"Phew…"
Hearing Madam Pince's footsteps finally fade away, Evans carefully sat down, bent over, and silently took out a stack of parchnt from his pocket, spreading it across the table.
Besides studying history today, he had another task.
Grading essays.
The second class for the third-years had ended, and he had just collected the first assignnts of his teaching career. Looking at the pages of filled parchnt, Evans felt a headache coming on.
Assigning howork was fun for a mont, but when it ca to collecting it, he felt a deep regret. He should have assigned less. How long would it take to grade so many essays?
Moreover, it seed the reward he had set greatly motivated those young wizards; the words in these essays were impossibly small and densely packed, as if they were afraid he would think they were slacking off if they wrote any bigger. But this small one was completely unnecessary. Who could see this clearly?
Evans sighed silently and began his long work.
Just as he had thought, grading howork was an extrely painful task. And grading howork with such ridiculously small writing was even more of a tornt. After grading just two papers, Evans rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit of pain.
No, he couldn't go on like this. He needed a helper.
He glanced at the ti. Miss Granger was a bit late today, but she would surely co. She would probably arrive at the Library in a mont. His little grading witch was almost fully trained; it was ti for her to be put to use.
Thinking this, Evans tapped his face with his wand, making his complexion slightly paler, and leaned forward, trying to appear weak. Now, it was ti to test his acting skills.
But first, he had to make these essays bigger; otherwise, he would really go blind looking at them. He could change them back after they were graded. He pressed his wand onto the parchnt again.
"Engorgio."
"The Professor has already left?"
Coming out of the Hospital Wing, Hermione held her books, her eyes full of confusion. Even now, she hadn't figured out why Professor Kahn and Professor Snape had fought in the Library. The gossiping older students she had asked were all half-inford; no one knew the exact details. It seed she could only wait until she got to the Library and ask Professor Kahn herself.
Shaking her head, Hermione walked towards the staircase that had just turned. The distance from the Hospital Wing to the Library was not far; in a few minutes, she was back at the Library entrance.
Then, she saw it.
Professor Kahn sat on a chair by the window, his face pale, one hand clutching his chest, the other holding a quill, writing sothing on the parchnt in front of him. He looked so weak, yet so focused. The afternoon sun shone on him, casting shadows behind him; the dazzling light made him frown slightly, and he seed to want to reach out and block it, but as soon as the hand covering his chest moved away, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Looking at the Professor, a hint of unbearable pity flashed across Hermione's face. She instinctively lightened her steps and walked towards the chair opposite him.
But before she had taken two steps, as if noticing soone approaching, Professor Kahn looked up. Upon seeing it was her, a sowhat forced smile appeared on his face. This movent seed to pull at his injury, making him frown slightly and lower his head. After two light coughs, he slowly spoke.
"You're here, Miss Granger. Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Professor." Sitting opposite him, Hermione put her book aside and observed the parchnt beside the Professor's hand. Those seed to be the third-year students' assignnts, but the paper seed a bit larger than what they used. Was it specially made?
But Professor Kahn, with his injury, ca to the Library just to grade howork?
The worry in her eyes grew stronger. Hermione watched Evans grading with difficulty and couldn't help but ask, "Professor, is there anything I can help with?"
"It's alright, I can do it." Professor Kahn showed that forced smile again, explaining in a weak voice, "These assignnts aren't complicated; they're just tedious, cumberso work. You just need to know the course content, and there's no difficulty in grading them."
"Then you should give them to !" Hearing the Professor's explanation, Hermione quickly said. "Since you only need to know the course content, you just need to explain it to once, and I'll help you with the rest!"
"There's no need. This is sothing third-years need to learn. You're only a first-year now…"
"It's fine, Professor! I'm also very curious about magical creatures, and it's alright to learn third-year courses in advance!"
After several rounds of back and forth, like a child receiving red envelopes during Chinese New Year, Evans finally "reluctantly" pushed the parchnt aside and "accidentally" pulled out a very complete analysis of the Diricawl's habits from his pocket. Coincidentally, this analysis was so comprehensive that one only needed to glance at it once to perfectly grade these assignnts.
Oh dear, how embarrassing.
Looking at Hermione, who had taken the analysis and begun to diligently study it, Evans felt a slight unease in his conscience. Tricking an eleven-year-old girl into helping with grading howork really wasn't sothing a decent person would do.
Hmm, I have to find a way to compensate my little grading witch.
Thinking this, he interrupted Hermione, who was engrossed in the analysis. "This task isn't urgent. You can do it in your spare ti. Let's discuss your future studies first. You've almost mastered the weather forecast. Now you can choose another spell."
He waved his wand, and a translucent diagram appeared on the empty table. Since he had just annoyed Madam Pince, he didn't dare to openly bring over the blackboard to write, but this diagram should have a similar effect.
"I've reverse-engineered over a dozen magical creature spells, and they can be broadly divided into three categories. The first category is enhancent spells. They can temporarily boost your physical or ntal strength, but these spells are very difficult to learn. You might need a year to even get started with one. The second type is offensive. They are basically the main attack thods of certain magical creatures. They are not as difficult to learn and are easier to grasp. The third type is quite special; I haven't thought of their nas yet. The Augurey's weather forecast and the fairy's perception of danger both belong to this category. In a while, I should also be able to reverse-engineer the Diricawl's apparition."
Actually, the Diricawl's apparition was the first magical creature talent he learned, but the magical fluctuations of this talent were too complex. Even now, he hadn't found a good way to implent this talent with a wand. Moreover, Apparition already existed in this world. If cast with a wand, the Diricawl's apparition and Apparition wouldn't differ much, and Apparition even had the function of long-distance teleportation.
"So, is there anything you'd like to learn?"
This ti, Hermione thought for a long ti before whispering, "Can I learn the one you promised to teach the top student of each year?" She had heard that Professor Kahn had cast a very powerful spell in the first class of each year, a spell that could even tear the ground and make everyone on it fall.
"The Stomping Charm? No problem." Evans nodded without hesitation, then reminded her, "But with your current magic power, the Stomping Charm might only be effective at close range. Why do you want to learn this spell?"
Upon hearing this question, Hermione's mind recalled the encounter in the fourth-floor corridor a few days ago. Those three gaping mouths seed to still be before her eyes. If not for Professor Kahn's mark, she would surely be dead by now. That incident told her that the school was not always safe, and Professor Kahn himself had said that his mark was not always useful.
"I want to have so power to protect myself."
(End of Chapter)
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