Actually, it's not just the Boggart; the students are also unfamiliar with the other magical creatures.
The prototypes of these puppets are small, weak monsters that Hogwarts students should learn to handle in their second year.
But because of Lockhart, the students wasted more than half a year acting in plays, and then Professor Abigail, who took over, assumed everyone had already learned and didn't focus on this knowledge.
Indeed, students have seen it in books, and professors have talked about some of it in class, but having the ability to handle it in real danger is a different matter.
Almost everyone was in a panic at first, screaming in distress, making Professor McGonagall's expression very unpleasant.
However, after a few minutes, the combat abilities honed in the maze challenge and the adaptive skills trained by Professor Abigail finally began to show.
Then, some clever students thought of ways to meet up with their friends, gathered in small groups, and finally defeated the first monster.
Professor Snape also hurried in at this time, carrying a strong scent of potions.
He stood silently behind several professors, immediately noticing in the mirror Draco Malfoy using a Disarming Spell to send a Red Cap flying, his movements clean and decisive, the spell very successful.
Professor Snape lifted his lips into a satisfied smile, glanced around, and intentionally said in a forced tone, "Hmm, Malfoy's spell isn't bad. How are the Ravenclaw students performing?"
Everyone: "..."
Professor McGonagall lowered her head, exchanged a look with Professor Flitwick, both stifling laughter, saying, "Hmm, indeed... performing better and better."
Their attitude was somewhat peculiar, but Snape assumed they were just irked by his boasting and paid no heed, merely folding his arms and watching silently.
Actually, compared to Ravenclaw, the Slytherin students were indeed performing better and finishing their battles more swiftly.
Finally, the last puppet was defeated, but the students inside didn't know this, staying on high alert, with any slight movement of the curtain causing them to jump.
Suddenly, the curtains all lifted, and many students saw their nearby classmates and the few professors in front of the classroom.
Seeing their head of house, the Ravenclaws greeted warmly, with Professor Flitwick smiling and nodding.
It was different for the Slytherins, who, upon seeing Professor Snape, all turned pale, desperately recalling their less-than-stellar performances earlier.
They still vividly remembered the painful past when Slytherin was harshly mocked and scolded by their head of house for poor performance in the maze and given a ton of extra homework.
Strangely, this time, Professor Snape looked at them with unusually gentle eyes, even with a slight smile on his face.
The little snakes became even more anxious immediately.
Only Draco Malfoy kept scanning around the classroom, even looking up at the ceiling, seemingly suspecting his parents might be hiding there.
"Vid!"
Professor Abigail nodded towards Vid, who enlarged a Flow Mirror to completely cover the blackboard, and with a wave of his hand, images began to appear on the mirror.
Professor Abigail didn't care about the three heads beside her, starting to critique the students' performances one by one.
"Butt, how to deal with a Kappa. You clearly saw it in the hallway, so why was your first reaction to run when encountering it?"
"Goldstein, a Red Cap would ambush passersby with a club on a dark night, but all it takes to repel it is a simple spell..."
"A Hinkypunk looks fragile and harmless, but the most important thing is not to be deceived by it. Pansy, did you take a Hinkypunk for your companion? Why so careless?"
"Malfoy—"
Professor Abigail was about to criticize Draco Malfoy for fleeing in fear of the Boggart several times but remembered she had never taught the 'Ridiculous' spell before, so she swallowed her words.
"Hmm... Using a Disarming Spell to temporarily fend off a Red Cap is a good idea, but the follow-up attacks didn't keep up..."
Malfoy's anxious expression slightly eased, and he finally realized that the 'parents' he'd seen before were all just Boggarts.
He wasn't a Mudblood, his mother wasn't dead, and everything was still as he was used to.
This made Malfoy feel rescued; even being criticized by the professor didn't bother him much.
Beside him, Pansy noticed Professor Snape's increasingly dark expression and lowered her head more and more.
...
The video Vid edited was taken by Professor McGonagall, and some time later, the school began renovation work on the Basilisk Chamber of Secret.
For wizards, this was much easier than building a house for Muggles.
If the pipes were too narrow, the Undetectable Extension Charm could easily expand them several times.
The building materials were sent down to the Chamber of Secret with the Levitation Spell, and specialists from the Ministry of Magic designed various pipe routes.
The construction work was entirely handed over to the students, with sixth and fourth years being the main force, while fifth and seventh years participated only occasionally due to exam preparations.
