Amidst the continuous flashes of spells, Umbridge's figure was completely obscured. Her screams echoed throughout the classroom, mingling with the incantations of the Young Wizards.
Amanda's spells followed one after another without the slightest pause. Correspondingly, the defensive spells of the other Young Wizards followed suit, one after another, not daring to stop for even a second.
A delicate balance formed between the two sides, and it was precisely within this balance that Umbridge huddled, head in her hands, ensuring her own safety.
Until the time for class to end arrived quietly. Amanda silently lowered her hand, and only then did the other Young Wizards realize with a start that their magic was nearly exhausted, their right hands holding their wands were already sore, and their foreheads were covered in beads of sweat that kept rolling down.
In contrast, Amanda remained completely relaxed, showing no signs of fatigue; there wasn't even a drop of sweat on her forehead. She merely flicked her arm casually and, acting as if nothing had happened, picked up her bag and prepared to walk out of the classroom.
Is this the gap? The Young Wizards looked at one another. At this moment, whether they were Little Eagles or Little Badgers, they couldn't help but feel a deeper sense of admiration for Amanda in their hearts.
"One person is worth as many of us combined; you really have to admire that."
"Merlin above, Headmaster Dumbledore must have been like this when he was young."
Hearing the discussions behind her, Amanda walked to the front of the classroom and turned to face the other Young Wizards.
Appropriate encouragement is conducive to better learning and improves students' motivation. Looking at the Young Wizards below with a completely expressionless face, this theory flashed through Amanda's mind.
"Everyone did very well just now. Your use and proficiency with defensive spells have improved significantly from the beginning of the class to the end."
"And you also achieved the goal of this lesson: to block my magic."
The Little Eagles and Little Badgers below, hearing Amanda's emotionless words, couldn't help but proudly puff out their chests, even though Amanda certainly hadn't been serious.
But regardless, she had praised them!
Seeming to remember something, Amanda slowly extended her right hand, gave a thumbs-up, and said the last sentence in a mechanical voice.
"Everyone did a great job. I hope you will continue to work hard in the next class."
After saying this, Amanda lowered her hand and walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Behind her, Umbridge, who was still trembling, suddenly looked up at her retreating figure.
However, there was no longer any resentment or anger in her eyes, only deep fear and cowering.
The next class, in the next class... does she have to go through this again?
Merlin knows how panicked she was just now; she couldn't even raise her wand, and she was so scared she couldn't even cast a single spell.
That Amanda's spells seemed to require no magic consumption at all, one after another without any intervals.
And her safety was entirely left in the hands of the Young Wizards below; who knew if they could ensure her safety and intercept every single spell!
Umbridge screamed inwardly; she regretted it. She regretted taking this job, regretted coming to Hogwarts, and even began to regret supporting Fudge.
But when she thought about the status and power she now possessed, and thought about her current position as deputy head of the ministry of magic, Umbridge felt there was nothing to regret.
Power—as long as it could get her power, what wouldn't be acceptable? It was just spells, after all, and that Amanda wouldn't dare to use any powerful offensive spells against her.
Didn't you see that she kept using spells like Expelliarmus and Stupefy?
There was even Aguamenti among them!
In Umbridge's view, this was a sign that the other party was wary of her position and thus didn't dare to use any other spells that would actually hurt her.
She completely ignored the "earth-shattering" commotion Amanda had caused when using these spells just now.
Not to mention anything else, even the Aguamenti that Umbridge looked down upon most could break her leg instantly if it hit her.
To comfort herself, she half-deliberately ignored this point, only blindly comforting herself that Amanda didn't dare to use any highly aggressive magic, and comforting herself that there was only one student like Amanda in the entire Hogwarts.
Regardless of what Umbridge was daydreaming about on the podium, the Little Eagles and Little Badgers filed out of the classroom. It was almost lunchtime, and they all had to hurry to the Great Hall; who would want to spend time in this classroom daydreaming with Umbridge?
