Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 19 The Special Attention of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor

Karen and her roommates had just reached the entrance of the auditorium when they heard hurried footsteps behind them.

"Karen!"

Cedric strode over, his face flushed with excitement, followed by the Weasley twins, both wearing identical smiles.

"You'd never guess! We just had a Defense Against the Dark Arts class! That new Professor Victor Eisenberg," Cedric's eyes lit up, "Merlin, his class was absolutely incredible!"

Karen raised an eyebrow: "So, what exactly did this new professor do to excite you all so much?"

"He made us do hands-on practice in the very first lesson!" Cedric whispered, as if sharing an incredible secret. "Not theory, not incantations, but facing magical creatures directly!"

"Red Hat" Fred grinned, "Those little monsters who like to hide in the ruins of battlefields and smash people's skulls with iron bars."

"He transformed an empty classroom into a dark, ruined environment, then put the red hats inside and had us split into groups to catch them," George added. "Of course, he told us their weaknesses beforehand—they're afraid of light and silver—but when you actually face them, those things are really fierce."

Karen's grey-blue eyes narrowed slightly. This teaching method was indeed bold, even somewhat dangerous, but it had to be admitted that it was far more effective than simply reading from a textbook.

"How did you catch him?" Wesley asked impatiently.

"Cedric used 'Flickering Light' to blind it," Fred patted Cedric on the shoulder, "and then George used Transfiguration to conjure a silver chain and bind it."

"It's not that simple," Cedric smiled modestly, "It almost bit Fred's finger."

"Luckily I reacted quickly," Fred said smugly, "otherwise I'd have to go ask Mrs. Pomfrey for a new finger."

Karen seemed thoughtful. Professor Victor's teaching style was completely different from what he had expected; instead of rote memorization of defense against the dark arts, he directly exposed his students to real-world threats.

"You guys have his class this afternoon too, right?" George winked at Karen. "Be prepared, he's not the kind of professor you can just coast through."

"His questions are incredibly difficult," Fred said in a low voice. "I heard that even the Hufflepuff prefects were rendered speechless by his questions."

Karen nodded, a hint of anticipation rising within him. The professor's style of doing things gave him a vague sense of something unusual.

When Karen and her group reached the fourth floor, they found many first-year students standing at the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, too afraid to go in.

Just as Karen and her friends were about to step forward to investigate, the classroom door suddenly slid open silently, and a whiff of air mixed with the scent of herbs and metal rushed in. The previously noisy students instantly fell silent, and Professor Victor Eisenberg stood with his back to them at the front of the classroom.

"Come in." His voice was deep and clear, with a slight German accent. "Find your place and don't waste time."

Karen noticed that the classroom had been rearranged; the old desks and chairs were gone, replaced by a ring of tiered seating around the central open space. Specimens of various magical creatures hung on the walls, from the common red hat to the rare Hinkpunk, each one secured with a perfect preservation charm.

The most striking feature was a huge iron cabinet at the back of the classroom, covered with ancient runes. In Karen's Eye of Truth, those runes were emitting faint magical fluctuations.

"Welcome to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Professor Victor turned around, his voice deep and tinged with a faint German accent. "I am Professor Eisenberg, and this course is called 'Defense Against the Dark Arts,' but you will soon discover that the prerequisite for defense is... understanding."

His gaze slowly swept across the classroom, pausing for a moment as it passed over Karen.

"Today, we won't learn spells, nor will we look at textbooks." He walked to the podium, his fingertips lightly tapping the table. "We'll talk about... the essence of magic."

The entire class fell silent.

Victor suddenly raised his hand, and a copper nut appeared out of thin air at his fingertip, slowly spinning.

"Can anyone tell me," his voice was soft, yet it made everyone hold their breath, "why does magic exist?"

The classroom remained silent. Fabian hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand: "Professor, magic is a natural force, and wizards guide it through spells and willpower."

Victor shook his head slightly, and Coppernut disappeared with a "snap".

