blogombal Chapter 104 Quirrell's Special Instruction
Chapter 104 Quirrell's Special Instruction
Chapter 104 Quirrell's Special Instruction
Professor Quirrell waved his wand, and the oak door to his office opened, releasing a strong, suffocating smell of garlic. Lucas was struck dumb, sneezing several times in a row and having to back away.
"I'm so sorry, Professor," Lucas said awkwardly, "my sense of smell is a little too sensitive..."
""
A blush crept onto Professor Quirrell's pale face: "No, no, no, it's alright, McGonagall..."
'
He immediately shut his mouth, waved his wand again, and a whirlwind swirled up, temporarily dispelling the terrifying smell of garlic.
"Whirlwind Sweep"? A silent spell, and a very skilled one at that. That's far more powerful than Tonks's.
Earlier, the students had been discussing the week's courses and the professors, and Lucas had heard quite a few comments about Professor Quirrell.
It's said that he turned the highly anticipated Defense Against the Dark Arts course into a joke, not only reciting from the textbook but also stammering and stuttering, making even the students think he was very cowardly and incompetent.
But now, upon seeing him, Lucas couldn't help but feel a sense of respect. Regardless of his teaching abilities, Professor Quirrell was at least a level six wizard.
He followed Professor Quirrell into the room, and the door closed. Fortunately, Professor Quirrell thoughtfully hung all the large net bags of garlic hanging from the ceiling outside the window; otherwise, Lucas would have had a hard time sitting down.
While Quirrell went to pour tea, Lucas looked around the rather spacious office.
He immediately noticed that there were an unusually large number of lamps in the room, and each one was made of silver. The lamps illuminated the room without any shadows, and even in the corner of the top shelf, there was a small oil lamp.
Illuminated by the flames in the lamps and fireplace, a huge mirror hanging on the wall gleamed, clearly reflecting the entire room, including Lucas and Professor Quirrell, who was making tea.
Lucas immediately thought of the legend of vampires, creatures that cannot be reflected in mirrors.
On the wall behind the door, a bunch of dried sage and a small sprig of St. John's wort were nailed together with a red ribbon. These two herbs are widely believed in the wizarding world to have the effect of warding off dark creatures.
In the most prominent position on the bookshelf, there was a clear glass bottle containing a large bottle of silver-flake water. In the corner stood a sharpened wooden stake, its tip sharply pointed, as if its owner was ready to pick it up for self-defense at any moment.
On the desk, besides a stack of half-corrected homework, there were several open books. The top one was titled "Vampires: From Legend to Defense," and underneath it were "The Romanian Survival Guide" and "Mysterious Creatures of the Albanian Mountains."
Moreover, this office was connected to another room. Lucas saw a medium-sized door on the wall, but he didn't know if it led to another office or some secret escape route.
It seems that Professor Quirrell was really terrified by vampires and suffered severe psychological trauma. Even at Hogwarts, he was always on guard against vampire attacks.
This is rather strange, because while vampires are relatively mysterious to wizards, their strength is certainly not as formidable as depicted in terrifying legends. After all, wizards possess magic; what vampire could possibly inflict such significant damage on a level six wizard like Professor Quirrell?
At this moment, Professor Quirrell had already poured Lucas a cup of tea. Surrounded by multiple layers of security in this office, Professor Quirrell seemed to feel very at ease. As soon as he spoke, Lucas was surprised to find that his stuttering had disappeared.
"Please have a seat, Mr. McGregor."
As Lucas picked up his cup of black tea, he noticed that behind the steam rising from the cup, Professor Quirrell was scrutinizing him with a strange look.
"Thank you so much for your help, Professor Quirrell," Lucas said carefully. "What will you be teaching me? Hermione Granger has already highlighted the key points you covered in class."
Professor Quirrell laughed. "You've heard about the classes I taught first graders, haven't you? You think I just read from the textbook, so you think this kind of tutoring is unnecessary?"
Lucas was somewhat surprised; Professor Quirrell's tone was sharp, completely different from the person he knew before.
Lucas did not answer directly, but said, "Professor, you just demonstrated a profound silent spellcasting. I believe you are a highly skilled wizard."
