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Chapter 121: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Chapter 121: Defense Against the Dark Arts
A new day dawned, and Damocles Belby, after a hearty breakfast, set off to his first class with a cheerful heart.
Following Felix’s advice, he had visited twelve former Defense Against the Dark Arts professors after his discussion with Dumbledore. This gave him firsthand information about the rumored curse.
According to these seasoned professors, the curse’s effects were extremely subtle, almost imperceptible, but after about six months, some hidden forces began to exert influence, often leading to seemingly coincidental mishaps.
As time went on, these mishaps became more frequent.
Their advice to Belby was, “When you encounter an unexpected failure while brewing a potion, it’s time to start preparing your departure.”
Belby took this advice to heart.
In the remaining days, he began to prepare his lessons diligently.
...
‘Today is the second-year class. They should already be capable of handling Redcaps, but I’d better play it safe.’ Belby’s heart raced with a mix of excitement and nervousness as he thought about his first class.
When he appeared at the classroom door, the young wizards, who had been chatting, fixed their eyes on him.
The professor was of average appearance, tall and thin, looking somewhat frail, but he was using magic to levitate two large cages covered with cloths, which piqued their interest.
Their expectations were already quite low.
The professor stood at the door and beckoned them. “Follow me, young wizards. Today’s class is a practical one, and I need to assess your combat skills.” He directed the floating cages to disappear through the doorway. “Oh, and don’t forget your wands.”
The young wizards scrambled to gather their things, exchanging curious glances.
They hadn’t had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class in a long time, unless they counted the memorable one earlier in the year when Gilderoy Lockhart brought a cage full of Cornish Pixies, turning the classroom into chaos.
“Do you know what I’m reminded of?” Ron said, hinting at something.
“Those sullen little faces won’t be this quiet,” Harry replied, drawing from his experience.
During that practical class, the three of them had cleaned up the mess, recapturing the Cornish Pixies back into the cage, with Hermione’s freezing charm being particularly helpful.
They walked down the corridor to a quiet, empty classroom.
Belby placed the metal cages in a corner, from which came a low, squeaking sound. Neville, who was at the front, took a step back, fearing that whatever was inside might grab his ears and fly up to the ceiling.
“Can you guess what it might be?” Harry asked.
“It sounds a bit like a Kneazle,” Ron speculated.
“But Kneazles should be in the Care of Magical Creatures class; they’re not dangerous,” Hermione pointed out.
“I just hope it’s not an Acromantula,” Ron said hopefully, thinking of Hagrid’s Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest, which made him want to crack open Hagrid’s thick skull to understand his reasoning.
This information came to light during their investigation of the Chamber of Secrets. When Hagrid later saw the photos Hermione had found about Acromantulas, he couldn’t help but feel resentful.
“He even named it Aragog!”
Belby looked around the classroom, reminiscing about his own school days—though they weren’t particularly pleasant, as he hadn’t fit in well.
He reintroduced himself. “Many of you may not know me. My name is Damocles Belby. I have a good grasp of potions, but I’m also fully qualified to teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“In some ways, I have an advantage. I reviewed the second-year textbook, and you’ll be learning about counter-curses and how to properly handle low-risk magical creatures. I happen to be quite familiar with them from my potion-brewing experience…”
He made a joke, but the young wizards seemed to be frozen in place.
Ron whispered to Harry, “I bet Hagrid won’t like him.” But he had a sudden idea and felt a strong urge to introduce Aragog to this new professor.
Harry agreed; if anyone dared to use Hagrid's "little darlings" as potion ingredients, he would surely go mad.
After introducing himself, Belby called out names from the list, memorizing the young wizards' names one by one.
"Millicent Bersted."
"Neville Longbottom."
...
"Ron Weasley."
After the roll call, the young wizards raised their hands with curious questions, having already received various true and false information—
"Professor, did you receive the Order of Merlin?"
"Yes, just this month."
"Are you a potion master?"
"That's what others call me."
"What is Wolfsbane Potion?"
"It's a potion that alleviates the symptoms werewolves experience during the full moon."
"Who is stronger, you or Professor Snape?" This question came from a Gryffindor, and the Slytherins glared at him angrily.
"Well... we have different areas of expertise, so there's no point in comparing."
A few minutes later, Belby realized he couldn't let these scatterbrained young wizards ask questions randomly. They seemed to want him to challenge Snape for the title of Hogwarts' top potion master.
Belby cleared his throat and said, "Today, we'll review what you've learned. Redcap, I'll ask a few questions, and if you answer correctly, you'll earn bonus points—"
"Professor!"
A young wizard interrupted him, "What is a Redcap?"
Belby was taken aback, "Uh... a Redcap is a type of magical creature similar to a gnome, found in Northern Europe. Wait!" He looked at the confused faces below, "You haven't learned about Redcaps?"
The response was a uniform shake of heads and sighs.
Belby paused, feeling uneasy. He called on a student, "What have you learned?"
Seamus Finnigan stood up and said something nonsensical, "Professor, we learned how to play vampires." He unbuttoned his outer robe to use as a cape, bared his teeth, and put on a haughty noble expression.
Several young wizards laughed.
"That's amusing, but not the answer I was looking for."
Finally, Hermione raised her hand and explained their learning situation to the bewildered new professor.
"So, apart from the first lesson on house-elves, you haven't had any practical classes at all?" Belby was completely dumbfounded.
He had indeed inquired about this class and was prepared, but no one told him that Defense Against the Dark Arts, a prestigious subject, had no practical component?
It took him about half a minute to recover, "Alright, then... let's learn about Redcaps today."
He waved his wand, lifting the curtain over the cage.
The creature inside startled them. It was a short, emaciated being with a layer of red fur on its head and dirty, dark brown skin exposed elsewhere.
"You can come closer to observe", Belby said.
The young wizards mustered their courage and approached, examining this intimidating creature—
They were huddled in the cage, baring their teeth at the young wizards. Suddenly, one of the Redcaps slammed its claw against the magically reinforced metal bars.
"Bang!" The cage bars made a loud noise but remained intact.
The young wizards were still startled.
Harry clearly saw that its claws were disproportionately large, with nails at least an inch and a half long.
Belby's explanation came, "Notice their claws? I'm sure someone has noticed. Their front limbs are very dexterous, allowing them to use simple tools like branches, sticks, and stones."
"Redcaps are attracted to fresh blood. Besides hunting normally, if they encounter lone Muggles or young wizards in the wild, they will ambush them from behind. Today, we'll learn how to deal with them—"
(End of Chapter)
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