"Professor, why do I feel like the atmosphere's kind of weird?" Harry, sitting in the back row, whispered to Kasen, who was also in the back row.
"Eh? How should I know? You're the one who's supposed to understand this, after all, you're Dumbledore's favorite student, after all." Kasen patted Harry's big head as he spoke.
"Huh? Professor, you can't just say that!" Harry felt the atmosphere grow even stranger, as if the very air around him was being sucked dry. And in truth, it wasn't just him—every student showed the same symptoms.
Just as Kasen was wondering about it, the students' symptoms vanished instantly.
"Heh~" Grindelwald smiled. "That feeling you just experienced—you've all tasted it now. This brings us to today's lesson. Magical Pressure. You can also call it Spiritual Pressure, or whatever else you like."
"All you need to know is that it's an incredibly useful combat technique. A wizard releases their magic outward, forming a field that suppresses others. Even a wizard whose spellwork isn't refined can seize the upper hand in a duel if their magical pressure is strong enough."
Draco swallowed nervously, forcing himself to raise his hand. "Professor, just now… the magical pressure didn't seem to have much… effect. How is it supposed to be used in a fight?"
Grindelwald gave a kindly smile. "That's because, as your professor, I can't go all out against you… Besides, magical pressure has distinctions—between general release and targeted release. What I used just now was general release. And now, this—this is targeted."
"Ugh!" The next moment, Draco, who had been standing, dropped into his chair with a thump.
The magical pressure hadn't vanished; it was as though it were wrestling with poor Draco and the chair beneath him.
"Ahem. I think that should be enough for the young wizards to understand what magical pressure really is." Kasen used his own magical field, amplified through his skeletal control, to rip the pressure off Draco completely.
"You professors of that age really aren't fit to be teaching." Kasen muttered from the back row, rolling his eyes.
"There's nothing to be done. Back when I was in school, Durmstrang still had corporal punishment rooms. In fact, they're still there even now." Grindelwald's words sent a shiver down every young wizard's spine.
"Well then, since your Professor Kasen doesn't want me to continue with demonstrations, we'll move on to actual study. Before that, however, I want to see your magical level… You all still remember how to release magic power outward, don't you?" Grindelwald sighed as he asked.
In the classroom, the young wizards glanced at one another, but no one spoke.
"...Children, you're disappointing me a little. External release of magic is the instinctive spellwork you had before you ever received your wands. True, after getting your wands you use this crude form less, but you can't just forget… Don't tell me you can't even line up potato chips with magic and make them jump into your mouths?"
The young wizards still shook their heads.
"Oh… Then all of you, stand up. Muggle-borns in one line, half-bloods in another, pure-bloods in another." Grindelwald hadn't stopped sighing since he entered the classroom.
The young wizards quickly lined up. Harry looked between the Muggle-born and half-blood lines, then just followed Kasenhis and stepped into the Muggle-born one.
"In a moment, I'll write out an extremely long passage on the board. Pure-bloods will copy it ten times, half-bloods twenty times, and Muggle-borns twice." Grindelwald said.
At that, Harry couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. Hell yes, I picked the right line!
Kasen coughed lightly a couple of times.
"Professor Kasen, if your throat's unwell, please go to the infirmary," Grindelwald said.
"No, I was expressing my disapproval. As a teacher, you should maintain basic equality when instructing students," Kasen replied bluntly.
"I don't mean to give special treatment to pure-bloods or half-bloods. I only think that, since pure-bloods and half-bloods supposedly had wizard instruction before coming here yet still show up like this, they deserve punishment. As for Muggle-borns—I have confidence I can teach them. But for that, they need a proper foundation," Grindelwald explained.
"Oh, you're not wrong. But I still believe we must uphold procedural justice. Teaching young wizards must be absolutely fair." Kasen shook his head, rejecting Grindelwald's reasoning.
"…Fine then. Everyone sit back down. All of you will copy it ten times."
"Ah?!" Wails filled the classroom instantly.
"Ahem." Kasen frowned and gave a single cough—instantly silencing the chorus of groans.
Grindelwald just smiled indifferently at the sight. Then, with a flick, he casually tossed a piece of chalk over his shoulder; caught by his magic, it began writing on its own across the blackboard. Meanwhile, he launched into his lecture, animated and vivid.
By the time class ended, Grindelwald and Kasen were the first to leave the room.
As for the young wizards… most of them hadn't even managed to finish the first round of copying the board work.
On the other side, Grindelwald noticed Kasen's odd look and stopped to explain, "How should I put it… I am a wizard supremacist, not a pure-blood supremacist. Please don't assume me with that narrow-minded ideology of your Dark Lord."
"Oh, sure. If you really don't want people to think that way of you, then stop doing things that are bound to cause misunderstandings. Like splitting the students into factions during lessons… In other words, are you the kind of person who even finds wizards being too united distasteful?" Kasen shot back.
"…Alright, alright. I yield to you. I won't do it again next time, how about that?" Grindelwald sighed.
"Let's hope so." Kasen shrugged casually.
"Mm… Tell me, why do you think the other professors fear me so much?" Grindelwald suddenly asked, out of nowhere.
"What?"
"Yes, why do they fear me? Logically, my actions have always been for the sake of wizards. If there's fear to be had, it shouldn't be them fearing me." Grindelwald clarified.
"Who knows what your true intentions are? Every ambitious man shouts grand slogans, but no one knows what their real goals are."
"And more importantly, wizards and Muggles alike are still human. The professors, being human, fear and loathe you—a Dark wizard who murders his own kind. That's perfectly reasonable, isn't it?" Kasen's words couldn't have been more blunt.
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