"The charm to deal with Billywig is very simple, but it requires your full attention. When casting the spell, you must concentrate and be clear about your target, with no room for error.
Billywigs fly very fast, and they won't give you a second chance to cast your spell."
Professor Oren said seriously, then continued: "Let's first practice the spell without wands. Please repeat after me—Relashio!"
"Relashio!" the young wizards said in unison.
"Very good," said Professor Oren, satisfied. "Next, we'll test the effectiveness of your charm."
He had the entire class line up, taking turns to cast the charm on the Billywig in the cage.
First in line was Conna.
She had originally been in the middle of the line but was swiftly surrounded by the Gryffindor fans and brought to the front.
Ever since Professor Oren called out names, these little lions were eager to see what was special about this little witch who could conquer Snape.
"Brave girl," Professor Oren smiled. "I remember your name is Conna, right?"
"Yes, Professor."
With her past two experiences, Conna was much more composed than before.
She was still nervous but could communicate normally now, and her first thought was to answer the professor's question, not run away.
"Don't be afraid. It's just a simple spell," Professor Oren said patiently. "Remember what I just said, concentrate, you can do it, believe in yourself."
Conna took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thrust her wand forward.
"Re...Relashio!"
"Whoosh!" The sound of air being sliced filled the room.
Professor Oren instinctively stepped back a bit.
To be honest, with that force, no spell was needed to kill the Billywig if it were closer.
Thankfully, the result was still good.
As the spell ended, the Billywig in the cage fell to the ground.
"Not bad, Hufflepuff gets one point," Professor Oren announced loudly, pulling out a second cage.
Yesterday, due to inexperience, he only brought three Billywigs for the classes with Ravenclaw and Slytherin House.
He thought it would be enough, but it wasn't. Sometimes the first one hadn't recovered when the third one was already down.
Every time this happened, the little wizards from the two houses would stare at him awkwardly.
To avoid a repeat of this situation, he brought ten today, definitely enough.
"Next one, Santos, it's your turn."
Called by name, Santos hurriedly stepped forward and started to recite the charm.
"Relashio..."
Nothing happened; the Billywig in the cage kept spinning happily.
"Relax, don't be so nervous," Professor Oren walked to his side and said softly. "You must pronounce the spell clearly, you were too soft on the last syllable, let's try again."
Santos nodded and extended his wand once more.
"Relashio!"
This time, it worked.
"Very well, next one..." Professor Oren switched to another cage.
With two consecutive successes, the others gained confidence and couldn't wait to try.
However, some were too confident, forgetting Professor Oren's earlier instructions. When it was their turn, they didn't even look, they just loudly cast the spell at the cage.
Consequently, the Billywig was unscathed, but the cage fell apart.
As a result, Professor Oren had to stay extremely alert to restore the cages promptly.
But soon, he realized he had underestimated the situation.
A Gryffindor freshman at the back of the line, frustrated by the wait, started quietly reciting the spell.
Originally, he wanted to practice ahead of time, planning to impress everyone when it was his turn... but he forgot he was holding his wand.
Near the podium, while reciting the Repairing Charm, Professor Oren suddenly felt his legs go weak, collapsing to the ground.
A simple fall wasn't much; after all, Professor Oren was a strong adult wizard, at most just a few scratches easily fixed with a Dittany Band-Aid.
But the interruption of his Repairing Charm was the problem.
A Billywig escaped, angrily charging at the young wizards.
It had wanted to do this since yesterday after being rendered powerless all day, now it sought revenge!
In response, some young wizards panicked and ran around the classroom, while others raised their wands.
"Relashio!"
"Relashio!"
...
More than a dozen spells crisscrossed, failing to hit the Billywig but successfully halting its progress...
Now, the young wizards felt as if they had discovered a new continent, more excitedly raising their wands, ready to hit a moving target again.
"Stop immediately!" Just then, lying on the floor, Professor Oren suddenly shouted sternly.
He pulled out his wand, and as the Billywig flew over his head, he shouted loudly.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Professor Oren caught the falling Billywig, put it back in the cage, and shakily stood up.
He painfully rubbed his waist.
No wonder everyone said being the Defense Against Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts was a tough job, it really was.
Enduring the pain, Professor Oren looked at the young wizards with concern and asked, "Are you all okay, did anyone get stung?"
"No, Professor," everyone shook their heads.
"That's good." He sighed in relief, restoring the podium, and said, "Let's continue the class, oh... except for the first in line, everyone else put away your wands."
Everyone obediently complied.
Though somewhat lingering, having witnessed Professor Oren's earlier anger, they dared not act recklessly.
After all, no one wanted the Petrification Spell cast on them.
With this mindset, almost everyone succeeded in one try, making progress faster than before.
Yet, Professor Oren showed no sign of relaxation; on the contrary, he grew even more tense.
By the end of the class, he even skipped assigning homework, leaving the classroom without looking back.
This class had exhausted him, and he didn't want to stay a moment longer.
Returning to his office, Oren drew the curtains and contentedly sipped his tea.
No matter what, it was finally over. Although there was a small mishap, fortunately, everything was under control, and all ten Billywigs... huh?
Wait, why are there only nine left!
Oren hurriedly put down his teacup and counted again carefully.
Indeed, one was missing.
One cage was empty, with a fist-sized hole on top.
"Merlin's beard..." Oren rushed back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but found nothing there.
"Those freshmen's spells must have hit the cage!"
Oren looked at the open window in the classroom and complained, "Fifty Galleons, just gone like that!"
...