"Alright. There's still some time before the bell, so let's use it to go over a few simple spells."
Dawn glanced at the clock and clapped his hands.
"Gentlemen, please turn to page 103 of On Magical Injuries. This story is fairly short, so the remaining time should be enough to finish it."
After a brief moment of silence, scattered sounds of pages turning filled the classroom.
Dawn sat down beside the lectern. "I don't know whether you've previewed it already, so to be safe, I'll give everyone fifteen minutes to read."
Hermione stared at the cover illustrated with a blood-red skull. It was rare for her to feel resistance toward a book, but she still opened it reluctantly.
Page 103 recorded a very brief incident. In essence, it described a witch who ran a tavern in Godric's Hollow in 1521.
Her signature drink, Crimson Gale, was smooth and rich, earning it immense popularity among British wizards.
The massive influx of customers caused another tavern's business to plummet. Desperate, that tavern's owner decided to steal the brewing recipe—only to uncover the witch's horrifying secret.
Crimson Gale required wizard blood to brew.
The witch would add small amounts of a confusion draught to some customers' drinks, guiding them while intoxicated to specific locations without their awareness.
There, she would drain their blood for brewing, carve out their bones to create decorations, and stitch the remaining human skin into the inner lining of wizarding robes.
In the margins were accompanying images.
In the greyish photographs, bone fragments arranged into patterns were embedded in the walls.
Dried human skin was sealed into the inside of robes; lifting them revealed hollow eye sockets.
Two wooden barrels sat in a corner—though the text did not specify their contents, it was easy to guess.
"Merlin's beard…" Hermione muttered under her breath, frowning in disgust.
She was increasingly convinced that beneath the new professor's outward appearance lurked a madman.
Rubbing her arms and feeling her scalp prickle, she hurriedly turned the page. At the same time, she heard Ron's low gasp and Neville retching behind her.
Dawn rested his chin on his hand, ignoring the students' various reactions. He took out a book he had borrowed from the library and began reading.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Dawn stood up again.
"Alright, gentlemen. The story is short, so I assume you've all finished reading it. Now, can anyone tell me what you learned from it?"
The classroom fell silent.
This time, Hermione didn't rush to answer. She needed time to recover from both the story and the images.
Instead, Draco raised his hand—a rare occurrence. Though his face was pale, he still tried to look unimpressed.
"Professor, don't drink random things outside."
"Correct. One point to Slytherin."
Dawn nodded, not bothering to target anyone over such matters. He continued explaining.
"The wizarding world has developed thousands of potions over time. Among them are love potions, confusion draughts, and many others that can easily ensnare a wizard."
"So when you're out, anything you ingest must be carefully checked. One moment of carelessness can cost you your life."
Seamus imagined his own skin being stitched into clothing and shuddered violently. He quickly raised his hand.
"But Professor, how are we supposed to check things?"
"Don't worry. I'll teach you. That's the purpose of Defence Against the Dark Arts."
Dawn smiled and raised a finger, writing glowing letters in the air. "Now, let's learn our first spell."
Bright letters solidified before them.
"Scarpin's Reveal Spell. A charm that identifies the components of potions or liquids. The incantation is Scarpin's Revela."
He paused, then added, "Of course, to truly use it for prevention, you need sufficient knowledge of potions.
Even if you can't brew them successfully, you should at least memorize the recipes."
Seeing that only a few students had begun copying the spell, he didn't remind them and continued.
"Since we're discussing this story, we'll also briefly talk about the blood extraction curse and the bone extraction curse used by that witch."
He continued writing in the air.
"Their incantations are Blood Extraction and Bone Extraction. Their effects are obvious—one extracts blood, the other extracts bone."
Dawn waved his hand. Nearly ten cages floated out of his suitcase and landed on the desks before the students. Each cage held a sleek, glossy mouse.
These had been obtained through Hagrid.
The half-giant kept many ordinary animals to feed various carnivorous magical creatures.
Several bottles of potions, purchased using the school's funds, floated out of the suitcase as well and landed on the desks.
"There are about twenty minutes left before class ends. You may practice these three spells on the mice and the potions."
After giving the instructions, Dawn stepped down from the lectern, ready to correct their casting as needed.
Hermione took a deep breath and skipped past the mice, focusing instead on the potions. Compared to blood and bone extraction, she felt it was safer to practice Scarpin's Reveal Spell first.
