Chapter 270

When Potions class ended, Harry handed in a perfect Draught of Peace, which made Snape's expression look much better. However, when he saw the cauldron of Luo En's that was emitting the smell of rotten eggs, he immediately switched to a look of disgust.

"It's hard to imagine how you have the face to bring this thing in front of me, Weasley," he said coldly. "Get out."

Luo En had been waiting for this sentence for a long time; he rushed out of the classroom impatiently, while Harry was still peering inside.

"Let's go, let's go eat," Luo En said. "What are you looking at?"

"I need to find an opportunity to talk to Pan Xi, but she seems to be following Ma Erfu around all the time." Harry took another look at the classroom; Goyle's potion suddenly splattered everywhere, burning his robes.

"They're practically glued to each other now," Luo En said sarcastically. "Perhaps the only chance is in the girls' bathroom."

"Fine." Harry let out a sigh and walked toward the Great Hall, but after only a few steps, he had an inspiration.

"You're right, Ma Erfu certainly won't follow Pan Xi when she's in the girls' club, we can take advantage of that." Harry calculated. "However, I can't get in, I'll have to rely on Eve and Jin Ni."

They sat down in the Great Hall and each picked up a mashed potato and meat pie to chew on slowly. Not long after, Hermione and Neville sat down beside them, so Luo En stopped questioning Harry about how he planned to plot against Ma Erfu and instead started chatting about Snape's homework.

"Moonstone, I have no idea," Luo En said, seemingly complaining but actually asking for help. "What are its properties, and what are its uses in pharmacy?"

"It's a very beautiful mineral," Harry said without thinking, while Hermione was watching the two of them with a smile. "Uh, very beautiful, mineral, that's all I know."

"Come on, Hermione, don't you have anything to say?" Luo En asked.

"Oh, I thought showing off knowledge was annoying." She shrugged. "But to be honest, I don't really know either. I plan to go to the library later to check *Principles of Mineral Pharmacy*."

When they were walking upstairs after eating, Luo En suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Why did Hermione say showing off knowledge? What is this about?"

"Neville is beside her, so," Harry also lowered his voice and said, "I suspect she is talking about the Halloween incident in the first year."

"Is she holding a grudge that long?"

"Maybe not on purpose, after all, her memory has always been very good."

Until class started, they sat in the common room chatting; when Hermione wasn't there, they gossiped about Hermione, when Hermione came, they started mocking Pan Xi, and after Jin Ni and Eve came back, they turned the topic to Quidditch.

Then, Angelina Johnson, who had taken over from Wood as the Quidditch team captain, arrived, so they didn't even talk about Quidditch anymore.

"I have to inform you, Harry, we are holding tryouts for a new Keeper this Friday," she said. "And you, Luo En, I heard you are interested in this position, so you better perform well."

They watched as the common room became more and more lively, and with less than an hour before class, they had no intention of going back to the dormitory to sleep for a while, so they simply walked to the Muggle Studies classroom early.

When Harry walked into the classroom and saw a kind middle-aged witch, he suddenly realized a problem: the Muggle Studies professor... who was it again?

"Oh, hello, you are fourth-year, oh no, fifth-year students, right?" the woman said. "I am Charity Burbage."

"Are you a new professor? But why didn't Snape introduce you?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Children, in fact, I have been teaching here for some years," Professor Burbage said with a smile. "It has always been just me teaching Muggle Studies. In the past two years, Dumbledore invited Professor Doudou and Professor Lu Ping to share the burden for me, but they didn't teach for long. Now, this course is left to me alone again."

"Teaching all the classes alone is not easy. For us elective professors, it's okay, but those core subject professors are too tired," Professor Burbage said with emotion while organizing books. "Think about it, teaching seven grades and twenty-four classes every week, some classes have to be taught twice, not to mention grading homework. When a course was configured with two professors, I felt very relaxed and at ease. I really think core subjects should also be equipped with more professors."

Thinking of Snape having to serve as headmaster in addition to such high-intensity teaching—and having meetings with Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix to attend, Harry really doubted if he had any time to rest.

After the class bell rang, Harry found that Professor Burbage's course content was truly lackluster. She was committed to promoting the elimination of bloodline discrimination, actively defending Muggle-born wizards, and calling on everyone to treat Muggles kindly. However, for kind and upright people, these words need no elaboration; and for those blood supremacists, no matter how much she shouted, she couldn't wake someone who was pretending to be asleep.

After a slightly boring class passed, Harry said with a little emotion: "Oh, how I miss Clara."

