With that, he asked the others to step
back, and soon seven or eight of these little devices hovered down around him, all aiming their tiny cannons at Alex.
Suddenly, they fired together with sharp "bang bang" sounds, shooting magic bullets from different directions and distances.
When faced with a volley of magical bullets fired simultaneously, Alex's movements were impressively swift. Rather than dodging, he skillfully used the wand in his right hand to strike the magic balls like an expert fencer.
Each time his wand hit one of these balls, it would quickly split apart, much like a weak spell dissipating.
This showed that these magic balls functioned similarly to spells, though their power was quite low.
Still, because they were so inexpensive to produce, Alex used them freely as consumable training tools, a result of years of his own research.
The young wizards watching him were captivated.
Unlike Cedric's spells, these machines launched magic balls all at once, making it nearly impossible for an average wizard to dodge, let alone parry.
After deflecting several rounds, Alex flicked his wand and summoned the devices back into the air.
"Training Room No. 6 is designed specifically to help you practice parrying and dodging," he explained. "In later training sessions, you'll use this equipment regularly."
"These spell casters are highly adjustable. You can change the number of devices, firing rate, angles, intervals between shots, and more. But since you're just starting to learn parrying, let's begin with a single caster firing slowly."
Following Alex's instructions, each student received an automatic spell caster, which launched magic balls at a steady, straightforward pace.
The young wizards quickly found themselves entertained by this new device.
However, their initial excitement soon turned to frustration as the constant hits began to sting despite the balls' low power.
Since the goal was to parry using their wands, many ended up with sore, swollen wrists from struggling to keep up with the rhythm.
But Alex showed no mercy when he saw their struggles.
If they wanted to learn, they had to pay the price, and he had already optimized the training process to such a degree that it was unreasonable not to keep up with the intensity.
The intensive practice really worked.
Although the young wizards were frequently being hit, they made rapid progress.
By the end of the course, most students could successfully parry the magic balls a few times.
After finishing the third-grade class, Alex told everyone to spend the week practicing more at the shooting range and the number six training room.
He also warned that random inspections would happen in the next class.
The little wizards eagerly agreed, though they didn't need much convincing; they were genuinely interested in shooting and parrying.
After all, young people naturally crave a bit of action.
However, by noon, the third graders showed up with their hands all swollen.
At first, they only felt a little pain during practice and nothing serious, but after some time, the effects caught up with them.
Harry, proudly showing off his lunch, asked the twins, "So, your courses are different from ours, right?"
After a couple of days practicing, Harry's appetite had grown a lot and was almost as big as the third graders'.
"What do you mean different?" George covered his hands and grinned.
"Completely different! Our courses don't even resemble yours, not to mention the places where we train."
"Did the professor teach you the training methods?" Ron asked, poking George's wrist playfully before quickly rubbing his own elbow.
"Don't touch it! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" George replied, annoyed but honest.
"Yeah, the professor taught us the methods. Ten minutes before class ended, he stopped us and guided us through exercises to improve our magic sensitivity using induction balls."
"So, how long could you hold on?" Harry asked, curious about the training since spell shooting still felt too advanced for freshmen.
"Less than five minutes," George admitted.
Fred shrugged and recalled, "There's no way we could handle more than those two classes. We were completely exhausted, and it took a lot of magic just to keep casting spells and blocking attacks.
Everyone said the classes were really short, and even the professor mentioned that this kind of intense training drains every last bit of magic from your body. That's why it's saved for the end of the course."
Neville jumped in, curious, "So… how does it actually feel after the training? I heard it's pretty rough, but I'm not sure if that's true."
George sighed suddenly, "It's way worse than just uncomfortable! After finishing the training, I felt like I was going to pass out.
It's like all the energy in my body just got sucked out. We had to rest in the training room for a long time before we could even think about moving again."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, looking at the twins with a mix of suspicion and amusement.
Since she started giving extra lessons to Harry and the others, her relationship with Fred and George had improved, and now they hung out together both in and out of class.
"Is it really that bad?" she asked.
George grinned but shook his head, "Try it yourself after you learn the Levitation Charm. I'm still dizzy now, and this afternoon we have the worst Potions class.
I'm pretty sure that old bat is going to make things miserable for us."
Fred ignored George's complaints and eagerly suggested, "But the shooting range and the ball machine are really fun. How about we go play again tomorrow?"
"Definitely!" George said right away, but then smiled wryly, "Though we'll have to get Fang's permission to use the venue… and you know how that guy is."
Fred frowned and rested his chin on his arm.
"Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot about that."
Despite their grumbling, the twins were convinced enough by the idea of target practice to decide to apply for the venue.
Meanwhile, Harry and the others continued their lively discussions about the tactical training course with their friends.
But when dinner came around that evening, the mood shifted as they noticed some older students wearing grim expressions.
Everyone grew uneasy.
"Have you heard? The tactical training course that the sixth years had this afternoon was terrifying!" Fred and George whispered to Harry and his friends, their voices low and serious.
We were just about to ask why their faces looked so pale and gloomy, as if they hadn't eaten in days.
Harry glanced over at the older students and whispered, "If you end up in the same class as them, don't say you weren't warned. You might have nightmares after what they went through."
George's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Guess what they learned in class today?"
"What?"
Several younger students leaned in, curious to hear more.
George and Fred exchanged a glance, then both cupped their hands over their mouths and said in unison, "An autopsy!"
"An autopsy? You mean they actually dissected a body?" Ron's face twisted in disbelief.
"Seriously?"
"Can it be fake?"
Fred scoffed.
"No way.
It's a real body! I heard from the sixth years that their professor took them to a special room with all kinds of dead bodies."
"Not just normal wizard bodies, either," George added. "There were creatures like trolls, vampires, and werewolves!"
"Then the professor went through each corpse one by one, explaining how they died, showing them how to recognize injuries, and even letting them do the dissections themselves," Fred continued.
Hermione shuddered and pulled back, looking uneasy.
"That's disgusting. We're still eating, can we not talk about this?"
"Why would the professor teach something like that?" she asked.
"I heard it's a required course if you want to become an Auror," Fred explained.
"Apparently, wizards who pick tactical training after fifth year are being trained as backup Aurors, so this is part of their Auror education."
"Exactly," George agreed. "Aurors often have to investigate crime scenes and gather evidence, and there's a lot you can learn from examining a corpse."
"Knowing what kind of injuries a body has can help figure out what kind of spell the killer used," Fred added with a mysterious tone.
"I heard some of the sixth years almost threw up just from looking at the bodies today."
Wizards faced all sorts of deadly ways to go-some were burned alive, others electrocuted, some killed instantly by the Killing Curse, others dissolved by powerful acid, and a few even shattered into pieces by the Exploding Curse.
"What…"
The twins' grim description made the four onlookers take a step back, visibly disturbed.
Harry even set down the half-eaten chicken leg he was holding.
"Hey, the sixth years' reactions are actually pretty much like yours," George whispered, covering his mouth to stifle a laugh.
"They say they feel like throwing up at the sight of meat now. You should see their faces, it's hilarious."
Hermione gave them a bewildered look.
"You two still have the nerve to joke about this? Don't you feel disgusted?"
"We just threw up ourselves," Fred said with a shrug.
"Come on, don't tell me you don't feel better after vomiting once."
George smirked, glancing around at the group.
"Exactly. But it can't just be us who feel that relief, otherwise, why do you think we're telling you all this in such detail?"
After witnessing the mischief of the Weasley twins, Harry and the others were so put off that they couldn't even finish their dinner.