Defense Against the Dark Arts

The second class was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall's classes had always been difficult, and this one was especially hard. Su Yu had forgotten everything he had learned last year over the holiday. He had spent the entire summer traveling around Europe and had barely touched his wand, let alone practiced something like Transfiguration, which required daily practice.

Su Yu was supposed to turn a beetle into a button, but after struggling for ages, the beetle merely crawled back and forth across the desk, as leisurely as if it were taking a stroll through its own backyard. Su Yu poked it with his wand. It sped up for two steps, then continued wandering at a leisurely pace.

Su Yu took a deep breath, focused, and waved his wand—the beetle did not budge. He waved again—still nothing. He kept waving—the beetle finally moved, but rather than turning into a button, it crawled toward the edge of the desk, apparently deciding this human was beyond saving and it would be better to run away.

The beetle crawled and crawled until it reached Kurama's paw.

Kurama was dozing on the floor. Feeling something small crawling around by his foot, he reflexively slapped down with a paw.

Smack.

A crisp sound rang out.

Kurama lowered his head to glance at the black lump beneath his paw, then looked up at Su Yu with an utterly innocent expression.

With no other choice, Su Yu forced himself to walk over to Professor McGonagall and said, "Professor, could I have another beetle?"

Professor McGonagall was making her rounds to inspect the other students' progress. Hearing this, she stopped, looked down at Su Yu's completely empty desk, then at the small puddle of unidentified matter beneath Kurama's paw. Her expression shifted from confusion to understanding, then from understanding to displeasure.

"Mr. Su-Fuli," Professor McGonagall said helplessly, "my beetles are not for amusing your pet."

"Take another one," Professor McGonagall continued. She took another beetle from the box beneath the lectern and handed it over, adding a special warning, "Please keep an eye on your Kurama."

But Professor McGonagall was clearly very dissatisfied with this.

Su Yu took the beetle back to his seat and placed it on the desk, then gently nudged Kurama with his hand, signaling him to stay farther away. Kurama gave a dissatisfied snort and shifted position, but never opened his eyes.

Even when the lunch bell rang, Su Yu had not managed it. The beetle, on the other hand, was doing quite well. It crawled in circles around the desk until Kurama flicked it to the edge with his paw, sending it into Daphne's bag. Daphne picked it out of her bag and put it back on Su Yu's desk. Su Yu sighed and set it free.

Hermione showed off the exquisite button she had made in class. Her button looked as though it had come straight from a shop—round and smooth, evenly colored, with a faint sheen. She proudly held it up and turned it in the sunlight, her face practically spelling out, "I'm amazing," as she said she would take it back for Su Yu to use.

The moment Su Yu thought of what it had been, he said he could not accept it.

"It isn't a beetle anymore!" Hermione protested. "It's a button now!"

"At its core, it's still a beetle."

"Its essence has already been changed!"

"Then you keep it. I just can't get past it mentally."

Hermione huffed and put the button back into her pocket.

When Su Yu finished eating and brought Daphne to the central courtyard for a walk, he saw Malfoy and the others arguing with someone.

The air in the central courtyard was much fresher than inside the castle. Although the sky was still gray, there was at least none of that stale old-stone smell. Several old oak trees rustled in the wind, and the occasional dead leaf drifted down. Su Yu had originally wanted to find a bench to sit on and let his food settle.

It turned out Colin Creevey wanted to take photos of Harry and Malfoy. Colin was a first-year Gryffindor this year, small in stature, with a messy mop of brown hair and his Muggle camera constantly in hand. When he saw Harry, he became wildly excited and raised his camera to press the shutter. Then Malfoy came out too, and Colin wanted to take a picture of him as well.

With Malfoy's arrogant nature, he pointed at Colin's camera, chin raised high. "Don't point that Muggle junk at me. I don't want some cheap thing defiling my portrait. Take pictures of Harry instead. He must love lining up to sign things for people."

Harry's face immediately flushed red. He clenched his fists and stepped forward, but Ron grabbed his robes from behind.

Colin spoke up then. His voice was not loud, but he sounded very serious. "You're just jealous of Harry. Jealous that he's famous."

Malfoy's expression changed. He was jealous of Harry? Jealous that Harry had gotten beaten so badly in the Otherworld he could not find his way home? "I don't think having a scar on your head makes you particularly special. Of course, I don't know whether other people think so." Crabbe and Goyle laughed from the side, sounding like two deflated balls.

