HP: I'm not going to rule the wizarding world

"I have some ideas. I'll ask Mr. Barrow tomorrow."

Draco agreed. "He's a very cold ghost. He probably wouldn't bother to tell Dumbledore. It's indeed appropriate to ask him."

The next day after arriving at the Great Hall, Ariana handed yesterday's test paper to Draco and asked him to help her distribute it, and then she sat next to the Bloody Baron.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?" She looked at the ghost whose robe was covered in blood.

The Bloody Baron didn't look at Ariana, but said calmly, "You're already asking."

Ariana understood that this meant she was not rejecting him, so she said straight to the point, "Are ghosts souls supported by some kind of obsession?"

Ariana finished reading the book on the black magic of the soul last night, and combined with the accumulation of knowledge over this period of time, she had a rough guess.

She asked the Bloody Baron just for a final verification.

"Tell me the reason for your speculation." The Bloody Baron raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

Ariana nodded and expressed her guess.

"Humans need to consume food to gain energy to maintain bodily functions, but ghosts don't need to eat. However, energy is conserved in all things, even magic. You must have some kind of energy to maintain your free movement."

She had previously guessed it was because of the strong magical atmosphere at Hogwarts, but she had asked several Slytherins in the common room.

She then realized that there were ghosts in other places. They speculated that the reason why there were so many ghosts in Hogwarts was mainly because this place did not reject them.

Seeing that Bloody Baron didn't deny it, Ariana asked again, "I heard that ghosts always become demented before dissipating. Does this mean they forget their obsession?"

There is no special energy to maintain it, so it will dissipate.

The Bloody Baron thought for a minute before answering, "No ghost can give a definitive answer, but your explanation is quite fitting. I became a ghost because of a profound obsession."

After saying this, he glanced at the Ravenclaw Tower, but unfortunately he couldn't see the person he wanted to see there.

Ariana had heard about the feud between Bloody Baron and Ms. Grey, but that was their private matter and she would not ask others about it in person.

"Are you in soul state?" This is the question she wants to ask most.

"That should be it," said the Bloody Baron.

"Thank you for your answer." Ariana left him after getting the answer.

Dumbledore, who was sitting in the classroom, had been keeping an eye on Ariana. Seeing her talking to the Bloody Baron, and thinking of Ariana's attitude towards surveillance last night, he looked at Snape with some worry.

Chapter 124 Isn't it poaching people? Who wouldn't do that?

"Severus, did you see Ariana sitting next to Mr. Barrow? She must be there to study spells against ghosts." He didn't want anyone to get hurt, including ghosts.

Snape was still very bothered by Dumbledore's poaching behavior last night.

Hearing what the other party said, he just frowned and didn't look in Ariana's direction.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with her doing this. After all, I don't like being watched. I can say that no one likes being watched either." He was reminding the old honey not to go too far.

Dumbledore knew that if he continued to monitor them, things might really get out of hand, so he decided to stop monitoring them.

"I will stop the ghosts from looking at her. I think you can tell her this, otherwise a spell that kills ghosts may be released." He no longer doubted Ariana's talent.

Snape did not agree, but glanced at Gryffindor and motioned Dumbledore to look over there.

"Instead of worrying about those who have died, you might as well look at your savior. It seems that Gryffindor is not suitable for him. Maybe changing the environment would be better." Isn't it poaching people? Who doesn't know how to do that?

Dumbledore smiled helplessly upon hearing this and said, "Is this revenge against me?"

"I sincerely think so." Snape said calmly.

He really thought so. The environment can change a person. After Harry arrived in Slytherin, apart from other things, his ambition could definitely be cultivated.

At this time, the Gryffindors were arguing. Although it was not as intense as last time, it also attracted a lot of attention.

Percy looked at Ron seriously. He didn't know how to deal with his brother's problem.

He scolded him, but didn't hit him because he was just a brother, not a father, and even a father would never hit his child.

"How could you stay outside the castle beyond curfew and be caught by the headmaster and Professor Snape? You were deducted 50 points before, and now you have another 50 points. Do you think it's easy to accumulate points in this house?"

Seeing that the academy distributed so few gems today, he almost went crazy.

Hermione's eyes were red now, and she complained with a choked sob, "Now, if you answer questions in class, you only get 1 point if your answer isn't amazing. You have to answer 50 questions for 50 points, and the professor will only ask two or three questions at most in a class."

Although she was a score-cheating maniac, her answers were still far inferior to Ariana's very insightful ones, so she only got two points at most each time, and not every time she answered, and there were only 12 classes a week.

Ron said guiltily, "We lost track of time."

