The Return to Hogwarts

So when Amosta told the students in Friday's PE class that their PE training would end at the end of the semester, the classroom fell silent. Everyone looked bewildered. For nearly a year, they had gotten used to enduring a period of torture in this classroom every week and then leaving exhausted. Suddenly, Professor Blaine said that the course was over, which was hard for them to accept.

Some of the more sensitive girls even started to sob softly.

"Are you going to abandon us, Professor!"

Fred shouted indignantly, while Harry behind him clenched his fists and pursed his lips.

“I’m afraid I have no such intention, Mr. Weasley—”

Amosta spoke in a deliberately lighthearted tone, though in reality he wasn't feeling too good either.

Looking at the composed, capable, and decisive young people before him, Amosta's expression softened as he recalled how, ten months ago, these students had run two laps around the Quidditch pitch only to be exhausted and howled in pain after being hit by a dung ball.

Physical education classes will continue to exist at Hogwarts for a long time, and these young people are the first class to graduate from his courses.

“I’m not saying the course is over now, Mr. Weasley—”

Amosta said with a smile

"Furthermore, even on the day the course truly ends, I hope you will not forget the skills you have mastered through numerous trials. I require you to continue running exercises after the course concludes, and to return to this classroom every two weeks for agility training. As for dueling skills, I will also assess them periodically."

Hearing Professor Blaine say this, the students finally felt a little better, but they still had questions in their minds.

“Please speak, Miss Petit-”

Padma Petit, in the Ravenclaw group, raises her hand.

“Professor Blaine—” Padma’s eyes widened like black pearls, “So what should we do now?”

“That’s a good question, Miss Petit—”

Amosta leaned against a desk, his gaze sweeping over the faces of students eager for answers, and smiled faintly.

"This course has continued to this day, and I think each of you should have already noticed the changes within yourselves—"

The students nodded in agreement, and Hufflepuff Hopkins whispered to Ernie beside him, "During the holidays, I single-handedly took down my parents!"

Draco raised his head slightly, a hint of smugness in his gray eyes.

Since the start of physical education class, he had written to his father about it, and his father had warned him that no matter what Professor Blaine taught, he was not allowed to give up the course, and instructed him to write a letter every month to tell him about the progress of the course.

Since the latter half of last year, when they began taking theoretical courses on dueling techniques, his father has paid even more attention to it. In his letters to him, he would sometimes offer advice on dueling and would also mail him books that were valuable to his current studies.

Like Hopkins, at his father's request, the two of them also had a practice match during the Christmas holidays, and the final result of the match made him extremely excited.

He certainly couldn't defeat his father, but even his father, who had always been wise and powerful in his eyes, was helpless against him. After overturning several patches of lawn in the garden, the two of them, panting heavily, finally stopped.

When he saw the look of astonishment on his mother's face as she watched from the sidelines to prevent him from being accidentally injured by his father, Draco grinned broadly.

"Incredible, incredible—"

Narcissa repeated herself twice, staring incredulously at Draco, who was sitting on the lawn, drenched in sweat but completely unharmed.

"This is all thanks to Amosta Blaine's training?"

Draco nodded emphatically.

“Darling—” Narcissa turned her gaze to her husband.

Lucius tried his best to suppress the urge to praise his son. He was less exhausted because he had spent most of the duel suppressing Draco, but he hadn't been able to disarm him.

Faced with his wife's gaze, Lucius shook his head slightly, indicating that he hadn't gone easy on his son. Well, he couldn't exactly say that, but he couldn't very well use Avada Kedavra and some evil dark magic on his own son.

“I told you, Narcissa—”

Lucius placed his hand on his wife's outstretched arm, seemingly intentionally, his gaze gesturing to the tattoo beneath her sleeve, and said in a voice Draco couldn't hear...

"Bryan is our fallback plan --"

"Each of you has realized that you have become different. In this course, we have learned how to protect yourself and how to subdue the other person when you have a conflict. But this does not mean that you are invincible, or that you can handle all dangerous situations. In the coming period, during the fifth phase of physical education class, I think you should learn how to extricate yourself from unfavorable environments—"

Chapter 735 That's against the law.

2024-02-06

How to extricate oneself from an unfavorable environment—

Amosta lifted his buttocks off the edge of the table and paced back and forth in front of the students.

"So can anyone tell me what ways we can get from one place to another in an instant?"

The students were probably most enthusiastic during the physical education class, with almost 80% of them raising their hands immediately. Amosta chose Draco, who was at the very front.