Even those below the third year were enthusiastic about getting involved; to them, it was much more interesting than attending classes or writing essays.
However, most lower-year students' magic abilities were more of a hindrance than a help, and first-year students, in particular, had to be carefully watched to ensure they didn't crash into walls while riding brooms to transport materials.
Still, the school didn't exclude these students. Professor Sprout led the students in transplanting a batch of relatively safe plants into the Chamber of Secret, making magic torches, and arranging some simple decorations, among other tasks.
Interestingly, the various tasks were never assigned to students of a single house but involved participants from every house, so occasionally, bursts of disagreements would echo in the air during work.
There were also several serious injury incidents in the Chamber of Secret, which made Madam Pomfrey extremely angry, but Dumbledore did not separate the students because of it.
"Haven't you noticed, Bobbi?" Dumbledore said, "Compared to the start of the maze challenges, the number of injuries among students has greatly decreased now."
"But the severity of the injuries has also increased!" Madam Pomfrey said sternly.
"That's because their magic level is stronger than before."
Dumbledore smiled with a complex expression: "I used to think that maintaining competition between houses was more beneficial for promoting students' growth, but they taught me that cooperation is actually more effective."
Madam Pomfrey blinked in surprise: "—They?"
Dumbledore, however, did not seem inclined to explain further.
Sometimes he would also join the reconstruction of the Chamber of Secret, and occasionally, he would see Vid guiding Colin Creevey and Rolf Scamander in recording these precious images.
Both were photography enthusiasts and had ample filming experience, so Vid entrusted them with the operation of two Mother Mirrors.
Only, Colin couldn't resist pointing the lens at Harry Potter, and Rolf often unwittingly mixed into the Ravenclaw team, which Vid had to correct several times.
Sometimes, Dumbledore would see Professor Abigail discussing renovation plans with the Ministry of Magic's designers. She requested that the Chamber of Secret be able to simulate various environments—jungles, grasslands, deserts, cities, and countryside.
The designers shook their heads vigorously, indicating it was impossible—how could such complicated configurations be achieved within the limited space expansion approved by the Ministry of Magic?
So, Abigail compromised slightly, requiring only that the environment be complex enough to offer ample opportunities for hiding and ambushing, as well as a variety of traps.
After rejecting an absurd suggestion, the designers found this proposal much more feasible, and the two pleasantly reached a consensus.
Abigail poured a lot of effort into the Chamber of Secret's transformation, being the only professor who would come whenever she had free time, ensuring every detail was flawless.
Of course, the words she uttered often left nearby students pale-faced, imagining how they might defend themselves if faced with such sudden attacks.
Abigail also demanded the addition of more dangerous poppets here—vampires, werewolves, poison horned beasts, five-legged monsters, Acromantulas, Inferi, and so on.
This time, Vid's production speed was much slower, typically taking about a week to complete one.
Moreover, ensuring all students participated in this project and disrupting the arrangement to mix different houses, especially ensuring there was at least one Slytherin in most of the groups, was also Abigail's suggestion.
"I know most students hate Slytherin; these little brats indeed have sly personalities, and quite a few have even mastered Dark Magic."
"But, Professor Dumbledore, haven't you noticed? While students are bullied by Slytherin, they are also discreetly bullying them back; they are ostracized by Slytherin because the other houses also ostracize Slytherin."
Professor Abigail said seriously, "And you, Professor Dumbledore, your attitude is definitely a very important reason."
"In a school with just a few hundred, keeping a quarter of the students isolated and seeing others as enemies rather than partners is a significant gap for Hogwarts!"
"If a student is considered a Death Eater in training and subjected to unfounded hostility and criticism just because they were sorted into Slytherin, then perhaps the only path they'll have in the future is to truly become like a Death Eater."
"Is that what you want to see, Professor Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore was at a loss for words.
He couldn't say how much effort he had put in—because indeed, he wasn't fond of Slytherin.
Because of Voldemort, because of their worship and longing for pure-bloods, and also because most Death Eaters indeed came from Slytherin.
Finally, Dumbledore gave tacit approval to have Abigail lead the event and fully supported her decisions throughout.
Bloodshed and conflict were inevitable, but he indeed saw a widespread attempt among students to understand and tolerate each other.
In private, Dumbledore said to Vid, "Sometimes I even doubt my own judgment—are our suspicions about Professor Abigail correct? She seems genuine and dutiful."
Vid only said, "The Vampire Puppet is completed. I made it very strong."