Chapter 172 - 172 Black Magic Public Lecture
Chapter 172: Black Magic Public Lecture
"Sure enough, we're the ones who deserve the most credit for making Professor Dracula stay!" Fred said with similar glee.
Lee Jordan gave the Weasley twins a look of contempt and moved a few steps to the side, making a show of not recognizing these two shameless people ...
Being the first Dueling Club gathering since the start of the new semester, the auditorium was packed with people and shoulders.
Whether it was the junior wizards or the senior prospective graduates, it had been two months since they had practiced dueling in the dueling club, and now they were all a bit nostalgic.
They spontaneously gathered around the dueling table in the center of the auditorium, looking up at Professor Dracula, who hadn't listened to his lecture for a long time, with eagerness in their eyes.
On the Hogwarts bell tower, the melodious bell slowly rang.
Accompanied by the bell of the club opening, Dracula raised his hands and gently pressed down.
The cacophony of murmurs, laughter, and talking gradually stopped, and after a few moments, the auditorium became surprisingly silent.
"It is a pleasure to see you, dear students."
Dracula's mellow voice resounded in the center of the auditorium, yet it seemed to echo in every part of the auditorium, so that no matter how far away the young wizards standing were able to hear it clearly.
"As you all should know, I was away for over a month before the Christmas break began." He said softly, "Perhaps some of you will be surprised as to what I went to do."
"I also know that some of you will probably speculate if I got bored and was ready to abandon you guys?"
Dracula smiled, looking at the young wizards under the dueling stage with a gentle expression.
Looking at Dracula's gentle gaze, Lee Jordan and many other small wizards lowered their heads.
They fell into deep self-blame, feeling that they shouldn't have doubted their professor like this, and should have had faith in Professor Dracula.
However, Dracula's next sentence directly caught them off guard.
"That's right, I'm just bored, and I just want to abandon you all!" He said cheerfully.
Lee Jordan and a bunch of other young wizards, "???"
Did Professor Dracula really have to be so direct?
"Professor, why are you leaving?"
"Professor, what should we do with Hogwarts' Black Magic Defense after you leave?"
"Professor ..."
The quiet auditorium once again became noisy, the small wizards were in a frenzy, one by one, they opened their mouths to ask Professor Dracula why he had to leave Hogwarts, and there were also some small wizards who loved Dracula very much who cried and pleaded with the professor not to abandon them.
Dracula in Hogwarts teaching this more than a year's time, although he will sometimes deviate from the textbook, lecture content let students caught off guard; sometimes not willing to correct homework, not willing to test papers, so that many schoolboys feel dissatisfied; sometimes he will take the students for the devil's training, so that a person is painful ...
But no one could deny that Dracula was indeed a professor of considerable caliber, as well as a good professor who would not be biased in favor of any of the colleges because he had not been divided.
Moreover, Dracula was also the first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts who was able to get re-elected.
If he did leave Hogwarts out of boredom, who knows what kind of a luddite Headmaster Dumbledore's next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would be? What if he got the next Chilo?
So no matter what year it was, no one wanted Dracula to leave Hogwarts, except for the petulant little wizards who abhorred the devil's training.
Dracula stood on the dueling stage, looking at the shocked, incredulous, and resistant expressions of the young wizards below, listening to a voice of retention and persuasion, the corner of his mouth slowly sketched out a soft smile.
"Let's all be quiet for a moment." He laughed softly, "I have something else to say that I haven't finished."
Dracula's voice rang in the ears of every student present, interrupting the din in the auditorium.
The young wizards looked up at Dracula's smiling face and slowly quieted, wanting to hear what Professor Dracula had left to say.
"I actually did feel a little bored last semester, a month or so before the end of the semester." Only when the auditorium was completely quiet did Dracula speak slowly, "So I gave myself a vacation, went to see an old friend, and met some new ones in between."
"The vacation was actually quite rewarding for me, and I found out quite a few interesting things, and it sure was a lot more interesting than the boring life of lecturing at Hogwarts every day." He said frankly.
When the young wizards on the stage heard this, they all revealed worried expressions, fearing that Dracula would say something like he wouldn't continue lecturing in the future.
"But, those funny things don't come across every day." Dracula's words changed, "It might only be two or three days when you really encounter interesting things."
"The rest of the time is still the same boring life that has been going on for decades, and it's not even remotely as interesting as watching you guys fight at Hogwarts."
The young wizards in the auditorium were at first a bit bewildered, then they understood the subtext of Dracula's words, and all of them revealed surprised, delighted expressions.
"Yes, in a school as vibrant as Hogwarts, there are at least new faces every year, new surprises every day, and there are always some little wizards who can make my eyes light up ...," Dracula laughed, "Of course, the ones who make my eyes Of course, it's not as if there aren't any that make me go black."
