Chapter 51: The First Lesson
"You guys were in huge trouble yesterday."
In the Hogwarts corridor, three young wizards were walking side by side. One, a girl with bushy brown hair, frowned and said, "You should be glad you weren't expelled."
"Expelled?" The red-haired boy shook his head. "Harry and I almost couldn't make it to school because of some inexplicable accident."
"So Harry, what exactly was that inexplicable accident?" Her words made the girl raise an eyebrow and turn to Harry, who was walking in the middle, seemingly lost in thought.
"I'm not really sure either," Harry snapped back to reality. "Hermione, do you know of any spell that could do that?"
"I don't know," Hermione shook her head. "I'm not an encyclopedia..."
"I heard quite a few people calling you Miss Know-It-All," the red-haired boy interjected. "And don't you know all the spells?"
"That might be a self-invented spell, Ron," Hermione pursed her lips. "And no one can know all the magic."
"Magic isn't just spells... strictly speaking, it also includes..."
Watching Hermione earnestly explain magic, Ron shrugged and looked at Harry. "Is the next class Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"I think so..." Harry thought for a moment. "I heard it was Mr. Lockhart."
"Ugh... that annoying guy from the bookstore," Ron grimaced, which made Hermione frown immediately.
"First of all, Mr. Lockhart is not annoying. He is an outstanding wizard! And he has an Order of Merlin, Third Class." Hermione sighed again. "But unfortunately, he's not our professor."
"Why?" Harry froze.
Ron laughed. "Did he go to Azkaban because his smile was too stupid?"
"Ron!" Hermione stomped her foot and glared at him. "Mr. Lockhart is teaching the upper years."
"What about us?" Harry was more concerned about this. And learning that Lockhart wasn't teaching him made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Teaching us is..." Hermione paused. "Professor Hamilton."
"She's a new professor too." As she spoke, she suddenly looked confused. Seeing her expression, Harry and Ron exchanged a glance.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"Ah... that Professor Hamilton..." Hermione thought for a few seconds. "She looks a bit strange."
"How strange?" Ron shrugged. "Stranger than Quirrell?"
"Er... strange in a different way," Hermione chose her words carefully. "She wears a mask."
"That's great. We don't have to worry about her grinning idiotically like Lockhart," Ron said happily.
"A mask?" Harry froze, then realized who this professor was.
He lowered his voice. "I've seen Professor Hamilton."
"In Knockturn Alley."
"Yesterday?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Harry sat down at his desk, taking out his textbook as he continued, "I was trapped in a shop at the time."
"Professor Hamilton probably saved me."
"What do you mean 'probably'?" Ron asked curiously.
"Because I'm not sure if the door opened by itself... That's not important." Harry shook his head, bringing the topic back. "What's important is that she's very strong."
"Very strong?" Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Just unlocking a door with a spell is something I could do..."
"No, no, no." Harry shook his head. "She didn't just unlock a spell."
"She defeated a Dark wizard. He tried to use the Killing Curse on her."
" The Killing Curse?!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed simultaneously, attracting the attention of other students.
"Cough, cough." Harry quickly coughed and lowered his voice. "Hagrid told me not to go blabbing about it."
"But it's true."
"Are you sure, Harry?" Hermione looked astonished. "I've never heard of any spell that can block the Killing Curse."
"Did the Dark wizard miss?"
"I don't know... I think I passed out," Harry scratched his head sheepishly. "But when I woke up, the Dark wizard had already been defeated."
"Defeated, not..." Hermione glanced at Ron, who finished the sentence slowly, "Not killed?"
"Probably... probably not." Harry was a little unsure now. How could he have checked something like that at the time?
"Tsk..." Hermione clicked her tongue. "Then you two had better listen carefully in class... so you don't make her unhappy."
"Why us?" Ron asked. "What about you?"
"Because I always listen carefully in class." Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down behind Harry.
But as soon as she sat down, she pulled something out of her desk drawer in surprise.
"What is this?" In her hand was a circular metal band set with a blue stone.
"It looks like a bracelet my mum bought once. Fred and George put an Engorgement Charm on it, and it never shrank back."
"This definitely isn't a bracelet," Hermione shook her head. "It looks like a circlet?"
"Did someone leave this here?"
"I don't think so," Harry shook his head. "Everyone seems to have one." He pulled a circlet from his own desk as well.
Then he instinctively moved to put it on his head.
Slap.
Hermione slapped his hand, stopping him. "Harry, don't put strange things on your head... There's definitely magic on this."
"What if it's dangerous..."
"You mean it's a circlet that makes your head explode?" Ron joked. "Who would do something like that..."
"Hard to say," Hermione pouted, looking at the other students.
Everyone was looking at the circlets curiously, but aside from Harry, no one dared to put one on.
"Maybe Professor Hamilton left these here?" Harry guessed. "Is it some kind of teaching aid?"
"Possible." Hermione examined the circlet carefully, but she didn't seem to figure anything out.
Ron, meanwhile, put it on his wrist. It seemed he really thought it looked like his mother's bracelet.
However, no matter what the young wizards guessed, as the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office on the second floor opened, everyone instinctively quieted down.
A petite figure, almost the same size as a student, emerged. Black robes and a hood covered her entire body, and the only visible part of her face was covered by a silver mask.
It really is her... Harry nodded slightly.
Ron looked at Harry in surprise.
"She really is wearing a mask..."
But just as he was about to say more, Professor Hamilton looked at him.
"..."
Ron pressed his lips together and shut his mouth.
The professor didn't walk down the stairs. Instead, she leaned quietly against the railing and raised her wand.
Hum!
With a soft sound, the circlets on everyone's desks slowly floated up.
It really is a teaching aid... Just as Harry was thinking this...
THUD!
The circlet slammed onto his head.