Although an entire holiday had passed, and Snape had finally gotten his wish to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, it still didn't seem to change the man standing before them, Severus Snape, who radiated gloom from head to toe.
At the very least, there wasn't the slightest hint of a smile on his face, as though becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had never been his long-cherished goal at all.
Or perhaps Snape simply had no desire to look at the foolish young wizards sitting below him...
Standing at the front of the classroom, Snape swept his pitch-black eyes across the upturned faces before him. Draco noticed that Snape's gaze lingered on Harry Potter a little longer than it did on anyone else.
The moment Draco looked away, that cold, cutting voice rang out.
"I have not yet told you to take out your books."
At those words, Hermione, who had already taken hers out, silently put it away again.
"Before that, I have something to say to you... and I expect your full attention."
That last part had clearly been added only after Snape noticed Harry Potter looking somewhat distracted.
What made Snape's expression darken, however, was that Harry Potter didn't seem to realize it at all. He simply kept his head lowered, lost in his own thoughts.
Draco saw Snape frown once, then step down from the platform and begin stalking around the classroom. His gloomy voice made it clear exactly how bad his mood was.
"To date, this course has already had five professors."
That sentence sounded like a declaration to everyone present that he, Snape, would absolutely not be the next one.
He was confident he would keep this position for a long time.
His calm tone made it sound as though he were merely stating a fact that was bound to come true.
And just as everyone began wondering where that confidence came from, Snape let out a cold laugh.
"Needless to say, all of those professors had their own teaching methods and areas of focus. Under such chaotic circumstances, I am surprised that so many of you still managed to scrape through your O.W.L.s in this subject."
"..."
The young wizards stared at him in shock. It was the first time they had ever heard words that could be considered praise come out of the Black Bat's mouth, instead of the sort of venom that made you want to cry.
Though, being Snape-style praise, it wasn't exactly obvious.
Noticing the strange looks on their faces, Snape offered no explanation and instead moved on.
"Dark magic is varied, wide-ranging, ever-changing, and endless."
"To fight it is like fighting a many-headed monster. Cut off one head, and the next moment another grows back at once, even fiercer and more cunning than the last."
It was hard to imagine Snape saying so much in one go.
Compared with talking people into understanding or teaching them through words, this Black Bat much preferred using knowledge to toy with foolish students, trying to make them aware of the ignorance in their own heads through sheer sarcasm...
Once he saw that everyone's attention had been drawn in, Snape gave his wand a sharp flourish.
"So what you are about to face is a kind of magic that is unpredictable and indestructible!!"
The young wizards below parted their lips slightly.
They didn't know whether to agree or argue, because in Snape's words they sensed something elusive, a powerful conviction that, at their current age, they simply could not grasp.
Snape believed in powerful dark magic.
And he loved these dangerous dark arts.
Draco, who understood that all too well, murmured under his breath, "Rather than treating dark magic as something dangerous, does our Professor Snape actually want us to face it and understand it?"
But...
Draco glanced around at the students from the other houses, especially toward the area where Harry Potter sat.
But, Professor, your dear Mr. Potter doesn't seem to agree with that in the slightest...
...
If this had not been a N.E.W.T.s Advanced Class, and if these young wizards were not long past being hot-blooded first-years, then perhaps the air around them would not have remained so silent and still the moment Snape said those words.
Even Harry Potter merely fixed Snape with a deeply disapproving stare...
"Therefore, your methods of resisting dark magic."
Snape raised his voice slightly.
"Must be as flexible, as changeable, and as inventive as the dark magic you are fighting. And those murals your ignorance-filled eyes are looking at..."
As he pointed toward the wall, Snape still found time to lace his lecture with a few barbs.
Walking along, he casually indicated several of the paintings.
"They vividly depict the condition of the victims, for example... the Cruciatus Curse!"
Following the line of his finger, they saw a witch screaming in agony.
The artistry was so accomplished that anyone who looked at her could almost hear her cries and feel the despair in them.
The next moment, Snape pointed at another mural.
"The Dementor's Kiss, or an attack by an Inferius!"
Only after Snape's explanation did everyone understand what kind of attacks were being shown in those paintings.
The murals gave a striking record of the effects of being hit by dark magic, and the scenes it created...
In contrast to the shock on the faces of the students around them, Pansy looked utterly bored, absently playing with Draco's fingers.
One moment, her little hand was pressed against his palm.
The next, she was studying the lines on his hand and the length of his fingers.
The sweet, almost silly look on her face made it seem as though Draco's hand were the most interesting toy in the world.
And Pansy, who kept letting out the occasional foolish little giggle, was undoubtedly one of the strangest people in the classroom.
Just last night, when she had parted from Draco, she had looked pitiful and wronged, like a little animal about to be abandoned by its master.
But now she was brimming with energy again, as though she had just replenished herself with some mysterious power from Draco...
Just as Pansy began taking an interest in Draco's fingernails, his hoarse voice drifted into her ear.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
That rough voice made her heart suddenly beat faster, as if someone were brushing the tip of her heart with a feather. The odd sensation made her feel strangely unsettled.
Tightening her hand a little, Pansy tipped her head up. Her faintly pink eyes turned toward Draco's profile.
"Strange?"
"These murals feel like they're reminding everyone... what kind of methods the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters under him would use against you."
"You mean..."
"No. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Besides, knowing a little more is never a bad thing."
Draco's gaze followed the black robes swaying behind Snape.
An Inferius...