Chapter 420 What Happened in the Castle

Sherin and Karkaroff walked side by side on the magic lawn of Durmstrang, listening to Karkaroff carefully explaining the anti-freeze magic arranged on the green plants on the lawn, so that the grass can remain green all year round.

Of course, Schelling also saw Karkaroff give a warning to the assistant or professor who had been following him all the way, and the assistant or professor took Kritov and his followers away from the team. It seemed that they would be punished this time.

Sherin smiled, knowing that this was Karkaroff's attitude designed to impress him, but he pretended to be unaware and continued to chat with him about everything about Durmstrang.

This patch of grass was Durmstrang's Quidditch field - every summer, students including Krum would fly around on this field, riding their brooms across the lake, across the grass, through the woods and valleys.

Walking up the damp and cold stone steps, the group entered Durmstrang Castle. This four-story castle had a rather large entrance hall and a tall, wide oak door that had stood here for who knows how many hundreds of years. At least Karkaroff knew that the door had existed before he came here.

On both sides of the gate are two obsidian statues.

The statue on the left is of a young-looking witch wearing a pointed wizard's hat; she is kneeling on one knee and looking up at the sky.

There is a line of small words under the statue: Nalida Vulkanova (1013-1060), the first principal of Durmstrang Academy of Magic, one of the greatest witches in Balkan history. Born in Bulgaria in 1013 AD, she founded Durmstrang in 1042.

This witch died at the age of 47, which is quite rare in the wizarding world. Generally speaking, wizards and witches with powerful magic live much longer than Muggles. Many powerful wizards can live to be over a hundred years old. Dumbledore is an example.

Xie Ling knew that there were many strange things about her death, and this was one of the purposes of Xie Ling's coming here.

Sherin shifted his gaze to another statue, which was of an older wizard. He held his wand high, facing forward, with a strange smile on his face.

There is also a line of small words written under the statue: Harfang Monte (1024-1139), the second principal of Durmstrang Academy of Magic, a famous duelist and master of war magic, was born in Constantinople, Byzantium in 1024 AD.

It was this wizard who pioneered the Dark Arts courses at Durmstrang. He also made Durmstrang famous for his emphasis on various combat magics, which are still an important part of the Durmstrang curriculum today.

Karkaroff stepped forward and pushed open the door. As a green light flashed from the ring in his hand, the door opened. It seemed that this door was as intelligent as the one at Hogwarts and could recognize visitors.

The other students did not follow Sherin and Karkaroff's footsteps. They entered the castle from a small door on the other side that was convenient for entry and exit.

The Great Hall at Durmstrang is completely different from the warm and magical scene at Hogwarts. The space here is tall and gloomy, and the ceiling is like an icy dome, shining with cold light, as if the cold air of the entire North is sealed in the hall.

The four walls were made of dark grey stones, with mottled and cold touch, without any unnecessary decoration, only some ancient carvings faintly emerged, telling the long history and battle heritage of Durmstrang. In the corners stood several huge iron pillars, with rough iron chains wrapped around them, occasionally reflecting cold light, like a sleeping beast, making people shudder.

In the center of the hall was a long stone dining table with ancient runes carved on the edge. The chairs were made of solid black wood, each revealing a rough sense of power without any luxurious decoration. There was no flame, no warm candlelight, and the place was completely dependent on the cold blue light that sprinkled from the ceiling, giving off an unsettling chill.

Although there was no fire in the entire auditorium, it made people feel a deep sense of oppression, as if silently reminding everyone that this was the wizard's northern territory, the stage for the strong, and only the most tenacious souls could gain a foothold on this cold land.

In addition, the most eye-catching thing in the auditorium is the battle power list on the wall, which lists the rankings of the strength of duelists among students. This shows how prevalent the culture of decision-making is on campus. According to Karkaroff, the Dueling Club is also the largest and most popular club in Durmstrang.

There is also such a wall in the Hogwarts Great Hall, but it is used to announce the points of each house and compete for the house cup awarded at the end of the school year.

This shows the difference in philosophy between the two schools - Durmstrang pays more attention to the cultivation of students' personal strength, while Hogwarts pays more attention to the leadership of class leaders and the collective cohesion of students.

Schelling even noticed that the person ranked first on the battle power list was not Viktor Krum or Eleanor, but a student he had never heard of - Seferius Ludkia.

Karkaroff noticed Sherin's gaze and immediately explained that the combat power list first considers the student's winning rate in duels, and then the number of duels, and it is not determined by the principal or professor's score.

