"All you'll need to do is get permission from Fang. By the way, his office is in the small building at the far end of the playground. If you want to practice, you can come here during your free time."
The students' faces lit up with joy at the news, but their smiles quickly turned into frowns.
They were happy because they could all use the range now, but annoyed that they had to get approval from Fang... and who knew Fang even had a dog's office?
After finishing the first lesson on fighting stances, Alex led the group back to the large playground just outside the shooting range.
He asked everyone to sit down in a big circle so he could explain the next topic.
"After the shooting practice earlier, you all should have a basic understanding of spellcasting posture, concealment, and how to observe during a fight. Now, I'm going to teach you another essential combat skill: parrying."
He then invited Cedric into the circle.
"Cedric, try casting a disarming spell on me."
"Yes, Professor," Cedric replied obediently, stepping about five or six meters away.
"Remember, no weapons!"
Using the stance he had just learned, Cedric quickly raised his wand and shot a precise disarming spell.
The other young wizards watching noticed something new about the technique.
They saw how smooth and sudden the attack was, without any obvious aiming beforehand, making it hard for most wizards to react in time.
But Cedric's opponent, Alex, remained calm.
He didn't react immediately when the spell flew toward him; instead, with a flick of his wand, he effortlessly deflected the Disarming Curse.
"Keep going!" Alex encouraged.
"Try casting faster, and move forward while attacking - the more unexpected, the better!"
Feeling challenged, Cedric launched spell after spell, moving fluidly in one direction.
After firing seven or eight spells, he even managed to get behind Alex.
Yet, no matter how hard Cedric tried, his attacks weren't enough to break through.
Alex simply turned his body sideways, skillfully blocking and pushing away every spell with just his wand, no magic needed beyond that.
"Alright, that's good for now. You can go back and sit down," Alex said with a satisfied nod to Cedric.
Then, turning to the rest of the group, he asked, "You all saw what I just did. What are your thoughts?"
"When you faced Cedric's attack earlier, you didn't seem to cast a spell at all - you just used your wand to deflect his spell!" one of the younger students remarked.
"I've seen something like that before. My dad's an Auror, and when he trains with his team, he can block spells without casting any protective charms."
"Is this the 'parry' you're talking about, Professor? If so, doesn't that mean we all need to learn the Protego?" another student chimed in.
The group of young wizards chatted among themselves.
To some, Alex's defensive move wasn't surprising because it wasn't exactly a new technique.
Still, many of them were curious since they had always thought defense mainly relied on protective spells like the Protego, which they couldn't learn until sixth year.
"Yes, this way of defending using just the wand is called 'parry'," Alex explained, nodding.
"It's more common in wizard duels. Among those who duel often, it's not considered a particularly advanced skill, but for you all, it's still pretty challenging to master."
He added, "So don't think it's easy just because I looked relaxed when I blocked the spell."
"First of all, even though parrying doesn't involve casting a spell, it still requires magic power. The first step in parrying is channeling your magic into the wand."
As he spoke, Alex gently raised his wand.
"If you just hold your wand without any magic flowing through it, it's no better than a stick. Everyone should start by practicing this."
The younger students nodded and pulled out their wands, trying to focus and channel their magic into them.
This kind of magic control, mobilizing magic power without casting a spell, requires a solid understanding of magic flow.
For example, first- and second-years are still learning to organize and stabilize the magic inside them after receiving their wands.
Compared to when they were younger, their magic feels more stable now, which creates a sort of "perception gap" that makes it harder to control.
Even a student like Harry, who's naturally attuned to magic, can struggle when trying to cast spells because he's still getting used to the new level of control over the magic flowing through him.
After two years of study, the third-year students had grown quite comfortable with the steady flow of magic within them.
Along with this, they were going through a phase of rapid physical growth, making their magical abilities more active and responsive than before.
It was clear that handling these exercises wouldn't be a problem for them.
Sure enough, after a few minutes of practice, the young wizards successfully completed the task one after another, their faces lighting up with excitement as they looked toward Alex.
"Very good! Keeping a steady output of magic power is the foundation for parrying," Alex said, nodding in approval.
"Next, we're going to use infused wands to parry defensive spells. There are two key points here: precision and timing."
He explained, "Precision means you need to move exactly right when the spell hits, matching its trajectory to deflect it properly. Timing is just as important - if you try to parry too early or too late, it won't work."
"And Cedric, I'll need your help for this demonstration," Alex called quietly.
Cedric stepped forward and faced him with a knowing look.
"I'll cast the spell slowly this time. Your job is to bounce it back. Focus on one spot and boost your magical output at the moment you parry. Imagine it like casting your own magic power right when the spell reaches you."
Alex quickly cast a low-powered disarming spell.
Though it was gentle and slow compared to his usual speed, the spell still flew toward Cedric in a flash.
Cedric kept his eyes locked on the approaching spell, and just as it neared, he raised his wand and swung it with all the magic he could muster.
"Snap!"
The soft sound echoed as Cedric's wand flew out of his hand, but he quickly caught his wrist, wincing from the sting of the curse on the back of his hand.
He retrieved his wand and looked at Alex with a sheepish expression.
"Sorry, professor, I didn't get it right. I think my reaction was too slow."
Alex smiled kindly.
"Don't blame yourself. You did really well. You nailed the timing perfectly, but your movements just couldn't keep up with your eyes yet. That's something we can work on."
"I see, Professor. Shall we give it another try?"
Cedric asked thoughtfully, then brightened up again.
"Practicing once should be enough for you to get the main idea of the parrying movements. After that, I'll prepare some other training methods for you."
Alex turned his head and added, "Follow me to Training Room No. 6. It's equipped with automatic spell casters."
"Training Room No. 6? Automatic spell casters?" George said with a click of his tongue, clearly impressed.
"How many cool things does Brother Alex have? He uses more classrooms than any other professor, and he owns them all!"
"That's Brother Alex for you, the most active master alchemist in the wizarding world today," Fred said with a smile, resting his hand on George's shoulder. "With him around, we probably won't get bored."
"But I'm afraid we'll suffer a lot," George sighed, looking a little worried.
After a long walk, they followed Alex into a semi-circular building located some distance away from the shooting range.
From the outside, the building was modest and shaped like an upside-down bowl.
But once inside, it felt like stepping into another world.
The entrance opened into a huge circular arena that could easily hold hundreds of people.
Strange metal boxes floated above, each about the size of a fruit crate, with a round tube roughly the size of a baseball sticking out from one side.
Alex led the group into the arena, waved his hand lightly, and lowered one of the metal boxes.
From it, a glowing light-blue ball shot out like a baseball from a pitching machine.
"This is called a simple magic bullet," Alex explained, catching the ball. "It's made from a special glue filled with a small amount of pure magic power. Since it's basically magic, wands and spells can interact with it. But because the magic inside is very weak, it doesn't do much harm - it barely hurts when it hits someone."
To demonstrate, Alex swung the ball in his hand and gently launched it at George, who was whispering to Fred.
The magic bullet hit George's head, popped like a soap bubble, and then vanished into thin air.
Right after George got hit, he immediately clutched his forehead, wincing in pain.
"Didn't you say it wouldn't hurt? So why does it feel so bad?" he asked.
Alex gave him a sharp look.
"That just means your body's not strong enough yet. You'll need to practice more when you get back."
He didn't bother telling George that he had actually boosted his own strength earlier.
Then Alex pointed to the floating devices hovering above their heads.
"Those are automatic spell casters," he explained. "They can shoot simple magic bullets with any force, speed, or angle you want. Let me show you how they work."