My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 474, Section 471: Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts Class

Moody does not look like a kind wizard.

During his long Auror career, he lost a leg and an eye in a battle with a dark wizard. Knowing the cruelty of being an Auror, he never married for decades.

If his missing legs and eyes were his badge of honor in the fight against the dark wizard, then his lonely life was simply his true nature.

"Dumbledore promised me that I would only teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts for one year, and after that year is over, I will return to my retirement. So during this year, I can teach you whatever I think is appropriate, but how much you learn is up to you."

Moody stood on the podium and spoke in a hoarse, deep voice.

"I received a letter from Professor Lupin outlining the course's progress for each year. It seems you've grasped quite a bit of the basics regarding how to deal with dark magical creatures—you've learned how to handle Boggarts, Red Hats, Hinkpunk, Grindylows, Kaba, and werewolves, haven't you?"

The students below all murmured their agreement.

"That's excellent. At the normal pace, you should indeed finish studying all dark magic creatures before the fourth year, because from that year onwards, the main task is to personally understand what dark magic really is."

Moody's constantly darting blue prosthetic eye scanned every student in the classroom. The eye seemed to see through everything, creating a strong sense of pressure for Harry and his friends.

"First of all, while I'm in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts, you can completely throw away your textbooks!" His gruff voice suddenly rose. "This course is highly practical; if you only follow the textbook, you're destined not to learn anything useful!"

His words pleased the students.

They also dislike teachers who simply read from the book, while Moody's current performance clearly indicates that he is a professor who is easily liked by students.

Moody stared at their performance and suddenly shouted, "And another thing, before the formal lessons begin, I advise you not to stick your wands in your butts! What if they catch fire? You should know that wizards far more powerful than you have burned their butts!"

The young wizards hurriedly pulled out their wands from behind their bottoms and placed them on their desks.

Moody is fairly satisfied with their performance so far.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic and return to the lesson itself."

Spells come in many forms, each with its own magic. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic's regulations, I should teach you various counter-spells in your fourth-year Defense Against Magic class. That is the only purpose of the teaching.

Logically speaking, since you're not even in sixth grade, I shouldn't be telling you what illegal dark magic spells look like, because you're still too young to deal with that kind of thing.

But Professor Dumbledore praised your courage highly, believing you were capable of handling it, and in my opinion, the sooner you understand what you are dealing with, the better.

How can you protect yourself in front of something you've never seen before?

A dark wizard who intends to cast an illegal spell on you will not tell you his plans. He will not cast the spell frankly, fairly, or politely; you must be prepared and vigilant.

Just then, his constantly rotating blue prosthetic eye suddenly stopped and fixed its gaze on a Gryffindor girl named Lavender.

"You'd better not do anything in my class. I don't know if other professors would mind, but if I catch you doing this again, I won't just give you this warning."

Lavender was startled, her face turning bright red. Just now, she had shown Parvati the celestial divination chart that had been assigned in the prophecy class, which she had taken from under the table.

Clearly, Moody's magical eye could not only see through the back of his own head, but also through hard wood.

"Does anyone know which spells are illegal to use against wizards in the magical world?"

Several young wizards shakily raised their hands, and Moody called out Ron's name.

Ron stood up and said in a low voice, "I know one. My dad mentioned it to me before. It's called the Imperius Curse."

"Your father naturally knew this spell; it was this very spell that caused the Ministry of Magic considerable trouble in the past."

No one noticed that Moody had somehow brought out a shallow stone basin from under the podium, the rim of which was carved with intricate runes and symbols.

"As I said before, Defense Against the Dark Arts is essentially a practical exercise. Only by experiencing the dangers of dark magic in a safe classroom can you avoid being caught off guard when danger strikes. So, who would like to try out the Imperius Curse first?"

Moody said casually, but his words stunned the students below.

Everyone stared at him, mouths agape, while Hermione, pale-faced, raised her hand.

"Professor, you yourself said that these spells cannot be used on humans; it violates the laws of magic!"

"As a former Auror, I certainly know more about magical law than anyone else, Miss Granger. So I certainly won't make these low-level mistakes when I'm about to enjoy my retirement and end up sending myself to Azkaban. Therefore, I don't intend to cast any spells on you, but rather use a very useful classroom prop."

As Moody spoke, he tapped the stone basin on the podium with his wand.

Does anyone know what this is?

No one raised their hand in the classroom. After a while, just when Moody thought no one would answer his question, Harry hesitantly raised his hand and spoke.

"I think I saw this basin in Professor Dumbledore's office before."

"Excellent observation skills, Porter." Moody didn't hold back his praise. "Attention to detail is one of the essential qualities of an Auror. This bowl is indeed borrowed from your headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. He's getting old and really needs it."

He explained to the students.

"The Pensieve, a magical stone basin that can store a wizard's memories, like mine."

Moody pointed his wand near his temple, and then, as if drawing silk, rotated his wrist to pull a shimmering silver thread from his head and placed it into the Pensieve.

(End of this chapter)