Chapter 497: Study Group Practice
Chapter 497: Study Group Practice (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
Everything went smoothly in the classes following this week. Liam spent an evening at the Room of Requirement to investigate the Vanishing Cabinet. His examination confirmed that someone had checked on the cabinet within the past few days, indicating that a plot was about to unfold.
However, Harry surprised everyone in Potions this week. Apart from Liam, who chose to use Alchemy to cheat, Harry became the student with the highest potion-making skills in the class. Slughorn praised Harry's abilities, saying he rarely taught such a talented student.
Naturally, Harry shared the secret of the Half-Blood Prince's textbook with his allies who had fought in the Battle of the Ministry. After reading it, Liam was full of praise for Snape's talent during his student days. "Without a solid grasp of Alchemy's fundamental analytical methods, completing these potion improvements would require an extremely detailed understanding of all the ingredients, as well as ample inspiration and keen observational skills. It demands a high level of personal ability."
"Then the Half-Blood Prince is likely a girl", Ron said whimsically on Saturday evening after dinner, after listening to Liam's analysis from the previous week.
"Cissy Snape, perhaps?" Liam muttered under his breath, while Harry firmly denied it. "He calls himself 'Half-Blood Prince.' How many girls call themselves princes?"
At this point, Liam looked up at the grandfather clock in the corner of the Common Room and said to Hermione, "It's 7:10. We need to go to the Study Group meeting. It's the first one of the year, so we might need to clean up a bit." After saying goodbye, he and Hermione left the Common Room, watched by Harry and Ron.
The House-Elves of Hogwarts were indeed diligent. Even after a holiday, the classroom used for the meeting was spotless and well-organized, showing that they maintained the school's facilities even when no one was around.
Soon, all the Reading Club members had gathered. There were significant changes this year. The Weasley Twins, having graduated, could no longer attend the meetings, but they didn't leave the club; instead, they became sponsors. Additionally, the chaos at the Ministry of Magic last year had attracted many new members. After some selection, three new people joined the Study Group this year: the Creevey Brothers, who wanted to find another place to study since Harry no longer held D.A. meetings, and Hermione's roommate, Angela Marcus, who had short, neat blonde hair.
Angela Marcus's addition was a small surprise. Last semester, Hermione needed to write about Muggle combat for the magazine "Look, This is a Muggle", but struggled to do so. Angela, fresh out of the bathroom, saw Hermione's problem and helped her. Since then, their relationship had significantly improved. After observing Angela for half a semester, Hermione invited her to join the Study Group at the start of this term. According to Hermione, in the current situation, a Muggle-born wizard from a military family like Angela would be the most needed type of person.
After introducing the new members, it was time for the regular question-and-answer session. The lower-year students didn't have many questions, but each fifth-year student and above had a lot of questions to ask. Fortunately, after so much time working together, everyone had learned to help each other, so the number of questions that needed Liam and the others to solve was not too many. After an hour, all the questions were resolved, and it was time for the practical session.
"Today's practical exercise is a large-scale melee. I know that even in Dark Magic Defense class, practice is usually one-on-one. In the past, this was fine because ordinary people typically engage in magical combat one-on-one, and Aurors and Hit Wizards receive specialized training before taking their posts. However, given the current dire situation, I believe everyone needs to adapt to melee combat to increase their chances of surviving in real battles."
"Why are we talking about escaping?" Neville asked, his tone puzzled. "Shouldn't we be fighting?"
"I wish everyone here had the ability to fight Death Eaters", Hermione explained, stepping forward. "But based on our experience at the Ministry of Magic last year, most of us can only contribute by escaping as quickly as possible to avoid distracting those who are actually fighting to protect us."
"We're not that bad, are we?" Justin Finch-Fletchley, who had earned an O in his O.W.L. for Defense Against the Dark Arts, interjected. "At least we should be able to contribute something in a fight."
"Is that so?" Liam smiled. "To be blunt, Hermione and I are about evenly matched with Death Eaters. How about we give you a taste of what that's like? Hermione and I will face all of you here. Anyone who wants to challenge us can step up."
"You mean just the two of you?" Neville asked, sounding disbelieving. "And we can all attack at once?"
"Exactly", Liam nodded. "I want you to experience what it's like to face a real Dark Wizard, so you can avoid unnecessary casualties." As he spoke, Liam thought about the Creevey brothers, who had died in the final battle in the original story. Since they were now part of the Study Group, Liam hoped they would survive. It was crucial for every member to understand what real combat entailed.
After hearing Liam's words, every member was eager to participate. They decided to engage in the challenge as a group.
"We'll need a larger space", Liam said. Fortunately, all the rooms on both sides of the corridor were empty. After blocking off both ends of the corridor, Liam and Hermione spent fifteen minutes preparing the area, adding obstacles to transform the corridor and the empty rooms into a suitable grounds for the challenge.
"Alright, you can go in first. In five minutes, we'll step into the corridor, and the fight will begin. The situation in the Hall of Prophecy at the Ministry of Magic was similar, so take this practice seriously", Hermione explained to the Study Group members as they watched her and Liam set up. Then, they retreated to the entrance of the corridor and began timing.
Miss Marcus was chosen as the organizer. In the short five minutes, she couldn't make detailed arrangements, so Angela simply divided everyone into four groups, assigned positions, and gave them basic instructions.
When the five minutes were up, Liam and Hermione appeared from the corner at the end of the corridor, wands at the ready. As soon as they stepped in, several beams of magic erupted from both sides, heading straight for them.
"Intriguing. As expected of Angela, who comes from a military family. She has a natural talent for combat and organized the group effectively by placing most of them on the front line to maximize their attack power. This is the best way to utilize the skills of new wizards", Liam thought, waving his wand in a circle and sidestepping to avoid the spells. A translucent barrier the size of a palm appeared in front of him, blocking a Stunning Spell he couldn't dodge.
"Can an Armor Charm be used like that?" Neville asked, eyes wide with surprise, before trying to direct the small group of wizards with him to launch an attack.
However, Liam and Hermione were faster. As the young wizards finished casting their spells and were still deciding whether to hide or continue attacking, they saw Liam and Hermione quickly wave their wands, releasing several spells in rapid succession.
The spells were incredibly fast, and the ambushing young wizards didn't have time to react. They were hit by a combination of Disarming Charms and Stunning Spells, falling to the ground one by one. Within less than a minute of entering the corridor, Liam and Hermione had successfully defeated most of the Study Group members. Only Zhang Qiu, Angela, Justin, and Luna remained.
(End of Chapter)
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