The Return to Hogwarts

Chapter 380 New Changes

2023-07-16

Once the Easter holidays were over, the atmosphere at Hogwarts suddenly became much more tense, because in just over two months, the OWLS and NEWTS exams, which to some extent determine the fate of most wizards, would begin.

Harry had been at Hogwarts for almost three years, but he hadn't felt the tension so strongly during his first and second years. This year, however, was different. Ron's three older brothers, Fred, George, and Percy, would all be facing two important exams, so he was starting to feel the tension as well.

Sirius Black has been under a lot of pressure lately, as Defense Against the Dark Arts is the most important part of both exams, and apart from the six months that Professors Blaine and Lupin taught the course, the teaching quality of this class at Hogwarts is undeniable.

Sirius Black was not one to sit idly by in a position of power. Although he was only taking on the professorship to help Dumbledore, he clearly wouldn't let the reputation of incompetence fall on him.

In particular, every day at mealtimes, there is always an unfriendly colleague at the faculty and staff table who, in a seemingly unintentional tone, expresses his concern about the results of a certain course exam this year.

This infuriated Sirius, so he spent a lot of time preparing materials and plans to help fifth and seventh-year wizards pass their exams. As a result, Harry and his friends have had almost no time to talk to Sirius privately lately.

Percy and Penelope's relationship ultimately fell through. This information came from Ginny, who told them that one time after Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, on her way down to the Great Hall, she saw Percy and Penelope brush past each other in the corridor. Both of them were pale and avoided eye contact, without even exchanging a greeting.

Moreover, Percy never showed up in Professor Blaine's physical education class after that day.

This infuriated Hermione. One evening, as they finished observing the planetary orbits and walked down the Astronomy Tower, the tallest building in Hogwarts, Hermione angrily said...

"Percy—I can't believe it. Is he using Professor Blaine? Is he just giving up on the course because he didn't get a letter of recommendation from Professor Blaine?"

"He's been under a lot of pressure lately --"

Ron, unusually, mustered the courage to defy Hermione's furious gaze.

“Since Professor Blaine is unwilling to write him a recommendation, whether he can get into the Ministry of Magic now depends entirely on himself. This has always been his goal, and Percy has been planning this since he first entered Hogwarts.”

That doesn't mean he can--

Hermione wanted to criticize Percy, but Ron's words made her swallow her words.

"--Moreover, he recently suffered a setback in his relationship, I mean, he's lacking energy, and Professor Blaine's physical education class, at the moment, seems to be only good for consuming our excess energy."

Harry wanted to remind Ron that using the word 'we' wasn't quite accurate, since Ron had skipped the class for two weeks.

"Two weeks!" Harry's exclamation nearly startled Neville, who was walking ahead of him, so much that he tumbled down the stairs.

"What?" Neville asked, leaning against the wall and rubbing his sprained ankle, looking completely bewildered.

Harry glanced at Hermione and Ron and found that they were also looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"Have you forgotten!" Harry quickly explained, "Two more weeks have passed. I mean, Professor Blaine's physical education class has been going on for a month now. He said at the beginning of the class that the first phase would last a month, and then there would be some changes!"

In other words—

Hermione's rosy cheeks lit up with a happy expression, betraying her true thoughts: "We don't need it."

Hermione stopped halfway through her sentence when she noticed Ron looking at her with a grin.

“I think it’s good to keep going.” Neville stood in front of the portrait of the fat lady, then turned his head and looked at them with a sense of loss.

“Nobody’s stopping you, Neville.” Ron scoffed. “Excuse me, I bet you’ve forgotten the password again.”

Neville was right. In the last few days, even Harry has started to think that Professor Blaine's classes weren't entirely useless.

Having overcome the initial period of adjustment, he clearly felt an improvement in his energy, or rather, his spirit. Now, he was no longer so easily sleepy, and he could even resist the urge to doze off during Snape's Potions class and Professor Binns's class.

Before closing his eyes, Harry looked forward to the next day with great anticipation. Although he was no longer so averse to Muggle physical education, he still hoped that Professor Blaine's class would have some new changes.

No one knows who spread the news, but the fact that Professor Blaine went to Zoko's joke shop to buy dung balls as teaching aids spread like wildfire. The next day, the number of young wizards who persisted in taking the course suddenly decreased by one-fifth, and now, half a month later, the original group of about a hundred people has been reduced to just over one-third of the original group.

As April arrives, the morning breeze that lingers on the field has shed its chill, and when it blows against your face, it brings a pleasant coolness that brushes against your hair.

Harry squinted at the faint green of the dawn for a while, silently adjusting his breathing. This was a technique he had figured out recently; a proper breathing rhythm could alleviate fatigue during prolonged exercise.

"Let's get started—"

Professor Blaine arrived at the playground right on time, seemingly unaware that a month had already passed. He was wearing one of his usual sportswear sets and gave his instructions in a calm tone.

Harry's expression betrayed his disappointment. He looked around and found that all the young wizards around him had the same expression.

"Professor Blaine—"

Hermione wasn't the kind of little witch who would hide her problems; she frowned and raised her hand.

“It’s like this, Professor Blaine, if I remember correctly—” Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes shining as she stared intently at Professor Blaine,

"You once said that our phased practice would last for a month, and after that, our course would undergo some new changes?"

“Thank you for reminding me, Miss Granger,” Professor Blaine nodded slightly. “Yes, that’s the plan. Our physical education class is about to enter the next phase, and this morning will be your last early morning run.”

Looking around at the chattering, excited little wizards, Amosta smiled slightly, deciding not to spoil their good mood for the time being.

“Starting today, we will begin the second phase of the course, which will be held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening between 8 and 9 p.m. in that maze classroom.”

