The classroom fell into a momentary silence, followed by a burst of sharp, shrill screams.
No one expected that on the first day of class, and the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the second years, Professor Lockhart would bring them a moving Inferius.
Professor Lockhart waved his magic wand, and a ring of fire appeared in front of the Inferius, trapping it in the center.
Strangely enough, the Inferius sensed the presence of the fire ring and immediately stopped its approach towards the students, staying in the middle and howling.
Harry, of course, recognized the Inferius. In fact, a century ago, Inferius was not such a rare sight.
But what was most deeply involved with Harry, undoubtedly, was the incident with Sebastian Saru.
Back then, Sebastian's sister Annie was cursed by Dark Magic and was running out of time. Sebastian was heartbroken for his sister and continuously searched for a way to break the curse.
Finally, in records, he discovered a divine artifact that could summon Inferius and cure those cursed by Dark Magic through sacrifice.
Sebastian, at all costs, sought the answers behind this divine artifact capable of controlling Dark Magic, hoping it could heal Annie.
Ultimately, he found out the location of this divine artifact — inside the Feldcroft Underground Tomb.
However, by the time Harry and Vivi learned about it, it was already too late. When they arrived at the Feldcroft Underground Tomb, Sebastian had already gone in.
At the entrance of the underground tomb were a worried Annie and Omnius.
They ventured deep into the underground tomb, defeating countless Inferius, and finally saw Sebastian surrounded by a horde of Inferius.
Just when Harry thought Sebastian was about to be attacked by the Inferius, he discovered that Sebastian could control these Inferius easily, commanding them to assist in battle.
But before Harry could say anything, Sebastian's uncle Solomon appeared.
In the midst of an argument, Sebastian, in a fit of rage, cast the Killing Curse at Solomon.
Luckily, Vivi was quick-eyed and intercepted the Killing Curse with a Transformation Spell, preventing a catastrophe.
Of course, Vivi did not forget to follow up with a Forgetfulness Spell on Solomon.
No one sympathized with Solomon. This old man was irritable and unreasonable, even Harry sometimes couldn't help but throw a spell or two at his face.
Fortunately, this farce ended under the strong suppression of Harry and Vivi, with Sebastian's diary also confiscated by Vivi — they experimented and confirmed that the magic on it could not lift the curse on Annie.
Harry fell into memories, while the classmates continued to scream.
Professor Lockhart allowed the students to scream and vent their fear until it was about time; then he clapped his hands, indicating everyone to stop screaming.
"Well, I must admit, encountering an Inferius is indeed a bit too early for you second years." Professor Lockhart blinked at them: "But I think some of you must have read one of my books... come on, guess which one?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Miss Granger," Professor Lockhart smiled and let her stand up to answer.
"Magical Me, Professor," Hermione said excitedly, "It mentioned your battle with Zombies, but Professor, I can't tell if this one in front is an Inferius or a Zombie."
"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor!" Professor Lockhart clapped his hands happily: "It's quite commendable for a witch your age to know about Zombies and Inferius — in fact, this is an Inferius — now, Miss Granger, could you explain to everyone what an Inferius is?"
"An Inferius is a corpse resurrected by a Dark Wizard's curse," Hermione began to recite knowledge points animatedly: "It becomes a terrifying puppet, or is used by the cursed Dark Wizard as a sacrificial servant. The most obvious sign to distinguish an Inferius from the living is their pale, cloudy eyes."
"Good, very good!" Professor Lockhart applauded, and simultaneously, Gryffindor classmates also began to applaud Hermione.
"I'm glad, really glad, this proves the school hasn't been too — utterly poisoned yet." Professor Lockhart clapped, swallowing back the name Dumbledore: "I know last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirinus Quirrell, right? He never taught you any real knowledge points, only repeated his so-called 'adventure' experiences, tsk tsk..."
"Luckily, it's not too late now, and I will teach you real Defense Against the Dark Arts —" Lockhart cleared his throat and began to introduce: "Inferius is a corpse resurrected by a Dark Wizard using a Summoning Spell — remember, they've had their bodies enhanced by Dark Magic, so ordinary attack spells won't work, like..."
He waved his magic wand.
"Stupefy!"
The spell hit the Inferius, making it pause its body momentarily.
"Reducto!"
The Inferius, hit by the spell again, still had no reaction. It even raised its head, letting out an "ow" of rage.
The students present watched Lockhart and the Inferius intently, even those sitting in the back row stood up, wanting to see clearly what Professor Lockhart was doing.
"Therefore, what I need to tell you is —" Professor Lockhart drew out his voice, waiting until he felt he had captured the attention of all the students, then showed his charming smile again.
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