Defense Against the Dark Arts Had to Include Dark Arts

"My back..."

Professor Thorne slumped against the wall on the floor, completely unresponsive.

Seeing this, Roy panicked completely. I'm not going to become the first student to beat a teacher to death, am I?

Fortunately, Thorne had been an Auror for many years and was in good physical condition. He slowly climbed back to his feet, making the whole class breathe a sigh of relief.

"Cough, cough—an impressive spell, Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff gets five points."

"Professor, I... I'm sorry. It was my first time using that spell."

Roy felt genuinely ashamed. His desire to show off had been too strong, and he had hurt such a good professor as Thorne.

"I-I'm fine. It's my own fault for failing to block it. Don't blame yourself. It's nothing serious."

Professor Thorne certainly did not look fine. That blow had looked brutal. Perhaps only a Steelback Beast could have taken it without injury.

"I-I know healing magic! Let me help you, Professor Thorne!"

Besides smoke, the thing Roy was best at was his innate healing magic. This magic seemed to belong to no particular category of spell; it was purely Roy's talent.

Roy raised his wand and fired another beam of green light at Professor Thorne.

"No, don't! I'm fine—"

When he saw Roy casting another spell at him, Professor Thorne ignored the pain in his back and scrambled to his feet, trying to dodge it.

The green light entered Thorne's body, leaving only a layer of green fluorescence around him before quickly fading away.

Yet once the spell hit, Thorne felt the pain in his back vanish entirely. Even the lingering injuries from the Dark Magic he had encountered in the past felt much lighter.

"Thank you, Roy. Your healing magic is remarkable."

Thorne's complexion relaxed considerably. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his back, feeling even better than before.

"Alright, I'll demonstrate the Knockback Jinx. After that, you'll split into groups and practice with each other. Next class, I'll have you try it on a real Pang Kexinke, so make sure you take proper precautions while practicing."

Thorne opened a cage and released the monster inside. Then he fired a red spell at the constantly shifting ghostly flame.

The flame was struck by the spell and fell directly to the floor, revealing its originally rather disgusting true form.

The injured Pang Kexinke curled up on the floor. Professor Thorne walked before the students and continued his introduction.

"Under normal circumstances, the Knockback Jinx is a basic spell you would learn in your second year. It may be difficult for you to cast it right now. I'll teach you another spell as well. This spell is also highly effective against dark creatures."

A bolt of purple lightning shot from Thorne's wand tip and struck the monster on the ground. After a bout of convulsions, the Pang Kexinke went completely still.

"I must remind you that this spell is Dark Magic. You must never use it on your fellow students."

At the mention of Dark Magic, the students did not grow nervous. The Slytherin students in particular became wildly excited, as though they had heard some sort of keyword. All one could say was that many people held ignorant enthusiasm for certain things.

Roy retreated back into the group of students. Everyone gave him strange looks as if he were a criminal. Knowing he had done something wrong, Roy lowered his head dejectedly, though he was still startled when he heard the words "Dark Magic."

He had not expected everyone to be so accepting of Dark Magic. Nor had he expected a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to teach not just defense, but Dark Magic as well.

For the rest of the lesson, the students split into pairs to practice the Knockback Jinx. Some even practiced the purple lightning Dark Magic on their family members nearby. Still, no one dared pair up with Roy. Even Cedric was unwilling to practice with him.

"My back is bad, you know."

Isolated, Roy could only desperately bombard a training dummy off to the side with all sorts of spells on his own.

As class drew to a close, Professor Thorne inspected everyone's progress one by one. Under his instruction throughout the lesson, most of them could already use the Knockback Jinx to push an unguarded person back several steps.

"Very good. It seems everyone practiced seriously, so there will be no written homework. Next class, we'll conduct practical training using the Knockback Jinx against Pang Kexinke. You must at least be able to push someone back more than three steps. Remember to practice plenty after class."

The students shouted in celebration upon hearing there was no homework, then left the classroom in groups after class.

"Roy, could you come to my office? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."

Roy thought he was about to be punished, so he followed Professor Thorne to his office with his head hanging.

Professor Thorne's office was simple and tidy: one desk, two chairs, and a bookcase. Several trunks were piled in the corner, and there was nothing else.

Professor Thorne opened the office window. From there, they could see the castle's central courtyard. Now that class was over, many students were getting some fresh air in the courtyard garden.

"Please, sit. Relax. I won't punish you."

The two sat on opposite sides of the desk. Thorne leaned back casually in his chair, with no hint of blame in his eyes as he spoke easily.

"Your spellwork is very impressive, Roy. Don't be nervous. Everyone is hot-blooded when they're young. Besides, didn't you heal me?"

Seeing that Professor Thorne did not seem to mind at all, Roy was still somewhat restrained. Even if he had healed him, such a heavy blow must have hurt badly.

"It was all because I wanted to show off. I'll never draw attention to myself again."

Roy expressed his remorse with great sincerity. Seeing Roy's vivid performance, Professor Thorne burst into hearty laughter.

"Alright, it's normal for young people to be competitive. There's something I'd like to understand. It seems there is some conflict between you and Miss Grindelwald."

Elias Thorn looked very relaxed, smiling as he spoke. Yet his gray-black eyes carefully observed Roy's every movement from across the desk.

"Isn't her surname Grindelhill?"

Faced with Roy's question, Elias did not refute him. He merely smiled and listened carefully as Roy recounted what had happened from the wand shop to the train.

"Professor, don't you think I'm being wronged? It wasn't even that nasty a joke. Why has she been so hostile toward me?"

After listening to Roy's complaints, Elias stood up, walked to the window, and turned to look outside.

"I wouldn't dare speculate about Miss Grindelhill's true thoughts," Thorne said in a low, magnetic voice.

"However, I must remind you to beware of retaliation from the Slytherin students. That Miss Grindelwald is clearly the leader of Slytherin House now. I hope I'm judging a gentleman by my own petty standards, but if someone plots against you, you'll be the one who suffers, Roy."

Roy was baffled by Elias's inexplicable warning.

"It can't be that serious, can it? I only played a joke on Aisling. How could they retaliate against me?"

"That is where you are too young. Do you know the history behind the surname Grindelwald?"

Elias turned around and looked at the bewildered Roy, an inscrutable expression on his face.