You Must Stare at Him, Even if You Cry, Stare at Him

Hogwarts dining hall.

Scattered along the long tables were young wizards eating lunch.

The air was thick with the smell of fried fish, chips, and steak.

Lucien cut into his fried fish and once again silently grumbled about Daiying's culinary wasteland.

He wanted Chinese food. The taste of home.

Back home, he could still have the chef cook Chinese food, but at Hogwarts...

Wait, House-elves. They should be able to learn Chinese cooking, right?

He would find a chance to ask them. It would be the perfect way to improve everyone's meals.

Creak, creak—

Lucien looked up at the source of the noise. Harry, sitting across from him, still wore a gloomy expression as he hacked at the steak on his plate, as if it were his mortal enemy.

"Snape is targeting me!"

Harry said indignantly.

"I said very clearly that I didn't know the answer, and Hermione was raising her hand right beside me wanting to answer, but Snape just kept grilling me!"

"What did I even do to offend him?"

Lucien watched Harry bury his head and shovel down food, then suddenly thought of something.

"Harry, when Snape was lecturing you, were you keeping your head down too?"

Hearing that Lucien was asking him, Harry raised his head, chewed the beef in his mouth a few times, and swallowed it hard.

"Yeah, Lucien, you didn't see it!"

Harry suddenly put down his knife and fork, took off his glasses, widened those emerald-green almond eyes, and put on a stern face.

"Oh, Potter, tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"You can't answer? Then if you needed to find a bezoar, where would you begin?"

Pfft—

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Ron, who was drinking cream of mushroom soup, nearly spat it out when he heard Harry imitate Snape so perfectly.

But when he saw Lucien and Hermione sitting opposite him, Ron hurriedly covered his mouth and choked so badly he kept coughing.

Seeing Harry's little impersonation act, Lucien couldn't keep the corners of his mouth down either, and they rose despite himself.

The kid actually had a sense of humor.

Harry spread his hands helplessly and put his glasses back on.

"Lucien, Snape had already walked right up in front of me. If I didn't lower my head, his spit would've plastered my whole face!"

"And that's not all. At the end, he even sat directly opposite me and just stared straight at me like that."

"I could practically smell the grease in his hair. I really wanted to give him a bottle of shampoo!"

Lucien looked at Harry with some surprise.

He hadn't expected this kid to have a sharp tongue too. He'd rather get beaten to death than lose in presence or in words, was that it?

Ron, who had only just managed to swallow properly again, glanced at Harry and muttered, "Then you could give him Potter-brand Shampoo. You know, the one from your family."

"When Snape finishes you off, at least he'll make it quick."

Seeing that these two clowns were about to start a double act, Lucien spoke up in time to stop them and asked Harry an unrelated question.

"Harry, you wear those glasses because you're nearsighted, right?"

Harry nodded.

Lucien continued asking, "Have you ever considered taking off your glasses during class, especially during Potions?"

Now it wasn't just Harry who was confused. Hermione and Ron also looked at Lucien in puzzlement, not knowing what he was getting at.

"But if I take off my glasses, I really won't be able to see the words on the blackboard. Wouldn't Snape target me even more then?"

Hearing Harry's question, Lucien couldn't help roasting him inwardly.

Heh. It's because you keep wearing those glasses that make you look so much like your dad that Snape targets you even more.

Lucien snapped his fingers.

"That's simple. There's a potion called Vision-Clearing Potion. It can restore your eyesight and keep it that way for two or three hours."

"It's part of first-year Potions content, so it shouldn't be hard to brew."

Faced with Lucien's suggestion, Harry scratched his head instead.

"Sorry, I'm not very good at brewing potions."

Lucien gave him a long look.

"How long have you even been learning Potions? Why are you writing yourself off so easily? And..."

"There's no need to hate the knowledge he teaches just because you hate the teacher."

"Knowledge isn't good or bad."

Harry nodded, a little lost. He couldn't fully understand what Lucien meant, but somehow it sounded reasonable.

"And one more thing. After you take off your glasses."

"If Snape still keeps questioning you or scolding you..."

"Stare right into his eyes!"

"Even if he scolds you until you're about to cry little pearls, keep staring at him."

Now Harry was even more confused. Hermione and Ron looked back and forth between the two of them.

They wondered if Lucien had some kind of grudge against Harry. Why else would he give him advice like that?

This time, it was Ron who voiced the doubt for his good friend.

"Uh, Lucien, will that really work? Won't it..."

Lucien waved a hand and said with absolute conviction, "When you haven't mastered the knowledge your teacher is teaching, that's when you should show even more that you're determined to study hard."

"And the eyes are the windows to the soul. You need to communicate through your gaze and tell Snape: although you're learning slowly now, you're absolutely determined to study seriously!"

Lucien's theory left the three little ones stunned.

It felt a bit wrong somehow, but they couldn't seem to find any fault with it.

Seeing that they had more or less finished eating, Lucien picked up his books and prepared to stand.

"You have Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing this afternoon too?"

The three of them nodded repeatedly, anticipation and excitement appearing on their faces.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was different from Charms, which taught magic that leaned more toward everyday life. This was a magical subject specifically aimed at combat.

Harry in particular seemed the most excited. The Potions class that morning had been horribly stifling for him, and he could hardly wait to come into contact with real magic!

Seeing the three little ones' yearning for this class, Lucien showed a slightly pitying look and shook his head.

"Let's go. Time to get ready for class."

That afternoon.

Inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

After the bell rang, the much-anticipated Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Quirrell, who had a long cloth wrapped around his head, arrived late.

However, as Quirrell himself entered the classroom, a pungent smell was brought in with him.

Some of the young wizards couldn't help raising their hands to cover their noses.

Lucien simply tapped his wand and cast a layer of Freshness Charm over his mouth and nose, directly filtering out that garlicky smell.

"H-hello, I'm Q-Quirinus Q-Quirrell."

"Your D-Defense Against the D-Dark Arts teacher."

Hearing Professor Quirrell stammer through his self-introduction, the young wizards looked at one another, and the classroom immediately filled with a noisy murmur of whispers.

"Q-quiet. N-no n-noise."

Ron couldn't help whispering beside Lucien and the others, "Is he really the Defense professor? They let a stammerer do it? He's not a substitute teacher, is he?"

Hermione said hesitantly, "Maybe... maybe this professor has excellent theoretical knowledge and is very powerful?"

Even Hermione herself didn't sound sure of that.

"A-all right. We'll start with c-chapter one..."

And so, Lucien listened as Quirrell went from the meaning of Defense Against the Dark Arts, to the situation of defensive magic, then to its development, and finally extended it to future expectations...

Lucien narrowed his eyes, almost as if he were hallucinating.

Isn't this just like that bald professor from my university before I transmigrated—the one with decent academic ability but absolute garbage teaching skills?

Where the hell have I ended up?

Is this still Hogwarts?