A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

The next morning, Harry woke up groggily, feeling like he was sleepwalking. When he came to his senses, he found himself sitting in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

The classroom was noisy as people gradually arrived. Parvati Petit and Lavender Brown walked in arm in arm. When Parvati saw Harry, she glared at him and said loudly, "I've made plans with Aiden to go out and play together next Hogsmeade weekend."

Lavender asked with interest, "Is it the Beauxbatons boy you danced with at the ball?"

“That’s right,” Parvati said loudly, glancing haughtily at Harry as he walked past them.

Ever since the ball, she had been very cold to Harry. Every time she saw him, she would turn her head away forcefully, leaving him with only the back of her head. Harry wanted to ask Ron if he had encountered the same situation, but he had to give up the idea because Padma was not in their house.

“You should have paid more attention to her at the ball. Look… now you’re getting your comeuppance,” Hermione said sullenly, hiding her face behind a thick book.

“But she had a lot of fun too,” Harry said stubbornly.

He glanced back discreetly and saw that Parvati and Lavender had taken up seats in the last two rows, chatting and laughing. He couldn't see anything unusual at all. Lavender took a thick book out of his bag and mysteriously showed it to Parvati.

"I ordered it through Owl Mail, and it's really beautiful..."

In the last few minutes before class started, a smug voice came from outside the door:

"It's called that—the Magic Phonograph. It was placed in my living room the day after it was released. When you listen to music, you can see the quirky sister duo hovering above your head. To be honest, my mom doesn't like them; they're too noisy... but there's nothing I can do about it, it's the only one available right now."

Draco Malfoy said regretfully as he entered the classroom surrounded by Crabbe and Goyle. He looked around and, when he saw Harry, deliberately feigned surprise: "Hey, Potter! Didn't you sleep well last night? Or are you wearing smoky eye makeup?"

His two henchmen grinned and pointed at Harry's dark circles.

Harry clenched his fists, and Ron quickly pulled him back. "Don't be impulsive, Harry, he'd love for you to do that! Just a light touch with your pinky and he'll have an excuse to lash out..."

“You’ve become timid,” Draco said in a drawn-out tone, walking over to Harry and looking down into his eyes. He whispered in a very low voice, “I’ve learned a few more spells this holiday, Potter… and not just any spells. I found a journal in my grandfather’s room; maybe we can try it out sometime…”

“What are you trying to say?” Harry said, barely containing his anger.

“Oh, I forgot,” Draco said with ill intent, “your old home was bombed into ruins, all your heritage is gone. Maybe you could ask the Weasley next door? If his family wasn’t so poor that they sold all this stuff for a decent meal…”

"Do you want to duel, Malfoy?" Harry asked him angrily. "Or will you use the pretext of a duel to report to Filch, like you did in your first year? You're capable of doing that, aren't you? Can't you have a little guts?!"

Draco's pale face flushed.

"See you at the Duel Club, Potter," he said, and hurried away.

Harry watched his retreating figure, trembling with anger. "Ignore him, Harry," Hermione said calmly, looking up from a thick book. "Including this time, he's provoked you three times recently, and you know why."

"He must have learned some dark magic, Harry, you'd better watch out." Ron was also quite angry.

Harry's anger was instantly extinguished. Of course he knew why: Snape had substituted for those two classes last week. If a conflict occurred, it was obvious to anyone that Snape would side with him, which made Draco even more arrogant.

Especially during the first period last week, Draco quietly showed him a badge and told Harry with a regretful look that if the other badges hadn't been confiscated, he would have given one to every Slytherin student as a sign of support for the true Hogwarts team of warriors.

If Neville hadn't maintained his usual sensitivity to Snape's aura and issued an early warning to avert danger, he might have already been detained and had points deducted.

The school bell rang, and the students sat obediently, waiting for a black robe to flutter in. Just then, they heard a distinctive "thump-thump" sound of wood hitting the floor, and many of the young wizards (mostly Gryffindors) widened their eyes in delight.

“I never thought I’d be this excited to see Professor Moody’s face,” Ron muttered, and Harry silently agreed.

Moody appeared at the doorway, looking as terrifying as ever, but several students let out low cheers. He stood at the doorway, scanning the room, his blue demonic eyes darting around incessantly.

The classroom quickly fell silent.

Moody, leaning on his cane, walked with difficulty to the podium, placed the cane and a stack of parchment tucked under his arm on the table, drew his wand (the students' expressions tightened), and with a gentle wave, a roster flew out of the podium drawer.

“You’ve probably heard that I was controlled last semester. A despicable person impersonated me and taught you classes,” Moody said in a hoarse voice. The classroom fell silent. They had all heard something, but no one was sure.

