Sixth-Year Timetable, She Was Perfect

Aaron left behind the food, magical materials, and half of the Black family's wealth that he had purchased Summer Holiday. After explaining his work to the Thought Form, he returned to his dormitory.

He had just crawled out of the entrance when he heard a knock on the door.

Who is it?

"Clea".

"Wait a moment." Aaron carefully closed the Chamber of Secrets, placed the suitcase on top, and cast another Illusion Magic before opening the door.

After Clea entered, she carefully looked at Aaron's dormitory, but her gaze lingered for a moment at the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets.

A hint of surprise flashed across her green pupils, and Clea's lips curled into a smile, but she quickly concealed it so that Aaron wouldn't notice.

"Does the dean know that the dormitory has been converted into single apartments?"

"Professor Snape certainly knew. Jeans discussed it with Hogwarts when I was a freshman, otherwise I would be living in a mixed dormitory now." Aaron said with a sneer. "Coming here so early in the morning to disturb my sleep, did you choose the wrong timetable for your sixth year?"

"I'll take whatever classes you take, even though I don't think I need to," Clea said bluntly. She was Darwin Family's once-in-a-lifetime prodigy, and it was no exaggeration to say that no one in the school could teach her, not even Dumbledore.

"Whatever you want!" Aaron said. He had already chosen his courses for this semester. His OWLs grades were all excellent, so he could choose any course he wanted.

He can't afford to miss any required courses; he'll become a professor or even headmaster at Hogwarts someday, and having more certificates will make job hunting easier.

As for elective courses... I'll skip Divination and Arithmancy. First, I already know how to do Crystal Ball Divination, so learning more wouldn't make a difference. Second, the advanced Divination is taught by Trelawney, whose teaching ability is really questionable.

There's no need for him to study Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures anymore, as those two subjects won't help him much. However, Ancient Runes are still useful, at least for alchemy.

The two followed each other to the Great Hall, and after breakfast, they handed their course schedules to Professor Snape, who approved them without even glancing at them.

Other students also need to ensure their OWLs (Overseas Professionals) grades meet the requirements to attend the advanced class, but these two are geniuses among geniuses; they choose the course, not the other way around.

"The dean is a bit more taciturn than I thought," Clea said with a strange expression. "Judging from his appearance, I could tell he had suffered very severe emotional trauma. I even thought he might be a bit psychologically twisted!"

"You can't say that. Although Professor Snape was a bit strict with students from other houses, especially Harry Potter from Gryffindor, he was genuinely good to Slytherin."

"By the way, Granger..."

"Do you really have to talk to me about her on the first day of school?"

"Let it go!" Clea shrugged. "I'll talk to her about it in a few days."

Aaron:...

The first class in the morning was Ancient Runes, and the two of them wasted no time, leaving the Great Hall and heading straight to the classroom.

There weren't many people who could still choose this course, only a dozen or so, since the Ancient Runes exams were much more difficult. However, Hermione Granger was among those dozen or so people.

When Clea saw her, she took the initiative to sit next to her, showing great enthusiasm and friendliness.

Hermione could easily point out anything she didn't understand, making the academic genius feel inferior, and their relationship quickly changed from 'friends' to 'frenemies'.

Aaron sat in the row in front of the two, listening to the whispers behind him, and felt that two pairs of eyes were constantly falling on him.

It feels like I'm sitting on pins and needles; I'll feel really uncomfortable sitting in the last row during class from now on.

When get out of class ended, the professor assigned a ton of homework: a 15-inch-long paper, two translations, and pre-class assignments.

"This is too much," Hermione said gloomily. "Twice as much as fifth grade homework, and it has to be finished by Wednesday."

Do you need my help?

"Really, I don't need this. I can manage," Hermione said, somewhat angrily. In the past, she was the one who let others copy her homework, but now the situation was reversed, and she had to uphold her dignity as a top student.

What's more, the person who said this was her rival. Although she didn't dislike Clea, she found it hard to accept for a moment.

