Chapter 104: New Teaching Aid
Chapter 104: New Teaching Aid
"Temporary", Snape stared into his eyes. "Felix, it's January now, and there are still five months left in the school year. You know what this means."
Felix was speechless. It meant that the young wizards would be without a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for nearly half a year.
But then again, did it matter?
Even if the young wizards were left to study on their own, it would probably be better than when Lockhart was teaching. At least they wouldn't have to waste time on pointless assignments.
"Professor, I've always been curious. Why do you still care so much about this class? Aren't you afraid of the Dark Lord's curse?" Felix was genuinely puzzled.
However, Snape did not answer his question.
Felix thought for a moment and said, "I can ask Dumbledore about it."
He was not skilled in curses, and the course had a history of disastrous outcomes, so he had never considered taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, he was indeed very curious about the 'Dark Lord's curse' and thought he might learn something from Dumbledore.
"By the way, Severus", Felix winked at Snape, "don't forget about tonight's Dueling Class."
Snape gave him a disdainful look. "What do you plan to do?"
"We'll each take a part, focusing on demonstrations. After all, the professors are all here, and I'll invite them individually for the subsequent classes", Felix said somewhat helplessly.
There were four of them: Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Flitwick, himself, and Snape.
Snape nodded and turned to leave.
In the seventh-year class that day, Felix demonstrated the new teaching aid for Ancient Runes to the young wizards.
They watched as Professor Hup spoke enthusiastically from the podium, "Do you see the parchment in front of you? It will play a crucial role in your Newts Exam."
A young wizard raised his hand. "Professor Hup, is this the teaching aid that Flint helped create?"
The young wizards in the room turned their gazes to the tall and muscular Marcus Flint.
There were fewer than twenty students in the seventh-year Ancient Runes class, and they all knew each other well. At that moment, they all looked at Flint with skepticism.
Marcus felt like crying. He had only boasted a little, so why was he being called out on it?
Felix glanced at her and said, "Miss Vera, Flint did indeed participate in the testing of the new teaching aid. Not just him, but ten young wizards in total, each of whom provided valuable suggestions. What you see is the result of their collective efforts."
"Now, let's try it out."
Following the previous instructions, the young wizards placed their wands on the Answer Parchment and whispered, "Rune Secret."
The parchment emitted a soft glow, and a line of text appeared:
'Welcome to Answer Space. Please complete the following operations.'
Ripples spread across the parchment, and the emblems of the four houses appeared: the snake, the badger, the lion, and the eagle.
The emblems were drawn with simple ink lines, making them look vivid and lifelike. The Slytherin serpent slithered back and forth, the Hufflepuff badger stood up and looked around, the Gryffindor lion roared silently, and the Ravenclaw eagle flapped its wings as if about to take flight.
The young wizards gasped in amazement.
Vera, delighted, tapped the eagle. Immediately, the other three animals disappeared, and the Ravenclaw eagle took center stage on the parchment. It flapped its wings, seemingly ascending, and clouds made of ink lines appeared around it.
Finally, the eagle stopped, its sharp gaze fixed ahead. A line of elegant handwriting slowly appeared: "Exceptional wisdom is humanity's greatest treasure."
Almost instantly, Vera fell in love with the parchment. Her brown eyes, behind her thick glasses, sparkled with excitement.
'Is this Professor Hup's creation? Is this an application of Ancient Runes?'
‘This is Ancient Runes!’
Even she hadn’t realized that her understanding of Ancient Runes had gradually shifted toward Felix’s perspective.
A few seconds later, the eagle’s image shrank again and perched on the pattern in the top left corner of the Parchment, looking around with authority and preening its feathers.
In the center of the Parchment, new content appeared: ‘Please use your wand to input Magic and write your name.’
Vera used her wand to neatly write her name—Crema Vera.
After completing this step, the Answer Parchment finally displayed its official interface.
In the top left corner was the eagle representing Ravenclaw, below it was Crema Vera’s name, and the central area was divided into three modules: Owls module, Newts module, and the Error Collection.
Felix nodded in satisfaction. In the final version, he made several significant adjustments.
For example, the activation command changed from the initial “I like Ancient Runes” to the more formal ‘Rune Secret’;
Additionally, he added an information binding section, which included name, house, and Magic identification functions.
The originally planned “leaderboard” feature was temporarily put on hold, partly because there were too few Answer Parchments at the moment, and partly because he wanted to involve other professors.
To achieve these goals, time was needed for development.
After about three or four minutes, the young wizards eagerly followed the Parchment’s instructions and completed the operation.
Many of them started comparing their results.
“Look at my lion, it’s so majestic!”
“The eagle is more beautiful.”
...
“Alright, young wizards,” Felix clapped his hands to get their attention.
Felix explained, “Currently, the Answer Parchment is only used by fifth-year and seventh-year students. You need to select the Newts module. This module contains past exam questions for you to practice and test your knowledge.”
“Of course, I’ve broken down the content so that each test lasts about twenty minutes. You can practice when you have free time.”
“As for the Error Collection module, you can find all the questions you got wrong here.”
The young wizards, experiencing this new gadget for the first time, were eager to try it out. Crema Vera, barely containing her excitement, asked, “Professor Hup, can we try it now?”
Felix, understanding and accommodating, said, “Of course, the next twenty minutes are reserved for you.”
“Oh, right,” he added, “if you don’t like the feedback effects, you can point your wand at them and say ‘Silent’ to turn them off.”
Vera was a bit confused but followed the instructions. She pointed her wand at the ‘Newts module,’ and the Parchment quickly displayed a series of Runic Script questions.
When she completed the first question, a line of golden text appeared on the Parchment:
‘A wise choice.’
She began to understand Professor Hup’s words. As she continued, she encountered various flattering comments.
‘Your answer tickled my heart.’
‘You are the next Runic Script star!’
‘A genius choice!’
These words made Vera feel a mix of embarrassment and excitement, and she couldn’t help but want to see more praise. Time slipped by unnoticed.
However, others didn’t have such a pleasant experience. Most received a mix of praise and criticism, and Marcus faced mostly sarcastic remarks.
He couldn’t help but mutter two names: “Fred Weasley, George Weasley.”
It was all their doing!
In less than ten minutes, Crema Vera was the first to complete the test.
A large ‘O’ appeared on the Parchment, with the eagle circling in the top left corner and fireworks exploding in the background.
She excitedly pumped her fist.
“Very good, Miss Vera, ten points to Ravenclaw!”
At the end of the class, Felix assigned new homework: “Complete three tests and write an essay analyzing the areas where you need to improve based on the questions you got wrong.”
...
In the evening, the Great Hall transformed again, with a gilded dueling platform rising from the ground. The young wizards chatted in small groups.
The third Duelling Class was about to begin.
(End of Chapter)
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