Chapter 17
Seeing that no one spoke, Lucian spoke again "Over the next month, any of you can change your mind at any time. If anyone feels the pressure is too much, you can come to me privately—I'll fully accept it."
"I think this is an excellent learning opportunity. I believe that studying under you, Professor, is something incredibly valuable for us." Cedric spoke up first.
He felt very comfortable with Lucian's approach, and he believed he should respond with corresponding sincerity.
"Professor, with your strength, why bother being so modest with us? Whatever you say, I unconditionally support with both hands." Seventh-year Percival leaned back lazily in his chair, casually tossing a pastry into his mouth. His gaze swept over the surrounding students, carrying a faint hint of threat.
He had already heard about Lucian's abilities from the sixth-years and knew he had seized the top spot this time. He wouldn't allow anyone to cause trouble.
Hermione sat in the middle of the seven, her cheeks flushed with excitement 'Are these seven people the most outstanding students from each of the seven years?'
'So… does that mean i am the most outstanding second-year in the professor's eyes?' In an instant, pride, ambition, and a touch of timidity surged within her, forming a statistical distribution in her mind.
"Very good. I'm glad we've reached a consensus. Time is precious—let's begin now."
"We'll start with first-year and go in order up to seventh-year. During the entire Q&A, anyone with an idea can raise their hand to speak. My hope is that after some time, all lower-year questions can be handled internally by the upper-years, and I'll only need to answer the higher-year ones."
His words sounded perfectly natural, but to the upper-years, they carried a different implication.
"Of course. I did, after all, get six O's on my O.W.L.s. It's hardly possible that I couldn't even answer lower-year questions." There was a trace of disdain in Percival's tone. Hearing this, Hermione immediately felt a competitive spark rise within her. She instinctively glanced at Cedric beside her.
He still wore a gentle smile on his face, seemingly unbothered. 'He must be from Hufflepuff,' Hermione thought to herself.
Monday—Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The moment of judgment had finally arrived amid the students' unease.
"Good morning, everyone." Lucian walked into the classroom, looking as listless as ever.
This time, however, Cedric was the first to respond "Good morning, Professor."
Lucian nodded at him and quickly handed back the students' homework "This is the assignment from last week. I'll briefly go over the key points and mistakes, then we'll move on to practical training." With a wave of his wand, the wall facing the students rapidly transformed into a huge white whiteboard and auto-quill floated beside him, dancing up and down as he spoke.
"First, the casting essentials—everyone wrote them well. I assume you've memorised the feeling through copying. I hope you'll be able to apply it seamlessly in battle later. The bigger issue lies in understanding the Full Body-Bind Curse."
Soon, dense notes appeared on the "wall." At Cedric's reminder, most students hurriedly took notes as they listened—some used magical quills to record automatically while focusing entirely on the lecture, others wrote by hand while listening, and a few didn't take notes at all.
Lucian noticed these differences but didn't intervene. He wouldn't force everyone to think in the same way, whether it worked well or not.
Five minutes later, the review of the assignment's key points was complete, and the auto-quill slowly settled on the desk.
"Now, I'll call on three people to ask about the last week's assignment." Lucian's gaze swept over the crowd and casually pointed at a student with green hair "You."
"Cough cough!" The green-haired boy wiped his nose, showing no fear on his face. He fluently reply about the information on all ten creatures Lucian had asked.
"Not bad. One point to Ravenclaw." Next, Lucian called on Cedric and as expected, he performed perfectly "Very good. One point to Hufflepuff."
Lucian then selected one last boy. Though he stumbled a bit, he still managed to finish; seeing which Lucian nodded in encouragement, gaining a deeper appreciation for the character of students from the two houses.
There was no need to guess—Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students would carry out his ideas better.
The former naturally loved knowledge; the latter were honest and dutiful. Though keeping up with his pace was a little difficult for them, they would obediently follow along.
As for Slytherin and Gryffindor… the third-years actually did fairly well. Though there were occasional incomplete answers or missing details, they at least got through it. After reminding them to review in their free time after class, Lucian let them off.
But when it came to teaching the second-years in the afternoon, the atmosphere became a little tense.
"Alright, that's all for the homework review." The auto-quill slowly settled on the desk.
'Don't pick me! Don't pick me! Don't pick me! Don't pick me! Don't pick me!'
The students stealthily glanced at Lucian, frantically praying in their hearts.
"Shouldn't we do some questions next, Professor?" Before Lucian could move on, Ron spoke up from below.
Lucian gave him a half-smile. For some reason, even though the look held no particular meaning, Ron felt a chill in his heart and instinctively wanted to shrink back.
But he desperately held himself together. So the professor didn't notice anything unusual.
"Since you're all so eager to do questions, let's do questions first. I'll still give you three minutes." With a wave of his wand, the pre-prepared quiz papers flew down to each student.
'Well done, Ronnie!' The Gryffindor underachievers cheered for Ron in their hearts. Harry even felt a surge of nerves for him.
"Ron! That was brave!" He quietly whispered encouragement, pumping his fist toward Ron.
Sitting in the front row, Hermione couldn't help but frown. If this had been first year, she definitely would have already raised her hand to remind Lucian.
But now… she decided to wait a little longer. If Lucian didn't remember, she would mention it later.
Three minutes later, Lucian collected the quizzes. The students obediently stood up from their seats, ready to line up as they had last class and face the dark creature one by one.
But then they suddenly heard Lucian say "Wait—haven't we checked the assignment yet?"
"Nooooo!!!!" A collective wail rose from the students.
"We couldn't do it? We still can't get away with it!" Ron pounded the floor with both fists, wallowing in self-pity, seeing which Lucian naturally called on him first.
"Ron, you've got plenty of energy. You can go first—let's hear it." Whether it was an illusion or not, for a brief moment, Hermione thought she saw the professor smile.
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