"Dementor!"
Ian's eyes widened.
He couldn't believe Gilderoy Lockhart had the audacity to go this far! Doesn't he know his own limits? This is turning the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom into Azkaban!
He looked around at his classmates.
Aside from the terror,
the little wizards, feeling the chill, were trembling, with many even starting to roll their eyes; they had no ability to resist the Dementors.
All the light was being sucked away.
Not to mention the happiness and warmth from the little wizards—Ian just thought this scene was absurdly ridiculous! How could Gilderoy Lockhart have possibly smuggled a Dementor into the school?
And Dumbledore!
How could he not notice this!? Ian quickly retrieved his Living Map, and sure enough, he didn't see Dumbledore's icon on it!
Snape's icon wasn't there either!
"This has got to be illegal!" Ian couldn't imagine Dumbledore agreeing to Gilderoy Lockhart's teaching method; he was utterly bewildered by Lockhart's smuggling technique.
Hogwarts is indeed like a sieve!
"This is Defense Against the Dark Arts, Prince."
Gilderoy Lockhart stood closest to the Dementor, seemingly affected quite a bit. He closed his eyes, furrowed his brow, and spoke in an emotionless, icy voice.
"You're insane!"
Ian couldn't bother flattering Gilderoy Lockhart anymore. He was probably the only one present unaffected by the situation, and when he carefully observed the huddled Dementor, he discovered an astonishing truth.
This was actually the Dementor he had previously seen in front of the Owl Shed—Gilderoy Lockhart must have lost his mind and stolen a "recruit" from the Ministry of Magic just to show off!
How did this guy do it!?
With cash?
No time to ponder this bizarre question, Ian's two dormmates were beginning to lose their senses, Qiu Zhang and other young wizards' breathing had even become weak. Dementors could suck away people's happiness, hope, and courage, quickly plunging everyone around into despair and fear.
And when this fear reaches its peak, the cold, exhaustion, and weakness, it could result in a coma. Dementors could suck away people's happiness, hope, and courage, quickly plunging everyone around into despair and fear. And when this fear reaches its peak, cold, fatigue, and powerlessness could lead to either unconsciousness or mental breakdown.
Of course.
Maybe due to the cage, the Dementor couldn't come out, but even if it merely raised its head inside the cage, the anomaly it caused was not something the young wizards could withstand.
The Dementor, driven by instinct, already displayed its craving, making its existence seem to suck away all warmth and light in the room, along with hope.
"The students can't take it anymore! What kind of class are you still teaching!" Ian began to suspect that Gilderoy Lockhart was under the Imperio curse, especially since the killer of the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor hadn't been caught!
"They will gain a lot from this class... you will too. This is reality, kid. The real enemy won't line up waiting for you to grow up just because of your age."
"I believe, after today's class, they will hate their weakness and become better wizards." Gilderoy Lockhart sighed.
"Fluorescent Flickering!"
The brilliant light dispelled the darkness in the classroom and reduced much of the bone-chilling cold air, although it ultimately could not eliminate the awful traits carried by the Dementor.
Ian stared at the Dementor in the cage, locking eyes. For some reason, he felt like he could communicate with it, but before he could speak to the Dementor,
"A very strong Lighting Spell... Light of the Soul, capable of illuminating everything." Gilderoy Lockhart suddenly commented, and Ian noticed that he had opened his eyes at some point.
Those blue eyes.
Deeply terrifying.
Gave Ian a creepy feeling—Lockhart? Voldemort!? How could the master of the Obliviate curse have such demeanor and sharp eyesight? As Ian felt his scalp tingle, realizing things were wrong, his heart sank as something unexpected happened.
"The Lighting Spell can't counter the Dementor; no matter how brilliant your Light of the Soul is, the correct way..." Gilderoy Lockhart raised his magic wand.
Ian wanted to curse him.
Yet found his left hand raised and couldn't move, though he could still perform magic, his wand obviously couldn't aim at Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Protegon Diabolica!"
Ian could only ignite a ring of Fiery Fire around him for defense; this was the exclusive technique of Grindelwald's grandfather, Aurora, from "Advanced Dark Arts Unveiled."
It could form a circle of flame shield around the caster, with some resistance to magic effects; of course, Ian wasn't just trying to use it for defense.
"There!"
Ian attempted to guide the Fiery Fire with his will towards the Dementor beside Gilderoy Lockhart.
No matter whether this guy was under the Imperio curse or himself a Polyjuice Potion user, daring to bring a Dementor before young wizards was reason enough for Ian to seek to kill him.
Strike first!
Or get into trouble later!
Attack is the best defense!
"Ha, well learned."
Gilderoy Lockhart waved his wand, redirecting Ian's Fiery Fire elsewhere.
"But that's not part of today's lesson. Learn with me, kid, the right way to deal with Dementors; it should be called... Summoning God Guardian!"
Seeming genuinely intent on teaching.
With the utterance of the spell, Gilderoy Lockhart's wand tip began to flicker with gentle light. This was a sign of magic energy accumulating inside the wand.
Then.
The inner wand seemed to be activated by a mysterious force.
Silver substance began to gush out.
Warm.
And beautiful.