The students had rather particular feelings about practical lessons in the Dark Arts.
In the two years since Harry and his fellow students had arrived at Hogwarts, they had not had even a single proper Dark Magic Defense lesson.
Let alone a practical lesson.
In their first year, Quirrell, whose body had been possessed by Voldemort, had done nothing but crack jokes, read from the textbook, and boast. Of course, "boast" might not have been quite accurate.
Judging by his performance when Harry later faced him, Quirrell could still be considered a competent adult wizard. His classroom performance had all been an act.
In their second year, that preening peacock Lockhart had made his grand entrance.
Although Harry eventually learned that Lockhart had also been acting that year-Harry felt that the Oscars, Cannes, Berlin, and Venice all owed Lockhart a Best Actor award.
In class, however, Lockhart had indeed been a complete disaster.
Dark Magic Defense had turned entirely into a crash course in acting during these students' second year. Their acting skills had visibly improved, with Harry and Oliver Wood making particularly striking progress.
Oliver had used his acting skills to fool his teammates for more than two months, concealing the fact that Harry had a super broomstick. Well, the result was that, despite being captain, he now had no say on the team.
The only Dark Magic Defense lesson these young wizards had attended in two years that could count as a practical lesson had been the first class of the previous school year.
That farcical battle to capture the house-elves had ended with the students of the combined Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class fleeing in disarray, leaving only Harry and a handful of others to fight bitterly to the end for a costly victory.
Under these circumstances, hearing