"They confused me, making me think everything was normal, and I drifted through the semester in a daze until Christmas night when the Death Eaters' plot hidden in the school was exposed. Before leaving, they decided to get rid of me... I was lying in bed, practically a corpse, completely unresponsive to the sounds in the room. It was only thanks to two students buying me time that I died in my sleep, a meaningless death..." Moody said softly, looking at Harry and Ron. Harry felt that Moody's face wasn't so scary anymore.

"Your Professor Hyp tried many methods to cure me, but... I still lost some memories, so I decided to get to know you all again."

He shook his head, brushing his long, gray hair away from his twisted, scarred face, and began calling roll.

The classroom was filled with a solemn atmosphere. When Moody called roll, each student whose name was called raised their hand to answer. Moody on the podium seemed to be seeing them for the first time, staring at each of them with his fake eyes.

After roll call, Moody picked up his cane from the podium and limped around the classroom, saying in a hoarse voice:

"In the next few classes, I will tell you about my experiences over the past six months, which is a good example. You seem to think that dark wizards are too far away from you, but it turns out that you have spent half a year living with an evil dark wizard who disguised himself as a reclusive, unsociable retired old man—a smart move! I will talk about these things later, and I will tell you all the details I remember without reservation."

"There's only one thing you need to do: go back and think carefully about why you're still alive."

“Professor, what did you say?” Lavender Brown said in astonishment.

“I say,” Moody waved his rough, large hand, his demonic eyes fixed on her, “take a moment to ask yourself a question: A powerful dark wizard, who, in the past six months, could have pulled out his wand at any time, pointed it at your noses, and cast the Killing Curse.”

The truth is, you are all safe and sound, aren't you, Miss Lavender?

Chapter 432 Moody's Homework

Lavender Brown muttered something.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you," Moody said gruffly, taking a few steps closer.

Lavender was startled and instinctively leaned back, causing the book on her lap to fall and hit the floor with a thud. She quickly picked it up and put it back on the table.

“I, uh, I just said, it might be because his target isn’t me,” she said, her face flushed.

Low laughter rippled through the classroom.

Moody didn't laugh, nor did the few people in the seats—Harry, Ron, and Hermione—who already knew the answer.

“You think that was a brilliant answer, don’t you?” Moody said softly. “What if you happen to get in the way of his plans… what will happen next?”

The air in the classroom seemed to freeze. Moody dragged his wooden legs forward a few steps, moving closer to Lavender, whose body suddenly began to tremble violently.

Parvati, standing next to her, mustered her courage and said, “Professor Moody, I think… a dark wizard infiltrating the school must have his own purpose, right? We encountered a similar situation in the first year, where a dark wizard wanted to get the… uh, the Philosopher’s Stone hidden in the school?”

“It’s the Philosopher’s Stone,” Hermione whispered, correcting him as she and the others stared at the back row.

Moody’s intact eye looked at Parvati, while the Demon Eye remained fixed on Lavender Brown.

“Miss Petit, you’re right. Dark wizards infiltrate schools for their own purposes, and they must proceed with caution until they achieve their goals. But this is all based on the assumption that everything goes smoothly…”

“But what if things don’t go smoothly?” His tattered nostril trembled. “Like now, I noticed you because of a book. If ‘I’ were that dark wizard, if ‘I’ just happened to want to distract someone…”

Moody suddenly drew his wand, and a dazzling burst of fire flew from its tip. The classroom window suddenly shattered, and a series of screams erupted from inside.

He calmly waved his wand, and the shattered glass and window frames automatically returned to their original state.

"In a dark wizard's eyes, that window is no different from a human life. If he feels at some point that one or two people in the school should die, even insignificant ones... why can't it be you? Besides, that wasn't an ordinary dark wizard, but a far more dangerous Death Eater, utterly devoted to the Dark Lord, plotting his master's resurrection—"

“Professor, the mysterious man is dead!” a student said in fear, looking at Moody as if he had finally gone mad.

“Is that so?” Moody grinned. “During the war, the Dark Lord would occasionally disappear for a period of time, and some people thought he was dead, but he always used a series of bloody incidents to announce his existence. Maybe he liked the dramatic scenes.”

He extended his rough hand. "Miss Brown?"

"Wh-what?"

“That book,” Moody said calmly.

Lavender stood up and, trembling, handed him the newly bought copy of "Going Against the Darkness".

Moody flipped through two pages, a look of disgust on his face, and handed the book back to her. He limped back to the podium, rummaging through a stack of parchment. “Before I begin my story, there’s one thing I must do—I suddenly realized something: you’re all too far removed from war, you have absolutely no concept of it…”

"Coincidentally, I wasn't idle during the holidays either; I organized some materials," Moody said, pointing to his head. "Professor Hyp suggested that I write down everything I can remember from the past six months, to piece together a timeline, which might help me recover some lost memories..."