"I'm talking about Aaron." Clea stuck out her tongue. "I can handle the translation and thesis for you. Don't worry about the handwriting either. I'm pretty good at Transfiguration; the teacher definitely won't be able to tell."

Aaron blinked in surprise; he hadn't expected such an unexpected gain.

"I am extremely grateful."

"I... I can do it too," Hermione stammered, blushing. It was the first time she had ever done someone else's homework.

"You? Forget about it!"

The professor assigned a lot of homework, but it was something Clea could finish in less than twenty minutes.

But Hermione is different; she probably takes more than twice as long as Clea. The gap between a top student and a genius is quite large.

Hermione immediately felt slighted, and snorted resentfully, taking the notebook directly from Aaron's hand. "You saved my life, so leave this little thing to me!"

"Uh... this..."

"Not satisfied?" Hermione asked, glaring at him.

"Satisfied, very satisfied," Aaron said, forcing a smile.

Hermione left the classroom with her books, leaving Clea watching him with a half-smile. "It's clear that Granger is competitive and won't give up easily, especially when it comes to studying."

"She can't compare to you," Aaron said defiantly. "None of us can compare to you."

"Muggle-born wizard can surpass most people; she's an absolute genius," Clea exclaimed. "I'm thinking about what gift to give her; she'll definitely like it."

"Do whatever makes you happy."

The second class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and quite a few students chose this course. As long as their grades met the requirements, they generally wouldn't give up on Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Professor Snape finally got the professorship for the course, but his teaching style remained unchanged; he still preferred to teach in dimly lit classrooms.

"To date, you have had five different professors for this course."

These teachers all have their own teaching methods and teaching points, and I was surprised that so many people were able to pass the exam in this chaotic situation.

However, the advanced course content is much more advanced; I hope you can keep up.

"Dark Magic comes in many forms, is diverse and ever-changing, and has no end."

"To fight it, your defenses must be flexible, varied, and innovative." Snape said, waving his Wand, and several pictures appeared on the wall.

One image depicts a witch in agony, another a male witch huddled in a corner with vacant eyes, and yet another is just a pool of dirty blood mixed with some scraps of cloth.

"Can any of you tell me what these victims went through?"

Hermione raised her hand, hesitatingly saying, "The witch is under the Cruciatus Curse, the wizard's Soul Stone has been drained by the Dementor, and..."

"What else?" Snape sneered.

"Inferius." Hermione swallowed hard. "I've read about it in books. Inferius is a dead body that is summoned and controlled by Dark Magic. It has no life, no Soul Stone, and no thoughts."

"Has anyone actually seen Inferius?" Parvati asked nervously.

"The Dark Lord has used it before, and it's possible he will continue to use it," Snape said.

"Professor," Aaron raised his hand and asked, "What should I do if I encounter a Inferius?"

"Finally, someone has asked the important question. Slytherin plus five." Snape chuckled. "Inferius are usually found in dark, damp places and are afraid of fire and light."

However, if you are unlucky enough to encounter them, run if you can, and if you can't, you'd better cast a Killing Curse on yourself.

Because the number of Inferius is usually quite large, only a very small number of you with your level of magic will be able to fight your way out; the rest will only meet the same fate.

Snape pointed to a pool of blood in the drawing, the warning clear.

Rather than being eaten alive by a bunch of corpses, it's better to do it yourself; at least you won't die so painfully.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic. This lesson will mainly cover Silencing Charm, or Nonverbal Spellcasting."

This will achieve a surprising effect, but it requires great concentration and willpower; not all Warlock can do this."Snape said, scanning the class. " Gaius, you demonstrate."

"I?"

"Nonsense, who else could it be but you?"

"Alright! Then I'll demonstrate the magic for dealing with the Inferius."

Aaron shrugged, picked up his Wand, and twirled it above his head.

Flames shot out from the tip of the Wand, extending outwards in layers until they formed a fireball a meter in diameter that hung in the center of the ceiling, raising the temperature in the classroom considerably.

"That's enough." Snape's lips twitched slightly. The demonstration he was referring to was something like the Levitation Charm, not the Incendio. If he messed it up, the classroom would be ruined.