Seeing his brother making another excuse, Percy growled, "Did you forget the time when you went to the trophy room last time? And why can't you go to Hagrid during the day?"

"We just went there during the day and forgot the time when we came back." Ron was also a little angry. Why were they scolding him?

Although Harry was not yelled at, he felt even more upset because he didn't keep track of the time either, but no one blamed him.

Maybe Ariana was right. He enjoyed the treatment of a savior, but he didn't have the responsibility that a savior should have.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Harry was not the one to hide, he stood in front of Ron.

Percy didn't teach Harry a lesson, indeed because of his reputation as the savior. Seeing him apologize, his anger dissipated a lot, but his eyes were still on his youngest brother.

"Ron, if you get deducted points again, I'll let Mom and Dad take you home. Anyway, there's only Ginny at home now, so maybe home education would be more suitable for you." He hoped Ron knew the seriousness of the matter.

Ron really knew he was wrong, and when he saw his brother's attitude had improved a lot, he apologized immediately.

"I know I was wrong. I will be more careful next time and won't get deducted points." He felt that he was just careless and did not make any mistakes.

Everyone present saw his attitude, and no one believed what he said.

Percy's previous threat to send Ron home was just a threat, and now he couldn't do anything about it, so he could only let this matter go.

Not only was there a lively atmosphere at the Gryffindor table, but as Draco handed out yesterday's test papers, many people were watching.

Finally, it was Penelope Clearwater, the head girl of the Ravenclaw next door, who came over to inquire about the situation.

"Colin, what was that test paper just now?" Her eyes were fixed on the test papers in Adrian and the others' hands.

Although these test papers were all handed out by Draco, everyone still remembered the arrogant demeanor of this young master in the first two days of school.

Although he has restrained himself a lot now, it is impossible for him to take the initiative to contact the mixed-bloods. It can only be Ariana who asks him to distribute the test papers.

There was nothing to hide. Ariana replied, "This is an exam for recruiting members for the Duel Club. The club organizes a competition every year, and many things require dedicated personnel. The workload is quite heavy, so I didn't ask the members to take on this part of the work."

Penelope asked doubtfully, "Does this mean that if I pass this exam I'll become a member of the club and get a salary?"

As a Muggle-born, Penelope, like Ariana, could only exchange for 100 gold Galleons at Gringotts.

Even though we later learned that there were no restrictions on the exchange of gold and rare gemstones, the exchange rate was very low.

Penelope's family in the ordinary world is not that wealthy, so how could her parents be willing to exchange gold for her to spend in the magical world?

Moreover, 100 gold galleons a year is enough to cover annual expenses, it’s just that I’m not that rich.

Ariana nodded and replied, "This is just a written test. The top 20 people will receive an interview invitation from me, and in the end, half of them will pass the interview and be hired."

The admission rate for the "choose one from two" approach is considered high, but in the early stages, only 20 were chosen from more than 60 people. From this perspective, the probability is not high.

"So the employees of this club will be paid, right?" Penelope looked at her excitedly.

Looking at the looks from Adrian and the others, Ariana remembered that she had not yet informed the employees of their treatment.

These people really trust her. It can only be said that young people who have not entered society have never seen the stingy faces of capitalists.

"Yes, the salary will be higher than the work-study program at school, and there will be additional subsidies during the competition." Fortunately, Ariana is not a stingy capitalist.

The school does have some work-study opportunities, but there are many competitors. It is generally difficult to get one unless it is particularly difficult, and Penelope's family situation does not meet the requirements.

"Can other colleges participate in your recruitment?" She looked at Ariana expectantly.

Unfortunately, the answer disappointed her. Ariana shook her head and said, "The club currently only recruits Slytherin members, and the scope of recruitment is limited to members of the club."

Chapter 125 Is it a spell that kills the soul?

Since she asked Slytherin for help and also coveted the resources behind them, Ariana naturally had to ensure the status of this group. This was not a confrontation, but distribution according to work.

Penelope said somewhat unwillingly, "I hope you can agree to other colleges joining in the future."

Not only Penelope, but many people from other colleges came to see it.

Ariana knew that if she didn't give a reasonable explanation, Dumbledore would probably accuse her of being an opponent again.

"I hope the Dueling Tournament can continue like Quidditch. If that happens, I can't be the only one sponsoring it. After all, I can only study here for seven years."

Then she turned her gaze towards Slytherin, smiled, and said, "If this year's dueling tournament is a complete success, I plan to use it to convince the wizarding family to invest and become one of the shareholders of this club."

Although Ariana didn't say the rest of the words, everyone at the scene understood.

