#18 - Section 18

"Do not go where you shouldn't, do not covet what isn't yours, but you are the exact opposite."

Achievement Goal: Steal an item without being noticed by anyone (100/100)

Achievement Reward: A random Dark Arts spell

Completing three achievements in one go, plus the night wandering one, that's four achievements today. I've only been at Hogwarts for two short days, and there's so much to do.

As the information was accepted by Ethan, he also understood the effects of these three spells.

First is the ancient magic, a magic from the early Middle Ages when the Vikings ravaged the Baltic Sea coast: Mjolnir!

The ability is simple and crude, smashing the opponent with a lightning hammer. It has a wide range, large area, and strong power, but it also consumes a lot of magic power. When accepting the message, he also gained some knowledge of ancient runes.

The remaining two spells are not so satisfactory.

Mark Manifestation can be ignited on an object, burning out the desired shape, for marking or attacking purposes.

Sprout Curse, a type of curse, is cast silently, but requires a part of the opponent's body tissue, such as hair or skin fragments. After casting, a tumor will grow on the opponent's body, and the tumor will absorb magic power and grow extremely fast, until it drains the wizard dry.

Chapter 33: Defense Against the Dark Arts (Seeking Flowers and Reviews)

"Ethan, wake up!"

Terry looked at Ethan, who was still lying in bed today, a little puzzled.

He went to flirt with the upperclassmen early yesterday, but he's not going today?

"Ah! I know!"

Ethan mumbled in response, then struggled to open his eyes.

He had returned to the dormitory at five o'clock yesterday, and it was only just eight o'clock now. He couldn't get enough rest in such a short time.

It's better not to sleep at all. Sleeping for such a short time makes him even more tired now.

"What did you do last night?"

Jean looked at Ethan, who was listless, and asked curiously.

"Nothing, I had insomnia!"

Ethan made up a reason casually. He couldn't possibly say that he went night wandering, stole the collection of Hogwarts students accumulated over thousands of years, and finally went to the potions classroom to get a textbook of 'Advanced Potion Making'.

Although Ethan already had this book, Snape's version had many of his own corrections to the textbook content, and it also recorded several dark magic spells.

At that time, he thought that since he had already taken so many things, it wouldn't matter if he took one from Snape, so he went there on a whim, which could be considered taking a chance away from Harry.

"The class later is Defense Against the Dark Arts. I heard from the upperclassmen that the teacher for this class changes every year, and some of them have accidents before they can even finish the year. I don't know if it's true."

Ethan went to wash up, and Terry and the others chatted aside. He was talkative and very outgoing. Yesterday, he chatted with a more talkative upperclassman for a long time and learned a lot of gossip.

"It's true. I also heard that the Dark Lord cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

Jean nodded, affirming Terry's statement. He came from a wizarding family and lived in a wizarding community, so he knew some information.

"If that's the case, I don't know why Professor Quirrell would think of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was originally teaching Muggle Studies."

This was also what the upperclassman told Terry. At that time, the upperclassman looked regretful.

Quirrell was also a Ravenclaw, and although Muggle Studies was an elective, not many people took it, but Quirrell taught it well and had some popularity in Ravenclaw.

Quirrell's class, huh!

Ethan, who had returned after washing up, shook his head. This stuff was a complete waste of time. To say that Quirrell's level was good, but he couldn't teach, and he couldn't teach.

It felt like Dumbledore's brain was fried, and none of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors he found were normal. Even if Lupin taught some things, his identity was a werewolf, so he was destined not to teach for long.

The importance of this class is even above Potions and Herbology, on par with Transfiguration and Charms. It is completely related to wizards' ability to protect themselves, especially for those half-bloods or Muggle-born wizards.

In fact, he could completely stop the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and open another class, called 'Self-Defense' or something, so that he could get rid of the reputation that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was expendable, and recruit a normal professor.

Dumbledore should take the blame for those Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who cooled down or were crippled because of this, as well as the little wizards who didn't learn anything, who made him the headmaster.

……

"Is upperclassman Penelope waiting for me to go to breakfast together?"

Following his roommates to the common room, Ethan saw Penelope at a glance and immediately greeted her with a smile.

At this time, the common room was even more crowded than it was at seven o'clock in the morning yesterday, but most of them were upperclassmen, that is, fifth, sixth, and seventh years.

Although the lower-grade Ravenclaw little wizards were eager to learn, they hadn't reached that level of competition yet. Only the little wizards facing two exams could be forced to do so under pressure.

"That's right, I'm waiting for you, and I've been waiting for a long time, but you don't seem to be awake yet!"

Penelope didn't show any shyness or retreat, but instead took a step forward and sized up Ethan.

"Confess honestly, what did you do last night?"

"I am the prefect of Ravenclaw, responsible for managing and supervising you. If I catch you doing bad things, hehe!"

On the spiral staircase, Penelope put on the appearance of a strict upperclassman.

"I really had insomnia. What bad things can I do?"

Ethan spread his hands, making an innocent look.

"Okay, don't let me catch you!"

Penelope threatened through gritted teeth.

The three roommates were hanging behind, whispering to each other. They didn't dare to go forward at all. Penelope was a prefect, and she usually looked serious and earnest. They didn't dare to talk and laugh with her like Ethan.

After eating breakfast in the Great Hall, Penelope also had to go to Ancient Runes class. Although she didn't choose all the subjects like Hermione, she was almost there. She only gave up Divination and Arithmancy, which she wasn't interested in and didn't help much, so her schedule was quite full.

……

"Did you smell something?"

"Garlic, I smell garlic, and it's very strong!"

At the entrance of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Terry said to Jean with certainty.

