Chapter 271

Arnold smiled and waited for the students' uproar to subside, then continued: "Next, I will briefly explain how Gryffindor students should scare away dark wizards. This is actually not difficult, and it has been tested in actual combat by some Aurors."

"I want to give you an example first. For example, there was once an Auror who, when facing a dark wizard, claimed that he was a core member of the Order of the Phoenix, and as long as he pressed the Phoenix emblem on his arm, Deng Buliduo would immediately apparate to his side." Arnold said slowly. "As a result, the Death Eater was scared away, half-believing."

"Those who are familiar with Deng Buliduo may know that this is a very ridiculous claim, but the point of verbal communication is never whether it is true or not, but whether others are willing to believe it." Arnold said. "For a Death Eater, he has seen the Dark Mark, so he will naturally believe in the so-called 'Phoenix Emblem'."

"Although Deng Buliduo is no longer here, we can certainly continue to use this form, and coincidentally, a new star in the Wizarding World is rising." Arnold sat up straight and said seriously. "As far as I know, Harry Potter has already used the summer vacation to collect the legendary Deathly Hallows and obtained the power sufficient to defeat Death."

"I didn't." Harry muttered in a low voice. The ring was in the Order of the Phoenix, and the wand was in Deng Buliduo's grave; he didn't claim them as his own at all.

"Moreover, Harry Potter also received Grindelwald's inheritance and knows everything about all Dark Arts." Arnold didn't care about the commotion in the crowd and continued to speak as if no one was there. "He learned all of Grindelwald's magic in a very short time and made many improvements."

"He is talking nonsense, Grindelwald's magic is not that easy to learn." Harry couldn't help but say in a medium volume.

"At the same time, Harry Potter secretly formed an army, including werewolves, vampires, giants, and other creatures marginalized by wizards," Arnold ignored Harry's objection and continued. "He also recruited some talented students loyal to him, established Deng Buliduo's Army, and is actively operating."

"You are completely talking nonsense!" Harry retorted loudly.

"This student, I wanted to say just now, you should wander around less and read *The Daily Prophet* more!" Arnold said unhappily. "What is your name again?"

"I am Harry Potter." Harry scratched his head.

"Every Saturday night at six o'clock, I will let Clister come over to teach some advanced dueling skills." Harry concluded. "And at other times, the Room of Requirement can be opened at six o'clock every night, and any student who wants to practice by themselves or communicate with each other can go there."

"Let's continue. Suppose Deng Buliduo's Army uses a special emblem to pass messages, such as fake Galleons or small pins," Arnold continued. "Once a core member encounters danger, he can notify others to come and support. Isn't this a very scary thing for a dark wizard?"

"The reason why I recommend Gryffindor students to do this is that when a Gryffindor student claims to be a core member of Deng Buliduo's Army, it will be more credible. This fits the stereotype dark wizards have of other houses." Arnold concluded. "For Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw students, I would recommend methods that better fit their house characteristics. But for Gryffindor students, using deterrence like this is the best."

"In the next class, we will talk about the rhetoric that can be used when facing dark wizards." Arnold waved his wand, and a line of text appeared on the blackboard. "Today's homework is to write an essay of no less than ten inches long, describing Harry Potter's great achievements—please note, we don't need to care whether it is true, we only require it to look credible enough."

"Can I not write it?" Harry muttered.

"Oh, by the way, given that Harry Potter himself is sitting in this classroom," Arnold said, "I hope your essay length can reach twenty inches."

Harry really wanted to stand up and have a big argument with him, but he didn't know what to say. It seemed there was no reason to be angry, but he was inexplicably a little annoyed. Some students looked at him with curious eyes, while others showed expressions of either worship or envy.

"Of course, we cannot ignore another important thing, and that is that you are about to face the OWL exams." Arnold quickly switched topics and manipulated a pile of books under the table to fly into the air, starting to distribute them to the students.

"To help you achieve good results in the exams, some slightly boring reading and exercises are inevitable. I regret to remind you that perhaps we will not use any defensive spells at all throughout this entire year." Arnold concluded.

"Next, please turn the book to page five, let's talk about the introductory basic principles section, the exam points that may appear are..."

Harry followed Arnold's instructions numbly, drawing one underline after another on those boring texts. He found that the so-called exam points were almost as much as the entire content of the chapter. Perhaps memorizing the whole book like Hermione was a better choice.

