Hogwarts, the Quidditch pitch.

Unlike its usual simplicity, the field under the night sky was shrouded in a layer of mysterious, pale silver light.

This light seemed to emanate from the Quidditch pitch itself. Professor Sprout was standing in the center, gently waving her wand.

As if spring had arrived, waves of velvet-smooth, low-cut grass spread rapidly outward from her. This would be the students' main battlefield for tomorrow's competition. The soft grass, just a few inches below Hagrid's ankles, would serve as a natural cushion, preventing injuries during magical duels.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the stands, Professor Snape, cloaked in black, glided silently between the rows like a giant bat.

Although there were still many doubts about Voldemort's return, out of caution, Snape was adding as many anti-Dark Arts defensive spells as possible around the perimeter.

The Quidditch pitch modification was just a test. If the protection here proved effective, they would extend the experience to all parts of Hogwarts Castle, hoping to protect the students as much as possible when the Dark Lord's shadow eventually reached Hogwarts.

On the other side, Professor McGonagall tapped her wand, placing stone statues in every corner of the field.

Some looked like guards holding swords and shields, while others resembled gargoyles with folded wings.

The acting headmaster of Hogwarts could not use "Piertotum Locomotor" to command the statues inside the castle, but the Quidditch pitch was different.

This was also a suggestion that Hermione had given Professor McGonagall not long ago:

Professor McGonagall could set up some statues to be activated outside the main building of the castle to protect the school in times of crisis.

In fact, not just the Quidditch pitch, but according to Hermione's idea, she even wanted to set up statues along the school gates.

The conflict in the Ministry of Magic last night verified a tactical logic: in wizarding combat, the tank's durability is particularly important.

Theoretically, if they could get a few granite fire dragons, Godzillas, or Leviathans, and incorporate them into the "magical local network" certification of Hogwarts Castle, even if all the giants in the world charged together, they would be easily blocked outside the school gates.

As for Professor Flitwick's work, it was much simpler and more down-to-earth.

As the Charms professor at Hogwarts, and the dueling champion after Grindelwald's disappearance, after decorating the field lights, Professor Flitwick sat with Hermione and a group of prefects to discuss and improve the rules and precautions for tomorrow's inter-house competition.

Obviously, Professor Flitwick could be said to be the top wizard in magical duels and spell knowledge, second only to Professor Dumbledore.

However, Hermione and the others obviously had a more direct and accurate grasp of magical brawls at the student level.

"Stunning Spells and Cutting Spells? I think you're worrying too much."

Hermione said, taking out her magic book from her satchel and flipping to the daily record page exclusive to prefects.

With the popularity of Hogwarts magic books, she was now very skilled at using this new prop.

"Well, judging from the data statistics, the frequency of these spells is not very high..."

Hermione tapped her wand lightly, and a light brown curtain projected from the pages of her book, appearing in front of Professor Flitwick.

"You see, in conflicts in the corridors, classrooms, and common rooms, the frequency of prank spells is the highest - the more harmful spells are usually fire-based. Compared to precise magic control, everyone prefers to use Forceful Impact, Exploding Charm, and Incendio..."

"As for the Spell Page, Hermione and I agree that this is everyone's learning achievement at school and should not be restricted too much."

"...Is that so? Well, girls, you've convinced me—"

Professor Flitwick looked up and carefully read Hermione's spell records during "maintaining order."

Unlike Filch's previous scattered and unsystematic records, Hermione's notepad recorded in detail every spell and casting order used by students when conflicts occurred. When all the data was summarized together, the persuasiveness was more powerful than all words.

Perhaps this was why Dumbledore added student prefects to Hogwarts - he had to admit that times had changed.

"However, I still hold a conservative attitude towards the Spell Page. I will check the input content before both sides enter the arena."

After pondering for a few seconds, Professor Flitwick glanced at Hermione who was lost in thought, "If I remember correctly, the spells recorded in the Spell Page may be cast with the assistance of other wizards, right? In other words, there is the possibility of upper-year students cheating, so..."

"Well, this situation may indeed occur, but I don't think it's a bad thing—"

Hermione sat on the broom, swaying, and said indifferently, "The spell slots engraved by others can only be activation-type defensive magic. Although there are some problems in terms of balance, from the perspective of safety, there seems to be no reason to object. Besides, tomorrow's competition is originally a magical confrontation between houses. Upper-year students protecting lower-year students is one of the spirits that Hogwarts advocates, isn't it?"

"Of course, this is only the first inter-house competition. It is still unknown whether everyone will bring magic books with them."

She paused meaningfully, stroking the broom below and said softly, "Personally, I don't think it is necessary to write about magic books into the rules of this competition for the time being. What should be focused on is something else... For example, whether flying brooms can be carried?"

"Flying brooms? I don't understand what you mean, Miss Castellan."

Professor Flitwick frowned, a little confused.

"Well, we are not creating a dueling arena. I thought the purpose of inter-house competition was to digest knowledge."

Hermione's eyes inadvertently swept over a certain Chocobo, and she replied with a smile.

"Flying talent is also a kind of magical talent. Most dark creatures are not good at flying, and Apparition is not always so easy to use. When a crisis comes, I hope everyone will at least think of more ways to protect themselves and fight back, instead of roaring impotently on the ground like giants - this is a shortcut, but perhaps it is also a hope that runs through ancient and modern times..."

The Hogwarts inter-house competition was just the beginning. Perhaps only Hermione could see the future hidden within it.

In Hermione's vision, it would most likely become a new starting point for magical combat.

What's even better was that, unlike the resistance in the original timeline, this time she faced almost no obstacles.

With "Voldemort's" high-profile return, even the most stubborn and bureaucratic Cornelius Fudge would not hinder Hogwarts from training students' self-defense abilities at this time - after all, he who released a fire dragon to attack "Voldemort" had no possibility of surrendering.

If the pressure exerted by "Voldemort" continued to be great enough, the Ministry of Magic might even ask the school to increase its efforts.

Just like the Cold War that had just dissipated not long ago, what was most likely to unite people was an enemy that existed between imagination and reality.

In fact, this was also the favorite method of most Dark Lords: provoking conflicts and creating hostility.

On the other hand, this was often the reason for their failure, whether it was Grindelwald or Voldemort.

Humans usually burst out with unimaginable motivation when faced with crises.

If she really wanted to promote the trajectory of the future world for a long time under the shadow of "Voldemort," instead of letting things get out of control, then in addition to pure enemies and threats, she had to give the magical government another extremely important "weapon."

Hope outlined by a certain shortcut.

For example—

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Four or five trails of emerald green light intertwined in a narrow room filled with mist.

The figure who had just stood up from the giant cauldron in the center of the room fell straight backward like a piece of decaying wood.

"Record, fourth experiment."

"Resurrection time 22.74 seconds, recovery time 1.13 seconds."

"Target has no magical resistance, no stress response, no continuation of memory..."

"C-level personnel entry permit approved, please clean up the site as soon as possible and transfer the materials to Area B."

In the observation room, Nicolas Flamel nodded lightly, signaling the researchers next to him to continue with the next step as soon as possible.

"The Pope" and "The Tower" did not give him too much time for experiments. At the latest, the first phase of the "Voldemort Resurrection" memorandum would be suspended next Friday. He had to seize the time to complete the basic goals before he had time to try some of his wonderful ideas.

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Hooray!