I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 489 Potions Class

"Now you will split into pairs," Snape continued. "One of you will try to cast a curse on the other, but without saying it aloud. The other will try to repel the curse, also without saying aloud. Begin."

Snape was unaware that Hermione and Owen had taught half the class (those who had been members of the D.A.) how to cast spells silently and without a wand last semester, mainly the Silent and Wand Armored Charm.

This spell is one of the most commonly used defensive spells, and compared to other spells, it is exceptionally valuable to master as it is silent and wandless.

For most junior wizards, the Silent Armor Charm might still have a chance of success, but casting spells without a wand is too difficult.

At present, apart from Hermione, no one in the DA has truly mastered the technique of wandless spellcasting.

It's easy to imagine how comical the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts class will be.

Many young wizards stood still, their wands in hand but not raised, glaring angrily at their "opponents".

They chanted incantations loudly, creating a chaotic scene reminiscent of a bustling marketplace, with shouts rising and falling. Unfortunately, few were able to successfully cast the spell.

Among the crowd, only Hermione neither swung her staff nor uttered a spell. She looked at Neville, and three seconds later, a Leg-Lowering Curse struck him.

Such a 'miracle' attracted the attention of many young wizards. What an amazing achievement! The Gryffindors looked at Snape. If it were any reasonable, objective and fair professor, they would have given Gryffindors an extra twenty points.

But Snape pretended not to see it.

As the students practiced, he strode among them, dragging his robes, like a giant bat, and deliberately stopped to watch Harry and Ron struggle with their practice.

Honestly, if it were a levitation charm, Harry might actually have succeeded in casting it.

But perhaps provoked by Snape's words, Harry was determined to prove himself and tried to cast a disarming spell on Ron without a wand.

However, this spell is extremely difficult to cast.

He stared at Ron for a long time, but did nothing.

"How awful! Poot!" Snape said after a moment. "Are you trying to cast a spell with your eyes?"

"Get out of my way—I'll show you!"

Harry was furious. He forgot that the most important thing in wandless spellcasting is to remain calm. The more agitated he became, the less likely he was to succeed.

Snape might have done it on purpose.

But who can say anything?

His gaze shifted to Ron.

Ron's scalp tingled instantly. Under the gaze of those sinister eyes, he reacted almost instinctively, raising his wand and shouting, "Protect Yourself!"

The next second, a red spell struck the invisible armor that Ron had cast.

The red light outlined the shape of the armor, and after a violent tremor, everything vanished in an instant.

Hmm—a brilliant Ironclad Charm. Any fair professor here would have cast it on Gryffindor.

"See that?" Snape gave Harry a cold glance. "Perhaps you'd like to do it again?"

"No need!" Harry said angrily.

He felt that Snape was just showing off in front of him.

And—what's the point of just watching someone demonstrate a technique that involves using a spell without a wand?

At the very least, you should understand the principles and then try it yourself over and over again.

Obviously—Snape would never have that kind of patience.

When Harry faces Ron again.

His gaze fell to the side, where Irving was suspending Justin in the air on a roller coaster.

Irving sat on the table, smiling as he watched Justin hovering in mid-air, flying back and forth on the arches of the ceiling.

All I could hear were the tragic screams.

If there were any impartial professor here...

That would definitely deduct points from Hufflepuff!

In the classroom, most people had actually noticed Irving long ago, but they all tacitly chose to skip him.

After all—that's Kyrie Irving!

No matter what he does, they are not surprised.

Hermione noticed this as well.

Although she had some knowledge of casting spells without a staff, she was not proficient enough. She needed a few seconds to prepare and could not cast spells spontaneously.

She planned to practice with Irving after class.

Harry thought the same thing.

Most of the DA members in the classroom had the same plan.

What they didn't know was that they were already far more skilled than ordinary wizards. You see, the skill of wandless spellcasting was only taught in the seventh year, while the silent spells were taught in the sixth year.

These two techniques may sound similar, but in reality, they are worlds apart in difficulty.

The difference between a musket and a submachine gun.

If most Aurors in the magical world can master the art of silent spellcasting, then wandless spellcasting is something only legendary wizards like Dumbledore and Grindelwald can fully master.

An ordinary wizard, as Snape said, might only ever be able to use the levitation charm without a wand in his entire life.

The young wizards of today are already beginning to explore skills at this level, something unprecedented in the history of Hogwarts.

Snape really didn't have much left to teach the young wizards, unless he could find a Death Eater to spar with them. Otherwise, in terms of spells alone, he had really reached his limit. That's why he brought up the ultimate problem for wizards: 'wielding spells without a wand'.

After class, everyone left the classroom one after another.

Overall, while Snape himself was detestable, it must be said that he did teach some useful things to the young wizards.

He's at least better than Quirrell, Lockhart, and others.

"Hey—Owen, Hermione, and Harry. Is DA holding another rally this year?"

At the top of the stairs, a Ravenclaw wizard ran over.

Irving knows him and seems to have a good relationship with Cho Chang; he was once her suitor, but unfortunately lost to Cedric.

Now that Cedric has graduated, does he think his chance has finally come?

Owen frowned. Although his relationship with Cedric wasn't exactly close, Cedric was still a prefect of Hufflepuff. This pretty boy was trying to steal their prefect's girlfriend—humph—he was asking for trouble.

He chuckled and rubbed his long, fair neck. He said lazily, "I don't want to work for free."

"Of course it's open." Hermione quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Owen, saying, "Although it was originally used to deal with Umbridge, the DA is also a study group. I know what you want to do. You want Owen to teach you the techniques of wandless spellcasting, right?"

Please wait a few days while we discuss the time. We will inform everyone of the meeting time in a few days.

