The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

Dolly was a bit busier than last semester because she was taking elective courses, but it was only about six classes a day, which was acceptable.

Without Hermione's company, Dolly found her daily life becoming boring.

To be precise, it has become normal.

Without any surprises or romantic moments, all that remained was the exhaustion of running around classrooms, and the only thing Dolly looked forward to was her nightly meetings with Cho Chang and Luna.

Using a blue gem with only three people will obviously cause the gem to be consumed faster, and this situation won't last long.

However, there were some changes this year that even Dolly had been looking forward to.

For example, Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Protection class.

On this day, Lupin's first lesson, Defense Against the Dark Arts, finally arrived.

As the first reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts in three years, his first lesson for the third-year students was how to deal with Boggarts.

Dolly was also very curious about what kind of things she might be afraid of.

With that thought in mind, Dolly arrived at class, and Hermione also hurriedly appeared there.

Seeing her exhausted appearance, Dolly pulled her in front of her and let her sit on her lap. She tidied her hair and clothes and then gently massaged her temples.

"Ah...thank you."

Hermione laughed happily and leaned back against Dolly, seemingly lessening her fatigue from the past few days.

Dolly didn't say much; that was all she could do.

A short while later, Lupin appeared.

He smiled faintly and placed the tattered old box on the podium.

He was still dressed in rags, but he looked much healthier than he had on the train, probably because he had eaten a few good meals.

"good afternoon,"

Lupin said, "Please put your textbooks back in your bags. Today's lesson is a practical one, so all you need is your magic wand."

The students put their textbooks away and exchanged curious glances. They had never had a practical lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts before, except for the one last year when Lockhart's butt was practically exposed.

"alright,"

Professor Lu Ping saw that everyone was ready and said, "Come with me."

The students were both puzzled and intrigued, and they all stood up and followed Professor Lu Ping out of the classroom.

He led them through the empty corridor, around a corner, and they spotted Pippi the Mischief Maker hanging upside down in mid-air, stuffing chewing gum into the keyhole closest to him.

Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was only two steps away from him. He twisted his bent toes and suddenly started singing.

"Lupin, you crazy idiot,"

Pipi the Ghost sang, "Lupin, you madman, you big idiot, Lupin, you madman, you big idiot—"

Professor Lupin sighed softly and drew his wand.

"This is a very useful little spell,"

He turned to the whole class and said, "Please pay attention."

He raised his wand to shoulder height, pointed it at Peeves, and said, "Vadivasi."

With a whoosh, the piece of chewing gum flew out of the keyhole like a bullet and pierced into Pippi's left nostril. Pippi somersaulted into the air, cursing under his breath, and quickly flew away.

The students praised Lupin, as this was the first time they felt a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was reliable.

Then the group set off again, leading everyone into the staff break room.

In the lounge, Rhinep sat in a low armchair, watching the students file in, his eyes gleaming and a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

As Lupin and the others entered and were about to close the door, Snape stood up and said, "I'd better not witness this. Perhaps no one has warned you yet, Lupin, that there's a Neville Longbottom in this class."

“I suggest you don’t entrust him with anything complicated, unless Dursley and Miss Granger are teaching him how to chant spells.”

After saying this, he stood up like a giant bat and fanned his son out the door.

Watching the other person's retreating figure, Lupin showed no anger, but calmly replied, "I had hoped Neville would help me with the first step of the teaching; I believed he would perform exceptionally well."

Neville was already red with anger because of Snape's words, and now he was even redder because of Lupin's words.

The students looked at Lupin in surprise. There were many professors who dared to challenge Snape, but he seemed to be the first professor to so warmly protect his students.

Lupin gave his classmates a smile and said, "Alright, follow me."

Finally, everyone came to a wardrobe, which suddenly started shaking and slammed against the wall with a thud.

"There's no need to worry,"

Professor Lupin saw several students jump back in surprise, so he calmly said, "There's a Boggart inside."

Some students were initially just curious, but they became genuinely frightened after hearing the name Boggart.

As for the reason, Lupin immediately began to explain.

“Boggart likes dark, enclosed spaces,”

Professor Lu Ping said, "This one was just moved in yesterday afternoon. I asked the principal to let the teachers keep it for my third-grade students to use in practical lessons."

