Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

“You two seem to be quite relaxed,” Hermione glanced at them anxiously. “Ancient Runes is really hard. I memorized everything, but I didn’t understand half of it; and we got so much homework, a fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and I’ve got to read these books by Wednesday!”

She gestured with her hand, extending from her left all the way to where Evan was standing. All the books were in Evan’s bag; otherwise, they would have had to carry back a thick stack of books distributed in class like everyone else, all looking as if they’d been through some ordeal.

“Shame,” yawned Ron.

“This is nothing — I’m more worried about tomorrow’s Arithmancy class…”

Hermione and Evan went on like this the whole way.

From Ancient Runes, they could glimpse the difficulty level of N.E.W.T classes — far more challenging than before.

To avoid falling behind, it would take even more after-class time devoted to studies.

Of course, simply giving up and taking only a few courses, like Ron did, was also an option.

That was probably Ron’s thinking too, which was why Hermione’s words earned no sympathy from him. Instead, he felt a bit gloating.

He’d had a leisurely morning and even played with the Fanged Frisbee Hermione had taken from the fourth-year student.

“There’s also Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon, you wait,” said Hermione pinkly. “I bet Snape gives us loads.”

No one agreed with her, but no one was foolish enough to argue, either.

Evan saw that Harry was holding a long list in his hand, with circles, dots and marks on each name.

“How was your discussion?” he asked. “Any decisions about the trials?”

After receiving the Captain badge, Harry had some players in mind and was mostly inclined to keep last term’s lineup. But enthusiasm for Quidditch was high, and more students had signed up for trials than last year, many just for a chance to impress Harry. The question now was what to do with them all.

“When we came back, we met Katie Bell, who suggested that we hold trials and let everyone participate, with strict selection,” said Harry. “She said that some good teams have been ruined before now because Captains just kept playing the old faces, or letting in their friends…”

Ron looked a little uncomfortable; he wasn’t too confident about going through another selection.

During the last selection, he was still confused and didn’t know how he got through. Maybe it was because his broom was better, or maybe it was because of the situation in the school at that time, many students were not interested in joining the Quidditch team. In short, he was not completely sure about the next trial, and his performance tended to be inconsistent.

Sometimes he did very well, but most of the time, it was a disaster.

But he couldn’t argue back, because Katie’s suggestion made sense…

At lunchtime, Harry gathered the team members from last term for a meeting.

He told everyone that he was going to organize trials and that everyone would have to participate, and everyone thought his decision was right.

Finally, the trials were scheduled for this Saturday morning.

There were currently nearly forty people participating, and Harry planned to spend the entire day. If the numbers kept increasing, the trials might need to extend over two days.

Many minds were already drifting toward Quidditch, but the reality was that the sixth years had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the afternoon — Snape’s first class as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

For Defense Against the Dark Arts this term, the students were generally quite nervous, not knowing what he would teach. It was certain that it would not be as relaxed as before. During Lupin’s teaching, Snape had substituted in Defense Against the Dark Arts, giving students a taste of his teaching style.

Whether it was identifying werewolves at school, discussing Dark Arts beyond the textbook, or anything else… Snape always had his own approach, never sticking to the textbook.

In fact, this term he hadn’t even assigned a textbook.

After lunch, students headed in small groups to line up outside the third-floor classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

This dim corridor was filled with too many memories, none of them particularly good.

“You know what? I’m starting to think Ron was right to skip Defense Against the Dark Arts this term,” said Harry as he joined Evan and Hermione outside the classroom. “I have a bad feeling.”

“You mean, he’s going to give us a ton of homework?”

“No, I mean…”

Before Harry could finish, the classroom door opened and Snape stepped into the corridor, his sallow face framed as ever by two curtains of greasy black hair. Silence fell over the queue immediately.

“Inside,” he said.

The students filed into the classroom, which had undergone a drastic change.

Snape had imposed his personality upon the room already; it was gloomier than usual, as curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts.

Interesting, was Snape actually going to teach them the Dark Arts?

Because of these shadowy, gruesome pictures, the classroom was exceptionally quiet as everyone settled down.

“I wish to speak to you, and I want your fullest attention,” said Snape, moving to his desk, his black eyes roving over the upturned faces. “As you are likely aware, you have had eight teachers in this subject so far. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be much more advanced.”

Snape set off around the edge of the room, speaking now in a lower voice; the class craned their necks to keep him in view.

“The Dark Arts,” said Snape, “are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.”

This was a truly novel explanation, one that Evan had never heard before.

From Snape’s tone, though he was emphasizing the dangers of the Dark Arts and the need for heightened awareness, there was a loving caress in his voice, almost encouraging the students to understand and study the Dark Arts.

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