The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the semester began in the afternoon.
Sean passed by the Gryffindor students being harassed by Peeves and leisurely entered the classroom, choosing a seat in the middle.
Peeves had very little presence in front of Slytherin students because the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's house ghost, was the only being Peeves feared. This meant Peeves wouldn't easily bother Slytherin students to avoid being targeted by the Bloody Baron.
Sean and Blaise sat in their seats. Not long after, Lupin walked in. Looking at the assembled students, he spoke directly: "Good afternoon, everyone arrived quite early. Many of you have even prepared paper and pens, but unfortunately, we won't need them for this class. Please put your paper, pens, and books back in your bags, then follow me in an orderly fashion. Today we're having a practical lesson."
Hearing this, most students looked up at Lupin, Sean included.
Lupin still looked rather shabby. His old robes looked even more worn, but his complexion was much better than before, perhaps due to Hogwarts' food and good rest environment.
The young wizards of Hogwarts, regardless of house, were more enthusiastic about practical lessons than regular classes. Hearing that Lupin would conduct a practical lesson, as long as it wasn't another opera-style class like Lockhart's, they could accept it.
The young wizards who had already sat down gradually rose from their seats, taking their belongings and following Lupin out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Professor, where are we going?"
"The staff room. That's where we have what we need for today's lesson."
Having said this, Lupin said no more. He led the group of young wizards quickly through the corridors. Just then, Peeves, who had been nowhere to be seen before class, was stuffing gum into a door's keyhole. Seeing Lupin and the young wizards, he immediately began singing loudly, each line to a different tune.
"Loony, loopy Lupin Loony, loopy Lupin Loony, loopy Lupin~"
Watching Peeves flying overhead and constantly harassing him, Lupin signaled for the group to stop, then drew his wand and pointed it at Peeves.
"This is a very useful little spell. Watch carefully." Turning to look at Peeves, Lupin smiled and said: "Peeves, stuffing gum in keyholes will interfere with Mr. Filch's cleaning. Let me help you remove it."
Having said this, Lupin raised his wand and aimed at Peeves.
"Waddiwasi!"
The gum flew out of the keyhole like a bullet and shot into Peeves' nostril, making him cry out and tumble backward before flying away cursing, quickly distancing himself from Lupin.
For Hogwarts students, Peeves was definitely a very troublesome existence they had no way to deal with. Now that Lupin had easily driven Peeves away, the students who witnessed this immediately gained respect for him, and their attitude toward Lupin changed significantly.
After walking through two corridors, the young wizards' attitude toward Lupin had changed considerably.
When the staff room door opened, Snape looked up from his seat to see Lupin leading people inside. His expression darkened instantly. He said nothing, stood up, and swept past Lupin, his face only relaxing slightly as he approached Sean. "How is your research on the second material substitute coming along?" he inquired in a low voice.
"I'm making progress, Professor."
"Very good. Keep up the good work and try to conquer the second material substitute by next weekend."
"Yes, Professor."
The two exchanged brief words before saying no more. Snape resumed his gloomy expression and left the staff room for his office.
Lupin watched Snape leave, then walked to Sean's side: "You're called Sean, right? We met in Severus's office on the first day of school."
"Yes, Professor."
Sean could tell that Lupin wanted to get to know him, perhaps because he noticed Snape's different attitude toward him, or perhaps because he had learned something. However, Sean had no intention of getting acquainted with him.
While Sean had no intention of introducing himself, Harry was different.
In Harry's view, Sean was a very important friend, and Lupin was what he considered a rare competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He felt he should properly introduce Sean to Lupin, letting Lupin know that Sean wasn't like Malfoy but was a very trustworthy person.
"Professor Lupin, Sean is a student that Snape... that Professor Snape values highly. He published papers in The Golden Cauldron in both his first and second years and is very talented in Potions."
Lupin looked at Sean with understanding, his face showing amazement.
Sean's papers being published in The Golden Cauldron wasn't really a secret at Hogwarts, and quite a few people knew about it. But for Lupin, a down-and-out wizard struggling with survival and werewolf transformations, he naturally had no time to learn about Hogwarts' geniuses, nor extra money to buy academic journals like The Golden Cauldron. In fact, Lupin could barely afford bread for survival, so naturally he had no extra money for academic pursuits.
Now hearing Harry's words and learning of Sean's talent and achievements in Potions, he was naturally very surprised.
"I really didn't know I had such a remarkably talented student. I hope you can show the same talent in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
"I'll do my best, Professor."
Lupin probably noticed Sean's coldness, but he didn't mind much and turned to continue teaching the class.
He walked directly to a wardrobe in the staff room. Normally, this would contain professors' robes for emergency changes, though it wasn't used very frequently. When Lupin approached the wardrobe, it suddenly began shaking and even bumped against the wall behind it.
Seeing the students' nervousness, Lupin immediately said: "Don't be nervous, everyone. There's a boggart in this wardrobe. It likes to stay in dark, enclosed environments, especially in places with some age to them. Today's lesson is about how to deal with boggarts, so now I'll show you what it actually looks like!"