As the lesson drew to a close, Frank signaled for everyone to stop practicing.
Standing at the lectern, he slowly swept his gaze across the class and said in a low voice:
"Remember one thing, children—the true Defense Against the Dark Arts is not merely about how many Spells you have mastered, or what grades you can earn in the upcoming exams..."
"What matters most is survival! It is being able, in the shortest possible time, to make the one choice that will keep you alive!"
"Always remember to have the will to live. Fight to survive, and fight even more for those behind you who need your protection!"
His voice echoed through the classroom. Many students could not help showing admiration, when one student raised his hand high.
Frank looked at him and said, "Mr. Goldstein, do you have a question?"
Anthony Goldstein stood and said, "Professor Longbottom, we have all heard about what happened to you and your wife... We heard that you were badly injured while fighting the Dark Witch Lestrange, and that... that you were unconscious for so many years."
He spoke vaguely, and quite a few students instinctively turned to look at Malfoy.
Pure-blood families generally kept treasured genealogies recording the tangled blood ties between their various branches. In the past, no one had made a point of bringing them up.
But once the Longbottom couple appeared at school, the reason they had vanished from society for more than a decade, the scars covering their bodies and their slow speech, the connection between the Malfoy and Lestrange families, and so on had already become common knowledge.
And the kinder Frank and Alice proved to be, the more detestable those who had once harmed them seemed.
Bathed in those needle-like stares, Malfoy kept a stiff face