The Maze Classroom is the same classroom where Professor Blaine had them deal with the Inferi during the second semester of Harry's second year. Last year, the fun 'rowing race' was also held in that rarely used classroom.

Hearing that the next lesson would be held in that classroom, the young wizards became even more excited. After waiting for so long, Professor Blaine was finally willing to let them see something interesting!

The news that Professor Blaine's physical education class might become interesting had already spread throughout the castle by lunchtime, and many young wizards expressed great curiosity. However, those who had been eligible to participate but lost their eligibility due to giving up did not seem very happy.

After dinner, Harry and his friends hurriedly finished their essay on the history and geography of magic in an hour. Then, under Ron's sullen gaze, they rushed out of the common room and headed to Professor Blaine's private classroom.

call--

At eight o'clock in the evening, the young wizards who had been gathering in the corridor eagerly pushed open the classroom door and filed in. Once everyone was inside, the newly installed torches on the walls of the classroom, which had been expanded to a quarter mile in length, suddenly lit up.

Under the sudden bright light of the fire, the objects placed along the three walls made a series of crisp clicking sounds.

"these are"

Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott stared at the gleaming objects that reflected the bright firelight and quietly opened her mouth.

"Those suits of armor in the corridor!"

Neville screamed in terror.

Chapter 381 Systematic Training

2023-07-17

The classroom, filled with bright torches, exuded a mysterious aura because of the clanging armor placed every ten feet along the walls.

Neville's shrill scream echoed for a long time in the rather empty room, and the young wizards looked uneasy. They spontaneously crowded in the middle of the classroom, trying to stay away from the armor that was usually ordinary but seemed a bit eerie in this environment.

Cho Chang was one of the few Ravenclaw wizards who hadn't given up on Professor Blaine's physical education class. Her inseparable best friend had long since dropped out of the class. At this moment, with her lips pale, Cho Chang subconsciously searched for someone to lean on in the crowd. She saw Harry, but Hermione, who was squeezed next to Harry, made her unable to make up her mind to go over to him.

"Does Professor Blaine intend for us to fight these armors?"

The Hufflepuff wizards are the most numerous among those who survived. They lack the courage of Gryffindor, the wisdom of Ravenclaw, and the ambition and thirst for power of Slytherin, but at least most of them possess the equally rare virtue of 'perseverance'.

Cedric's low voice carried a hint of fear, but Cho Chang seemed to have found her anchor; her large, watery eyes, like the silhouette of autumn water, revealed worry.

"But what are we going to do with these armors? I—I left my wand in the dorm."

"No need to worry—"

Even though his face was pale, Cedric still maintained his gentlemanly demeanor. He gave Cho Chang a reassuring smile, then warily eyed the armored figures that were eager to move.

"These things don't look too fast. Hmm, Professor Blaine trained us to run so that we could successfully escape the armored pursuers later?"

Fred and George both heard Cedric's speech, and they gave him a disdainful look—last semester, Cedric's Quidditch team had defeated Gryffindor once, and to this day, the Weasley twins still remembered that 'grudge'.

"Not feeling well, bro?"

Fred frowned and said, "I remember we locked Filch's cat in the armor three times before. Is it our turn today?"

“Actually, it was four times, bro,” George shrugged. “Last year, Filch came after you, and he sent that malnourished cat to chase me. Tsk tsk, I almost couldn’t get away, but Peeves helped me out.”

Squeak!

The classroom door suddenly opened, and Professor Blaine strode in under everyone's watchful eyes. He was still wearing the sportswear he would wear when running, instead of his wizard robes.

"Now, let's take attendance."

Hermione wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Professor Blaine was behaving differently than usual. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was different, but he seemed much stricter.

Four distinct teams spontaneously formed. Hufflepuff's team was the longest, while Ravenclaw had only four members, including Cho Chang, Susan Bornes, Luna, and Parvati Petit's twin sister.

The number of people remaining in Gryffindor and Slytherin was about the same. The Gryffindors standing here were mostly Harry's friends—Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, Neville, Parvati Petit, and the two girls from the Quidditch team.

Malfoy was, of course, in the Slytherin group. Apart from Marcus Flint, who was almost the size of a gorilla, most of the others who remained were Malfoy's classmates. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle had already left. Harry thought this might be a major reason why Malfoy hadn't frequently provoked Professor Blaine in his class; the Slytherin guys were good at reading the room.

First of all, I want to congratulate you all!

Professor Blaine stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes fixed intently on them.

"What you have experienced over the past month has been both a training and a test. And now, those of you standing before me have all passed that test and the training. This means that you possess certain qualities that are worth cultivating—"

No one whispered; everyone listened intently to Professor Blaine's words.

"--So, from now on, you will receive some more professional training. Of course, I need to make one thing clear: from this moment on, you will be deprived of the right to give up. Everyone must persevere until the end of the final stage of training. In addition, the entire cycle will take about a year."

“But, Professor Blaine—”

Reflecting on the past month's training, and considering the armor in the house, Hermione said thoughtfully, "What kind of improvement do you hope we can get?"

"I'm sure you've been struggling with this problem for a long time," Professor Blaine finally smiled slightly. After listening to the young wizards' chatter for a while, Professor Blaine nodded, then paced back and forth in front of them with his hands behind his back.

"Hogwarts has always lacked a systematic course to teach young wizards how to fight—"

Professor Blaine's words caused a huge uproar among the young wizards. Their private suspicions were actually true: Professor Blaine, who could single-handedly wipe out nearly a hundred werewolves, was going to teach them how to fight?!

Harry didn't quite agree with Professor Blaine's words, because Hogwarts had the Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Lockhart, that big liar, had also taught them a dueling class. But then he thought about it, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts was actually more about teaching experience in dealing with dark magic and dangerous creatures, while the dueling class that had only been held once was just a joke.