Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 411 You might as well make your point more clearly!
Both Harry and Katie were delighted to see old friends.

“Hi, Katie,” Harry greeted her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I knew you’d get it, great!” Katie exclaimed, pointing to the captain’s badge on Harry’s chest. “Let me know when the trials are going to happen!”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Harry shrugged. “You don’t need to go through the selection process. I’ve been watching you play for five years…”

“Don’t do that right from the start,” Katie warned. “You all know some people are much better than me—there have been some really good teams that were ruined because the captain always let familiar faces play and let his friends join the team…”

Ron:?
You might as well put it more clearly!
“Don’t worry, Katie,” Harry said nonchalantly. “How could I be that kind of person? Besides, our new team members have already been tested in matches—look, Ron and Ginny are both qualified.”

“I wasn’t talking about those two,” Katie quickly added, realizing the slip-up in her previous statement. “I was just talking about the others… The Weasleys actually played quite well, and we all saw that.”

As she spoke, she turned to Ron and said, "Sorry, Weasley—I didn't mean it that way."

“I know,” Ron said with a friendly smile.

Katie and her classmates went to class, leaving Harry and Ron in the common room.

There was no one else in the common room except the two of them, so they decided to play Wizard's Chess for a while.

However, Ron showed no mercy to Harry, and even particularly enjoyed brutally beating him, often leaving only the king and queen alive, killing them in a truly gruesome manner.

"I'm done playing." Harry put down the chess pieces listlessly. "Chess is really boring."

“I find this really fun,” Ron said with a grin.

An hour later, they reluctantly left the sun-drenched common room and went downstairs for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Hermione was already lined up outside the classroom, carrying a huge pile of heavy books in her arms, looking like she had been mistreated.

“There’s a mountain of Runetext homework,” she said anxiously, as Harry and Ron joined her in line. “A fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and so many books to read by Wednesday!”

“What bad luck,” Ron yawned. “Serves you right. Who told you to choose so many courses? Wouldn’t it have been much better if you had chosen fewer? At least you wouldn’t be so anxious now.”

Hermione was speechless. She stretched out her foot and kicked Ron hard in the shin.

Seeing this, Harry shook his head helplessly.

Hey……

Never try to reason with a woman, my brother...

“I think the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—” Harry mentioned Professor Slughorn, “is a reasonable professor, what do you think?”

“I hope so,” Ron said, then repeated, “He better be!”

Soon after, Slughorn arrived in the classroom.

“Those who are able to come to my classroom are all students who have achieved a good or higher OWL.” Professor Slughorn smiled, his chubby face resembling that of a panda. “But I’ve heard that you’ve had five different teachers for this course so far.”

“Six, professors,” Ron corrected, raising his hand. “Besides those professors, there’s also Harry, who also served as a guest professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts for a while.”

“Oh, I seem to have heard that.” Professor Slughorn looked interested. “After Umbridge’s blunders last year, Harry served as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for a while—I heard you all liked him quite a bit?”

"Yes, Professor," everyone said in unison.

“Then I’ll have to perform even better, lest you all have him on your minds,” Slughorn said with a chuckle.

Almost at that moment, everyone took a liking to the chubby old professor.

Thankfully, Professor Snape wasn't chosen to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, otherwise the course would have been ruined.

But they didn't consider whether this would free them from Potions class.
As the saying goes, "What is lost on one front is gained on another," which illustrates this principle.

“Alright,” Professor Slughorn said again, “Professor Lupin and I have checked on your progress, so… I think it’s time to really teach you about Dark Magic—so, who would like to introduce Dark Magic?”

Hermione immediately raised her hand, along with several other classmates.

“Miss Parkinson,” Professor Slughorn gestured for Pansy to stand up and answer.

As the former headmaster of Slytherin, this score... should indeed be given some consideration for Slytherin, who haven't won the championship in several years.

This could be considered a small selfish act by the old dean, an invisible hand at work.

“Dark magic is a general term for evil magic,” Pansy replied methodically. “Dark magic comes in all shapes and sizes, is incredibly diverse and ever-changing, and is endless… It’s quite troublesome for wizards who want to deal with it.”

“Excellent, excellent.” Professor Slughorn clapped his hands. “Slytherin, five points—before coming to this class, a Potions professor who wished to remain anonymous shared with me his preparations for the course…of course, until yesterday, he considered himself a shoo-in for Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.”

You're not even willing to reveal your name yet? Why don't you just call him Snape directly?
The Gryffindor students were all trying to suppress their laughter, especially Ron, whose face was as red as his hair.

"As Miss Parkinson just said, black magic is multifaceted."

Professor Slughorn waved his wand, and several scrolls suddenly fell down from the front wall of the classroom.

The painting depicts people suffering, grotesque wounds, and bizarrely twisted body parts, making it look quite sinister and terrifying.

It fits the stereotype of Snape.

“Therefore, your defenses,” Professor Slughorn raised his voice, “must also be as flexible and innovative as the dark magic you need to deal with.”

“These pictures,” he said, pointing to several as he walked, “vividly depict the circumstances of the victims, for example, those who were struck by the Cruciatus Curse,” he gestured to a witch who was clearly screaming in pain, “feeling the kiss of a Dementor,” a wizard huddled in a corner, his eyes glazed over, “or were harmed by an Infernal,” he pointed to a pool of blood on the ground.

Parvati Petir asked in a shrill voice, "Professor, is someone really using the undead?"

