Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 39 The sap that hits Quirrell

"Professor Quirrell," Filch greeted Quirrell as he stood at the door of his office.

His grinning look startled Quirrell, who almost gave him an "Avada Gnaw" as a meeting gift.

"You, you, you, what's going on?"

Filch's forehead turned red, and he sniffed before answering. "I'm fine, Professor Quirrell. Principal Dumbledore asked me to tell you to go to the principal's office immediately. Also, I caught two troublemakers at the door of your office."

As he spoke, he kept raising his arms and then took them back. Only then did Quirrell see that the "Hogwarts Caretaker" was holding a young wizard by the collar in one hand - it turned out that he had just knocked on the door with his forehead.

"Professor, do you want to deduct some college points from these two brats? Who knows if they want to throw a few big dung eggs at the door of your office?" Filch blinked with an expectant look on his face.

"I, I, I'm fine," Quirrell pretended to be submissive, his face turned slightly pale, and he waved his hands and said, "Also, I know what Dumbledore wants to find me, so I'm going out now. "

After speaking, Quirrell walked out, not forgetting to close the office door at the same time. "Excuse me, I borrowed it." He leaned sideways, leaning against the wall, carefully passing by Filch and the Weasley twins, and then strode towards the stairs at the corner of the corridor.

In fact, there is a gargoyle sculpture on the corner of the corridor on the third floor where his office is located. As long as you know the secret word, you can take the automatic spiral staircase hidden behind it and directly reach the principal's office on the eighth floor of the castle. However, since Dumbledore didn't tell him, Quirrell could only pretend not to know.

When Quirrell walked away, Filch murmured "Oh, anyone can be a professor now" and forcefully dragged the twins out of the corridor.

But he didn't know that Professor Quirrell, whom he despised, cast a protective spell on the door when it was closed.

If someone wants to break in secretly while he is away, whether by physical means or by casting "Alajo Open" on the door, they will be suddenly attacked by a rune snake that is transformed into a doorknob by the transformation spell.

Casting such a spell and completing it in an instant without any sound or wand is not something that just any wizard can do!

Hurrying to the eighth floor of the castle, when Quirrell walked into the principal's office, Dumbledore had already asked the house elves to prepare black tea and some refreshments for him.

"Quirinas, sit down quickly, don't be formal, I invited you here just to talk about something." Dumbledore said with a smile.

At this time, he was wearing a gray wizard robe and looked like a figure from the classical era.

Quirrell sat down in front of the principal's desk tremblingly, with his butt only occupying a quarter of the stool. He was a little worried that Dumbledore was going to ask him about his visit to the abandoned women's bathroom just now, because he had to do it. Tell a series of lies.

And lying to Dumbledore...

Quirrell took a peek at a set of exquisite silver alchemy tools that were spitting out clouds of mist on the edge of the desk. Quirrell didn't think that the thing was just a humidifier.

However, the good news is that when Dumbledore spoke, Quirrell knew that the principal just wanted to ask him about the teaching plan for Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in each grade.

However, the bad news is that this topic belongs to children without mothers - it would be a long story to talk about.

After chatting for several hours, it was almost dinner time when this unexpected leadership conversation came to an end.

Dumbledore nodded with satisfaction and showed an approving smile: "Very good, Quirinus, you have done a really good job. The teaching in the upper grades is mainly focused on fighting curses and jinxes, while the teaching in the middle and lower grades is more focused on fighting black magic." Magical Creatures, this course design is very similar to the teaching model of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts when I was still a teaching staff."

Quirrell's heart skipped a beat, his back was soaked instantly, and sweat was even dripping from the back of his head.

"It seems that you did gain a lot from your previous study tour in the dark forest of Albania."

"It all depends on your support, principal." Quirrell stuttered.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"That's all the result of your own efforts," he continued: "It's almost dinner time now, you young people are prone to hunger, so I, an old man, won't keep you here.

