Chapter 463: The Fearless One

Professor Lu Ping led them into the second corridor, stopped right outside the teachers' lounge. "Please go in," Professor Lu said, opening the door and stepping back. The teachers' lounge was a long, cramped space filled with mismatched old chairs, with only one teacher inside. Professor Severus Snape sat in a low armchair, scanning the room as the class entered. His eyes glittered, and a mocking smile lingered at the corner of his lips.

After Professor Lu entered and closed the door behind him, Snape said, "Don't close it, Lu Ping. I'd rather not look." He stood up, paced past the whole class, his black robe fluttering behind him. Reaching the doorway, he turned and said, "Lu Ping, perhaps no one warned you, but Neville Longbottom is in this class. I advise you not to ask him to do anything difficult unless Miss Ge Lan Jie whispers instructions into his ear."

Bai Lang burst out laughing, patted Neville's back, and said, "So I told you, seriously studying magical martial arts might be a way out. I have to say your talent in that area far exceeds your performance in spells and Potions Class."

"Now, like this," Professor Lu said, gesturing for the whole class to walk to the far end of the lounge. There was nothing there except an old wardrobe, where teachers stored surplus robes. Professor Lu stepped up beside the wardrobe and it suddenly began to shake, banging against the wall. "No need to worry," Lu said calmly, as a few students jumped back in fright. "There's a Borgt inside." Most people indeed thought it was worrisome. Neville glanced at Professor Lu, terror in his eyes, while Seamus furtively peeked at the now trembling wardrobe handle.

"This thing isn't common," Bai Lang said, rubbing his fists together. "I'm very interested." Yet Neville was trembling, and Professor Lu began explaining what a Borgt was, while Hermione frantically raised her hand to answer questions. Of course the professor also mentioned the Borgt's weaknesses and the spell to counter them. "Hilarious, hilarious! I think this spell is even more hilarious!" Bai Lang laughed. Neville was chosen as the first student to go up for the lesson, his legs visibly shaking.

Professor Lu delivered a long speech, essentially helping Neville identify what he feared most, how to deal with it, and what mindset to adopt when chanting a spell. Then everyone dispersed, and Lu opened the wardrobe—out stepped Professor Severus Snape, "Sli— Hilarious, hilarious!" Neville shrieked. A burst of noise sounded like a whip cracking. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace‑trimmed women's gown, a tall hat with a worm‑eaten old sculpture specimen on its brim, and he swung a massive scarlet satchel in his hand.

The whole class roared with laughter; the Borgt paused, bewildered; Professor Lu shouted loudly, "Pavati, step forward!"

One by one, the young wizards went up to try, and the later they went, the better they performed. Bai Lang even felt a bit sorry for the Borgt; it kept changing so quickly that it looked like it was about to collapse. "Mr. Lang En!" Professor Lu shouted, just as a conjured magical hand was being caught by a mouse trap. Bai Lang stepped forward; the hand froze, its fingers spinning rapidly on the floor.

"Professor, is this thing being messed up by playing with it?" Bai Lang asked. Lu looked at Bai's face and said, "You're a brave child. I've never seen… no, I have seen such a fearless person." He whispered, "It's fine, you go down first." Then Lu raised his voice, "Mr. Ron Weasley!" So Ron Weasley immediately came up… the rolling Borgt‑turned spider rolled in front of Harry.

He raised his wand, ready, but—"Stop!" Professor Lu shouted suddenly, lunging forward. Bang! the legless spider vanished. For a split second everyone looked around, searching for it. Then they saw a silvery sphere floating in the air before Lu; Lu lazily said, "Hilarious, hilarious!" Bang! "Come forward, Neville, finish it!" Lu said, and the sphere turned into a cockroach.

Neville finally killed the Borgt, and the act seemed to give him a huge boost of confidence—while the points Gryffindor earned were merely a trifle. Still, Bai Lang could be sure that once today's lesson spread, Neville would be struck back by Professor Snape, and his hard days lay ahead. And Bai Lang also cemented his reputation as a "school bully" even louder—"the fearless one."

The younger students kept up even tighter; by the end of class they had already ignored the house divisions—especially the rift between Slytherin and Lion House, rallying around Bai Lang. As for Draco Malfoy and his crew, they whispered behind his back, calling him "a thug without fear," "an unrestrained thug"—the only insults they could think of.

Zabini also tried to learn magical martial arts from Bai Lang, but he gave up quickly—he felt he couldn't persist and that he should achieve more in proper magic. "Hip‑horse unity!" Bai Lang shouted, brandishing a branch, striking between Neville's waist, legs, chest and abdomen; Neville's perseverance was indeed commendable. At this point, the basic training was, in Bai's view, barely manageable.

From the perspective of an Innate Expert in martial arts, this level could only serve as a foot soldier, but in this England, Neville's foundation is already quite solid—most knights begin training a year or two earlier, though the difference isn't huge, and heavy exertion isn't suitable before full development. This is the Western training method, and combined with Bai Lang's breathing technique it can largely bypass that limitation.

In other words, Neville can now start gradually increasing volume without harming his body; Bai Lang intends to teach him the fundamentals of combat—vision, footwork, and technique coordination. Bai thinks teaching him universal short‑weapon skills is sufficient. For someone who must wield a wand, why teach long weapons? Even with a spear, you can only grip the middle, never gaining a long‑range advantage.

What else can short weapons be? The British traditional hand‑half‑sword and broad sword, plus the use of morning‑star and staff, are enough; shields aren't needed, magic can serve as a shield anyway. With a solid horse stance, strong waist and legs, you must teach footwork—this isn't exclusive to the East; Western sword saints also have footwork systems, and Bai Lang teaches Neville the circle step and the eight‑direction step—enough for a young wizard to learn.

A month passed, and Neville had made some progress. Hagrid's punishment finally arrived—Dumbledore saved him, but the crime of assault would be shouldered by Buckbeak.