By the time Amanda arrived at the Hogwarts Great Hall and sat at the Ravenclaw Table, most of the Young Wizards from other grades had already taken their seats.
As soon as she sat down between Hermione and Cho Chang, Amanda saw out of the corner of her eye that Hermione was eager to lean in.
Turning her head to look directly at Hermione, Amanda opened her mouth and asked in a flat tone, "Hermione, what's wrong?"
"How was that Defense Against the Dark Arts class just now? Did Umbridge target you?"
Hermione reached out and naturally placed the steak she had cut on her own plate onto Amanda's plate.
"The Defense Against the Dark Arts class wasn't very good," Amanda shook her head honestly. "Umbridge has no plan to actually let everyone learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, and no plan to let everyone practice. She just intends to muddle through with theory."
Frowning and then relaxing her brow, Hermione nodded in understanding. "It's understandable; Fudge and Umbridge must be trying every possible way to weaken Hogwarts."
"Yes," Amanda replied expressionlessly. "Other than that, she didn't target me."
Hearing Amanda say this, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore all breathed a sigh of relief in unison; it was fine as long as Amanda wasn't targeted.
They had originally prepared to have Umbridge targeted by all of them if Amanda was targeted.
"Additionally, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I had everyone practice Defense Against the Dark Arts using a unique and innovative method."
As she spoke, Amanda recounted what she had just guided the fifth-year Little Eagles and Little Badgers to do.
"Well done, that was so well done!"
Marietta Eckmore clapped her hands with shining eyes. Her mother worked at the Ministry of Magic and disliked Umbridge the most. Coupled with her own bad impression of Umbridge, seeing Umbridge being disciplined by Amanda made her so happy she was almost ready to "fly."
"I must write to my mother and let her know what you did. She will definitely be happy to send you a large batch of her homemade candies."
"I just did what I should have done," Amanda shook her head, indicating she hadn't done anything special. "Everyone needed to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts spells, so I did that."
"But what you did was great. Hurry up and compliment yourself."
Hermione said softly, leaning forward to kiss the corner of Amanda's lips. "Good girl, hurry up and compliment yourself so I can hear it."
Feeling the warmth and moisture on her lips, Amanda pursed her lips and said in a faint voice.
"The thing I did just now was done very well."
"That's right." Hermione nodded with satisfaction, her eyes filled with gratification as she looked at Amanda.
"Hiss..." Marietta Eckmore raised her hand to cover her cheek, feeling her gums aching slightly.
Glancing at Cho Chang next to her, she gently poked her shoulder, and the moment Cho Chang turned to look, she leaned in and kissed her.
"Mmm..."
Cho Chang was slightly stunned, then reacted, smiled gently, and cooperated softly with Marietta Eckmore.
It wasn't until their kiss ended and they were leaning against each other, panting, that they heard the conversation between Amanda and Hermione again.
While eating steak and listening to Hermione's questions, Amanda instinctively began to organize and analyze the information in her mind.
From the approximate magic power and spell strength of each Young Wizard to the number distribution required to achieve a balance between the offense and defense, or rather, for the defensive side to slightly outperform the offensive side, Amanda gave the answer in less than two seconds.
"If Hermione and the Young Wizards from other houses and other grades want to have class like this, they just need to ensure that the defensive side has two to three more people than the offensive side."
"This way, Umbridge's safety can be basically protected. After all, the number of people on the offensive side is relatively large; if their spells really hit Umbridge..."
Amanda's brain quickly evaluated and finally concluded, "It's very likely that Umbridge wouldn't need to go to the Hospital Wing or St Mungos."
Hermione nodded in understanding, while Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore on the other side looked at each other, feeling they had found the way to attend the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
With Amanda's "leading example," in just a lunchtime, the story of the best "teaching aid" for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Umbridge, had spread throughout Hogwarts.
"These annoying Young Wizards!"
Listening to the whispers below the Staff Table, Umbridge gripped the knife and fork in her hand with a fierce gaze, completely forgetting how she had been trembling in front of Amanda.
