Under Dumbledore's coordination and guidance, the professors of Hogwarts finally reached an agreement: instead of questioning Sagres's cold and efficient methods, they would take part themselves, guiding and balancing them with their own philosophies.
Thus, over the following weeks, an empty classroom next to the staff common room was temporarily repurposed.
Sagres set up a brief "Introduction to Memory Mirror Creation" session there.
The process was more complex than many professors had expected. It involved advanced memory extraction and stabilization techniques, precise magical shaping, and the programming of combat logic through magic.
This system, built on logic and precision, was difficult for wizards accustomed to intuition and instinctive spell-casting to grasp.
Among them, Professor Flitwick was undoubtedly the quickest to learn, showing great enthusiasm for this novel application of magic.
"It's brilliant! Sagres, this is practically digitizing magic! Look—"
Standing atop a stack of thick books, his wand flicked continuously as he spoke. "If you add a conditional judgment here, the mirror can automatically choose between the Shattering Charm and the Severing Charm based on the strength of the opponent's Protego!"
Sagres was genuinely surprised. This was the first time he realized that Professor Flitwick possessed such advanced thinking.
This was not something an ordinary wizard could achieve. The older the wizard, the more rigid their views on magic tended to be, and the slower their ability to innovate in this area. Yet Professor Flitwick showed none of these limitations, which was truly rare.
Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, adopted a very different approach when creating her mirror. The entire process was meticulous, reflecting her usual rigor.
She frowned, repeatedly adjusting a detail of a Transfiguration in her memory, striving for a perfect reproduction of every piece of armor's texture.
"Details determine success, Sagres," she said without looking up. "If my mirror is to teach students, then it must be flawless, both as an example and as an opponent."
"You're absolutely right."
Sagres agreed, lingering for a long time in front of Professor McGonagall's magical mirror before finally moving on to Professor Sprout.
"How exactly am I supposed to turn my knowledge of Herbology into offensive and defensive tactics?" Professor Sprout asked, somewhat puzzled. "As you said, we can currently only construct 'characters' from memory. But what about plants? Do we have to use real magical plants? Some varieties I simply can't obtain in a short time."
"You can use existing real plants as substitutes for now," Sagres replied after a moment's thought. "I'll refine it later once I find a way to construct magical creatures."
Professor Sprout nodded. "Hmm… then I could simulate throwing Devil's Snare seeds when facing Dark Wizards… or have the mirror carry some domesticated Biting Cabbages? A weakened version, of course…"
Around her, several sheets of parchment covered with plant-based tactical diagrams were scattered across the floor.
Snape's participation carried a certain dark excitement. Sagres could detect a well-hidden trace of pleasure beneath his expressionless face.
Clearly, he had quite a few ideas on how to create a "more lethal" version of himself.
Lupin took the longest.
He had only recently taken a leave of absence, and his face was still somewhat pale, with more white showing in his hair.
"I have to… make it more complete," he whispered to Sagres. "You know, there are always those few days each month… I can't always rely on Snape to substitute for me."
He was clearly trying to create a projection with a complete knowledge system, one capable of teaching independently, to account for his monthly absence.
Sagres nodded thoughtfully, considering whether he should help Lupin.
He was an honest man, and a good one. If given the chance, Sagres wouldn't mind helping him resolve some of his difficulties.
The most unexpected participant was Albus Dumbledore.
The old Headmaster observed the entire process with great interest, as if watching an entertaining bit of magic.
At first, however, he had no intention of creating his own mirror projection.
"Oh, Sagres, just shape it according to the most authentic image you have of me! I'm sure that will be quite interesting."
Sagres rejected him without expression. "You should do it yourself. I don't know which spells you are proficient in, or under what circumstances you would choose to use them."
"Hmm, very well then." The old man stood there for a long moment before finally beginning his work.
Everyone constructed their own memory mirrors, except for Hagrid.
The gamekeeper rubbed his large, fan-like hands, looking rather embarrassed. "I… I can't manage such delicate work, Professor Greengrass. And you know, I was expelled in my third year, so it's hard for me to offer proper help to the young wizards in the instance…"
"Don't underestimate yourself, Hagrid," Sagres said calmly. "You may not be able to help them with magic, but in other areas, that's not necessarily the case."
"Other areas?" Hagrid looked puzzled. "What areas?"
"The young wizards will find out," Sagres replied, offering no direct explanation.
He simply extracted and solidified Hagrid's memories of "animal handling" through his own methods.
In the end, a tall figure with an honest smile appeared within the Duel Monument's system.
Sagres had no objection to the professors' participation, but he insisted on adding a core rule:
"All mirrors, including your own, will be integrated into a unified system. They may be challenged by students or randomly recruited as temporary teammates. They can provide limited assistance within the instance, in line with their identity and area of expertise. But at the same time…"
He paused, his grey eyes sweeping across everyone present. "They must also abide by the rules. There is a certain probability that they will switch sides at the final moment and betray the students. And this probability will increase significantly if the team members' proficiency in the corresponding subjects is too low."
The professors exchanged glances, and several of their expressions turned rather complex, but in the end, they all nodded in agreement.
They seemed to understand that this was the foundation of Sagres's teaching philosophy: absolute safety is an illusion, and controlled betrayal is a genuine rehearsal.
Did they really think that drawing a professor's mirror meant they could relax and pass without effort?
Heh. Heh.
…
Soon, the students discovered that the Duel Monument system on the floating arena had received a major update.
On the surface of the once ancient monument, not only were there Dark Wizards to challenge, but several familiar figures had also appeared, each shimmering with a faint glow beside them.
"Merlin's beard! One of the people we just recruited was Professor McGonagall!"
A Ravenclaw student's voice trembled with excitement. "She just flicked her wand and turned a giant rock into a silver cheetah! And that cheetah took down that despicable traitor in a single pounce! It was incredible!"
"I don't think it's as impressive as Professor Flitwick!"
A Hufflepuff student shrieked, imitating the Charms professor's movements. "His silent spells are so fast they're just a blur! Before we could even see clearly, he had already used a series of precise Stupefy and Expelliarmus to suppress two ferocious Dark Wizards! It was like conducting a silent symphony!"
Having a professor's mirror as a teammate felt almost dreamlike, as if an easy mode had been unlocked.
Their formidable strength, vast knowledge, and calm judgment could resolve most of the challenges within the instance, greatly increasing the students' sense of security.
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