After sending off the half-crippled Auror, Allen let out a deep breath—the immediate trouble was over.
Annie, however, looked a little conflicted. After all, she had nearly sent that person to meet Merlin just moments ago, and now, that same person was suddenly considered "one of us." Anyone would find that hard to accept immediately.
Still, Allen quickly reached over and patted her head. "Well done!"
The sudden praise startled Annie. Her mouth opened slightly, eyes wide with disbelief—Could he really be sick?
"Of course, I'm not saying 'well done' because you almost killed him," Allen clarified. "I mean it's good that you noticed someone sneaky following around and took action without hesitation. Just remember next time: leave them half-dead, don't randomly kill someone."
Overreacting is never a good idea. Although the wizarding world seemed calm, currents of danger always flowed beneath the surface. This time it was an accident—but what if the intruder had been an enemy? Forget other wizarding communities; the British wizarding world had plenty of released Death Eaters. Who could guarantee they wouldn't cause trouble?
The person who had faced Dumbledore head-on was Lucius Malfoy, but besides him, the number of Death Eaters was far from small. Even if not mentioned in the original story, Allen refused to believe that none of them would take action. If it were him, weakening Hogwarts or the Ministry of Magic would have been a perfectly viable option, especially considering the Minister's dissatisfaction with Dumbledore.
After briefly explaining the potential dangers and the seedy undercurrents of the magical world, Annie understood the gist. The little girl furrowed her brow but smiled and said, "It's complicated—but why bother figuring it out? They can't beat me anyway."
Allen was momentarily speechless. Annie wasn't confused—she was simply too lazy to process such a complicated explanation. In fact, Allen realized she wasn't entirely wrong.
Indeed, before Dumbledore's death, Voldemort caused chaos, but the Ministry and Hogwarts remained intact. Even during Voldemort's reign of terror, the basic order of the magical world was maintained.
After Dumbledore died, the Ministry was breached, and the Minister killed—simple and straightforward.
The Death Eaters had once strutted arrogantly through the world, but when Voldemort failed to kill Harry and was himself defeated, their power crumbled. The once-mighty became scattered—again, simple and clear.
Ultimately, the wizarding world is ruled by strength. Even if masked cleverly, it remains obvious to those who pay attention.
Just as Allen was about to continue musing, Annie suddenly exclaimed, "I made lunch!" and dashed toward the camp.
Unfortunately, they were too late. By the time they arrived, a sleek, black-feathered creature stood triumphantly atop the basket, its contents completely destroyed. Valor even flapped its wings to greet them, letting out a satisfied burp…
Other pets might hesitate to touch unknown food, but Valor recognized its own—resulting in a sumptuous lunch that almost made Allen crave the wizarding version of beggar's chicken.
—
By noon, they had prepared some fresh food and chatted while waiting for the rest of the group to return.
Even before the others entered the door, their voices carried clearly—they continued talking animatedly once inside.
"Allen! I'm telling you, you missed out today! The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is amazing!" Shion's loud voice shouted across the room. Only then did Allen notice Annie was also present.
"Why so excited? What did the professor say that made you this happy?"
"Battle! Of course, battle! The professor said the essence of Dark Arts Defense is in combat—if you don't fight, you'll lose, no matter how long you defend!" Shion relayed the professor's words with a look of admiration.
"Exactly! We saw some advanced magic this time. The professor even brought a student for a demonstration—it was exhilarating!" another chimed in.
Marshall, however, looked pale and scared.
"What's wrong, Marshall?"
Shion and the others gave sympathetic looks. "That student pulled up? You know her, right? That girl, Kaoru—she nearly wiped the demonstration area clean with magic, and the professor easily subdued her and took her wand. We were all shocked. Don't let her ease fool you—hardly anyone there could have blocked a few of her moves. She even kept her eyes on us afterward, so poor Marshall probably had it rough."
Beautiful fantasies are always shattered by reality—Marshall's admiration was completely destroyed.
In his memory, Kaoru had always been gentle, and he had subconsciously doubted the reports. But now, that image is utterly gone.
Allen and Annie watched, quietly amused. Serves you right.
"Oh, and the professor assigned a bunch of homework. Allen, here's your packet—next class, if you attend, you'll need it." Shion handed over a packet with a cheerful smile, completely unconcerned about the assignments.
"Here are three spells—an offensive spell, a defensive spell, and a curse that changes hair color and shape for about a week. The professor said to practice with them. Next class is practical—you can only use these three spells. Fail to suppress or defend, and you'll suffer the hair curse for a week," another added.
A delightfully twisted lesson—using dueling to attract young wizards is practically cheating, and adding a punitive element made it even more mischievous. Allen flipped through the materials, intrigued.
He noticed the hair-changing curse could make hair green by default, other colors required modifying part of the spell, and the shape-change template was a hat.
If followed exactly, the effects would be unpredictable—such concepts didn't even exist at Hogwarts or Beauxbatons. Most students would likely think it was a simple shape-change spell.
This initiation is pretty sinister!
Compared to their home school students, Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students would probably learn more slowly—though the professor would likely enjoy seeing them fail.
Allen swallowed hard and heard Shion add, "The professor said even if the curse hits you, the hospital won't help, because it causes no real harm. You have to figure out the cure yourself. Honestly, this teaching method is far better than Professor Lockhart's. Allen, you really didn't miss much today!"
Good—just don't come crying to me if you get cursed.
Allen rolled his eyes and began flipping through the materials. This class was getting more interesting by the minute.