Chapter 501: Learning to Fight
Chapter 501: Learning to Fight (Seeking Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
On the second Saturday of the school term, Liam arrived early at the Study Group meeting. Today was the day when the Reading Club members would decide whether or not to learn how to fight. Perhaps because of this, everyone else also arrived earlier than usual. Once he saw that everyone was present, Liam decided to start the meeting early.
To his surprise, everyone chose to learn how to fight. When asked why, Zhang Qiu's response was the most representative. "I don't like war, but the problem is that even if I don't seek out war, war is coming to me. In this situation, learning some fighting skills seriously could at least help me and the people I care about survive this brutal war."
Indeed, surviving is such a small wish. Yet, even this tiny wish is hard to fulfill in war. Liam sighed silently and then nodded to the group. "I will teach you how to fight. These methods may not be powerful, and they might even seem insignificant. But I promise they are the experiences distilled from countless bloody wars, and they will help you survive this war."
After quickly addressing the academic issues, Liam and Hermione took turns to lead the Reading Club members in practical combat training. They also taught them some combat-appropriate magic, such as a simplified version of Professor Mcgonagall's technique for controlling flames.
Everyone practiced diligently, and the new magic sometimes caused minor injuries. However, the students who were hurt just applied a bit of the elixirs Liam provided and continued practicing. They only stopped when it was nearly curfew. After reminding everyone to be careful during their practice, Liam stood at the podium and watched as everyone left. He then packed up his things and stepped out of the classroom, where Hermione was waiting for him by the door.
"I feel like this kind of practice is quite dangerous. Everyone is too eager", Hermione said worriedly as they walked back to the Common Room. "Can we try to slow them down a bit next time? After all, they are just students, and this kind of training puts too much pressure on them."
"I don't think that's a problem, and I actually think it's good that they are practicing like this", Liam said in a low voice. "Our Reading Club members either have parents who are Muggles, like the Creevey brothers, or are destined to face the Dark Lord, like Neville. In the current situation, they might need to step onto the battlefield at any moment to protect themselves or the people they care about. I believe they need to improve their skills quickly. As for safety, we just need to be more careful and try to minimize their injuries."
"Damn Dark Wizards, I can't understand why they would attack the weak and defenseless. These people pose no threat to them", Hermione clenched her fists and spat out the words.
"Because this is war. War never changes", Liam sighed. "That's why we have to get our hands dirty, hoping that it will help more innocent people survive."
The war affected everyone. The next morning, they noticed that Hannah Abbott was in low spirits during breakfast. Upon asking, they learned that Eloyse Midgeon had withdrawn from Hogwarts, and her father had moved the entire family to America.
This wasn't the only case. The night before, Hermione had heard in her dormitory that Parvati Patil was also preparing to leave Hogwarts. Her father felt that Britain was unsafe and planned to take them back to India. However, she and her twin sister didn't want to leave the school because, compared to a homeland they had never returned to, Britain was their true home.
Of course, many people had valid reasons for leaving. While Liam was eating breakfast, Neville approached and handed him a short, open letter. It was from Hannah Abbott.
In the letter, Hannah told Neville that she was woken up by Professor Sprout at two in the morning and taken directly to St. Mungo's. Her mother had been attacked at home and managed to escape with severe injuries, and was brought here for emergency treatment. She had only just come out of life-threatening danger half an hour ago. Therefore, she would need to take a leave of absence for an extended period to care for her mother at St. Mungo's.
Neville showed the letter to Liam because Hannah expressed her gratitude to Liam in a very appreciative tone at the end. Thanks to Liam, her mother had purchased the highest-grade protective bracelet in time. During the attack, the bracelet had deflected two spells, allowing her mother to activate an emergency escape mechanism and escape. Without the bracelet, her mother would likely have been killed yesterday.
After saying goodbye to the relieved Neville, Hermione mentioned that she needed to finish reading the Advanced Transfiguration book she had borrowed from the Library's Restricted Section yesterday. So Liam had no choice but to head to the Quidditch Pitch alone with his classmates to watch this year's Gryffindor Team tryouts. On the way, they saw Ron, who was participating in the tryouts, interacting with Lavender from a distance. However, by the time Liam arrived, all the participants were already on the grounds, so he shrugged and climbed up to the stands.
The initial tryouts were not very exciting, with a group of first-year students who couldn't even fly. Seeing that no one was nearby, Liam pulled out a Mithril Plate from his Dimensional Bag and began etching it. Due to the war, many places required large quantities of alchemical consumables, so he planned to create an Alchemy Table capable of mass-producing low-level alchemical products. The Mithril Plate he was etching was the core Alchemical Array Plate for the table.
Just as Liam finished etching the Magic Power Flow Lines, he felt someone sit down next to him. Turning his head, he saw that Hermione had just arrived from the castle.
"Looks like I made it just in time", Hermione said, looking toward the center of the grounds. "Harry hasn't selected all the team members yet."
At that moment, the final Keeper tryout was underway, and Cormac Mclaggen managed to save five balls in a row. Fortunately, with Lavender's encouragement, Ron also saved five balls.
"Ron, come on, I believe you're the best!" Lavender cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. At the sound of her voice, Ron, who was hovering in the air, looked down. When he saw who was cheering, his face turned from green to red, and he seemed incredibly invigorated.
"This is it", Liam said to Hermione, as Ron was a player whose performance was heavily influenced by his emotions. In his current excited state, Ron was at his best.
Sure enough, in the subsequent competition, Cormac Mclaggen made a mistake on the 11th ball, and Ron secured the Keeper position. Liam and Hermione then came down from the stands to congratulate him.
After leaving the Quidditch Pitch, Harry and Ron decided to visit Hagrid. Although Hagrid wasn't angry that they hadn't signed up for his class this year, Harry still felt it was necessary to visit him. Liam, as he did last weekend, used Hermione as a cover to run to the Centaur Village in the Forbidden Forest to treat the new Werewolf Lupin had brought.
This time, the Werewolf was a former Auror named William, so after the treatment, he only needed a little guidance from Lupin to quickly adapt to using his Giant Wolf form. Taking advantage of this time, Lupin mentioned a concern he had been having recently.
"Our news is spreading far and wide, and I worry that more and more Werewolves will be drawn to us, not just from Britain but possibly from all over Europe."
"What's wrong with that?" Liam asked curiously. "The Dark Lord can recruit allies all over Europe; why can't we do the same and offer a safe haven to Werewolves who want a peaceful life? As far as I know, most Werewolves are neutral. We might even be able to win over the majority of them, which would indirectly weaken the Dark Lord's power. Why are you worried about this?"
"I'm mainly concerned about the saturation of our farm's production", Lupin explained. "We have enough land, and we can always grow more Magic Plants that require a lot of labor. I've noticed that after treatment, Werewolves have a special affinity for nature and are just as skilled at farming as some professional Wizards."
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of demand for what we grow", Liam reassured him with a smile.
(End of Chapter)
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