Hogwarts: I'm Really a Model Wizard

Though Kanna successfully transformed her beetle into a button, it still had beetle legs attached, looking like an underdeveloped turtle from a distance.

"Pfft..." Kyle couldn't help but laugh.

Kanna quickly covered her half-transformed beetle, embarrassed and angry, "What's so funny? You probably couldn't do better than me!"

Kyle didn't say anything, just gently waved his wand.

The beetle on his desk instantly transformed into an elegant button with a turtle pattern.

The young wizards around them gasped in surprise; they hadn't expected anyone to complete the task so quickly.

Professor McGonagall also seemed somewhat surprised, but she soon nodded with satisfaction, picked up the button to show the class, and gave Kyle a rare smile.

"Ten points to Hufflepuff!"

Kyle turned his head and shrugged at Kanna.

Her face flushed red with irritation as she turned away, refusing to look at him.

By the end of class, Kanna had finally succeeded in transforming her beetle into a button.

As a reward, Professor McGonagall exempted them from homework, while everyone else had to submit an essay at least two feet long before the next class.

After leaving the classroom, Michael's face turned pale as he kept repeating what Minerva had said. Those assignments that were usually a dozen inches long were torturous enough, but two feet—this was practically asking for his life!

He turned to Kyle with hopeful eyes, "Help me... you have to let me copy your homework this time..."

"Sorry." Kyle felt a bit guilty but still patted his shoulder, "Have you forgotten? I don't have to write it."

The light in Michael's eyes instantly disappeared.

After Transfiguration class came the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that everyone had been looking forward to.

Although Oren was a dark wizard, his practical lessons were truly engaging. In just one academic year, he had successfully sparked the young wizards' keen interest in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Professor Quirinus Quirrell had chosen a classroom on the third floor, a narrow room far less spacious than last year's. With only one window, the room remained dark even during daylight hours.

Upon entering, everyone felt a sinking feeling in their hearts and had a sense of foreboding. When Professor Quirrell walked in, this feeling intensified.

What respectable professor carried such an overwhelming smell of garlic? The odor was incredibly pungent, as if the garlic itself had come to life.

Several students immediately covered their noses and attempted to open the window, but Professor Quirrell stopped them.

"N-no... don't open the w-window." He stuttered, "I... I was c-cursed when dealing with... a z-zombie during summer break... I c-can't be exposed to wind."

As he spoke, he pointed to his large scarf.

"This is... a gift from... the African prince I... s-saved. It... protects me well."

A zombie? The young wizards were immediately intrigued.

Katie Bell from Gryffindor asked curiously, "Professor Quirrell, what do zombies look like?"

"They have... s-several inches long... fangs, bodies like... steel, and can... resist magic spells... terrifying!"

"Wow~"

Everyone let out exclamations of surprise, and their expressions changed as they regarded Professor Quirrell again.

Bodies like steel that could resist magic... creatures like these would be difficult even for Aurors to defeat. Who would have thought that this clown-like professor was actually such a formidable expert?

The young wizards looked at the Professor with newfound admiration; even the strong smell of garlic didn't seem as unpleasant anymore.

"He must be trying to ward off vampires he encountered on his travels, afraid they might come back for him." Someone declared confidently, "Vampires are most afraid of garlic. That must be it."

Professor Quirrell looked at the student with pleasant surprise, then silently nodded. This was a good explanation, much better than what he had thought of.

"Professor Quirrell." Katie asked again, "If zombies are so powerful, how did you defeat it? Can you tell us?"

"Well... I, I..." Professor Quirrell's face turned red as he mumbled incoherently, "Just, like that, and then like this... it involves... very advanced... magic. Even if I told you... you wouldn't understand."

Looking at his vague speech and inability to give a straight answer, everyone's expressions changed again. His demeanor practically announced to everyone that he was lying.

Katie persisted, "That's alright, Professor. Please tell us. If there are spells we don't understand, we can look them up in the library."

Others joined in.

"Yes, Professor."

"Please tell us, Professor."

"Even just a brief explanation would be fine."

...

Professor Quirrell's face grew even redder. After struggling for a while, he completely ignored everyone's questions and turned to look out the window.

"I don't like... the weather in Britain, too much rain... Romania is much better."

With that, their suspicions were confirmed. Without a doubt, Professor Quirrell had been lying. He definitely hadn't encountered any zombie.

Everyone was extremely disappointed. Although they had suspected this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor might not be very reliable, they hadn't expected him to be an outright fraud.

And a garlic-loving fraud at that. This was even worse than Oren.

Everyone instantly lost interest in the lesson and began doing other things under their desks. Some wrote letters, some worked on assignments, and some played with toads...

Professor Quirrell saw all this but said nothing, simply reading verbatim from "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection". Anyone who didn't know better might think Professor Binns had possessed him.

As Kyle listened, he began to feel drowsy, and for a moment, he actually found himself missing Oren.

Both were dark wizards, but how could the difference be so vast?

He fought to stay awake, barely making it to the end of class.

✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭

"That was terrible." Kanna complained during lunch, "I don't understand why the headmaster would let him be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Probably because they couldn't find anyone else." Cedric said after a moment's thought, "You know this position has always been hard to fill."

"But he shouldn't just read from the textbook." Kanna insisted, "If that's all he's going to do, why not just get a ghost like Professor Binns? Then they wouldn't have to worry about the curse."

"Well..." Cedric opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

He suddenly realized that her point made perfect sense.

✭✭✭

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