Class Ends

Roger Davies was the only one hanging upside down. The other students merely felt a little uncomfortable, but he was genuinely suffering physically.

Seeing that his face had turned bright red from the blood rushing to his head, Tver hurriedly used an ordinary Levitation Charm to lower them all.

He had nearly ended up in Azkaban for murdering students...

Giving them a moment to recover, Tver casually dispelled the surrounding magic.

"I think you've all experienced what a real battle is like. Tell me how you feel about it."

Tver remained seated on the desk, watching the students look at one another. After they had looked around for a while without anyone speaking up, he had no choice but to call on someone.

"Davies, I imagine your impression was particularly deep. Would you share some experience with your classmates?"

The moment Davies heard his name, his neck shrank back. His already flushed face turned several shades paler.

He glanced around at the expectant eyes surrounding him. Once he confirmed that no one would speak for him, he mumbled, "Don't stand stupidly in one spot?"

"That's right!" Tver nodded approvingly. "No matter how fast an opponent's magic is, its trajectory is straight—well, mostly straight. That means that as long as you move effectively, you can dodge most spells.

"Of course, if you stupidly run straight toward a spell, not even Headmaster Dumbledore can save you."

The students burst into cheerful laughter.

"But there's another problem here. Has anyone thought of it?" Tver asked after letting them laugh for a while.

George had just opened his mouth when Fred covered it. "Raise your hand first, idiot!"

Then, under George's disbelieving gaze, Fred raised his hand.

Only after receiving Tver's signal did he speak loudly.

"Professor, I think that if we step into a trap while moving, then we might as well have stayed where we were."

Tver gave him a small round of approving applause.

"That's right. Conditions on a battlefield are often complicated. When we reposition ourselves, we must pay attention not only to our opponents, but also to where we step."

"Five points to Gryffindor. It seems you two have plenty of experience with that."

Fred and George proudly raised their heads, accepting the quiet snickers of their classmates.

Just then, the bell rang for the end of class. For the first time, the students found the sound so irritating. They still wanted to hear Professor Fawley talk more about combat techniques.

How cool was that!

Adolescent children were full of the urge to show off. They wished they could immediately learn all sorts of combat skills and replace Professor Fawley, who had just fought many alone, with themselves!

"All right, this lesson has given you a rough understanding of the four key points of battle: positioning, casting speed, personal defense, and teamwork."

"But don't rush. We have a whole year to learn these four skills. A year from now, we can have another battle and see how much everyone has learned."

The students' fighting spirit immediately surged.

Raze Hogwarts, capture Tver alive!

Tver was very pleased by the students' ambition, but why did it seem as though horns had sprouted from his head?

"First is the first key point—positioning. Your homework is to think about how to position yourselves effectively, while also considering how to make your opponent's positioning ineffective."

"The latter part is for students willing to use their brains. Good ideas will receive a small special reward." He wore a standard professor's smile, giving the students something more to anticipate.

Several academically inclined students exchanged glances, their eyes blazing with an even fiercer light than during the battle.

Professor Fawley's reward was theirs for sure!

"So, all you need to do is write an essay about your ideas. There is no length requirement; even a few words are fine. But remember, they must be your own ideas."

No word limit was the most insidious kind. None of the students had the nerve to actually hand in an essay with only a few words, so they would basically remain in a constant state of worrying that they had not written enough.

Which would only make them write more and more!

Tver clapped his hands, finally dispelling their reluctance to leave.

"All right, that's the end of this lesson. Off you go—don't delay yourselves for your next class."

Hogwarts' schedule was still quite packed, especially since their next class was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration. They would rather be hung upside down than be late for Transfiguration.

Tver, however, was free now.

He only needed to teach this one class today. The rest of the time was his own.

Tver picked up his Basics of Wizard Chess and strolled leisurely through the castle toward the library.

The castle was much quieter with the students in class. Only the occasional sounds of students casting spells drifted out from the classrooms.

Likewise, there were not many students in the library. There were few students without lessons to begin with, and even fewer who came to the library on the first day.

He did not choose a book about wizard chess. Hogwarts' oldest books dated back a thousand years; reading about wizard chess here would be far too wasteful.

He selected a book titled Spellcasting Techniques.

Tver skimmed through its contents. It was actually quite simple, covering various spellcasting techniques.

It was much the same as what he had taught in class.

The only extraordinary thing was how long the book had existed—it had been written eight hundred years ago.

At that time, Hogwarts itself had only been established for two hundred years. Books this old were generally kept as treasured collections. If Tver had not been a professor, he really would not have been able to borrow it.

Tver found a corner by the window and began reading the book, which was written in Ancient Runes.

Sure enough, books from Hogwarts were different.

Tver found scattered references to the four elements in this book as well.

The author greatly admired the theory of the four elements, but after years of research without making any progress, he could only rely on his own understanding to write this introductory-level Casting Techniques.

It covered every aspect of the four elements, though its insights were only superficial. Its sole merit lay in one claim:

Mastery of the four elements did not depend on ancient magic. It transcended magic itself and lay closer to the very source of magical power.

No matter what method of casting was used—in that era, there were many different casting methods, with ancient magic merely being one of the more widespread ones, alongside methods involving blood and more—all were composed of the four elements.

Tver did not know whether that included modern magic, but the thought still put him at ease.

He had thought learning about the four elements would inevitably involve ancient magic.

After all, ancient magic had declined precisely because it was difficult to learn and even harder to master.

Even an old scholar who had immersed himself in ancient magic for years would not dare claim he could use more than ten ancient spells.

It was like a Muggle trying to learn magic from textbooks; this method of casting severely limited the number of wizards.

In ancient times, only those with extraordinary talent could become wizards.

So although ancient magic was somewhat more powerful, Tver had no intention of learning it.

His strength no longer required the slight boost offered by ancient magic. Modern magic could still achieve the same effects.

After spending the entire afternoon reading through Casting Techniques and searching the library, Tver found no other worthwhile books.

Since it was mealtime anyway, he left the library and headed for the Great Hall.

However, the students' attitude toward him had taken a complete one-eighty.

"Hello, Professor Fawley!"

"Hello."

Another student he did not recognize greeted him. Tver suppressed his confusion and nodded with a smile.

They had been pointing and whispering about him that morning. How had they become so warm and polite by the afternoon?

Professor Flitwick appeared at some point and patted him on the waist.

"Tver, I heard you strung up an entire class of students and beat them?"