Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 57 The First Signs of Darkness
The next morning, the snow that had started falling overnight turned into a fierce blizzard.

Rumors began to circulate that Harry was the rightful heir to the Chamber of Secrets.

Students avoided him wherever he went. He felt that he could "eavesdrop" on their discussions about him no matter which corner he squatted down, which made him feel very upset.

But soon—another thing drew away most of the firepower.

Professor Sprout was reluctant to delegate the task of dressing the mandrake in socks and a scarf—a task that required careful attention.

The most important thing right now is to make the mandrake grow quickly so that Mrs. Lorris and Professor Bubbaji can be rescued from petrification.

Therefore, all herbalism classes were cancelled during the last week before the Christmas holidays.

The students were overjoyed and about to leave the classroom when, in the next moment, a familiar figure who shouldn't have been there walked into the classroom and greeted Professor Sprout gently.

It's that homework fanatic—Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Levi!
He was still dressed in black, with the same indifferent expression he never showed, but his voice was no longer as cold as when he first took office—but to the young wizards, this voice made them feel even more emotional!

"Alright, as you all know, Professor Sprout's Herbalism class will be replaced with Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the next week. The relevant notice will be sent to your common room later. Remember to bring your textbooks to the next class."

"Do not!!!!!!!!!!"

The classroom for herbal medicine was filled with wails.

I thought I could relax for half a day, playing Wizard Chess in the common room while listening to Cricket Savior behind my back. Who would have thought this would happen?
"What's the fuss about?"

Li Wei looked at the group of students expressionlessly.

"Haven't you realized from yesterday's duel that if your skills aren't good enough, you'll get beaten? Do you want to fall behind the others?"

"."

The students fell silent.

Thanks to Professor Li Wei's recent changes, they can complain and make a joke, but if they have to discuss things with him face to face, none of the students can stand it.

"Alright, let's begin the lesson."

"."

Today's class was unusually quiet.

After class, Li Wei assigned new homework, and the students' backs as they left the classroom looked somewhat lifeless.

By noon, students from two grades had already fallen victim to Levi's clutches, and notices about the Herbalism class being temporarily changed to Defense Against the Dark Arts class appeared in various common rooms.

Afterwards, the students who had already experienced the extra class in the morning and received new assignments stood on the table in the common room and loudly condemned Li Wei!

"Can you imagine? We could have had a much easier time during the last week before the holidays because of the absence of herbalism class."

And the result! Professor Levi intervened, and this week we each have four Defense Against the Dark Arts classes! Double the classes! Double the homework!

"It's piled up like a mountain! I can't finish writing it all, I simply can't finish writing it all! I can't finish memorizing it all! I simply can't finish memorizing it all!"

"Dude, don't be too nervous. It's only a week away. And those assignments aren't as difficult as you think. You guys really should work harder—as far as I know, most Ravenclaw students have already memorized the two hundred dark creatures ahead of time."

The assignments the professor gave were actually quite helpful to us, weren't they?

"Exactly, sometimes I really wonder what you guys are doing at school? Just playing Wizard Chess every day and messing around in the castle?"
Didn't the professor's performance in the duel yesterday make you realize how lucky you are to be able to learn from such a master? I really wonder what's going on in your heads!

"What do you mean? Are we not going to try? I'm just saying we don't need to have four damn Defense Against the Dark Arts classes a week. It's driving me crazy, you understand?"

"Do I need to remind you, buddy? We have our final exam for Defense Against the Dark Arts class during the last period of the week." The students from the four houses weren't going to face outsiders this time; they were already arguing amongst themselves over Levi's behavior.

No one cares anymore about how Harry Potter, the savior, tried to incite a snake to attack Justin Finley yesterday.

This left Harry with rather mixed feelings.

His feelings became even more complicated when he attended the extra Defense Against the Dark Arts class the next day.

"Ugh—I can't take it! I never imagined I'd have to face dark creatures twice in one day!"

Ron lay down next to Harry, his expression losing its vitality as he thought about the mountain of homework that week.

"This is definitely the most meaningful week of my semester."

Hermione sat down beside him, disdainfully tidied up the books and textbooks, and got up to head to the library.

Regardless of how the students at Hogwarts view the last week before the holidays, it will eventually pass.

By mid-December, all courses for the fall semester had concluded.

The next day, the students left the school together on the Hogwarts Express, leaving Hogwarts mostly empty. Silence, mixed with the heavy snow, slowly enveloped the entire castle.

The Christmas holidays have officially begun.

Li Wei and his two assistants had ten days of completely undisturbed time to study magic.

In the spacious basement, Li Wei held his wand and summoned Fiendfyre once again. He had been too busy teaching lately and hadn't put enough effort into this spell, so the experiment for his second hypothesis had been delayed.

Now that we have ten days, we can think about it carefully for a while.

Although this spell is no longer as important to Li Wei.

Without studying spells, he didn't know what he should do during this time.

So first, let's review
“Pestis Incendium”.

Flame seeds, each the size of a baby's fist, ignited one by one, lining up in a row before Li Wei, totaling eighty-one, before transforming into a 9x9 horizontal row.

Because of a lack of 'fuel' and because they are too small, they cannot grow up in a short period of time.

Li Wei adjusted his breathing, gradually releasing his control over the magic—he imagined himself back in a dark castle, moonlight shining on him. First his nose, then his heart. He began to breathe deeply, and the magic began to flow slowly through his body like blood.
I do not know how long it has been.

At one point, he opened his eyes and woke up, grabbed the wand beside him, and then waved it.

"boom--"

The sound of blazing flames rang out, and thirty-two of the eighty-one flame seeds were activated by magic, causing the flames to surge up!

"32/81?"

He swung his wand again with a backhand motion.

The black flames, which had been converging, shook violently and then extinguished all at once.

Li Wei watched this scene, lost in thought.

When he can control eighty-one black flames simultaneously without realizing it, it should mean that he has reached a high level of mastery in another magical perspective.

(End of this chapter)