Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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"The spell against the Billywig is very simple, but it requires complete concentration. You must focus your entire attention and clearly define your target when casting the spell, without any negligence.
Remember, the Billywig flies very fast, and it won't give you a second chance to cast the spell."
Professor Oren carefully explained the important points before continuing, "Let's practice the spell without wands. Please repeat after me—Flipendo!"
"Flipendo!" the young wizards chorused.
"Excellent," Professor Oren said with satisfaction. "Next, we'll test the effectiveness of your spells."
He had the class line up, and one by one, they stepped forward to cast a spell on the Billywig in the cage.
The first one in line was Kanna.
She had originally been in the middle of the line, but was quickly surrounded by Gryffindor fans.
Ever since Professor Oren called out the names, the little lions had been eager to see what made this little witch so special that she could conquer Snape.
"Brave girl," Professor Oren smiled. "I remember your name was Kanna, right?"
"Yes, Professor."
Practice makes perfect. After the previous two experiences, Kanna was now in much better shape.
Though still nervous, she could at least communicate normally, and her first thought was to answer the professor's questions instead of turning and running.
"Don't be afraid, it's just a simple spell," Professor Oren said patiently. "Remember what I said just now, focus, you can do it, believe in yourself."
Kanna took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thrust her wand with all her might.
"Flipendo!"
"Swish!" A sound of air piercing through the air was heard.
Professor Oren, standing by, instinctively took a small step back.
Honestly, with that much force, if it were close enough, the Billywig wouldn't even need a spell; it would have been killed directly.
Fortunately, the result was satisfactory.
As the spell ended, the Billywig in the cage collapsed to the ground.
"Excellent! One point for Hufflepuff," Professor Oren exclaimed, bringing out a second cage.
Yesterday, inexperienced, he'd brought three Billywigs to his class with Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
He'd thought it was enough, but it turned out to be woefully inadequate. Sometimes, the third one collapsed before the first one even recovered.
And every time this happened, the young wizards from both houses would stare at him, a truly embarrassing scene.
To prevent a similar situation, he'd brought ten today—definitely more than enough.
"Next, Santos,"
Santos hurried forward when his name was called and began chanting the spell.
"Flipendo..."
Nothing happened; the Billywigs in the cage continued to spin happily.
"Relax, don't be so nervous," Professor Oren said softly, stepping over to him. "Make sure you pronounce the spell clearly. You sounded too soft on the last note just now. Let's try again."
Santos nodded and held out his wand again.
"Flipendo!"
This time, it worked.
"Great, next..." Professor Oren switched to another cage.
The success of two people in a row boosted the confidence of the others, who were eager to give it a try.
However, due to their overconfidence, some completely forgot what Professor Oren had said before. When it was their turn, they didn't even bother to look at the cages, but simply chanted the spell loudly.
The result was that the Billywig remained intact, while the cages fell apart.
Therefore, Professor Oren had to be extremely vigilant to ensure that he could restore the cages to their original state as soon as possible.
But he soon realized that he had underestimated the situation.
A Gryffindor first-year at the back of the line, seeing the crowd ahead of him, began muttering a spell.
Originally, he'd just practiced beforehand, hoping to impress everyone when it was his turn... but he'd forgotten his wand.
Beside the podium, Professor Oren, reciting a Repairing Charm, suddenly felt his legs give way, and he collapsed to the ground.
If it had just been a fall, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Professor Oren was, after all, a strong, grown wizard; it would have been nothing more than a scrape, easily fixed with a white band-aid.
But the problem was, his Repairing Charm had been interrupted.
A Billywig broke free and angrily charged at the young wizards in front of it.
It had been wanting to do this for a while; it had been left completely paralyzed since yesterday, and now it was determined to get revenge!
Faced with this, some of the young wizards began to panic and scramble around the classroom, while others raised their wands.
"Flipendo!"
"Flipendo!"
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More than a dozen spells crisscrossed the air. Though none of them struck the Billywig, they succeeded in stopping it from advancing.
The young wizards, as if they had discovered a new world, grew even more excited, raising their wands again, ready to strike at another moving target.
"Stop!" At that moment, Professor Oren, lying on the ground, suddenly shouted.
He unsheathed his wand and shouted as the Billywig flew overhead.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Professor Oren reached out to catch the falling Billywig, returning it to its cage. Then, shakily, he stood up.
He rubbed his waist in pain.
No wonder people say being a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts is a tough job; it's damn true.
Suppressing the pain, Professor Oren looked at the young wizards with concern and asked, "Are you all okay? Did you get stung?"
"No, Professor," they all shook their heads.
"That's good," he breathed a sigh of relief. After repairing the podium, he said, "Let's get on with the class. Oh, and... except for the first one in line, everyone else, put away your wands."
Everyone obeyed.
Though a little unsatisfied, after witnessing Professor Oren's fury, they didn't dare to act rashly again. After all, no one wanted to be petrified.
With this mindset, almost everyone succeeded on the first try, and the progress was much faster than before.
Professor Oren, however, didn't seem to relax at all; on the contrary, he seemed even more nervous.
When class was over, he didn't even assign homework and simply left the room without a backward glance.
He was completely exhausted from the class, and he really didn't want to stay even a minute longer.
Returning to his office, Oren closed the curtains and contentedly sipped his tea.
After all, it was finally over. There had been a few incidents, but thankfully, everything was under control, and all ten Billywigs were... huh?
Wait, how come there were only nine left?
Oren quickly dropped his teacup and carefully counted them twice.
Yes, one was missing.
One cage was empty, with a fist-sized hole in it.
"Merlin's beard..." Oren hurried back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but he found nothing there.
"Those first-years's spells must have hit the cage!"
Oren said, looking at the open window in frustration. "Fifty Galleons, just gone!"
[End of the chapter]