"But I don't miss physics," Luo En said dissatisfiedly. "I think Professor Doudou taught the best, and Lu Ping was also good."

"Yes, although Lu Ping didn't mention Muggles much, he at least taught something useful, such as the Shield Charm." Harry sighed.

"Don't say that." Hermione caught up quickly. "Professor Burbage's lectures are all OWL exam points. If you want to get an O in Muggle Studies, relying on the Shield Charm is definitely not going to work."

"That's why I say exams are the most boring thing. A student who gets an O in Muggle Studies," Luo En squinted and tapped his head, "walking in Muggle society, probably would be shot dead if they weren't careful."

"If you can't even pass the exam, then no matter how much you emphasize your ability, not many people will believe it," Hermione said unhappily.

"But what is the point of this kind of exam? Want me to write an essay on how to treat Muggles kindly? Thank goodness, who is going to treat me kindly?" Luo En said indignantly.

"Stop arguing." Harry said. "It's Defense Against the Dark Arts class soon, you have plenty of opportunities to use the Shield Charm."

"This is not a problem with the Shield Charm at all," Luo En said weakly.

When they walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they found that Arnold was already sitting behind the podium. He was still wearing a formal suit, a tie, and those black-rimmed glasses were perched squarely on his straight nose.

"Good afternoon, both of you." Seeing Harry and Luo En enter the door, he put down his teacup and greeted them.

"Good afternoon, Sir Arnold." Harry said politely.

"You don't have to learn to call me Sir like Snape." Arnold said. "In class, children only need to call me Professor Abinsun."

"It doesn't matter, Sir Arnold, we are happy to call you that." Harry nodded with a smile.

"Why are you going against him?" Luo En asked in a low voice.

"You don't understand, no one will refuse to be called Sir, he is just being polite." Harry also said in a low voice.

"Great, Sir Harry." Luo En rolled his eyes.

When other students walked into the classroom, Arnold did not greet them, so the children also remained silent. Until Arnold looked at his watch, and then said in a voice that was not loud but clear enough: "Students, good afternoon."

"Before the course begins, I need to confirm the current teaching progress." He placed both hands squarely on the table. "As far as I know, the constantly changing professors have taught you basic self-defense skills, dealing with dark creatures, modern dueling theory, and an introduction to advanced Dark Arts, respectively."

"The latter two are not in the curriculum standards set by the Ministry of Magic." He nodded, and then said euphemistically, "I have no intention of criticizing the teaching content of the previous professors. For retired Aurors, this is their best understanding of the course."

Then, Arnold tapped the blackboard with his wand, and two lines of text immediately appeared on it:

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Returning to Basic Principles

"In fact, when we set the syllabus, we considered it from a general level. The teaching purpose of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to protect students from the harm of Dark Arts, that is, from the harm of dark creatures or dark wizards." Arnold said softly. "And this course is not responsible for your safety in scenarios such as legal magical creatures, natural phenomena, magical experiments, or formal wizard duels."

"Some Aurors tend to think that directly cultivating students' combat effectiveness is a good way to solve all problems directly, but this will also make students reckless, impulsive, and overconfident. The casualty rate of Aurors in the Ministry of Magic in recent years has reached an unprecedented peak." Arnold said in a tone with a hint of regret. "Therefore, we think it is necessary to correct the teaching method of this course, and appropriately move the learning of self-defense spells to other places."

"That is to say, some teaching such as the Stupefy spell, the Reductor Curse, etc., should be taught by the Magical Creatures professor; the Impediment Jinx, the Splitting Curse, etc., should be supplemented by the Potions teacher; the Finite Incantatem and the Fire-Making Spell should return to the Charms class; and the Disarming Charm is best only circulated in the Dueling Club." Arnold said seriously. "The only things that should really be put into Defense Against the Dark Arts are those targeted spells, such as the Riddikulus spell and the Patronus Charm."

"But we have already learned all of those, so what are we learning this term?" someone asked.

"This term we will learn how to avoid being harmed by dark wizards." Arnold said calmly. "However, dark wizards will not attack everyone indiscriminately. Most of the time, dark wizards will choose their own targets. What we need to learn is how to fully carry forward our house characteristics, so as to avoid being attacked by dark wizards."

"Dark wizards will not attack excellent Hufflepuffs, because he is often more willing to be friends with them; nor will he attack excellent Ravenclaws, because he often needs their help. Of course, he will not attack excellent Gryffindors, because he may not be able to beat them."

"What about Slytherin?" Luo En asked curiously.

"Oh, child, you don't think dark wizards don't go to school, do you?"