A pale hand suddenly thrust out of the swamp, making all the freshmen instinctively take a half-step back.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze. Victor could even clearly hear the students' breathing, which had suddenly become heavy and rapid.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
The dark, murky swamp water continued to churn and bubble. Then, other parts of the Inferi quickly surfaced, piercing the dim waterline!
In the next instant, an Inferius shot out from the depths of the swamp like a slimy eel.
The Inferius raised its head and slowly stood up in the marshland...
Beneath its pale, withered skin, dark, foul veins pulsed hideously. Its excessively decayed face turned slowly, and its cloudy, greyish-white eyes, devoid of any luster, locked onto the group of students on the shore. Its dirty, tangled hair hung like seaweed over its shoulders, clinging clammily to its face, adding a touch of horror and ferocity.
A strong, pungent stench of rot and decay blew toward them, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
There was no doubt that the extreme terror of facing a dark creature head-on was something the stiff illustrations in textbooks could never provide.
This hideous Inferius caused the students' pupils to shrink. Many covered their mouths and noses, unable to stop themselves from doubling over and gagging.
Shafiq immediately moved through the crowd with efficient, practiced motions, quickly distributing Invigoration Draughts to the pale and distressed students to calm their emotions.
Victor looked at the Inferius, a complex expression flickering across his face...
"Did... did Professor Wick just say... this is a real scene taken from his past memories?" Ron's voice trembled, his stomach churning. He already regretted having that extra chicken leg at lunch.
"That's right... I heard it too. This is a scene that actually happened..." Harry forced down his nausea and fear, his fingertips feeling slightly numb.
Hermione's face was deathly pale. She bit her lower lip, desperately suppressing the surging fear in her heart.
Neville's expression was also terrible. His legs were weak and he swayed unsteadily, but his wand was gripped so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Malfoy had long since shrunk behind Crabbe and Goyle, his head bowed low and his lips trembling uncontrollably. He didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
"Splat..."
Amidst the students' fearful and suppressed whispers, more decaying hands reached out from the swamp!
One, two... in the blink of an eye, ten Inferi surged out of the black-water marsh one after another!
Instantly, a chilling aura swept through the area, making the atmosphere feel eerie and terrifying to the extreme...
"How... how are there so many..." Harry stared at the dark mass of Inferi, filled with shock. He couldn't imagine how a lone Victor Wick had managed to hold his own against so many terrifying Inferi back then.
A few students with weaker nerves were already dizzy and swaying on their feet.
Victor looked around at the students calmly, taking in their fear and vulnerability. He silently noted everyone's genuine reaction.
At a time like this, each student's performance when facing horror was the most authentic. Collecting this feedback would help Victor adjust his future teaching materials.
"Alright, that's enough."
His gentle, steady voice rang out, acting like a soothing balm that instantly calmed the students' frantic and uneasy hearts.
Victor raised his wand and gave a light tap in the air. A string of ancient, mysterious runes flashed like flowing light.
The Inferi, about to pounce and kill, suddenly froze. All movement ceased, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
Simultaneously, the pungent stench of rot lingering at their noses vanished instantly.
It was replaced by a faint, elegant fragrance that seemed to possess a certain soul-healing magic, sweeping away the oppressive gloom from the area.
It seemed the mental and stress-bearing capacities of the first-year freshmen were still quite immature. Therefore, Victor chose to shut down the realistic simulation module early and switched back to projection mode.
His gentle gaze swept over the pale-faced freshmen as he asked softly, "How do you feel now?"
"I'm... I'm okay..." Harry's voice still held a hint of a tremor. "I know they're not real."
"They are indeed just my memory projections; they aren't real," Victor's tone turned somewhat grave. "But you must remember, as long as evil wizards who crave the Dark Arts exist, these kinds of dark creatures will never truly vanish. So, one day in the future, you might actually encounter these things and face this same realistic fear once more."
As he finished speaking, the students' expressions changed slightly, their hearts feeling heavy.