The little wizards laughed knowingly.
Lee Jordan poked his two twin roommates next to him in the arm and whispered to them if it was the two of them that made Professor Dracula go black.
Fred and George rebutted his "ridiculous" comment with a resounding.
"And besides that, I discovered something new today." Dracula shook his head out of laughter, looking at the reactions of the young wizards on the stage, and then said, "In fact, no matter how long one has lived, there are always some things that we don't understand."
"That's why, teaching your homework while engaging in self-learning is the most suitable life for myself that I can think of."
Dracula's speech wasn't long, but every word was true to him.
It was rare for him to talk genuinely to someone like he did today, let alone speak genuinely to such a large group of young wizards.
This time's experience had indeed given Dracula some new ideas.
First was the meeting with Andros. Andros had preferred to spend his entire life, even wasting his time after death, in the secret realm at the top of Mount Olympus, just to block off the opportunity for the vile Helbo to do his evil deeds and seal it firmly.
This touches Dracula in a slight way.
Later, Newt tells him at Dracula's castle about what happened decades ago during the Global Wizarding War, and also manifests his passion for magical creatures in Dracula's presence.
Newt was approaching a hundred years old, but he was still devoted to all magical creatures, and when he carefully recorded the characteristics of magical creatures in his cowhide book, his expression was really like that of a child carefully observing the movement of ants.
This also brought Dracula a slight touch.
At the end of the day, LeMay analyzed the similarity of the black aura of Mimeran and Helbo, and the two of them came to the conclusion that all black magic came from the same source.
This incident was to let Dracula know that even though he had lived for more than a thousand years, there were still some things that he had never understood.
So when he was bored, couldn't he find something more meaningful to do? Couldn't one take advantage of the boredom to find the source of all the dark energy?
And the conclusion Dracula and LeMay had come to together made him unsure if there was anything else wrong with black magic, dark energy or not.
In the event that someday something went wrong with the same source of black magic, and yet the students of Hogwarts knew nothing about this form of magic, then they would probably be at a disadvantage in such a matter.
Dracula couldn't accept that his students had no understanding of black magic at all.
"We are not learning how to duel today." A smile spread in his eyes and he looked at the young wizards on the stage who always gave clear gazes, "I want to give you an impromptu public lesson on black magic defense techniques, would you like to hear it?"
The little wizards under the stage were first a little surprised, then slightly relieved.
It's been quite a long time since Professor Dracula's devilish training, I'm afraid that today's direct resumption of training intensity will end up with soreness all over their bodies, switching to an open class on black magic defense technique is indeed a bit more comfortable.
So, the little wizards said in unison -
"Want to listen!"
"Good." The corner of Dracula's mouth hooked up a wilting smile, "In that case, today I'm going to tell you ... what black magic is!"
"Who can tell me what black magic is?"
At this time, the little wizards under the stage had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter, one by one, they probed their heads and looked at Dracula on the dueling stage, and the schoolboys even raised their hands high.
"Ms. Granger, you tell us."
Dracula pointed to the little witch on the stage with her hand raised and her hair tousled.
"Dark Arts, also known as Dark Magic, refers primarily to any type of magic used to harm, control, or even kill people and creatures. Most people who practice Dark Magic are evil, and wizards who practice it are called Dark Wizards."
Hermione recited the textbook definition of black magic very fluently.
"Well said." Dracula appreciated, "The definition of black magic is indeed as simple as that, broadly speaking it refers to any magic that could be detrimental to other wizards."
"If we were to delineate black magic according to that definition, then all the magic we commonly see with controlling abilities would be categorized as black magic - such as stupor spells, petrification spells, binding spells, and so on."
"But we likewise know that these spells with some control are precisely the ones you must learn during your school years, so are you going to be called black wizards just because you've mastered a stupor spell, or a petrification spell for that matter?"
Dracula looked over to Cedric of Hufflepuff and teased, "Diggory, I know you're pretty good with the stupor spell, so do you admit to being a dark wizard?"
A joyous laugh came from the Hufflepuff side of the crowd.
Cedric laughed and pushed aside his roommate, who was snickering at him, and said in a loud voice to Dracula, "Professor, I adamantly do not admit to being a dark wizard!"
He often came to the office to ask Dracula about all kinds of topics, and nowadays he had gotten very familiar with the mix, so Dracula's sudden flirtation didn't make him feel the slightest bit embarrassed.
"As a matter of fact, it's not just you who won't admit that you're black wizards, but all the other wizards in the magic world are also reluctant to admit it." Dracula laughed and continued his narration, "So later on, wizards had a stricter division of black magic-"
"As I have told you in the Dueling Club, black magic is divided into Evil Spells (Jinx), Poison Spells (Hex), and the most vicious Curses (Curse)."