Goodbye, Quirinus. "

Quirrell stood up and bowed slightly to Principal Dumbledore. Then, he didn't even turn around, but backed away a little bit and exited the principal's office door.

At this time, the portraits on the wall that had been suppressed for a long time also began to talk about it. These former principals who had passed away were obviously divided into two camps.

Some of them felt that Quirrell's answer was okay. Although his performance was a bit restrained, he could not hide his talent.

Moreover, judging from what he just said, this person is probably qualified for the Defense Against Dark Arts position.

But the opposite camp believed that Quirrell's character was too weak. Finally, his behavior of retreating out of the principal's office was even more like a jester or a court jester.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts course, the key is not "dark magic" but "defense". If the teacher's character is too weak, how can he teach students who dare to resist and defend themselves in times of crisis?
What’s interesting is that those who support Quirrell are mostly headmasters from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff; on the contrary, the former headmasters who don’t care about Quirrell are actually from Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Mostly.

such as--

"This guy is just like a pewter gun. He can't get hard at all. What can the little wizard learn from him?" Phineas Black, considered by many to be the most unpopular headmaster, twirled his goatee with his fingertips. , while expressing his distrust of Quirrell.

Delise Devante, who graduated from Ravenclaw and was the principal of Hogwarts and the chief healer of St. Mungo's, was also not optimistic about the future of her junior disciple. This old witch with long silver curly hair and always a kind face was frowning at this time, and the worried expression on her face was not concealed at all.

"Albus, I think you need to reconsider." She said, "Quirinas is indeed a very talented young man, but I think he is actually more suitable to be a scholar who specializes in research. Teaching in person If so... after all, this course has been cursed by that person, and it is difficult for anyone to be able to teach in this position for a full year safely."

Almost every former principal expressed their own opinions on Quirrell.

Although they may not necessarily adopt it completely, previous Hogwarts principals will actually respect the wisdom of these predecessors when making some decisions about the school.

Just like this time, the portraits of the two camps were debated until the end, and even some of the principals who originally came to see Chilo were drawn into the camp.

If we follow the usual practice, the current principal should obey the majority and find another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

But the current principal is Dumbledore. The greatest white wizard of our time is different from what many people imagine. He is actually not a fan of the so-called "discipline decision-making" system.

"I think we still have to give Quirrell a chance." He made the final decision. When he said these words, Fox, who had been standing quietly on the sycamore perch, suddenly opened his throat and sang a song. It spread its wings and flew in circles around the spacious office of the principal's office. Its long tail feathers sparkled with little bits of light, and as it flew, they seemed to turn into streaks of light...

Quirrell didn't know what happened in the principal's office.

After walking out of the principal's office, he felt as if his body had been hollowed out. He had to hold on to the railing even when going downstairs.

But just as he was tremblingly walking down the twenty-first step, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, as if someone had sneaked up from behind and hit him with a sap on the back of his head.

Quirrell, who was already feeling weak, could no longer hold on and rolled down the stairs.

Before his vision went dark, he vaguely saw a tapestry hanging in the corridor on the eighth floor, and what happened to be on that tapestry was the scene of "Troll Beating the Silly Barnabas with a Club".

Gan!
Suffering a double critical blow to his body and soul, the unlucky Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could no longer hold on and finally fainted completely. Unconsciously, he could only let the moving stairs of Hogwarts lead him to an unknown place.

However, this may not be entirely a bad thing.

Because, a few minutes later, a door appeared on the white wall opposite the tapestry "Troll Beats Barnabas the Silly", and a little wizard carrying a red iron toolbox walked out of the door.

Yes, this little wizard is Bourne, and he just walked out of the "Room of Requirement".

He just performed an experiment.

Based on his memory, Bourne found the Room of Requirement, and then struggled to find an ugly wizard bust among the "mountain" (literally) of various items.

Ravenclaw's diadem, or in other words, the theoretically best Horcrux in the Harry Potter world, is worn on the head of that sculpture.

