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Chapter 145: Practical Class (Part One)
Chapter 145: Practical Class (Part One)
An ordinary classroom door seemed to separate two distinct worlds.
On one side was the warm, peaceful school, and on the other was a dark, unknown world, where cold drafts occasionally swept through.
The students looked at Professor Hep with a hint of hesitation, as if trying to read something from his expression, but Felix simply met their gazes with an encouraging look.
Penelope couldn't help but swallow hard, and her voice was clearly audible. Percy, who was sitting two seats away from her, asked, "Professor, is it safe? There won't be any danger, right?"
"What? Oh, of course not... Why do you think that?" Felix looked at him with surprise, his gaze sweeping over the other students' faces.
"I see... Don't worry. I did add a few interesting surprises that might startle you, but our class is still about Ancient Runes, not Dark Magic defense."
"Go ahead, I'll be right behind you."
The male and female wizards filed in one by one, with Felix closing the classroom door behind them.
Bang!
...
In this mysterious space, the lighting was dim, making it difficult to gauge the exact size of the area.
Faint sounds reached their ears: the wind, crows cawing, insects chirping, and some peculiar, rustling noises.
More than thirty students huddled together, standing in place, unsure of what to do, waiting for the professor's instructions. Only about seven or eight of them raised their wands and cast Lumos, using the magical light to examine their surroundings.
Felix shook his head, and the next moment, his voice echoed from above, coming from the ceiling—
"Young wizards, you are now Ministry of Magic staff from 150 years ago, skilled in Runic Script. Your mission is to inspect the surrounding area, eliminate any dangers, and retrieve valuable manuscripts."
"You must act professionally, being cautious but not missing any clues. Magic Manuscripts won't be sitting out in the open. Knowledge can take many forms. Trust me, there's a lot here for you to explore."
"Now, take out your wands, and if necessary, use parchment to take notes. I'll be watching you."
Then, the voice disappeared.
After a brief silence...
"Ahem!" Percy cleared his throat, raising his wand to draw attention from the others. "I think this is a test from the professor, and we should give him a satisfactory answer. As a prefect, I'm willing to lead everyone..."
"But I'm not the only prefect here!" A Slytherin student chimed in, and amidst the chaotic chatter, the students quickly divided into four groups based on their houses.
Twelve from Ravenclaw, seven from Gryffindor, five from Slytherin, and nine from Hufflepuff.
The other three houses each had a prefect, and Hufflepuff had selected a wizard with considerable authority. They gathered around a stone and discussed what to do next.
"We should explore the boundaries of this place. It's clear the professor has used an Undetectable Extension Charm, so it can't be too large."
"With all due respect, I think we should find the Safe Room the professor mentioned and retrieve the manuscripts as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay here a second longer!"
"Do you want to split up?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, whatever we do, it's best to act together."
...
Percy advocated for a thorough exploration of the surroundings and a clear division of tasks, with each student focusing on their assigned role. However, the Slytherin prefect strongly disagreed, insisting that they should focus on finding the Safe Room as quickly as possible. "That's the key information the professor provided!"
The other two houses had their own opinions. Penelope supported Percy, while Hufflepuff suggested they stay together and not split up.
Ten minutes passed quietly.
But the opinions remained divided. In the end, they decided to act as separate house groups, with one person left behind to signal every ten breaths by releasing a red spark into the sky. After ten signals, they would release a green spark, and everyone would return to share their findings.
Gryffindor and Ravenclaw walked together, and to maintain a balance in numbers, Slytherin and Hufflepuff moved as a group.
"Everyone, repeat after me: Lumos!" Percy said.
Beams of light emerged from the darkness, and a patch of starlight appeared in the distance, providing some comfort to both groups.
They chose a random direction and pressed forward, initially cautious and taking careful steps. However, the occasional cawing of crows that flew by made them uneasy, and they involuntarily quickened their pace.
Percy's voice trembled slightly as he said, "We are just students; we won't encounter any unusual dangers. At most, we might run into some small traps or something..."
Penelope's calm voice reassured them, "We are simply participating in a special practical lesson that won't last more than two hours."
The young wizards felt slightly more at ease.
"Wait! What's that over there?" Quidditch Captain Wood pointed ahead.
"Is it a pile of stones?" Percy squinted and looked into the distance.
"No, it's, it's gravestones!" Wood's voice faltered.
In the dim light, rows of gravestones, darker than the night itself, stood tall.
After a brief moment of panic, they gathered a group of five to investigate.
"Don't worry, there won't be any danger", Percy said, though his words lacked conviction.
The five of them cautiously approached the gravestones, their feet sinking into the soft earth and occasionally snapping twigs. In the silence, Percy suddenly said, "Penelope, you should stay behind."
"I'm a prefect!" Penelope retorted.
"But—"
"Oh, come on, you two", the burly Wood turned around. "Save your romantic arguments for later. We're busy right now."
"Who, who said we were a couple?" They both stared at him, wide-eyed.
"I'm not that stupid..." Wood muttered.
Percy and Penelope fell silent, and even the sudden croaking of frogs seemed less frightening.
In the slightly awkward atmosphere, they entered the graveyard.
"Look at this!" Wood pointed to a gravestone. "There's some Runic Script on it. It seems to be—"
"What does it say?" Percy held his wand up to get a better look.
"We, we are waiting for you here..." Wood swallowed hard.
"Thump!"
Just then, they heard a strange noise. From the soil in front of Wood's gravestone, something emerged.
Percy's eyes widened. It was a hand!
"Run, Wood!" He raised his wand and cast a Crushing Curse.
Wood nimbly jumped aside, and there was a sharp crack behind him. When he turned to look, the bony arm had shattered into pieces.
"Aaaah!" Penelope let out a scream as something grabbed her ankle. She struggled and broke free, but her ankle was still clasped by a pale, bony hand.
"Penelope!"
Percy shouted, and then watched in horror as Penelope ran a few steps, gritted her teeth, and cast a series of spells: "Reducio", "Incendio." The intense flames illuminated a corner of the graveyard, and the ground exploded into a large crater under the spell's effect.
After about thirty seconds—
A group of people ran up, panting heavily. They looked around in confusion: Percy and Penelope were locked in a passionate kiss, while the other two wizards awkwardly looked away. Wood, with a look of disgust, kicked a skeleton with a missing arm far away.
The skeleton was a peculiar sight, about half the height of a human, with short limbs and an abnormally large head that almost took up half its body.
The Big-Headed Skeleton's mouth was stretched wide, and it emitted a human-like "gurgle, gurgle" sound as it clumsily tried to get up from the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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