Seeing the strange pose Sigefin was striking, Emily's brows knitted slightly.
Link noticed and explained, "This is an ancient battle style. Hogwarts, A History clearly recorded that back in the day, the Honorable Godric Gryffindor was extremely skilled at this method of fighting, holding a sword in one hand and a wand in the other. They say the sword he obtained from the goblins is still kept inside Hogwarts."
Emily, John, and the others immediately understood.
But soon Emily let out a puzzled laugh, "Using such an old-fashioned way of fighting… looks like this Sigefin really isn't quite right in the head."
Newland, John, and even the Kennedy siblings all nodded in agreement. Clearly, none of them thought much of Sigefin.
The wizarding world is not like those knight-story worlds that go from glory to decline, where all the best techniques and treasures came from ancient times.
In essence, it's just like the Muggle world driven by technology, constantly developing and advancing.
Aside from certain "lost black technologies" or rare materials that have gone extinct, ancient things simply cannot be better than modern ones.
And so-called ancient battle styles were obviously something eliminated by nature.
Maybe they had some use back when wand-crafting skills weren't as advanced, but now they're pretty much useless.
Not to mention, Sigefin was holding a wooden sword.
The whole thing just reeked too much of empty showmanship and attention-seeking.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Link and Cedric exchanged a smile and said, "Don't jump to conclusions. Let's see how he performs first."
Link had barely finished speaking when Sigefin, despite his loud words earlier, did not charge forward with his sword as everyone expected. Instead, he raised a full-body Shield Charm right on the spot.
A hazy magical mist rapidly enveloped him.
And almost the instant the mist rose, many of the Bound Bats that couldn't freely move lunged excitedly to attack. They smashed apart a large patch of the mist, but ultimately could not break all the way in.
Seeing this, the Bound Bats weren't frustrated. They spread themselves open and wrapped directly around the mist, using their own cursed magical properties to erode the Shield Charm fog.
Zzz~
The sound of energy corroding each other echoed repeatedly through the chamber.
Emily, John, and the others stared wide-eyed, curiously watching.
Sigefin's Shield Charm not only blocked the Bound Bats but also obscured everyone else's view.
In the entire chamber, only Newland and Link wore strange expressions.
The former because he had suffered from this move before.
As for the latter, he was simply using his Sensory Charm to see through the mist.
In Link's vision, Sigefin was extremely busy at the moment.
First, he used Transfiguration to make one stone knight after another rise from the ground, each clad in armor. Then he transformed the wooden sword in his hand into a steel sword, and finally raised it and struck down hard on a Bound Bat.
Bang!
The Bound Bat was sent flying, and the mist around Sigefin dispersed quickly, revealing Sigefin himself and more than a dozen stone knights inside.
"Gryffindor! Long live!"
With Sigefin's shout, the knights began their collective charge.
The poor Bound Bat had just been blasted away and hadn't even managed to take off again before it was buried under the fierce onslaught of stone knights.
These stone knights moved extremely smoothly, not at all like mere Transfiguration summons.
But their attack method was extremely simple, just one move, a powerful, mountain-splitting overhead strike.
Or in other words… the "New Year Greeting Sword Technique."
As for Sigefin himself, he stayed on the outer edge, constantly firing spells to attack, and occasionally rushed forward to give the Bound Bat a solid slash with his steel sword.
Watching this whole routine beating the Bound Bat helplessly, Link's eye twitched twice.
"This… this doesn't really seem like the most authentic ancient battle style, does it?"
Beside him, Emily said with a weird expression.
Hearing this, Link coughed twice, glaring at Cedric, who'd given him the wrong info, before saying, "It's probably… probably a modified version. Looks effective, but a little…"
"Too shameless. He pretends to be this classical knight type, but who knew he was actually this despicable? He actually brought a whole gang to beat up one target!"
John finished the part Link couldn't bring himself to say. "Also, Link, after getting beaten like that, will your pet be okay?"
As soon as he said this, Newland, Cedric, and the others all looked at John like he was an idiot.
Link explained, "Other than the Patronus Charm, neither physical nor magical attacks can easily cause real damage to the Bound Bat. In terms of durability, it's the toughest of all my magical creatures. I let it fight this time so Sigefin could fully show his combat ability. I just didn't expect…"
Link shook his head and didn't continue.
But everyone understood.
Sigefin's fighting style was indeed shameless, but surprisingly effective, and he actually managed to suppress the Bound Bat.
So there was no hope of forcing out Sigefin's true trump cards now.
With a sigh, Link waved his wand, and the chamber quickly shrank back to its original form.
During this process, the stone knights summoned by Sigefin were crushed to dust. Sigefin himself was stopped by an invisible giant hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Once it was free again, the Bound Bat didn't hesitate at all. It flew straight back and turned into Link's cloak.
Not only that, right now it looked extremely wronged, twisting around Link's back nonstop and making whooshing wind-sounds, like it was crying.
Link grabbed the cloak's edge and found a tear right in the center of its body.
Link turned his head, a bit surprised, and looked at Sigefin.
The fact that the other had managed to injure the Bound Bat meant that in the earlier gang attack, he must have hidden some other attack method with much higher power.
This was… pretty impressive.
Sigefin, feeling Link's gaze, stood with his hands on his hips, full of pride.
Unfortunately, the posture didn't last long.
Because the next moment, he saw Link simply place a hand over the Bound Bat's wound, and the slit that he had worked so hard to create closed up instantly, healed by the overwhelming cursed energy.
"Ah, uh…"
Sigefin was too shocked to speak.