Hoping that the wizarding families would invest in this dueling tournament and only allow Slytherins to become members of the dueling club is a form of exchange of interests.

Although everyone felt a little uncomfortable, they could accept it. After all, it was normal for people to gain something after making some efforts.

Of course, the main reason why this explanation is easily accepted is that everyone hopes that this duel competition will continue forever. After all, no one is sure that they can win the championship in one year.

Ariana then announced that she would not participate in the competition, and the thoughts in everyone's minds immediately disappeared.

Before, everyone just claimed to be the second strongest in Hogwarts. Now that they know that Ariana will not participate in this competition, I am afraid that everyone will claim to be the best candidate for the championship.

"What are the contents of these exams?" Cedric also came over and asked.

This was the first time he took the initiative to talk to Ariana since their last conversation.

Although we can't be friends, we can't be enemies either, so there's no problem talking to each other.

Having been in Hogwarts for more than a month, Ariana had certainly heard of Cedric's excellence. His purpose must be different from Penelope's. He should be concerned about the news of the dueling competition.

"I can't show you the personality test content here. If the interviewees don't mind, you can come and watch our interview next Sunday. It's a competition between them and me. I'll announce the location later."

"Can I watch the game?" Cedric looked at her in surprise.

Everyone was talking about how powerful Ariana was, but only the first graders had seen her fighting with Snape in the classroom, and she had only used a Transfiguration spell to intimidate him in the auditorium.

The students in other grades had never experienced her strength firsthand, so they were shocked when they heard that she was going to duel with people of different grades in public.

Ariana remembered Draco's boast and said jokingly, "Let everyone get familiar with the duel format and atmosphere. After all, everyone thinks they are the strongest now."

Later, Ariana paid attention to the opinions of other houses on the dueling competition in the auditorium. Draco was relatively restrained in his boasting, while everyone in other houses, especially Gryffindor, thought they were the best.

Many people said that, it was pure bragging, and everyone was a little embarrassed when Ariana pointed it out.

"No, really. Who dares to claim to be the strongest in front of you?"

"Yeah, we'll know who's the strongest fighter after the competition."

Ariana didn't mean to discourage this kind of behavior, she just wanted to ease the atmosphere, so she waved her hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

“Don’t compare yourself with others, compare yourself with yourself yesterday. This is the only way to enhance your abilities.” This kind of inspirational quote is the most useful.

Dumbledore, sitting in the professor's chair, could no longer maintain the smile on his face.

Just yesterday, Draco said that Ariana was already in a leading position in Slytherin, but judging by the situation in the hall today, students from other colleges have begun to respect her.

Even the mysterious man back then was very low-key during his first year.

On the way to class, Draco whispered in Ariana's ear, "Have you and Mr. Barrow confirmed your suspicions? I feel like eyes are staring at me everywhere."

This was purely psychological. Dumbledore must have known that Ariana was well-behaved during class and it was impossible for him to let the ghost monitor her during this period.

Ariana did not remind Draco of this. After all, she was also very disgusted with the surveillance and felt the same way as Draco.

"It's basically confirmed that ghosts are human souls. They become ghosts because they have strong obsessions before death and don't want to die. They have no future and no new thoughts. I have thought of a few spells to deal with souls." She nodded.

"Is it the three unforgivable curses?" Draco asked Ariana.

"You react quite quickly. How did you think of these three spells at once?" Ariana looked at him curiously.

This situation is quite rare. It has always been Ariana, a magic novice, who explained the principles of magic to him. Unexpectedly, he thought of it immediately this time.

Draco was not happy about the compliment, but frowned and said, "Didn't you just discuss the three unforgivable curses with Professor Snape last night? Because they involve the soul, and the Imperius Curse also mentions the soul."

At that time, Snape accused Ariana of knowing the Imperius Curse, but Ariana retorted that the hypnosis she knew only involved the spiritual level. Snape told her directly that forbidden spells were developed from the shallow to the deep.

Draco wasn't completely stupid. Isn't the soul above the spiritual level? And since the Imperius Curse involves the soul, doesn't it mean that the three Unforgivable Curses also involve the soul?

Ariana confirmed Draco's guess.

"The explanation of the Imperius Curse I have teaches how to cast it, but it also explains the underlying principles. I suspect this curse is a way to imprison the soul. Based on this, the Cruciatus Curse harms the soul."

Draco followed up on her words, "Is the final Killing Curse a spell that kills the soul?"

Ariana nodded and replied, "That's what I guess. Dumbledore once told me that a person who is shot won't die instantly, but the Killing Curse kills instantly. The soul dies, so of course the person is completely dead."