"Now, the first question we need to ask ourselves is: What is a Boggart?"

Hermione immediately raised her hand high, but Lupin only gave her a smile and called Harry's name instead.

"I remember it was a shapeshifter that would turn into whatever it thought would scare us the most."

Lupin laughed excitedly and said, "Absolutely right. So what do you think it will become if I release it now?"

Harry frowned, pondering what he was afraid of, but then he saw so many people around him, his eyes lit up, and he said, "There are too many of us, it might turn into something unexpected?"

"Absolutely correct, Gryffindor gets 5 points!"

Lupin's words made Hermione lower her hand in disappointment.

She whispered in Dolly's ear, "It feels like another Snape... the opposite?"

Dolly smiled and whispered in her ear, "It's alright, he shouldn't be so biased towards Gryffindor that he'd be completely shameless."

It's impossible for Lupin not to favor Gryffindor, and it's not exactly news that professors favor their preferred houses.

Hermione, now a third-year student, has gotten used to it. After all, Ravenclaw's House Cup was snatched away by Gryffindor's bizarre bonuses for two consecutive years. What can she do if she's not used to it?

"When dealing with a Boggart, it's best to go in pairs. That way, you confuse him: will he become a headless skeleton or a carnivorous slug?"

“I once saw a Boggart make this mistake—it tried to scare two people at the same time, but ended up turning itself into half a slug, which wasn’t scary at all.”

Lupin continued his lesson: "The spell to defeat a Boggart is very simple, but it requires a strong will. You see, what truly destroys a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it into an image that you find hilarious."

"Let's practice the spells without using wands first. Repeat after me... hilarious!"

"Funny!"

The whole class said it together.

"very good,"

Professor Lupin said, “Very good. But this is still the simpler part. You know, this spell alone is not enough. Nawi, now it’s up to you.”

Neville walked forward cautiously, as if he were walking onto a gallows.

“Very well, Neville,”

Professor Lu Ping said, "Let's start with the most important question: What are you most afraid of in this world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Sorry, Neville, I didn't hear you."

Professor Lu Ping said in a friendly tone.

Neville looked around frantically, as if pleading for help. Then, in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, he said, "Professor Snape."

242

Chapter 242 Hagrid's Lesson.

Almost everyone laughed, even Neville grinned sheepishly.

Professor Lu Ping, however, seemed to be deep in thought.

He beckoned to Neville, then whispered some strategy in Neville's ear.

"Wouldn't this be disrespectful to Professor Snape?"

Neville seemed hesitant, but Lupin blinked and said, "Don't worry, there are no Slytherin people here, and I won't tell anyone."

Lupin's words piqued everyone's interest, and even Neville became brave.

After all, Neville is already the third of the three. He is afraid of Snape because of his long-standing harassment, but he will stand up for his friends when they need him.

So he nodded, took a deep breath, and pointed his wand at the wardrobe.

“That’s right, that’s exactly it. When the Boggart rushes out of the closet and sees you, it will turn into Professor Snape.”

"And all you have to do is yell 'Funny, funny,' and then go and think about what you're supposed to imagine."

"Are you ready, Neville?"

Seeing Neville nod again, Professor Lupin pointed his wand at the wardrobe doorknob and said, "Begin!"

A streak of sparks shot from the tip of Lupin's wand, striking the spherical doorknob. The wardrobe door suddenly flung open, and Professor Snape, with his hooked nose, stormed out, his eyes glaring menacingly at Neville.

Neville retreated, wand in hand, and shouted at the charging Snape, "Funny! Funny!"

The next second, as if struck by a sharp whip, Snape began to stagger. He was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress, a tall hat with a moth-eaten vulture on it, and a large red handbag in his hand.

This was exactly what Grandma Neville was dressed like, something he was very familiar with, and it was also Lupin's idea for him.

Clearly, Neville succeeded.

The students burst into laughter. Boggart stopped in his tracks, seemingly confused, which meant that Lupin's class had officially begun.

"Pavati, go!"

Parvati stepped forward decisively, and with a sharp snap, Snape was gone. In his place stood a bloodstained mummy wrapped in bandages, its eyeless face turned toward Parvati, dragging its feet as it slowly walked toward her.

"Funny!"