Ron, however, thought very differently.
°Bone Extraction°
He stared at the mouse in the cage, snapped his wand forward, and shouted the incantation with force.
The next instant—
A beam of light burst from the tip of his wand.
Before Ron could show any excitement, the spell went wildly out of control, shooting backward along the opposite direction of his wand.
"Ow!"
Neville screamed.
Sitting diagonally behind Ron, he was struck by the spell.
A section of arm bone appeared on Ron's desk out of thin air, while the flesh on Neville's arm collapsed limply.
"Hah!" Draco let out a mocking laugh at the sight.
Dawn frowned.
Though he didn't know Ron often spoke ill of him behind his back, seeing this still displeased him. Compared to Ron, Neville left a better impression.
"Mr. Weasley, personal advice—if you can't ignore your wand while casting, I strongly suggest you buy a new one. It's for your own safety, and for others'."
Ron's face flushed crimson. He clutched his taped-together wand, unsure whether to set it down or hide it.
Dawn no longer looked at him.
"Generally speaking, after being hit by a bone extraction curse, you can use the Bone-Mending Charm to restore the bone.
However, it's extremely painful. Unless it's urgent, I recommend using Skele-Gro instead."
He gave a brief explanation on the spot, then turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, could I trouble you to take Neville to the hospital wing?"
"Of course, Professor Hickman!"
Hermione nodded, stood up, and helped Neville to his feet.
She instinctively reached for the bone, but when she saw the stark white fragment up close, she froze.
Dawn noticed and thoughtfully used Transfiguration to turn the arm bone into a butterfly, which fluttered down to land on her head.
"…."
Hermione's eyelid twitched, her expression conflicted.
The two left the classroom stiffly.
Dawn checked the time and returned to the lectern.
"Gentlemen, the first lesson is about to end. Before that, there's something I need to make clear."
"Defence Against the Dark Arts is not Charms. I won't give you much time in class to practice spells. Whether you master them or not depends entirely on your own efforts."
Ignoring the students' strange looks, Dawn chuckled lightly. "I trust that any intelligent person wouldn't be careless when their own safety is at stake."
Every student knew that learning in class and learning after class were completely different matters.
Ron's eyes went blank. "Practice after class? Isn't that basically stealing our free time?"
"Mr. Weasley, you're free not to practice. I won't force you."
Hearing this, Ron immediately ducked his head with an awkward smile.
"Additionally, if you have conflicts outside of class, you can try these two spells. Don't worry—as long as you respond in time, no one will die."
"After all, a significant portion of your final grade this year will be based on practical combat."
Harry looked surprised.
It was the first time he'd heard a professor encourage students to fight one another.
Just then—
Ding.
Class ended.
"You may take the mice and potions with you for practice.
Oh, and gentlemen of Gryffindor, remember to bring the materials back from the two who went to the hospital wing."
As Dawn placed the heart and Life Draught back into his suitcase, he added, "That's all."
He nodded and left the classroom first.
Bang.
Once the door closed, the silence lasted a moment—then the classroom exploded with noise.
"Wow, I think Professor Hickman is incredibly cool!" Seamus said, face flushed. The class had been terrifying, but he loved professors who broke the mold.
Others disagreed. "But don't you think he's a bit cold-blooded? And he even taught us those two dangerous spells."
"Hmph! You don't know anything.
This is what a real professor looks like—someone who actually teaches us how to protect ourselves," a power-oriented Slytherin student shot back.
Harry couldn't help adding, "I think Professor Hickman's classes are really interesting."
At least far more interesting than Snape's or Quirrell's.
He discussed it with the others, but soon noticed his best friend didn't look quite right.
"Uh, Ron… what's wrong?"
The red-haired boy lay slumped on the desk, tilting his head to look at Harry as he muttered, "I feel like the new professor doesn't really like me."
"You're overthinking it, Ron.
Or maybe it's because you brought a damaged wand to class, and Professor Hickman thought you weren't taking him seriously."
Harry tried to comfort him. "Ron, you really should get a new wand."
"But if I write home and tell Mum about it, do you believe she'll send me another Howler?"
Ron sighed, utterly dejected.
Harry wanted to say he could lend him some money for now, but worried about hurting his friend's pride and didn't know how to bring it up.
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