“You speak, Mr. Malfoy—”

“Apparition, Portkey, and if fireplaces count, these are the only common ones, Professor Blaine—” Draco stood up and said.

"Very good, Slytherin gets five points—"

Amostella gestured for Draco to sit down, then looked down at the students below.

"Is there anyone who doesn't quite understand the concepts of the methods Mr. Malfoy just mentioned?"

The youngest student here is Astoria Greengrass, but Astoria comes from a pure-blood family and has extensive knowledge of magic. The youngest of the other students is a third-year student, so they would know these basic concepts.

Harry nodded to indicate that he understood. The first person to Apparate with him was Professor Blaine, the fireplace was something he had experienced at Ron's house, and the Portkey was something he had tried last summer when he went to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys and Hermione.

"Let's briefly discuss these three quick ways to escape, then--"

Amosta smiled and asked again.

"If you were to choose, which method would you eliminate first?"

This time, fewer students raised their hands, but Hermione was still among the first to do so.

“Miss Granger, what are your thoughts?”

Hermione stood up, took a breath, and began to speak eloquently.

“I would rule out fireplaces, Professor Blaine, because if you want to use a fireplace, you first need to have one, and a fireplace won’t work unless it’s connected to the Floo Network. Suppose we’re in a dangerous environment, I don’t think we’ll have time to submit an application to the Ministry of Magic!”

Many students nodded in approval, but Amosta did not express approval, only smiling and saying...

"Secondly, Miss Granger, of the remaining two, which one would you rule out?"

"The door key, Professor Blaine."

Hermione immediately said,

"According to the laws promulgated by the Department of Magical Transportation, the use of Portkeys also requires authorization from the Ministry of Magic, which means that there is not enough time to apply for authorization."

“Please sit down, Miss Granger,” Amosta said with a smile.

He forgot to give Gryffindor points—

George Weasley nudged Hermione's back cautiously, but Hermione just turned around quickly and glared at George.

“What I’m about to say, I don’t want you to spread it around, understand? If it gets out and the Ministry of Magic comes after me, I won’t admit it—”

Amosta's unexpected remark caused the young wizards to pause in surprise for a moment, but then their eyes lit up with excitement.

“First, I’d like to ask, what is the core of our discussion right now?” Amosta asked.

"Run for your life!"

This question caused a commotion, and in the chaos, Fenrir's voice from Hufflepuff stood out and drew a crowd of agreement.

"very good--"

Amosta acknowledged the answer, then smiled and looked at Hermione, whose brows were furrowed and who seemed to have already sensed something.

"So, which is more important, saving your life or upholding the law?"

The noisy classroom fell silent instantly. Many students, like Hermione, frowned. The question seemed easy to answer, but upon closer examination, it was not so simple.

"Okay, we're not here to discuss right and wrong. Let me put it simply—"

Amosta started pacing again.

"Suppose you are hunting an evil dark wizard, but when you finally encounter him, you find yourself no match for him. In this situation, would you choose to break the law to ensure your own safety?"

The answers were not consistent. The vast majority of people would choose to save their lives in this situation, but some muttered things like, "I would rather die than go to Azkaban."

Amostella ignored the young wizards' chatter and continued,

"Let me share my thoughts on these three escape methods, folks. First, there's Apparition—"

Amosta stared at the students, his expression becoming slightly serious.

"This is an extremely convenient way to escape, and you won't be subject to the Ministry of Magic's supervision. Under normal circumstances, you can't be tracked. Only a few wizards with extremely high magical attainments can catch your trail through some clues, but such wizards are extremely rare, so we won't consider them."

When you are in sixth grade, the Ministry of Magic will send someone to Hogwarts to teach you the secrets of this skill. I hope that by then, you will all be able to master this skill.

He paused for a moment,

"Let's talk about the drawbacks of Apparition."

First, Apparition consumes a tremendous amount of magic and energy during long-distance travel, a fact that cannot be ignored. Second, and most importantly, Apparition is extremely susceptible to interference. A simple Anti-Apparition Charm can seal off spatial information over a large area, making the destination unmarkable. Even I or Headmaster Dumbledore could not force Apparition under such circumstances, unless we were willing to risk our lives—”

The windows rattled and trembled in the biting wind, but none of the students inside were distracted; they listened intently.

"--The Portkey, its creation involves magic. Its spatial marking method differs from Apparition, so the Anti-Apparition Charm has no effect on it. It's flexible and convenient to use. Of course, as Miss Granger said, making a Portkey privately is against the law—"

Draco let out a soft chuckle, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

"And the fireplace... Miss Granger is right, the prerequisite for using it is that there must be one nearby."