Potions Class... Had Arrived Anyway

"I smelled something incredibly strong," Kane said, frowning as he gave Harry and Ron a heads-up.

"We smelled it too," Harry and Ron replied through gritted teeth. They now understood why the students who had entered after them had looked so strangely at the three of them sitting in the front row.

So...

Why had no one warned them?

"G-good morning, I'm... I'm your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. You may call me... Quirrell~"

The corner of Kane's mouth gradually twitched as Professor Quirrell stammered through his introduction, then picked up the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook... and started reading from the first page.

He followed the book word for word, starting with the author's biography and reading for the entire lesson!

With ten minutes left in class, perhaps tired from reading aloud for the whole period, Quirrell simply had the students take out their wands and practice whatever spells interested them.

Meanwhile, he stood at the podium and bragged about himself.

Kane finally managed to let out a relieved breath. Listening to Professor Quirrell's lessons was somewhat sanity-draining. He felt like he needed to sleep with a flower garland on that night.

Bang!

"Don't you think there's something off about that guy?" Maxwell suddenly appeared in front of Kane, bracing both hands on the desk and tipping his chin toward Quirrell.

"What profound insight do you have?" Kane asked curiously, leaning back in his chair.

"I feel that he's very much like me. Extremely alike. We were both pitiful people tempted by power and ultimately reduced to puppets."

"The difference is that the Shadow Codex tempted me, and I eventually became the king of the Eternal Realm. But him? I don't know what tempted him, but I can clearly see his life force constantly draining away."

"Perhaps he won't live to see next winter," Maxwell said, dripping with mockery.

"So Professor Quirrell has some secret we don't know about. Then what did Dumbledore mean last night? Make a good impression on Quirrell."

"Did he mean for me to draw Quirrell's attention?" Kane suddenly realized.

"I don't like that old man. I can't see through him, but if I stood before him, I think he could see through me." Maxwell tapped the desk in front of Kane with one finger.

"So, are you going to do it?"

Kane raised an eyebrow. "A request from a lonely old man is no more than a small favor to me. Why not?"

Soon, the dismissal bell rang. Harry and Ron hurried out of the classroom, then turned back to look at Kane, who was still dawdling.

It had been one thing to stay after class and ask Professor Flitwick or Professor McGonagall questions, but today's Professor Quirrell absolutely did not warrant any questions.

In other words, they could finally have a hot lunch.

However, they had not expected Kane to still clutch his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and resolutely walk toward Professor Quirrell, who was packing up his things.

"Oh no," Ron said, frowning at the sight.

"What's the difference between this and eating shit?" Harry was utterly stunned by the scene as well.

It was not just Harry and Ron. Almost every young wizard in the classroom was shocked by what Kane was doing.

Bro, do you have some kind of learning fetish?

Hermione watched the scene, then sniffed the authoritative scent in the air. For the first time, she felt that Kane's actions truly suited his status as a magical Celestial Dragon.

Professor Quirrell was the sort who could only read from the textbook and was skilled at marinating himself in corpse oil and garlic. Going to him with questions...

Being a Celestial Dragon was hard. Learning Defense Against the Dark Arts was hard too!

The young wizards were not the only ones surprised. Quirrell himself, the person involved, was equally astonished.

Given his teaching ability, he honestly had some self-awareness. He had never imagined that a young wizard would come to ask him questions.

Yet there really was one standing before him now, clutching a textbook to his chest and looking at him with sparkling, knowledge-hungry eyes. It would have been even better without those dark circles.

"Y-you... do you have a question?" Quirrell asked softly.

"Of course. For the fifty minutes you just spent talking, you covered only targeted solutions for certain dark creatures within the first ten pages of the textbook. I wanted to ask whether there is something universal?" Kane discreetly stopped breathing through his nose and instead took breaths while speaking through his mouth, so he would not have to smell that bizarre garlic stench.

"Universal? Of course, of course there is a universal method. This was originally supposed to be knowledge for after... after Halloween, but since you asked, I-I'll teach you."

Professor Quirrell picked up a quill and parchment, wrote down an incantation, and handed it to Kane. "This spell isn't in the book. It's very, very simple. It has no requirement for wand movements and is suitable for practicing... silent magic. It's called the Knockback Jinx, though that's only... only a name. Its nature is still a damaging spell, except it has a knockback... property."

Kane folded the parchment and slipped it into his pocket. "If there's something I don't understand, can I ask you?"

Quirrell's expression became even more delighted. "I believe a smart, smart young wizard like you will quickly... quickly understand this spell. But if... if you need me, feel free to come find me."

"Thank you, Professor Quirrell." Kane gave Quirrell a polite wave and hurried away. If he stayed any longer, he truly felt like he would suffocate.

Even a plain steamed bun would taste like garlic bread in his mouth now.

"You've made contact with Quirrell. What's next? Go tell Dumbledore?" Maxwell appeared beside Kane and asked.

"Otherwise, wouldn't I have smelled garlic for so long for nothing? If I really only wanted this spell, couldn't I have asked another professor?" Kane said, patting the parchment in his pocket and raising an eyebrow.

"You're not afraid of danger?" Maxwell scoffed before vanishing.

"Danger? I rolled out of Miss Charlie's fragrant kiss in the Eternal Realm. I can't lose face now." Kane rolled his eyes and walked straight out of the classroom.

Harry and Ron leaned close and sniffed him. "If a dragon ate Hagrid, smelling you halfway through would cleanse its palate."

"My clothes will clean themselves in a while. By the way, there should still be lunch left, right?"

The three exchanged glances.

"Meatballs are ready. Time to eat."

Back in the dormitory, Kane scavenged up some snacks and directly kneaded meatballs by hand in a cauldron. Only after all three had eaten their fill did he let out a breath, feeling as though he had come back to life.

"Oh, right. What class do we have next?" Kane asked. Harry glanced at the schedule posted on the wall. "Potions."

Kane suddenly sat upright. He looked at the cauldron he had just used to make meatballs, then at himself in the mirror, whose passive skill automatically unlocked delicious food whenever ingredients were tossed into cauldron-like containers...

Potions class had arrived anyway.