Chapter 563: Teaching Defence Against Dark Arts!!
Besides Professor McGonagall's complete lack of fear toward Umbridge, Professor Flitwick also taught his entire lesson without paying her any attention at all.
Perhaps having learned her lesson from Professor McGonagall, Umbridge did not dare to provoke Professor Flitwick directly.
She quietly sat through the lecture, then took her leave and left.
However, Umbridge's "obedience" completely disappeared again during Care of Magical Creatures.
She began repeatedly questioning Professor Grubbly-Plank about Hagrid's whereabouts. Professor Grubbly-Plank naturally had no intention of telling her.
So she directly stated that she didn't know.
This made Umbridge furious.
She even tried to get Professor Grubbly-Plank to agree that Dumbledore was not a good person—at the very least, not a good Headmaster.
After Professor Grubbly-Plank calmly said that she admired Dumbledore, Umbridge added several more harsh strokes to her notebook.
Of course, she also asked Professor Grubbly-Plank about Harry's situation, wanting her to say whether Harry was mentally unstable.
But Professor Grubbly-Plank was no fool.
She replied coldly, "If you want to know whether Potter has a problem with his mind, go to the school infirmary and ask. That is not my responsibility."
Umbridge was livid.
She glared at Professor Grubbly-Plank and told her to wait for the results of the investigation within a few days.
Then, during the Care of Magical Creatures class, she questioned the students about how the course was going.
Everyone else said it was fine.
Only Malfoy put on a wronged expression.
He claimed that he had been injured during Care of Magical Creatures class. Darren hadn't even had time to say anything when Harry had already exploded.
"That's because you didn't listen to Hagrid!"
"Very good, detention—"
Umbridge was just about to sentence Harry when her eyes landed on Darren.
Their gazes met.
Disgust.
Pure, unmistakable disgust.
Whether it was Umbridge or Darren, both of them felt it—but Umbridge felt it far more strongly.
Ever since she had punished Darren, she didn't know why, but every time she saw him, she felt dizzy, nauseous, and had the urge to vomit.
She suspected that Darren had cast some kind of Dark magic on her. After all, he was absolutely capable of it.
But she had no evidence, and could only endure it.
"Hmph!"
After Umbridge left for the castle, Hermione shot Harry a fierce glare.
That afternoon, Hermione gathered Harry and Ron to do homework.
For once, she didn't force them to write it themselves, and even agreed to let them copy Darren's work.
This made Harry and Ron feel deeply uneasy.
Still, they worked quickly and finished everything.
When they were done, Hermione finally revealed her true purpose. She pulled Darren and Harry closer.
Lowering her voice, she said, "We can't go on like this. We're about to take our O.W.L.s."
"We can't keep arguing with that woman about whether we're allowed to use our wands or not!"
Darren fell into thought.
He remembered that in the original course of events, Hermione had indeed suggested something like this.
Sure enough, Hermione said in the next second, "We need teachers. We need teachers who can properly guide us in the Defence AgainstDark Arts."
Harry still didn't understand.
He asked suspiciously, "Should we get Lupin?" Or maybe Moody?"
"No, no, no. I mean you—and Darren."
Hermione's tone was firm.
Darren fell silent.
He was reluctant.
He was lazy, for one thing, and teaching Defence Against Dark Arts to others was… troublesome. He preferred stirring things up quietly, not standing at the center of it all.
He was already thinking of how to slip away when Harry spoke first.
"You're joking. Your magic—and Darren's—isn't better than mine."
"No," Hermione said calmly. "Only Darren's is better than yours. Harry, haven't you noticed? In Defence Against Dark magic, you already surpassed me back in third year."
Harry turned to look at Darren.
He wanted Darren to object.
But Darren was clearly lost in thought.
So Harry turned to Ron, hoping he would say something—but Ron suddenly laughed.
He said softly, "Actually, this makes a lot of sense. After all, only you and Darren have faced Voldemort head-on."
"In first year, you and him—well, Professor Quirrell face to face…"
"In second year, Darren confronted Death Eaters, and you went into the Chamber of Secrets and faced the basilisk's projection again."
"In third year, both of you faced so many Dementors…"
"In fourth year, you and—"
Ron spoke excitedly, listing everything one after another.
But the more Harry listened, the worse he felt.
"Enough!"
Harry snapped.
"Can you two listen to me for once? Don't say it in that proud tone, alright?"
"Darren and I paid for all of this with our lives. Didn't you see him come back covered in scars?"
"Didn't you see what he went through?"
"How can you talk about it so lightly, smiling like that?"
Harry was genuinely angry.
Ron and Hermione both froze.
Only Hermione persisted, her voice softer. "Because it hurt… that's exactly why I hope you can—"
"Hermione."
Darren interrupted her.
He said quietly, "Let my brother teach. I don't really want to. I'll go first."
He slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to leave.
Hermione stared blankly at his back. Harry was silent as well.
Finally, as Darren walked away, Harry said, "Let him calm down. And let me calm down too."
"For you, this might be about O.W.L.s."
"But for us, it means reliving pain."
Since the proposal for Darren and Harry to teach everyone the Defence Against Dark Arts was rejected, Hermione didn't bring it up again for two weeks.
But when facing Darren, she became noticeably more careful—treating him like something fragile.
This irritated Darren.
He would rather teach Dark Arts than be looked at as if he were on the verge of collapse.
Because of Hermione's concern, more and more people began looking at him unconsciously.
Even some professors started advising him to get more rest.
They seemed to have no idea what had happened, yet all assumed that Darren had suffered something deeply painful.
By the last week of September, Darren finally couldn't take it anymore.
While searching for materials in the library, he suddenly brought it up himself.
"I've thought about it carefully," he said. "Umbridge isn't the real problem."
"Hermione, you were right. We should face those wounds."
"So I agree. I'll teach—if you don't mind me being weak, and if you're willing to learn from me."
"Of course, my mental state this term isn't very good. I can only spend limited time on this. The main teaching should still fall to my brother."
He turned to Harry.
"Brother, is that okay?"
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Holy Father value +100]
Harry looked embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together.
Clearly, he had also thought about it over the past two weeks.
"If Darren agrees, then I'll… do my best."
"As long as you don't dislike me for being weak."