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After spending some time at Hogwarts, Karkaroff and Madam Maxime reluctantly accepted the fact that Hogwarts had two champions.
There was nothing else they could do. The decision had already been made, and even the Ministry of Magic officials responsible for the tournament were standing on Hogwarts's side.
Accepting it was one thing. Having no complaints was another. Whenever they saw a Hogwarts professor, they expressed their protest with a cold snort.
Dumbledore? Hmph.
Snape? Hmph.
McGonagall? Hmph.
The two headmasters had practically become a snorting chorus. During meals in particular, when all the Hogwarts professors were present, the sounds rose one after another until they nearly formed a song.
Fortunately, the wizarding world had no habit of turning such things into popular joke songs. Otherwise, several would certainly have appeared.
Still, all of it was helpless snorting.
It changed nothing.
The two headmasters were both holding their anger in and waiting for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. They had to secure a good result there.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Moody was speaking from the platform in his distinctive rough voice.
His magical eye kept spinning, like a surveillance device with no blind spot, watching the students' every movement at all times.
No student dared lose focus in his class or do anything unrelated to the lesson.
Of course, his classes were actually very popular. According to the Gryffindors, Moody's teaching style was extremely cool. After the other two schools joined them, Defense Against the Dark Arts became the most popular class among the Durmstrang students as well. It was very close to what their own school usually taught. Among Europe's three major magical schools, Durmstrang was the most permissive in its treatment of Dark Magic.
By the way, their least favorite class was Potions, even more than Divination. The main reason was simple: they could not keep up.
Although Moody was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, much of the time he was effectively teaching Dark Magic itself. In his words, to defend against Dark Magic properly, one first had to understand Dark Magic deeply.
It sounded reasonable and convincing.
His identity as a former Auror made it even more convincing.
Professor Moody possessed extremely rich theoretical knowledge of Dark Magic. Any question related to Dark Magic could be answered by him.
"You are already fourth-years and have attended Defense Against the Dark Arts for quite some time," Moody said from the platform, looking down at the young wizards below. "Have you figured out the difference between Dark Magic and ordinary magic? Who can tell me the definition of Dark Magic?"
There was no need to wonder who raised her hand first.
It was Hermione.
"Dark Magic is evil magic, usually intended to harm others. Through curses, written charms, direct casting, or indirect casting, it can be used to murder, cause illness, confuse, enslave, or otherwise injure the target."
Hermione stood and answered Moody's question crisply.
"Good, Miss Granger. You have perfectly recited the textbook's explanation of Dark Magic."
Moody nodded and acknowledged her answer, but he did not seem satisfied. "But that is not complete. Does anyone have another answer?"
He looked around. None of the young wizards raised a hand. Just as he was about to answer the question himself, Hermione raised her hand again.
"Miss Granger, do you have something to add?"
Hermione nodded and stood with perfectly standard posture.
"Professor, the wizarding world's definition of Dark Magic is not especially clear. It is not divided as cleanly as light and darkness, and so far there is no single exact answer. However, according to several provisions on evil magic recorded by the Wizards' Council in 1016, before the Ministry of Magic was established, magic may be defined as Dark Magic under the following circumstances: first, as a disparaging term for immoral magic that harms others; second, magic used to satisfy the caster's desires; third, magic that causes the target extreme pain; fourth, magic with immense destructive power, difficult to repair and capable of causing irreversible consequences; fifth, magic cast with the subjective intention of harming others; sixth, magic where the caster understands the effect it will produce; and seventh, magic used for an improper purpose without sufficient necessity."
"In addition, on the tenth anniversary of the Ministry of Magic's founding in 1750, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Auror Office, supplemented the relevant provisions to include secret ritual killing, framing, control, and similar methods within the scope of Dark Magic."
"There was also the 1908 revision..."
No one should doubt Hermione's professionalism in magical theory. In Dudley's words, she was like a living encyclopedia of magical theory. If there was a question you wanted answered, you could probably get the answer from her.
Moody looked as though he wanted to say something, but his mouth opened and closed without producing a word.
He wanted to refute her, but he did not know where to begin. He truly did not know the history of the term Dark Magic in that much detail.
Listening to Granger speak with such confidence, it sounded as though she was right.
It was simply different from the answer he had prepared.
"A very complete answer. Five points to the disciplinary group."
Originally, he had planned to use the question to blur everyone's fixed impression of Dark Magic and Dark wizards. At fourth-year age, students were old enough to understand but still easy to influence.
Then he could naturally teach them some special Dark Magic.
Now that his rhythm had been broken, that would have to wait.
Moody thought this gloomily.
Dark wizards in the wizarding world seemed very fond of teaching other people Dark Magic, especially young wizards.
The Dark Lord whose name could not be spoken had originally wanted to become Hogwarts's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
With his original rhythm disrupted, Moody could only temporarily change the subject and teach them techniques for dealing with Dark wizards instead.
Fortunately, he had plenty of experience in that area.
Soon, two Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons ended.
"Professor Moody, I want to ask you about a spell."
Moody was packing up his teaching materials and preparing to leave the classroom when a voice behind him stopped him.
"Dursley. What do you want to ask?"
Moody's magical eye kept moving up and down Dudley's body. Unfortunately, as always, it found nothing. It could not even see how dense his magic was.
Perhaps "could not see" was too gentle a phrase. It looked as if there was nothing to see at all.
It was as though the person standing in front of him was not a wizard, but a complete Muggle.
Impossible. If he were truly a Muggle, Moody's eye would at least be able to register him normally.
This was an extremely advanced concealment technique.
Dudley lowered his gaze to Moody. His blue eyes seemed to carry a faint, unsettling light.
"Professor, I want to learn how to deal with that inextinguishable magical fire."
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