"You really have your ways," Seamus praised loudly.
On Thursday, the third-year students had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Sirius substituting.
During breakfast, everyone was eagerly discussing it, and the girls, like Lavender Brown and Hanna Abbo, were already going crazy, all talking about Sirius's looks.
The Slytherin girls were more restrained. Led by Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass, they sat upright at the Slytherin table, trying hard not to discuss Sirius Black.
No other reason, they didn't want to get caught by Snape.
Ron and Hermione sat together, with Harry sitting beside them, also quietly chatting about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
But they were discussing the class itself, not fangirling over how handsome Sirius was.
"Look, Hedwig's flying in," Ron pointed at the entrance.
Hedwig looked very tired, she almost crash-dived into Harry's arms, clutching a package in her claws.
"Oh, Stuka," Hermione took out a bottle of bird supplements from her pocket — it was for her parrot.
She handed the supplement to Harry: "Give Hedwig some; this kind of supplement is good for a bird's health, especially the feathers — if their nutrition is unbalanced, they can develop stress lines."
"Okay," Harry twisted open the bottle, poured it into a bowl, and handed it to Hedwig.
Hedwig stretched her head, leaning in to slowly lap up the supplement with her tongue, her eyes squinting, looking very content.
"It's Charlie's package," Harry said, "It seems the stuff has arrived —"
He opened the package, which contained a letter and a small package.
The small package was for Harry, containing twenty pieces of dragon scale — the letter was for Ron. After opening it, Ron happily said, "Charlie wanted to thank you, Harry, and congratulate me on making the Quidditch team, wishing me the championship!"
"Did you tell him you're a reserve?" Hermione asked.
"That doesn't matter," Ron waved his hand grandly.
Seeing that class time was approaching, the three of them packed up their things, put their pets back in the dormitory, and hurried to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Sirius wasn't in the classroom when they arrived. The only ones there were other students who had arrived early.
Everyone was whispering and eagerly discussing what the new professor might teach them, or if there would be any novel way of making an entrance — like what Professor Lockhart did... no, more like Lady Rozier's first meeting with everyone.
After a while, they heard a "bang" as the door swung open.
Everyone turned their heads to find Professor Black entering.
Today, Sirius was not wearing his splendid clothes but a black robe, with a black wig on his head, striding into the classroom.
In the mix of surprise, disbelief, and a hint of wanting to laugh, he closed all the windows theatrically with his magic wand in a "swish, swish, swish" manner. He walked over to the podium like a greasy old bat, did a Snape-style quick turn, flicked his greasy wig into a side part, and, mimicking Snape's greasy tone, said:
"You are here to learn the methods of defense against and counter-attacking the dark wizards. Since there's no one stupidly sitting in front of a cauldron brewing slugs, some of you might not believe this is actually a fine-tuned science — I don't expect you to truly grasp the enchanting magic resonance when waving a wand, the might of powerful spells, or the mystifying magic of punishing dark wizards, heart-stirring and will-swaying... I can teach you how to build reputation, gain glory, even conquer death —"
"But there must be one condition, that you are not the kind of idiot fools I often encounter."
At this point, the students, who had been holding back their laughter, burst into roaring laughter.
Especially the Gryffindor students laughed the loudest.
Of course, students from other houses were laughing too, except for Slytherin.
Slytherin students did not lack laughter, but they were holding it back, trying not to laugh out loud in case Professor Snape found out.
"Quiet—" Professor Sirius squinted, dragging his tone, mimicking Snape vividly.
This made the students laugh even harder, especially Ron, Seamus, and Neville, who laughed the loudest.
Hermione looked worriedly at Professor Sirius, thinking that they didn't get along well originally, and what if Snape gave him a hard time?
"Mr. Potter!"
Sirius suddenly appeared in front of Harry, his actions almost identical to Snape's — it was clear he had a deep understanding of Snape...
"If I want to disarm a wizard, what should I do?" he asked in a greasy tone.
Seeing how accurately Sirius mimicked him, the students couldn't hold back any longer, all bursting into laughter.
"Quiet—" Sirius dragged his words, utterly Snape-like.
"It's the Expelliarmus spell, Professor," Harry replied, holding in his laughter.
He truly hadn't expected Sirius to pull off such a skit —
But at the same time, Harry had to admit, it was indeed a good one.
"Well, well," Sirius squinted his eyes, "It seems the reputation is not underserved — let's try again, Mr. Potter. If I want to cause harm to a Yin Corpse, what kind of spell should be used?"
"A fire-related spell, Professor," Harry crisply answered.
"I suppose you are quite knowledgeable about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Mr. Potter?" Sirius squinted his eyes, asking again, "Then, tell me, what's the difference between Thunder Explosion and a Big Boom?"
"Different power, Professor," Harry answered.
Sirius smiled.
"Since you answered correctly — Gryffindor earns five points," he said.
(Requesting monthly votes)
(Extra 24000/50000)