A purple rune struck the fireball, instantly turning it into countless points of light that dissipated in mid-air.

"Not bad." Snape gave Clea an approving look. "Slytherin plus ten."

"Is this Runic Script?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Sometimes writing is easier than chanting spells," Clea said casually. "I can teach you if you want to learn."

"Really?" Hermione was somewhat intrigued.

"Of course, you can come see me on Saturday."

However, this isn't easy to learn; you need to be mentally prepared.

"That's enough small talk. Now you two will practice together."

Use Silencing Charm for attack and defense. No one is allowed to make a sound. Begin!

Clea stood smiling opposite Hermione, Harry naturally teamed up with Ron, and the others formed their own teams, leaving Aaron standing alone in place.

"Professor, may I find a place to rest?"

"What do you think?" Snape said wearily.

"I think it's okay."

"But I don't think that will work. You can do anything, but you can't rest."

"Stingy." Aaron pursed his lips, grabbed a table, and took out his notebook and feather pen to practice drawing Magic Array.

Half of the class time passed quickly. Only a very few people were able to perform Nonverbal Spellcasting, while most of them were quietly chanting incantations.

Professor Snape didn't bother to point out this cheating. He stared at Harry Potter as usual, intending to personally demonstrate the power of love to teach him a lesson. However, during the demonstration, Harry instinctively cast the Iron Armor Charm, deflecting Professor Snape's spell back at him.

Snape staggered, barely managing to regain his footing before glaring angrily at Harry Potter. "Were we practicing the Silencing Charm, Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

Harry looked embarrassed, but he was secretly overjoyed.

Snape had been trying to make things difficult for him, and he felt that Snape bore a significant responsibility for Sirius Black's death. Now, humiliating him in public was a form of revenge.

"Don't call me sir."

"Professor?" Harry blurted out.

"Solitary confinement," Snape said, his face dark. "Saturday night, in my office."

Furthermore, for being rude to the professor, Gryffindor have ten points deducted.

After class, many people gathered around Harry to express their admiration for his 'courage' during class.

"You shouldn't have done that?" Hermione frowned.

"Are you expecting me to just stand there and get beaten up? That's how he treated me when he taught me Cerebral Sealing Technique," Harry said, looking frustrated. "I don't know why Dumbledore had him teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I thought I could get rid of him if I didn't take Potions Class."

Hermione was speechless for a moment. After all, the feud between Harry and Snape had lasted for five years, and their impressions of each other were deeply rooted. Even if she wanted to ease their relationship, it wouldn't be something that could be done in a few words.

"What do you think of Clea?" Ron asked.

"Smart, beautiful, kind, confident, cheerful, and approachable..." Hermione said earnestly, a bitter expression creeping onto her face with each word she uttered.

"Wait, wait," Ron interrupted hurriedly after half an hour. "You've used almost every compliment I could think of."

"I didn't expect you to use that too," Harry said awkwardly. "As if she's perfect, even though you've only known her for a day!"

"She's perfect. Can you find any flaws in her?" Hermione exclaimed, her voice slightly choked with emotion, as she released her intense resentment.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances. They wanted to say something to comfort Hermione and even make up two flaws for Clea, but they couldn't bring themselves to say anything.

"Hehe!" Hermione shook her head. She finally understood what Phoebe meant when she told her at the station that day: everyone would pale in comparison to her.

She was confident that she was no worse than Phoebe. Although Phoebe was slightly better in appearance, she was only sixteen years old and might not be inferior to her in the future.

But Clea... in terms of magnanimity, presence, and even the knowledge she was most proud of, she was inferior to her.

She initially felt she still had an advantage. After the incident with the Department of Mysteries, her five-year friendship with Aaron had reached the point of sublimation. However, she dared not reveal it too obviously, since he wasn't interested in that at the moment, and besides, they still had two years until graduation. They could take it slow.

But then a perfect woman stepped forward, independent and straightforward. She simply did her best, and even she had to admit defeat in the face of such confidence.