great-warnovel Chapter 197 What is Faith?
Chapter 197 What is Faith?
Chapter 197 What is Faith?
Not thinking about things too far ahead, Hermione seemed to have rediscovered the research-oriented state she had when she first entered school, a state of curiosity about everything.
Bill and Charlie's old textbooks finally allowed her to read through the entire seventh-year Hogwarts curriculum. In her Moonlit State, all kinds of magic were quickly analyzed and absorbed. With just a little practice, she would be no different from an adult wizard.
However, it's best to practice Apparition under Professor McGonagall's guidance after returning to school. Weasel Mountain was once plagued by spatial chaos due to wizards carelessly discarding Portkeys. Although things have improved a lot in recent years, beginners should still avoid attempting Apparition casually.
Actually, Hermione doesn't really need Apparition anymore, given the magic from the Shadowlands sent by the Faded Ones.
The Radiant Stone magic called "Milian's Disappearance" allows the user to transform into Radiant Stone smoke, quickly move a short distance, and then reappear. While it cannot travel long distances like Apparition, it is more than enough for combat.
Hermione can now even teleport with Lockhart during battle, competing to see who gets caught first.
Although she was determined to eliminate the roaming werewolf pack later, it was clearly not the time yet; Maria needed some time to train.
She began sparring with Harry and the others. Despite her beastly physique, powerful beast stone, and simple fighting skills, the little girl did indeed demonstrate considerable dominance.
But Harry's fighting talent was too strong. In close combat, even the little werewolf was no match for him. After all, no matter how tough she was, she dared not let Harry's chain touch her. And the Beast Stone, which was not very accurate, could not hit the agile Harry. Moreover, he had now mastered Transfiguration and had a wide variety of tactics.
Ron's defense was like a tortoise shell; Maria couldn't break through it no matter what she tried. Instead, Ron's increasingly skilled shield parrying would find an opportunity to flip her over and make her lose her balance, then she would be immobilized in place by a series of binding and petrifying spells.
Neville, on the other hand, fought Maria to a standstill, exchanging blows with his sword and claws. Both were wary of each other's attacks and tried to dodge as much as possible. However, Neville possessed a wider variety of magic, which allowed him to create all sorts of trouble for Maria. It was also through him that the little wolf girl learned more strategies for dealing with wizards.
For example, don't let yourself hang in the air for too long, don't stay in one place for too long, and try to avoid the wizard's line of sight. If they can't see you, they can't cast spells on you accurately. Draco was originally confident that he could fight Maria, but apart from the Cruciatus Curse, his other magic was similar to Neville's. After adapting to Neville's rhythm, Maria easily dodged all his spells. On the contrary, since she didn't have sword magic, many of his attacks were just tickles to the werewolf.
Even though Hermione eventually allowed him to use the Crucifixion Curse, the werewolf seemed to have a stronger resistance, and his Crucifixion Curse, which he didn't seem to have any intention of torturing, only caused Maria a little pain.
"That didn't even hurt as much as when I was bitten." Her words hurt Draco's pride, and the little dragon sulked on the stool for a long time.
"Hermione, when will you teach me some new magic?" he asked Hermione in a low voice.
Before the end of the semester, the four defeated "Leg-Breaking" Grik. After arriving at White Mountain, Hermione watched their practice sessions for a long time and should have a general understanding of him. Judging by the time, it should be enough for her to teach him new magic.
Hermione was also a bit troubled by this. Draco's style was closer to that of a traditional wizard, the kind who would keep his distance and shoot. If his magic was powerful enough, Hermione could teach him a series of splendid stone spells to make him a firepower turret.
While Draco's magical talent wasn't bad, he wasn't a genius either. His magical power wasn't significantly different from other young wizards. He had only mastered the Brightstone Shard, but struggled with higher-level spells like the Greater Shard.
Even if it were released, it would probably be weak and feeble.
He recently started practicing Transfiguration with Harry again, but he is more than half a year behind the other three. It will take him even longer to catch up with them and even learn Animagus.
Hermione couldn't immediately think of a suitable spell to teach him. An irresponsible teacher could easily just throw him a few difficult gemstone spells, but the Finger Witch was very responsible.
She also hopes to build a combat system of her own for Draco.
Clearly, falling behind his classmates and now being unable to even defeat Muggle werewolves has made Draco anxious. He desperately wants to improve his strength, even if it's just to catch up with the others.
"Is it possible for me to learn to pray?" Draco asked hesitantly.
"When I hold the Holy Mark, I do seem to be able to leverage some power." He hadn't said it before because he looked down on this way of giving Muggles power, and he felt that he could do it better with magic.
Hermione was taken aback, but upon reflection, it made some sense. Draco was very talented in Occlumency, and he was very good at controlling his thoughts, which had a lot in common with the training of faith.
He was unable to activate the Beast Stone Prayer, most likely because he lacked the Beastly Power. Given his level of reverence for Hermione, he might actually meet the standard of faith.
However, faith is a very serious matter. If Draco is to learn to pray, it means that he must have wholehearted faith in Hermione, and not just a mixture of emotions such as awe, gratitude, and fear.
As someone of the same age, and even from a noble family like the Malfoys, could Draco possibly have believed in a half-blood witch, a girl who had even insulted him as a Mudblood?
Hermione frankly told him about these issues.
The little boy had indeed previously held a very superficial view of faith; he had heard the Finger Witch's explanation of faith.
What does it mean to entrust one's whole heart and soul to something, and to have nothing else besides it?
This caused him to fall silent. The Occupational Therapy taught him how to close off his heart and only trust himself, while faith required him to give his entire self to another person.
"You don't need to rush into a decision," Hermione reassured her.
"As a wizard, you have unlimited potential. There's no need to change your path just because you're impatient."
"I also need some time to think about which kind of magic would be most suitable for me to teach you."
Draco could only nod and thank her quickly. He understood that Hermione was doing it for his own good. Apart from special cases like Maria, Hermione did not intend to present herself as a god. At least, her current mindset was not enough for her to be a god.
The part of her original soul that belonged to the little girl sometimes made her show a childlike and naive side, but most of the time, she was the rational and fierce Finger Witch.
The twins were very curious about why Hermione knew these strange beliefs and prayer magic, so they inquired about it.
However, the little witch still believed Dumbledore's explanation. Her third eye allowed her to see many wonders, and magic from another world would automatically appear at her side when needed.
This made George and Fred very envious, and they decided to take an extra elective course next year to fill in the numbers, hoping to activate their third eye ability.
They later joined Harry and his team in their training matches, followed by Percy.
The Weasley brothers discovered that they couldn't consistently beat Harry in one-on-one fights! Even Percy, in his seventh year, would frantically try to escape if Harry charged at him.