When Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom the next afternoon, Sirius had already appeared early. He was completely different from before - wearing a set of exquisite and slim dark clothes, with a dark lining, and a loose collar. His face was a nonchalant expression, and with his curly black hair, he seemed to have walked out of an oil painting.
"Harry?" He walked over and asked with a worried look on his face, "I heard that you lost a lot of points? Was it Snape who did it?"
Harry suddenly felt a sense of time and space confusion. Sirius' image seemed to overlap with the time when he was the best man at his parents' wedding more than ten years ago, at most he was more mature now.
"It's nothing." Harry muttered, he didn't want Sirius to have a conflict with Snape.
"Okay, let's talk about it later." Sirius hesitated, "You stay after class, there is something I think I should let you know, it's related to Hagrid."
"He's back?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Hush." Sirius stopped the three of them, "He doesn't want other people to notice this, and he can't get away for the time being... Let's go visit him with Felix in the evening."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and stopped asking questions. They sat down in their seats, and Lavender Brown in the back row was whispering to Parvati - "Don't you think the new professor is more handsome than the previous Lockhart..." The two girls chattered.
Harry quickly changed to a seat inside, fearing that he would be infected by the stupidity emanating from the two people.
Hermione looked at Sirius and asked with the same expectation, "Do you think Hagrid - will he be able to come back to class next week?"
"I don't know, I hope." Harry said. Judging from Sirius's tone, Hagrid should be back, but why didn't he show up?
The class bell rang, and all the students stared at Sirius in silence, with deep scrutiny in their eyes. This was the treatment that every new professor had, but this time it was particularly different. The new professor's resume was too scary - of course not because of his identity as the Minister of Magic's staff, but because this person had escaped from Azkaban with the name of "You-Know-Who's First Death Eater", and his terrifying reputation scared them for a full six months.
At that time, everyone was very curious about how he escaped from prison and approached the school, and many students present had spread rumors about the new professor.
"Okay, students, as a matter of routine, I need to introduce myself first. But I don't think anyone here doesn't know my name. After all, my wanted poster has been hanging in Hogsmeade for more than half a year. The one on the window of Honeydukes is surprisingly large..." Sirius said happily: "Although I look a little different from then, my name has not changed."
"Sirius Black, you can call me Professor, Professor Black. Of course, you can just call me by my name when you are familiar with me."
The students exchanged glances with each other. The new professor seemed easy to talk to...
"Do you have any questions? If not, let's start the class."
"But--" Hermione raised her hand, "Uh, Professor Black?" Sirius smiled at her.
"We don't have textbooks yet." She said.
The students nodded one after another, and Harry's heart was lifted, fearing that his godfather would say: I forgot. But Harry thought about it and felt that it was unlikely.
"You said textbooks, we don't need that thing, what I want to teach you is not something that can be remembered by the brain." Sirius said.
"Now take your wands and follow me." Before others could react, he had disappeared from the classroom.
After a few seconds, he half-penetrated his head in confusion, "What are you waiting for? Didn't I make it clear enough?"
Everyone started to move, exchanging excited glances.
Hermione was shocked. When the other students stood up from their seats and walked towards the door, she was still stunned.
"A good start, isn't it?" Ron said, holding his unicorn wand in his hand, "I have confidence in him all of a sudden."
They walked down the stairs in a sparse line, then walked through the hall, walked out of the castle, and stopped at an open space by the Black Lake.
Maybe it was because it rained yesterday, the weather today was particularly sunny, warm and comfortable. The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, and the golden waves on the lake were rippling. Many people had an idea in their minds, if only today was the weekend.
"When did two more walls appear here? It's so ugly..." Draco Malfoy asked with a frown. Not far from them, two stone walls were erected on the grass, about twenty feet long and nearly one person high, and sixty or seventy feet apart.
Sirius pretended not to hear. He built it bit by bit in the dark. Even if it was crooked, it was understandable, wasn't it?
"Silence, students. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class has an eternal theme, which is how to protect yourself when you are in danger. And my requirement for myself is to teach you how to protect yourself in times of war... Can anyone tell me?"
As expected, Hermione was the first to raise her hand.
"Hermione--" Sirius suddenly coughed repeatedly, "Well, I mean, Miss Granger, you answer."
"According to the pamphlet issued by the Ministry of Magic, once danger occurs, the only thing underage wizards have to do is to protect themselves and stay away from danger-quickly reunite with their families and use Apparition to escape, so everyone must master and adapt to the follower's appearance." "
Very good, very correct, did you remember it?" Sirius looked at the students.
Only a few people nodded. Sirius frowned, "I said... there is no difficulty in this, does she need to repeat it again?"
This time almost everyone nodded.
"Great, then this part is finished." Sirius said with satisfaction.
The others were a little stunned. What did "I'm done" mean? Sirius cleared his throat. "It's that simple to protect yourself. Don't run around, don't cause trouble, and learn the skills of the follower's appearance. I won't talk about the follower's appearance today. I forgot to apply for permission from the headmaster..."
Then, his tone became low and solemn. Just standing there, he could attract everyone's attention.
"Of course it's best to escape. There's no need to risk your life... But if you can't escape, or there is a reason to stay, then you only have one choice - that is to pick up your wand and fight bravely, no matter who the enemy is." He said in a deep voice.
At this time, you can see the subtle influence of the characteristics advocated by different colleges on students. Although it is not obvious when taken alone, if you magnify it to a group, you can still see the difference - most students, Gryffindor and some Slytherin students were moved by the tenacious fighting spirit in Sirius' words, and began to think about when they must choose to fight, but some people still shook their heads slightly to express their disagreement.
There is actually no difference between the two. Being too calm is indifference, and being brave enough to cross the line becomes recklessness.
...
"Okay!" Sirius clapped his hands and said to the students, "Let's divide into groups. Students from Slytherin College stand here, and students from Gryffindor College go over there." He opened his hands, as if holding two small flags indicating the direction.
The students followed the instructions and walked to the designated positions. Draco Malfoy strode past Harry and turned back with a provocative look.
"It looks like we will have a duel soon. I learned a lot during the summer vacation." He whispered.
"You can challenge me." Harry had long been accustomed to hearing these words, so he answered very smoothly: "But my opponent is a Death Eater. If you know him, you can introduce him to me, you know?"
Draco's proud expression froze, and he thought of Aunt Bella who had lived in his house for a short time.
"Hurry up! The two of you!" Sirius urged beside him. The two stood in their respective colleges. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but Harry found himself standing in front of one of the stone walls, and the group opposite was also standing in front of it.
Sirius stood between them and took out a whistle from his pocket: "What you have to do is actual combat, or you can think of it as a melee, and defeat the other side based on the school. I want to see your true level, listen to my instructions - when the whistle blows, you can start, I will give you hints in advance, remember: only Stunning Spells and Shielding Spells are allowed, there shouldn't be anyone here who doesn't know how to do it, right?"
The two groups were stunned for a few seconds, a melee? - "That's not fair." Draco shouted, "There are even fewer people on our side!"
"Then how about I switch you to another group?" Sirius showed his white teeth and asked in a threatening tone. At least that's what Draco saw.
"I'm not going." Draco said with his neck shrunk, asking him, a Slytherin, to join a group full of Gryffindors? He had only experienced this feeling in the Magic Club, but that wasn't a fight.
"Then be obedient," Sirius said impatiently, and turned to everyone and said loudly: "Do you think the competition will only be held once? Do you think everything on the battlefield will go as you wish? I hope you will still have the energy to complain later. I have prepared a lot of tricks!"
Harry clenched his wand tightly in his hand. He did not expect that the content of the practical class would be a melee. The Slytherin students on the opposite side were also confused. But gradually, the expressions on some students' faces became lively, and the hidden thoughts in their hearts grew rapidly. They all showed dangerous smiles to their opponents.
Harry's heart tightened, and he took small steps towards Ron, whispering to Hermione at the same time, "Come closer, let's get together."
"What, oh!" Hermione had not recovered from the shock, and she was obviously confused: "How could Sirius do this? He will definitely receive a lot of complaints! His actions are even more than those of Hagrid and Professor Moody before-"
"Let's talk about it later." Harry interrupted her.
On the other side, most of the students were still standing there in a daze. Sirius had already started counting down, "Three-two-one-drop!" The loud whistle echoed in the field. The red light of the Stunning Spell crisscrossed. Hermione and Ron simultaneously released the Shield Charm to protect them. Harry's wand poked out from the gap of the spell and shook quickly, and two people on the opposite side fell immediately.
After a round of confrontation, nearly one-third of Gryffindor and Slytherin fell respectively. Everyone stopped, not knowing what to do next.
"Keep going! Until one side falls completely!" Sirius, who retreated to a distance, shouted at them.
Draco Malfoy was the first to react. He stood behind the crooked stone wall and shouted to others, "Here! We are few in number, use the environment-" A spell hit the wall near him. It was Ron. He put away his wand regretfully: "Missed."
This spell was like a whip, and the students ran behind their own stone wall. From Sirius's perspective, students from the two colleges were standing behind a stone wall, carefully looking out.
There were already more than a dozen students lying on the ground.
Behind the stone wall, Harry licked his lips. He didn't feel any pressure. It seemed easy to knock down two people with a silent Stunning Spell, especially since he was protected by Ron and Hermione's Shield Charm. He felt that his previous approach was too conservative.
"Don't worry about those people on the ground. They are already 'corpses'." Sirius shouted from a distance.
At his urging, the two groups of students chanted spells at each other across the stone wall. After the initial fear and discomfort, everyone was immersed in this tense, exciting and alternative duel game. They gradually gave up defense and just used Stunning Spells to shoot at each other. After a few minutes, half of their companions fell down on both sides. Only a few people were left on the Slytherin side, which made Sirius shake his head.
Now the situation on the field has completely turned into a mess.
The huge disadvantage in numbers made the Slytherin students sober up. They finally stopped showing their heads and hid behind the solid stone wall. They only took a quick glance from the edge or top of the defensive wall occasionally. If any students in the Gryffindor group stood still at this time, they would be hit by the chaotic spells in the next second.
The situation was deadlocked. Sirius raised his wand from a distance, took the unlucky people who were hit by the Stunning Spell away from the "battlefield", and used the Resuscitation Spell to wake them up. Many people looked shocked when they woke up, and they didn't remember how they were hit.
"Watch carefully, you have to write a paper when you go back." Sirius said to them.
...
"They are hiding inside and won't come out. What should I do, Harry?" Neville shouted, leaning against the wall. He just stuck his head out and was almost hit by the spell.
Harry looked back at the remaining people, "There are 16 left." Hermione said. Harry gritted his teeth, "Are you willing to act in unison?"
"Of course."
"We will listen to you, Harry."
"This opportunity is too rare. We are about to defeat Slytherin." Seamus said excitedly.
"Okay," Harry stopped refusing, "Me, Ron, Hermione," he hesitated, "and Neville, we'll go in front and use the Shield Charm to defend, Seamus and Dean are ready to take over at any time, the others will stand behind us and cast the Stunning Charm!"
They spent half a minute to adjust, barely formed a formation, and walked out from behind the stone wall.
On the other side, Draco frowned, feeling that something was wrong. There was no movement outside for a long time. What was going on? He estimated that there were at least a dozen people on the opposite side, and on their side - he had a gloomy face, there were only six people.
No matter how you think about it, you're losing.
Damn Sirius Black, what his father said was right, he is the biggest traitor to the pure-blood family!
He glanced at the followers around him - Goyle had fallen, leaving only Crabbe, "Crabbe, go outside and take a look." Crabbe was reluctant, his muscles could not stop so many wands, he poked his head out of the wall, and then his eyes suddenly widened.
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
"Tell me!"
The remaining people asked in a mess.
"They--" Crabbe was halfway through his words, and then he was hit by the Stunning Curse. He fell to the grass with a "bang". Draco's eyes jumped violently. It was not because Crabbe was cursed, but because he heard the sound of footsteps in unison-very close to here.
"Hey, Malfoy."
A teasing voice said, Draco looked up, Harry smiled brightly through the Shield Charm, and handed out two wands from behind Harry. There was a flash of red light, and the spell and darkness hit him at the same time.
The remaining dozen or so Gryffindor students cheered deafeningly, "We won!"
Sirius came over and chanted the Resuscitation Charm on the six students.
"The first match is over. No one used other spells. This is good. You know, some people in other grades took advantage of the chaos to use evil spells. I punished them to copy sentences. I learned them from a Muggle school... Slytherin was completely wiped out, and Gryffindor won."
The Gryffindor students were still jubilant, shouting: "We won! We won! We defeated Slytherin!"
"... And one more thing, half of your comrades are 'dead'." Sirius said expressionlessly, and Harry and the others stopped laughing immediately.
"The next step is the second match. This time, only the Soft Legs Curse is allowed. Even the Shield Charm is not allowed. It cannot be defended... We use it to simulate the Killing Curse. You should know its characteristics... It is difficult to resist. If you are cursed, you will die."
Many Slytherin students cast hateful eyes at him. They thought they were going to endure humiliation again. Even Harry was frightened by these eyes, but Sirius didn't care at all.
"Everyone, stand over here. I'm going to regroup." Soon, Sirius cut a piece of red and green cloth into two pieces like a pair of sharp scissors. The two houses were intertwined. They stood together, but clearly separated. Everyone's face was just blank.
Harry saw the face of Malfoy who had just been knocked unconscious, while Ron and Hermione were divided into the opposite side.
"This time the number of people is about the same, what do you think?" Sirius asked.
Then, he retreated to the distance again, "I'll give you two minutes to think about the tactics. Once the time is up, it will start immediately. You are all clear about the rules. Whichever side loses this time will not make excuses. Of course, you can use this time to be in a daze."
