great-warnovel Chapter 181 Crossing the Sea
Chapter 181 Crossing the Sea
Chapter 181 Crossing the Sea
Beauxbatons ultimately took no action, because the next day, Lily was spotted in Waggadu, Africa.
As a millennium-old prestigious school also known for alchemy and potions, Vagado has not completely transformed into an alchemy college. However, as a giant in the African continent today, its influence is not much less than that of Beauxbatons, and even surpasses it in some specialized fields.
Unfortunately, Africa's ecological damage is quite severe, and desertification has almost swallowed up the entire continent. Vagado is also too closed off and rarely communicates or cooperates with other wizarding forces. As a result, although they have quite good alchemy and potion technology, they are unable to expand production and become a near-monopoly like Beauxbatons.
No one knows what Lily talked about with their principal, but it's said that afterwards, Vagadu suddenly and unusually expanded the herb garden and mining area in Moon Mountain. It's worth noting that maintaining these resource areas is no easy feat in terms of manpower.
Given the current number of Muggles in Africa, they can only recruit far fewer students each year than Hogwarts, and they would rather use each one as if they were cut into three pieces.
This alerted Beauxbatons. Although their magical contract with Hogwarts stipulated that they were currently the only exclusive channel and that unilateral breach of contract would have dire consequences, they were helpless if Lily slightly adjusted the formula, changed the name of the trigger spray, and then cooperated with Vagado.
They knew they must have angered the other party by taking advantage of the situation, but as businessmen, they were used to setting a price first and then negotiating if necessary. They never expected Lily to appear directly in Vagado so decisively.
They quickly dispatched a messenger, who, along with supplies and a sum of Galleons far exceeding the value of the goods, returned to the castle.
The person who was clearly a sales manager temporarily acting as the person picking up the goods was all smiles. He didn't mention the formula at all, but congratulated Hogwarts on its upcoming return and took the opportunity to subtly inquire about Vagado's recent situation from Lily.
But in reality, Lily didn't discuss the trigger spray with Vagado. After learning about Beauxbatons' intentions from Hermione and Fleur, the Potions Master accurately grasped the merchants' pulse. She went to Vagado only to discuss cooperation in the potions field. In addition to Godric's Cliff Street's own needs, Hogwarts' return to the Scottish Highlands would also require a large amount of potions resources. She represented both forces in negotiations with Vagado, and the combined trade volume was not small.
This was something she was going to do anyway, but it just so happened that Beauxbatons was putting pressure on her at this time, so she took advantage of it to give Beauxbatons a warning.
A week passed quickly, the castle reached the coast of Calais, and Hermione finished her second paper and handed it to Professor Flitwick.
Since Christmas, she has focused most of her energy on the Animagus and Carol siblings, paying little attention to the follow-up developments of her previous paper on shattering the rock. However, it is said that in many wizarding communities with mineral deposits, this magic has begun to be learned by many lower-ranking wizards. In those deep, sweltering mines with extremely low oxygen levels or containing toxic gases, using Muggle slaves to mine is too inefficient; the mortality rate is disproportionate to the output rate.
It's actually more efficient to have wizards go down to mine, while the Muggles only need to be responsible for transporting the materials.
Furthermore, some wizards believe that this magic can easily penetrate Muggle terracotta power armor and may have unexpected effects in close combat, but no one has been heard to have tested this.
The second paper is purely about combat magic. It uses celestial magic, crystallizing the magic passed down to the Kalia royal family, to form a persistent floating magic ball above the head, continuously scattering a rain of magic pebbles over a wide area towards the target. During this time, the wizard is completely unaffected whether moving or casting other spells. It's like having a floating cannon that can continuously output damage over a wide area, making it quite practical. I believe this will be more in line with the aesthetics of modern wizards than shattering the rock mass.
It was already mid-May, and most subjects had almost finished their new material and were gradually entering the review phase for the academic year. Hermione, of course, didn't need to worry about her grades. She was rushing to finish her thesis because Hogwarts was about to cross the sea, which required a massive and long-lasting levitation spell. She had to work with Dumbledore, mainly responsible for monitoring the stability of the luminous stone.
Unlike before, the Levitation Charm powered by pyroxene aims to allow the castle to truly fly across the strait, rather than drifting across like a bathtub, which would be too unbecoming of the castle's current image.
Many wizards knew the route to Hogwarts and had been gazing out from the coasts of both countries early on. Among them were many reporters from the Daily Mail, who were commissioned by the nobles to capture images of the castle wolves and foxes crossing the sea, or at least of the waves crashing against the castle's protective barrier.
Therefore, there is really no need for Hogwarts to continue hiding.
"Since the route and destination are almost transparent, and we'll be establishing ourselves in a place known to everyone in the world, what's the point of this millennia-old secret charm?" Hermione said.
Although this Secrecy Charm is extremely powerful, even graduating Hogwarts students cannot see the location of the castle, Muggles can still launch nuclear missiles blindly based on the coordinates given by the sorcerer. Simply hiding it is not very effective, but rather consumes a lot of magic power.
"Since the world has changed, we should also change our principles of conduct. I think Hogwarts should become more open in the future, so that everyone can see it, and that in itself is a symbol of confidence."
After much deliberation, Dumbledore finally agreed with Hermione's point of view, personally altering the ancestral method and lifting the curtain on the castle so that everyone could see it.
"This sea crossing is our chance to demonstrate our strength. Perhaps it will strengthen the faith of more wizards in us, instead of letting Malfoy Castle lead them by the nose," he said with a smile. However, for a hundred-year-old ghost, such a change is itself a kind of courage and breakthrough.
Amidst numerous ill-intentioned and eagerly anticipating spectacle, Hogwarts suddenly appeared. Four massive stone legs curled up, and under the support of an invisible force, the entire mountain-like structure soared into the air. Specks of purple light flowed among the rocks below the castle—this was Hermione's gravity magic, also cast using the Brilliant Stone, which greatly relieved Dumbledore's pressure.
The intertwining of two different systems of power allowed the castle to steadily soar into the air, casting a shadow on the sea. The wizards on both banks were astonished; they had assumed that with the power of the radiant stone, the castle would have to skim the sea surface and fly slowly.
Who would have thought that this mountain-sized structure could be sent into the sky by human power? They even suspected that Hogwarts might be able to float in the sky forever, becoming a mobile aerial fortress!
The wizards and reporters who had originally planned to watch the spectacle were now only able to capture a breathtaking scene: Hogwarts, like a divine mountain descending from the heavens, leisurely departed from Calais, crossing the strait in just half a day and successfully landing outside the devastated ruins of Dover.
Merlin or Solomon? Dumbledore may be bringing the legend to life!
This was the second day, and it was the headline of the magazine "Singing the Quixote," while other media outlets such as "The Diviner's Daily" remained silent, as if they knew nothing about it.