Strange Eyes

"So now, follow my orders. You two, come sit in the middle of the front row!" Professor Lore said sternly.

"But..." Abu tried to argue, only to be cut off by the professor.

"I'm sure everyone knows that the wizarding world is in a very tense situation right now. Under such circumstances, all wizards should stand united; there is simply no room for division! And yet you still insist on clinging to your prejudices and treating students from other houses as enemies?" His gaze slowly swept across all the young wizards below, his tone icy.

The young wizards from both houses lowered their heads guiltily, not daring to meet his eyes.

Moody fell silent for a moment, then quietly packed up his things and moved to the middle seat in the front row. Abraxas, however, remained where he was, unwilling to leave until Professor Lore's gaze slowly shifted toward him.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Abu gritted his teeth, left his seat, and dropped heavily into the chair in the middle of the front row, seemingly using the gesture to express his displeasure.

Xiwen noticed that both of them had moved their chairs to the outermost edges of the desk. The two chairs were practically separated by an entire desk's length.

Professor Lore ignored their petty emotions and finally began the lesson.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts will teach you how to deal with threats from dark wizards and dangerous creatures. Given the current situation, this course is clearly of immense importance."

"The most important question is how to protect yourselves," he explained. "So, can anyone tell me what you should do if you encounter a dark wizard or a dangerous creature?"

Abu quickly raised his hand, his face still wearing that defiant expression.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Lore motioned for Abu to answer.

"I'll have my father and his friends deal with them!" he said arrogantly.

The young wizards burst into laughter, making Abu's face turn extremely unpleasant.

Professor Lore pressed his hands down lightly, signaling everyone to stop.

"There's nothing wrong with that approach," he said. "Does anyone else want to answer?"

Moody stood up and said, "I'll use the appropriate spells according to the methods described in the textbook to drive back the dangerous creature."

Lore nodded without commenting. Then he swept his gaze around the classroom and spotted Xiwen, who was so sleepy that he could not help yawning.

"This student doesn't seem to be in very good spirits," he said, looking at Xiwen with amusement. "What's your name?"

"Xiwen Rosier, Professor." Xiwen lifted his eyes toward him and answered listlessly. The older and younger wizards, both with heavy dark circles under their eyes, stared at each other. For some reason, the sight was rather comical...

Professor Lore seemed to have no intention of letting him off and continued, "Do you have any unique insights regarding that question?"

Xiwen stood up helplessly and replied dismissively, "Just run. I guess rookies our age probably can't beat any dark wizards or dangerous creatures anyway."

"That makes sense." Professor Lore nodded and gestured for Xiwen to sit down.

"Everyone's answers make sense. When we encounter danger, we should never focus solely on how to defeat the other party. Remember, fighting is always the last resort when solving a problem!"

"When facing danger, what we should care about most is our own safety. To protect yourselves, there are three most practical methods, which also correspond to the answers given by the three students earlier: call for help, drive back the opponent, or flee quickly."

"However, reality is not that simple. As Mr. Rosier just said, young wizards your age will find it difficult to defeat dangerous enemies or creatures, so driving back the enemy can basically be ruled out. As for running away, you have not learned Apparition, nor do you carry tools such as flying brooms or Portkeys with you, so it will also be difficult to escape their pursuit."

"So sometimes, calling for help from nearby adult wizards is actually the best method."

Hearing this, Abraxas revealed a smug smile and shot Moody a particularly arrogant glance, only to be ignored.

Professor Lore continued, "Today, I'll teach you the red and green sparks used for sending signals. Green sparks indicate that your location is safe, while red sparks tell your companions that your location is dangerous and that you need support."

Professor Lore took out his wand and waved it toward the empty left side of the classroom.

"The incantation is—Ruddy Sparkle."

A smoky red glow surged from the tip of his wand, bathing the wall on the left side of the classroom in crimson.

"The extinguishing charm is the same as the one for Lumos: Nox." The red light gradually faded before their eyes.

"As for green sparks, the incantation is Verda Sparkle."

This time, green light lit up at the tip of Lore's wand. Then he walked to the window with the glowing wand raised in his hand.

Turning to the young wizards, he said, "Now I'll demonstrate an advanced application. You do not need to master it in this class."

"The Spark Charm usually needs to be used together with another spell: the Ascending Charm." Professor Lore extended his raised wand out the window, pointing it diagonally toward the sky.

"Ascendio!"

A powerful green light shot rapidly into the sky along the direction of his wand, leaving behind a vivid trail. At last, the green light burst high in the air like fireworks, leaving a brilliant patch of color even beneath the dazzling sunlight.

Professor Lore turned back to look at the young wizards in the classroom, who had stretched their necks with looks of amazement on their faces. He smiled with no small amount of pride and said, "Next, I'll explain the points to watch out for when casting the spell."

Thus, the rest of the lesson consisted of the young wizards practicing the two basic Spark Charms in a complete mess around the classroom. Every so often, someone set a desk alight or burned a classmate's hat. Professor Lore had no choice but to run around putting out fires to prevent the entire classroom from being destroyed.

Xiwen, who had already practiced these two spells skillfully on his own at home, was excused from practicing them after demonstrating them to Professor Lore.

Xiwen spread his book open on the desk and pretended to preview the next lesson, though in reality he had narrowed his eyes and slipped into a half-doze. This left Elshiona to practice the spells alone while also taking on the task of waking him whenever the professor came over...

After Xiwen's head had dropped onto the desk several times, the lesson finally ended. Sleepy and hungry, he hastily ate a meal in the Great Hall before returning to the dormitory, yawning all the way.

Before going to sleep, he sat on his bed and instinctively glanced once more at the cat cage that had once housed Little Cat—

The cage was no longer empty. It seemed that some creature was inside. Xiwen widened his tired eyes, trying to see what it was, but instead caught sight of a pair of strange bright-yellow eyes.

Those eyes seemed to possess a peculiar magic. Xiwen felt as though his entire being had been drawn toward them, while the scenes he had experienced over the past two days flashed continuously before his eyes—the worry he had felt when he discovered Little Cat had vanished yesterday, everyone's eager search for Little Cat in the common room, the tension of wandering outside the castle alone at night...

His vision grew blurrier and blurrier.

Then he collapsed heavily onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep...