Chapter 622: Defense Against the Dark Arts Class for the Sixth Grade

In the classroom, Grindelwald was carefully wiping the wand in his hand.

The black velvet cloth brushed over the smooth and flexible wand and the tiny, glittering gems. His movements were meticulous, and he completed the work under the gazes of the four professors, who were all looking at him with different thoughts.

He dropped the velvet, brought the wand close to his eyes, stared at it for a moment, and blew away the dust on it.

At this time, Grindelwald turned his head and looked through the door frame at the messy team in the corridor. Harry stood at the front, and a little girl with messy brown hair half squeezed into the classroom, her mouth opened into an O shape in surprise.

"Come in," he said with a grin.

Students poured in.

Harry wanted to say hello to the new professor, but he chose to remain silent in the end. His mind was completely filled with the statue-like professors sitting in the last row. Why was Snape here? What was the reason for Professor McGonagall? And Professor Happ and Headmaster Dumbledore, did they make an appointment?

Hermione almost tiptoed in. She chose a seat in the first row and sat down without daring to breathe.

Harry had already walked over, but he suddenly turned around, his shoes scraping against the ground and making a piercing scream. He gritted his teeth and sat next to Hermione. Then came Ron, Neville, Seamus... Every student who came in restrained their bold movements when they saw the four professors, and tiptoed like kittens.

The Slytherin students exchanged glances with each other, hiding the obvious hostility on their faces. They had originally planned to make the new professor look bad in order to avenge their dean, but now they were a little confused - if it was only Snape, they would naturally think that it was the dean who came to pick a fight, but they didn't think that Professor Snape would bring three other colleagues to share the same hatred with him, not to mention that among them were Professor McGonagall, who was always serious and fair, and the headmaster who made the appointment himself. .

When all the students sat down, the last three rows were still empty.

"Tsk."

Someone chuckled, as if he found the scene very interesting. If it were him, Harry thought indignantly, he would also find it funny if he was standing on the podium or at the back of the classroom and saw the students acting like quails, but he was one of them now, so he couldn't make himself feel the same way about Professor Happ's teasing.

He could only focus on the new professor.

The room was well lit. The bright morning sun shone directly through the huge open window and shone on Professor Bagshot's face, making every wrinkle on his face clearly visible. He was wearing a black wizard robe, and his body was thinner than a normal person, but he was much better than when Harry first saw him. His gray hair was gathered behind his head, and the fine wrinkles on his neck were hidden in the collar of the wizard robe, and appeared on the skin on the back of his hands. His hands were slender and dexterous, but they were no longer young and eroded by time - except for the slightly sunken blue eyes, which sparkled in the sun, like the sparkling waves reflected on the surface of the black lake outside the window.

Grindelwald put away his wand, put his hands behind his back, and looked around the classroom.

"Hogwarts," he said, "is an ancient school of magic, and it is as good as any other school in the world. I hope to see some vitality on your faces."

The students' faces showed a hint of pride, and they couldn't help but sit up straight, proud.

"Ah, it seems that you have realized that you are in an excellent group. This will be a good start." Grindelwald said softly, his voice was a little hoarse, but the students couldn't help but be attracted.

They found that every time the professor spoke, he would turn his toes slightly so that his body was completely facing some students.

"I lived in the school for a while, and the sentence that impressed me the most was a sentence." Grindelwald said a sentence in Latin and asked expectantly: "Can anyone tell me what this sentence means?"

Most of the class glanced at a girl in the front row. There, Hermione's arm was stabbed in the air like a javelin, and her hand was raised so fast that it almost hit Harry. Grindelwald caught the students' eyes and set his eyes on her.

"It's 'Sleeping Dragons, Do Not Disturb', sir." Hermione said a little nervously, "It's also the motto of Hogwarts."

"What's your name, ma'am?" Grindelwald took out the roll call book. "

Granger, Hermione Granger." Hermione whispered.

"Granger," Grindelwald repeated, glancing inconspicuously at Felix in the last row, who was whispering something to Snape. "Please take a seat, Ms. Granger. Oh, I forgot one thing - five points for Gryffindor." He threw the roll call book on the table. "I prefer to get to know you this way. Take out your textbooks."

"Which one... sir?" a student raised his hand and asked slowly.

