Defense Against the Dark Arts

Cedric was no ordinary person.

He was Hogwarts' official Champion. The fact that the Goblet of Fire would select him from among the many upper-year Hogwarts students during the Triwizard Tournament meant that, among the sixth- and seventh-years at the time, he was the young wizard with the greatest talent and strength.

According to Lynn's estimates, Cedric's aptitude for most mainstream magic was around five points. Transfiguration was his strongest, roughly on par with his aptitude for the Dark Arts, at six points.

That morning, Cedric had demonstrated his current level of Transfiguration for Lynn.

He turned a small stone by the Black Lake into a crab that scuttled sideways.

Transforming an inanimate object into a living creature was already far beyond the normal level of a second-year young wizard. He absolutely deserved to be called a genius.

What was more, he was not only talented but hardworking enough as well. If he had not later run into that cheat, Harry Potter, his future achievements would certainly not have been low.

Wednesday morning.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts class Lynn had been looking forward to most arrived as scheduled.

As usual, he came to the classroom early. The moment he entered, he saw Professor Foxx organizing his lesson plans at the lectern.

When he saw Lynn, he smiled and greeted him. "Good morning, Lynn."

"Good morning, Professor. You came quite early. There are still twenty minutes before class starts." Lynn was far less restrained around Professor Foxx than he was with the other professors.

Foxx did not treat Lynn like an ordinary child either. He yawned and waved a hand.

"After all, it's my first class. I didn't sleep very soundly last night." Then he looked at Lynn with interest. "As for you, I heard from the other professors that you've been making quite a name for yourself lately. In just two days since the start of term, you earned twenty points for Slytherin. Several professors had nothing but praise for you when they talked about you."

Lynn raised an eyebrow. He did not bother pretending to be modest in front of Professor Foxx.

"No matter what, as the one being invested in, I should show value equal to that investment, shouldn't I?"

Foxx laughed heartily at Lynn's words. "That's right, Lynn. So far, I've never regretted my investment."

"Do you have time this afternoon, Professor?" Lynn did not smile. Instead, he looked steadily into Foxx's eyes as he asked.

Foxx's smile faded, as though he understood what Lynn meant.

"I think you must have heard something. You can come to my office whenever you like; I'll be there at any time. As it happens, I have something similar to discuss with you too."

More young wizards gradually entered the classroom. After arranging a time with Professor Foxx, Lynn quietly sat in his seat and waited for class to begin.

"I believe that after two days of study, especially in Professor Flitwick's and Professor McGonagall's classes, you have formed a fairly clear impression of magic."

Professor Foxx's opening remarks did not immediately touch upon the topic of the lesson.

"No matter how bizarre, rare, or strange a wizard's magic may be, it cannot escape two broad categories: spells and Transfiguration spells. Thus, these two subjects can be called Hogwarts' foundational courses. As for the other subjects, they merely teach you how to recognize, control, and create magical items and creatures that are not wizards, such as Potions class, Herbology class, Astronomy class, and so on. So what about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class we are taking now?"

Professor Foxx was not as stern as Professor McGonagall during class. He smiled as he answered his own question.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts does not actually have its own category of study in essence. What it teaches can be broken up and assigned across various subjects. As the name implies, anything capable of defending against the Dark Arts falls within this course's scope—spells and Transfiguration spells, of course, but also Potions, Herbology, magical creatures, and more besides.

"So Defense Against the Dark Arts places high demands on the professor's own abilities. Even if they are not an all-rounder proficient in every kind of magic, they still need to have deep knowledge of spells and Transfiguration."

The young wizards in the classroom burst into laughter. Professor Foxx's words sounded rather like self-praise.

Teaching had been Lynn's old profession. He could tell that Professor Foxx had done it deliberately. Quite a few students had issues with him, so he needed to liven up the atmosphere in class.

And clearly, he had achieved the effect he wanted.

"The same goes for all of you. If you want a better evaluation in the final exams, you will need to put considerable effort into this subject."

He clapped his hands and straightened his back.

"All right, we're officially starting class now. The first thing you need to do is... close your textbooks."

Professor Foxx was clearly not one to follow the usual routine. He came down from the lectern and folded his arms before his chest.

"Before we begin the actual lesson, I have a question for you. If one day, one of you were alone outside and suddenly encountered a Dark wizard, or some dangerous magical creature, what would be the first thing you needed to do?"

Lynn's class was being held together with Gryffindor's. Of all four Houses, the relationship between the two could be called the worst. Quite a few little lions were secretly competing, hoping to steal Lynn's thunder in this lesson.

Thus, the moment Professor Foxx finished speaking, several Gryffindors raised their hands.

Professor Foxx called on one Gryffindor. After standing up, the Gryffindor looked extremely pleased with himself and deliberately or unintentionally glanced at Lynn several times.

Lynn was instantly speechless. It was bad enough that he was unpopular with his own roommates, but even a group of Gryffindor first-years had a problem with him.

"Fight him head-on!" the Gryffindor boy declared loudly, as if showing off his bravery. "Knock him down with spells!"

A smile appeared on Foxx's face. Rather than immediately commenting on his answer, he continued asking.

"Then what spell do you intend to use to defeat him?"

The boy flushed red. They had only been studying magic for two days, and they had not even mastered the simplest Levitation Charm yet. How could they know any offensive magic?

Seeing that he could not answer for a long while, Professor Foxx waved a hand to signal for him to sit down.

No one else in the classroom raised a hand. Even Lynn listened quietly.

"You may learn many powerful spells in the future and have bright prospects ahead of you, but right now, you are only young wizards who have studied magic for a few days. If you encounter danger, your first thought must not be to duel the enemy head-on. Instead, raise an alarm, seek help from adult wizards nearby, then delay for as long as possible and wait for rescue."

"So, in our first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, we will learn how to use an alarm spell. But the prerequisite for learning that spell is that you first know how to use wand Lumos."

Professor Foxx returned to the lectern and raised his wand.

"I'll demonstrate it for you first. The incantation is: Lumos."

"Wand Lumos is very simple, but it still requires concentration. Be careful not to accidentally set your wand on fire, or it may suffer permanent damage..."

Rattling the bowl, asking for votes.