Ron stepped out to defend Harry as well, standing beside him and glaring at Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles, ready to fight. The two took a step forward, their clenched fists creaking.

Malfoy was still there, imitating what Ron's mother had said that morning. Pinching his throat theatrically, he shrieked, "If you dare take one more wrong step—" His voice was sharp and thin, and the imitation was somewhat convincing, except his expression was far too exaggerated, his eyes narrowed to slits and his mouth stretched wide.

A group of fifth-year Slytherins nearby burst into loud laughter. Leaning against the corridor pillars with their arms folded, they laughed so hard they bent over. Some even pinched their throats and repeated the line in imitation of Malfoy.

"Weasley wants an autographed photo of Harry," Malfoy said with a fake smile. He glanced back at Crabbe and Goyle, who obligingly laughed again. "It'd be worth more than anything in his house!"

Ron's face turned crimson, and his hand had already reached for the wand in his pocket.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" At that moment, Lockhart strode toward them. He wore an emerald-green robe that glittered in the sunlight, billowing behind him, and his dazzling smile was bright enough to blind anyone. "Who's handing out signed postcards?"

Then he smugly took a photo with Harry again. One hand rested on Harry's shoulder while the other made a V-sign, and he flashed Colin's camera a perfect eight-tooth smile. Harry's whole body was stiff, his expression like that of someone enduring torture. Lockhart was not satisfied after one photo and changed poses to take several more.

Lockhart kept at it for quite a while. Only when the bell rang did he reluctantly let Harry go. As he released Harry, Lockhart patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You know, it isn't very wise to be signing postcards at your stage—honestly, it makes one seem a bit arrogant, Harry. You need to do it when the time is right. Like me, wherever I go, I have to bring a stack of postcards. You never know when they'll come in handy." Even as Lockhart walked toward the classroom, he continued smugly, "I don't think you've reached that point yet."

Harry walked ahead without looking back, his pace growing faster and faster. Ron followed behind, his face even redder than before.

Only after they reached the classroom did Lockhart finally let Harry leave and return to his own seat. Harry practically fled back to his desk.

The rest of the students filed noisily into the classroom as well. Su Yu and Daphne found seats near the back. Their seats were in the farthest corner of the classroom, furthest from the lectern, beside a window. Beyond it, the sky was gray, and they could see the distant treetops of the Forbidden Forest. Su Yu did not want to look at Lockhart's disgusting face.

Once the entire class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat and stood silently. He took a step forward, picked up Neville's copy of Gadding with Ghouls, then held it up to show everyone the cover portrait of himself smiling and winking. The pages rustled in the air as he turned in a circle with the book, ensuring every student saw it.

"Me," he said, pointing to the cover and winking as well, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Third Class Order of Merlin! Honorary member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts League, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—but I didn't want to mention that. I made the 'Ghoulish' ghost vanish simply by smiling at her."

He waited for them to burst into laughter, but only a few people chuckled softly.

Lockhart's smile stiffened slightly, but he quickly recovered.

"I trust you've bought the whole set of my books—that's good. Today, I'll give everyone a little quiz. Don't worry—this test is only to see how much you have read and understood from the books..."

As he spoke, Lockhart began handing out test papers to every student's desk. Su Yu lowered his gaze and took a look.

It read:

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest wish?

3. What do you think is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement?

They were almost all questions like that, filling three large sheets of paper. Su Yu flipped to the last page. The final question read: 64. What date is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday? What gift would he most like to receive?

Su Yu handed in a blank paper outright. He turned the test face down on his desk, leaned back in his chair, shoved his hands into his pockets, and closed his eyes. He felt that whoever asked such questions was an idiot. If he answered them, he would be an even bigger idiot! Kurama lay beside him, glanced at the paper, and used his paw to nudge it off the edge of the desk.

Daphne seriously answered several questions, but midway through, she also put down her pen. She turned to look at Su Yu, then at the test paper. After hesitating for a moment, she set down her pen.

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and began flipping through them in class. He walked as he read, continually saying, "Tut, tut—you few remember that my favorite color is lilac. I mentioned it in Gilderoy Lockhart's Year with the Yeti. And you must read Gilderoy Lockhart's Year with the Yeti more carefully. I wrote very clearly in Chapter Twelve that my greatest birthday wish is for magical and non-magical people to live together in harmony—but I certainly wouldn't refuse a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!"

