First Lecture

On September 2nd, Li Wei officially began his lectures.

The thought of spending almost all his time in lectures for the next few years, excluding weekends, left his expression somewhat dead.

His first class of the morning was for third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Li Wei kept his two assistants in the office; teaching a bunch of rookies didn't require them.

As Li Wei walked into the classroom, it immediately erupted with thunderous cheers and strange cries—all from the Gryffindor students.

Li Wei's excellent appearance far surpassed any professor they had ever seen, a stark contrast to Professor Quirrell last semester.

This gave them reason to believe that such a professor could impart knowledge to them.

"Hello everyone, I am your new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Li Wei's voice echoed before the students, deep and slightly magnetic, but it sounded listless, making the students feel that this professor seemed somewhat unenergetic.

"My name is Li Wei, I am Chinese. You can call me Professor Li, or Professor Li Wei, either is fine."

"Logically, this is our first meeting, and for the first lesson, I shouldn't teach specific content but rather get to know you all properly.

However, I apologize, I don't want to repeat this process across seven years and twenty-eight classes, so let's try a more convenient method."

Li Wei waved his wand, and parchment sheets automatically flew to each student.

"Please complete the questions on the parchment within three minutes."

1. When more than ten Cornish Pixies escape from their cage and charge at you collectively, what should be your first reaction?

A. Immediately crouch down, shield your head and neck with your arms, and shout for the professor's help.

B. Stand your ground and attempt to cast a Freezing Charm on the foremost pixie.

C. Turn and run at full speed towards the classroom door, attempting to escape the scene.

D. Wave your wand, attempting to attack all the pixies simultaneously.

2. A pixie grabs your hair and tries to snatch your wand. Which of the following actions has the highest priority?

A. Shake your head violently to try and throw it off, and reach out to grab it.

B. Keep your head steady, point your wand at it, and attempt a simple Repelling Charm.

C. Ignore it and continue attacking other pixies that are vandalizing the classroom.

D. Ask a nearby classmate to help you attack it with a spell.

3. (True/False) Cornish Pixies' teeth contain a weak toxin; a bite wound will be difficult to heal for a short period. (True/False)?

"Professor, I have a question!"

While everyone was seriously reading the questions, a student in a red coat suddenly raised his hand.

Li Wei looked at him, and the documents on his desk moved without wind, with one sheet flying out from between the others and landing in Li Wei's hand.

"Jean Bill, what is your question?"

"There isn't an option I want to choose on here, what should I do?"

"These are questions; you just need to choose the answer that is closest to correct."

"What a drag—it's just a quiz?"

Bill grumbled unhappily, and a voice from the corner of the classroom echoed, "I know what you mean."

Li Wei knew what they were thinking and didn't respond.

Seeing that everyone had finished writing, he didn't collect the parchment. Instead, he clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, and said loudly:

"Everyone, remember your own answers. Now, look down at your parchment. The test officially begins."

The young wizards belatedly looked down, only to discover a horrifying sight.

The parchment before them was transforming into pale, sharp-faced sprites!

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

A sound like many budgies squabbling erupted.

The next moment, the parchment in front of all the students transformed into Cornish Pixies, swiftly attacking them.

The entire classroom instantly descended into chaos, with aggressive pixies rocketing towards their targets.

Some students had their wands snatched away immediately; some had their ears grabbed. Bill, who had complained earlier, cast 'Rictusempra' at a pixie—it seemed this was the option he had wanted.

Unfortunately, the effect was not good.

As the spell missed, the provoked pixies became even more ferocious, directly smashing his nose and causing it to bleed.

Only three students, who had seriously studied the questions, managed to remain calm and used the Freezing Charm to deal with the pixies attacking them amidst the chaos.

Besides them, everyone else was thrown into disarray by the pixies.

Although he had prepared himself mentally, seeing the third-year students' pathetic performance, Li Wei couldn't help but shake his head and dispelled the Transfiguration Charm.

"Astonishing."

His tone clearly lacked any praise.

"Just a dark creature with the lowest threat level can cause you so much trouble."

"I think I've made it perfectly clear just how terrible your Defense Against the Dark Arts education has been for the past two years."

At this point, no one felt like talking anymore—in fact, many were inwardly displeased.

If it weren't for the abysmal Defense Against the Dark Arts professor last year, which had caused them to slack off for the entire year, they would certainly have been able to handle a few Cornish Pixies.

"Three students completed this simple test. Slytherin gains two points, Gryffindor gains one point."

"Furthermore, because five of you had your wands snatched, Slytherin loses two points, and Gryffindor loses three points."

No one objected. They simply stared at Li Wei with shining eyes, anticipating a chance to redeem themselves next time.

"Given your poor performance, I believe that before learning to defend against the Dark Arts, you first need to address your own sluggishness and recklessness. Of course, we will also conduct lessons on identifying dark creatures concurrently."

"Then what should we do, Professor?"

"First, you need solid theoretical knowledge. Understand what truly affects the power of a spell and know what constitutes a perfect casting.

Beyond that, there is practice.

Vast, uninterrupted practice, until casting becomes an instinct for your bodies."

"Is that all it takes? It doesn't sound difficult. Professor Flitwick taught us this too."

A student couldn't help but ask.

Li Wei glanced at him, not bothering to correct his flawed thinking.

"In the short term, I will only teach you two spells: Immobilus and Impedimenta. For a very long time to come, you will need to use these to deal with the dark creatures in class.

On a side note, the Cornish Pixies were just a warm-up. For the next class, the dark creature I have prepared for you is Red Caps. Those who underestimated the Cornish Pixies earlier can prepare to show off their skills next class."

As some students' expressions changed, Li Wei continued:

"In this class, I will first teach you Impedimenta. The spell is im-ped-i-MEN-ta. This is a spell that can slow down, hinder, or even repel a target.

It doesn't have much killing power, but it has many uses."

Li Wei looked at the students who were obediently listening and raised an eyebrow:

"Why aren't you taking notes?"