"How Muggles Think, and, you can call me Professor Bagshot," Grindelwald asked Draco, "What's your name?"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Another familiar name, a full member of the Anti-Dark Arts League? Now turn to page 147 and read the chapter on 'Social Organization'. You have ten minutes."

"But, Professor Bagshot," a tall student frowned, "Why do we have to learn these things in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class?" His friend Justin pulled his sleeve, but he said stubbornly: "If I want to understand how Muggles think, why don't I choose Muggle Studies?"

Other students stopped what they were doing - frankly speaking, they had no interest in the books in their hands, for similar reasons to Ernie. No one wanted to read Muggle Studies books stupidly in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and they were eager for someone to raise objections. The students' eyes moved back and forth between Ernie and Professor Bagshot.

"Your name."

"Ernie Macmillan." Ernie straightened his chest.

"Hufflepuff?"

"Yes, yes." Ernie's body shrank a bit. For some reason, he suddenly felt that the professor's gaze was very scary.

"Mr. Macmillan from Hufflepuff, why don't you take ten minutes to read the above? The answer is in it."

Then there was the reluctant sound of reading and turning the pages.

Dumbledore lowered his voice and asked with interest: "Maybe I missed it. Is there anything interesting in this chapter?" Snape and Professor McGonagall looked at Felix at the same time. Felix also whispered: "It just introduces some Muggle clubs, societies and social activities."

Ten minutes passed quickly.

"Can anyone tell me what you have learned?" Grindelwald looked around and asked, "McMillan?"

Ernie was so nervous that he was sweating.

"Well... I know a lot of Muggle clubs and groups, such as unions, interest clubs and associations, committees, religious believers, academic clubs, political clubs, parties, bands..."

"No, Mr. Macmillan, no." Grindelwald said softly, "I'm not asking you to repeat what you saw. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think there are any blind people here." The students laughed softly, but Grindelwald didn't laugh. Instead, he was serious. "Use your

brain," his tone became urgent, "Your brain is for thinking-Harry Potter?"

Harry stood up with a blank expression.

"Tell me what you think of."

"Uh, a lot of people...?" Harry whispered, very unconfident. Some students laughed softly.

"Put it another way."

"I think of some groups." Harry raised his voice.

"It's close." Grindelwald walked towards him.

"... Crowd?" Harry racked his brains.

"Crowd, yes, that's right." Grindelwald said, patting Harry on the shoulder, "After tearing off the careful disguise, you will see what people are divided into groups. The answer is very accurate, Potter, please take a seat." He returned to the podium.

Harry tried hard not to let the confusion on his face show. He sat back in his chair and couldn't help but wonder what he had just answered.

But his attention was completely attracted by Professor Bagshot's words.

"We, humans," Grindelwald said, "are weak and lazy. We are not good at dealing with complex logic and thoughts, but we want to appear less ignorant, so we classify everyone we meet into different groups and label them..."

"Good, bad; British, European; Hogwarts, Durmstrang; you and I are in the same group, he is on the opposite side of me... We can always find excuses. We are so eager to seek identity recognition and form groups in interpersonal relationships, for fear of being left behind and becoming isolated and helpless."

"As an ancient magic school, perhaps even the oldest one, you - students of Hogwarts - have an obligation to fight against this defect rooted in the body and mind and avoid mediocrity. Mediocre people are too lazy to think independently, but they rely heavily on the group. The final result is that they casually give up the rights they should have enjoyed."

"And the group is the most irrational."

The classroom became silent. At this time, Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Professor Bagshot." So Grindelwald immediately changed his words, "Mr. Macmillan asked before, what does the idea of ​​Muggles have to do with the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I can answer it now."

"The purpose of this course is to teach students how to resist danger. I see that you have learned how to resist dark creatures and how to defend against curses, but I find that you still have a huge gap in your ability to protect yourself. There is a kind of danger that you have not taken into account. It is so close to you, but you turn a deaf ear to it. Once-" "

Professor Bagshot." Dumbledore raised his voice, and there was a certain warning in his tone.

Grindelwald kept silent. He pulled out his wand and stabbed the tip of the wand on the desk like a dagger.

The classroom was suddenly filled with fog.

