Tewell wasn't aware of the students' compliments towards him, or rather, he didn't have the leisure to pay attention to them.
He encountered a slight problem.
The students highly praised the battle in the classroom, considering it the most valuable combat training they had experienced.
However, some professors saw it differently, especially the renowned Professor McGonagall.
"I'm not questioning your approach. In fact, I'm pleased that Hogwarts has another professor skilled in combat,"
McGonagall began, pausing to choose her words carefully.
"But I hope you'll consider the students' abilities. Suspending them like that..."
She pondered for a moment, unsure of how to articulate her concern, so Tewell helped her out.
"Inappropriate?" he offered.
"Yes, inappropriate," McGonagall nodded firmly.
"Simply restraining them would suffice, but suspending them from the ceiling might lead parents to believe that we're disciplining students harshly."
Tewell was about to explain, but Dumbledore spoke up first.
"It's all right, Minerva. Tewell's approach is quite intriguing," he said, gesturing towards the enthusiastic students. "As you can see, the students enjoy it."
"As for the parents, I believe they'll overlook such a small issue when they see their children's abilities improving," Dumbledore added confidently.
With the headmaster's words, McGonagall didn't press the matter further.
After all, if there were any complaints, they would likely reach Dumbledore's desk. Nonetheless, Tewell offered a brief explanation to avoid any misconceptions.
"It's just a way to discipline the third-year students and let them experience the harshness of battle," he explained.
"First and second years, forgive me for being blunt, but they are far from ready for actual combat. At most, it's just a game for them."
McGonagall chuckled awkwardly.
Just at the beginning of the school year, it's natural for first-year students to have lower abilities, and if they were too strong, it would raise suspicions.
However, for the second-year students who have gone through a year of learning, to be honest, Professor McGonagall felt that their level wasn't much better than the new first-year students.
Thinking about this, she discreetly glanced at the hesitant and evasive Quirrell.
It's all because of such professors occupying positions in Defense Against the Dark Arts that Hogwarts students couldn't learn useful knowledge.
Fortunately, this year, Albus Dumbledore seemed to have had a change of heart and hired an assistant, and such an outstanding one at that. But considering those rumors, she couldn't help but worry.
Will Tewell only be able to hold on for a year before being forced to leave the school?
Tewell paused, his hand holding the glass, wondering what he had said to make Professor McGonagall look at him with such concern.
Professor Fawley hadn't considered so much.
"Tewell, you're teaching combat, but the students have learned very few spells.
How are you going to teach them?" Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms are actually closely related.
Charms class teaches students new spells, while Defense Against the Dark Arts teaches them how to use these spells to deal with potential dangers in life.
So, the higher the grade level, the easier it is for students to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, as they know more spells.
But Tewell is only teaching students below the third year, so Professor Flitwick worries that the content of the class may not be rich enough for the older students, leading to dissatisfaction with Tewell.
Tewell was prepared for this.
"Mainly, I'll teach them some spellcasting techniques in class, as well as different applications of the spells they've learned. And if you don't mind, I'll also teach them some practical spells for combat."
"Of course not,"
Professor Flitwick chuckled, "I don't know if you're good at Transfiguration, but it's very useful in combat."
Professor McGonagall's attitude towards Tewell became even friendlier, as if afraid they wouldn't meet again after this year.
So upon hearing this, she turned her head to join the conversation.
"I wouldn't mind at all if Tewell could teach the students how to apply Transfiguration. To be honest, many students don't realize the immense utility of Transfiguration in combat; they always think of it as rather insignificant."
Tewell was also quite helpless about this viewpoint.
Except for Transfiguration Masters, few people recognized the significant role of Transfiguration in battles.
Coincidentally, his teacher happened to be a Transfiguration Master.
Although the teacher often criticized him for favoring Dark Magic over Transfiguration, Tewell's proficiency in Transfiguration was unmatched by ordinary wizards.
However, it remained unclear how strong Dumbledore, renowned as the world's best with only Transfiguration, was in this regard.
Sensing Tewell's gaze, Dumbledore turned to him and raised his glass. His deep blue eyes were as clear as a baby's, yet they were impenetrable even to Tewell, a Legilimens master.
"I also look forward to Transfiguration being applied more, not just in battles. If Tewell needs anything, we can discuss it?"
"I wouldn't dare to call it a discussion,"
Tewell hastily raised his glass in return, "in front of you, I'm just a student."
So, after dinner, Tewell followed Dumbledore to the headmaster's office.
It was the same room as last time, with the same layout, and the portraits still gazed at them with scrutiny.
"Old people don't like changes," Dumbledore sat behind the long table, smiling expectantly.
"Tea, or pumpkin juice?"
Tewell calmly sat opposite Dumbledore.
"Pumpkin juice, please. I seem to have fallen in love with this drink."
As soon as he finished speaking, bottles of pumpkin juice on the table suddenly grew four legs and happily trotted over to him.
The cups transformed from bottle caps, delicate and elegant, with patterns resembling flowing clouds.
Watching this scene, Tewell couldn't help but smile knowingly. Dumbledore was asserting his dominance from the start.
"But I prefer a larger cup, if you don't mind?"
Without waiting for Dumbledore's response, the cup kept extending until it became a goblet, and the bottle's mouth automatically bent down, pouring out the rich pumpkin juice.
Dumbledore's proud smile faltered for a moment. Nonverbal and wandless magic, combined with advanced Transfiguration, Tewell's display was meant to impress this young professor.
To prevent Tewell from becoming arrogant at such a young age due to his extraordinary abilities, Dumbledore didn't expect Tewell to immediately respond with wandless and silent magic of his own, and it was based on his Transfiguration skills.
It was like a nesting doll Transfiguration, and Tewell turned out to be the one nested inside.
However, the pouring of pumpkin juice didn't last long because Tewell transfigured the goblet into an even smaller cup, which would overflow if more juice was poured.
"I just remembered that we've just finished dinner, so it's probably best not to drink too much pumpkin juice."
My darn competitive spirit. Dumbledore looked smugly at Tewell, who had a face full of black lines.
"It's okay, I'm still young, I can digest it well."
Tewell's smile became even more triumphant. The cup returned to its original size.