Krum was completely focused on Quidditch matches and was not keen on dueling; and Eleanor was even more so, she was completely absorbed in the study of alchemy and hardly ever participated in any duels.

At the same time, Schelling was even more keenly aware that the plain-looking Kritov who had offended him earlier on the ghost ship was actually quite capable in duels and was ranked third on the battle strength list. The students lined up quietly to enter the lobby from the side door of the auditorium, and then entered the spiral staircase from there to return to their dormitories.

Xie Ling and Karkarov took the teachers' special passage, which was a giant suspended stone slab. After the two stood on it, the stone seemed to know their destination and rose slowly and automatically.

The principal's office was on the fourth floor, and Karkaroff planned to take Sherin to the office first to discuss the itinerary for the next few days.

After the boulder rose to the fourth floor, the two came down from the floating boulder. Karkaroff extended his hand and motioned Sherin to follow him to the headmaster's office. The corridor leading to the headmaster's office was gloomy and mysterious, just like the impression that Durmstrang gave to outsiders, and every step was chilling.

There were no torches in Durmstrang. The castle used green magic crystals as lighting tools. They were inlaid on the walls of the dim corridors, emitting a faint green light that made the surroundings dim. The light was uneven, sometimes so strong that it was blinding, and sometimes so weak that it was almost extinguished, as if these crystals were living creatures, breathing cold air.

From time to time, you can encounter terrifying statues of various shapes in the corridors, some are fierce dragons, some are wizards with distorted faces, and some are hideous dark creatures - giants, two-headed wolves, and even a creature with bat wings, similar to the demon in Muggle legends. The eye sockets of each statue are also inlaid with crystals, like a pair of prying eyes, turning with the footsteps of passers-by, exuding an uneasy pressure.

From time to time, a few ghosts floated through the deep corridor. Compared with the noisy ghosts in Hogwarts, the faces of the ghosts here were cold and stiff, wearing ancient Durmstrang uniforms with vague rune decorations. Some ghosts would stop and stare at Sherin, with a faint green light flashing in their empty eyes, coupled with a weird expression, which made people feel chilled.

"The atmosphere here suits your style, Karkaroff." Sherin stopped in front of a stone arch covered with magic runes, looked back at Karkaroff, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

Karkaroff sneered, waved his wand and tapped the rune lightly. The stone door slid open silently, revealing a spiral staircase behind it.

Well, it seems that this castle, like Hogwarts, has hidden spaces. The two of them have clearly reached the fourth floor, but they still need to climb another level of stairs.

Xie Ling walked up the stone steps, which were glowing with a dim green light, as if lighting the way for his arrival. However, there were no guardrails on either side of the stairs. Instead, there were a row of stone statues of winged demons with their mouths wide open, as if they would pounce on anyone who approached carelessly at any time.

Halfway up the stairs, there was a hidden door on the left side, and faint groans of pain could be heard from inside.

"This is the punishment room used by our Durmstrang administrator, Mr. Bass, to punish students. Those being punished in there are the same blind guys who offended you on the ghost ship." Karkaroff said respectfully.

Xie Ling looked through a small iron lattice window on the thick stone door and vaguely saw several figures with their hands hung high on the ceiling with iron chains, and their feet about a foot off the ground.

Judging from the figure's limp and lowered head, it seemed that he had been punished quite miserably.

Sherin was not surprised - before Dumbledore took over as the headmaster of Hogwarts, Hogwarts also adopted the same strict school rules and punishment measures - the previous administrator, Mr. Apollyon Pringle, often hung and whipped students who violated school rules, and Mr. Weasley was one of his victims.

Sherin nodded to Karkaroff and said softly, "It is enough to teach them a lesson. Don't go too far. There is no need to really hurt them. They are still your students and important connections for your future."

No wonder Karkaroff in the original book wanted to escape as soon as he heard that Voldemort had returned. The harsh school spirit he implemented was very unpopular, and few students would fight to the death to protect him. This was in stark contrast to the widely loved Dumbledore.

Karkaroff nodded quickly and declared that he would send them to the school hospital for treatment shortly.

The two climbed all the way to the end of the stairs, and finally came to a huge ebony door. The door frame was carved with complex runes and two dragons facing each other, and the dragons' eyes were inlaid with bright rubies, forming a strong contrast with the coldness of the surrounding green light.

"Master Malfoy, please," Karkaroff whispered, pushing the door open with a respectful and careful gesture.

Xie Ling glanced at Karkarov's expression, revealed a meaningful smile, then walked into the principal's office with his head held high. The green light behind him reflected his figure, and he looked like a king in the dark.

(End of this chapter)