Chapter 477: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Chapter 477: Defense Against the Dark Arts
The next morning, the relentless storm that had raged throughout the day finally abated.
Kyle and Kona made their way to the Great Hall, perusing their new schedules for the year as they enjoyed their breakfast.
"Look, we don't have Potions class for the next few days!" exclaimed Mikkel, as if he had just discovered a new continent, his voice filled with excitement.
"Neither do we," Cedric replied, spreading out his schedule. "Let me see... Ah, our first Potions class is next Wednesday."
"Same here!" chimed in Hannah from beside them. "Our first class is on Friday next week."
Intrigued, Cedric stood up and walked along the long table to the end, only to find that regardless of the year, none of the students had Potions class for the entire week.
In fact, his year was one of the earliest to have their first Potions class.
But today was only Tuesday; including the weekend, that was eight days without a single Potions class. It was odd that one year had no classes, but for all seven years to have none was unusual.
"Kona, do you know anything about this?" Cedric inquired quietly. "Has Professor Snape not come to school?"
"He has some other matters to attend to, and he might be a few days late," Kona replied. "Professor Dumbledore visited him shortly after the holidays began, and he hasn't left his house much since then, and he doesn't let me in... So I'm not sure what's going on either."
As she finished speaking, Kona glanced subconsciously at Kyle, who was drinking pumpkin juice.
She felt that Kyle probably knew why Dumbledore had visited Snape that day. After all, during the Quidditch World Cup, he had clearly known that house-elf and had seemed quite familiar with it.
However, seeing that Kyle remained silent and continued eating, she decided not to bring it up.
The others were similarly disinterested, their only concern being that they didn't have to attend Potions class for a week.
That good news was enough for them.
Mikkel happily drank a large mouthful of pumpkin juice, as if it were a glass of celebratory champagne.
Just then, the sound of flapping wings filled the air above them, and a hundred owls flew into the hall through the open windows, delivering the morning mail.
A brown owl dropped a copy of the Prophet onto the table.
Kyle poured some cornflakes for the owl before opening the newspaper to read.
The front page still featured the events of the Quidditch World Cup... A former Ministry of Magic employee, Yaxley, had been sent to Azkaban for using the Unforgivable Curses.
The article also included details of his trial, and from the accompanying photos, it was evident that Yaxley was agitated, continuously roaring and shouting. His usually well-groomed hair was now disheveled, resembling the old brooms in the school's broom closet.
But to no avail, as the second photo showed him being dragged away by an Auror.
"Ha, I knew they wouldn't get away with it," commented Cedric from beside him. "Bill told me someone had cast two Cruciatus Curses on Mr. Weasley. It must have been him."
"No doubt about it," Kyle agreed, folding up the newspaper and glancing up at the Slytherin table.
Draco Malfoy was also reading the Prophet, and it was clear that he wasn't in a good mood. His face was paler than usual, and Crabbe and Goyle looked much the same.
They had never taken their eyes off their food during mealtimes before, but today, they were fixated on the newspaper, their meals left untouched.
After breakfast, the group set off together for their first class.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts..." Kona mused. "I wonder what Professor Moody is like."
"He should be good," replied Cedric, walking alongside her. "Professor Moody is a legendary Auror. It's said that half of the prisoners in Azkaban were caught by him. Someone like that must be truly skilled.
On the third floor, Cedric parted ways with them as he had Transfiguration first period.
Kyle and the others headed in a different direction.
Even though class hadn't started yet, quite a few students were already seated in the classroom, indicating everyone's interest in this Professor Moody's lesson.
Kyle found a row of empty seats at the back of the classroom and sat down, taking out their copy of 'Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' to wait.
Soon, they heard the distinctive clunking footsteps of Professor Moody approaching from the corridor.
The previously noisy classroom instantly fell silent, the atmosphere turning solemn.
Just before the class bell rang, Professor Moody entered the room. His blue magical eye spun rapidly, and his appearance was just as bizarre and frightening as it had been at the banquet the night before.
"Put your books away," he said in a hoarse voice. "I flipped through it last night, and there's not a single useful thing in here. It's passable for third-years and below, but you lot don't need it."
Everyone quickly put their books away, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
Past experience told them that any professor who had them put away their books on the first day undoubtedly had an excellent course in store.
For instance, Professor Flitwick in their first year and Professor Lupin last year...
Moody walked to the front of the class and took out a roll sheet to start taking attendance. His normal eye moved down the list, while his magical eye kept spinning, fixing on each student as they answered.
"Alright," he said after the last student answered. "Before I came here, I received a letter from Professor Lupin introducing this course.
First, let me say that I don't intend to belittle him, but I don't understand why Lupin would waste a whole year teaching you how to deal with those dark creatures... In my opinion, that should be a second-year topic.
After all, those dark wizards aren't stupid enough to go around carrying a few creatures with them. They have wands!"
Kyle twitched his mouth, feeling a bit offended.
What's so stupid about having magical creatures? It's not like they're eating your family's cow legs... You'd never dare say that to Newt's face.
Kyle grumbled internally.
Unaware of Kyle's thoughts, Professor Moody continued, "But since I'm here, it's my responsibility to show you the ways of wizard dueling... how to deal with curses."
The students immediately straightened in their seats, displaying an eager attitude. To be honest, they were a bit tired of constantly learning about dark creatures.
"Then let's begin," he said with a hoarse laugh. "Curses come in many forms and vary in magical power. They include legal spells and illegal dark spells, also known as black magic... Now, who can tell me which black magic curses you know of?"
A Gryffindor student raised his hand. "I know one: the Cruciatus Curse."
"Yes, one of the Unforgivable Curses, the most evil of black magic. If someone is found to have used this curse on another witch or wizard, they will spend the rest of their life in Azkaban."
Moody's mouth twisted into a sinister smile. "I bet you read about this in the newspaper today, didn't you?"
The student nodded.
"That's a perfect example," Moody scoffed. "That foolish man, claiming he was hit with the Imperius Curse. Such a clumsy lie, I could tell it was fake without even being there.
Oh, by the way, the Imperius Curse is also one of the Unforgivable Curses... Miss Marian, I'm sure you're very knowledgeable about this topic. Could you tell me the name of the last Unforgivable Curse?"
(End of Chapter)
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