Lockhart continued reading through the tests when he suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up. "...But Hermione Jane Granger knows that my greatest wish is to rid the world of evil and successfully promote my line of hair-care potions—excellent! In fact—" He flipped through her paper. "All correct! Who is Hermione Jane Granger?"

Hermione raised her hand tremblingly. Her face was slightly red, but her back was straight, and she looked forward with determination.

"Excellent!" Lockhart said with a smile. "Very well done! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now then, let's get to the main subject..."

Lockhart bent down and lifted a large cage covered with cloth from beneath his desk. When he placed it on the desk, it made a dull thud. Something inside was moving.

"Now—I must warn you all! It is my duty to acquaint you with the most wicked creatures in the wizarding world, so you will be mentally prepared in the future. What I am about to show you may be the most terrifying thing you have ever seen, but do not be afraid. So long as I am here, nothing can go wrong. I ask you all to remain calm and not panic."

Lockhart placed one hand on the cloth covering the cage. Neville, seated near the front, shrank into a corner of his chair in fright, curling himself into a ball with only his eyes exposed.

"I need you to promise not to scream when you see them," Lockhart said in a low voice, "because that might provoke them."

Everyone immediately held their breath. The classroom was so quiet they could hear the wind blowing against the windows. Lockhart suddenly whipped off the cloth.

"Ta-da!" he announced dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish Pixies."

Inside the cage were a group of little creatures about eight inches tall. Their bodies crackled with blue electricity, their faces were pointed, and their voices shrill. They were dashing and crashing about inside the cage, making the iron bars rattle. Rather than being frightened by so many people, they became even more excited, pulling faces and sticking out their tongues at nearby students. Some even reached through the bars to tug at the front-row students' hair.

Seamus Finnigan could not help laughing. Not even Lockhart could mistake that for a terrified scream, and several Gryffindor students around him began laughing too.

"What?" Lockhart asked with a smile, though there was already a trace of stiffness in it. "Ah, aren't they—aren't they—very dangerous?"

Seamus laughed so hard he could not stop, clutching his stomach and collapsing over his desk.

"You mustn't jump to conclusions so quickly!" Lockhart said, angrily wagging a finger in front of Seamus. "These little fellows are extremely wicked, clever, and terrifying!"

"All right," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see how you handle them."

Then he opened the lid of the cage.

The moment the lid opened, the pixies shot out of the cage like rockets and scattered in all directions. They were unbelievably fast, leaving trails of blue electricity through the air.

Two of them grabbed Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air. Neville screamed, his legs kicking wildly as his face turned white. Several more smashed through the windows, showering the back-row students in broken glass. They snatched up ink bottles and splashed ink everywhere, ripped up textbooks and test papers, and tore every picture off the walls. The people in the portraits screamed in terror and fled into neighboring frames. They turned the wastebasket upside down, grabbed schoolbags and textbooks, and hurled them out the windows.

Within minutes, nearly half the class was hiding beneath their desks. Neville, meanwhile, had been hung from the branch-like chandelier on the ceiling, dangling from its frame and swaying back and forth. His lips trembled, and tears welled in his eyes.

"Come on, subdue them! Catch them! They're only pixies..." Lockhart shouted.

He rolled up his sleeves, waved his wand, and shouted, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

But it did absolutely nothing. A pixie grabbed Lockhart's wand and threw it out the window. The wand spun several times through the air and vanished into the grass outside. Lockhart swallowed and hid under a desk too.

At that moment, Neville came crashing down with the chandelier.

Su Yu could not stand it any longer.

He stood and caught Neville one-handed.

Kurama's terrifying malice instantly blanketed the entire classroom. Every student began trembling for real, and the pixies felt it too. They stopped flying, every single pixie freezing in the same instant.

They hovered in midair, their bodies rigid, their playful expressions changing into terror.

Then they began to burst apart.

One Cornish Pixie after another exploded against the ceiling, like blue balloons being punctured, bursting into clumps of blood and flesh. Blue fluid splattered across the ceiling and ran down the walls.

Neville had gone completely limp, like a puddle of mud. Su Yu placed him on a nearby chair and patted his shoulder. Neville's lips were still trembling, but he nodded.

After setting Neville down, Su Yu walked step by step toward the desk where Lockhart was hiding.

He reached the desk and looked down at the trembling Lockhart beneath it.

