On Thursday afternoon, Harry and Ron hurriedly made their way to the first floor, heading to the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I wonder what Professor Fawley will teach us?" Ron asked eagerly as they jogged along.
Harry wasn't as optimistic. "What if the professor gets mad if he finds out we can't even perform a single spell? Maybe he won't even bother teaching us."
Ron waved his hand confidently. "Don't worry, besides that Granger, no one in the entire first year can cast a spell. The professor might teach us advanced magic right away!"
"After learning it, I'm going to give George and them a good telling off."
As they climbed the mischievous stairs, it was clear they were late. They rushed into the classroom, where their classmates were already seated, taking a test, while Professor Fawley sat at the front, engrossed in a book.
"Awesome," Ron whispered in admiration. Even though they had heard it a hundred times before, seeing their own names appearing above their heads, accompanied by a fleeting golden light, filled them with wonder.
Harry nodded in agreement. But Professor Fawley had already looked up at them.
"I believe," he said suddenly, "you two are the only ones late to my class."
Harry immediately shrunk back. "Sorry, Professor, we got lost."
Fawley said nothing, but gave Harry a deep look.
As they nervously adjusted their robes, he spoke again, "This won't set a precedent, but as punishment, you'll have five minutes less to complete the test."
The first-year test was very simple, mainly testing their familiarity with the textbook. As long as they had flipped through it, they could answer about seventy percent of the questions.
Relieved, the two quickly found seats, anxiously waiting for two test papers to float over five minutes later.
Fawley continued to gaze at his "Wizard Chess Basics" book. He had mastered the rules of Wizard Chess, and now all he needed was a practice partner to test his skills.
After half an hour, the last grain of sand fell in the hourglass, but everyone was still struggling through the final moves.
"Harry, can I see yours?" Ron whispered eagerly.
Harry wordlessly showed him his paper, which looked just as disastrous as Ron's.
Fawley clapped his hands twice, and all the papers floated lightly toward the front of the room, forming a stack.
"No need to worry about your grades; I anticipated your level of knowledge," he said.
Hermione grumbled quietly, but to her surprise, the sound carried in the quiet classroom, and everyone heard it clearly.
The young witch blushed and looked somewhat flustered, eager to explain.
"Of course, I know some of you have already prepared well with the textbook, and I didn't mean to belittle your efforts," Fawley continued. "To be honest, I prefer your blank slate situation, as it allows me to lay a strong foundation for you."
Fawley drew his wand and smiled as he addressed the class.
"So, are you all ready?"
"We're ready!" the students replied excitedly.
Excellent, very spirited.
Fawley nodded in satisfaction.
"But I also know you don't know any magic yet, so the content of combat-like courses will depend on your progress in Charms class. Until then, you'll mainly engage in theoretical study."
The class's energy plummeted like a rollercoaster.
"Alright, before we delve into the formal content of the course, you need to learn a little trick."
Fawley led them to an open space, where he casually emitted three beams of light in red, green, and yellow toward the white wall behind the classroom.
"This is it, a simple little trick. It's not a spell, just pure magical light that won't hurt if it hits someone."
"You can use this technique outdoors for long-distance communication. Red light means danger, green light means safety, and yellow light means special circumstances. Of course, yellow light isn't very visible during the day, so green light can be used instead."
The young wizards were unimpressed; they were still hoping to learn powerful and flashy spells and engage in intense battles with the professor.
Fawley quickly caught onto their thoughts. "I must remind you that this little trick is important. Every student must learn it before we can move on to the next lesson."
They then adjusted their expressions and earnestly practiced the technique on the white wall.
It was quite simple; anyone who paid attention in Charms class could quickly master emitting light. The only difficulty was making the light change color at will.
But with more practice, in less than half an hour, almost everyone had completely mastered the technique.
Except for one student.
"Mr. Longbottom, you seem quite nervous?" Fawley tried to make his voice as gentle as possible, but it still startled the round-faced boy.
His hand trembled, and his wand slipped, only to be swiftly caught by Fawley before it hit the ground.
The students who had already mastered the technique noticed the situation and quietly teased Neville Longbottom.
Neville became even more nervous, sweating on his forehead and unsure where to put his hands, not even accepting the wand Fawley offered.
"Have you all mastered it?" Fawley glared at the group of idle students.
"Come on, don't be nervous," he reassured Neville. "Casting spells for us wizards is as simple as breathing."
"I believe you've had experiences where breathing is natural, but when you focus on it, you seem to forget that naturalness."
"Professor, I might not be a wizard," Neville said, almost on the verge of tears.
Fawley chuckled and patted Neville's shoulder. Through Legilimency, he had long seen that Neville's memory loss was due to being affected by a Forgetfulness Charm. It was unclear what had caused the renowned swordmaster from a previous life to have such an experience.
"I can assure you, you are a wizard, a powerful wizard," Fawley continued as Neville looked up in surprise. "You're just too nervous, too focused on some useless knowledge."
He placed the wand back in Neville's hand. "Forget everything now, feel your magic instinctively, and then release it."
Fawley's voice was hypnotic, almost like a demonic whisper, enchanting Neville, causing him to unconsciously raise his right hand.
"Bang!"
A large burst of red light slammed into the wall, causing a chunk of plaster to fall off, startling the surrounding students.
They gathered around Neville once again, but this time, their eyes were filled with astonishment.
"This is..."
Neville was shocked by his own magic, opening and closing his mouth several times without knowing what to say.
Fawley waved his wand, repairing the wall. "This is for the damaged wall caused by Mr. Longbottom. Gryffindor loses one point," he said with a light laugh, looking at the stunned students.
Ron burst into laughter, and everyone followed suit, with Neville laughing so hard that tears filled his eyes, unable to stand up straight.
"Alright," Fawley redirected their attention. "Since everyone has mastered this technique, today's lesson ends here. There's no homework, but the only requirement is to practice this little trick more, which will greatly help you in the next lesson."