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The 2nd of September, 1991, was a Monday.
Today, Dracula also had his first class as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the first class at Hogwarts began. The bells on the towers, with a little help from magic, rang throughout the entire school right on time.
Dracula also pushed open the side door of his office the moment the bell rang. He walked down the marble steps at the front right of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
About half of the students sitting before the podium wore robes with red collars. More than half wore robes with yellow collars. It was clear that they were the young wizards from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
At this moment, they were sitting neatly in their seats. They looked at the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor with bright, curious eyes.
Whether they were from the Lion house or the Badger house, the young wizards were secretly guessing. Would this professor—who was extremely good-looking and had an impressive air about him—have teaching abilities as amazing as his appearance? Or would he be all show, just as bad as the previous professors?
'Good morning, everyone,' Dracula said simply to the students.
He stood on the podium, raised his eyes, and scanned the young wizards below. He found 2 familiar faces among them—the Weasley twins from Gryffindor.
'Good morning, Professor!' the students said together.
Dracula nodded and continued.
'After yesterday's banquet, I believe everyone already knows that I am your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. You can call me Professor Dracula.'
'I hope you can make me happy in the days to come… Ah, no, I mean, I hope everyone has a good time.'
Dracula, who almost blurted out his true feelings, changed his expression smoothly and immediately switched to the main topic. 'Okay, without further delay, let's start the first class of this term right away. Today's topic is…'
Speaking of this, he glanced at his empty hands. He then looked at the smooth desk, which had only a pointer on it. He paused for a moment.
Dracula realised that the textbook he had habitually chosen—'The Dark Arts: A Self-Defence Guide'—and the thick lesson plan his teaching assistant Quirinus Quirrell had painstakingly written were all left on the desk in his office.
In other words, he had come to teach the students empty-handed.
Although the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office was very close to the classroom, and although Dracula could make the textbook fly over with a snap of his fingers, doing so would inevitably make the new professor seem too unprofessional.
He would not allow such a thing to happen in his first class!
So Dracula smiled calmly and changed his words. '…The topic is a spellcasting ability test!'
Looking at the bewildered faces of the young wizards, he showed a mischievous smile.
'All of you, one by one, use your best spell on me,' Dracula said. 'You are already 3rd-year students. Let me see what you have learned in the past 2 years at Hogwarts!'
Without waiting for the students to react, he walked straight down from the podium. He came to a young wizard sitting in the first row.
'Let's start with you, little Hufflepuff gentleman,' he said to the young wizard with the yellow collar.
Looking at the young man in front of him—whose face was still a little boyish but already looked very handsome—Dracula's eyes showed a hint of appreciation. He felt the boy had some of the air of a vampire nobleman.
'Professor Dracula, isn't this inappropriate?' the Hufflepuff boy hesitated.
'There is no need to be timid in the classroom,' Dracula raised the corner of his mouth and asked, his tone challenging. 'If you do not even have the courage to attack the professor, how can you become an outstanding wizard?'
Hearing these words, the boy nodded firmly. 'I understand, Professor.'
He gritted his teeth and raised his wand at Dracula—
'Stupefy!'
Dracula smiled and gently raised a hand. He used his palm to catch the stunning spell.
If you looked closely, you could see that when the spell hit Dracula's palm, it was like flowing water hitting a rock. The magic attached to it seemed to split open on his skin, then flowed away, and finally disappeared into the air. It did not cause him the slightest harm.
The young wizards in the classroom all opened their mouths wide. They looked at this scene in disbelief.
'Clean and neat spellcasting—pretty good for your age,' Dracula nodded in satisfaction. He ignored the young wizards' shock and asked, 'What's your name?'
'Diggory, Professor. My name is Cedric Diggory,' the Hufflepuff boy said.
'Okay, good stunning spell, Mr Diggory,' Dracula praised. 'Let me think about what reward the professor should give to the students… That's right, 5 points to Hufflepuff!'
Dracula was very satisfied with Cedric's spellcasting.
The first student tested had such a good level of spellcasting. This gave him a certain respect for the teaching level of Hogwarts. At least it did not disappoint the hopes his 4 dearest friends had 1000 years ago.
Next, Dracula began to test the spellcasting abilities of other students with anticipation. He wanted to see what surprises they could bring him.
However, the students did indeed bring many "surprises."
The more he tested, the darker his face became.
It was not until he tested a Hufflepuff student who could not use any spells at all that Dracula finally could not bear it anymore.
'What have you been doing for the past 2 years at Hogwarts? Huh?! Have you only learned how to eat?!' he said in a cold voice. The cloak behind him moved without any wind, and a terrifying atmosphere filled the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
The young wizards were so frightened that they froze in place, not daring to move. Some of the timid ones were even frightened to tears.
'Forget it. I am too lazy to waste time like this anymore,' Dracula pointed impatiently to all the young wizards below. 'All of you, cast your best spells on me—together!'
'The one with the strongest spell power will have no homework. The 5 with the weakest spell power will have double the homework and come to my office for detention tonight!'
Hearing Dracula's words, Cedric stood up in shock.
'Professor, do not be impulsive! Something bad can easily happen to the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor!'
'I am not being impulsive. I am just too lazy to waste time,' Dracula said indifferently. 'Your spell power like this cannot even tickle me.'
For a moment, the young wizards were stunned by his arrogant words.
In the classroom, only Fred and George, who were sitting together, winked at each other.
The twins were almost overjoyed. Could it be that this year was so exciting? Was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor going to be sent away in the very first class?
Would that not mean they had earned 20 Galleons for nothing?!
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