Voldemort's First Lesson

Unlike Dumbledore's helplessness, Lyon sat in his seat in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

On the platform, Quirrell swept his gaze over the students below. This class was shared by Slytherin House and Ravenclaw.

Strangely, Quirrell was not stammering today. Moreover, they noticed that his aura seemed to have changed. Instead of his usual timid manner, he now seemed somewhat imposing.

"Students, today we will learn about the three Unforgivable Curses."

The moment Quirrell spoke, the students below erupted. The Ravenclaws stared over in shock, and several boys rose to their feet, looking at Quirrell.

"Professor, your last lesson was clearly about defending against goblins, and the three Unforgivable Curses are clearly something we only learn in fourth year!"

They had grown accustomed to Quirrell's timid nature, so there was not the slightest trace of respect in their words.

Yet Quirrell's reaction was unexpectedly calm. He looked coldly at the Ravenclaw students below and said, "What are you trying to do? This is a classroom."

"If you have objections to Hogwarts' curriculum, you may speak directly with Albus."

A chilling presence instantly spread through the entire classroom with those words. The Ravenclaw students fell silent, and the boys who had spoken no longer dared to say anything.

Lyon calmly stared at Quirrell. He felt that Quirrell's body seemed to be under Voldemort's control now.

Because he had been hospitalized before, this was Lyon's first time attending Quirrell's class.

He had clashed with Quirrell once before. That had been a few days ago, when he was checking whether the Philosopher's Stone had been stolen from the fourth-floor corridor. He was certain that if Dumbledore had not arrived, Quirrell would definitely have attacked him.

Voldemort had likely taken control of Quirrell's body this time because of him as well.

"What are the three Unforgivable Curses? Can anyone answer?"

As Quirrell asked the question, the Ravenclaw students immediately raised their hands, all eager to be called upon.

Slytherin, meanwhile, appeared far calmer and more composed, perhaps because Lyon was there to keep things in hand. No one raised a hand.

To put it in Neville's words from a few days ago, only foolish lions and arrogant little eagles rushed to answer questions in class. Elegant Slytherin snakes knew that volunteering answers brought them no benefit whatsoever.

Although this idea gave many professors a headache, they had discovered that almost none of the outstanding Slytherin students volunteered answers, while most students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could barely answer the questions they were asked.

Ravenclaw? Do not even mention them. Most professors basically disliked calling on Ravenclaws, because they found that those students seemed capable only of reciting textbooks.

Only the Slytherin students led by Lyon excelled in their studies. Under Lyon's influence, they were not only outstanding academically, but because of their ambition and calculating minds, many of them had their own unique insights into every subject.

Lyon himself was greatly surprised by Neville's words. Without realizing it, Neville's personality and way of thinking had changed into this.

Quirrell did not seem at a loss because no Slytherin students had raised their hands. Instead, he fixed Lyon with a sharp gaze.

"Shelby, answer this question."

The classroom fell silent as soon as the words left his mouth.

Lyon calmly met Quirrell's gaze—or rather, Voldemort's—for a moment. A grim, murderous atmosphere churned through the air.

After a long while, Lyon rose to his feet.

The Slytherin students around him all felt that something was wrong.

Anyone with eyes could tell that Quirrell was not acting normally today.

"Tell me, what are the three Unforgivable Curses?" Quirrell asked. Lyon stared intently into Quirrell's pupils as their gazes clashed, then spoke.

"The Killing Curse, the Imperius Curse, and the Cruciatus Curse."

"Very good." Quirrell's gaze upon Lyon became even colder. "Then tell me, what do these three curses do?"

Although Lyon did not know what Voldemort intended to do, he decided to wait and see.

"The Killing Curse can kill a living creature outright. The Imperius Curse can directly control another person's mind. The Cruciatus Curse can make someone wish they were dead."

Quirrell nodded after hearing this. "It seems you are quite familiar with these three curses, Mr. Shelby."

"I recall that yesterday, you cast a Killing Curse in Slytherin's Prefects' Common Room. I imagine you are very familiar with them, aren't you?"

As soon as he said that, students from both Houses stared at Lyon in shock, while whispers rose endlessly around the classroom.

Last night, the Slytherin students had only known that Lyon's godfather had fought with several other prefects in the Prefects' Common Room.

Hermione had used an Extendable Ear and heard only a jumble of noise. She had not heard clearly what spells had been cast. She only knew that the other prefects had ganged up on Lyon, yet Lyon had calmly handled the attack of so many older prefects.

Despite several prefects attacking Lyon's godfather, he had actually managed to take one of them down. And now, judging by Quirrell's words, could it be that Lyon's godfather had truly cast the Killing Curse?

Lyon frowned. He did not know when Quirrell had learned about what had happened last night.

It felt more like a test.

"I did not." Lyon denied it outright. So long as it did not cross Dumbledore's bottom line, he could do whatever he wanted in private, but it could not be brought into the open.

Quirrell smiled and began writing on the blackboard. His handwriting was elegant as he laid out the various characteristics of the three Unforgivable Curses.

Lyon had always heard that Professor Quirrell's English handwriting was atrocious. It was probably because Voldemort was controlling his body.

But...

According to the original story, after controlling a body for so long, shouldn't Voldemort have been extremely weak?

Could this be another butterfly effect? Or had Voldemort found a way to restore his strength?

Unable to think of any further possibilities, Lyon did not dwell on it and turned his attention to Quirrell's lesson.

As Quirrell wrote one profound magical principle after another on the blackboard, everyone realized that Professor Quirrell's teaching style today was completely different from before.

"Do not use your simplistic way of thinking to understand the three Unforgivable Curses. These three spells are not as simple as you imagine."

"For example, the Killing Curse requires an immense amount of negative emotion when cast. That energy comes from the soul. Dark magic, in truth, often involves the study of the soul."

"Avada Kedavra!" Just as everyone was listening intently, Quirrell raised his wand. A flash of green light instantly burst through the classroom and struck the ground beside the lectern.

Everyone who saw this froze.

The Killing Curse.

This was their first time seeing the Killing Curse.

Although it had not damaged anything, everyone was clearly terrified by the spell. Several Ravenclaw girls even buried their heads in their robes, trembling with fright.

Lyon suddenly realized that Quirrell—or rather, Voldemort—seemed to have been watching him throughout the lesson.

And he could not shake the feeling that what Voldemort had just explained had been meant specifically for him.

(There will be two more chapters tonight. Both were written on my phone while I was at work. Once I get home after midnight, I should be able to use my computer. The final chapter will be posted after midnight.)