First Lesson

On September 2, Li Wei officially began teaching.

At the thought that, for the next several years, he would spend nearly all his time teaching except on weekends, the expression on his face became somewhat lifeless.

His first class that morning was for third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Li Wei had left his two assistants in the office—there was no need for them to teach a bunch of rookies.

The moment Li Wei entered the classroom, thunderous cheers and strange cries erupted—all of them from the Gryffindor students.

Li Wei's outstanding appearance surpassed that of any professor they had ever seen, and compared to Professor Quirrell from last term, the difference was like night and day.

That gave them reason to believe that a professor like this could bring them knowledge.

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

Li Wei's voice rang out before the students, low and slightly magnetic. However, he sounded somewhat listless, making the students feel that this professor lacked energy.

"My name is Li Wei. I am Chinese. You may call me Professor Li or Professor Li Wei. Either is fine."

"Logically speaking, since this is our first meeting, I should not be teaching anything specific in our first lesson. Instead, we should get to know one another properly.

"But I am sorry. I do not wish to repeat that process across twenty-eight classes in seven grades, so let us use a more convenient method."

Li Wei waved his wand, and sheets of parchment flew automatically 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 begin diving at you as a group, what should your first reaction be?

A. Immediately crouch down, protect your head and neck with both arms, and loudly call for the professor's help.

B. Remain where you are and attempt to cast the Freezing Charm on the foremost pixie.

C. Turn around and run full speed toward the classroom door, attempting to leave the scene.

D. Wave your wand and attempt to attack all the pixies at once.

2. A pixie has grabbed your hair and is attempting to seize your wand. Which of the following should take the highest priority?

A. Vigorously shake your head to throw it off, then try to grab it with your hands.

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

C. Ignore it and continue attacking the other pixies damaging the classroom.

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

3. (True or False) Cornish Pixie teeth contain a mild toxin, and bites from them will make wounds difficult to heal for a short period of time. (True/False)?

"Professor, I have a question!"

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

Li Wei looked at him. The documents by his hand moved without wind, and one sheet flew out from between them and into Li Wei's hand.

"Jean Bill, what is your question?"

"There isn't an option I want to choose. What should I do?"

"This is a question. You only need to choose the answer closest to the correct one."

"What? It's just a knowledge quiz?"

Bill grumbled unhappily, and someone in the corner of the classroom echoed, "I know what you mean."

Li Wei knew what they were thinking and did not respond.

After seeing that everyone had finished writing, he did not collect the parchments. Instead, he clapped his hands. Once he had drawn everyone's attention, he said loudly:

"Everyone, remember your answers just now. Now lower your heads and look at the parchment. The test officially begins."

The young wizards lowered their heads belatedly, only to discover a horrifying sight.

The parchments before them were transforming into iron-blue, sharp-faced pixies!

"Chitter chitter chitter!!!"

A sound like countless budgerigars squabbling broke out.

The next moment, all the parchments before the students transformed into Cornish Pixies and swiftly attacked them.

The entire classroom instantly descended into chaos as the aggressive pixies shot toward their targets like rockets.

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

Unfortunately, it did not work very well.

As the spell missed, the provoked pixie became even more frenzied and rammed straight into his nose, making it bleed.

Only three students who had seriously answered the questions barely remained calm. Amid the panic, they used the Freezing Charm to deal with the pixies attacking them.

Aside from them, everyone else was sent into a frenzy by the pixies.

Though he had been mentally prepared, Li Wei could not help shaking his head when he saw how poorly the third-year students performed. He canceled the Transfiguration spell.

"Remarkable."

There was clearly not a hint of praise in his tone.

"Even the least threatening Dark creature can cause you so much trouble.

"I think I now fully understand just how terrible your Defense Against the Dark Arts education has been for the past two years."

At this point, no one was in the mood to respond—though in truth, many of them were unconvinced.

If last year's Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts had not been so dreadful that they had slackened off for an entire year, then they certainly could have handled a few Cornish Pixies.

"Three people completed this simple test. Two points to Slytherin, and one point to Gryffindor."

"In addition, because five people had their wands taken away, Slytherin loses two points, and Gryffindor loses three points."

No one objected. They merely stared at Li Wei with shining eyes, looking forward to redeeming themselves next time.

"Given your terrible performance, I believe that before learning to defend against the Dark Arts, you first need to address your own sluggishness and recklessness. Of course, lessons on identifying Dark creatures will proceed at the same time."

"Then what should we do, Professor?"

"First, you need solid theoretical knowledge. You must understand what affects a spell's power and know what constitutes perfect spellcasting.

"Beyond that, there is practice.

"Practice in great quantities, without interruption, until casting spells becomes instinctive to your bodies."

"Is that all? It does not sound difficult. Professor Flitwick has taught us these things too."

A student could not help asking.

Li Wei glanced at him but did not correct the flaw in his thinking.

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

"By the way, the Cornish Pixies were merely a greeting. The Dark creatures I have prepared for you next lesson are Red Caps. Those who did not take the Cornish Pixies seriously earlier may prepare to show off their skills next class."

As some students' expressions changed, Li Wei continued:

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

"It does not possess much destructive power, but it has many uses."

Li Wei looked at the students, who were merely listening obediently, and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you not writing it down?"