"A textbook answer, Mr. Brian." His tone was flat, but his eyes seemed to see right through the uninteresting response. "But what I want to ask is, why can 'you' use magic?"

Fabian was stunned, clearly not expecting this question.

Victor's gaze fell on Karen again.

"You." He slightly raised his chin, gesturing to Karen. "Answer me."

Karen was taken aback, and all eyes in the class turned to her.

Victor didn't urge him, but just watched him quietly, his eyes seeming to see right through his soul.

"I..." Karen hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to answer honestly, "I'm not sure. In my opinion, magic requires more than just spells and willpower; it also requires imagination."

"Uncertain, imagination," he repeated softly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Very good."

"At least you didn't try to fob me off with textbook nonsense." Victor walked over to Karen's seat, looking down at him. "Magic doesn't exist 'because it exists, it doesn't just require spells, willpower, and imagination; it comes at a price."

He suddenly raised his hand, and a wisp of silver magic appeared at his fingertips, coiling around his fingers like a snake.

"Magic requires 'understanding,' requires 'sacrifice,' and even requires 'pain.'" His voice was almost a whisper, audible only to Karen. "And you seem to understand this better than anyone else."

Karen felt a chill, as if something had seen right through her.

Victor stepped back, regaining the authority befitting a professor.

"Today's assignment," he turned and walked to the podium, "is to write an essay entitled: 'If magic were a life form, what would it want?' No less than ten inches."

The whole class wailed.

"Oh, right." He seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to look at Karen. "Stay after class."

Karen's heart skipped a beat for a moment.

After this bizarre question and answer session, the professor used Transfiguration to demonstrate each of the dark magic creatures to be learned in the textbook, eliciting gasps from the crowd.

get out of class ended quickly, and the classroom emptied, leaving only Karen and Professor Victor.

Victor didn't speak immediately, but instead took out a tattered notebook from his robe and casually flipped through a few pages.

Victor closed his notebook and looked up at him. "Do you know why I kept you here?"

Karen shook her head.

Victor nodded slightly. "It's alright, you'll find out soon enough."

As he spoke, he took out a silver rune stone from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"Pick it up," he commanded.

Karen hesitated for a moment, then used her "Eye of Truth" to observe it. She could only see a layer of silver magic enveloping the runestone. Then, gritting her teeth, she reached out and touched the runestone. The stone instantly glowed faintly, revealing unfamiliar runes.

Seeing this, a hint of satisfaction flashed in Victor's eyes.

"Interesting," he said softly. "Looks like Nico was right about him."

Karen was startled: "Nico Flamel?"

Victor didn't explain; he simply retrieved the runestone and turned to walk towards the door.

"Next Wednesday night at eight o'clock, my office on the third floor," he said without turning his head. "Bring your curiosity... and a little courage."

The door closed silently, leaving Karen standing alone in the empty classroom, her heart pounding.

Stepping out of the classroom, Karen found his three roommates waiting for him in the hallway. Ernesto crossed his arms: "So, what's the professor doing keeping you behind alone?"

"He gave me an extracurricular reading book," Karen replied casually, but her heart was already in turmoil. Professor Victor was clearly very interested in him, and why was Nicolas Flamel involved? There must be some reason behind this.

"I knew it!" Wesley jumped up excitedly. "Looks like you've gained another professor's special attention!"

Fabian pushed up his glasses, seemingly lost in thought: "However, our class seems quite different from what Weasley and the others were talking about. Our class has neither textbook content nor any practical exercises like Weasley's."

"However, his explanation of the nature of magic is quite interesting," Ernesto replied.

"Don't think about it too much for now. Let's go to the library and see how to solve Professor Victor's homework!" Karen interrupted the conversation, changing the topic to the homework left in class.

The four boys walked toward the library, discussing the problems from their homework. Karen's hand unconsciously rubbed against his skin, his grey-blue eyes gleaming with contemplation as he thought of the unwrapped parchment scroll.

But it's okay, the meeting next Wednesday night might reveal some of the answers.