"Fire Shield Charm!"
A circle of blue flames ignited, with Audrey at its center.
The color of the flames was brilliant, and they seemed to burn fiercely, yet they didn't harm the living room carpet in the slightest.
Seeing this strange sight, Rick danced with excitement, while Jinhu's eyes also revealed a look of astonishment.
"Not bad," Grindelwald nodded. That Audrey could succeed with such an advanced spell on her first try... her natural talent was the greatest he had ever seen. "This flame has endless wonderful uses. You can merge your emotions, will, and even other spells with it to achieve all sorts of effects."
Audrey had seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. How could she not know how powerful the Fire Shield Charm was?
But the thought that the second spell Grindelwald taught her was the Fire Shield Charm actually made Audrey feel a little touched.
'Is this old man really being so open and generous with me?'
'The third spell he teaches me won't be Avada, will it?'
'Mm... I'm probably overthinking it. Dumbledore would never allow him to act so recklessly.'
"Audrey, your ability to learn magic is very strong. Next, I am going to teach you a very commonly used spell, and also a very lethal one," "The Avada Kedavra curse."
'Holy crap! There it is! The trope where the first-year freshman learns Avada!'
'I absolutely cannot learn this. If I learn it, Dumbledore will be the first one who won't forgive me! I'm still counting on that white-bearded old man to clear my name and lift the arrest warrant!'
Audrey said loudly, "Professor Depp, I'm a bit tired. Why don't you accompany me for a walk outside before we learn a new spell?"
Grindelwald tilted his head slightly in confusion, only to see Audrey shout to Rick upstairs: "Brother, have you got nothing to do? I'm going to be in school for several years, so earning money to support the family is all on you! How dare you waste time like this? Even a donkey on the production team wouldn't dare rest this much!"
Rick gave a silly chuckle and turned back to his room.
'My little sister is an amazing magician! Even now, I still feel dizzy. Next time I meet up with that bunch of stage magicians, I must bring Audrey. That would give me so much face!'
Leading Grindelwald out of the villa, Audrey cut straight to the chase:
"Professor, I really want to know, how did you escape from Nurmengard? Are you teaching me the Killing Curse because you want me to be your cellmate?"
Grindelwald was slightly startled, then he understood.
He knew this girl's insight was strong; but where had she learned these secrets?
'The Lestrange family?'
'Oh, then it's very clear. Hydrus's great-grandfather in name is his, Grindelwald's, cousin.'
'Being born into the Lestrange family, it's not surprising she would know about my affairs.'
Grindelwald smiled faintly. After losing his ambition, he seemed to have shed all his pressure. During his days in Nurmengard, he often thought back to his youth, as if he had once again become that [laughing] boy from the summer of 1899.
He wasn't the least bit awkward about his identity being exposed, nor did his attitude toward Audrey change because of it. On the contrary, his voice became gentler.
"Nurmengard? I imprisoned myself there," Grindelwald said proudly. "If I didn't want to be locked up, so what if it was Azkaban? Leaving would be a simple matter of lifting a finger."
"Besides, what's wrong with learning the Killing Curse?" "It's just learning it, not making you use it. Not having a knife, and having a knife but not using it, are two different concepts."
Swish!
A white-bearded old man in purple robes appeared in front of the two, interrupting Grindelwald's lesson.
"I didn't expect you to expose your identity so quickly, Gael."
Audrey rolled her eyes. 'Expose?'
'This notorious dark wizard never even intended to hide his identity, okay!'
"I also didn't expect this child to be so sharp," Grindelwald laughed. "It's truly wonderful to be her teacher."
Dumbledore sighed: "But you still can't teach her Avada Kedavra!"
Audrey froze for a moment. Before Grindelwald could answer Dumbledore, she quickly asked, "Headmaster Dumbledore, how did you know this guy was going to teach me the Killing Curse?"
This question was very important; it directly concerned her privacy! If Dumbledore could monitor her every move, that was not good news!
Grindelwald seemed to understand her thoughts and took a two-way mirror from his pocket. "It's a little gadget for two-way communication," he said. "Al and I agreed that I must have it on while I'm teaching."
Dumbledore sighed again. "I was just afraid you would teach Audrey a bunch of nonsense. As it turns out, my worries were correct."
