"Dumbledore!"
Amidst the roar of Elvis Heller, a silver-white stream of water wrapped around his soul.
It coiled like a ribbon, densely wrapping him up into a mummy.
Then, Dumbledore took a silver lighter-like Deluminator from his sleeve, collected Elvis Heller's soul inside, and tapped it gently with his wand, causing a small, illusory Stonehenge to flash by.
"This is the best option I can think of. First, seal him away so he won't leak tonight's intelligence."
"Then, perhaps we can extract some useful information from his memories."
"Lastly, as long as his soul remains, the Horcrux won't be resurrected, avoiding any crazy retaliation from the other side."
Karl nodded casually; his attention was now on something else.
"It's fine as long as you've made your decision, but when did you learn this spell? Can you just learn it by taking a look?"
Dumbledore smiled and patted his shoulder, "It's not just taking a look, but observing carefully."
Karl: (¬ _ ¬)
Heh! What a "careful observation"! Do you hear that? Is that human language? Is there really a big difference between the two?
"Of course, before this, I already had a little bit of my own research on sealing spells."
"Adding a bit of shallow magic knowledge, it's not strange to learn a spell by observation."
Looking at Dumbledore's smiling face, Karl only felt he had been flexed on by his humblebragging.
Read as "a little bit," written as "a massive amount"; called it "shallow," but it was actually broad and profound.
Karl admitted Dumbledore had provoked him; after he returned, he would study hard so he could flex on others in the future.
"Fine! I'll just treat it as normal!"
Dumbledore ignored Karl's indescribable expression, "Hahaha, I'll teach it to you after I organize the spell when I go back."
"Thanks again, Principal."
"Hmm... You always like to call me that. Why don't you call me Professor like the other students?" Dumbledore had been curious about this for a long time.
"Doesn't this show respect for you!"
No choice, Teacher Gao once taught that one should address people by their position when working.
"Too much respect will make it seem distant. We are comrades who have fought side by side, so why not change the address?"
Facing Dumbledore's expectant and encouraging gaze, Karl thought for a moment and said earnestly: "Thanks, Albus."
Dumbledore: ( ⊙ _ ⊙ )
Huh? You changed so drastically?
"Er... *cough*! You're welcome, Karl!"
Karl completely stunned him. He originally thought he would call him Professor or Dumbledore, but he didn't expect him to say Albus right away.
"Are we going to support Professor McGonagall now?"
"Not us, but you. I still need to stay and repair this place. Of course, the most critical thing is this."
Dumbledore took a cloth bag from his bosom, containing the fragments of the ravenclaw diadem.
"Alright, then I'm off."
Although he wanted to stay and watch, Karl was more worried about the situation with Professor McGonagall and Nina.
"Be careful."
Dumbledore gave Fawkes a look, signaling it to protect Karl well.
"Don't worry."
Karl transformed into his Cougar form, carrying Fire Treasure and Fawkes, and ran outward.
Watching his back, Dumbledore showed a look of relief.
With Minerva, Severus, and now the young Karl, Hogwarts has successors.
...
The battle outside the Castle had reached a white-hot stage. After the Basilisk appeared, the attack of the Acromantula became even more frantic.
The defensive position of the magical plants had largely fallen, and the rest were barely holding on with the help of stone statues.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall was commanding a massive pride of lions created by Transfiguration to intercept the Acromantula that had broken through the line.
But the number of the spider swarm was simply too large, and quite a few Acromantula still broke through the lion pride and climbed onto the covered bridge.
Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were guarding beside Professor McGonagall. After killing them, they used a sliding chute spell to turn the collapsed bridgehead into a smooth slope.
"Cold Moon Frost!"
Nina cast a spell with all her might, covering the slope with a layer of frost to slow down the charge of the Acromantula.
She now wished more than anything that she were a Druid priest, so she could summon treants to fight. There were so many trees in the Forbidden Forest, which would definitely be suitable for dealing with the Acromantula clan.
It was a pity that although she had good talent, her strength still needed time to accumulate.
"The pressure is getting a bit high. How about I go kill that Basilisk?"
"Too risky! The gaze of the Basilisk is fatal!"
Professor McGonagall rejected Flitwick's suggestion. If it were a one-on-one situation, it wouldn't be difficult to kill a Basilisk.
But now, what they had to face was not just the Basilisk, but the tide-like Acromantula clan.
Furthermore, that surviving Dark Wizard had already joined up with the Basilisk. It would be very difficult to kill the Basilisk under his protection.
"Minerva is right," Professor Sprout expressed her support, "To drive the Acromantula, the Basilisk doesn't dare to get close to the covered bridge. We just need to maintain this situation."
They were clear about the risks of going deep into the spider swarm to slay the Basilisk, and the Basilisk also knew the risks of approaching the covered bridge; facing three top-tier Wizards, it would inevitably die.
By then, without the coercion of the Basilisk, the Acromantula would definitely retreat to the Forbidden Forest at the first opportunity.
"The most critical thing is that our expected goal has not yet been achieved. They clearly still need some time."
Hearing Professor McGonagall's meaningful words, Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout also began to look forward to it.
Nina looked back at the other side of the covered bridge; she felt that time was already enough.
...
In the Castle at the rear, the older students were arguing fiercely.
"There are too many Acromantula! We can't just rely on the three Deans! Where are the other Professors?"
"They must be protecting the Little wizards from years one to four and can't make it to help."
"Are we just going to let the Deans fight hard over there while we do nothing?"
"We absolutely cannot just watch like this! I don't want to be a coward!"
"But we didn't receive any notification to participate in the battle."
"That's no reason for us to stand by! We are also a part of Hogwarts! We must defend Hogwarts!"
The Little wizards suddenly fell silent. Everyone's minds were united as their eyes met, their fighting spirit high and their blood boiling.
Charlie Weasley suddenly raised his wand, "Gryffindor! We... Ouch!"
Tonks stepped hard on Charlie's foot, successfully making him swallow his words.
Prefect Judy waved her sleeve, "Hufflepuff! For Hogwarts! Let's charge!"
The Hufflepuffs agreed readily, pulled out their wands, and rushed toward the covered bridge in a swarm.
Defending Hogwarts is at this very moment!
Anyway, we're charging! Do whatever you want!