Once Quirrell and the others had almost all arrived, he raised his hand and waved his wand.
The windows of the tall tower next to the playground opened with a sound, and rows of tables and chairs flew out of the windows, held up by an invisible hand, and landed steadily on the grass, arranged neatly.
The last thing to fly out was a large cage covered with a black cloth. It landed with a dull thud, raising a small cloud of dust.
Herman looked at the row of tables, chairs, and cages, then glanced around the open playground, and had a general idea of what was going on. Outdoor teaching, with live animals involved—this lesson probably wasn't the type where everyone would sit quietly and listen to a lecture.
Quirrell clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back from the tables, chairs, and cages. He glanced around at the new students in front of him and said in a clear and gentle voice, "For the first class, I want to leave a deep impression on everyone, so I chose outdoor teaching."
Dark Magic Defence Class, as the name suggests, teaches you two things: defense and resistance.
But before that, we need to figure out exactly what we need to defend against.
He turned and lifted the curtain over the blackboard that had been placed to the side beforehand; the writing on the blackboard was already prepared inside.
"Today we'll start with two uncommon but very representative types of dark creatures: Vampire and Werewolf." Quirrell's voice was calm and measured as he shifted his gaze from the writing on the blackboard back to the students' faces.
"Some of you should have already encountered one of them on your way to Hogwarts." As he said this, his gaze briefly swept across the Slytherin area, lingering for a moment on Herman and his group.
Herman wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, since Quirrell's gaze lingered longer on Gryffindor and fell on Neville more often.
Quirrell didn't pause for long and continued.
The basic characteristics of Vampire are that they are afraid of sunlight, garlic, and silver. Lower-level Vampire are effectively blocked by these common countermeasures.
Werewolf are a bit more complicated. They fully transform on the night of a full moon, becoming incredibly powerful but unable to use magic. However, it's especially important to be careful; if bitten on a full moon, you'll be poisoned and become a new Werewolf.
He explained these basic concepts concisely and clearly, each sentence sounding as if it had been carefully crafted beforehand.
"But..." Quirrell's tone suddenly turned somber. "All the information above only applies to low-level vampires and werewolves. Pure-blooded vampires who have lived for hundreds of years, or core members of pure-blooded werewolf clans, while still possessing these weaknesses, find them merely minor discomforts."
However, whether high-level or low-level, they are far beyond what students, or even ordinary wizards, can handle alone. They not only possess greater power but also various bizarre methods.
Quirrell glanced around to make sure everyone heard him before continuing, "So when you encounter them, the best strategy is to run. Run to the professor, don't try to solve it yourself."
As he said this, Herman noticed that the students around him clearly showed some disapproval.
Some people scoffed, while others looked down and fiddled with their quill pens. Run? That didn't sound cool.
Herman nodded seriously, making the words a mental note: if you can run, run; there's no shame in it.
"So today I'll teach you a simple spell." Quirrell raised his wand.
The Firework Spell" is used to warn or call for help, making your location known to the professor and others. The incantation is "Crepitus," and the gesture is simple: flick your wand upwards with a slight upward motion, using your wrist to generate force, and then flick it out.
Two points to note: First, the output of magic power must be stable; don't unleash it all at once, or the fireworks will explode above your head. Second, the direction must be upward; cast the spell towards the sky, not towards people.
He demonstrated once, and a thin, golden-red beam of light rose from the tip of his staff, exploding into a dazzling display of fireworks in the afternoon sky.
The students looked up at the fading light, their reaction indifferent.
Someone yawned, someone else was scribbling in their textbook, and Herman even overheard a Slytherin boy next to him mutter, "What's the use of fireworks? You can't hit anyone."
Quirrell had clearly anticipated everyone's reaction.
He didn't offer any further explanation or emphasize the importance of the Firework Spell. He simply put down his wand, turned, walked to the cage covered with a black cloth, and pulled the cloth off.
A hairless monster was locked in a cage.
The grayish-white skin clung wrinkled to the skeleton, the limbs were thin and long, the finger joints were abnormally protruding, and the nails were long and curved, like ten bent bone spurs.
It has no eyes; instead, its eye sockets are two deep pits. Its mouth is slightly open, revealing fine, sharp teeth, and it emits low, intermittent whimpers from its throat.
It lay at the bottom of the cage like a dog, and when it heard the noise, it suddenly raised its head, sniffed around outside the cage a few times, and then began to scratch the iron bars with its fingernails, making a sharp, piercing sound, like chalk scratching on a blackboard.
Several students made noticeable gagging sounds.
A Slytherin girl covered her mouth and took two steps back.
Draco frowned and muttered, "What is this thing... it's disgusting."
Quirrell raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, his tone still calm. "This is called Vampire Monster. Essentially, it's a Vampire, due to consuming too much animal blood, underwent irreversible mutation, completely lost its rationality, and degenerated into this form."
Its strength is somewhat weaker than that of a normal Vampire, and its weaknesses are more obvious, but it is very fast, and its nails contain a certain amount of toxins.
He paused, then said something that silenced the entire room, "We'll begin a short quiz now."
Quirrell waved his wand, and the cage door sprang open.
The Vampire Monster barely paused before leaping out of its cage, landing on all fours like a giant hairless hound, and charging towards the nearest group of students.
Its speed exceeded everyone's expectations. Herman only had time to see a smoky, grayish-white shadow before it rushed to within two steps of the students in the front row.
The students screamed in fright, some of them fell to the ground and scrambled backward, creating chaos in an instant.
But the Vampire Monster couldn't actually pounce on anyone; it was caught by a rope suspended in mid-air, its limbs desperately gripping the ground, but it couldn't move forward an inch.
Quirrell's wand pointed steadily in its direction, and a rope extended from the tip of the wand, tying itself to the Vampire Monster's hind leg, firmly fixing it in place.
The Vampire Monster struggled violently, its fingernails digging deep marks into the grass, its whimpers turning into sharper hisses, baring its teeth at the trembling students in front of it.
Its face was almost touching the nose of the nearest boy, its sharp white teeth almost touching. Only after the student had scrambled away a sufficient distance did Quirrell's rope loosen slightly, allowing the Vampire Monster to move forward a small step and continue its intimidation of the next target.
At that moment, Neville's voice came from Gryffindor: " Petrificus Totalus!" A grayish-brown beam of light shot from the tip of his staff, striking the Vampire Monster precisely in the side.
The halo spread out, Vampire Monster's movements visibly paused for a moment, but it quickly resumed its struggle.
Neville didn't pause, and then repeated, " Impedimenta!" An invisible barrier stood between the Vampire Monster and the student. Although it didn't completely block its path, it did deflect its attack by half an inch.