It can only be said that when she was in front of people she considered herself stronger than, her condescending attitude could not help but reveal itself again.
"Everyone must remember whether you are attacking or defending," before the fifth-year Gryffindor and Slytherin Young Wizards had their class, Hermione gathered everyone together and patiently instructed them, "We will switch roles next time."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Little Lions of Gryffindor immediately nodded in agreement, and the Little Snakes didn't raise any objections, nodding hurriedly to indicate it was fine.
So, when Umbridge walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, what she saw was a group of Little Lions and Little Snakes sitting upright, with their wands placed by their sides.
Her footsteps paused. Umbridge turned her fat body, dressed in pink, and scanned the surrounding Young Wizards.
"Put your wands away; we don't need to use those things in our class."
Although he had been warned by Hermione that she would say this, Harry still couldn't help but snap back at her. He just couldn't stand the Ministry of Magic acting like an ostrich; Voldemort had already returned, and it was one thing to bury their heads and refuse to accept it, but to interfere with others learning magic to protect themselves—wasn't that just asking for trouble?
"Yeah, if we don't even use wands, how can we protect ourselves?"
A lukewarm voice sounded; Harry looked straight at Umbridge without any fear in his eyes.
Hearing someone openly contradict her, Umbridge turned her head and glared over in anger and annoyance. Amanda wasn't here, so who was still singing the opposite tune to her, and on what grounds were they contradicting her?!
When she saw that the one contradicting her was Harry, Umbridge's face turned black.
Harry had originally been one of her targets. It was one thing that she didn't have the energy to target him now, but he actually dared to come forward himself—who did he think he was!
Did this Potter expect her to fear him the same way she feared Amanda?
Arrogantly lifting her chin, Umbridge spoke to Harry in a voice so sweet it was nauseating. "Don't say that, Mr. Potter. What do you need to protect yourselves from? The Wizarding World is so safe; who would want to harm you underage Young Wizards?"
"Hmm, let me think... perhaps, Voldemort?"
Harry pretended to think, then said the name without hesitation, successfully causing a shudder of "shock" in the classroom.
"Oh right, sorry, I forgot that your Ministry of Magic refuses to admit he has returned."
Seeing Umbridge looking like she wanted to say something, Harry quickly raised his hand and patted his forehead as if annoyed.
"Look at my memory; then I'll change the target, for example... the Ministry of Magic?"
"After all, we all need to be careful about whether the Ministry of Magic will suddenly write us a letter telling us to stand trial and then snap our wands."
"Or directly send Aurors to arrest people, so I think protecting myself from the Ministry of Magic's harm does require a certain level of practical ability in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Everyone, don't you agree?"
"That's right!"
"Yeah, we really have to guard against the Ministry of Magic."
"After all, we don't want to be suddenly arrested by Aurors and then thrown into Azkaban."
"Especially since it seems Azkaban isn't even controlled by the Ministry of Magic anymore; the Dementors were attacking in Muggle neighborhoods during the summer vacation."
The Young Wizards echoed Harry one after another. With every person who spoke, Umbridge's face turned a shade darker.
Watching Umbridge's increasingly dark face and her heaving chest, Harry clicked his tongue and turned his head to whisper to Hermione next to him.
"Hermione, won't she die of anger because of me? Her temper is too big. Also, does the law in the Wizarding World say you don't have to be responsible if you scare someone to death?"
Hearing Harry's question, Hermione turned to look at him, unable to laugh or cry, but she answered his question seriously.
"Your mouth is indeed quite sharp. If she isn't scared to death by you, she'll be pretty close to it. As for whether you need to be responsible for scaring someone to death..."
Hermione paused for a moment before continuing, "I think that not only in the Wizarding World but also in the Muggle World, there is no such regulation."
After all, saying is one thing, but no one would believe that someone could actually be scared to death. Should, there shouldn't be, right?
Turning back to look at Umbridge, whose face was flushed red and whose body in pink clothes was trembling continuously, Hermione felt a bit uncertain again.
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