Harry looked at the new grouping. For a while, no one spoke. Half of the Gryffindor students and half of the Slytherin students looked at each other with strange eyes. Not long ago, they were waving their sticks and facing each other coldly, cheering for the other side to fall, but now they were forced to stand together. Obviously, everyone was a little caught off guard.
I don't know where Sirius learned this from. He couldn't help complaining.
"Why does it look so much like the Magic Club?" Neville muttered.
Harry suddenly realized. He looked at Draco, and his mood was similar to the first time he saw him in Madam Malkin's robe shop. How could there be such a disgusting person... Harry thought to himself, but he still endured the discomfort and said: "Follow the rules of the club?"
Draco looked at Harry with a weighing look. They were disgusted with each other. Just when Harry felt impatient, Draco sneered on his pale face and said: "Okay."
"Hey, Potter, you have to be careful of the spells coming from the side." A girl next to him whispered.
"Shut up, Pansy." Draco said coldly.
Two minutes passed quickly, and Sirius blew the whistle again.
"The battle has begun! What are you waiting for!" He roared and shouted, and everyone subconsciously waved their wands and chanted the spell of the limp leg curse.
Harry suddenly realized that if it was a chaotic battle just now, then the venue was now in a mess, with spells flying everywhere. Many people were chanting spells, but the next second their feet went soft and fell to the ground, and the spell hit their companions.
Without the use of the Armor Charm and the Stone Wall, they could only dodge. Many people jumped up and down, and only a few students could deflect the spell.
"Only the Soft Legs Curse is allowed. Students who are cursed will automatically leave the battlefield after the curse is removed." Sirius shouted at the edge of the battlefield, and casually deflected a spell. He was itching. Which idiot had cast the spell on him? It was hard not to suspect that it was intentional.
...
"Scatter! Scatter - Ouch!" Harry heard Ron shouting loudly.
When there were only a dozen people left on the field, someone shouted, "Charge!" Then the opposite side rushed over. Harry took advantage of the chaos and hit three people, but then the two groups mixed together. Everyone stared at each other, and no one dared to act rashly.
Hermione looked at Harry hesitantly. The two of them were definitely not in the same group, but - wouldn't it be bad for them to attack each other? They didn't have a dilemma for too long. Sirius came over with a dark face, "What's your name?" He said to a Slytherin student.
"Blace Zabini." The student whispered.
Sirius studied him carefully for two seconds, "An effective tactic." Blaise was about to laugh, but Sirius added, "But it's also pretty stupid. You'll die the fastest on the battlefield." Without looking at Blaise's face, he announced loudly, "The second round is over. Come here!"
The students sat on the grass in twos and threes. Sirius sat in the middle of them, propping up his chin with one hand, and squinting at them.
"Tsk tsk, look at your performance just now. If this were on the battlefield, the number of people who could survive could be counted on one hand."
A Slytherin student muttered dissatisfiedly, "It's not our fault for the first round. The number of people was not equal..." He was still indignant about the first competition.
Sirius laughed briefly, "Who told you that war is fair? What do you think a real battle is like? Everyone agreed to fight together? Mutually abide by the rules of the game, and it's one-on-one, a fair contest?"
"What you are talking about has nothing to do with war."
He shook his head and supported his knees with his other hand, inadvertently showing a bit of elegance. His face was weather-beaten, and years of imprisonment still left traces on him, but this experience combined with his own temperament made him even more charming. Even though he was sitting on the ground now, people still suspected that he had just escaped from a noble banquet.
Sirius said lazily: "Sometimes you are the one with fewer people, so what do you do? You can't just say, the other side has more people, so I will join the other side? If your family is besieged by three or five dark wizards, you still have to say to them: This is unfair, and then turn around and walk away?"
"The difference in numbers, the difference in strength, the state, the first and second hands, the environment, the weather, the degree of tacit understanding with companions... Each of these will have an impact on the evenly matched parties, thereby changing the situation of the battle. What I have to do this year is to let you experience these things as realistically as possible."
"Of course, there are several assessment spells that are also within the scope of my teaching."
"Next, you analyze the previous two battles by yourselves. You can talk about the shortcomings and advantages. Let's chat casually... Did anyone raise their hands? No? Then I'll leave it for the paper, three feet..."
"Don't, professor!"
"Isn't it okay if we say it!"
In a 'friendly and harmonious' atmosphere, the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the fifth grade ended.
Sirius scratched his chin, "Okay, then the homework... uh, no, I'll reveal the content of the next class in advance: I will randomly select two teams to fight, each team will have between two and five people. Think about how to deal with five people when you only have one companion, at least you can hold on long enough... Okay, see you next class."