"No," Grindelwald retorted, "You only know one part, not the other. I saw a vision of a few months from now. This child is in danger."
His brow was furrowed, as if worried about what would happen in a few months. "If I don't teach her how to fight, she will be in extreme danger. The kind of danger that leads to death."
The expressions on both Audrey and Dumbledore immediately turned solemn.
Grindelwald was a Seer, possessing the ability of prophecy. He could see visions of the future.
Compared to Audrey's Demiguise-like constitution, which only allowed her to see one minute into the future, Grindelwald's prophetic ability was far, far stronger.
So when he was certain something would happen, it really would happen.
"Even so, you shouldn't teach her the Killing Curse," Dumbledore insisted. "There are many ways to subdue an enemy; the Killing Curse is not a necessity!"
"But it's the most effective!"
"But it's also the most dangerous and has the most severe after-effects!"
"No, as long as the will is strong enough, that bit of negative emotion won't be a problem at all!"
"But Audrey is just a sixteen-year-old child!"
Watching the two argue, Audrey suddenly had an illusion.
It was the distinct feeling of watching a married couple having a huge fight over a disagreement about their child's education.
"Let's not talk about this. If you say not to teach it, I won't," Grindelwald finally conceded. "But I must teach her combat skills! That part is non-negotiable."
"No problem. For her safety, I agree with that."
A brilliant smile bloomed on Grindelwald's face. If this smile appeared on a teenager, we would call him a "sunshine boy."
But now... a "sunshine senior"? A "dazzling sunset glow"?
"Perfect. I just got my hands on a bottle of good wine! We can have a little."
"Alright, just a little," Dumbledore held out his right hand, and a stack of books appeared in his palm. He handed the books to Audrey.
"Audrey, it's self-study time now. Professor Depp and I are going to take a break."
Audrey: ...
'Break my foot! You're going off to eat and drink well, and you're leaving me to self-study!'
The books in her hands were the Charms textbooks from first to fifth year. Although it saved her the money for books, feeling the heavy weight of this knowledge, Audrey felt like she was about to shut down.
... ...
Dumbledore marked off an area on the lawn outside the Astley villa. He cast a Confundus Charm and a Muggle-Repelling Charm, and even thoughtfully Transfigured two targets for Audrey to practice magic on her own.
Meanwhile, he and Grindelwald hid in the villa to drink. Incidentally, what annoyed Audrey the most was that their snack to go with the wine was the top-grade Xuanwei ham she had specially arranged to have brought from China!
"Wingardium Leviosa!" [Levitation Charm]
"Stupid old men, bad old men!"
"Flipendo!" [Knockback Jinx]
"All you know is how to bully a little girl like me!"
"Incendio!!" [Fire-Making Spell]
"Burn! Burn you all! I curse you with hemorrhoids so rotten they turn into fistulas!"
...
While instantly learning spells and muttering curses, Miss Audrey Astley suddenly saw someone walking straight toward her.
The person didn't hesitate in the slightest, clearly unaffected by the Muggle-Repelling Charm. Therefore, this was a wizard.
Arriving about fifty meters from the villa, the person stopped, took out his wand, and began to gesture.
A minute later, he broke the Confundus Charm that Dumbledore had casually set up and walked over.
This person, from his attire to his demeanor, projected an image of perfect stiffness and formality.
When Audrey saw the person's face clearly, she was delighted.
'Yo, isn't this an old acquaintance?'
The former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Barty Crouch.
Because of the exposure of his son, Barty Crouch Jr., as a Death Eater, he had been transferred to the Department of International Magical Cooperation two years ago. This was considered a demotion.
He had also lost his chance to compete for the position of Minister for Magic, allowing Fudge to snatch it up.
Audrey had gloated over this for several days.
"Audrey Astley," Barty Crouch stood still in front of Audrey. "I am Barty Crouch from the Ministry of Magic."
As he spoke, Barty Crouch stared intently into Audrey's eyes, as if trying to see something within those pupils.
"Er... Hello, Mr. Crouch. Is there something I can help you with?"
Barty Crouch stared at her for a moment before speaking:
"I seriously suspect that you are the Ministry of Magic fugitive from five years ago, Hydrus Lestrange. Please come with me back to the Ministry to be investigated."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]