Chapter 70 Snape's Defense Against the Dark Arts (2)
"It seems that none of you can complete my task."
When the thirty minutes were up, Snape, who was sitting on the podium, spoke coldly while holding his watch. He slightly raised his thin face and glanced down. This action made his tall hooked nose look even bigger and more oppressive.
"You are still in the second grade, and the teachers of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class are not very good. I think you kids who are still dreaming don't have any intuitive understanding." Snape stood up and walked down the podium step by step. His dark eyes swept across every nervous face. "Now, who can tell me what the three unforgivable curses are."
Hermione, who always actively raised her hand, hesitated rarely. She paused for a moment, and then slowly raised her hand.
Snape saw her hand raised, but did not say anything. He continued to scan the students in the classroom with different expressions. "Look at you, you don't even want to open your mouth. Miss Granger, please answer it."
"Professor, it's the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse." This was one of the few times Snape would ask Hermione to answer a question, and it was also one of the few times Hermione answered a question in a low voice.
Just saying it makes me feel bloody.
Della twisted the wand lightly twice. There was no change in her expression, but her eyes were narrowed more narrowly than usual, staring at Snape's black robe in front of her without blinking.
"Well, take a seat, Miss Granger."
Snape nodded slightly. He glanced at Harry, who was still fiddling with the flowers with his head down, and said nothing more. He walked back on his own. "Now, you are still in school, learning harmless spells and talking about harmless things -"
"More than a decade ago," Snape's voice suddenly became louder, startling everyone and looking up at him, "Here, at Hogwarts, not only were there no new students, but students died every day, whether they were seniors or graduates, or even juniors who happened to walk into Diagon Alley. They would be struck by a curse and could never open their mouths again."
The children in the classroom were silent. They stared with wide eyes, wondering why the gloomy professor was talking about the cruelty of the past. Snape looked at their reactions, exhaled slightly through his nose, as if he was sneering, and continued.
"Those things, for most of you, only exist in words. They are so far away, and you seem so naive. I think, until now, some of you still regard that past as a prelude to a heroic legend, and believe that black magic is only a weapon for the defeated."
"Look at the astonishment on most of your faces. It's so obvious," Snape glanced around. He saw Neville, whose body had begun to tremble, Harry's hand tightly grasping the flower branch, and Della, the only one who showed her back to him. He rubbed the wand in his hand slightly, turned around and walked towards the podium.
"Without that kind of intuitive understanding, even the most fancy Defense Against the Dark Arts class is just a waste of time. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Killing Curse?"
He stood on the podium with his robe shaking. Although his words were inquiring, his dark eyes glanced down at Della condescendingly, which was a disguised way of calling out her name.
Della was silent for a moment, then raised her hand cooperatively, and after receiving a slight nod from Snape, she stood up.
"The Killing Curse is a black magic spell that is affected by the emotions of the caster. If the caster has a definite intention to kill someone, the person who is cursed will die in an instant."
"Well," Snape nodded, but he didn't mean to let Della sit down. Instead, he glanced at the little faces in the classroom that had begun to turn pale, and continued in a low voice, "Then, who can tell me what death means."
This is a question that has no standard answer, but Snape is not a patient and encouraging literature teacher. In the classroom, he is more like a tyrant. So there was silence in the classroom for a while, and everyone was guessing why Snape asked this question.
If they had learned a little bit of black magic, it would be easy for them to figure out the trick.
Della, who was standing, raised her hand again. After being called by Snape, she said, "Professor, I believe that death is the deprivation of vitality. The essence of the Killing Curse is to take away the key to regenerating vitality - the soul - in an instant, making the body unable to carry vitality, thus causing death in an instant."
Many harmful black magics are done by torturing the soul and life.
Snape never taught Della this during the brief Dark Arts teaching in the first grade, but the girl had already understood the essence of this in her own practice. And the understanding of the essence means the possibility of innovation and creation.
It's scary, but also admirable.
"You are right, Riddle. This is a very profound understanding. Slytherin deserves a point plus!" Snape nodded and waved for Della to sit down. He picked up the remaining branches on the podium and finally returned to the classroom. "Having said this, I think you should know why they can't bloom."
It's a killing curse!
The students who came to their senses turned pale and threw away the branches in their hands, but the professor on the podium refused to give in and his deep voice echoed throughout the classroom.
"Pick them up! Don't act like a coward. If you can't even touch them, what are you going to use to be a hero?"
Even at this time, Snape did not forget to make a sarcastic remark. Seeing the students below touching the flower branches with trembling hands, he snorted and sneered, "A flower has pierced your dreams. I am really worried about the future of the wizarding world."
"Even if it's an impossible task, it's a class requirement. I feel it's educationally sufficient, but in accordance with my usual practice, I'll have you write another twenty-inch-long paper."
Glancing at the pale-faced students in their seats, Snape crossed his arms in a cold manner and said, "But this is not my class after all, so I'm leaving you a glimmer of hope. Of course, if no one of you finds out, today's paper will have to add another 8 inches."
A glimmer of hope?
The students below the podium looked at each other with confusion on their faces. Even Della raised her eyebrows in surprise, as if she had not expected such a situation.
It’s really strange. Montero flowers are just ordinary ornamental flowers. Could it be that I missed something?
Thinking of this, Della began to check the branches that she had not paid much attention to.
Flower stem...no, stamen...no, bud...ah!
There is nothing wrong with the buds, but the weird thing is——
"It's a seed, Professor Snape." Harry raised his hand behind him and said his guess not too loudly.
"......" Snape crossed his arms and did not speak for a while, just staring at those green eyes quietly. After several seconds, he slowly spoke, "You are right, Mr. Potter, can you give further explanation?"
"Uh... um..." Harry was stuck after finding only tiny seeds hidden in the bud.
"Oh, sit down first, Mr. Potter," Snape suddenly became very tolerant. He raised his hand for Harry to sit down, and then began his explanation.
"Montero flowers are a type of flower that has no other uses except for viewing. I think you have seen many swaying Montero flowers in flower shops, but without exception, they are all open, and all the seeds in the flowers must be cleaned out. This is probably the first time you have seen its buds."
"This is because the seeds of the Montero flower branch have very strong vitality. Even if the mother plant is cut off from nutrients, the seeds can continue to grow. They will try every means to obtain nutrients, even the slightest moisture brought by the breeze will be snatched away." Snape said as he walked to Harry's side, motioned Harry to pick up the flower branch, and then pointed his wand at it. "Eventually, the seeds will grow on their own."
As Snape's voice fell, the bud in front of Harry's eyes slowly swelled up, and a few clusters of tender buds pushed open the trembling petals, showing off their own vitality, and the layers of petals that were pushed open cleverly showed a "blooming" posture.
It turns out that this is not an impossible task...
Harry stared blankly at the flowers in his hand, while Snape's low voice continued in his ears.
"How lucky you are that your savior has exempted you from a 28-inch long essay. Also, five points from Gryffindor. Now, get out of class is dismissed."
Della stared at the blossoming flower in front of Harry, examining the new buds between the petals inch by inch.
Matrix and seed, it seems that Professor Snape has more to teach besides black magic.
He is actually a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Not only Della, but Harry also thinks so.