Chapter 29: The School in Uproar
Of course, the creature that suffered the most that day was the Grindylow in the first stage.
By the time the first class of the afternoon arrived—the fourth-year Hufflepuff lesson—the seventh-year students responsible for maintaining the classroom had already replaced it with a spare.
The exhausted one needed a well-deserved rest.
By lunchtime, news about the fourth-year practical examination had spread across the entire school.
Younger students were especially envious.
Many of the creatures used in the practical test were straight from their own textbooks.
Once they realized this, excitement spread like wildfire.
Students began discussing whether memorizing their textbooks would allow them to challenge those creatures as well.
If the lower years were excited, the upper years were even more intrigued.
If the fourth-year practical exam was already this thrilling, then the fifth-year practical classes would surely be even more intense.
Only the sixth-year students taking Defense Against the Dark Arts felt uneasy.
After all, if Professor Holmes could bring textbook creatures into the classroom—
Didn't that mean the creatures from their textbooks might appear as well?
Their very first lesson had been about Inferi.
By now they had already finished the homework Douglas assigned earlier.
Yet many of them felt their understanding of Inferi was still shallow.
As a result, several sixth-years rushed straight to the library after lunch to search for additional books about them.
Meanwhile, students who hadn't chosen Defense Against the Dark Arts felt pure envy.
If Professor Holmes had been teaching them earlier, they believed their Defense Against the Dark Arts grades would never have been so poor.
Regardless of the chaos Douglas's lessons caused throughout Hogwarts, his own classes continued with perfect order.
After finishing the fourth-year lesson, he still had a second-year Gryffindor class and a sixth-year class scheduled for the afternoon.
Looking at the two stacks of homework he had collected, Douglas rubbed his temples.
Sometimes he wondered if the assignments were meant for the students—or for him.
Hermione reported that everyone had successfully memorized the material from the previous lesson.
Douglas glanced at Neville Longbottom first.
Neville looked particularly excited.
Hermione had told Douglas that Neville had been waking up at six every morning to practice memorizing in the common room, determined not to hold the others back.
Douglas gave him an encouraging nod.
Then he generously awarded twenty points to Gryffindor.
For a moment, the entire class looked hopeful.
They thought Douglas might finally take them to face magical creatures in a practical lesson.
Instead, he calmly said,
"Miss Granger, please lead everyone in reading the second passage twice."
"And afterward, the requirement remains the same—memorize the entire text."
At first the classroom erupted in groans.
But under Hermione's enthusiastic urging, the mood quickly changed.
"Students, don't forget," Hermione said firmly, "Professor Holmes promised that once we memorize everything, he'll take us to the practical training room."
Douglas watched her with satisfaction.
The girl possessed not only the mind of a top student, but also the instincts of a natural leader.
He vaguely remembered hearing in his previous life that Hermione eventually joined the Ministry of Magic.
Looking at her now, it seemed believable.
Some personalities revealed themselves very early in life.
While the students recited loudly, Douglas quietly cast a spell over his own ears.
The classroom noise vanished instantly.
The spell was one he had invented himself—a charm that isolated the caster from surrounding sound.
It functioned much like magical earplugs.
Douglas had always thought that some kind of ear-blocking charm must exist.
He had searched through many spell records but never found it.
At one point he even suspected it might have been invented by the Half-Blood Prince, Severus Snape.
Douglas had once searched the old potion textbooks in the classroom cabinet.
He had hoped to find a copy of Advanced Potion-Making.
Unfortunately, it wasn't there.
Later he discovered why.
A sixth-year Hufflepuff explained that the advanced potions classes used separate classrooms.
Complex potions often required longer brewing times, so those students had their own dedicated space.
Douglas had once planned to obtain the book once he reached sixth year.
It supposedly contained several spells created by Snape, along with many of his personal insights about potions.
But Snape had never even allowed Douglas to enroll in Advanced Potions.
Pride and prejudice, Douglas thought bitterly.
He still deeply despised Snape for that.
While the students recited their lessons, Douglas continued grading homework.
After quickly comparing the assignments, he noticed something amusing.
Aside from Hermione, who had submitted her work very early, the other students had taken the length requirement very seriously.
If he asked for a certain number of inches of parchment, they produced exactly that.
A few clever students had even written in enormous letters with wide spacing to stretch their essays.
Douglas almost laughed.
Old school tricks.
Without hesitation, he silently gave those students a mental thumbs-up.
After reading the actual content, however, he adjusted his expectations.
Second-year students simply couldn't be expected to produce brilliant analysis.
Especially since Hermione had submitted her work earlier than everyone else.
Without her essay to copy from, the others had clearly struggled.
Most answers about Boggarts were identical—direct quotations from the textbook.
With half an hour remaining before the end of class, Douglas finally removed the charm from his ears.
"Quiet," he said, tapping the desk.
The students stopped reciting immediately.
"Miss Granger, please record the grades and return the assignments."
"Students who received a P must redo their work and submit it to Miss Granger before the next lesson."
As Hermione began handing out papers, murmurs spread through the classroom.
Ron whispered nervously to Harry,
"Harry… do you think mine got a P?"
Harry grimaced.
"If yours did, mine probably did too."
Douglas tapped his book sharply against the desk.
"Quiet."
"Let's discuss some of the problems I found in your assignments."
Then he looked toward Neville.
"Mr. Longbottom, could you tell me where you discovered the technique of getting a Boggart drunk with beer?"
Laughter immediately filled the room.
Neville's face turned bright red as he stood.
"Professor Holmes… my cousin told me about it."
"He said he once encountered a Boggart that turned into his grandmother. So he dragged it to the pub and kept drinking with it until the Boggart got drunk."
Douglas spread his hands helplessly.
"A Boggart becomes the thing a person fears most."
"Now think carefully—would anyone invite their greatest fear out for a drink?"
He shook his head.
"Your cousin must have used a spell that caused the Boggart to transform into a drunkard."
Neville still looked unconvinced.
Douglas suddenly smiled.
"Neville, we'll eventually have practical lessons involving Boggarts."
"I think your idea is very interesting."
"When that happens, I'll personally provide my private collection of drinks."
"You can try your theory and see whether a Boggart can actually be made drunk."
The class burst into laughter again.
The sixth-year practical classroom was located in the basement.
It was not far from Professor Snape's potions laboratory.
Unfortunately, every time Douglas passed by, Snape was busy teaching.
The two rarely crossed paths.
When Douglas arrived at the classroom door, more than a dozen students were already waiting.
Many of them held parchment essays—and some even carried books about Inferi borrowed from the library.
Douglas collected everything immediately.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to review your assignments during this class," he said.
Then he looked at the students thoughtfully.
"But I believe you've already guessed what today's practical lesson will involve."
"As I said before—whoever performs best in this class will become the sixth-year class representative."
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