"But don't worry, everyone..." Victor's tone shifted. "I will personally teach you how to identify dark creatures and ensure you truly master the means of defense and counter-attack. I want you to have the ability to protect yourselves and your companions... this is the true purpose of Hogwarts offering this course. Once you have mastered your studies, you will realize that these seemingly hideous and terrifying abominations are nothing more than paper tigers that are fierce in appearance but weak within."
Victor's gentle voice gradually soothed the students' internal unease.
Once everyone's emotions had stabilized, Victor stood before the students, positioning himself between them and the Inferi, drawing their gaze away from the hideous creatures and onto himself.
"Now then, who can tell me, what do Inferi fear most?" Victor began his questioning.
Hermione's face was still pale, but she quickly raised her hand nonetheless.
"Miss Granger."
"Light and fire," Hermione's voice was still shaking a bit; she clearly hadn't fully recovered.
"Correct. One point to Gryffindor." Victor paused before continuing, "It is precisely because of these factors that the dark wizard chose this dark, damp place with dense trees to cultivate the Inferi. So... here is another question: If it were you, how would you deal with these dark creatures?"
"But... we're only in our first year. We can't handle Inferi yet..." Malfoy said tremulously.
"Yes, you are indeed only first-years, and theoretically, you don't possess the ability to deal with these dark creatures alone. But... what if you encountered an Inferius right now?"
Harry raised his hand. "I'd turn and run! I think I can probably outrun them..."
Having been chased and beaten by Dudley for so many years, Harry was indeed very experienced at running away... and these Inferi didn't seem to move too fast. He should be able to run... probably...
"Exactly. Running away is indeed one of the correct choices... but what if you can't run?" Victor continued to probe.
The students set aside their fear and lowered their heads to think, their thoughts expanding under Victor's guidance.
"Maybe... we could use light..." Neville said softly. "I think even we might be able to use light to hinder these monsters for a bit... for example, most of us can already use the Wand-Lighting Charm. I remember my dad saying there's a Lumos Maxima version... that can vastly increase the charm's intensity. I think that should buy us some time to escape..."
"Mr. Longbottom, an excellent suggestion!" Victor clapped his hands. "In truth, there is no standard answer to this question. Expecting first-year students to deal with Inferi is indeed asking the impossible. However, the reason I'm asking is that I hope you can achieve one thing: never choose to give up or wait for death, no matter the circumstances... When faced with hardship, you must be like Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom—use the tools at your disposal, analyze the situation calmly, and create an opportunity for yourselves to escape."
"If I really couldn't run... I actually have a clumsy way..." Encouraged by Victor, Neville spoke with much more confidence.
"Oh? Please, tell us." Victor looked at Neville with anticipation.
"It's true that our magic is still weak, but besides the small spells we can use now... we could also..." Neville pointed to a stick on the ground. "Light a stick—actually, it doesn't even matter if it doesn't catch fire... I'd take the stick and swing at it! But... that would only work against a single Inferius. Like right now, with so many of them, if I couldn't escape, I'd have to... find a way to lead them on a chase through the woods, ideally breaking their legs, and then find a way to run..."
After Neville finished, he looked at Victor somewhat nervously. His clumsy way was indeed very clumsy—dangerous, and not very magical at all...
Victor clapped his hands in admiration. "That idea isn't clumsy at all, Mr. Longbottom! When resisting the Dark Arts, the courage to fight back is the most important thing! This is exactly the first lesson I want to teach you—courage! The courage to fight back!"
"If you cannot summon the courage to resist, then no matter how many spells you know, you won't be able to use a single one the moment your courage fails you."
"Remember, calmness and courage are the foundation of all defensive arts."
"Very good. Mr. Longbottom has earned five points for Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor students immediately broke into smiles upon hearing this.
The Slytherin students, on the other hand, looked dejected. Why was it only Gryffindor earning points today? Come on, teammates, do something!