Just like finding a favorite toy, Kael had a great time in the Room of Requirement.
He stretched out his finger and gave a gentle wave, instantly turning the rain into thick snow, and with another wave, it became egg-sized hail.
Honestly, this feeling of being able to change the surrounding environment with just a wave was just amazing.
After indulging himself enough, Kael suddenly remembered he had proper business to attend to, and reluctantly returned the room to sunny weather.
Never mind, there will be plenty of time in the future.
Kael crouched down carefully, taking out two bean-sized seeds from his pocket, afraid of accidentally crushing them.
The main thing was that the seeds were too precious and they weren't his; they were taken... picked up from the Herbology class.
Really, picked up.
It's quite a coincidence, during the earlier Herbology class, a Gryffindor young wizard got so excited after correctly answering Professor Sprout's question that he swung his shovel onto a Chomping Cabbage on the opposite side.
No surprise, the shovel was bitten into a heap of scrap iron on the spot, and the young wizard was docked one point as a result.
Originally, that was the end of it, but Kael inadvertently noticed that after the Chomping Cabbage spat out the remains of the shovel, it also spat out two seeds.
Professor Sprout happened to be looking for a new shovel at the time and didn't see this scene.
As an excellent Hufflepuff, Kael, of course, decided to help alleviate his head of house's worries, so he voluntarily picked them up for her.
However, he later forgot about it because he was obsessed with Dittany.
Kael dug two pits of the appropriate size, placed the seeds inside, and covered them with a thin layer of soil.
After doing all this, Kael nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well, I'll keep them safe for now and bring them to Professor Sprout in the next class."
...
After leaving the Room of Requirement, Kael returned to the common room, and in the afternoon, he went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with the new Hufflepuff students.
On the way, everyone was extremely excited, unsure whether it was the anticipation of Defense Against the Dark Arts or just interest in the legendary annually changing professor.
It might have been a bit of both.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was on the second floor.
When they pushed open the door and entered, they saw that the neatly arranged desks had all been moved to the sides of the walls, making the classroom look very spacious.
Professor Oren was already there, standing behind the podium fiddling with a covered cage.
Kael was a bit surprised to see this, not expecting that their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year would also be a hands-on type like Lupin.
"Good afternoon, everyone."
After everyone arrived, Professor Oren looked at the crowd warmly and said, "Put your books away. We won't be using them, not only for this class but for every class from now on."
With just one sentence, Professor Oren won the favor of many young wizards.
Is there anything happier than not needing to bring books to class? If there is, it's definitely not needing them for every class.
Coincidentally, Professor Oren achieved both.
"This professor must have real skills," a young wizard said immediately, "he's definitely going to stay!"
"Thanks for your kind words, Mr. Borg, but unfortunately, I can't award points to Gryffindor because of it."
Professor Oren smiled and continued, "In my view, theoretical knowledge is always the simplest part of this course, and you can all learn it by yourselves, so there's no need to waste precious class time on it.
In the classroom, I am more inclined to teach you how to protect yourselves when facing danger.
This danger may come from unknown dark magic or some kind of dangerous Fantastic Beasts. But either way, it could be life-threatening."
Seeing that the atmosphere around had become much more serious, Professor Oren continued, "However, for your age, it's still too early to come across dark magic, and the headmaster wouldn't allow me to do such a thing.
So let's start with something simple, Fantastic Beasts."
After saying that, Professor Oren gently pushed the cage, and a low buzzing sound immediately came from inside, causing the cage cover to shake from side to side as if it might fall off at any moment.
Some of the young wizards standing in front were so scared that they stepped back repeatedly.
"Don't worry, although this little guy is dangerous, as long as I'm here, you won't be harmed." Professor Oren said seriously, "I only ask you to stay calm and carefully listen to every word I'm going to say."
After he finished speaking, Oren lifted the cover, revealing what was inside the cage.
...a blue insect, about an inch in size. The buzzing sound was the noise it made while flapping its wings.
But unlike other insects, its wings were on top of its head, and when it flew, it looked like it was wearing a propeller, and its body would spin as well.
It looked pretty cute.
Katie Bell couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Professor, it seems, it doesn't look as dangerous as you said…"
To her, Professor Oren's previous words seemed a bit exaggerated, as such a little thing didn't even require a wand; a slap could easily squash it. How could it be dangerous?
"Oh really... I hope you can remain as confident later, Miss Bell." Professor Oren smiled slightly and asked, "So, does anyone know what it is? The first one to answer will earn five points for their house."
Among the crowd, Mikel unexpectedly heard a faint voice, probably a name.
Swayed by the lure of extra points, he blurted out without thinking, "Billywig!"
"Excellent, Mr. Mikel." Professor Oren said happily, "Hufflepuff earns five points!"
"Correct, the Billywig, a XXX-class Fantastic Beast." Professor Oren explained, "Take a careful look, there's a slender stinger at the bottom of its body. Anyone stung by a Billywig will feel dizzy, and then float upwards uncontrollably.
If stung multiple times, one may hover and float for several days."
Professor Oren turned his gaze to Katie Bell, "Do you still think it's not dangerous?"
Katie Bell turned her head away, saying nothing. However, from her expression, she didn't seem very convinced.
"Professor..." At this point, a curious young wizard asked eagerly, "So, in this lesson, are we going to deal with this Billywig?"
"Not quite." Professor Oren shook his head and said, "Before that, you must first learn the spell to handle it. Only when I'm sure it's safe will we engage in practical combat."