Chapter 36: The Middle Eastern God of War Returns for a Limited Time

Quirinus Quirrell graduated from Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts, where he was renowned for his intelligence and talent. He possessed a solid foundation of theoretical knowledge and was a remarkably pragmatic individual.

After graduation, he became a professor at Hogwarts, teaching Muggle Studies, before transitioning to the Defense Against the Dark Arts post this year.

Although he hailed from Ravenclaw, Quirrell was not one to blindly follow textbooks. To better teach this crucial subject—which might one day determine whether students could survive when faced with danger—Quirrell intended to put the contents of the textbooks to the test. He traveled to distant lands in search of werewolves, vampires, Inferi, and other terrifying dark magical creatures, attempting to acquire firsthand data on the actual application of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He believed that true knowledge stems from practice, and he sought to avoid teaching his students flawed survival techniques.

He was, in many ways, a responsible teacher.

Yet, it was precisely this sense of responsibility that led to his tragedy.

During his investigative travels, he encountered Voldemort in Albania, and his entire life’s trajectory was irrevocably altered. Once a man with a boundless future, his spirit was shattered, forcing him to submit to darkness. He became possessed by Voldemort, constantly subjected to the influence of the Dark Lord’s soul.

Voldemort’s spiritual will was far stronger than his own.

The once intelligent and responsible teacher, Quirrell, had become a grotesque figure capable of releasing a troll into Hogwarts, disregarding student safety, and showing murderous intent toward Harry Potter solely to curry favor with his master.

Of course, magic is a miracle where the mind and power dance in harmony. As Quirrell’s mind became extreme, the potency of certain spells he cast increased significantly. This was evident in his original destiny, where, during the Quidditch match, he was able to curse Harry and hold his own against Snape, who was attempting to counter the curse.

Although Snape had abandoned the mindset of his youth, the foundation he had built during his adolescence was enough to make him formidable.

Quirrell’s ultimate defeat was purely due to the terrifying nature of the love-based magic left behind by Harry’s mother—a power even Voldemort struggled to overcome. It was not something Quirrell could contend with; contact meant death. His loss was not unjust.

This "starter village boss" for Harry was, in fact, quite formidable.

Roger looked at Quirrell, who stood opposite him with a solemn expression, and drew his own wand.

Quirrell, despite considering himself a prodigy and a professor with years of magical study, found it absurd that he was only given a thirty-seventy chance of winning against Roger, a child who had studied magic for at most three months. However, since this was Voldemort’s assessment, Quirrell ultimately chose to believe it.

He would approach this battle with caution, crushing Roger’s thirty percent chance of victory down to zero.

Following the etiquette of a formal wizard’s duel, the two raised their wands, bowed, and then...

"Reducto!" Professor Quirrell, truly regarding Roger as a formidable foe, opened the engagement with a highly lethal curse.

Roger raised his wand and flicked it.

Summoning Charm: a bag of flour.

Like the Vanishing Spell, the Summoning Charm is a branch of Transfiguration, a spell that manipulates the "existence and non-existence" of matter. The larger the object summoned, the greater the effort required.

*Bang!*

With a loud explosion, the flour bag, struck by the Reducto curse, burst. The flour filled the air, obscuring Roger’s figure.

[Transfiguration - Biological Transfiguration]

Under the cover of the dust, Roger used Transfiguration on the soil and bricks on the ground.

As the dust settled, seven "Rogers" appeared before Quirrell.

Biological Transfiguration could not grant true sapience, so Roger could not manipulate them with great precision, but that did not matter.

In the next moment, the silent Levitation Charm was activated.

The seven Rogers floated into the air and began circling Quirrell at high speed. If there had been only one, Quirrell’s eyes might have tracked him, but with seven, he soon could not distinguish which was the real one.

[Petrificus Totalus!]

Spells struck at intervals; Quirrell, relying on his keen senses, waved his wand to deflect them.

Then, finding an opening, he shouted, "Protego!"

With the Shield Charm in place, Quirrell gained protection and quickly chanted the next spell: "Avis!"

*You move at high speed, so I will use a summoning spell to project a high-speed, area-of-effect attack that tracks automatically.*

Under this spell, Roger’s "clones" were defeated one by one, turning back into bricks and stones.

Six, four, two... the last one also reverted to brick.

...The last one?

Seeing that all the "Rogers" were fake, and noticing that after the last one dissipated, a wand remained alongside the bricks, Quirrell realized the truth in an instant.