Newland also looked at Link with deep awe.
Link laughed and said, "Nicely done, Sigefin. Congratulations, you truly qualify to join our organization."
Hearing this, Sigefin immediately withdrew all his arrogance and gave Link a respectful, one-fisted chest salute.
"I've read the files on the rest of you, so none of you need any further testing," Link continued.
"Next, I'm going to explain the matters everyone must pay attention to after joining, as well as the tasks we need to complete soon."
Hearing this, Newland, Sigefin, and the Kennedy siblings all straightened up.
They knew very well that the whole "self-improvement" speech Link had given outside was mostly to trick those simple-minded folks, and what he was going to tell them now was the true core of the organization.
In the heavy atmosphere, Link spread his arms and said,
"Just as I told Sigefin a moment ago, for now, our organization's top priority is to eliminate Voldemort, the cancer of the wizarding world."
"This will be very difficult, because Voldemort is not fighting alone. Behind him are the Death Eaters, and an unknown, powerful mysterious group."
"We have Dumbledore on our side, yes, but unfortunately, Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix don't seem to share our path."
"Given that, we must shoulder more responsibility."
Link's gaze sharpened. He continued, turning to the Kennedy siblings, "Kenndy siblings, your task is to follow the direction I give you and do your best to design alchemical tools that satisfy me."
"For this, I will provide you, on behalf of the Flamel family, a considerable research fund. In addition, once you complete the research tasks I assign, you may also work on anything you are personally interested in."
"No problem," the older Kennedy said, patting the younger Kennedy behind him.
"But I must remind you, we're still just students. Our alchemy skills can't compare to those famous master alchemists. We can't guarantee we'll actually create what you want."
Link gave a strange smile, "Don't worry, the research level required isn't high. You'll be able to do it. And even if you fail, I won't blame you. Just think of it as paying tuition."
The older Kennedy shrugged, "That's fine. After all, it's your Galleons being spent, we won't feel bad about it."
"Next is you two, Newland, Sigefin," Link said, turning to them.
"Your tasks right now are even simpler. I will periodically grant you access to higher-level magic, and you must improve your strength as quickly as possible."
"Also, during future organization gatherings, you will act as temporary instructors and teach the other students Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Don't underestimate this job. Those students will be part of our future fighting strength against Voldemort."
"Got it!" ×2
Newland and Sigefin shouted in unison.
After speaking, the two glared at each other angrily, then quickly looked away.
Link wasn't interested in their personal grudges. After assigning everyone's jobs, he was about to announce dismissal.
But at that moment, Sigefin suddenly raised his hand high like a student requesting to speak in class.
"Sigefin, what is it now?"
Link frowned.
He really felt Sigefin had far too many issues.
Sigefin didn't notice, or noticed and didn't care. He spoke directly, "Lord Link Flamel, you still haven't told us the name of the organization."
As soon as he said that, everyone who'd been ready to leave immediately looked at Link with shining eyes.
Sigefin was right.
They still didn't know the organization's name.
They couldn't go around calling it "the organization," could they?
It wasn't wrong, but it just felt… uncool.
"Then we'll call it the Defense Association," Link said with a smile. "D.A. for short."
As soon as he said this, John and Sigefin didn't react much.
But Newland, Cedric, and Emily's eyes suddenly widened.
D.A. was indeed short for Defense Association. But it could also be understood as Dumbledore's Army.
At other times, that name would be completely fine.
After all, Hogwarts students worshipping Dumbledore is perfectly normal. And their organization was also working to oppose Voldemort, same as Dumbledore.
But Link had just said earlier that they and Dumbledore weren't truly on the same path. Yet now he gave the organization this name.
Could Link be planning…
Under everyone's stunned stare, the smile at Link's lips grew brighter.
Yeah, picking the same name as in the original story, D.A., was admittedly a bit low.
But it was also the best choice right now.
After all, this name conveniently tied them to the banner of Dumbledore.
Besides, Dumbledore had previously tossed Umbridge into his factory, trying to make her turn against him.
So if Link now gave his organization such a name, refocusing Umbridge's attention back on Dumbledore, what was wrong with that?
Thinking about this made Link extremely pleased.
He sat back down on the sofa and said to everyone, "If you have anything else, say it now. If not, we're dismissed."
Hearing this, Newland snapped out of his shock and his own wild speculations, then smiled, "Since we now have a name, we must also have a symbol. Lord Link Flamel, do you have any ideas about the organization's emblem?"
"Emblem?"
Link repeated the word, then shook his head.
Newland stood and said, "I think an organization emblem is very necessary. It can greatly boost members' enthusiasm and sense of honor."
"I propose we design a symbol as soon as possible, then have it engraved onto each core member's arm. Later we can even add extra functions to it, like real-time communication. What do you think?"
After he spoke, his meaningful gaze locked directly onto Link, as if he wanted to read every nuance of Link's reaction.
The Kennedy siblings and the others, however, looked nervous, even panicked.
Especially Sigefin. His fists clenched tightly, and the anger in his eyes was so intense it looked like he wanted to tear Newland to pieces right there.
Because the method he suggested, engraving a symbol onto the arm, was way too similar to the Death Eaters.
It was impossible not to suspect Newland's intentions.
But compared to Newland, everyone was clearly more concerned about Link's attitude.
Because Link's stance would largely determine the organization's direction.
Would they develop like the Death Eaters, or carve out a completely new path? That was for Link to decide.
And under everyone's intense scrutiny, Link simply shook his head helplessly.