“The Dark Lord used Infernals,” Professor Slughorn said. “Besides him, many other dark wizards have used Infernals for their services—and I remember you learned how to deal with Infernals in your second year…it was Ms. Rosier who taught you, wasn’t it?”

When Ms. Rozier was mentioned, Professor Slughorn seemed to start talking non-stop.

Before the students could respond, he rambled on, "Speaking of Ms. Rozier, I know her... We dined together once, when she was very young. You should know, you can tell from her current appearance how beautiful she was when she was young." Case closed; he definitely had feelings for her back then.

Professor Slughorn clearly realized he had gone off-topic, and he chuckled as he continued, "Alright, who's going to tell us how you learned to deal with the Infernals?"

This time, he chose Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff.

By not choosing Hermione, Professor Slughorn seemed unwilling to let Gryffindor, who were far ahead in scores, continue to gain an advantage.

But choosing Slytherin to answer the question would have been a bit obvious, so he chose Hufflepuff, who was the least likely to pose a threat.

“Use fire-type spells, Professor,” Hannah’s voice was clear. “Infernals fear fire; this is the best way to deal with them.”

"Perfect answer," Professor Slughorn clapped his hands and said, "Hufflepuff plus five points."

“Yes,” he continued, “the best spell to deal with the Shadows is fire—believe me, Shadows absolutely do not want to be baptized by flames, as you should have seen, so I won’t go into details.”

Then, Slughorn asked again, "I think you are not very proficient in using the Silent Charm, so... who can tell me what the benefits of the Silent Charm are?"

This time, he called Hermione's name.

“Miss Granger,” he said, “you answer this question.”

“The advantage of doing this is that your opponent doesn’t know what kind of magic you’re going to use,” Hermione said, “which gives you a momentary advantage.”

“Five points for Gryffindor.” Professor Slughorn applauded Hermione and gestured for her to sit down before saying, “Yes, as Miss Granger said, not saying the spell aloud can have a surprising effect—but this requires a strong will from the caster.”

“But I believe everyone here is capable of passing the OWLs exams and entering my class,” Professor Slughorn said with a smile, looking around. “You are all determined individuals, and at least have a deep understanding of Defense Against the Dark Arts… Now, divide into pairs. One of you will try to cast a curse on the other, but without uttering a sound. The other will try to repel the curse, also without making a sound… Begin.”

Ron immediately turned around, but Harry grabbed him.

Harry gave Ron a very friendly smile, thinking of the grudge he had inflicted on Ron earlier when his chess pieces had been slaughtered in the common room.

“Don’t go, Ron,” Harry said with a friendly smile. “My good brother—you should team up with me and practice silent spells, don’t you think?”

Ron swallowed hard.

"Thank you, no problem," he said, waving his hand.

“That’s not up to you.” Harry’s smile grew increasingly bloodthirsty. He drew his wand and said with a sinister grin, “Are you planning to just give up like this and be defeated by me repeatedly, or die standing up?”

Ron swallowed again.

He quickly drew his wand, and a red spell flew out along it.

However, Harry was faster; a transparent barrier appeared in front of him, deflecting the spell.

"Bring it on!" Ron roared, seizing the opportunity to unleash another spell at Harry.

Harry didn't retaliate; he simply used his wand to deflect the spells one by one.

"Excellent!" Professor Slughorn clapped his hands as he watched Harry's duel. "This is the most exciting duel I've ever seen between students—keep it up!"

"He really loves to stir up trouble," Ron thought to himself.

But he didn't let his guard down at all, and was completely on the offensive, trying to prevent Harry from having a chance to make a move.

But here's the problem: Harry isn't incapable of taking action; he just wants to spend more time playing with Ron.

The battle ended so quickly, it was so boring.

After knocking Ron's spells away dozens of times, Ron, panting, raised his wand, ready to fire another spell.

Harry felt it was time, so he quickly disarmed Ron's wand, which spun into his hand.

“I give up!” Ron immediately raised his hands.

Harry: ...

You surrendered way too quickly!
He originally intended to end the fight by knocking Ron unconscious, but he didn't expect Ron to surrender even faster than France did more than fifty years ago.

Professor Slughorn also added ten points to Gryffindor's score—five points each for Harry and Ron, as a reward.

After all, this spell battle was indeed spectacular. To be able to use such a brilliant and skillful silent spell at the sixth grade level is already a rare feat among wizards.

At the end of get out of class, Professor Slughorn gave Harry, Seamus, and Hermione each an invitation.

He knew that these three people were key figures in Harry's inner circle.

Professor Slughorn likes good students and students with potential.

Of course, you can't call him opportunistic; you could just say he's a bit eccentric. What he really wants are good students who can increase his influence.

Soon, it was time for get out of class to end.

Everyone was still a little unsatisfied, especially the match between Hermione and Anne. The two were evenly matched, and the battle was so fierce that it was impossible to determine a winner.

But Harry knew that Anne had definitely let loose, and she had let loose seawater.

As a wizard from a hundred years ago, even if Anne was cursed by dark magic, she still came from a group of dark wizards.

In third grade, she had already joined the hunt for poachers. With her rich practical experience, she was not like Hermione, a hothouse flower.

If you think about it, it's easy to understand. It's like playing ping-pong. If two people can play for dozens of rounds without a clear winner, it's possible that their strengths are evenly matched. But the most likely scenario is that one of them is too strong and can play with you.

(End of this chapter)