That wand was an alchemical item inscribed with spells to cast magic. The weak "Petrificus Totalus" from earlier wasn't a test; it was simply the maximum power that alchemical item could produce.

So, Roger’s true body must be...

He scanned his surroundings, but found nothing. As Quirrell looked up at the sky, he flicked his wand downward, casting a moderately powered "Diffindo" at the ground.

Yet, his clever move to prevent an ambush from beneath backfired.

The ground, already hollowed out by Transfiguration and left with only a thin layer of soil, shattered completely under Quirrell’s strike.

Quirrell stepped into empty space and fell into the soft mud Roger had created using the "Stone to Mud" spell.

"Wingardium Levio—" Quirrell, having realized what was happening, was only halfway through the Levitation Charm.

[Transfiguration - Animal Transfiguration]

A monkey formed from stone grabbed Quirrell’s ankle from within the mud, dragging him deeper into the pit.

The Shield Charm could defend against attacks, but not against physical grappling.

Quirrell struggled, but felt a hard object pressed against his neck.

"Do you want me to finish the incantation?"

Hearing the Prophet’s voice, Quirrell froze. It was a wand.

Quirrell had fought wizards before, but he had never experienced a battle like this.

There was no trading of spells to see whose understanding of magic was deeper or whose mental strength was greater. Instead, it was about utilizing everything available to confuse the enemy, creating favorable terrain, and constantly advancing tactical objectives until victory was achieved.

...It felt a bit like a Muggle war.

"Not convinced?"

"Today is our grand opening, so I’ll give you a chance. Half an hour. You can challenge me as many times as you like within that time. Although, due to our pact, it won’t count toward the victory conditions, you can take this opportunity to try, to witness—"

"The chasm-like gap between you and me!" Roger’s voice was profound, sending a chill down Quirrell’s spine.

But Quirrell’s resolve remained unshaken.

His only reply was: "Then continue."

*Bang, bang, bang, bang...*

*Oppugno!* (A barrage of objects, leaving him bruised.)

*Boom!*

*Confringo!* (The explosion backfired, wounding himself.)

*Cough, gag!*

A perfectly timed Tongue-Tying Curse caused Quirrell’s incantation to fail, resulting in magical backlash.

Second battle, fourth, tenth, thirteenth!

Quirrell had expected to adapt to Roger’s combat style and grow enough to suppress him. He never imagined that he would lose faster each time.

"Again..." Before Quirrell could finish his request for another bout, a sharp pain erupted in the back of his head.

"Enough. Stop making a fool of yourself, you useless waste," Voldemort’s low voice echoed from behind his head.

Quirrell didn't quite understand, but Voldemort, having peered through his eyes, had discerned Roger’s methods.

Roger’s eyes seemed focused on Quirrell, but that was a lie.

Those dilated pupils were watching something else entirely.

The Prophet was watching Fate!

Why was Roger considered a religious prophet in the Middle East?

It certainly wasn't because he could trick fools with mere words.

It was because Roger could lead people to survival.

It wasn't just landmines or missile strikes; in war, the people of Kuwait inevitably faced attacks from multiple armies. Sometimes they were strategic targets, sometimes they were simply in the way, or perhaps the soldiers were so stressed they killed for sport to relieve their tension.

The method Roger used to lead people to survival was not to avoid danger in advance. When the enemy is determined to hunt you down, you cannot avoid them.

The method Roger adopted was...

Holding an AK, he would single-handedly slaughter his way through the enemy lines!

He would relinquish all conscious control of his body, handing all movement over to "premonition," acting before the thought even formed.

It was as if he stood on the far shore of the river of time, gazing at this side, constantly choosing the most correct path.

Amidst a hail of bullets, he would not be touched by a single leaf!

[Prophecy - Ultra Instinct!]

Throughout his battles, unless the enemy was absolute scum that had to be killed, Roger usually held back from lethal force, as wounding the enemy to create casualties caused more psychological and logistical pressure than killing them outright. Yet, the number of people he had killed was likely in the thousands.

False prophets command battles from the rear.

True prophets, once the prophecy is activated, dominate the battlefield!

Roger’s combat style only changed slightly after the "fifth" piece of shrapnel embedded itself in his body, tearing through flesh and shattering his arrogance, making him realize he was not a child of destiny, but a mortal with limits.

Although Voldemort did not know the specific details of Roger’s prophetic ability, he could see that the boy was toying with fate in battle.

...What method could possibly be used to break the Prophet’s techniques?

Voldemort could not help but fall into deep thought.