time..."

Dumbledore glanced at the thin board that suddenly appeared where the girl was standing before, and then at the retired Dark Lord who was quietly putting away his wand. The corners of his mouth finally couldn't help twitching. He felt like he was a bit redundant.

After returning to the Headmaster's office later, he might have to have a good chat with Gellert.

As an educator who has been dealing with students for most of his life, certain unrestrained acts of doting are not conducive to the healthy growth of young wizards. A little bit is enough.

…………

The Gryffindor common room was noisy.

George and Harry were arm wrestling on the middle table, surrounded by a circle of spectators.

"Give up, Harry!" George suddenly shouted, forcefully pressing down, "It's too early for you!"

As a Beater, George was obviously not going to lose to Harry, who was a Seeker, in arm wrestling.

Even if Harry was allowed to use both hands in the arm wrestling according to the rules, the gap between the two was still too great—if he hadn't considered taking care of his teammates, George could have ended the battle in half a second.

However, after acting for so long, he was almost unable to continue.

After all, compared to the stalemate on his side, Miss Meriel, his partner, directly crushed Ginny, her opponent, right from the start.

Bang!

With a muffled sound, Harry's hands slammed heavily on the table.

"George wins! The current score is 11:7! The Heterochromatic Team is leading!"

Lee Jordan announced loudly.

On the wall above the fireplace, the numbers on a magic scoreboard jumped.

Many girls and boys cheered excitedly, but the students standing behind Harry were not too disappointed.

"Is it our turn to go on stage? Alright, George, are you going to admit defeat directly, or are you going to resist stubbornly?"

Fred rubbed his wrists and walked past the crowd to sit down in front of his twin brother.

At the same time, Angelina, the Chaser of the Gryffindor team, also came out, looked meaningfully at Meriel, the female student council president sitting at the table next to George Weasley, and flexed her muscular, sturdy forearms.

"Senior Stripp, my suggestion is the same: it's better to admit defeat..."

"Sacrifice play? I didn't expect it—"

Meriel's face changed slightly. She looked at the next group of "heterochromatic teammates" behind her and George.

It seemed that she could only try to exhaust the opponent's stamina as much as possible. Otherwise, the combination of Penelope and that silly goose against Fred and Angelina would have almost no suspense—she should have gone on stage later with George.

Anyway, whether it was her or Penelope, they were bound to be in dire straits against the lionesses of Gryffindor.

"George, it's up to you... If you win, I'll make you a fruit salad—"

Miss Peach turned her head, looked at her boyfriend seriously, and said generously.

Anyway, this "boar" had already been brought to her house, and both sets of parents had exchanged magical addresses. Meriel wasn't shy anymore. She would definitely use all the methods that could stimulate combat power at this time.

"Fred, if you lose to George, then you'll go to Hogsmeade with him next time!"

Seeing that the opposing player had used despicable off-court tricks, Angelina frowned and quickly counterattacked.

"...?!"

"...?!"

George and Fred looked at each other. The tacit understanding of exchanging glances and bargaining that they had just now disappeared instantly.

"Sorry, George (Fred), for the sake of brotherhood—let's sacrifice for now..."

Along with the voices of the two witches next door who were using off-court tricks, the veins on their arms burst out at the same time, and they began to exert force at the same time, trying to overwhelm each other in one fell swoop—the scene suddenly entered a tense and exciting stalemate.

"...Is this really okay?"

At the door of the Gryffindor common room, Hermione looked at Alina, who had just sneaked back, and said worriedly.

"Although we roughly adjusted the number of [homochromatic teams] from the same academy and [heterochromatic teams] from different academies, no matter which side wins in the end, it will cause conflicts, look at Fred and George..."

"It's okay, Hermione. You're still young, you don't understand..."

Alina, who had just caught up with the "brothers turn against each other" drama, shook her head and looked at the confrontation in the center of the field with shining eyes.

"This is youth—"

————

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Yay!