Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Because there were too many students attending the dance instruction session, the practice area in the middle of the classroom simply couldn't accommodate everyone trying at the same time.

Professors McGonagall and Sprout could only call on a few pairs of students sitting in the front row who were close to them to come up on stage and try to dance a few basic steps. Then they would correct their movements in a targeted manner, such as the angle of their feet, their body posture, and their rhythm with their dance partners.

The students who were called on were initially very nervous, and they frequently stepped on each other's feet and couldn't keep up with the pace.

But with the patient guidance of the two professors, they gradually relaxed, their movements became smoother and smoother, and in the end they were able to complete a simple dance routine.

As darkness fell outside the window, another piece of music came to an end on the gramophone.

Professor McGonagall stopped and nodded slightly to the students below the stage, her tone clearly showing approval: "That concludes today's dance instruction! Everyone has made significant progress and performed very well."

Professor Sprout nodded in agreement, his eyes sparkling with encouragement: "I hope to see an even more spectacular performance from everyone at the Christmas ball—don't forget to show off the dance steps you learned today."

In a few days, Hogwarts' Christmas holiday will officially begin.

Unlike Halloween Eve, which is often fraught with mishaps, the Christmas holidays seem to be a time of peace and quiet for students. Whether it's the Christmas dance on Christmas Eve or the two-week-long holiday that follows, everything is filled with elements that make people look forward to it.

Most students had already filled out their stay-on-campus forms, choosing to spend their Christmas holidays in the castle.

Since it was decided that we would stay at the school, everyone's mind has gradually drifted away, and they can't help but daydream during class.

Like fourth-year Gryffindor students, their minds were filled with the upcoming Christmas ball and plans for fun during the holidays, so much so that they didn't pay much attention to what Professor Snape was saying in Potions class.

Professor Snape was like a fisherman who had already laid a trap and was waiting to reel in his net.

As the bell rang and Harry and Ron were busy packing up their potion-making materials to leave the classroom, he suddenly spoke up, announcing something in a tone rarely heard from the students: "Don't forget about the antidote we mentioned earlier—during the holidays, I'll be picking a 'lucky one' and giving them a unique Christmas gift, guaranteed to give them an unforgettable Christmas holiday."

Upon hearing Snape's words, especially the word "Christmas present," many Gryffindor students felt a pang of unease, and the same thought popped into their minds: Could they still fill out the stay-at-home order form again? They certainly didn't want to receive Snape's so-called "gift."

In stark contrast to the oppressive Potions class was Professor Sprout's Herbalism class.

That day, Professor Sprout didn't teach anything from the textbook; instead, he led his students in making Christmas sachets.

The main ingredient for making sachets is sweet oregano, which is then combined with dried flowers such as lavender and rosemary to create a subtle fragrance.

Many students quickly mastered the method of making sachets. As they made them, they planned to go to the Hogsmeade Village store to buy some different kinds of dried flowers and spices after the Christmas holidays started, to enrich the fragrance of the sachets, and then give them to their friends as Christmas gifts.

Professor Moody, who is in charge of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, has a special magical eye that gives him unparalleled vision. No matter where a student is sitting in the classroom, even if they are just secretly touching the snacks in their pocket or looking out the window, they cannot escape his magical eye.

Those students who were caught slacking off would become Moody's special "targets" when the course entered the practical training phase, and would often receive more rigorous training than others.

Just like Michael Corner from Ravenclaw College, who finally managed to invite a girl from Beauxbatons to be his dance partner a few days ago before the Christmas holidays.

During class, he was secretly showing off to the classmate next to him, his face full of smugness, completely unaware that Moody's gaze had been fixed on him from the podium.

“Michael Conner!” Moody’s voice suddenly rang out, carrying an undeniable authority. “Since you’re so free, come up here and practice your combat skills with me!”

Michael froze instantly, his smile vanished, and he could only reluctantly step forward.

In the next ten minutes or so, Michael fully understood what "extreme joy turns to sorrow" meant—Moody made him practice the evasion spell, while he himself cast the volley spell.

Countless magical "bullets" gleaming with a cold light flew from the tip of Moody's wand, chasing Michael as he ran across the training field. He was so frightened that he almost mispronounced the spell. Only when he was covered in sweat and panting did Moody stop chanting.

Of course, it wasn't just the Ravenclaw students; everyone in the house had their minds elsewhere.

Not only Moody, but Professor McGonagall also kept the students busy.

Perhaps worried that students staying on campus would have too much fun during the holidays and neglect their studies, she assigned a lot of holiday homework before the Christmas break. This included not only theoretical papers on transfiguration but also practice records of more than a dozen basic transfiguration spells. Each spell had to be successfully cast at least twenty times and students had to write down their thoughts.

As soon as the news was announced, many students couldn't help but complain, and their original anticipation for the holiday was instantly dampened.

However, professors of elective courses are relatively more lenient; Professor Setima Viktor, who is in charge of the arithmetic divination course, is a typical example.

Seeing that her students had been attending classes diligently and completing their assignments excellently throughout the semester, she not only did not assign any holiday homework, but also specially taught them a unique divination method. This method can determine the people, things, or items that the person being divined should avoid in the near future, and it is very practical.

Later, Ginny shared some funny stories about the Magical Creatures class with Dylan.

To allow the students to get up close to the magical creatures, Hagrid chased a flock of wretched birds to a clearing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and then called the students over to help take care of them.

He also personally demonstrated a gentle feather-plucking method. By first building a good relationship with the harpy birds through feeding and gentle coaxing, this method can be used to pluck beautiful feathers from them without making the birds uncomfortable.

