"Good morning, everyone."
Tver walked into a large classroom right on time. The students inside were already there, waiting with eager anticipation.
"It is morning, sure. Whether it's a good one is another question."
Ever since he had failed to ask Fleur to the Yule Ball, Davies had somehow developed a talent for speaking in that oddly snide, backhanded way. He even seemed a little affected now, with no concern at all for the fact that Fleur was standing not far away.
If he had not once been the brave and fierce Ravenclaw Quidditch captain on the pitch, people might have thought he had come back from Thailand.
"Ahem." Tver cleared his throat and looked over the students in front of him.
Today was not an ordinary class, but the first event of the school year for his Defence Against the Dark Arts Club.
Last year's seventh-years, Percy's group, had all graduated, but they had been replaced by this year's fifth-years, along with some curious students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
As a result, he had no choice but to find a larger classroom to fit the unexpectedly high number of students.
"Considering that I'm competing this year myself, and that all of you also need to watch the Triwizard Tournament, the club activities had to be delayed until now."
At that, not just Davies but the other students as well curled their lips in disdain at the professor's terrible excuse.
"So, it seems none of you like club activities? I was even planning to teach you a very fun bit of magic today..." Tver shook his head with exaggerated regret.
"Since you don't like it, I suppose I'll just save it for the younger students instead."
[...]
The students stared at their clowning professor in speechless disbelief.
Was it the club activity they disliked?
What they disliked was obviously the professor slacking off!
"Come on, Professor, we Weasley brothers aren't like them. We'll always support you!" George suddenly shouted.
Fred was dragged into it too and nodded along at once.
"That's right. Since they don't like it, Professor can just teach us in secret!"
Davies and Cedric immediately punched each of the twins once. "Bastards! I knew you two had bad intentions when you told me to give the professor some snide remarks!"
"All right, all right," Tver said quickly, verbally rescuing the Weasley twins. "Since everyone's been waiting so long, I'll get straight to teaching you that magic!"
The students' attention immediately snapped back to him, and Davies and the others stopped messing around.
"But before that, let's go over what we learned in the club last year..."
Before Tver could even finish, a student blurted out excitedly, "The Riddikulus Spell!"
Faced with the puzzled looks of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, the Hogwarts students instantly exchanged smug grins.
Even the students who had not had a chance to join the club last year knew more about this spell than the students from the other two schools.
"What is the Riddikulus Spell?" Viktor asked at once.
"It's a spell the professor led us in inventing. We improved the spell used on Boggarts so it could be used on wizards too!" a Hogwarts student said loudly, unable to hold back their pride.
"Exactly. We successfully broadened the spell's range of application." Tver pointed approvingly at the proud Hogwarts student.
"Although many of you still can't overcome a wizard's own magical resistance and cast the spell completely."
"It still added a bold and important stroke to the magical world's exploration of magical theory."
"But what we're using today... is not that spell."
A number of students immediately looked disappointed.
Even if they could not cast it fully, changing one or two pieces of clothing was still possible.
For example, turning Davies's trousers into a skirt, or making Fleur's skirt shorter...
Tver ignored the students' ill-intentioned thoughts and went on calmly. "...What we'll be using is what we learned from that spell."
"We learned something else?" George blinked. "Then how come we don't know about it?"
"...Because it's something you've already learned, but haven't realized yet!"
Tver shot him an annoyed glare, stopping him before he could say anything else.
"What the Riddikulus Spell really requires is control at the level of willpower. And clearly, after last year's practice, you've already achieved pretty good results in that area."
"Of course, those of you who haven't practiced it don't need to worry." He reassured the somewhat anxious fifth-years and the students from the other two schools.
"They haven't improved that much, really. They're only a little better than you. Otherwise, they wouldn't still be using the Riddikulus Spell for such low-grade ideas."
[...]
After taking a jab at them, Tver's mood immediately improved.
"So today, we're going to use willpower, even the soul itself, to play with something that demands even stronger control and can train every part of you apart from the body!"
Under their eager gazes, Tver drew his wand, pressed it to his temple, and pulled.
"That is... Imp Magic!"
A cute little imp with fiery red hair and snow-white skin immediately flew out of the tip of his wand.
The only strange thing was that the imp's face looked rather ridiculous...
The students were instantly drawn in by that bizarrely captivating expression. There was something frivolous, cheerful, and oddly suggestive about it that made it impossible to look away.
"See?" Tver looked at the imp with some nostalgia. It was his first time using an expression meme from his previous life in this world.
"You've already seen quite a few imps before, but those all reflected the appearance of the soul itself."
"This, however, is a change you can impose on an imp once your control has improved!"
"But we don't even know how to use Imp Magic!" This time Davies was the first to speak.
"You're right. So today, I'll first teach you how to create your own imp!"
Tver waved his wand, and a deep blue glow slowly flowed out from it. Centered on him, it spread gently but firmly through the entire classroom.
"This is magic that enhances your perception. Within it, you'll find it much easier to sense changes in your own magic and soul."
"And next, the first thing you need to do is split off a thread of your soul power!"