Su Yu kicked the desk in front of him away. It flew into the wall and instantly shattered into pieces, sending splinters flying. Lockhart was exposed before Su Yu, bracing himself on the ground as he tried to retreat, but his back had already hit the wall. There was nowhere left to run.

Then Su Yu stepped on Lockhart's head, giving it an intimate encounter with the floor. Lockhart's face pressed against it, his nose crushed out of shape, his lips flattened against the stone as he let out a muffled groan like a slaughtered pig.

Su Yu bent down and smiled.

"Lockhart, right? I've put up with you for a long time. When was the last time I killed someone? Two months ago? Three?"

"Congratulations. You've successfully stirred up my killing intent again."

As he spoke, he prepared to crush Lockhart's skull. The force beneath his foot steadily increased, flattening Lockhart's face further against the stone. Lockhart began whimpering like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on.

The little Slytherin snakes no longer cared about the frustration they had suffered from those Mandrakes in the greenhouse that morning. Their prefect truly was their prefect.

A large group hurried over. Some grabbed Su Yu, while others tried to talk him down. Even Theodore, who normally barely spoke, had a mouth as sweet as honey now, constantly persuading Su Yu. "Prefect, it isn't worth it. Someone like this will only dirty your shoe." Malfoy abandoned even his pure-blood pride, hugging Su Yu's leg and begging him not to kill a professor in front of so many people. If he had to kill him, he should wait until no one was around, Prefect! There were too many witnesses now!

Daphne had already drawn her wand. Tilting her head, she stood behind Su Yu as green light flashed at the tip of her wand, ready to fire an Avada Kedavra at Lockhart after Su Yu crushed his head, just in case he did not die thoroughly enough. Her expression was as calm as ever.

Though Hermione was frightened, between Lockhart and Su Yu, she would choose Su Yu without hesitation. She stood beside the Gryffindor table, clutching the hem of her robes with both hands. Her face was a little pale, but she neither stopped Su Yu nor retreated.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall, who was teaching next door, sensed Kurama's deep malice and rushed over as well. Her cry could be heard from far away. Even her eternally unchanging face looked somewhat panicked from running so fast, and her glasses had gone crooked.

"Release your professor! Mr. Su-Fuli!"

"Does someone like him even deserve to be called a professor?" Su Yu did not even look at Professor McGonagall, and the force beneath his foot did not lessen in the slightest.

At that moment, Headmaster Dumbledore Apparated over as well. He appeared in the center of the classroom, his silvery-white beard drifting gently in the air, his blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles calmly watching Su Yu.

"Su Yu, spare him," Dumbledore said softly, still in that unhurried tone. "At least he does not have a bad heart, does he? He isn't someone who deserves to die, though he is indeed somewhat annoying."

Su Yu discovered then that no matter what he did, his foot could not press down any farther.

This old man—damn it! He had been holding back during the team battle last time too!!!

Su Yu took a deep breath and immediately withdrew his strength.

Then he bent down, patted Lockhart's dirtied head, and said to him with a cheerful smile, "Professor Lockhart, you were scared, weren't you? I was only joking with you just now. Though the joke may have gone a little too far, sorry about that. I hope you can understand." He paused, his smile unchanged while his tone turned cold. "It doesn't matter if you can't. If you don't understand, I'll play the same joke next time anyway."

Lockhart lifted his face from the stone floor. One side was red and the other white, dust clung to his nose, blood continuously seeped from his head, and his eyes were wide, pupils shrunk to pinpoints. His entire body shook like a sieve.

"Un... un... understand..." Lockhart's voice came out in broken fragments, as though someone were squeezing it from his throat.

With Professor McGonagall supporting him, he slowly struggled to his feet. His legs still trembled, and he could barely stand, his entire body leaning against her.

Professor McGonagall's face was livid as she glanced at Su Yu.

"Slytherin loses fifty points for taking a joke with a professor too far!" Professor McGonagall's voice returned to its businesslike coldness.

Then she led the still-trembling Lockhart out of the classroom. His feet seemed to be stepping on cotton, uneven and unsteady. At the doorway, he even stumbled and nearly fell.

Dumbledore looked at Su Yu, shook his head helplessly, and sighed. "All right. I hope Mr. Su Yu will deeply recognize his mistake this time. Everyone else, class is dismissed."

After saying that, Dumbledore flickered and vanished into thin air.

Apparating and Apparating again, coming and going freely, as though nothing had happened.