Chapter 1225: The Secret Broadcast
Chapter 1225: The Secret Broadcast
"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked, her face filled with concern as she looked at Harry's dejected expression.
"Not really," Harry replied, popping a candy into his mouth in hopes that the Cheering Charm would lift his spirits. He had been taking potions to help him stay calm during his visits with Professor Slughorn, but they didn't seem to be working very well. In fact, he suspected that Professor Slughorn was aware of his intentions and was simply playing along.
This constant game of wits and pretenses was exhausting for Harry, and he couldn't help but feel frustrated, especially with the nagging thought that all his efforts might end up being a joke. The idea of Professor Slughorn ruthlessly rejecting him after all this time was enough to make Harry worry about losing control of his emotions.
"Don't worry, you'll definitely succeed," Hermione whispered soothingly.
"To be honest, I'm getting tired of hearing that," Harry said, chewing on the candy. He popped a few Calming Draughts into his mouth to suppress the agitation bubbling inside him. "You all think I can succeed, but I have no confidence in myself. It's annoying to have such high expectations."
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but stopped.
"You should be going to Albert instead of me. He's the one who can make your wonderful expectations come true," Harry added, feeling the weight of everyone's hopes pressing down on him. He hated that feeling.
"Harry..." Hermione trailed off, watching Harry's dejected figure as he turned away. She hurried after him, not offering any more words of comfort, but simply following him silently as he made his way to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.
Indeed, there was no better place to vent one's frustrations than the Room of Requirement.
However, to their surprise, the stone door of the Room of Requirement was once again unresponsive.
"Damn it, why can't I get in again?" Harry slammed his fist against the door in frustration. He pulled out a bottle from his pocket and swallowed all the Calming Draughts inside, finally managing to soothe his frayed emotions.
"I have some Butterbeer, maybe it'll cheer you up a bit," Hermione suddenly suggested.
"Where did you get Butterbeer?" Harry turned to her, curious.
"It's for the Wizarding Duelling Club competition. But it won't hurt to finish one bottle early," Hermione explained.
She had been the one helping with the preparations for this year's club competition, and without her, the club would probably have fallen apart long ago due to Luna's lack of involvement.
Changing the subject, Harry asked, "How's the Wizarding Duelling Club doing?"
"Not great," Hermione admitted. "Luna basically leaves it unattended, and the members aren't very enthusiastic about the monthly gatherings anymore. Our once large membership has dwindled, and we barely managed to get enough participants for this year's competition."
Hermione didn't quite understand why Albert had chosen Luna for this role. If it had been her, things would definitely have been better.
"Who knows? That guy always likes to be mysterious. Don't bother trying to guess what he's thinking," Harry said with a shrug.
On their way back to the Gryffindor common room, they ran into Ginny, who was hurrying out of an empty classroom, followed closely by Dean.
"What are you two doing here?" Dean asked, a little embarrassed.
"Nothing," Harry replied, and they exchanged awkward smiles before Dean rushed off after Ginny.
"Maybe I should make a rule that Quidditch players can't date each other," Harry said, frowning as he watched the two of them leave.
"It seems like romance is just not in the air today," Hermione remarked.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.
"Ron and Lavender broke up," Hermione explained.
"Oh, so Ron finally got rid of Lavender," Harry said, not entirely surprised.
"Yes, they broke up peacefully while you were with Professor Slughorn. Ron's words really touched her, and she said she's willing to wait," Hermione said, glancing at Harry and smirking.
"She believed him?" Harry felt a twinge of guilt.
"We didn't lie to her," Hermione said calmly. "None of us can be sure we'll survive the harsh Wizarding War."
After a brief silence, Harry nodded in agreement.
As they stepped through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room, they found it eerily quiet. Most of the Gryffindor students were sitting silently in their chairs, as if waiting for something.
Harry looked around and noticed Ron and Neville fiddling with a radio, apparently trying to tune it to a specific station.
Soon, a familiar voice came through the radio.
"Today's program is a little special," said Lee Jordan. "Yesterday, Albert found time to give us another lesson."
"...Everyone must be curious about what was taught..."
