"Snape would probably be the first to thank you, because you're bound to make the little wizards more afraid of you than him." Ian sighed and immediately went to his two roommates who were unconscious on the ground.
"Mr. Prince, someday you'll understand."
Grindelwald continued to step towards the door.
"To see flowers bloom, you must bathe in the blood of the flower picker. That's the reality forever, your opinions mean nothing to me. All I want is to see those flowers bloom brilliantly."
His magnetic voice echoed in the empty classroom.
"Now, class dismissed."
With those words, the man's figure had already disappeared at the corner outside the door.
...
Set up the crucible.
Found a few pieces of chocolate and melted them down into liquid, then filled a big tub with the chocolate liquid, and returned to the classroom of "bodies scattered everywhere", waking up the classmates one by one.
Despite it not being Ian's wish, he could only use the most primitive method, pouring chocolate while waking everyone up, even giving Qiu Zhang, the little witch, a slap.
"What happened?"
"Didn't the dementor eat me up?"
"Oh my god! I had a nightmare... damn, it was this classroom! It wasn't a nightmare after all!"
...
As many little wizards slowly regained consciousness and instinctively clutched at the chocolate juice to chug it down, Ian also realized that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher perhaps had some sense of propriety.
The influence of the dementor hadn't left everyone with any aftereffects, only that each person felt a bit of a loss of joy and might be a bit gloomy for several days.
"That was terrifying."
Michael, as a black boy, developed a bit faster, being on the larger side for a first-year, but now he seemed to be shivering like a quail.
Ian wanted to go over and comfort him, but then he heard him mutter, "I suddenly have a feeling that Rebecca might not like me... oh! This illusion is really terrifying!"
A sycophant doesn't deserve comfort.
Ian stopped in his tracks.
He chose instead to comfort his dream-appointed horse groom. William, by comparison, was a lot more normal; upon waking he was merely muttering about some pesky little kid occupying his room at home, which he intended to give to Ian to make stew... well, perhaps loyal William wasn't that normal either.
Ian never expected that merely overnight, he'd sincerely hope that the so-called little kid was just some non-human species of William's family, although that too was quite unsettling.
"What kind of disreputable friends are these!" Ian started to question his social circle, looking around, fortunately most of the nightmares of the little wizards were bizarre and even morally questionable.
This was the lingering effect of the dementor.
After encountering a dementor and barely escaping, victims would still feel physically exhausted, powerless, and might have various nightmares for several consecutive nights.
Some magic potions that could make people feel happy could speed up recovery, but these potions were quite expensive, and even if Snape wasn't at school, Ian wouldn't have the guts to rummage through Snape's office.
There were quite a few people lying in the classroom.
None of them were named Lily Potter or Harry Snape... his classmates would have to endure a bit of hardship, but Ian quickly awakened each comatose student.
Everyone felt a bit cold.
They clung to the chocolate juice Ian provided and drank it fiercely.
"Lockhart is insane! I'm going to tell my dad! Have my dad expel him!" Unexpectedly, there was someone among the Ravenclaw little wizard ranks who was like a Malfoy, a child of a school leader.
"That was a dementor! Boohoohoo! I never want to attend Defense Against the Dark Arts class again!" Some tearful little wizards developed a fear of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Everyone was extremely frightened.
Even when Ian tried to reassure them with something like "The professor said he'll catch a succubus for us to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts next time," only one little wizard hesitantly raised their head and asked, through tears.
"Is it one for each person?"
Even such a question was filled with hesitation, demonstrating the psychological shadow the little wizards had experienced was not light, but fortunately Ian had long thoughtfully and warmly considered this.
"Where's the dementor? Did that Lockhart take it away?"
William asked with residual fear.
"Who knows..."
Ian pretended to be confused, though in reality, he was quite guilty.
His gaze was a bit evasive.
But the two frightened roommates didn't notice—a chill ran through the empty classroom, even the podium was gone, and after catching their breath, everyone shakily left the classroom.
A lot of people headed towards the direction of the infirmary, and Madam Pomfrey clearly wouldn't have a peaceful afternoon, nor was it clear how the impostor professor would deal with this colleague who was so caring towards the little wizards.
"That's not my concern!"
After lunch, as Ian and his two dispirited roommates returned to their dormitory, he was curiously pondering where the real Gilderoy Lockhart had gone, and whether he would meet him in the Misty Illusion Realm. Perhaps not, as Polyjuice Potion requires a living person, so perhaps Gilderoy Lockhart was being held somewhere by the impostor professor?
Of course.
Ian had no sympathy for the real Gilderoy Lockhart.
For such a person.
Perhaps being kept to extract his hair was exactly what Gilderoy Lockhart deserved, and those who had been harmed by him would obviously be delighted to see this happen.