"Oh—that's great." The boy's eyes lit up as he looked at Hermione—then his gaze swept past her to Owen behind her, but he quickly looked away after just one glance. "Um—"

The boy suddenly became shy.

His face was visibly flushed red.

He stammered for a long time before finally managing to utter, "Will Kyrie... still be our teacher?"

The little witch subconsciously gritted her teeth, waved her hand, and pulled Owen away.

She took a long step, and after a few steps, her rather impatient voice drifted from afar, "Maybe!"

Harry and Ron followed.

The two of them wore strange smiles.

Hermione led him for a long time down the corridor.

Outside the gate, the September weather is really nice.

The autumn winds characteristic of the Scottish Highlands rustled through the wild grass, rippling like ocean waves. In the distance, young men and women were running wildly across the meadow, enjoying the rare good weather.

Everything was so beautiful, if it weren't for the black-robed figures that would occasionally appear in the castle and the wilderness, and the Aurors responsible for guarding it, constantly reminding them of the war that was not far away.

"Hey! Harry! Harry!"

Suddenly, a series of urgent shouts came from behind.

Harry turned his head and saw Jack Slaughter running excitedly towards him—he had joined Gryffindor Quidditch as a batter last semester—he came running over hurriedly with a roll of parchment in his hand.

"Here you are—" Slouper said breathlessly, "Professor Dumbledore asked me to give this to you."

"Listen, I heard you became the team captain. When are the selection trials coming up?"

"It's not decided yet!" Harry said casually. In fact, he didn't think there was much chance that Slaughter would return to the team. To be honest, there were many people in Gryffindor who flew better than him. Last semester, Angelina hosted the selection trials, and her standards were different from his.

"Okay, this weekend was what I was hoping for."

Harry basically ignored what Slouper was saying.

After opening the parchment in his hand, he immediately recognized the writing on it.

The content is very simple; it's a notification.

—Dear Harry:

—I had intended to teach you myself, but I have met a very good teacher. Please go to the Ravenclaw Tower after 8 p.m., and Professor Flitwick will arrange for that teacher to meet you.

—Your faithful Albus Dumbledore.

"Okay! I think I know who it is?"

Harry read the letter once and knew which teacher Dumbledore had arranged.

"Obviously—it's too easy to guess. She's the most relaxed one," Owen shrugged.

"It's better than Snape," Harry said. "Maybe I can even learn some Far Eastern magic. I've heard that the magical world there is completely different from ours."

As he spoke, Harry even seemed to be looking forward to it.

Although Ms. Zhang seemed to have some minor conflicts with Irving, she at least seemed very kind, always had a smile on her face, and was very pretty, wasn't she?

"I just think Dumbledore really knows how to exploit people," Owen said indignantly. "He always makes the most of everything and never wastes a single bit of manpower."

"Alright, stop making fun of the headmaster," Hermione said, glaring at Owen. "It's just that he gave you a few more classes!"

"???"

Owen stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What's it called?"

"Hmm—that is a bit too much." Hermione, feeling a little embarrassed by Owen's gaze, quickly looked away. "Alright, I still have some questions about wandless spellcasting. I'd like to go to the library to look up some information."

"Can't we take a break during our free time?" Irving said listlessly.

"No!" Hermione refused outright.

They then went to the library.

Harry and Ron went back to the common room.

I'm off to prepare for the next Potions class.

After some time.

The bell rang for the two afternoon potions classes.

They followed the familiar path to the underground professor's quarters. For a long time, it had been Snape's private domain, and the young wizards of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would recall terrible memories whenever they guessed the way those steps appeared.

The other two colleges didn't experience that feeling as much because they would pass by on their way back to their dorms.

Harry never imagined that he would one day see other professors in the underground classroom.

Perhaps this is good news.

A glimmer of light appeared in the dark seabed.

Unlike Snape, Professor Slughorn was much more enthusiastic. Although he always looked at Owen and Hermione with a strange gaze, he was much better than that old bat.

As soon as I arrived at the classroom door, the door opened automatically.

The underground classroom had also changed drastically. It was no longer cold and damp, filled with the unpleasant smell of potions. Instead, it was filled with a pinkish-white steam, and the air smelled sweet with a strange fragrance. Several golden cauldrons were placed on the front platform, and the liquid inside was constantly bubbling.

The young wizards had never smelled such an enticing scent before.

Harry thought of honey pie, the smell of wood from the flying broomstick, and the floral scent he must have smelled at the Burrow.

Owen also smelled some different scents. Unlike Harry, he smelled the faint salty and damp smell of the sea, the mixed plant scents of hundreds of magical plants in the greenhouse, and—a very faint rose scent with the smell of rain.

He suddenly put his hand to Hermione's cheek and sniffed.

"Hmm—this is the taste."

"Miss Granger's scent, a very faint rose scent."

Hermione blushed deeply at Owen's actions.

She also smelled a different scent, a very cool and refreshing lotus fragrance.

"This is... an aphrodisiac?" Having frequented the Gemini's prank workshop, she naturally knew what the pink vapor was.

"To be precise, it's a potent aphrodisiac!" Irving reminded him with a laugh.

"Its effects are much better than George and Fred's 'Wonder Witch,' but that's to be expected, since they're selling it commercially, and using precious materials would make it too expensive."

"Why would he create such magic!" Hermione blushed slightly, looking at Slughorn with confusion.

Who knows?

Irving scoffed. "The old tree has blossomed?"

"What?"

"I said, he's either a pervert or in love!"

Just as Irving was making up stories about Slughorn because he had complained about him.

The chubby old professor spoke up, "Alright, alright, alright."

Students, please take out your balance scales, potion packets, and don't forget to take out your "Advanced Potion Making" textbook. Let's begin this semester's potion class...

(End of this chapter)