A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

"You mean Lockhart is attributing other people's deeds to himself?" Hermione asked, looking shocked.

"Keep your voice down!" Ron said.

After dinner, the three of them huddled in a corner of the common room and discussed things quietly.

Ron rummaged through his bag and pulled out three pieces of parchment. "Take a look, Hermione."

The little witch immediately took it and buried herself in reading.

After a long pause, she looked up and stammered, "How is that possible? This is impossible! I mean, how did Lockhart manage to get someone to sell him the story?"

Harry suddenly said, "It might not have been sold to him; it could have been stolen from him."

Ron and Hermione stared at him, stunned. There was so much hidden behind this guess.

Thursday arrived in the blink of an eye.

The hall was redecorated, and the square, gilded stage in the center was crowded with young wizards.

When Felix and Snape appeared together and stood in the center of the stage, the young wizards had mixed feelings, a mixture of surprise and regret.

"Professor Snape?" Felix glanced at him on stage.

Snape shook his head expressionlessly, so Felix stepped forward, tapped himself with his wand, and said, "Quiet, young wizards—"

"Our class will begin soon."

Felix spun around in place, and wherever his gaze fell, the crowd fell silent.

"Before we begin, there are a few things that need to be explained in advance."

Felix's gaze was calm as his voice rang in the ears of every young wizard, "First, Professor Lockhart, who was originally in charge of the dueling course, has generously entrusted the course to me due to his busy personal affairs, giving me full authority over it;"

The young wizards whispered among themselves. "I don't think so," Dean Thomas said to Neville beside him. "If you ask me, Lockhart is even more confused this semester. He even forgets his lines in acting class."

"I think he's been under too much pressure these past few days. I'm like that sometimes too; my mind goes blank when I'm nervous," Neville said softly.

"To be honest, I was quite surprised that no Auror suddenly rushed in and took him away."

After a brief pause, Felix continued, "Secondly, Professor Snape will serve as a guest professor, providing guidance and advice throughout our dueling course."

The murmurs from the audience grew louder.

"—As for the third point, it concerns the Duel Course itself. After discussing it with Professor Snape, we agreed that the time and format of the course should be fixed. Therefore, from now on, our course will be held every two weeks, at 8 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month."

After the young wizards had processed this information, Felix waved his wand, and the ceiling of the Great Hall darkened. At the same time, a milky white light, like an inverted bowl, enveloped the stage and the figures of the young wizards.

The cacophony of voices seemed to blend into the open wilderness, becoming low and inaudible.

"Now, let's begin class."

Felix reached out his hand to Snape, extending an invitation.

In a solemn silence, Snape said in his characteristically calm tone, "Wizard duels are a long-standing tradition. Over time, after removing some of the bloody and barbaric rules, we have tamed it in a cage, making duels a means of showcasing the wizard's own charm."

Many young wizards noticed that Professor Snape's voice had a strange charm boost in this environment.

Ron whispered, "I've always thought Snape had a talent for telling ghost stories."

"What did you say?" Hermione tilted her head. But then she was surprised to find that her voice had become muffled and low.

"It's the magic," Harry said, but the other two could only see his lips.

"But the foundation of dueling remains. Many people spend their entire lives understanding dueling as nothing more than foolishly waving wands like trolls, competing in the strength of magic and the pitch of their voices," Snape said, his gaze falling on the young wizards of Gryffindor, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"But dueling itself is a sophisticated art, and if you're willing to spend even a little time, you'll realize that the World Wizarding Tournament publishes instructional books on the subject every few years."

Snape unusually explained his views on dueling today, and although his words left the young wizards confused, they could sense his respect for dueling.

Halfway through his speech, Snape couldn't resist making a veiled dig at a certain professor, saying, "Although Hogwarts doesn't have the same tradition of focusing on dueling and combat magic as Durmstrang, much of that content is already included in a course."

Snape gently raised his wand, his eyes fixed stiffly ahead, and squeezed out a few words through his teeth, "Yes, Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But this course has never played its due role over the years, which has resulted in some students lacking even the most basic ability to judge danger."

In the solemn and oppressive atmosphere, many young wizards felt as if they had returned to their Potions class.

This professor always had the ability to single-handedly bring the atmosphere around him under his control.

Next, Felix clapped his hands to draw the young wizards' attention to him.

"Today's lesson is on the Disarming Charm. We already saw its effect in the first dueling lesson; it's a very useful charm."

Felix listed some advantages of the Disarming Charm: "It's easy to learn, highly effective, and low-risk, so it's suitable for both daily practice and formal duels."

"Does anyone possess this magic?"

A few arms were raised, mostly by older junior wizards. "The proportion is much lower than I expected," Felix shook his head.

He called over a seventh-year Gryffindor student.

"Professor Hyp, my name is Albert Balk," the student with acne on his face said excitedly. "I'm preparing to apply to the Ministry of Magic as an Auror, and I've been preparing for it for two years."

Felix understood.

At Felix's prompting, Balk waved his wand and shouted, "Disarm!" A red spell ripped through the air, casting a standard disarming spell.

Next, Felix explained in detail how to learn the Disarming Charm, using Balk as a "teaching tool" to have him try the spell repeatedly, and pointing out the key points.

Through his demonstration, many young wizards gained a basic understanding of the spell.

"Next—"

Felix waved his wand, and hundreds of parchments flew out of a briefcase in the corner, landing precisely in front of each young wizard.

Harry nimbly grabbed a sheet, and looking at the dense descriptions and spellcasting techniques on it, his scalp tingled.

He looked at the stage, and Professor Hyp said calmly, "I don't think you can learn a spell in just two hours. In fact, I would be surprised if there were ten successful examples."

"The contents of this parchment are for your homework and reference. I will explain how to use it later."

"Now, let's begin the formal practice."