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Slap—!
A crisp, loud slapping sound was particularly jarring in the quiet tent during the early morning.
Immediately after, Edgar's anxious roar rang out:
"Lynn! Stop sleeping! Get up! We're going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts class!"
Lynn was jolted awake by that "slap" and the roar.
He subconsciously grabbed the mobile phone by his pillow and squinted at the screen—
"Holy crap!!!"
They really were about to be late!
"Quick, quick, quick! Let's go, let's go!" Lynn scrambled to pull on his robes.
Washing up, breakfast, textbooks... none of it mattered anymore!
The four of them grabbed their respective wands and rushed out of the tent, sprinting towards the Castle.
They took shortcuts through the courtyard and climbed up flight after flight of stairs, panting heavily.
Since the Defense Against the Dark Arts class changed Professors every year, the location of the classroom for this course was never fixed.
Last year, Lockhart chose a luxurious classroom where the walls could be covered with his smiling portraits of various sizes and angles.
This year, Professor Lupin clearly had no such need—he chose a very ordinary empty classroom.
By the time Lynn and the other three rushed to the classroom door, out of breath, it was already almost full.
Professor Lupin had just carefully placed a very worn-out large leather trunk next to the podium.
Seeing the four figures rushing in at the door, he looked up, and instead of a reprimand, he showed a smile of understanding.
He nodded slightly, gesturing for them to quickly find empty seats and sit down.
Feeling like they had been granted a grand pardon, Lynn's group of four quickly slipped into a few remaining empty seats.
Once they were settled, Lupin clapped his hands, drawing the attention of all the students.
"Good morning, class. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Remus Lupin, your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for this school year."
He introduced himself simply; comparison only led to pain.
"I believe some students have done their preparation very... thoroughly, and may have even found out through certain 'channels' what we will be learning in our first lesson."
A low murmur rose from the audience.
Hearing Lupin's words, Edgar couldn't help but grin, looking around proudly.
As a result, he immediately received three questioning glares from Lynn, Ollie, and William beside him.
The smile on Edgar's face instantly froze. "I forgot... I really forgot..."
Professor Lupin paid no mind to these small movements and continued his explanation:
"That's right, what we are going to recognize and learn about today is a creature called a Boggart."
"A Boggart is a magical creature that likes to hide in dark, enclosed spaces, such as the depths of an old wardrobe in your home, under a bed, or in a trunk in an abandoned attic."
His description made some students instinctively shrink their necks.
"The interesting thing is that no one has ever truly seen a Boggart's original form. Because when it appears before people, it reads that person's deepest inner fear and then instantly transforms into the thing that scares you most."
The classroom was pin-drop silent; the students were both afraid and full of curiosity.
"However, dealing with a Boggart does not require any profound or powerful magic."
Lupin changed the subject.
"On the contrary, it fears laughter, joy, and the power that makes it look ridiculous. We only need a simple little spell—"
He pulled out his wand and made a flicking motion.
"The incantation is: Riddikulus. When casting the spell, you must clearly imagine the thing you fear in your mind turning into something you find hilarious. The more specific, the better."
"Now, everyone please take out your wands and practice with me... Riddikulus~"
"Riddikulus~" The students raised their wands one after another, following the chant and flicking their wrists.
Lupin patrolled the classroom, correcting some students' pronunciation and gestures.
Seeing that they had mastered the basic essentials, he returned to the side of the large leather trunk.
"The theory has been explained well enough. Now, let's have some practice."
His gaze swept over the audience.
"Who would like to be the first to try? To face a real Boggart and practice the spell we just learned?"
The sound of whispering filled the classroom; some people raised their hands, while others shrank back.
Lupin scanned the room; he needed to choose a student to set a good example.
His gaze fell on the back row—he saw the four who had just arrived late. He figured that since these students had already learned to cast the Patronus Charm, dealing with a Boggart would be easy as pie.
"Mr. Burns,"
Lupin called out,
"I saw you practicing very seriously just now. Would you like to be the first to try? To set an example for your classmates?"
Edgar stood up with a start.
"Of course, Professor!"
He strode to the front of the classroom.
Lupin stood behind and to the side of the trunk, his hand on the lid, confirming once more: "Are you ready? Remember, concentrate and imagine it becoming ridiculous and funny."
Edgar took a deep breath and nodded vigorously. "I'm ready, Professor! Bring it on!"
"Good." Lupin suddenly threw open the lid!
At the front of the classroom, a hair-raising scene appeared:
A humanoid creature wearing tattered black robes and exuding a terrifying aura was hunched over the neck of a Unicorn.
Anya's mane was stained with dust, her eyes half-closed, filled with pain.
And that figure in black robes was sucking the blood flowing from the side of the Unicorn's neck with an extremely greedy posture!
Everyone was stunned; Lynn and Lupin were even ready to intervene at any moment.
Lupin especially hadn't expected Edgar's deepest inner fear to be this kind of thing. Where had he seen it?!
Edgar himself was struck as if by lightning, his face turning deathly pale, and the hand holding his wand began to tremble uncontrollably.
He was indeed afraid of this scene; after all, it was something he and William had experienced personally.
The figure in black robes seemed to have discovered Edgar's presence and suddenly looked up. The shadow of the hood completely obscured its face, with only two points of crimson light faintly flickering in the darkness.
"Avada..."
"Riddikulus!"
Edgar reacted in time, almost letting the young Wizards learn how to cast the Killing Curse on the spot.
With a "pop," the figure in black robes turned into an oversized, cute pair of pajamas printed with pink leprechaun patterns and trimmed with lace!
The wand twisted into a toy baton that made funny noises on its own!
The two points of light under the hood became two tacky red lights that flashed continuously and said "KISS ME"!
The figure in black robes began to dance a kindergarten-level "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in an extremely clumsy posture at the front of the classroom, while making out-of-tune electronic "beep-beep-da-da" sounds!
"Pfft—!" No one knew who couldn't hold it in first and burst out laughing.
Immediately after, the classroom erupted into roars of laughter!
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
Amidst the loud laughter and joyful emotions, the Boggart made a soft "pop" sound, quickly shriveled up and crawled back into the large leather trunk, and the lid snapped shut automatically.
Lupin stepped forward and patted Edgar on the shoulder.
"A very wonderful demonstration. Ten points to Gryffindor... oh, sorry, ten points to Hufflepuff."
He turned to the whole class.
"Now, who's next? Who wants to try?"
"Me!" "Professor, pick me!" "Let me do it!"
A forest of arms instantly shot up from the audience.
Looking at so many enthusiastic faces, Lupin was momentarily at a loss, but he soon had an idea—drawing lots.
When it came to matters of luck, Lynn was never very good, judging by his fishing luck.
However, William's luck was good; his number was near the front.
Soon, it was William's turn.
"Are you ready?" Lupin asked as a matter of routine.
William nodded, his voice clear: "Ready, Professor."
"Very well." Lupin threw open the lid again!
An enormous, emerald-green Basilisk was conjured by the Boggart.
Lupin: "..."