Just then, Quirrell's wand twitched slightly, and the box covered with a black cloth on the podium opened, from which all sorts of books flew out as if endless, raining down on Herman.
Herman instinctively clutched his head; the books hit his arms and back, causing some pain, but he could still bear it.
But that wasn't the worst part. While he was frantically dodging the book attacks, the fourth beam of light had already silently blocked his escape route.
This time, he abandoned the Standard Book of Spells to withstand it head-on. Magic surged from his body, and instead of trying to deflect the beam of light, he simply grabbed the unused broom by the classroom door and held it horizontally in front of him.
Because she was holding a wand, the young wizards present didn't notice anything unusual. They assumed Herman was still using the Levitation Charm, but much better than they were. Only Harry, who had seen Herman control the playing cards to unleash a barrage of swords, and Professor Quirrell noticed the difference.
The beam of light struck the broom handle, shattering the broom into pieces and scattering wood chips everywhere. A few chips grazed his cheek, leaving a small bloodstain, but the beam was at least blocked.
He had just breathed a sigh of relief when Quirrell raised his wand again, "Five seconds left."
The fifth beam of light followed closely Accio. Herman had no more obstacles to use, so he could only raise his wand and use Transfiguration to turn the overturned stool at his feet into a wooden plank to stand upright in front of him.
At the same time, keep your eyes fixed on the wooden board to block the Accio books. The books are successfully blocked, but the beam of light hits the wooden board in the end, and the board cracks.
Fortunately, Quirrell suddenly spoke up, "That's enough, time's up." Quirrell said, putting down his wand.
When Herman got up from the ground, his school uniform was covered in dust, his knees were chafed, the scorch mark on his shoulder was still throbbing, and blood was seeping from the small cuts on his cheeks.
He stood at the front of the classroom, his school robe askew, collar open, and his hair covered in sawdust. He looked as disheveled as if he had just crawled out of a real brawl.
The classroom was quiet for two seconds, then a few Gryffindor students couldn't help but chuckle, quickly suppressing their laughter.
Draco's brows furrowed as if she had just been beaten up.
Harry sat there, the parchment still open in her hand, but Herman noticed that her gaze had shifted from the pages to him, her expression unchanged, but with a hint of seriousness than usual.
Quirrell turned to the class, his tone calm. "As you saw, Mr. Horace used multiple methods to deal with the situation, utilizing obstacles, shifting positions, and dealing with the threat at the last minute. The core of this lesson is this: until you learn advanced defensive spells, you must learn to use what you have to buy time."
He paused, "However, Mr. Horace's performance in the first half also exposed a problem: he lacked awareness of magical combat and didn't pick up his wand immediately."
By the time he finished speaking, Herman had already dragged his injured leg back to his seat.
Draco leaned closer and whispered, "Are you alright?"
Herman rubbed his knee and gasped, "It's nothing, I was just used as teaching material, the kind with real combat involved, but not as disposable."
Harry, sitting next to her, added, "So there will be a next time, a reuse."
Herman wanted to retort, saying that no one is unlucky every day, but Harry cut him off first. "You were quite clever to use the Levitation Charm to block with something, it's just that you looked a bit clumsy when you got up."
Herman opened his mouth to refute, but seeing her "I'm helping you review" expression, he swallowed his words.
After class, Herman was kept behind by Quirrell and sat at the desk in the first row, rubbing his knees while waiting for Quirrell to pack up his things.
Once everyone had left the classroom, Quirrell put down his lesson plan and walked over. He glanced at the scorch mark on Quirrell's shoulder and said, "Go back and use some anti-swelling ointment. It's not serious, but don't leave it untreated."
Herman glanced down at the reddened skin. "Professor, could you please let me know in advance next time so I can wear something thicker?"
Quirrell smiled, pulled a thin book from the lectern drawer, and handed it to him. "Consider this your performance fee for today."
Herman took it and glanced at it. The cover was dark gray, with no title, only a line of small print in the corner: " A Wizard's Practical Combat Skills--Basics ".
He flipped open the cover and glanced at the table of contents. Inside were some practical suggestions on how to deal with attacks. They weren't the standardized content found in textbooks; they were more like notes extracted from real-world experience.
"This book isn't available in the library; it's part of my personal collection," Quirrell said. "Take it home and read it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." Herman closed the book and put it in his pocket. "Thank you, Professor."
Quirrell steered the conversation back to the demonstration. "You actually had a more efficient way to deal with those beams of light. Your attempt to deflect my attacks with magic was fine, but you overlooked the difference in the quality of magic."
He slowed his speech. "Your strength lies in precision and agility, not strength. When facing an opponent stronger than you, don't try to block head-on; that will only waste your magic. Use minimal movements to guide the opponent's attack, deviating it from its original trajectory."
He raised his wand and lightly drew a line in the air between them. "For example, with that first beam of light, you didn't need to deflect it too much; just let it go around to your left. You tried to push it back, but that was impossible."
Herman listened quietly for a while. "Professor, could I use Transfiguration to Transfiguration the ground in the path of an attack, for example, to make the ground bulge up and block it?"
Quirrell paused for a moment, then laughed, "You're thinking ahead. Theoretically, it's possible, but the casting speed of Transfiguration is much slower than you think. By the time you conjure the ground, the beam will already be hitting you. However, if you can predict the direction of the attack in advance, you can prepare accordingly."
Herman nodded and wrote down the suggestion. Quirrell glanced at him. "You chose to use the table Transfiguration to block at the last moment instead of continuing to tough it out with magic. This shows that you can abandon your usual methods to adapt to new situations under pressure, and this quality is more useful than the precision of your spellcasting itself."
Herman mentally reviewed the thought, "Next time, could I hide a bunch of junk in the classroom beforehand?"
Quirrell chuckled and shook his head, "You can try mentally rehearsing a few possible solutions beforehand, so you won't have to think on the spot when the fight actually starts, and you can adapt to the situation. Of course, you can also buy a device like I do that can store a lot of things."
As he spoke, Quirrell patted the box whose black cloth had been removed. It looked very much like the cardboard box that the female lead in a TV drama carried as she walked out of the company after being fired. Herman looked inside and saw that it was piled with a lot of books.
After he finished speaking, he patted Herman on the shoulder, turned around, and walked out. As he reached the door, he turned back and added, "The next lesson is in Chapter Seven of the book. You'd better preview it and prepare yourself mentally."
Herman sat in the empty classroom, brushed the dust off his knees, took the gray-covered book out of his pocket, glanced at the cover one last time, then put it away, packed his things, and left the classroom.