#356 - Chapter 356 Pre-War Psychological Counseling

Malfoy grasped the Legilimency relatively quickly.

As a Slytherin, he was calmer and better at controlling his emotions. By the end of the first evening, he could already clear his mind and resist Harry's attacks to some extent.

In contrast, as a typical Gryffindor, Harry was more impulsive and easily excitable.

Coupled with his sensitive nature developed from childhood, he was slightly inferior in controlling his emotions. It wasn't until the second lesson that he could barely resist Malfoy's attacks.

Malfoy didn't mock or boast about this. Instead, he constantly shared his insights and techniques with Harry, encouraging and cheering him on.

Harry returned the favor by selflessly sharing his dueling experience during their time in the dueling club.

Thus, the two encouraged and helped each other, steadily improving their skills in all aspects.

In just one month, they made rapid progress in Legilimency, never failing to defend against each other's attacks. Every attack could be firmly blocked.

Seeing this, Sebastian directly stepped in and led them to explore more complex techniques—building a mind palace.

At the same time, he personally played the role of the attacker, increasing the difficulty of the training. With overwhelming attacks, he repeatedly broke through their defenses, forcing them to further hone their skills and temper their minds.

At this stage, the differences between the two became apparent again.

Although Harry learned a bit slower, he was steady and solid. Even when facing the pressure from Sebastian, he could still demonstrate exceptional resilience.

Malfoy learned faster, but his ability to withstand pressure was clearly inferior to Harry's.

Especially when Voldemort was mentioned, his emotions would fluctuate violently, and his Legilimency would reveal flaws that could be easily exploited.

Sebastian guessed that the reason the boy's Legilimency progressed so quickly in the original story was entirely because Voldemort lived in his house.

To save his own life, he would naturally practice desperately.

Faced with this situation, Sebastian decisively changed his strategy, teaching the two boys according to their individual aptitudes to ensure that their progress wouldn't slow down.

In the past month, Hogwarts also showed its emphasis on the Triwizard Tournament.

For students whose magic power had reached the standard and who were determined to participate in the champion selection, professors of all subjects showed great tolerance.

In the dueling club, professors directly stepped in to conduct one-on-one practical exercises targeting the students' weaknesses.

Moody also joined in, demonstrating his battle-tested spellcasting skills to the students.

In addition, he divided the Defense Against the Dark Arts class into two sessions, one half for explaining theoretical knowledge and the other half for intense and stimulating practical exercises.

Students who were called upon needed to use the methods he explained to personally break the spells he cast.

If someone performed poorly, Moody would show no mercy and always give direct and harsh criticism.

Even so, Moody's course was still loved by the students.

Especially the upperclassmen, who learned the means to resist various dark magic spells in Moody's class and were no longer afraid of dark magic.

The only headache for the young wizards was that Moody's homework was exceptionally heavy.

Because he often used cases he had experienced as examples, asking students to write out defense strategies in corresponding situations.

Then, in the practical exercise of the next class, he would randomly select students to spar with him personally to verify whether the students' strategies were effective.

In Sebastian's eyes, Moody was definitely the most outstanding Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in recent years, even surpassing Lupin from last year.

Therefore, even though there was still that one percent suspicion about him, Sebastian didn't continue to investigate for the time being.

After all, whether it was the real Moody or the fake Moody, as long as he taught the students real knowledge, he was a good Moody.

..................

As time passed, the strengths of the prospective champions began to slowly show differences. After the trial of the canyon, this gap became even more obvious.

This also led to some prospective champions becoming mentally unbalanced and beginning to become impetuous. This impetuous mood even spread to the lower-grade students.

Therefore, at a dueling club in late October, Sebastian gathered all the students together and gave a pre-war pep talk.

"In the past week, many people have become somewhat mentally unbalanced, which is not a good sign," Sebastian said, standing on a lectern and gently scanning the students below.

"Professor Swann, we don't want to be like this either," a seventh-year student said with a bitter face. "We really can't see any hope of becoming a champion."

"For myself, after the battle in the canyon, I realized how much I lacked practical experience."

"Not the kind of pre-prepared dueling game in the dueling competition, but the ability to deal with unexpected crises in a real-world scenario."

"Oh," Sebastian looked at him, "Then let me ask you, after practicing for such a month, do you feel that you have made progress?"

"Of course, I can easily defeat myself a month ago now. But what's the use if I can't be selected as a champion?"

"Of course, it's useful," Sebastian smiled slightly. "The Triwizard Tournament is just a short game in your life, but the strength you have worked so hard to practice will accompany you throughout your entire life."

He scanned the crowd: "Many people, especially the lower-grade students, haven't realized what kind of special treatment you are enjoying in the coming year."

"Every professor will be happy to answer your questions about knowledge outside of the textbooks, including some complex spells and profound magical theories."

"If I were you, I would seize every opportunity to learn and then transform that knowledge into my own strength."

"But professor," a student raised his hand and asked his question, "What do we need so much strength for? Apart from Aurors and Hit Wizards, other jobs don't require any offensive spells at all."

The young man was still too young!

The magical world today seems calm, but in fact, undercurrents are surging. Within a year or two, the magical world will be in chaos.

At that time, every point of strength will be an extra point of capital to protect oneself.

Of course, Sebastian couldn't answer the students like this. He looked around at all the students and said with a slightly meaningful tone.

"Many people have such a question, that is, many of the things I practice now will not be used in my future work."

"Since this is the case, why not live a more relaxed life? Why bother to study those profound spells and try to improve your strength?"

"A very interesting question. Are there any students who would like to answer it?"