Saturdays at Hogwarts always had a slightly lazier atmosphere than usual.
Lynn leaned against the back of the Hufflepuff table, holding a piece of toast he had already taken two bites from.
His gaze fell toward the Gryffindor table.
Or more accurately, on Harry Potter, who was speaking beside it.
"You-Know-Who has already returned, and his Death Eaters must be planning how to deal with Dumbledore. But even at such a critical moment, we aren't learning anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
Lynn withdrew his gaze and took another bite of his toast.
In a sense, Harry was right.
Just look at Defense Against the Dark Arts over the last few years.
Quirrell in first year was stuttering.
Lockhart in second year taught nothing.
Lupin in third year finally got things on the right track, but he only taught them how to deal with simple dark creatures.
Last year, Moody finally taught them something about dealing with people, but...
Did they really expect young wizards who had only seriously studied for less than two years to deal with vicious Death Eaters?
Lynn shook his head.
They might as well go to bed early.
Just as Lynn was thinking this, he suddenly heard a familiar voice beside him.
"Lynn, excuse me..."
Lynn turned his head.
Hermione had come over from the Gryffindor table at some point, with Harry and Ron following behind her.
"What's up?" Lynn asked.
Hermione looked left and right, her gaze sweeping over the students eating at the Hufflepuff table and then over a few Ravenclaw girls passing by.
She lowered her voice and said to Lynn, "There are too many people here. Can we go somewhere quiet?"
Lynn did not stand up.
He reached out, pulled his wand from his sleeve, and gave a gentle tap.
"Muffliato."
A nearly invisible light spread from the tip of his wand like a ripple, silently sweeping through the air around them.
The ripple paused in the air for a moment, then solidified like a transparent wall, enclosing the four of them.
"There."
Lynn put his wand back into his sleeve.
"Now no one else can hear what we're saying."
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"So that's how it works—"
Her voice went from hushed to normal, and then to excited.
"Can you teach me this spell?"
Lynn nodded.
"Of course."
"That's great! When—"
"Ahem!"
A dry cough cut in from the side, interrupting Hermione.
Hermione froze, her face turning bright red instantly.
"Oh, sorry. I came to see you about something else."
Lynn shrugged, signaling for her to continue.
Hermione took a deep breath, as if organizing her thoughts.
"I think you know what a terrible teacher Umbridge is. We can't learn any Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge from her at all."
"In class, she just makes us read the textbook. Once we're done reading, we just look at it ourselves until class ends. She doesn't teach spells, doesn't demonstrate, and doesn't let students practice. She even—"
She paused, as if suppressing some emotion.
"She doesn't even let students ask questions. Last time I asked her, 'Why can't we learn Expelliarmus?' she looked at me and said, 'Miss Granger, anything not in the textbook is not on the exam.' Then she deducted five points from me for 'speaking without permission.'"
After saying this, Hermione pressed her lips into a thin line.
She rarely evaluated a professor like this in front of others.
She respected knowledge, and she respected those who imparted it.
But Umbridge was probably the first professor she had ever encountered who made her feel that this person didn't deserve to stand on the podium.
Lynn listened silently for a second.
"Of course," he said. "First, a disclaimer. If you want to join forces to kick Umbridge out—"
He paused.
"It's highly unlikely to be possible."
Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Lynn didn't give him the chance.
"She has Dumbledore backing her."
The three of them: ???
Dumbledore?
Backing Umbridge?
They just assumed Lynn had made a slip of the tongue.
He probably meant to say "the Ministry of Magic" instead of "Dumbledore."
Everyone had slips of the tongue, especially right after breakfast, when all the blood was rushing to the stomach.
"No, I know there's no way to drive her away."
Hermione spoke a bit faster, as if afraid of being interrupted.
"I'm thinking, perhaps we could... do it ourselves."
Lynn became slightly more interested.
"You mean setting up a course yourselves?" he asked.
Hermione nodded vigorously.
"Yes. Although there are some differences, it's about the same. So we need a teacher. A suitable teacher. Someone who can teach us how to use spells and correct us promptly when we make mistakes. Just like Professor Moody."
The more Hermione spoke, the more excited she became, and she glanced at Lynn from time to time.
"And we have such a person right beside us," she said. "I dare say, he is definitely more suited for this job than the vast majority of people."
Harry and Ron chimed in as well.
Since things had been said to this point, if Lynn still didn't understand what they had come to him for, he would have to be completely brain-dead.
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and looked at Hermione with an expression that said, I get it.
"Yeah," he said, his tone carrying sincere agreement. "I completely support your idea. This is a good thing."