“Mr. McGregor,” Professor Quirrell stared into Lucas’s eyes, his gaze sharp enough to remind Lucas of some kind of highly aggressive beast, “Dark magic…Defense magic, is a very profound subject.”
He suddenly burst into a madman-like laugh, abruptly halting his aggression in the light.
"Hehehe, defending against dark magic is far more difficult than casting it. Therefore, the best way is..."
'
His tone suddenly became calm again, and with these shifts in his voice, it was hard for Lucas not to suspect that he had some kind of mental illness.
"Lucas, shall I call you that? My teaching is tailored to the individual, understand? For your classmates, those first-year students whose knowledge of magic is still blank, I think it's enough to have studied the textbook and learned about the legends of black magic and dark creatures."
"But for you," his gaze sharpened again, "I can teach you something special; you can receive special instruction from me."
"I don't understand, Professor?"
Quirrell picked up his teacup. "Professor Sprout values you highly. She asked me to guide you wholeheartedly. She is a teacher I greatly respect and has been a great help to me throughout my student life. Of course, I am happy to repay her in this way."
"Of course, this is only one aspect, one opportunity."
Quirrell gestured for Lucas to have some tea as well: "Actually, I've heard about you for a while now, Lucas. Throughout August, you were the hottest new star in the wizarding world, starting to shine from your battle against the dark wizards of Gringotts, and you've been receiving a lot of attention."
"But at that time, I knew it was all just a political charade. I knew perfectly well what was really going on outside Gringotts—any wizard with a brain could guess what was going on. Did they really expect a Muggle-born kid who hadn't even enrolled to fight against a powerful dark wizard?"
Lucas nodded. "Professor, you're right. It was just newspaper hype. I just happened to be needed by the Ministry of Magic, and they used me to attract public attention. Perhaps the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet didn't expect that a manufactured young hero image would be so popular, so they continued to make a big fuss about it, and everyone profited from it. As for me, I'm just me."
Quirrell narrowed his eyes, and after a moment of silence in the room, he suddenly burst into manic laughter.
"Excellent! Lucas! I admire you even more now!"
Even at your age, I couldn't remain sober amidst so many flowers and banners!
"You have the potential to become a strong person!"
"Thank you for your compliment, Professor."
Quirrell continued, "What really impressed me was your performance against Cerberus."
"I happened to be passing by the fourth floor when I heard Filch's cries for help. I immediately called for assistance from other professors and rushed into the room."
His own light shone brightly, and a trace of color returned to his face: "I saw it with my own eyes—you used a full-body binding spell to immobilize that beast!"
"Ah! Professor!" Lucas stood up quickly. "I'm so sorry, I only just realized that you were the one who saved me?"
I fainted at the time and didn't see clearly... I'm so grateful!
Quirrell waved his hand: "You're welcome. It's what I should do as a professor. Of course, you saved yourself, of course."
"To be able to withstand the attack of Cerberus, I think even the savior couldn't have done that."
"Even taking into account the burst of magical power, your magical power level is astonishing, far surpassing that of your peers." Quirrell's gaze became intense, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.
"You possess unparalleled talent, like a rough gem. And I will never let you waste your talent like this."
"This is both the entrustment of the esteemed Professor Sprout and my duty as a professor, a professor's favoritism towards a gifted student. I will teach you things that cannot be learned from textbooks, some... real things."
"Therefore, I will give you special instruction outside of the classroom."
Before Lucas could speak, Quirrell excitedly stood up and began circling around Lucas, his voice even trembling slightly.
"Tell me, Lucas, what do you yearn for? What do you want to learn?"
Lucas was a little confused; the word "desire" sounded familiar.
Professor Quirrell's voice rang in his ears.
"Do you crave power? I can teach you the most exquisite and powerful spells. Your name will be sung by all, and you will become a powerful figure revered by everyone."
"Do you crave wealth? I can teach you how to quickly earn your first pot of gold, and then let your money make more money, compounding with interest. You'll soon be incredibly wealthy and live a life of extravagance."
"Do you crave knowledge? I can teach you spellcasting, potion-making, herbalism, magical zoology, astronomy..."
Don't let my current teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts fool you; I actually know the deepest secrets of every area of magic.
