Hummingbird quickly helped the pale Robin to her feet and, after examining her, let out a relieved sigh. There were no serious injuries; she was simply sore all over from being thrown against the stone wall.
"How is she?" Thunderbird stepped forward. As a wandmaker, he was equally full of doubt and curiosity about the wand.
He took the brass wand Sagres handed him and examined it with a practised eye. After a moment, the old man's expression grew grave and bewildered.
"Damn it…"
Thunderbird muttered, "This structure… it's just ordinary brass. There's no magical core, no runic engraving, no storage matrix for magic. This… this thing shouldn't be able to cast spells at all!"
He inspected it again and again, even attempting to bend it with brute force, but the wand did not budge, remaining unnaturally hard. In the end, he could only give up.
"Don't forget, they are goblins," Sagres said, frowning at the brass rod. "Goblins excel at metalworking, and they possess an innate ability to cast magic without relying on wands."
Ms. Snowy Owl could not help but interject, "But according to the Wand Code enacted in 1613, the manufacture and use of wands is restricted to witches and wizards. All other magical beings are prohibited from possessing wands."
"Clearly, the goblin we just encountered was not one who cared about obeying the law," Sagres replied matter-of-factly.
"You mean…" Thunderbird frowned deeply as he weighed the heavy brass wand in his hand. "This is some kind of specialised weapon forged by goblins? Something that only looks simple on the surface, but actually incorporates a form of… goblin magical technology we don't understand?"
Sagres's gaze passed over the lingering bloodstains on the ground before returning to the enigmatic wand, and he spoke slowly.
"It's very possible. It may belong to some secret goblin organisation we've never known about, a group of… rebellious descendants who scoff at the Wand Code and are obsessed with mastering wizarding power."
Images of past goblin rebellions flashed through his mind.
His eyes swept across the solemn, troubled faces of his companions, before finally settling on the cold, heavy brass wand.
In the dim light, the goblin's bloodstains were stark and unsettling.
He pushed aside his churning thoughts, his voice returning to its usual calm.
"Let's leave this place. Clean up the scene and erase every trace of our presence. As for this wand…"
He looked at the weighty brass rod in Thunderbird's hand. "Keep it for now and study it carefully. Remember, what happened today is known only to us. Investigate quietly, and do not alert them."
Everyone nodded, the mood heavy.
They moved quickly, clearing away the bloodstains, repairing the damaged stonework, and erasing all signs of the battle.
Before long, the once-chaotic passage returned to a deathly silence, as though nothing had ever happened, leaving behind only a faint trace of blood in the air.
Sagres was not truly worried that the goblins would cause any serious trouble. He understood better than anyone that the current dominance of the wizarding world was unassailable, a gap that a single wand could never bridge.
The wand itself was a product of European wizards' refinement of magical control; other civilisations had chosen entirely different paths.
Looking back through history, around the fifth century BC, wizards discovered that combining certain woods, such as oak and holly, with magical creature cores like dragon heartstrings or phoenix feathers could greatly enhance magical stability.
From this, the concept of the wand gradually took shape.
Sagres had read in more than one book that early human wizards experimented with countless materials in their search for the ideal wand.
Among these, the index finger bone of a goblin proved exceptionally effective, a discovery that once led to the mass hunting of goblins.
By the second century BC, goblin power had reached a peak. Relying on their unique methods of metal smelting and forging, they were able to fuse magical power directly into metal.
During that era, some goblins even imitated human wizards, forging batches of metal wands intended for goblin use.
Sagres speculated that the heavy brass wand was very likely a relic from that time.
And the goblin who had attacked them was probably part of a secret goblin rebel organisation.
Goblins, after all, were never content with peace; they always sought to stir up unrest.
Still, Sagres felt that letting these goblins make a bit of noise for a while longer would not be a bad thing.
If they were foolish enough to launch another rebellion, it would instead become an excellent opportunity for the wizarding world—a chance to legitimately and completely reclaim control of the Gringotts financial system.
…
Back at Hogwarts, the warm lights and lively noise of the ancient castle enveloped Sagres at once.
Students ran laughing through the corridors, fireplaces crackled in the common rooms, and the long tables of the Great Hall carried the rich scent of food. Everything stood in stark contrast to the cold, damp depths of the ruins.
Sagres quickly immersed himself once more in his role as a professor at Hogwarts.
In order to provide the students with more practical and challenging advanced tasks, he specifically contacted Ms. Snowy Owl.
Ms. Snowy Owl was generous with her support, supplying a large quantity of resources: no fewer than ten different troll subspecies of varying forms, a notoriously ill-tempered Venomous Tentacula with horns that gleamed with danger, and an Occamy capable of altering its size at will, its scales shimmering with iridescent light.
Most striking of all were two powerful dragons: a deep-purple Hebridean Black from the Hebridean Islands of Scotland, and a pearlescent Australian Opaleye from the Australian outback.
The Hebridean Black Dragon was only medium-sized by dragon standards, yet it radiated a lean, ferocious presence.
Its dark purple scales were rough as volcanic rock, and its bright eyes burned with fierce territorial fury.
Razor-sharp ridges rose and fell along its spine with each breath. The tip of its tail was sharp as an arrowhead, and its massive, folded bat-like wings exuded an oppressive aura.
Most terrifying of all was its scorching dragonfire, which could easily engulf an area twenty feet across. It fed primarily on deer, but when hungry, it would even prey on large dogs or cattle.
The Australian Opaleye, by contrast, appeared far more beautiful. Its pearlescent scales shimmered with soft iridescence in the light, and its pupil-less eyes were like colourful gemstones set in pearl, vivid and unfathomable.
The flames it breathed were a brilliant blood-red, and it preferred to build large nests in wild caves.
Kangaroos were its favourite prey, and the dragon eggs it laid were highly prized in alchemical circles for their unique magical properties.
These creatures were Ms. Snowy Owl's complimentary "sponsorship."
She stated that providing them was, first, to support the organisation, and second, to contribute to the development of wizarding education, a customary investment in nurturing future generations.
Sagres accepted this without comment. This was one of the reasons Bronze Feather existed. If he had to capture such creatures himself, it would not be difficult, but it would be exceedingly troublesome.
He personally transported these high-difficulty "teaching aids" to the duelling arena, expending considerable effort to construct independent habitats tailored to each magical creature and to safely confine them within.
The project was cumbersome and time-consuming, but he remained patient. Only a small number of students were currently eligible to begin advanced tasks, so there was no need to rush.
The core of the first stage was the "Troll Challenge," in which two different types of trolls were released at a time. The students' objective was to defeat them completely, not merely drive them back or evade them.
It sounded extremely difficult, but in practice it took advantage of the trolls' low intelligence. In the chaos of battle, they often interfered with one another or even injured each other by accident.
This created opportunities for clever students, making the challenge "easier" than facing a single, fully focused troll alone.
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