"The spells among these categories are all ones that can actually cause damage to a wizard, so there's usually no objection to being classified as black magic."
"As for the control-type magic spells such as Stupor Curse, Disarming Curse, Petrification Curse, and so on, they were called defense magic by later wizards, and these magic spells would not cause harm to other people while at the same time being able to eliminate the opponent's combat power."
"And so, most of the control type of magic, in general, was removed from the category of black magic." Dracula said.
The young wizards revealed thoughtful expressions.
In fact, this knowledge had been subliminally recounted by Dracula as early as the previous dueling club gathering, and most of it could be quickly absorbed and understood by the students present.
So all of this knowledge was just an appetizer, the main event was still to come.
"The dueling club has been held so many times, you may have already comprehended how to conduct a duel and how to defend against your opponent's spells." Dracula laughed softly.
"But with the limitations of the professors, you can only use the defense spells I just introduced to you in a duel, and you haven't learned enough to really deal with the knowledge of black magic - very little!" Dracula continued, "Therefore, I'm going to let you all appreciate today - how a black wizard would use magic."
The young wizards on the stage were instantly interested.
"What? Professor Dracula is going to show us black magic?" Ron speculated gleefully, "Hermione, how would you guess Professor Dracula's use of black magic?"
"Uh ... shouldn't be any better than a dark wizard using it?" Hermione whispered, "After all, Professor Dracula is usually not very decent, but he's still a decent wizard after all."
"Ahem ...," Harry coughed menacingly.
"What's wrong with you, Harry?" Ron turned his head to look at his nemesis next to him, "Do you disagree with what Hermione said?"
"No, I just choked myself by gagging." Harry said hurriedly.
Because Harry and Riddle had always maintained a pretty good relationship, and often sought out Assistant Riddle for tutoring in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he had also heard part of what there was about Dracula from Riddle.
Harry remembered what Riddle had once said to him -
Dracula's level of black magic, if he said he was second in the magical world, then even Voldemort wouldn't dare to say he was first ...
He glanced at Hermione and Ron, who were still in the dark, and gave a helpless smile.
"Alright, back to business." Dracula pressed both of his hands together in a vain attempt to gradually quiet the chaotic auditorium, "Before I demonstrate how a dark wizard casts a spell, I will give you a rundown of why I do what I do-"
"Spells, they come in many forms, with different magical powers, and ways of casting them. Theoretically, I need only teach you the various common magic spells to break the spells, that's all."
Instead of saying what really made him determined to explain black magic, Dracula explained it to the young wizards from another angle.
"As a rule, there are a lot of students here who are less than sixth years, and you're still too early in your adulthood for me to have told you what illegal black magic looks like, because you're too young now to deal with this black wizarding way of casting spells."
"But it seems to me that it is always good to know more about something, no matter what grade you are in, and the sooner you learn about the black magic you have to deal with the better off you will be. If something is something you've never seen before, how can you defend yourself against it?"
"Remember, if a dark wizard is going to cast a black magic spell on you, he will not tell you what he intends to do beforehand. A black wizard will never pronounce a spell on you frankly, fairly, or politely."
"Therefore, you must be prepared to deal with black magic!"
Dracula's gaze swept a full circle around the auditorium, looking deeply into the expression of each young wizard, hoping to see the importance in their eyes.
"Next, to the part you are most concerned about ... I will show you the most evil black magic, I hope you watch carefully." He said in a deep voice.
"These magic may make you feel uncomfortable, but also please do not feel afraid, I will not hurt you."
Dracula snapped his fingers.
A handsome young man with black hair suddenly appeared on the dueling stage, standing right in front of Dracula.
"Hm? What's going on here?"
Riddle, who had just been in the assistant professor's office, had a moment of panic at the sudden change of scene in front of him, so he quickly drew his wand and pointed it around with a pale face.
In the next moment, he realized that this was his familiar auditorium, surrounded by many small wizards who were laughing and enjoying his antics.
Riddle then realized that this was the scene of the dueling club, and Dracula was looking at him with a pleasant smile on his face next to him.
"Professor Dracula?" Riddle looked at Dracula in disbelief and silently put away his wand, "Is it something that you've called me over all of a sudden? Is it that you need my cooperation in your dueling demonstration?"
"It does require your cooperation." Dracula smiled evilly, "But it's not to perform a dueling demonstration, rather, I need you to be a model."
Looking at Dracula's evil smile, Riddle instantly felt bad and turned around wanting to escape.
However, the next moment, Dracula's voice rang in his ears-
"Soul out of body (Imperio)."