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"So you agree?"
"Yes."
Lynn nodded and stood up from his chair.
"I'll go find Cedric right now. You guys stay here and don't move."
Having said that, he didn't wait for the three of them to react before turning to leave, presenting an active posture of I'm on it.
Hermione's hand reacted faster than her brain.
She reached out directly and grabbed Lynn's shoulder.
Lynn's footsteps halted.
He maintained the posture of someone who had just taken a step and turned his head to look at Hermione.
Hermione's face turned even redder.
She was likely angered.
"In fact," her voice squeezed through her teeth, "we want to ask you."
Lynn looked at her and fell silent for a second.
He sighed, pulled back the foot he had stepped out with, and sat back down in the chair.
"Why me?" he asked.
Hermione let go of his shoulder.
"Because all your honors are on display in the Trophy Room."
She spoke very calmly, as if reading a resume.
"Several Special Awards for Services to the School. The youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class. The youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class. And your performance in the Triwizard Tournament."
"You drove away a Norwegian Ridgeback all by yourself."
"You killed a Giant Kraken alone at the bottom of the Black Lake."
"You dealt with several champions controlled by the Imperius Curse by yourself at the entrance to the maze."
She paused, as if giving them time to digest the information.
"If you aren't suitable, then there's no one suitable at Hogwarts."
Harry and Ron continued to chime in.
"No," Lynn said. "I am not suitable."
Harry frowned.
"Wanting to pass on what you know to others," Lynn said, his speaking speed very slow, as if explaining a very complex math problem, "and knowing a lot of magic are two completely different things."
"I don't think there's any difference," Ron said, a bit unconvinced.
His voice was a little louder than usual, probably because he felt Lynn was making excuses.
Lynn glanced at him.
"Of course there's a difference."
His tone was still very calm.
"Take spells, for example. Since I started learning magic, I've been able to learn almost any spell at a glance."
"So it's very hard for me to explain the learning process to you."
"I've never experienced it at all."
Ron's face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He recalled the process of learning spells himself.
For simple spells, he still needed to practice for several days with Hermione's help just to barely pass.
As for the harder ones, like the Patronus Charm, he still hadn't learned them.
Every time he saw Lynn wave his hand and cast a perfect spell, he would comfort himself in his heart.
He's a genius. I'm an ordinary person. I can't compare.
But now Lynn was telling him:
I'm not a genius. I simply haven't experienced the process of not being able to learn.
This was even more heart-wrenching than "I'm a genius."
Because with "I'm a genius," one could still comfort oneself with "different talents."
But "I haven't experienced not being able to learn" meant—
I am not the same species as you.
How could the gap between people be so vast?
Ron fell silent.
Lynn didn't look at him.
His gaze fell on Hermione's face.
"Besides," he said, "even if I could really teach you, I could at most teach some practical combat."
He paused and waved his wand to lift the Muffliato spell.
"And you probably wouldn't be able to handle it."
He reached out and patted Edgar, who was busy eating beside him.
Edgar was concentrating on dealing with a piece of roast lamb chop.
When Lynn patted him, he almost poked the fork into his nostril.
He raised his head, a trace of gravy still hanging from the corner of his mouth, his expression blank.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Lynn said. "I just want to help you train in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Edgar's reaction was textbook-level.
Fast.
Accurate.
Ruthless.
He stopped eating.
He threw his fork onto the table, abandoned even the lamb chop, and sprang up from his chair.
His movement was so swift that even William beside him was startled.
"I just remembered I forgot my broom on the pitch!"
His voice was urgent and fast, as if someone were chasing him.
"We'll talk when I get back!"
Before he finished speaking, he had already run several meters away.
Lynn then looked at William and Ollie.
The two of them didn't even bother to find an excuse.
They simply bolted.
Lynn withdrew his gaze and looked at Hermione, Harry, and Ron.
The three of them were staring in the direction the others had fled with indescribable expressions.
It was hard to imagine how exactly Lynn had trained them to scare them like this.
"See?"
Lynn spread his hands.
No one spoke.
Lynn leaned back against the chair, his hands crossed behind his head.
"So, I'll help you persuade Cedric," he said. "He seems quite free lately."
"Okay," Hermione said.
Lynn nodded and stood up from his chair.
"Then I'll go find him first. You guys go back to eating. I'll notify you if there's any news."
---
Enjoying the story?
Receive extra updates and read up to 60+ chapters ahead on Patreon.
Patreon: patreon.com/mrfanfiction140
Happy Reading. Be sure to leave a review!!!