According to legend, Ravenclaw's diadem can enlighten the wearer's wisdom. It is inlaid with many sapphires and looks like a sparkling gold crown.

But when Byrne saw it, it looked like silverware that had been soaked in a sulfur spring, covered with mottled stains.

Out of caution, Bourne did not touch it with his hands, let alone put it on. He directly opened the iron tool box that he had returned from a trip to the dormitory - it was divided into three layers, each containing a foldable chain sword modified with alchemy skills, the same one he had used before. Hunting revolvers, bullets, various gadgets and some spare replacement parts.

Using some objects found from around, he fixed the crown on the head of the wizard's bust, and Bourne began the experiment.

Because he has experience in killing subspace demons, Bourne knows that ordinary physical damage is actually difficult to fundamentally damage things related to the soul.

But, you have to give it a try anyway.

And when he saw with his own eyes that the sharp saws of magnum bullets and chain swords could not damage the desecrated crown, he picked up his wand.

"All petrified!"

As always, the spell worked.

The lightning summoned by the spell struck Ravenclaw's crown, and the mottled pattern on the crown faded a bit. Seeing the results, Bourne continued his efforts and used "Petrify All" several times on the Horcrux. Accompanied by dazzling tip discharges, electric snakes surrounded Ravenclaw's crown, constantly polishing or starching it while "beeping".

However, just when he thought he could increase the power of some spells in one go, his almost instinctive fighting instinct suddenly warned him.

This feeling is mysterious and mysterious. It is very similar to psychic prophecy but not quite. It is difficult to describe in words.

Only Astartes, who have been dancing on the tip of a knife for many years, can truly use this intuition. Relying on the guidance of this combat intuition, Astartes in battle can either avoid the enemy's bullets at the last moment, or can instantly predict which of the enemy's multiple attacks is more threatening - using Powered armor and a strong body withstand less severe attacks and dodge deadly threats.

At this time, Bourne's combat intuition came into play: because he had a premonition that the counterattack from the Horcrux in front of him could not be avoided, he made the most correct choice and immediately completed his "Astartes Magus" Transform.

What he didn't expect was that the wand in his hand also deformed. It became thicker and longer, and a metallic luster appeared on the surface of the wand...

Bourne subconsciously held the wand with both hands, as if holding a long sword, and completed a slash.

The arc light flashed, and a special energy barrier seemed to be formed in front of him. The invisible counterattack from the crown Horcrux hit it, and a black smoke suddenly burst out.

In an instant, the room in the Room of Requirement felt as if it had been swept by a strong wind. Many "hills" were knocked down in an instant, and all kinds of waste were flying in the air.

"The experiment is temporarily suspended," Bourne decided immediately.

Judging from the results, he has found a way to deal with the Horcrux. Although ordinary physical attacks cannot cause damage to this black magic item, the magic spell will obviously cause it to react.

This is easy to handle.

Although Bourne is currently using the "Petrify All" spell, it may be because his own level of spell usage is insufficient, or it may be because the spell itself cannot destroy Horcruxes, and it seems that it cannot harm Horcruxes.

But don't forget, Bourne is at Hogwarts now, and there is enough magic knowledge for him to learn.

He was full of confidence in himself. After all, he knew he was under the Emperor's gaze.

So, after tidying up the things around him and covering up some traces caused by the use of magic, Bourne immediately transformed into a little wizard again and walked out of the Room of Requirement.

However, Bourne didn't know that the experiment just now not only verified the guess, but also gave a certain unlucky guy a sap.

Moreover, it was precisely because of this sap that the two people who were supposed to meet on the stairs avoided it by accident.

Of course, this may not be a blessing for Professor Quirrell, who is exhausted both mentally and physically from having to deal with Dumbledore's inquiries.

After all, Byrne had his tools with him at this point.

Although an experiment has been done with the crown, human beings, driven by the desire to explore, often do experiments except zero times until all the experimental materials are consumed.

(End of this chapter)