In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 267: Portrait

The Hogwarts students for now brought to the castle's Great Hall.

The hall was simply prepared for them, and it looked like Durmstrang had been prepared to pick them up well ahead of time.

Rosier did not restrict their freedom but most students were still a little nervous about being in unfamiliar surroundings and none of them was in the mood to walk around and stroll through this castle.

Jon, however, was curious about every wizarding school, and he mentioned to Rosier his wish to take a look around the school.

In response, the Durmstrang deputy headmistress did not refuse, just asked Jon if he needed a guide.

Jon declined her kindness, did not intend to follow a guide and wanted to follow his own interests, in turn, Hermione also did not want to sit in the great hall, so she went outside the Great Hall with Jon.

And compared to when they first arrived here, there are fewer Durmstrang students in the corridor at this time, they seem to be in their last class of the afternoon, after this class is dinner time, a banquet organized in honour of Hogwarts students' arrival.

"Actually, there's nothing to be curious about this school, even if the customs and cultures are quite different, the three wizarding schools in Europe are basically pretty much the same, what we should really focus on is what they're learning as we speak."

After walking out of the great hall, Jon spoke in a whisper to Hermione as he walked up the stairs with her.

"As I told you earlier, Hogwarts Castle used to be an open and equal school before, and it became what it is today only because Voldemort became Headmaster, and the current Headmaster of Durmstrang is also not a normal person, so I am really curious about what kind of different changes he has made to this school."

Unlike Jon, Hermione did not know the true identity of the old man referred to as "Headmaster".

"The Headmaster of this school. Is he a very famous person?"

Even if she is good at learning, only a year or so has passed since she was rescued from Hogwarts castle and brought to the wagon, and she is not yet able to even be aware of the history of the wizarding world fully.

Jon shrugged.

"Of course. Notoriously, Professor Dumbledore prevented the Headmaster of this school from ruling the world while the current Dark Lord was still attending the school."

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Professor Dumbledore and he was in a hostile relationship?"

"The kind that loves and hate each other, I guess." Jon said casually, "They used to have a good relationship, but then they parted ways due to philosophical disputes, and then after that, the only reason Professor Dumbledore gained so much fame was that he won a duel that decided the future fate of the wizarding world."

"So now," Hermione asked hesitantly.

Jon said calmly.

"From the looks of things, it looks like they've made some kind of deal to get back together. But to be honest, if one has known the ambitions of the Headmaster of this school and what he did back then, I don't think he simply wants to help Professor Dumbledore to defeat the Dark Lord, he should have other ideas of his own, or rekindle the ideals that he had before he was defeated by the Professor."

Just as they were talking, they arrived at the corridor on the second floor of the castle, and a portrait of a wizard dressed in a black robe wearing a wooden mask suddenly shouted.

"State your names! Outsiders! This is Durmstrang, and there is no room for you to spill your guts!"

He spoke English with a slight Welsh accent, which both Jon and Hermione could understand.

They did not ignore the portrait, most of the portraits in the magic castle are actually another manifestation of the people in the painting, that is to say, they have normal human thinking, only most of their behaviour is somewhat exaggerated and comical.

"Hello sir, we are students visiting from Hogwarts."

"Aha! So it's a spy from Hogwarts!" The masked wizard excitedly started walking back and forth in the picture frame, "What do you want? Still upset about the results of the Triwizard Tournament held in Durmstrang that year? It's no use! The championship belongs to Durmstrang! You can't win back the Triwizard Cup!"

It was like he was immersed in his own world, and even if Jon just exchanged a common greeting with him that couldn't be more common, he could come up with all kinds of strange and weird responses.

"If Luna is here, she'd love to interact with this portrait." Hermione muttered.

"The moon! What moon? You're planning to seize the Triwizard Cup on the night of the full moon, partnering with the werewolves to invade Durmstrang! Surely that's despicable Hogwarts! I'm going to report this to Grindelwald immediately, oh no! It's Headmaster Bagshot! We won't let your tricks succeed!"

He screamed and ran away from his frame, shouting "Bagshot is the greatest of all Headmasters, he will stop your plot" as he rushed across the other portraits.

The people in the other portraits all looked at the impudent masked wizard with annoyance, and then a group of people crowded in a frame and looked at them whispering in a language that Jon and Hermione did not understand, similar to German.

One of the well-dressed ladies in that portrait glared at the other ones as if embarrassed by their rudeness, and then she said to Jon with an apologetic expression in somewhat rusty English.

"I apologize to you for the behaviour of Shackleton, my boy, that's how he is, having been expelled from Hogwarts and then admitted to Durmstrang, he gets a little jumpy when he hears the name Hogwarts."

"That's okay, ma'am." Jon thought for a moment, "Can I ask you about the classes that are usually required to be taken at Durmstrang?"

"It's certainly not a secret." The noblewoman looked amiable, and said with interest, "Although I have not been to other magic schools, the curriculum of all three European magic schools should not be different, the main courses are basically charms, transfiguration, defence against dark arts, potions, herbology, astronomy, etc., it's just that Hogwarts' curriculum has a more balanced focus; I heard that Beauxbatons pays more emphasis on alchemy, while our Durmstrang includes duelling magic in the regular curriculum."

That is obviously not the information Jon wanted to know, and he raised an eyebrow and continued to ask.

"And besides this?"

"Other than this." The noblewoman smiled and said, "Because of our Headmaster Bagshot's unique hobby, he has made Muggle Studies a major course and a compulsory subject for students from the first year onwards, and he even 'invited' a real Muggle teacher from the Muggle world for this purpose."

When she said "invited", her face was visibly embarrassed.

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