Lucas was completely stunned. Wait a minute, Professor Quirrell!
You've overlapped! You've matched that book of wisdom, that book of heritage!
You two are practically identical! "Do you crave power? I can teach you how to be popular, how to pull strings, how to acquire power, and how to climb to a high position. You will become a powerful figure!"
Do you yearn for love? I can teach you—
'
"Professor Quirrell," Lucas interrupted him weakly, "I'm sorry, I don't crave these things..."
'
Professor Quirrell frowned, his tone sharpening: "A picky little wizard, huh? No problem, then tell me what you crave, what you want to learn, and I can teach you anything."
Lucas's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"real!"
"Professor, how do you cook a toad?"
Quirrell: "???"
Lucas: "Professor, I got too excited and didn't explain clearly. What I meant was, toads possess powerful resistance to spells. How can toads be cooked so that dishes made from them can impart similar effects to diners?"
Quirrell froze for a full ten seconds, his pale face slowly turning red.
"Sorry, I don't know."
His voice grew increasingly shrill: "Toads can be eaten?"
"Hmm?" Lucas clicked his tongue.
Why are these conversations happening again?
Lucas continued, "Then, could you teach me how to cook dragon meat?"
Quirrell quickly said, "Dragon meat is poisonous, you can't eat it!"
Lucas quickly replied, "That's why I asked you!"
Quirrell was silent for another ten seconds before finally uttering a dry, uninspired remark.
"Sorry, I haven't looked into that either."
Oh no, oh no. Lucas's excitement completely cooled.
It seems that even Professor Quirrell knows nothing about magical cuisine, so I won't be able to learn anything useful from him.
Lucas's disappointed gaze deeply stung Quirrell, causing Quirrell's large headscarf to tremble.
"Keep asking, Lucas, I'm sure I know more!"
Lucas sighed and made one last attempt: "Professor Quirrell, you must have traveled and adventured many times. Please tell me about all the edible magical creatures you know of, including magical animals and magical plants, etc."
Quirrell stood there, his face flushed red.
Quiro: After graduating, I devoted myself to academics and really didn't study this! My first travel adventure took place in Albania, where I met you, my master—
Voldemort: Damn brat!
Eat! Eat! Eat! Justknoweat! ! !
He really is a Hufflepuff!
No, I have to endure it... For my resurrection, I must bewitch this little wizard who only thinks about food to stay by my side.
Dumbledore held him in high regard, Harry Potter was his good friend, and no one was more suitable than him to find out the whereabouts of the Philosopher's Stone.
Moreover, this young, vibrant body is exactly what I need. In fact, I can control it to come in handy at crucial moments!
I'm holding back... What magical creatures could I possibly eat? Let me think...
I once possessed unparalleled power and authority, and the entire British magical world trembled beneath my feet! I must know, I must know which magical creatures are edible, and I certainly ate them at those extravagant banquets!
Let me think about it, think about it carefully... How could the great Dark Lord be stumped by this?
However, Voldemort's soul was too weak and his memories were severely fragmented. This level of contemplation caused him great pain, and he almost cried out.
To Lucas's alarm, Quirrell suddenly groaned, stumbled and slumped into a chair, clutching his headscarf and wailing, his face covered in sweat.
"Professor! What's wrong, Professor!" Lucas said hurriedly. "It's okay if you don't know, Professor. If there's nothing to teach, there's nothing to teach."
"You you you you you you..." Professor Quirrell stammered again, his hand trembling as he pointed at Lucas, his face turning red and white, as if he was about to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Lucas quickly handed him tea, and it took Quirrell a long time to recover before he spoke weakly.
"How about I teach you some powerful spells instead?"
Lucas blinked. "Is this spell related to food?"
Quirrell nearly fainted: "...None of my business."
Lucas smiled sheepishly: "I won't learn."
Upon hearing this, Professor Quirrell jumped off his chair with a snort, grabbed a ruler, and pointed at Lucas, saying, "You glutton! You don't study this, you don't study that, what are you planning to do?"
He stepped forward, struck Lucas on the head three times, then walked behind his back, went into another door in the wall, closed the middle door, and left Lucas behind.