Hogwarts and the Atypical Wizard

The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year began at ten o'clock on Thursday.

Professor Fauci Gutierrez, with a serious look on his face, arrived in the classroom five minutes before class started.

Comparing him to Dumbledore, Sainz judged that he was about ninety years old.

As he came in, he attracted everyone's attention, and the noisy buzz in the classroom gradually faded away.

Sainz noticed that the old man was dressed very neatly, whether it was his shirt, pants, or wizard robe, all his clothes were very neat, without a single wrinkle or disorder.

His hair and beard were gray, but he kept them neat and tidy without a single mess.

It can be seen that Professor Gutierrez is a self-disciplined and rigorous person.

Usually, self-disciplined people also hate others procrastinating. Even if they don’t say it, they probably don’t like it in their hearts.

Fortunately, everyone had already known from other channels that he was not someone to be trifled with, so no one was late.

As soon as the bell rang, the old professor looked up from his book, looked calmly at everyone in the classroom, and spoke steadily, his voice sounding like the host of the animal world on TV.

“My name is Fauzi Gutierrez. I will be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, and I don’t want anyone to be late or leave early.

In view of this, I now need to know who all of you are, and I will start calling the roll..."

After calling the roll, he continued, “Before school started, I went to St. Mungo’s and talked to Rosario, and he told me about your situation.

I have to admit that although he is sometimes a little too indulgent to his students, the course settings are still reasonable.

Last year you were more focused on recording the knowledge that needed to be memorized, but Defense Against the Dark Arts cannot be learned by just memorizing.

This year, it's time for you to get in touch with something truly dangerous instead of memorizing the dangers of hairy crabs.

Let us face this aspect directly.

So, can someone tell me what a fire ash snake is?"

Perhaps the professor's serious attitude frightened the little wizards in the class, or perhaps for some other reason, the little wizards were silent and no one responded.

Sainz saw that no one answered and raised his hand.

"You are... Autumn?...Okay, you tell me!"

"Professor, the Fire Ash Snake is a snake that was born from a long-burning magical flame. It has a thin, grayish-white body and glowing red eyes. If the eggs it produces are not handled in time, they will set a house on fire within a few minutes!"

"Very good, five points for Hufflepuff!"

His classmate Adam looked at him with admiration, as if he had not just answered a question but had gone through an extreme adventure.

“Yes, just as Autumn said, the Fire Ash Snake will be born in any magic fire that burns for a long time.

Now I need all of you to stand up and move away from your desks!"

All the students quickly left their seats and stood in the aisle between the desks.

Professor Gutierrez waved his magic wand, and all the tables, chairs and benches were neatly arranged against the walls on both sides, leaving only one bench in the middle of the classroom.

"Now, everyone stand in a circle around me." The professor carried his teaching aids, a cabinet the size of a 20-liter bucket of purified water, and walked to the stool in the middle of the classroom and stood there.

Seeing that everyone could see him, he continued, "The life span of the fire ash snake is very short. From their birth to turning into dust, it takes no more than an hour. During this hour, they will find a dark and shady place to lay their eggs.

After laying eggs, their bodies will be broken into pieces and turned into ashes.

Others, as Autumn said, these eggs will ignite the objects around them within a few minutes.

Today I have a pot of magic fire that has been burning for a long time.

Does anyone know what the magic fire means? "

This time, without waiting for others to respond, Sainz answered directly, "The magic fire here refers to the flame with magical substances added."

"Yes, any fire that has magic substances added to it can be called magic fire, and it is the soil for the birth of the Fire Ash Snake."

As the professor spoke, he opened the cabinet door and took out a copper basin burning with emerald flames.

“Can anyone tell what’s been added here?”

"Is it Floo powder, Professor?" one of the students asked uncertainly.

"Yes, in addition to the wood, I added a sufficient amount of Floo powder to this fire pot. It has been burning since last night. It fully meets the conditions for the birth of the Fire Ash Snake."

Although Professor Gutierrez was meticulous in what he said and did, he didn't seem to be that difficult to deal with. It was just that he seemed to be the same as Professor McGonagall and hardly ever smiled.

He waved his wand and made the brazier on the ground float up. He walked around in a circle to show everyone, tumbling the wood in the brazier as he walked so that everyone could see it clearly.

Returning to the center of the classroom, he conjured up a piece of black cloth and covered the stool that had been left there specially.

"I'm going to put out the fire now, everyone pay attention!"

He placed the copper basin near the stool covered with black cloth and waved his hand to extinguish the green flame.

It cannot be said that the fire was completely extinguished, as there was still the smoldering red glow of charcoal in the copper basin.

Everyone stared at the basin in the middle of the classroom until the red light inside it gradually dimmed.

A few minutes later, the ashes in the basin suddenly moved, and the next moment, two slender figures swam out from the hot embers.

"Ah, there really are!" "Look! They're coming out!" "There are actually two of them!" "Oh no, they ran too fast, I couldn't see clearly!" "Where did they run to?" "Under the black cloth!"

"You are lucky. There are two fish in this basin!" The professor lifted the black cloth covering the stool, caught one from underneath, and showed it to the students.

It turned out that the professor had been wearing dragon-skin gloves at some point.

Just as Sainz said, it was no thicker than a pen, but two feet long. Its body was gray as ash, but it had a pair of eyes as red as charcoal.

After about ten minutes, the professor tied the thin snake to one side and lifted the black cloth covering the stool.

Sure enough, the other fire ash snake had disappeared, leaving behind seven or eight oval eggs under the stool, which were dazzlingly red, like rubies under the light, or like burning charcoal.

The surface of the four legs of the stool has begun to carbonize due to the heat. I believe that if it is not treated properly, it will inevitably burn.

Professor Gutierrez picked up a few and placed them on dragon-skin gloves, then showed them to the students up close. When they got closer, everyone could feel the heat coming towards them.

Sainz felt sorry, "It's a pity that these eggs have a very short lifespan, otherwise they could be made into hand warmers, wouldn't it be so cute!"

After a while, the few eggs that the professor deliberately left under the stool finally ignited the stool legs, and the fire was so fierce that it spread to the entire stool at an unnatural speed.

The students were shocked by the speed. Apparently this was what the professor wanted.

“You have already seen the harm that these fire eggs can cause if not dealt with in time. Now let’s talk about how to deal with them.

If you see a fire ash snake and you have no other interests, just step on it to death."

As he said this, he stomped on the snake's head that was tied to the ground and flattened it. It twisted and turned into a gray trail.

"As for the Fire Ash Snake's eggs, does anyone know how to deal with them?"