"But before that, we need to introduce today's special guest, a decades-long expert in the Auror profession: Professor Moody.
"I think many Hogwarts students should know him."
This time, it was George's voice.
"Do they have their secret broadcast today?"
Harry and Hermione stood next to Ron, listening intently to the content coming from the radio. They were surprised by the content of Albert's "Defense Association," as it was a little different from what they had imagined.
Instead of teaching complex spells or advanced techniques, Professor Anderson was instructing them on the most basic and common knowledge.
"I have to say, Mr. Anderson's lecture is very practical," Professor Moody commented. "He knows exactly what you need."
"Do you also think we need to learn these basics?" Lee Jordan asked eagerly.
"Yes," Moody continued, "these fundamentals are even more important than fancy spells. Of course, some people may overlook one thing—even if you want to learn, you still need to have a certain foundation."
"Why?" Fred asked on everyone's behalf.
"Most witches and wizards in the British magical community have not received systematic combat training. Sending them to fight against Dark Wizards is a joke and a death sentence," Moody cleared his throat. "To be blunt, many students, even after graduating from Hogwarts, don't know what combat is. It's not about casting the Stunning Spell and thinking you can fight; that's no different from waving a wooden stick around."
"Of course, this has to do with the content of the Dark Arts Defense classes, which tend to focus more on knowledge. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but this knowledge lays the foundation, and Hogwarts has never really taught students how to fight against enemies."
"So, you also agree with Mr. Anderson's training methods?"
"Yes. With the most basic training, one can at least become a qualified warrior and have the ability to resist danger when encountering it."
"Why doesn't the Ministry of Magic do that?" George asked.
"They are working on it, but progress is slow," Moody explained.
"I heard Harry holds DA gatherings at Hogwarts, teaching everyone how to fight."
"To be honest, the DA gatherings can be quite useful, but when it comes to teaching Dark Arts Defense..." Moody paused, then continued, "I'd say the biggest benefit of these gatherings is that they teach clueless students to pick up their wands and resist. Maybe they're not qualified warriors, but they've taken the first step."
"Is that because they lack formal training?" George asked again.
"No, it's because most students are still in the process of learning spells," Moody said calmly. "Just like infants learning to speak, they're just starting out and need to lay a solid foundation first."
"...It can be embarrassing when your spells miss the target during a duel, so it's necessary to train your spell accuracy and do basic exercises."
"Harry, should we also..." Neville turned to Harry, seeking his opinion.
"We don't have that much time, and I think at this stage, we should focus on learning more useful magic," Harry shook his head in refusal. Of course, he knew that what was being said on the radio made sense, but sometimes it wasn't that they didn't want to learn, but that they hadn't reached that level yet.
When most people couldn't even cast a spell properly, blindly pursuing accuracy was meaningless. Take the Disillusionment Charm, for example, which Albert considered very important. As "Mad-Eye" had said, most wizards couldn't even use the Disillusionment Charm effectively, so how could they be expected to use it skillfully in combat?
That level of difficulty was beyond Harry's imagination.
"I think he teaches you these things to broaden your horizons, especially when it comes to combat. It's absolutely foolish to just shoot spells at each other."
Professor Moody's lecture continued to play on the radio.
"While this is true for one-on-one duels, the experience required for combat is even more stringent. To us, most wizard duels look like two people fighting with sticks."
Listening to the radio, Ron said glumly, "I feel like such an idiot!"
"Of course, you don't need to worry because most people in the British magical community are at this level."
"Mr. Anderson's teachings must have struck a chord with you because he is a top dueling master himself, able to explain these things clearly to you."
"In fact, I think Minister Scrimgeour should hire him as an Auror trainer."
"Why not as a Dark Arts Defense professor?" Lee Jordan asked curiously.
"Hogwarts students need to build a strong foundation. They don't need to know everything, but to become a qualified Auror, certain skills are essential." Moody calmly continued, "Of course, we must acknowledge that Albert would be a good teacher. You always hear him teaching you how to protect yourselves, and Dark Arts Defense is undoubtedly the most important subject in that regard. We learn it primarily to protect ourselves, not to harm others."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
