The Return to Hogwarts

Recalling Ron's embarrassed expression as they climbed Weasley's Mountain on their way from the Burrow to the Quidditch arena, Harry had to admit that Hermione was absolutely right.

Ron had long harbored regrets about this, but neither he nor Harry wanted to make it too obvious.

“We have to help Ron, Hermione—”

After a long silence, Harry whispered to Hermione, who was once again immersed in the mysterious world of magical constructs.

Snapped!

Hermione slammed the book shut, and this time, when she looked at Harry, her eyes held a hint of anger. Her chest heaved faster, and she gritted her teeth as she retorted,

"What do you think we should do, Harry?"

Hermione gripped Professor Blaine's book tightly, her long, slender fingers turning white from the force.

"Plead with Professor Blaine to let Ron return to gym class? If that's really the idea, I suggest you save your breath, Harry. We all know Professor Blaine's character; he's not as easy to talk to as Hagrid, and he won't tolerate Malfoy constantly disrupting his classes—"

Professor Blaine wouldn't go back on his word. During the selection process, he told everyone we could drop his classes; he wouldn't pursue it. However, those who dropped out wouldn't have a second chance—do you think it's possible, Harry, to ask Professor Blaine to allow Ron to rejoin? He wasn't the only one regretting it. Lavender complained to me for ages last night in the dorm. She thought Professor Blaine should have been clearer, telling everyone the complete teaching plan from the beginning so they could understand before making a decision. Haha, as if she could make the decision for Professor Blaine!

"What are you talking about?"

Ron suddenly turned his head and looked at Hermione with a strange expression.

"What's wrong with you, Hermione?"

Wow!

Hermione suddenly stood up, picked up her schoolbag, grabbed Professor Blaine's book, and walked straight to the foyer without looking back.

"Oh, what's wrong with her so early in the morning?"

Ron frowned and stared at Hermione's retreating figure, asking a question.

“Uh—yes, um. It's about Professor Moody—”

Harry said somewhat awkwardly that he had told him that Professor Blaine was going to examine Professor Moody.

"Professor Moody angered Professor Blaine because he wanted to help us, so I asked Hermione if we could plead with Professor Blaine on our behalf—"

Harry made up a lie,

"But Hermione thinks, well, Professor Moody really shouldn't have used magic to attack Malfoy—"

"Is she crazy?" Ron said in surprise. "Whose side is she on?"

"yes--"

Harry avoided Ron's gaze and nodded awkwardly.

The next time Harry saw Hermione was during Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. When Harry and Ron entered the classroom, it was almost full. They quickly found seats at the back. Harry turned around and saw Professor Blaine sitting on a separate bench under the window, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

Many people were puzzled as to why Professor Blaine was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and only a few knew the reason.

As time went on, the classroom became more and more crowded, but perhaps because Professor Blaine was there, no one dared to make a sound. Everyone sat quietly in their seats, waiting for the class to begin.

Why hasn't Professor Moody shown up yet? Could it be that he's afraid of embarrassing himself in front of Professor Blaine, so he's simply skipping class?

Harry couldn't help but think this, his mood growing heavier. When he saw Draco Malfoy in front of him, who seemed completely unaffected, he gritted his teeth again. This guy probably found out somewhere why Professor Blaine was here, and was staring expectantly in the direction of the classroom door, looking on with a gloating expression.

Thump, thump, thump!

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the distinctive tapping of his cane on the floor; at least Professor Moody hadn't run away as he had feared.

Professor Moody spotted Professor Blaine sitting by the window immediately. He paused briefly, then resumed his pace with difficulty, walking to the podium. He took out the roster, shook his head to clear his long, gray hair from his contorted, scarred face, and began calling roll. His normal eye moved down the list, while his Evil Eye darted back and forth, scrutinizing each student who answered. But Harry noticed that the Evil Eye never dared to look in Professor Blaine's direction, as if deliberately avoiding him.

"alright--"

After the last professor finished answering, Professor Moody tossed the roster back onto the podium and said in a hoarse voice...

"I think you've all noticed that we have a guest in our class today—"

Amosta, who had been dozing with his eyes closed by the window, opened them at the opportune moment.

Chapter 518 Unstoppable?

2023-10-05

"Professor Blaine is here to test me. He seems worried I'll use magic to dislocate your legs in class—"

Professor Moody chuckled in a hoarse voice.

“I must make it clear beforehand, Professor Blaine, if you expect me to simply recite what's in the book, then there's nothing I can do.”

“As long as you don’t actually break each of the young wizards’ legs one by one, Professor Moody—” Amostella smiled, “you can do it your own way—”

Professor Moody grunted a few times, which sounded like a cough or a sneer.

"I received a letter from Professor Black about the course. It seems you've grasped quite a bit of the basics about dealing with dark magical creatures—you've learned how to deal with Boggarts, Red Hats, Hinkpunk, Grindylows, Kaba, and werewolves, right?"

The students murmured their approval.

