Chapter 249: Battle Against Legends
In the clearing outside Aiden's cottage, Godric Gryffindor and Aiden faced each other with obvious tension.
"Are you sure you want to pick me? I'm the best fighter among the four," Gryffindor said, flexing his muscles at Aiden with obvious confidence.
"Today if I don't knock your teeth out, I'm not..." Aiden muttered under his breath.
"Not what?"
A wave of mental power emanated, and the surrounding scenery rapidly lost colour.
In the blink of an eye, the five of them entered a pure white forest.
"Misty Illusion, you actually have this kind of ability!" Gryffindor said. Being a duelling master, he immediately knew where Aiden had brought him.
"Enough chatter."
Aiden grasped the air with his palm, and a staff materialised with silver light.
Gryffindor held his sword in his right hand and raised a specially made short wand in his left.
"Then, begin!" Salazar said, acting as referee and giving the command.
Aiden blinked and appeared behind Gryffindor, his wand glowing with the brilliance of Zoltraak.
"This kind of magic," Gryffindor said, raising his sword defensively.
The general attack magic's radiance clashed with the sword, creating a massive explosion.
Gryffindor rolled out of the smoke, his robes somewhat damaged but his spirit intact.
"Impressive, kid."
He raised his wand, and four or five spells of different colours flew toward Aiden with deadly precision.
Aiden pushed off with his toes, flying high into the air. The spells curved upward, pursuing him directly.
Just as the spells were about to hit Aiden, multiple transparent hexagonal crystals appeared on his body's surface, blocking the spells outside.
Rowena, watching from the side, looked at Aiden with growing interest while taking out a notebook from her pocket to record observations.
Gryffindor's entire body turned into white mist and appeared behind Aiden with supernatural speed.
He cast a spell on his sword with his wand, then struck forcefully. Where the sword clashed with the defensive magic, sparks flew brilliantly.
"Oh, I understand now. You can actually cast spells directly using mental power!" Gryffindor said, seeing through the technique.
He immediately distanced himself from Aiden, then fired several blue spells with tactical precision.
This time, Aiden didn't use defensive magic to resist, simply allowing the spells to fly toward him.
Gryffindor thought Aiden would use magic to block them, but seeing Aiden give up defence entirely, he was stunned and missed the best opportunity to cancel the spells.
"Be careful," Gryffindor said, having just opened his mouth to warn.
The spells passed through Aiden's body, and where they struck, he dissolved into flying butterflies.
"What kind of magic is this again? Bloody hell, you really are like a surprise box of a man," Gryffindor complained with obvious frustration.
"It's the Patronus," Rowena spoke up from the side with scholarly interest.
"Lady, spectators shouldn't comment!" Aiden said, pouting and denouncing the unsportsmanlike adult.
"Oh, sorry," the learnt witch said, making a gesture of covering her mouth.
"Well then, let's continue," Gryffindor said, showing a wild smile.
Gryffindor raised his wand and sword again with renewed determination.
This time, he held up his wand and thrust it into the ground.
As the wand penetrated the earth, cracks began appearing all around with ominous sounds.
Fire flickered within the cracks, and soon they spread toward Aiden like living things.
The cracks covered the entire battlefield, with large amounts of flame erupting from them.
Gryffindor stood up, flames surrounding him as if crowning him as a fire god.
He raised his wand, and massive flames shot toward Aiden. The flames, refined by magical power, appeared deep red.
Aiden also raised his wand, preparing to counter with Fiendfyre, but after magical power surged, nothing happened.
"Fiendfyre doesn't exist in this era!" Aiden immediately realised with growing alarm.
He used Apparition to dodge Gryffindor's flame attack.
"Impressive, truly worthy of a legendary wizard."
Fortunately, their duel was taking place within the Misty Illusion. If it were outside, Malmesbury would have been reduced to ruins by now.
The flames scorched the air, making the temperature rise even higher.
"Well then, I'll have to get serious too," Aiden said, lunging forward and directly transforming into a magnificent silver dragon.
"Magical creature transformation!" More anxious than Gryffindor was Slytherin, who stared intently at Aiden with obvious fascination.
The dragon soared in the sky, diving toward Gryffindor with predatory grace.
Gryffindor raised his wand, and flames condensed before him, forming a protective shield.
At the same time, surrounding flames formed a tornado attacking Aiden.
Aiden opened his mouth and breathed dragon breath at the shield. Cold breath continuously poured from Aiden's mouth.
Crystal barriers appeared around him, precisely blocking Gryffindor's fire tornado.
Before Gryffindor, dragon breath and flame shield collided, producing large amounts of steam.
Thick water vapour obscured everyone's vision completely.
"Roar!" A gaping maw attacked Gryffindor through the mist.
Gryffindor immediately used Apparition, making Aiden bite empty air.
To avoid being further hindered by the mist, Gryffindor waved his staff to summon strong winds.
The wind dispersed the mist, revealing that the previously silver-white dragon had now become grey-white, with mysterious symbols flickering on its body.
Strange fluctuations emanated from the dragon, causing the four observers to spontaneously generate many disturbing thoughts.
"Mental Breath"
Aiden opened his mouth and used mental breath on Gryffindor.
Gryffindor raised his wand, condensing flames into an arrow.
"Get away from there quickly!" Rowena said. Having done the deepest research into mental magic, she shouted urgently.
Though confused, Gryffindor didn't doubt his friend's warning and immediately used Apparition to leave his position.
The mental breath hit the ground, and nothing visible happened.
Gryffindor looked at Rowena questioningly, while she stared intently at Aiden.
"That's enough, Godric. You've already lost," Rowena said with finality.
"Ah, why? I haven't fallen yet," Gryffindor protested, glaring at Aiden, who had transformed back to human form and landed.
"His last magic was a mental-level attack. Unless you specialise in mental magic, there's no way to resist that strike," Rowena explained patiently.
"Tch, what's the big deal? I haven't even shown my Transfiguration yet. If I had used Transfiguration, I definitely could have blocked it," Gryffindor grumbled.
"Alright, Godric, we came here to recruit a professor, not to eliminate one," Salazar said, coming over to comfort him.
Then he coaxed Gryffindor away like soothing a child.
"So, Aiden, would you be willing to teach at the school we're about to establish?" Rowena asked, extending the invitation to Aiden.
"Of course, it would be my honour," Aiden said with a respectful nod.
"Wonderful, welcome to our group," Helga said, giving Aiden a warm hug.
"Rest tonight, and depart with us tomorrow," Rowena said, noting the darkening sky.
"Where?" Aiden asked, not reacting immediately.
Then he noticed four pairs of eyes looking at him expectantly.
Aiden stared in realisation. "..."
That night, Aiden used his staff to expand the interior space of the cottage, successfully creating four comfortable rooms for them.
Godric demonstrated his exquisite Transfiguration to everyone. No, it should be called Shaping Magic.
He had broken through the limitations of ordinary transfiguration, causing objects to undergo permanent transformation!
After settling everyone's luggage, Helga demonstrated her culinary skills to Aiden with obvious pride.
Well-fed and satisfied, everyone entered dreamland with their novel experiences.