Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 149 SPEW

Mad-Eye Moody's name spread throughout Hogwarts the very next day. Even those who had never heard of him before learned about the things Moody had done through the stories told by those around them.

For example, he insisted on not using the Unforgivable Charm during the capture of Death Eaters, even after the Ministry of Magic lifted the ban. Also, after retiring, he developed severe paranoia, and almost every few days, Ministry personnel had to deal with the problems caused by the protective magic he had set up.

Now, Moody is even more famous because he demonstrated the three Unforgivable Curses to his students in turn during the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the school year.

This is the first time in the entire history of Hogwarts.

Seeing the spider assuming various strange postures under the influence of the Soul-Stealing Curse, writhing in agony under the Cruciatus Curse, and witnessing the green light of the Death Curse, almost everyone was stunned by Moody's audacity.

"You must understand what the worst, the most dangerous, and the most evil curse is!"

"The Soul-Stealing Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, the Death Curse—any one of these spells, if cast on a person, is enough to condemn them to a lifetime in Azkaban!"

"This is what I'm going to teach you to resist. You must be prepared and always be vigilant..."

Moody was very serious, and with his scarred face and his ever-shifting demonic eye, his words were firmly imprinted in the students' minds.

This is also the first time that the young wizards, who have always lived in their ivory towers, have faced the most dangerous and evil spell in the magical world.

"I really don't know why Dumbledore made Moody our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Terry complained after class.

"That's right, he was indeed the most outstanding Aurora in the Ministry of Magic, but now he's old, just a mentally unstable old man!"

"But like he said, we really should know what the worst-case scenario looks like." Stewart was unusually serious, and his expression looked somewhat solemn.

“Okay, I don’t deny that,” Terry said, “but that doesn’t mean I approve of his teaching methods.”

The two argued all the way back to the common room, neither able to convince the other, and neither could convince Michael or Anthony.

"Alright, that's enough. In any case, he'll be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year." Sitting on the sofa in the common room, Ike interrupted the escalating argument.

"In any case, one must admit that what he taught was very useful."

Stuart and the others remained silent. They simply had different opinions about Moody, but they had no objection to what he said.

Maybe it started as just venting, but it turned into a fit of pique, and Ekko's words calmed him down.

This scene occurred in almost every year of every house, and Moody became the professor most frequently talked about by young wizards.

It's quite normal; Defense Against the Dark Arts professors receive this treatment every year.

Perhaps it was an unintended effect of Comrade Lao Fu cursing this position?

September passed by in a routine of studying. For fourth-year students like Ike, the skyrocketing amount of homework left them with almost no free time. All the professors had increased the amount of homework without prior agreement.

The Transfiguration class doubled, the Charms class doubled, and the Potions class, which was already at its maximum, quadrupled in size this time.

Everyone was overwhelmed by the heavy workload and could hardly breathe. Even Ike, who had a time converter, increased the frequency of "cheating" again. He even created a "clone" specifically to do his homework.

To be fair, this extremely fulfilling school life made him feel a sense of familiarity, almost like "returning to an old haunt".

Perhaps because of his past experiences, Ike was the first of all the fourth-grade students to adapt to this rhythm.

"How did you do that?" In the Room of Requirement, Hermione, overwhelmed by her heavy workload, asked Ike, who was reading "leisure books" to the side.

"You can do it too if you don't spend a lot of time working on that SPEW," Ike replied without looking up.

"The House-Elf Rights Association is a serious matter!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "They need fair wages and good working conditions!"

"Dobby and Sparkle are just exceptions, Hermione," Ike said, closing the book. "Strictly speaking, they can no longer be called 'house-elves' because the families they used to serve removed them from their names."

"From this perspective, it's quite normal for Dobby and Gilgamesh to receive their Hogwarts salaries."

"But you should know that other house-elves aren't free."

“That’s right, that’s why I want to do this,” Hermione said. “In the short term, we need to improve the working environment for house-elves so that the families they serve no longer punish them in various ways.”

"In the long run, my vision is to grant house-elves the right to use magic, and to have each of them enter the Department of Magical Creatures Control at the Ministry of Magic."

As she spoke, Hermione pulled a small box out of her pocket, which was filled with badges that read "SPEW".

Handing a badge to Ike, Hermione continued, "This is a great undertaking! But I can't do it all by myself."

"So I'm going to recruit members, and you're the first!" Hermione stood up, draped her wand over Ike's shoulder, and declared, "Now, I appoint you as the Chief Promoter of the House-Elf Rights Promotion Association, and your first task is to bring Stuart and the others into our association!"

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission, my esteemed guild master!" Ike gave a mischievous knightly salute, while Hermione happily pinned the badge to Ike's clothes.

They also gave a few to Ike, asking him to recruit members.

"I suppose Harry and Ron have joined as well?" Ike asked, fiddling with the badge in his hand.

“Of course! Harry is the secretary, and Ron is the treasurer,” Hermione said. “I even prepared a piggy bank for Ron to store the proceeds from selling badges.”

"This thing costs money?" Ike was surprised.

"One two-shico, remember to give it to me tomorrow." Hermione said very seriously.

"Hmm..." Ike paused for a moment before saying, "Why can't I be the treasurer? I think I have a real talent for managing money."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hermione's expression became much more serious.

"Ike Strayder, I think we need to talk about the origins of that huge sum of money Gringotts sent you..."

"Actually..." Ike touched his nose, "I think the chief promoter position is great, it suits me perfectly."

"snort!"

(End of this chapter)