Thanks to reader "Tearful Cat Head☆" for the grandmaster certification!!! Ten bonus chapters! (9/10)
The morning running group grew larger by the day.
By the second week, more than forty students had signed up.
Strange sights began appearing in the corridors.
For example, Ravenclaw students discussed "how many laps they ran today" over breakfast.
Several Hufflepuff girls started comparing whose calves looked better.
Even a few Slytherin students gradually joined the group.
Watching the increasingly exaggerated scale of it all, Zhang Wen felt he ought to do something.
He organized the whole matter into a formal teaching proposal and submitted it to Dumbledore.
The proposal was titled <Physical Conditioning Class: A Supplementary Course for Defense Against the Dark Arts>.
Its contents included morning runs, basic combat, reaction training, and armed sparring for upper-year students.
When he submitted it, Zhang Wen had not actually held out much hope.
After all, it was too "Muggle."
Yet Dumbledore approved it the very next day.
"Physical strength is the first line of defense against the Dark Arts."
Dumbledore sat behind his desk, that familiar gleam flashing behind his half-moon spectacles.
"I completely agree with that view, Professor Zhang Wen."
"...Headmaster, you approved it so readily that I'm actually a little uneasy."
Zhang Wen admitted honestly.
"Oh?"
"By rights, a course like this involves formal scheduling and takes up the students' physical energy. There should be some sort of discussion process..."
"I've already discussed it."
Dumbledore said leisurely.
"With Professor McGonagall."
"With Professor McGonagall?"
"She voted unanimously in favor."
"She only has one vote."
"So it was unanimous."
Dumbledore smiled pleasantly.
Zhang Wen: "..."
As he left the headmaster's office, Zhang Wen happened to run into Professor McGonagall by the staircase.
Professor McGonagall seemed to be in an unusually good mood.
"Professor Zhang Wen."
She