69novels Page 20
Page 20
Just hearing the name is enough to inspire aspiring wizards.
Looking back at the main courses taken in the first week,
Transfiguration is too obscure and difficult, which is the biggest headache for young wizards.
The Charms class only taught a simple Illumination Charm, which was completely uninteresting;
Herbalism is somewhat interesting, but it's too tiring and always leaves you covered in dirt;
History of Magic was a course I took purely to catch up on sleep;
No one likes Potions class except Slytherin.
At this point, only Defense Against the Dark Arts and Flight are still worth looking forward to.
Flight lessons are practically equivalent to physical education for Muggles, so it's no surprise they're popular.
The popularity of Defense Against the Dark Arts class stems from its division into two parts: Dark Arts and defense.
Black magic, though terrifying, also signifies immense power.
Defense means confrontation.
It's perfectly normal for children to crave power and the desire to defeat others in battle.
But Levin knew very well that this semester's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was likely to be disappointing.
"Let's not get our hopes up," Steve whispered on the way to class. "I heard from Hufflepuff that Professor Quirrell's teaching is only slightly better than Professor Binns'."
Generally speaking, the proud Ravenclaws rarely make friends with junior wizards from other houses.
The only exception is Hufflepuff.
The two colleges have a surprisingly good relationship.
Ravenclaws with several cubs as friends, like Levin, are actually exceptions.
Upon hearing his words, the young wizards around him couldn't help but gasp.
If an ordinary "person" were to attend the class, the results would be better than if Professor Binns were to attend.
Professor Quirrell was even rated by the least picky little badger as only slightly better than the hypnotist Professor Binns. How bad must he be?
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Chapter 22 The Curse of Defense Against the Dark Arts
When it comes to classroom knowledge, most of the young wizards are drowsy.
But when it comes to gossip, everyone suddenly becomes wide awake.
Ron added excitedly, "George and Freddie told me that the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is unlucky!"
This lesson was taught by Ravenclaw and Gryffindor together, so he ended up with Levin and the others.
These kinds of supernatural and mysterious things are the easiest to pique people's interest, so Steve immediately pressed for more details.
Even the simple-minded Neville came over to listen in.
Seeing how popular his news was, Ron became smug:
"I've only heard about it. It's said that this position is very cursed. In the last thirty years, every Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has had an accident within a year. No one has been able to teach for more than a year! Some have even died in office. People say that this position has been cursed by a mysterious person!"
As Ron spoke, the surroundings immediately fell silent; even the young wizards who had been chatting nearby shut their mouths.
Levin looked around.
Goodness, everyone's straining their ears to listen!
The mere mention of the keywords "mysterious person," "death," and "curse" immediately sparked a heated discussion.
Some people have already started betting on whether Quirrell can continue teaching until next year.
Hermione clearly disagreed: "This isn't mentioned in 'Hogwarts: A History'!"
Levin smiled and said, "Books can only be used as a reference. The contents of books may not be true. Even Newton's three laws of physics were later overturned."
He paused, then analyzed:
"However, I do think this is true, because in the last thirty years, the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts has indeed changed every year."
"You can find out about this by just asking any senior student."
Levin spoke with such certainty that Hermione began to believe him, and asked curiously, "Even Dumbledore can't break this curse?"
"I'm afraid that's the case, otherwise Dumbledore would have solved this problem long ago. Recruiting new professors every year—anyone who didn't know better would think Hogwarts was eating a professor every year!"
In fact, as far as Levin knew, this curse was more terrifying than he had imagined.
Those who were once Defense Against the Dark Arts professors didn't all end up well.
Those who resigned voluntarily due to unforeseen circumstances are better off.
Some unfortunate individuals are unable to teach due to various accidents, and quite a few end up being admitted to St. Mungo's Hospital.
This has directly led to the job's reputation being ruined, making it very difficult to recruit people.
But that's not the scariest part.
