Amrose Swott and Armando Dippet quickly moved to the portrait where the two were fighting and pulled them apart.
After they were separated, Phineas Black was still carefully straightening his crooked tie, muttering words like "savage" and "uncouth."
Edessa Sakndenberg, in another portrait, stood with her back to everyone, fuming, her shoulders rising and falling.
Swott cleared his throat lightly and took over. "Phineas, mind your words."
Then his tone shifted. "But setting aside those unnecessary personal attacks, I think we must face reality."
He turned to Dumbledore, his gaze heavy. "Albus, you understand the outside world better than any of us. If you say the Dark Lord will return, then this is no longer an academic discussion in times of peace."
Dumbledore listened in silence as Amrose Swoot continued, "At a time like this, it's not enough for students to simply learn how to turn a teacup into a tortoise, or to cast Aguamenti perfectly. Greengrass's method is certainly… radical, even unsettling, but what he teaches is how to recognize and resist the Dark Arts—skills that will allow them to survive beyond the castle."
Headmaster Armando Dippet also looked troubled. Stroking his greying beard, he spoke slowly, his voice low. "Ambrose is right. You all know what happened during my tenure, so I understand all too well how pale pure theory becomes when dark forces rise. Sometimes I wonder… if we could have prepared the children more thoroughly back then, perhaps some tragedies might have been avoided."
"But aren't such methods too radical…?"
"We cannot deny the necessity of a method simply because it is radical, Edessa. The process of refinement may be painful, but the result could mean the difference between life and death."
"Albus," Dilys Derwent also spoke, "I understand your concerns, as well as Edessa's. The Dark Arts can corrupt the mind, and early exposure to darkness can indeed change a child. But you must remember, Sagres is not encouraging the use of the Dark Arts. He is stripping away their veil, teaching their principles and how to counter them."
She continued gently, "Knowledge itself is neither good nor evil; what matters is how it is guided. I know this is difficult, but that doesn't mean we should avoid it. Examining darkness in the light may strip it of its power to bewitch far more effectively than simple prohibition and fear. It is a kind of… preventative treatment, though the process may feel like a high fever."
Even Everard, who rarely took part in such debates, nodded slightly. "In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures are required. Hogwarts' foremost duty is to protect its students. If the outside world has already brought war and darkness to the castle gates, then providing them with the strongest defenses, in a controlled manner, is part of that responsibility. That child's original intention was to strengthen the castle's defenses—not just the stone walls, but the defenses within each student."
Hearing so many people share his view, Phineas immediately perked up and cast a triumphant glance at Edessa. "See? Now that's wisdom!"
Edessa Sakndenberg suddenly turned around, her expression still grim, but seeing so many colleagues show some level of agreement, she did not argue further.
"Thank you for your advice," Dumbledore said with a nod. "It has been of great help."
He sighed. "It seems that with age, I have indeed become indecisive."
"Indecisive?" Dilys Derwent shook her head, gently refuting him. "No, Albus. This is careful consideration. Rashness is a fault of the young."
"She's calling you old," Phineas snickered, but no one paid him any attention.
Armando Dippet also sighed. "That's only natural. Sitting in that position, one inevitably becomes overly cautious."
"That's true, but it won't be like this once you're hanging on the wall with us."
The portraits' arguments gradually died down, fading into a low murmur in the background.
Dumbledore gazed out at the darkening grounds, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the windowsill.
He had convinced the professors, but there was another group he still needed to convince—himself.
Perhaps Phineas Black was right. Perhaps only when he, too, was one day hanging on the wall would he stop being so overly cautious.
…
In the period that followed, Sagres began introducing other "Memory Projections" into the dueling arena one by one.
These were no longer limited to lone Dark Wizards, but also included cunning black-market merchants, Dark Witches skilled in mental manipulation, werewolves who killed without hesitation, and wanted criminals who had escaped justice.
Many "old acquaintances" were drawn from his memories, shaped, and then confined within the dueling monoliths.
It was as if he were conducting an experiment, watching the students struggle and fail, watching them emerge pale-faced after being transported out, and then watching them grit their teeth, learn from their mistakes, and step back in.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Within a safe environment, these potential future dangers would be rehearsed hundreds of times, until the most instinctive fear was gradually dulled, until the correct responses were refined into muscle memory.
Not only that, Sagres also made a more "malicious" upgrade to the existing instance mechanism.
When a team had fewer than five members, they could activate the dueling monolith in the arena to randomly recruit one to four "temporary teammates" formed from Memory Projections.
These mirror Wizards possessed independent personalities and seemingly sound combat abilities, assisting the team throughout in solving puzzles and handling crises.
But beneath that assistance lay the deepest betrayal.
When the team had overcome countless hardships and finally neared their goal, when victory was within reach, the bonds of their contract would begin to loosen.
If only one mirror was recruited, it had a high probability of turning on them at the most critical moment, raising its wand against the very "companions" it had just sworn to protect.
If two or more were recruited, then there would always be one—and only one—who would inevitably bare their fangs.
Trust became the most extravagant trial the arena imposed upon them. They had to learn to rely on their teammates, while always keeping a measure of vigilance in their hearts toward these "stranger companions."
The "Betrayal Trial" subjected the students to extreme torment, like alternating ice and fire, pushing most of them to the brink of both ecstasy and agony.
The first few betrayals almost always succeeded.
Students would either lower their guard on the verge of victory and be struck down instantly by a spell from a "teammate," or they would freeze for a split second when the mirror turned on them, wasting precious reaction time.
But before long, the students no longer fully trusted those recruited from the monolith.
As they moved, someone would subconsciously shift sideways, watching the temporary companion from the corner of their eye.
Conversations became brief and guarded, no longer revealing complete tactical intentions.
A silent understanding formed among the true teammates. When the recruited mirror once again raised its wand at the final moment, before it could even finish casting the Killing Curse, two Stupefy spells from different directions and a precise Expelliarmus had already struck it.
They learned to reserve a portion of their magic, preparing instant control or defensive spells specifically to handle sudden changes.
Students even developed a set of subtle signals and exchanged glances to coordinate focus fire on a potential betrayer at critical moments.
Trust became more precious and harder to give, but also more resilient as a result. It was reserved only for those truly worthy of it.
Of course, this high-pressure environment also gave rise to another extreme stress response.
Some overly anxious students, especially those who had been eliminated multiple times by "their own teammates" at the final moment, began to see danger everywhere.
During one temple exploration, Hermione, misinterpreting an unconscious tightening of her mirror teammate's grip on their wand, launched an attack preemptively under intense tension.
"Stupefy!"
The spell struck the innocent mirror, causing it to dissipate instantly.
This sudden infighting not only reduced the team's numbers immediately but also completely disrupted their rhythm in dealing with danger.
A group of withered mummies crawled out of their sarcophagi and attacked, while the true betrayer revealed its fangs ahead of time.
Seconds later, white light flashed repeatedly, and the trio was transported out of the arena due to a "team wipe."
Hermione's face was filled with regret and shame, while Harry and Ron seemed relatively indifferent, having already failed more than once.
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