Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class sparked widespread discussion among all the third-year students because, compared to the previous two teachers, Lupin provided them with an excellent experience. Even some of the "snobbish" Slytherins highly praised him. Of course, they couldn't be too obvious about it compared to the other houses. They knew their head of house had been pranked in class, and it seemed Snape and Lupin didn't have a good relationship. RochMiddle School ? Robert ㈠ ?
Avoiding offending either side was naturally the students' choice.
What did poverty or wealth matter? The Slytherins, in their pursuit of power and ambition, didn't mind being pragmatists for once. This new teacher was indeed good.
His subsequent classes were as lively and interesting as the first. After the Boggart, they studied Red Caps, unpleasant little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever blood had been spilled, in the dungeons of castles, in the holes on deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who were lost.
From Red Caps, they moved on to Kappas, creepy, water-dwelling creatures that looked like scaly monkeys with webbed hands, busy strangling unsuspecting waders in their ponds.
Since the class where "Snape" got a black eye, Snape began to target Neville even more in Potions class. He didn't even bother with Harry, whom he usually hated the most. Neville also began to resist, which made the Gryffindor students admire the little chubby boy even more. For example, several times Snape demanded Neville use his pet for experiments, and Neville immediately retorted, "I have absolute confidence in my potion. If you insist I experiment, then let me drink it myself."
All the students present could guarantee that it was the darkest Snape's face had ever been.
"Talking back to a teacher, ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said, glaring menacingly at Neville before Neville glared back.
"Why has Neville changed so much?" Ron whispered. To be honest, even though he defeated the Boggart in class, he would still be afraid if he saw a big, hairy spider now.
"Maybe the shock was too great. After all, his pet died, but the end result is good," Harry replied, his tone somewhat cheerful, happy for Neville's change and excited to see Snape discomfited.
"Neville's toad didn't die," Hermione said quietly, glancing at Snape to make sure he wasn't looking their way.
"That's great news. Then why has he changed so much now?" Ron said excitedly, but a bigger question arose. He quickly came up with a solution: "Let's ask him ourselves later."
"Yeah,"
Harry nodded, also curious about this. He had been troubled by his fear of Dementors recently, and maybe asking Neville would give him some experience.
Hermione remained silent. She felt she knew the truth, but for some reason, she didn't want to tell Harry and Ron the real reason.
After class, they both ran into a wall. Neville said he had promised someone to keep a secret, which made them even more confused because the original Neville was always submissive. Apart from some matters of principle, it was difficult to hear him refuse.
"It seems I can only find time to ask Professor Lupin again," Harry thought helplessly.
The following classes made Harry even more troubled. He had to endure Professor Trelawney's unfounded prophecies and the pitying looks of several female students. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown liked to go to Professor Trelawney's classroom during lunchtime, and when they came back, they always had an annoying sense of superiority, as if they knew something others didn't. Whenever they spoke to Harry, their voices became soft, as if he were already lying dead in bed.
Needless to say, Care of Magical Creatures was even worse. Hagrid had been downcast all the time, and his big beard looked like it hadn't been trimmed in a long time. Ron certainly wouldn't sue Hagrid, but it seemed another organization had sued Hagrid in the Wizengamot on the grounds of endangering public safety, and based on Hagrid's teaching accident, they hoped he could step down from the position of Care of Magical Creatures teacher and possibly add other judgments.
Ron secretly ran to apologize to Hagrid, but all he got in return was Hagrid's self-blame. Hagrid had now changed his teaching subjects to harmless creatures, which led to them learning how to take care of Flobberworms class after class, which was extremely boring.
Time passed quickly, and it was early October in the blink of an eye.
Harry felt he was under a lot of pressure. Their Quidditch team captain was in his seventh year this year, named Oliver Wood, a burly seventeen-year-old. He was eager to win the Quidditch Cup in his final year. Of course, even for themselves, the Gryffindor Quidditch team players longed for a trophy. They practiced extremely hard. The weather was getting colder and wetter, and the nights were getting darker; but no matter how much mud there was, whether there was wind or rain, it couldn't shake Harry's beautiful vision: their team would eventually win the huge Quidditch silver cup.
They would face Slytherin in the near future. The last battle had given them great confidence. Even seven new Nimbus 2001s were no match for their Seeker. The Gryffindor Quidditch team members were extremely confident.
Compared to the confident Gryffindor, the Slytherin side seemed gloomy. Malfoy was annoyed by Pansy, who kept chanting things like "One must be true to one's word," and said that Malfoy had taught her all this, which reminded Malfoy that he seemed to have made some promises.
"I will help you once," Malfoy said. "But only in Slytherin's last game this year. This time, I guarantee you will get the trophy, and you will participate in my special training after Christmas."
"Didn't you say you would play in person?" Pansy was a little dissatisfied. She remembered that he hadn't said that before.
"Compared to you, who have participated in a lot of training, isn't your confidence in yourself not as strong as mine, an outsider?" Malfoy retorted.
Pansy was speechless.
"In addition, this tactic can only work once. In the coming years, I hope you can truly rely on your own strength," Malfoy finally gave the team members a preventive shot.
The Slytherin students still trusted Malfoy very much. In all aspects, he had enough capital and prestige to serve as the leader of the house today, regardless of age. Strength and attitude were the best proof, which made the players look forward to his method that could only work once.
"Start practicing," Malfoy stood on the field and commanded. "If anyone completely relies on me and is lazy, I will choose to give up."
So, the intensity of Slytherin's training not only did not decrease but increased, and the team members' morale was also boosted. (To be continued.)
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