The feathers of the harlequin are exceptionally vibrant, displaying four colors: bright yellow, warm orange-yellow, soft pink, and refreshing lime green. Each feather appears as if it has been meticulously dyed. Ginny says that quill pens made from harlequin feathers write smoothly and beautifully, making them a popular choice for Christmas gifts. Many students plan to collect several feathers to make presents for their friends.

Professor Flitwick, who was in charge of the Charms class, noticed not long into the lesson that the students were somewhat distracted. Many of them were looking out the window, their fingers secretly fiddling with the quill pens in their pockets, clearly still thinking about their Christmas holiday plans.

Seeing this, Flitwick simply stopped his original lecture and announced with a smile that he would lead everyone in a little game, which instantly piqued everyone's interest.

He asked the students to tear blank pages from their textbooks and fold them into paper airplanes.

After everyone had folded their own paper airplanes, Flitwick waved his wand and cast a gentle spell.

In an instant, paper airplanes in the classroom took off and soared into the air, swirling and dancing like a flock of light birds.

Then, Flitwick announced the rules of the game: "Everyone sit in your seats and can only use summoning spells to retrieve the paper airplanes. You can't get up to grab them. The game will continue until the bell rings for the end of get out of class. The ten students who retrieve the most paper airplanes at the end will receive imported candy that I have prepared as a reward."

As soon as the instruction was given, the classroom immediately became lively.

The students raised their wands, chanting "fly to and fro," trying to control the direction of the spell and summon more paper airplanes to themselves.

Some paper airplanes flew too high, and the summoning spell didn't work for a long time; others collided with each other in mid-air and fell to the ground, eliciting bursts of laughter from everyone.

Just as the students were having a great time, Flitwick waved to Dylan, signaling him to come over to the podium.

Dylan walked to the front of the classroom and saw Flitwick sitting on a stack of heavy spellbooks, which were taller than him and just high enough to expose Flitwick's upper body.

"Dylan, it seems you've completely mastered this magic?" Flitwick's voice was tinged with laughter, his eyes full of approval.

"I should say I'm quite proficient at using it," Dylan said earnestly in his self-assessment. "Whether it's manipulating the weather, such as switching from creating drizzle to summoning a breeze, or adjusting the effects of magic according to environmental conditions, I can handle it skillfully and rarely make mistakes."

“That’s great!” Flitwick nodded in satisfaction, a pleased smile on his face. “Always maintaining a 99% level means there’s always room for improvement, and that’s a very valuable attitude.”

He paused, then changed the subject, saying mysteriously, "Now that you've mastered this spell, it's time to learn a new one—I know a more difficult special spell that I think you'd be very interested in."

"An even more difficult spell?" Dylan immediately became interested and asked curiously, "Professor Flitwick, what exactly is this spell? What is its effect?"

“There’s a prerequisite for learning it.” Flitwick’s gaze fell on Dylan’s pocket, his tone hinting at something. “You also need to have a certain foundation in the Unseen Stretch Charm, otherwise it will be difficult to grasp its core principles.”

Dylan understood that many wizards could take out notebooks, pens, and even small experimental tools from their pockets at any time thanks to the Invisible Stretch Charm.

Flitwick then asked, "So, if we had to assign a category to the Unseen Stretch Charm, which type of magic would it belong to?"

“I think it should be considered a type of transfiguration magic,” Dylan replied after a moment of thought. “To make an object change size internally without changing its appearance, a strong will is required. It involves changing the internal structure of the object through magical power, which is very similar to the core principle of transfiguration magic.”

“That’s right, your judgment is very accurate.” Flitwick nodded in agreement. “The Unseen Stretch Charm does indeed fall under the category of Transfiguration magic. Minerva is very skilled in this area. Her control over Transfiguration magic is second to none at Hogwarts.”

Dylan understands this very well.

The empty classroom used for dance instruction, which was originally not large, was able to become incredibly spacious in a short time, even comparable to an auditorium, thanks to Professor McGonagall's Unseen Stretching Charm. He had even observed that when the magic took effect, a faint glow would appear on the edges of the walls, which was the unique energy fluctuation of Transfiguration magic.

“The new spell I’m going to tell you about is different from the Unseen Stretch Charm; it should be considered a spell,” Flitwick continued. “When using it, you don’t need to mobilize a lot of willpower like with Transfiguration magic. Instead, you need to invest a lot of emotion in it. The more sincere the emotion, the more stable the spell’s effect. In addition, because the origin of this spell is rather special, using it to decorate a pocket is safer than using the Unseen Stretch Charm, and there is no risk of violating the rules.”

Upon hearing the word "safety," Dylan immediately thought of the control issues surrounding the Seamless Stretch Spell.

In fact, the Unseen Stretch Charm is one of the spells strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic. Only merchants who sell tents, suitcases, and other items that require expanded interior space can use the Unseen Stretch Charm on their goods after obtaining a special permit from the Ministry of Magic.

He himself used the Unseen Stretch Charm on his pocket in private. If the Ministry of Magic were to investigate this strictly, it would indeed be a violation of magical laws. However, few people would usually notice such a small detail.

"The source is rather unusual?" Dylan couldn't help but repeat the sentence, his curiosity growing even stronger—it was the first time he had heard the idea that "the source of magic can affect safety."

“Yes, its origin is related to a very famous book.” Flitwick nodded, prompting, “You must have noticed a recurring phrase in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them—'take something out of the box,' right?”

Dylan nodded upon hearing this.

Not only did I see him in the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," but I also saw Newt Scamander's magical suitcase in the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" movie series.

The box had a huge interior space. Newt could not only keep all kinds of large, dangerous magical animals inside, but also set up a temporary laboratory to conduct magical experiments. At the time, he felt that the magical principle of the box was very amazing.

And now, his own suitcase is practically a world unto itself. (End of Chapter)