Until bedtime, Avada listened to Shabi and his three other roommates go on and on about Hufflepuff's culinary achievements and the cooking spells supposedly left behind by Helga Hufflepuff herself. They nearly made him hungry just listening.
Fortunately, an upper-year student arrived in time to put a stop to this wicked late-night food torture. Then he went to the kitchens himself and returned with a plate of fragrant, freshly baked cookies...
In the end, Avada couldn't resist the temptation. He tearfully ate several cookies before bed, and as a result, barely managed to eat any breakfast the next morning.
To make matters worse, his first class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. The day before, Avada had just learned from Shabi that the real Defense Against the Dark Arts class was very different from what it was like in the original story. If you were going to defend against Dark Magic, you had to fight, right? And if you were going to fight, you needed to be in good shape, right?
So Defense Against the Dark Arts not only taught various jinxes and about dark creatures, but also doubled as a physical education and combat class. It was perfectly normal for students to run laps around Black Lake or pair up in protective gear to spar.
I hope there won't be any strenuous activities in the first class...
Avada prayed silently as he followed the Hufflepuffs into the Defense classroom. The Ravenclaws, wearing wizard robes with blue linings, filed in after them. This put Avada at ease. At least if there was a sparring exercise, he wouldn't have to face the fearless Gryffindors charging straight at him.
When the bell rang, a tall, slender, well-mannered middle-aged wizard stepped into the classroom and smiled as he waved to the students.
"Good morning, everyone! Headmaster Dumbledore already introduced me at the start of term, but in case some of you little ones were too excited to listen carefully, I'd better repeat it..."
He turned and raised a hand. A piece of chalk floated up by itself and neatly wrote a name on the blackboard.
"Benjamin Baker, member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts League's council, and an adventurer. I've traveled and had adventures in Greece, Eastern Europe, and Africa, and I've fought dark wizards and dark creatures many times. So I believe I have some experience dealing with Dark Magic, and should be qualified to teach you plenty of useful, practical knowledge."
"He must be so cool." Avada heard a faint voice from the Ravenclaws' side, apparently a girl's. "He's an adventurer, and he's been to so many places! Maybe he's as cool as Gilderoy Lockhart!"
"When I first started teaching, quite a few of the old professors told me..."
Professor Baker ignored the quiet chatter below and continued on his own. "They told me I should give new students a taste of what makes this subject fascinating in their first class, to spark their interest and enthusiasm. So I've prepared this..."
He took out a magical device from beneath the lectern that looked a bit like a projector. Then he drew his wand, pointed it at his temple, and slowly pulled out a strand of white light, which he fed into the "projector."
"Everyone, watch closely."
He tapped the projector with his wand. It cast a screen of light into the air, displaying a dazzling scene:
On the screen, Professor Baker held his wand and fought fiercely against a masked figure wearing an ornate black robe.
The masked figure sent several blue blades of light slicing through the air, forcing Professor Baker to dodge to the side. Then, as though he had foreseen where Baker would land, he fired a brilliant green beam at the spot. But the ground beneath Professor Baker's feet melted like water, and he sank into the earth, evading the beam.
Next, Professor Baker suddenly appeared behind him and shot a fireball at him. The masked man hastily raised a shield, only to discover it was all an illusion. The real Professor Baker was standing invisible a short distance away, gathering power for an immensely strong spell. Realizing he'd been tricked, the masked man immediately unleashed a raging inferno that burned indiscriminately through everything around him, forcing Professor Baker to reveal himself.
Then the two began a fierce head-on battle. At times they fought at close quarters, wielding their wands and magic like daggers, subtle and deadly; at others they put distance between them and hurled dazzling, powerful spells at each other like waterfalls. The masked man even summoned a dragon, whose steel-like claws and scorching breath nearly left Professor Baker in mortal danger...
After nearly ten minutes of fierce fighting, Professor Baker proved the more skilled. After killing the dragon, he combined terrain reshaped by Transfiguration with illusions and invisibility to trick the masked man into wasting a charged attack. He seized the opening and launched a relentless assault, defeating his opponent once and for all.
The scene ended there. Professor Baker put away the projector and looked at the students with satisfaction. They were all completely stunned, their faces pale with a mixture of tension and excitement. Some had even forgotten to breathe.
Professor Baker clapped his hands, startling them back to their senses. A chorus of exhalations immediately filled the classroom.
"Merlin, that was terrifying!"
"When that dragon suddenly appeared, I thought my heart had stopped..."
"And that purple bolt of light—when it hit the professor's shoulder, I was frozen with fright..."
Avada was somewhat less shaken, but he too was deeply impressed. The battle on the screen had been like a big-budget blockbuster. The long-range exchange of spells was every bit as spectacular as the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort in the Order of the Phoenix film, while the close-quarters combat was like the most thrilling martial arts movie, swift and fierce.
Professor Baker's magical power was clearly a notch below Dumbledore's, yet his fighting had been terrifying!
Professor Baker let the students discuss the scene for a while before clapping his hands and restoring order to the classroom. A hint of nostalgia crossed his face before he spoke.
"What you just watched was the most dangerous and most pride-worthy battle of my adventuring career. It was certainly nothing compared to the legendary duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but it still holds a special place in my memory."
He paused, then continued, "My opponent was Greek. You may have heard his title: 'Aethelred the Ever-Ready.' He was a terrifying dark wizard who once ruled Greece and nearly became the 'Shadow King.' His name appears on a Chocolate Frog Card."
True to his title, Aethelred had been incredibly cautious. When he was fully prepared, he was almost impossible to defeat. At the time, I was investigating his dark wizard organization in Greece and had defeated many of his trusted subordinates, so he decided to take me out himself.
"He began laying the groundwork months in advance. He investigated me, spread false information, sent people to attack me and wear me down, and used his plants in the local Ministry of Magic to put pressure on me... He also prepared an incredibly sinister battleground to finish me off: an Anti-Apparition Jinx meant to trap anyone who entered, poison in the air, and curses laid across the ground..."
"Fortunately, I wasn't completely oblivious. Many of his schemes failed. Even so, between his traps and his formidable skill, I nearly died. But in the end, I was the one who won. It was after that battle that I earned the honor of joining the Defense Against the Dark Arts League's council."
Looking at the young wizards' excited, admiring faces, Professor Baker smiled. "By now, I'm sure you all understand the appeal and importance of Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, let's begin our first lesson—"
"How to use your wand."
"Some of you may be wondering what kind of lesson that is. Isn't using a wand just a matter of holding it, performing the standard movements, and saying the spell? That's true in everyday life, but in the middle of a fierce battle, that won't be enough."
"What's the best way to hold your wand so it feels natural and steady? What stance will let you cast spells as quickly as possible in a fight?"
"These are the most important fundamentals of Defense Against the Dark Arts. There's so much to learn that even experienced Aurors may not have mastered it all."
Before you continue