The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 476: Magical Defense Theory

Outside the box, Crabbe and Goyle collapsed in the aisle like two puddles of mud; inside the box, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson squatted in a corner with their hands on their heads, becoming the laughing stock of the prefects.

Cedric continued to talk about the things that prefects should pay attention to in the new semester, and the prefects of each college listened very carefully.

At this moment everyone understood one thing, no matter whether the mysterious man came back or not, and no matter what the Ministry of Magic said about Dumbledore, as long as Ada was still in school, these students would not be able to make any waves.

Draco Malfoy has already put this to the test himself and successfully set an example for everyone.

The train was heading north, and the weather was unpredictable. Raindrops hit the windows intermittently, and then the sun lazily peeked out, and soon the clouds passed by and covered it again.

The rain made the car windows dirty. Ada kept looking at the blurry scenery outside. She had no thoughts about this prefect meeting.

A year ago, she was in this box, calling on everyone to unite and not to embarrass themselves. A year later, still in this box, she only felt that she was a little "cute" at that time.

"Ada, Ada..."

Cedric called out a few times, and finally summoned Ada back to reality. He continued, "I've finished speaking. Do you have anything else to emphasize?"

"No, that's it. Dismissal." Ada said, and then she stood up and walked out of the prefects' box first. The prefects followed her footsteps and left.

Everyone's collective movement made the box a mess. In the chaos, no one knew who reached out and pushed Malfoy, causing the squatting Master Malfoy to squat on his buttocks.

Pansy Parkinson beside him also fell flat on her face. Crabbe and Goyle outside the door were even worse off, with their bodies covered with footprints of the prefects' shoes.

……

After searching several carriages, Ada found the twins' compartment, and everyone was there.

The twins and Lee Jordan were chatting about business, occasionally writing something on a small piece of paper with dense handwriting; Angelina and Alia were reading a magazine called The Quibbler.

Ida also subscribed to this magazine, but she read it as a joke book and didn't believe even a single punctuation mark in the content published in the magazine.

For example, the cover of the issue that Angelina and Alia were reading showed a poorly drawn cartoon of Cornelius Fudge, clutching a bag of gold in one hand and a goblin by the neck with the other.

The caption on the comic reads: How close is Fudge to taking over Gringotts?

It was outrageous. Even though Fudge was a complete idiot and fool, Ada was sure that the Minister would not drown the goblins or make them into goblin pies as the magazine said.

Ada sat next to Angelina, resting her head on her shoulder, and said, "I think we may have to be very active in the new school year."

"What activity?" Alia leaned over and asked, "Dawn? Did you discover something again?"

The twins and Lee Jordan also stopped discussing and looked at Ada, waiting for her to continue.

"Wilbert Slinka is a pacifist," Ida said. "He advocates resolving conflicts through peaceful means, such as negotiation. He is against the use of offensive spells, even for defensive purposes. In other words, in his opinion, even 'Fire and Hot' is a very evil spell."

The other five people in the box opened their mouths in unison. Since when did the Lump Curse become an evil spell!
"Is it that exaggerated?" Angelina asked, "Have you finished reading "Magic Defense Theory"? How is it?"

Ada closed her eyes, her face full of pain, as if the book had caused her great harm.

She said: "I have read it before, and I thought Mr. Slinka was amazing. This time I read it again, fearing that my memory might be wrong, and the result was ..."

As if she didn't want to recall this painful memory, Ada covered her face with her hands sadly.

"Is there not a single spell in this book?" Lee Jordan asked. "That's unlikely. If so, what are we doing in Defense Against the Dark Arts? Reading the text?"

Then, in the eyes of everyone who looked at her incredulously, Ida nodded. The book was full of theories, Mr. Slinka's unrealistic fantasy about peace.

Everyone was stunned; they simply couldn't imagine it.

When Death Eaters or Dark Wizards attacked them, they held up the "Magic Defense Theory" and asked the other party to sit down and have a peaceful consultation and negotiation with them...

How could this be possible! The Death Eaters would just treat them like fools and send them off to see Merlin easily.

Although Voldemort hid during this holiday, he would not stay hidden forever. Sooner or later, he would come out and start a new round of war. What should I do then? Should I really take this book to negotiate?
Even a child knows that if you can't win on the battlefield, you don't even have the right to come to the negotiation table. Voldemort will only treat everyone as lambs to be slaughtered at will.

Even without mentioning Voldemort, the seventh-year students are about to face the ultimate wizarding level examination.

The written test was easy, but what about the practical test? Should I recite a passage from Magical Defense Theory to the examiner?
Hogwarts is not the Scottish branch of Deyun Club, and wizards are not crosstalk performers.

"Is Dumbledore really old and confused?" Fred asked doubtfully, "The professor he had worked so hard to find is just like this?"

George also said, "Is Defense Against the Dark Arts going to become like History of Magic? The new professor won't be a ghost, will he?"

After all, it was really hard to recruit a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. The professors of the first three years all died (Foley, Cecil, Quirrell), the remaining one was imprisoned in Azkaban (Lockhart), and one was locked in a box for nine months (Moody). Only Remus Lupin was relatively strong.

Under such circumstances, who would dare to come to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts? Not even the living would dare to do so, only the dead would.

"I met Professor Dumbledore several times during the holidays," said Ada. "I talked to him a lot."

Ada, who spoke with her eyes closed, did not notice that the twins secretly exchanged glances when she mentioned that she had met Dumbledore several times.

"I'm sure he has a very clear mind and is not confused at all." Ada Xue said, "Now, my only thought is that this book was assigned by those idiots in the Ministry of Magic, not the choice of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

If the new professor really chose "Magical Defense Theory" on his own, Ada would like to recommend that the professor go to St. Mungo's to check his brain, or go to Azkaban for further studies.

It's not that Ada doesn't know how to respect others, or that she is frivolous and arrogant, but Wilbert Slinka's "Magic Defense Theory" is really not suitable to be a textbook at Hogwarts.

It would be more suitable for the Azkaban School of Further Education.

When the executioners of Azkaban agree with the contents of this book and put down their butcher knives, then Ada will slightly recognize "The Theory of Magical Defense".

As night fell, the lights in the box came on and the majestic Hogwarts castle could be seen in the distance. Everyone took turns to change into their school robes.

According to experience, the train will slow down soon. Sure enough, after turning a corner, the train slowed down slowly.

There was a lot of noise outside the compartment as everyone was busy gathering their luggage and pets and preparing to get off the bus.

When the train stopped at the dark Hogsmeade station, Ada and the others walked out of the compartment and merged into the flow of people in the aisle. Still, no one dared to compete with Ada for the road, but this time the students hid further away.

Taking advantage of this convenience, Ada and others were the first to walk out of the carriage, feeling the stinging sensation of the night air blowing on their faces.

Hagrid's rough voice did not sound on the dark platform, and the words "First-years come here... First-years..." were not heard.

Instead, a crisp female voice was shouting, "First-year students, please line up here! All first-year students, follow me!"

Walking through the dark rain-washed street outside the station, Ada boarded the carriage to the castle.

(End of this chapter)