“But you are far from adequate—far from adequate—in dealing with spells,” Moody said. “Therefore, I’m going to show you what wizards do. I have a year to teach you how to deal with the Dark Lord—”

"What?!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "You're going to teach us how to duel?"

Not only Ron, but many others were surprised. Many glanced furtively at Professor Blaine, wondering how he would react. But Professor Blaine remained calmly leaning back, as if he hadn't heard a thing. The young wizards all knew that Professor Blaine had officially begun teaching dueling in his physical education class, while Professor Moody had just declared he would teach them how to defend against dark wizards' magic in class—it seemed like a direct confrontation.

"Red hair—"

Moody's demonic eye turned and stared at Ron, who then realized what he had just done. He froze as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

"You're Arthur Weasley's son, aren't you?" Moody's scarred face contorted grotesquely, though a smile was still discernible.

“A few days ago, your father helped me out of a very difficult situation.”

Harry knew that Professor Moody was referring to the incident in the newspaper, but perhaps out of wariness of Professor Blaine, Professor Moody didn't continue, instead beginning to discuss the plan.

“Oh, a duel? No, Mr. Weasley, it’s something far more exciting than a duel—mind control, murder, torture. It’s the dark magic often used for these things.”

Moody stood on the podium, craning his neck to face the young wizards in the classroom with his menacing face, his blue magic eyes darting around as if he were deliberately trying to scare them. This seemed to be his style, and it was precisely because of this that he had provoked Professor Blaine.

The three unforgivable curses are: the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Avada Kedavra Curse.

Moody began his lesson, having the young wizards recite the three spells forbidden by the Ministry of Magic, and then demonstrating them to them. Moody easily captured the young wizards' attention, immersing them in the dangerous spells; even Harry forgot that Professor Blaine was currently in the classroom.

A smile crept across Amostella's lips as he looked at the bewildered young wizards.

He suddenly remembered that night in his fifth year at Hogwarts, when he first encountered the most feared of the Unforgivable Curses. He had indeed been startled then; the Avada Kedavra curse was indeed very effective at taking lives. But times had changed. So many years later, these spells were no longer taboo in his eyes. After all, there were many spells that could cruelly take lives, and these spells were not absolutely invincible.

"Very unpleasant--"

After a dazzling green light, the classroom fell into an eerie silence, as if a grim reaper was hovering in mid-air with a scythe, eyeing everyone menacingly.

Moody swept the dead spider off the podium and said calmly,

“It is very unpleasant, and there is no way to break the spell or resist it. As far as people know, only one person has escaped this spell, and he is sitting right in front of me right now.”

Moody's eyes were fixed on Harry, who felt his face flush. He could feel the whole class turning to look at him. Harry stared at the empty blackboard, seemingly mesmerized, but in reality, he saw nothing.

Just like I said—

Moody averted his gaze and said calmly,

"At one time, these spells were used for cruel rule, causing the Ministry of Magic enormous trouble. Therefore, the Ministry has designated them as unforgivable; using any one of these spells on a human is enough to land you in a lifetime in Azkaban. This is what you must resist, this is what I am going to teach you to resist. You need to be prepared, you need to be vigilant, but most importantly, you need to remain constantly alert and never let your guard down. Take out your quill and write these down."

A rustling sound filled the classroom as the young wizards buried themselves in their notes. Moody glanced at Amostrath Blaine, who seemed to melt into the sunlight streaming through the window, pulled out his flask, and gulped down several mouthfuls.

"What do you think, Professor Blaine?"

As Professor Moody stood before Amosta with his hands on his cane, the blue demonic eye turned around, its pupil pointing inwards into the skull.

"Um, what?"

Amosta, who was in a daze, twitched his eyelids, his tone filled with doubt.

"My class!"

Moody's cheeks and eyelids twitched a few times at the same time. He suddenly had an urge to pick up a spell and cast a killing curse on Blaine. This guy had said he was coming to check on his class, but he was daydreaming in class.

"Oh, this one—"

Amosta blinked.

“Not bad, Professor Moody, it was quite interesting, and the young wizards enjoyed it. You have earned the right to teach at Hogwarts.”

This guy!

Moody's breathing was erratic, and the stitched scars on his face were about to burst open.

"but--"

Amostall's gaze fell on Neville, whose shoulders were trembling slightly. The boy had been quite frightened by the spider afflicted by the Cruciatus Curse, and even after some time, Neville Longbottom still didn't seem to have recovered.

"But I must point out that there's no need to overemphasize the terror of the three Unforgivable Curses to the young wizards. They are merely dark magic spells used more frequently during the period when the Mystic was active. In my opinion, these three spells are just... well, dark magic spells with a relatively low barrier to entry, not terrifying at all. Moreover, they are not absolutely invincible—"

pat-

Harry dropped his quill, smearing ink all over his notebook, but he didn't bother to salvage his notes. Instead, he stared at Professor Blaine in astonishment.

Not absolutely insurmountable—

Does this include the Avada Kedavra curse?

Chapter 519 The Essence of the Unforgivable Curse