great-warnovel Chapter 385 The Dark Lord's Advanced Class
Chapter 385 The Dark Lord's Advanced Class
Chapter 385 The Dark Lord's Advanced Class
The Unseen Expansion Charm was of great help to the wizarding civilization, allowing them to make efficient use of limited space.
The second floor of the Eiffel Tower is not large, but after expansion, it has a fairly ample space.
This made Grindelwald's library much larger than imagined, and even Hogwarts' thousand-year-old collection seemed somewhat inferior.
Rows of bookshelves stretched out in the dimly lit hall, seemingly endless, probably the result of emptying half of the Wizarding World's treasures.
Hermione had already read the essential parts of Hogwarts and had also gained a lot from Dumbledore's "Advanced Classes," but here she still found many valuable books, mostly on dark magic.
Her own living quarters were in a cubicle inside the library, connected by a small door.
Although described as a separate room, the interior is spacious and luxurious, like the boudoir of a French princess, furnished with various antique pieces.
Exquisite vases, a soft velvet bed—I wonder where the UMNO got all these things; perhaps they looted royal camps across Europe.
There was also a house-elf who served her, who was said to have been trained for a long time at the Kreacherner family of the Black family before being sent there. He was ordered to fulfill Hermione's any request, and could make any kind of food, even the most exotic delicacies. He also had clothes made to her size and style. Grindelwald treated her almost like a princess, but their first meeting was not pleasant.
Hermione has free access to the library and can wander around the city without restriction, but she cannot enter the adjacent collection vault and research room, which require the Dark Lord's separate permission.
The little witch didn't really want to experience aristocratic life here. She instructed the elves to eat ordinary food every day, wear their own clothes, and stay in the library all day without going anywhere. She planned to absorb the books here first.
She wrote a letter and sent it back to Hogwarts through the Ghost Owl. There were quite a few people who were worried that she would tear down half of New Paris on her first day. Now that the worst confrontation was over, it was unlikely that things would get any more intense.
With the person above them, they maintain a state of mind where everyone has forgotten what happened before, tacitly understanding each other, peaceful and calm, not thinking about him, like they are in a cold war.
Grindelwald didn't assign her any reading list or make any study plans; he simply let her search and browse in the library on her own.
"You're a great wizard now, not some child who still needs to start by learning how to hold a staff."
He would appear suddenly behind Hermione like a ghost, comment on the book she was reading, and suddenly ask her questions about its contents, refuting Hermione's answers until they were completely discredited, before giving his own.
Hermione wasn't angry. Ever since she learned that Grindelwald was schizophrenic, she stopped looking at the old man with the same expectations she would have of a normal person. He was a pitiful madman, and you couldn't be there for him when he was having an episode.
Fortunately, apart from speaking harshly, the Dark Lord did not exhibit any more outrageous behavior in the days that followed. It seemed that his mental state improved considerably after leaving his prestigious throne.
Even though it was a harsh, critical teaching style, it was still packed with valuable information, teaching Hermione many things that Dumbledore couldn't.
While the White Wizard is knowledgeable, his greatest strengths lie in Transfiguration, alchemy, and runes. He inherited his alchemy skills from Nick Lemaître, while Grindelwald focuses on black magic, curses, prophecy, the application of magical theory, and combat.
Compared to Dumbledore's dedication to the essence of magic, focusing on positive emotions and protective magic, the Dark Lord was more interested in powerful and quick-acting techniques. His research into magical theory was more about how to translate it into actual combat power.
"Hogwarts' Transfiguration is indeed world-leading, but its application is a complete mess!" he commented. "Although in a battle of equal skill, Transfiguration cannot be directly used on an enemy wizard, as it would be resisted by their mental power, it only requires a very small amount of magic to turn the opponent's clothes into snakes or even iron spikes, which can restrict the opponent's movements."
"And if he focuses all his energy on resisting the deformation of the objects around him, you can suddenly unleash a powerful curse from a distance!"
"Tactical maneuvering, don't you teach that in your practical training?"
Hermione wanted to say that she had learned all of these things, but when it came to the art of magical combat, Hogwarts was a step below Durmstrang.
"I've seen Krum's memories; you guys were also incredibly clumsy when fighting the Muggle forces," the Dark Lord said, exasperated.
"Do you really have to use magic to break through steel? Just shrink a tiny screw, and they'll blow themselves up!"
"Minerva McGonagall's shapeshifting abilities are enough to single-handedly destroy an army of Iron Titans! Yet she foolishly manipulates stone soldiers into melee combat!"
Hermione opened her mouth in vain, but didn't know what to say.
Grindelwald was right. Imagination limits the upper limit of a wizard's combat power. The professors at Hogwarts have been dealing with magical civilization for too long, and they are not good at dealing with technological products.
"Muggles have no magic. Except for a few special mechs blessed by fairies, most exoskeletons, tanks, and artillery are completely defenseless against wizards. A tiny spark of electricity rising from within, a stream of water that shouldn't be there, or a rat scurrying around in the wires can easily destroy those intricate yet fragile toys!"
He clapped his hands with a look of disgust, and the bookshelves behind him moved silently, quickly changing to a dozen new books.
"Your Muggle studies course is too basic. These are the books they use to train scientists. In the future, in addition to learning magic, you will also need to understand the enemy's technology."
Hermione glanced at the bookshelf, which was filled with all sorts of unfamiliar terms, from advanced mathematics to quantum physics, from meteorology to polymer synthesis, from organic chemistry to human anatomy. Just looking at it made her dizzy.
"Didn't you say you were going to destroy Muggle civilization? I thought you were going to burn all of this down."
Grindelwald sneered, "This city can only be seen from here. How can we destroy them if we don't understand their technology?"
Hermione's understanding of this man deepened. He wasn't the kind of person who was blindly prejudiced and irrational. He had studied Muggle science in depth and discovered the threat it posed to wizards. When he wasn't having an episode, his wisdom was enough to make people swoon. No wonder so many people followed him and admired him.
The witch casually grabbed a book on fractal geometry: "I'll study it carefully, but I don't consider Muggles to be the enemy."
Grindelwald stood by the window with his hands behind his back, not turning to look at her: "You'd better not say that at a funeral."
Hermione then remembered that the Dark Lord had asked her to attend the Black family's funeral in a few days.
"Could Regulus be dead?" Aside from Sirius's brother, she didn't recognize any other Blacks.
Oh no, strictly speaking, there's also Narcissa, Tonks' mother, and the deceased Bellatrix.
Grindelwald's voice was cold: "He was the boy's uncle. He died in an enemy suicide bombing while he was escorting the Green Lanterns. Now, only Regulus remains of the Black family."