"I refused to write it down, but I did spend a considerable amount of time reviewing my past experiences, and also thought about things from even further back. I think some of them are still valuable and can be used in teaching... Miss Brown, could you read them to me?"

He pointed his wand at the podium, and several pieces of parchment floated over. Lavender Brown caught them and glanced at them, her face turning deathly pale.

“Miss Brown?” Moody stared at her menacingly.

“Oh, I… okay.” Lavender looked like she was about to cry as she read the contents of the book with trembling hands:

"Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater, tortured countless Muggles and those who did not support the Dark Lord during the Wizarding Wars. She had an extreme fondness for the Cruciatus Curse. She was involved in at least 137 acts of terror, with known victims including 206 Muggles and 29 wizards. The list of victims is as follows: Pork Keane, who died from the Cruciatus Curse, along with his wife Winnie and their five-year-old son Boothny; Salisbury Joshua, who died from the Fireball Curse... Bellatrix Lestrange was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment."

"Rodolphus Lestrange, a Death Eater, was involved in the vast majority of the actions of his wife Bellatrix Lestrange and his brother Labstan Lestrange... and was sentenced to life imprisonment."

"Antonin Dolokhov, Death Eater, participated in the brutal murder of Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, who dared to resist the rule of the Dark Lord... List of victims... Sentenced to life imprisonment."

"Evan Rozier... was killed by the Aurors after the Dark Lord lost power and was arrested."

"Old Murseb, Death Eater...died during the war."

"Wilkes, a Death Eater...died during the war years."

“Murcyber the Younger was accused of using Imperius on multiple people, forcing them to do terrible things, and continuously creating chaos and terror… He was sentenced to life imprisonment.”

"Fenrir Greyback, leader of the werewolf community, is notorious for his penchant for attacking children. He is dedicated to turning more people into werewolves, hoping to build a powerful army to fight the wizards... He followed the Dark Lord during the war, and the Ministry of Magic has issued an arrest warrant for him, but he remains at large..."

Lavender didn't finish reading until the bell rang; she looked pale, as if she had been seriously ill.

Moody calmly put the parchment away. "We'll continue in the next class. I think this class was very meaningful. Today's homework is to find the names of the Death Eaters you can and list what they did... I've already given you an example, haven't I?"

"I can also give you a sneak peek at what the next lesson will cover—it's something I just thought of—those who sacrificed their lives during the war for resisting the rule of the Black Demon. You can do some research and preview it beforehand."

Moody left with heavy steps.

The students packed their things quietly, not in the mood to talk. Lavender gagged, cried, and ran out of the classroom, with Parvati chasing after her carrying their belongings.

Ron stared at them, saying uneasily, "She really had a tough time in that class. I thought our classroom environment would be better in the new semester..."

Harry sat in his seat, his face pale.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Ron looked at Harry, and Hermione shook her head at him. He suddenly remembered that Harry’s parents had died during the war. He patted Harry on the shoulder.

“Fenrir Greyback,” Harry said suddenly.

“What?” Ron and Hermione stared at him in astonishment.

“Fenrir Greyback,” Harry swallowed hard. “Sirius told me that Remus was bitten by a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback when he was a child. I thought that werewolf had been imprisoned in Azkaban, but I never expected him to escape punishment!”

Ron was taken aback at first, then his expression changed to one of realization. He reassured him, "Don't worry, he won't get away with this. At worst, we'll just arrest him if we run into him again."

His tone was as if he had heard there was a biting raccoon roaming the area, and all he had to do was kick it away when he encountered it.

Harry laughed. Hermione said irritably, "Let's learn the Warm-up Charm first. We'll need time to practice swimming once the ice on the Black Lake melts!"

"Swimming in January or February?" Ron's mouth dropped open, as if this was the first time he had ever considered such a question.

“I’ve prepared a series of spells: a waterproof spell, a warming spell, a dissipation spell, a head-soaking spell or a humanoid armor spell, and some other common spells…” Hermione ignored Ron and continued, “We’d better finish these by the end of January to leave enough time to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances—”

"Have you made an appointment with Fred and George?" She turned to look at Ron.

Ron immediately stammered, "Not...not yet."

“Then what are we waiting for?” Hermione said arrogantly, hands on her hips, while Harry and Ron shrank back.

The last few people in the classroom also left. Draco Malfoy looked preoccupied, his complexion not much better than Lavender's.

Ron said sarcastically, "Maybe he can get an excellent grade on this assignment. He just needs to write a letter home and ask his dad and those Death Eater friends what they did back then..."