The students' vision was blurred. In an instant, Harry and a dozen students stood up, holding their wands and looking around vigilantly. Grindelwald was a little surprised by their reaction, but he didn't show it on his face. He stared at Dumbledore who stood up with anger in his eyes and gently lip-synced.

Felix narrowed his eyes. What Grindelwald said was: You can stop me, but you can't stop it -

that's it.

The students in the classroom knew nothing about this. They just looked at Harry and the students at the front lookout in surprise, wondering why they reacted so strongly. But soon, they heard the messy footsteps and fierce slogans, as if coming from a distant place.

The colorful flags and the joyful parade crowd came towards them from behind Professor Bagshot, and then passed through them directly - the students subconsciously leaned back, but they soon realized that it was just an illusion, those people - should be Muggles, and would not affect them at all.

They had seen similar scenes in Classroom 7.

"London New Year's Day Parade, a very famous festival celebration." Grindelwald said casually, "It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the UK and the world every year. There is nothing to be surprised about... After all, there are nearly 60 million people in the UK alone, and the total population of the world is close to 6 billion."

The students below exclaimed. They stared at the dense crowd and laughed all the way.

Harry had seen parades before, but he lived in Surrey, where the population was only a few hundred thousand, and it was far from being this spectacular. The Dursleys had been to London during the New Year, but he had never been there. He would be left in the care of Mrs. Figg at this time.

But Hermione had obviously seen this kind of scene before. She was whispering to Harry and Ron, "The London Parade has been very popular since its inception in 1987. It is the most important festival celebration of the year. There are professional performers from all over the world, covering dance, music, juggling, cheerleading, antique car displays... It is simply an unparalleled audio-visual feast."

"It's so lively." Ron said in admiration.

Soon the students were watching with great interest. This was a very novel experience for them - just like the first time they watched a Muggle movie in the Ancient Runes class, they were completely attracted. Many people's faces were infected by the joy of the crowd, and their faces were filled with the same joy and smiles.

"I've never seen such a big balloon." A student looked up, and a huge colorful puppet seemed to pass through the ceiling.

"Hey! Those dancing girls are so pretty!"

Grindelwald tapped the table with his wand, and the joyful scene froze in an instant. The mist was dissipating, and the parade crowd paused, then turned their heads stiffly in unison, staring at the students in the classroom expressionlessly. Being stared at by hundreds of people, Harry felt his heart skip a beat, and he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe, and the joy in his mind disappeared without a trace.

Finally, the smoke disappeared, along with the stiff crowd.

Harry slumped in his seat, panting, his hands and feet seemed to be out of control. He couldn't help but imagine what would happen if those people suddenly rushed up, those cold, emotionless eyes, like the corpses of the Inferi... He shuddered.

He looked around - Hermione was trembling, Ron and Neville were pale, as if they had a serious illness. A few seats away, Malfoy's lips were tightly pursed, his eyes flashed with strange lights, and some students even retched silently.

"You must understand by now that with the increasing number of Muggles and the rise of what they call 'technology', the Statute of Secrecy is under increasing pressure, and what I am going to teach you -"

Grindelwald narrowed his eyes - facing Professor McGonagall's angry glare, Snape's scrutinizing eyes, and Felix's serious expression, he faced Dumbledore across the classroom, grinning and showing his white teeth.

"- is how to hide yourself better."

The rest of the class was smooth, as if what happened before was just an episode. Grindelwald introduced the concept of "silent spells" to the students according to the teaching schedule.

"In simple terms, silent spells are just a means of concealed casting. It can give you the first-hand advantage and information advantage in a duel. Similarly, it is also very effective when used to hide yourself in Muggle society." He added.

Grindelwald demonstrated it himself. He pointed at himself with his special wand, and his wizard robes immediately changed into a set of Muggle clothes, and his thin cheeks turned into another middle-aged face.

If the students had not been so frightened before, they would definitely applaud this complex and exquisite transfiguration.

Grindelwald glanced at the time and said, "There are only ten minutes left, so please continue reading the textbook. I believe you will have a different understanding." While the students were reading at ease, Dumbledore quietly stood up.

"Professor Bagshot, we need to talk about your syllabus."

"Oh, no problem." Grindelwald said, "Principal Albus Dumbledore."