"For these exam points, I will explain some corresponding questions. Please listen carefully and record them well." Arnold tapped the blackboard, and a line of text appeared on it. "Because what I am telling you are basically real questions that have appeared in previous exams."

The students started taking notes one after another, and Harry also suppressed the unhappiness in his heart: no matter what kind of heaven-defying personal understanding Arnold had on Defense Against the Dark Arts, at least he was very willing to help everyone achieve good results in the upcoming exams.

"Well, I think we are almost ready to end the class. There is one thing I need to remind everyone." Finally, Arnold said. "The Dueling Club opened by Professor Moody is very meaningful, and I think it needs to be preserved and continued."

"But at the same time, I will also organize my own club activities, which I call the Mock Trial." He said. "You will defend virtual suspects based on the basic principles of defense in preset scenarios. Students who perform well will have the opportunity to participate in real trials as jurors."

"Jurors!" Luo En said in a low voice. "Percy has mentioned more than once that people who have served as jurors have many bonus points when applying for positions at the Ministry of Magic!"

"The red-haired student beside Harry." Arnold said. "You are very right, please say what you just said again loudly."

"Uh, I mean," Luo En raised his volume, "the experience of being a juror helps you apply for positions at the Ministry of Magic."

"That's exactly it." At this time, the bell for the end of class rang. "Coincidentally, then I announce the end of class."

For Harry, having dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience. When he sat at the Gryffindor table, all the lion house students from seven grades were crowding around him, thinking about prying even half a word out of Harry's mouth to write into their essays to fill the length.

"Please say a few words, Mr. Potter," someone shouted, and Harry found it was Colin. "Please describe the scene of the decisive battle last year, so we all have something to write."

"How about talking about the monsters in the Chamber of Secrets? How did you wipe them out—" someone hadn't finished speaking when he was immediately interrupted by another person. "Sirius Black! We all know you caught him!"

"Aren't you curious about the Deathly Hallows? I want to ask Harry to talk about—" "Talk about Grindelwald's magic!" Harry looked at the overly enthusiastic crowd. He knew that these people didn't really care about those true or false deeds, they just wanted to finish their homework.

"Quiet, students, quiet." Harry said loudly. "If you want to write an essay, why don't you copy Rita Skeeter's report? She described it much more wonderfully than I said, and the content is richer."

As he spoke, Harry couldn't help but be a little angry at that unscrupulous reporter, and he continued: "Or you can just make up a story like her and pin it on me! I won't mind, I'm used to it."

"Let's go, Luo En, wait, what are you doing?" Harry pulled Luo En's clothes, only to find that he was writing furiously.

"The young and famous Harry Potter never boasts about his achievements to others. He often says modestly, my words are clumsy and not enough to describe the things I have done. Fortunately, we can get a glimpse of it from the report of the famous reporter Rita Skeeter..."

"Fine, you bastard!" Harry cursed. "I'm leaving first."

At least, the matter of the Deathly Hallows was not entirely fake. After Harry crawled under the table and put on the Invisibility Cloak, he slipped out of the crowd very easily.

"Hi, Harry." When he passed a corner, he saw Cho Chang sitting on the windowsill, greeting him.

"Oh, thank goodness, I think it's really impossible to stay there." Harry's heart relaxed all of a sudden. "Do you know what our Defense Against the Dark Arts homework is? That Arnold actually asked for an essay bragging about me!"

"This is not strange, do you know his true identity?" Cho Chang jumped down from the windowsill.

"What?" Harry was a little curious. He had always generally thought that Arnold was a Ministry of Magic official.

"Before retiring, he was the Cabinet Secretary, the first civil servant in history to be promoted to Cabinet Secretary as a Ministry of Magic secretary."

Cho Chang said, "It was precisely after he took office that the Ministry of Magic officially began to enter the Cabinet's line of sight."

"Cabinet Secretary?" Harry was stunned for a moment. He didn't seem to have much of a concept of this.

"The head of the British civil service, he sent away one Prime Minister and Cabinet after another, while he himself always stood at the pinnacle of power." Cho Chang described with a solemn expression. "It was also he who single-handedly built the current civil service system of the Ministry of Magic. It can be said that you thought the one who came to teach was a clerk, but in fact, the one who came was the mastermind."

Harry's face was uncertain. If Arnold was such a powerful person, what was he preparing to do with this series of actions?