Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 102 The Right Way to Approach the Magical Creatures Protection Class

After confirming that the secret room had indeed disappeared, Avada finally felt relieved. No longer needing to live in constant fear of the Basilisk and the diary, he could return to his normal school life in peace.

As for the roosters in those oil paintings... let's just consider them Dumbledore's usual antics.

After thanking Harry for his help and saying goodbye, Avada enjoyed a delicious lunch at Hogwarts, rested for a while, and then began his afternoon class—his elective, Conservation of Magical Creatures, which he attended with Ravenclaw.

Just like in the original books, the Magical Creatures Protection class takes place outside the castle, but there's no fixed location. It depends on the content of the lesson—the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the interior of the Forbidden Forest, the shores of the Black Lake, or even diving directly underwater are all possibilities. Students usually gather at the castle gate, and then the professor leads them to the teaching location.

Good afternoon, children!

Professor Sylvanas Kettleburn, the professor of the Magical Creatures Protection Class, is a burly old man with rough skin, gray hair and beard, and a wrinkled face, yet he appears remarkably energetic. However, none of these features are his most striking characteristic; rather, they are his limbs—he has only one and a half limbs remaining in total. His entire left arm, entire right leg, and half of his left leg are all wooden prosthetics, making a clattering sound as he walks on the stone pavement.

However, the prosthetics looked pretty good, and his walking and waving postures were quite natural.

"To be honest, you guys have had both bad luck and good luck this year..."

Looking at the students from both colleges who had gathered and were curiously examining his prosthetic leg, Professor Kettleburn said with feigned regret, "The unfortunate thing is that this is my last year of teaching. After this year, I will retire. Although I don't think I've ever been formally hired; I've always been on probation... But this also means that your course progress will be somewhat disjointed."

"what……"

A chorus of disappointed sighs rose from the students.

"but,"

Professor Kettleburn started shouting again, his face beaming with barely concealed smugness: "The lucky thing is, since I can only teach you for a year, I've decided to use this year to present you with all the most interesting and amazing biological knowledge!"

"oh--!!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the students.

"But this would make your lessons somewhat dangerous..."

"what……"

"However, I swear on my limbs that I have absolutely extensive experience in dealing with this, and I guarantee that as long as you follow my instructions, you will absolutely not get hurt!"

"oh--!!"

"But you'd better be careful next year. As far as I know, next year's professor will be teaching for the first time, and their experience in dealing with danger is probably not as rich as mine..."

"what……"

"But that person is also a highly qualified master of magical creatures, with even more practical experience than I do!"

"oh--!!!"

"alright!"

Seeing that he had easily created a relaxed atmosphere, Professor Kettleburn laughed and waved his hand: "Well then, grab your textbooks, *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, line up, and come with me to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to begin our first lesson—"

"Basic Characteristics and Classification of Fantastic Beasts!"

Professor Kettleburn, clattering along, explained to the students behind him, "The classification system we use now was established more than sixty years ago by the famous magical creature expert Newt Scamander, the author of your textbook. He was a friend of mine, and we even collaborated for a time on many research topics, and we still keep in touch by correspondence..."

"However, that's not why I included his book in the textbooks. He doesn't lack that money, and I don't get a share of the profits."

Amidst the students' laughter, the group finally arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where there were about a dozen small fences that had been erected in advance. Each fence was divided into several compartments, where all sorts of magical creatures were hopping around.

"So,"

He clapped his hands, quieting the students down: "Let me see how well you've prepared... Who can answer this: what is the current classification standard for magical creatures?"

"Ms. Zhang, please answer this."

Qiu stepped forward from the crowd and confidently replied, "There are currently three parallel standards that classify magical creatures from biological, magical, and social perspectives. These are the traditional 'Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species,' the classification based on how the creatures acquire magic into 'Bloodline,' 'Mental,' and 'Mutant,' and the classification based on danger level from X to XXXXX."

"A perfect answer—Ravenclaw gets five points."

Kettleburn smiled and praised, then pointed behind him and said, "As you can see, there are some enclosures in front of you, housing all sorts of magical creatures. Now, I'm going to set up a little challenge..."

"You can form teams of three or four to be responsible for one enclosure. Try to put the magical creatures you think are of the same type in the same square—don't worry, they are all docile and won't hurt you. The team that classifies them most correctly will earn ten points for their academy. You have ten minutes... What are you waiting for? Let's start now! Hurry!"

At his command, the two groups of students suddenly became chaotic, and then stood in groups of three or four in front of a fence, observing the lively animals inside with great interest.

Avada's teammates were his three roommates, Shabby, Stebbins, and Summers. They were facing an enclosure of animals, engaged in a heated discussion about how to divide them...

"I know this one well. The Sniffer, well, the kind that's similar to it should be... a prickly ...

"Wrong. The hedgehog is a XXX-level variant of the hedgehog order, while the sniffler is a XX-level bloodline of the mole order... The short-nosed mole is more closely related to the sniffler."

Avada Kedavra dangled a bronze knuckle to lure the Niffler over, who scrambled over and was then mercilessly grabbed and shoved into the same slot as a mole that was shaking its head.

"Okay, you're right."

"As for Thornhead... there are no more hedgehogs in the enclosure. Could you check if there are any mutated XXX-level ones..."

"There's a fire salamander here, but can these two really be put in the same slot?"

Shabi placed a fire lizard in her palm and asked in confusion, "Isn't the difference a bit too great?"

Are there any variants among the remaining mammals?

"Let me see... Is this a horned beast cub? Is it a mutant?"

"No, the Horned Beast is a bloodline type... Let's put the Salamander and the Spiky Beast together for now, and trust Lord Eater."

"You son of a bitch..."

After ten minutes of commotion, Professor Kettleburn stopped everyone and then began checking each fence one by one.

"Whoa!"

As he passed Avada's enclosure, he finally exclaimed in admiration, "Finally, someone has grouped the thorny lizards and the fire lizards together! Although they're quite different biologically, they actually share a high degree of similarity in the structure and principles of magic. Most people like to put fire lizards and Brazilian dragons together, but they're completely different..."

After inspecting all the fences, Professor Kettleburn declared Avada Kedavra the winner, earning Hufflepuff ten points.

"Great job, everyone did a great job. Each group was able to classify the items correctly in most cases..."

Professor Kettleburn chuckled and continued, "It seems everyone has a basic understanding of what we're about to learn. So let's begin today's lesson."

"Now everyone knows the classification criteria for magical creatures. But have you ever wondered: why do we use these criteria for classification? Where do these criteria come from?"

"The verification of biological classifications involves a very complex and advanced process. You will likely not be able to begin experiments until after your fifth year. Furthermore, the danger level classification is not very rigorous, primarily relying on magical potential and historical attack records..."

"So this year, we'll mainly be learning about classifications in a magical sense, namely bloodline, spirit, and mutation."

(End of this chapter)