Cornish Pixies

The entire classroom exploded into chaos.

Dozens of pale blue Cornish Pixies let out sharp, ear-piercing shrieks, shooting towards the nearest students like arrows loosed from a bow.

"My wand!"

A Hufflepuff girl cried out. Just as she raised her wand, a pixie grabbed the tip with lightning speed, yanked hard, and sent the wand flying out of her hand. It arced through the air before being caught by another pixie, which waved it triumphantly.

"Let go of my ear! It hurts!"

Another Ravenclaw boy screamed. Two pixies had grabbed his earlobes, one on each side, and were pulling with all their might, causing him to grimace in pain as he flailed his arms, trying to swat them away.

Michael Corner, who had previously complained that the questions were too easy, now had a pale face. He yelled at a pixie lunging towards him, "Vera Verto!"

A faint beam of light shot from his wand tip and struck the pixie.

However, the pixie merely paused, touched its pale blue skin in confusion, and then, realizing it was unharmed, became enraged by the foolish spell.

It let out an even sharper roar, its speed skyrocketing, and slammed headfirst into Michael Corner's nose like a small cannonball.

"Ouch!" he yelped, hot blood instantly gushing from his nose, staining his lips and jaw.

Panic spread like a plague.

Books were torn, quills were broken, and ink spilled everywhere.

Most students scurried about like headless chickens, either waving their arms uselessly or cowering in fear under their desks, exposing their backs to these little devils.

Yet, amidst the chaos, scattered sparks of light still flickered.

A Ravenclaw girl near the window, after the initial shock, quickly calmed down.

She gripped her wand tightly, her gaze fixed on a pixie attempting to flip her textbook, and clearly and steadily uttered the incantation: "Glacius!"

A blast of cold white mist accurately hit the target. The pixie, frozen in a clawing pose, was encased in a block of ice and fell onto the desk with a clatter.

Not far away, a Hufflepuff boy also successfully used the Freezing Charm to deal with a pixie trying to attack his neighbor.

Another Ravenclaw boy used the Obstruction Charm to briefly block a pixie's charge, buying himself time to cast the Freezing Charm.

Apart from these three students who managed to maintain some semblance of calm and fight back effectively, everyone else was in a sorry state, harried by these pale blue little monsters. The classroom was filled with screams, cries of pain, and the sounds of destruction.

On the podium, Lin Du stood with his hands behind his back, calmly observing the chaos before him.

Although he had expected it, seeing the performance of these fourth-year students when faced with creatures of such low threat level, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Impressive," he said, his tone flat, betraying no emotion, but the implication made many struggling students' cheeks flush.

"Just Cornish Pixies, and you're already this flustered. I believe I've fully grasped the 'solid foundation' you've laid in Defense Against the Dark Arts over the past three years."

Many students felt a surge of indignation. If Professor Quirrell hadn't been so unreliable last year, how could they be so rusty?

Mere pixies shouldn't have...

Just then, Lin Du lightly raised his wand and gave a casual wave.

The pixies, still wreaking havoc, froze as if grasped by an invisible force.

Then, like fading portraits, they rapidly shrank, flattened, and finally transformed back into ordinary, static pieces of parchment, fluttering down onto their respective owners' desks as if the chaos had never happened.

Only the mess in the classroom and the students' shaken, disheveled appearances proved that everything that had just occurred was real.

The classroom was filled only with heavy panting.

Lin Du's gaze swept across the room, finally landing on the three students who had successfully cast the Freezing Charm.

"Miss Penelope Crivat of Ravenclaw, Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff, and Mr. Terry Butt of Ravenclaw," he called out their names accurately. "You successfully subdued the targets and performed adequately. Ravenclaw gains four points, Hufflepuff gains two points."

He paused, his gaze shifting to those students who were particularly disheveled, some even having lost their wands.

"As for you... five of you lost your wands in this simple encounter." His voice turned cold. "Ravenclaw loses three points, Hufflepuff loses two points."

Some students showed looks of dissatisfaction, but under Lin Du's calm, unruffled, yet imposing gaze, no one dared to retort.

They merely clenched their fists tightly or lowered their heads in shame, but a flame of determination burned in their eyes as they stared intently at the new professor on the podium, as if saying, "We'll win it back next time."

"Given your regrettable performance," Lin Du continued, "I believe that before we delve into resisting complex Dark Magic, you need to address your own sluggishness, panic, and severe lack of control over basic spells. Of course, the course on recognizing Dark Creatures will proceed concurrently."

"What exactly do we need to do, Professor?" Cedric Diggory asked earnestly, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Although he was one of the best performers, there was no hint of smugness on his face.

"First, is solid, even rigorous, theoretical study," Lin Du replied. "You need to truly understand what factors determine the power, accuracy, and stability of a spell, and grasp what constitutes a near-perfect casting. This is far more complex than simply memorizing the pronunciation and wand movements."

"Second, is practice," he emphasized. "Abundant, repetitive, non-stop practice. Until casting becomes muscle memory, an instinctive reaction that requires no thought. In the face of real danger, the enemy will not give you time to slowly recall the key points of a spell."

"Is that all?" a Ravenclaw boy muttered softly, seemingly finding the method too basic. "Professor Flitwick also emphasized these points..."

Lin Du glanced at him faintly, not bothering to correct his dismissive attitude towards the basics.

Practice would teach them.

"In the short term, I only require you to master two spells: 'Immobilus' and 'Impedimenta'," he announced. "For a considerable period, you will primarily rely on these two spells to deal with various Dark Creatures that appear in class."

He changed tack, a hint of undetectable coldness in his voice: "Incidentally, today's Cornish Pixies were just a 'friendly' greeting. In the next class, your opponents will be Red Caps."

He saw the expressions of several students who had seemed dismissive of the "pixies" instantly change.

"For those students who think Cornish Pixies are not worth mentioning," Lin Du's lips curved into a tiny arc, "next class will be a great opportunity for you to show your skills."

Amidst the sudden pale faces and gasps of some students, Lin Du picked up his wand and pointed it at the blackboard.

"In this class, we will first learn the 'Impedimenta'. The incantation is: Impedimenta. This is a spell that can slow down, obstruct, or even repel a target. Its killing power is limited, but it has many flexible tactical applications..."

He paused, looking at the majority of students below who were still somewhat bewildered or shaken, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"What are you waiting for?" he said dryly.

"Why not jot down these key points?"

The classroom fell silent for a second, then erupted into a flurry of activity—

Students hastily grabbed their quills, pulled over parchment, and began to furiously write.