The curse reached its most terrifying extent after Harry Potter enrolled in school:
Looking at the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who taught Harry Potter,
Aside from Quirrell and Lockhart, who died or went insane during their teaching careers, Lupin, Moody, and Snape, the three teachers who "peacefully" survived their teaching terms, also died in the seventh book...
Even Voldemort himself died!
Voldemort: I'm so horrified of myself when I curse people!
The only one who fared slightly better was Umbridge, the pink toad; she didn't die, but instead went to Azkaban.
……
As expected, Professor Quirrell greatly disappointed the young wizards after class began.
As a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirinus Quirrell was anything but dignified; he was sleazy, wore a ridiculous purple turban, and reeked of garlic.
Even when he speaks, he stutters:
"H-Hello everyone, I-I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell..."
Based on Levin's understanding of him, Quirrell wasn't actually teaching at Hogwarts for the first time.
He was once a respectable Ravenclaw graduate who taught Muggle studies at Hogwarts.
But his dream was to become a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
His theoretical knowledge was very solid, but the Defense Against the Dark Arts class valued practical application more, so he applied to go out and gain experience in defense against the dark arts.
To put it bluntly, it's about finding some evil creatures and dark wizards to practice on.
Little did they know, this practice would lead them to the Dark Forest of Albania, where they would encounter Voldemort, the leader of the dark wizards.
Incidentally, Voldemort cursed the position because he failed to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Now that he has possessed Quirrell and infiltrated Hogwarts to become a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, it can be considered a dream come true.
In the first lesson, Professor Quirrell will talk about how to deal with ghouls.
To be honest, the ghouls in the Harry Potter world are utterly pathetic compared to their counterparts in all other worlds.
They do not paralyze the enemy through attacks.
They won't cut down trees or eat corpses to recover health.
They couldn't even calculate what 1000-7 equals.
These poor creatures, though they look fierce, are actually just roaming in the attic or barn of a wizard's house, feeding on spiders and moths.
For this reason, many wizards even keep ghouls as pets.
Ron's family has one, and it starts banging on the pipes whenever it feels the house is too quiet.
Levin didn't understand why such a low-risk creature would appear in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Or rather, Levin fundamentally questioned the philosophy of Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The so-called defense against dark magic, while claiming to protect against dark magic, is actually all about how to resist dark creatures.
There was not a single word about the truly dangerous dark wizards and dark magic.
What kind of dark magic can this defend against?
In fact, Levin even had doubts about the definition of "black magic."
The definition of Dark Magic in the Harry Potter world is quite vague; it seems that all spells that can harm others are Dark Magic.
But that's not right either.
If used properly, [portraits of Ming dynasty figures still hang on the walls of St. Mungo's Hospital].
Some say that using black magic requires harboring malice.
However, a person's character inherently contains both good and evil. To demand that a person only use white magic and not black magic is equivalent to demanding that a person's heart contain only good and no evil, which is completely unrealistic.
In Levin's view, black magic is just one kind of power, and its existence is justified; it is worth studying as long as it is appropriate.
To expect that banning dark magic will turn everyone in the wizarding world into saints, as Dumbledore did, is nothing more than wishful thinking driven by moral fastidiousness.
If things continue to develop this way, it will only lead to stagnation and backwardness in the magical world.
In fact, the wizarding world in the Harry Potter universe has been stagnant for a long time.
Their so-called "International Confederation of Wizards Secrecy Law" does not protect Muggles, but rather wizards themselves.
Levin, who possesses memories of his past life, is well aware of how far Muggle technology will develop in the coming decades.
As a wizard capable of casting spells, his stance naturally leans towards the wizarding community.
After taking this lesson, he understood that Hogwarts was so evasive even when teaching a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and dared not teach any real dark magic. If the wizarding world continued to develop like this, it would cause big problems sooner or later.
Levin quickly understood why Hufflepuff said Professor Quirrell was even inferior to Professor Binns.