Harry’s Shattered Resolve

Hearing Harry’s words, Gandalf almost wanted to laugh. He glanced around.

"Don’t worry. You won’t have to pay for anything you break. Come on, cast a spell on me."

Harry heard the disdain in Professor Gandalf’s tone and could not help feeling a surge of anger. He took a deep breath, drew his wand, and began the incantation:

"Stupefy!"

Grindelwald’s teaching had indeed been remarkably effective. At the very least, the students had become much faster at drawing their wands and casting spells.

After all, when magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest leaped out to ambush you, they would not wait for you to slowly draw your wand and recall the key points from class.

A spell shot toward Gandalf, only to strike an invisible barrier just before it hit him.

"Was that a Shield Charm?"

And it had been cast nonverbally… no, wandlessly as well.

Harry froze for a moment. They had recently been learning how to use nonverbal spells, and he had yet to fully master them. As for wandless magic, he had only heard that such a technique existed; the professors had said that mastering such an advanced skill was not required.

"Continue, Harry."

Gandalf spoke leisurely.

"I imagine Professor Flitwick and Professor Grindelwald taught you more than just that one spell, didn’t they?"

He had indeed used a Shield Charm. Harry was not Professor Dumbledore; the magic he cast was nowhere near strong enough to require a Shield Card to block it.

Coming back to his senses, Harry took another deep breath, this time to calm himself down.

He had actually lost focus just now. Harry, who had already been through many battles in the Forbidden Forest, knew that was utterly unacceptable. Fortunately, the person before him was Professor Gandalf rather than a Crup or some kind of Fire Dragon.

But… when Professor Gandalf told him to cast spells at him, had he meant it literally? He did not mean to fight him?

From the fact that Gandalf did not retaliate and simply stood there allowing Harry to attack, Harry finally understood the true meaning behind Gandalf’s words. He really meant that Harry could attack him as he pleased.

Was he so confident that Harry could not hurt him no matter what he did?

Although Harry had realized after the first Stunning Spell that there was still a gap between his strength and Professor Gandalf’s, Gandalf’s arrogance still made him angry.

Harry could hardly be blamed for it. The current Harry had never truly seen a grand battle. Even though he had encountered Voldemort, he had either been knocked down in a single move or chased around, so he had no idea what truly powerful wizards were capable of.

Under such circumstances, combined with Grindelwald personally telling him that his strength had reached the standard required to become an Auror, it was only natural for him to become somewhat conceited.

What Harry did not know was that the Aurors he regarded as his goal were little more than foot soldiers before wizards like Grindelwald. They could not be completely ignored, but unless their numbers reached a certain level, they were practically useless.

Even veteran Aurors hardened by countless battles would be treated like air by a dozen or twenty Grindelwalds. They could chat if they wished, leave whenever they wished, and pay them no mind at all, let alone the rabble of the British Ministry of Magic.

So Adam was now giving Harry that lesson, showing him how high the sky was and how thick the earth could be.

Harry used nearly every spell he knew. Even prank spells like Tarantallegra and Densaugeo were cast, but every attempt ended in failure.

Harry knew that most of those spells definitely would not work, yet he still threw out every spell as though possessed, trying to break through Professor Gandalf’s defense.

But… a single Shield Charm was like an uncrossable chasm, blocking every one of Harry’s spells mere inches from Gandalf.

"That’s enough, Harry."

"Expelliarmus!"

Although Gandalf held no wand, Harry still cast one of the spells he was most proficient with.

Watching Harry descend into a frenzied state, Adam raised his hand. A shockwave blasted Harry away, and the agony of his back striking the door along with the suffocating sensation finally brought him back to his senses.

"Time’s up. You should be going to class."

With those calm words, Gandalf vanished into the flames.

Only after several seconds did Harry get to his feet and leave the Headmaster’s Office in a daze.

"Adam, wasn’t that too great a blow for Harry?"

After Harry left, the portrait of Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"A sapling won’t grow straight without pruning. Besides, the strength I used just now absolutely did not exceed Voldemort’s."

Adam shook his head.

It had only been a Shield Charm. Voldemort might not have been familiar enough with it to cast it wandlessly, but casting it nonverbally would not have been a problem at all.

"Kids these days have horizons that are far too narrow. Perhaps they should be shown what a true powerhouse looks like…"

Adam frowned. To achieve that effect, it would have to be real. An exhibition match would be too fake and would not accomplish anything, but then there would be no way to ensure every student’s safety…

Forget it. Hogwarts was still only a school, and it was currently providing basic education.

Once they began preparing more advanced education later on, they could divide the disciplines more finely and train students accordingly.

Bachelor’s degrees might not be of much use, but when wizards pursued master’s degrees or even doctorates, the creatures—or rather, monsters—in the special zones of the Forbidden Forest would let them properly experience the thrill of walking on the edge of death.

Aside from those unusual magical creatures, the special zones also contained some of Adam’s experimental subjects. Under Adam’s careful wording, Bernard had focused all his attention on the former, unaware that they could only cower and survive at the edges of the special zones. The latter were the true rulers there.

Those monsters that should never have existed in this world all came from Adam’s research into magic.

Things created by a Creation Card disappeared once the card was closed. So if a creature created by a Creation Card bred with a creature that existed in reality, would their offspring disappear after the Creation Card was closed?

Adam’s research had found that when a creature was transformed into an Inferius, it merely died in the material dimension and completely lost its original biological traits. Then was it possible to transform creatures existing beyond two dimensions into Inferi, thereby creating undead creatures with intelligence and special abilities?

Magical creatures seemed to possess an innate ability to use certain forms of magic. How did they do it? Could research create magical creatures born able to cast specific spells?

Adam’s research had found that magical creatures seemed to have no reproductive barriers between them at all. Then, through major cards and minor cards, could he…

After reminiscing for a while, Adam scratched his head.

Back then, he had become far too engrossed in breeding games. All sorts of works he had seen in his previous life became an endless stream of inspiration, colliding and erupting in his mind. And while bringing those ideas to life, there might even be unexpected gains.

As a result, aside from the ones currently in the special zones… there were also some little fellows that he did not even dare put into the special zones. He could only seal them away and carry them with him.

He could not bear to kill them. After all, they were the fruits of his labor. But if he released them, forget wizards or Muggles—even the Earth itself might not be able to withstand them.

What a dilemma…