Defense Against the Dark Arts

The storm, which had lasted all day, finally stopped the next morning.

Kyle and Kanna arrived at the Great Hall and, while eating breakfast, worked out their new school schedule for the year.

"Look, we haven't had Potions Class for the past few days!" Mikel suddenly exclaimed excitedly, as if he had discovered something amazing.

"Neither do we." Cedric spread out his schedule. "Let me see... Oh, the first Potions Class is scheduled for next Wednesday."

"Me too!" Hannah chimed in. "Our first Potions Class isn't until next Friday."

"Who are you all?" Cedric stood up in confusion and walked along the long table to the end. He discovered that regardless of the grade, there were no Potions Class this week.

He was even one of the first to attend Potions Class.

But today is only Tuesday! That's eight days in total, including the weekend, and there hasn't been a single Potions Class?

It's not unusual for one grade to be like this, but it's a bit abnormal for all seven grades to be like this.

"Kanna, do you know something?" Cedric asked in a low voice, "Professor Snape hasn't come to school?"

"He has other things to do and may be a few days late."

Kanna said, "Not long after the holidays started, Professor Dumbledore came to see him once, and since then he has rarely left the room, and he won't let me in either... so I don't know exactly what happened."

After saying that, Kanna subconsciously glanced at Kyle, who was drinking Pumpkin Juice.

She thought Kyle probably knew why Dumbledore went to see Snape that day, since he clearly knew the House-elf during the Quidditch World Cup, and they seemed quite familiar with each other.

However, seeing that Kyle was eating in silence, she didn't bring it up.

As for the others, they weren't interested in that either; their only concern was not having to attend Potions Class for a week.

That's enough good news.

Mikel happily took a big gulp of Pumpkin Juice, as if it were a glass of celebratory champagne.

Just then, a flapping sound came from overhead, and a hundred owls flew in through the open window, bringing everyone the morning's mail.

A brown owl tossed a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the table.

Kyle poured it some corn chips, then opened the newspaper to read.

The front page still featured news from the Quidditch World Cup... Former Ministry of Magic employee Yaxley was imprisoned in Azkaban after being found to have used the Unforgivable.

The photos also included his entire trial. From the photos, Yaxley looked quite agitated, constantly roaring. His once neatly styled hair was now a mess, resembling an old broom in a school broomhouse.

But it was no use; the second photo showed him being dragged away by the Auror.

"Ha, I knew it, they couldn't escape," Cedric said from the side. "I heard from Bill that someone cast two Cruciatus Curse on Mr. Weasley, it must have been him."

"It's definitely right." Kyle put away the newspaper and glanced up at the Slytherin table.

Malfoy was also reading the Daily Prophet, and he was clearly not in a good mood; his face was paler than usual, as were Crabbe and Goyle.

They never take their eyes off their food while eating, but today they stared at the newspaper, not touching the food in front of them.

After breakfast, the group walked out of the Great Hall together, ready to go to their first class.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts ..." Kanna said, "I wonder how Professor Moody is doing."

"It should be pretty good," Cedric said, who was standing beside him. "Professor Moody is a legendary Auror. It's said that he arrested half of the people in Azkaban. Someone like that must have real skills."

"I hope so..." Mikel said.

After Lockhart, he no longer has any hope for fame; whether he's capable or not depends on how well he teaches.

Cedric parted ways with them on the third floor; his first lesson was Transfiguration.

Kyle and his friends went to the other side.

Although class hasn't started yet, the classroom is already quite full, indicating that everyone is very interested in Professor Moody's lecture.

Kyle found an empty seat at the back of the classroom, took out his copy of "Dark Magic: A Guide to Self-Defense," and waited.

Soon, they heard Professor Moody's distinctive thumping footsteps coming from outside the corridor.

The previously noisy classroom instantly fell silent, and the atmosphere became exceptionally quiet.

Before the bell rang, Professor Moody entered the classroom, his blue, magical eyes darting around, looking just as strange and frightening as he had at the banquet the day before.

"Put all the books away," he said gruffly. "I flipped through them last night, and there's nothing useful in them. They might be okay for students below third grade, but you won't need them."

Everyone quickly put the books away, their eyes filled with excitement.

Previous experience had taught them that any professor who collected books in the first class was bound to have a good course.

For example, Oren in first grade, and Lupin last year...

Moody stepped forward, took out the roster, and began calling out names. His normal eye moved down the list, while his demonic eye darted back and forth, staring at each student who answered.

"Alright." After the last student answered, he said, "Before coming here, I received a letter from Professor Lupin introducing the course."

First of all, I don't mean to belittle him, but I don't understand why Lupin would waste an entire school year teaching you how to deal with those Dark Magic creatures... In my opinion, this should be a second-year course.

After all, those dark wizards wouldn't be foolish enough to wander around carrying a few animals; they have wands!

Kyle's lips twitched; he felt offended.

What's so stupid about bringing Fantastic Beasts along? It's not like I ate your beef leg... If you're so bold, say that to Newt's face.

Kyle thought to himself.

Moody on the stage, unaware of his thoughts, continued, "But now that I'm here, it's my responsibility to show you how wizards operate... how to deal with spells."

Everyone immediately sat up straight, looking eager. To be honest, they were also getting a little tired of constantly learning about Dark Magic animals.

"Then let's begin." He chuckled hoarsely. "Spells come in many forms, each with different magical power. Among them are legal spells and illegal dark magic, which we often call Dark Magic ... So now, can anyone tell me which Dark Magic you all know?"

A Gryffindor student raised his hand. "I know one, the Cruciatus Curse."

"Yes, the Unforgivable Curses, one of the most evil dark curses. If someone is found to have used this curse on another wizard, they will spend the rest of their life in Azkaban."

Moody grinned, revealing a sinister smile. "I suppose you saw this curse in today's paper."

The man nodded.

"This is the best example," Moody scoffed. "That fool actually claimed he was under Imperius Curse. I didn't even need to be there to know it was a lie."

Oh, by the way, the Imperius Curse is also one of the Unforgivable Curses... Miss Marianne, I think you must know this part very well, so could you please tell me the name of the last Unforgivable Curses?"