His family still liked to eat garlic, but they wouldn't make the house smell so strongly of garlic.

Walking into the classroom, Ethan could clearly see that some of the students who had already arrived had rather unpleasant expressions.

"Bubblehead Charm!"

Ethan pointed his wand at his head, and immediately a large bubble enveloped Ethan's head, making it look like a fishbowl had been placed over it.

Now that was comfortable; Ethan understood the joy of the Celestials.

The Bubblehead Charm, a simple and practical little charm, Ethan had learned while flipping through books. It was originally used for going underwater, but it could also isolate the surrounding foul air. However, if someone had bad breath, the air in the bubble would become unbreathable after thirty minutes.

"Give me one!"

Michael, who was usually very quiet, couldn't hold back and directly asked Ethan.

Ethan naturally wouldn't refuse and cast the Bubblehead Charm on each of them.

Soon, the Hufflepuff badgers and the Gryffindor lions couldn't stand it either, lining up for Ethan to cast the Bubblehead Charm on them.

Later, even the Slytherins came over. This class was an hour long, and they didn't want to endure such a long time.

They even found a good reason for themselves: it wasn't that the Slytherins were asking the other houses for help, but that they were trying to fit in.

If all the other houses were wearing goldfish bowls on their heads in class, and only the Slytherins weren't, wouldn't that make them seem too different?

Cassandra came to Ethan, her face clearly crestfallen. She didn't expect to have lost again before class even started. This was a fourth-year charm; what exactly had he been learning?

Fortunately, the Bubblehead Charm was just a simple, conventional charm and didn't consume much magic. Moreover, after using it so many times, Ethan could cast it silently.

When Quirrell came to the classroom as the bell rang, he was visibly stunned. What was going on?

Even if there was a bit of a smell here, you didn't have to go this far!

But in the end, he was still the same slacker, saying nothing, picking up his textbook and reading it aloud, without any interaction or explanation.

Even if students raised their hands to ask questions, he ignored them.

Ethan directly placed "Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection" on the desk, blocking his head, and began to rest.

Anyway, Quirrell's class was a waste of time. If you're just reading from the textbook, what do I need you for? I might as well use the time to read it myself.

[Thank you to the big bosses Seraphine?? and The Lost Kitten for the monthly tickets, thank you very much!]

Chapter 34: Seamus's Explosive Genius Career Begins

"Scourgify!"

The moment he left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Ethan cast a Cleaning Charm on himself.

After being in a room full of garlic for so long, he had long been marinated.

This not only cleared surface stains but also removed odors.

After giving a few roommates and familiar little wizards a cast, Ethan left. Now was break time, and there was still time to quickly return to the dormitory to change clothes or find older students to cast spells.

Next was Charms class, on the third floor of Hogwarts.

Entering the Charms classroom, the first thing that caught the eye was the window seat at the front, where many books were stacked in a step-like shape.

As for the reason, those who know, know.

The content of this class was the Lumos Charm.

Professor Flitwick explained and introduced it on the platform before letting the little wizards practice on their own.

This was the most basic charm. It could be said that even Squibs could quickly get the hang of it.

Those who wanted to experiment with magic after getting the textbooks often chose the Lumos Charm as their first choice.

Accompanied by the intermittent 'Lumos Solem,' the classroom was like a light with varying degrees of brightness, and some were flickering like unstable voltage.

Of course, there were also those who didn't react at all, after all, not every little wizard would read the textbook in advance, or have the talent.

Faced with this situation, Professor Flitwick couldn't easily give points. Could he give points to all four houses?

After all, even Hufflepuff had students who succeeded on the first try, with Ravenclaw having the most.

This could be considered as giving Professor Flitwick a little face.

"Think about what I just said, don't panic, stay steady..."

Professor Flitwick ran back and forth on his short legs below, reminding the little wizards one by one.

Thanks to his reminders, more and more little wizards were able to successfully cast the complete Lumos Charm.

Ethan also knew why Professor Flitwick had such a good reputation at Hogwarts: he was conscientious, responsible, and patient, not like Professor McGonagall, who always had a cold face, and even less like Snape, who seemed like they owed him money.

"The spell must be recited correctly, the pronunciation must be clear, don't panic, try again!"

Ethan saw Professor Flitwick stop in front of a Gryffindor little wizard. Taking a closer look, it was Seamus.

Immediately, Ethan felt that something bad was going to happen. If this guy had a panel, he would definitely see that he had the talent 'Explosion Mastery,' with a chance of explosion when using any charm, and increased power when using explosion charms.

"Lumos!"

Seamus took a deep breath, raising the wand in his hand high, as if he was holding up a torch.

"It's, it's lit!"

Neville, who was sitting in front of Seamus, shouted excitedly. They had just been in the same boat, both being the type with no reaction at all.

Now that Seamus had succeeded, would he be next?

"Don't get excited, control your magic, and try harder!"

Professor Flitwick saw that it was about to go out, and immediately reminded him.

Seamus nodded seriously, and the wand in his hand also raised up, and in an instant, the light on the wand quickly brightened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

If it was a five-watt light bulb at the beginning, now it had soared to at least eighty.

Ethan suddenly felt it was going to be terrible.

"Close your eyes!"

After reminding the surrounding little eagles, Ethan immediately closed his eyes, turned around, and lowered his head in one go.

Just after Ethan made his move, dazzling strong light enveloped the entire classroom, and the sound of explosions echoed continuously in the classroom.

The noise and flashes brought about by this sudden explosion, although the duration was not long, the effect was indeed very impressive. At least now the entire classroom was in a state of chaos, with little wizards screaming and pushing everywhere.