"Harry, are you all right?"
Hermione looked at the depressed Harry with concern.
"Not so good. I think my patience is running out."
Harry stuffed a candy into his mouth, hoping the cheer potion would ease his bad mood.
Every time he went to see Professor Slughorn, Harry would take the appropriate amount of potion, but the effect was still not good. He even vaguely realized that Professor Slughorn knew his purpose of approaching him deliberately, but just didn't want to expose it.
This battle of wits and hypocritical communication made Harry feel physically and mentally exhausted.
Perhaps, this was related to his realization that all his efforts might become a joke. This really made Harry feel particularly irritated, and he even wondered if he would completely lose control of his emotions after being ruthlessly rejected by Slughorn.
"Don't worry, you will definitely succeed." Hermione whispered soothingly.
"Honestly, I'm sick of hearing that right now."
Harry chewed the candy in his mouth and threw a few tranquilizers into his mouth before suppressing his inner irritability. "You always think I can succeed, but I have no confidence in myself. That feeling of expectation is annoying."
Hermione opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
"You should go to Albert instead of me. Albert is the only one who can realize your beautiful expectations."
Harry hated the feeling of being weighed down by people's expectations.
"Harry..."
Hermione looked at Harry's somewhat lonely back and hurriedly chased after him. She didn't say any words of comfort, but just followed him silently, following Harry to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.
That's right, there's no better place to blow off steam than in the Room of Requirement.
However, to their surprise, the Room of Requirement could not be opened again.
"Damn it, why can't I get in again?"
Harry angrily pounded on the stone door of the Room of Requirement with his hands, took out a bottle from his pocket, threw all the tranquilizers in it into his mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it, which relieved his emotions to a certain extent.
"I have some butterbeer, maybe it will make you feel better," Hermione suddenly suggested.
"Where did you get the butterbeer?" Harry turned to look at Hermione in surprise.
"It's for the Wizard Card Club competition. But using up a bottle early isn't a big deal," Hermione explained.
She had helped prepare for this year's wizard card competition. With Luna alone, the club would probably be completely disbanded in no time.
"How's the Wizard Card Club going?" Harry changed the subject to divert attention.
"Not very good. Luna basically left it alone, and the members of the Wizard Card Club didn't really like to attend the end-of-month party. The originally large membership base has been reduced a lot, and we almost didn't have enough contestants to participate in the competition this year."
Hermione actually didn't quite understand why Albert chose Luna. If it were her, the situation would definitely not have become so bad.
"Who knows? That guy always likes to be mysterious. Don't try to guess what he's thinking."
On their way back to the Gryffindor common room, the two ran into Ginny, who was hurrying out of an empty classroom.
After a moment, Dean chased out of the classroom.
"What are you doing?"
"nothing."
Dean smiled awkwardly at Harry and Hermione, and hurriedly chased in the direction Ginny left.
"Do you think I should make it clear that Quidditch players can't fall in love with each other?" Harry frowned as he watched the two people leaving, then turned his head to Hermione and said.
"It's generally unfavorable for romance today!" Hermione suddenly sighed.
"What?" Harry was a little confused.
"Ron broke up with Lavender, too," Hermione explained.
"Oh, Ron finally got rid of Lavender." Harry was not too surprised.
"Just when you went to see Professor Slughorn, Ron and Lavender broke up peacefully." Hermione glanced at Harry and raised her lips and continued, "The reason is the same as I said last time. Lavender was moved by Ron's words and expressed her willingness to wait."
"She believed it?" Harry suddenly felt a little guilty.
"We didn't lie to Lavender either." Hermione was very calm. "None of us can be sure that we will be alive after the cruel wizard war ends."
After a brief silence, Harry nodded in agreement with Hermione.
When the two of them stepped through the doorway and entered the Gryffindor common room, they found it was terribly quiet. Most of the Gryffindor students were sitting quietly in their chairs, as if waiting for something.
Harry looked around the common room and saw Ron and Neville fiddling with a radio, apparently tuning a station.
After a while, a familiar voice came from the radio.
"… Today's program is a little special." Lee Jordan's voice came from the radio, "Yesterday, Albert took the time to give us another lesson."
“… people are definitely interested in the content…”
"However, before that, we need to introduce today's special guest, an expert who has served in the Auror position for decades: Professor Moody."
"I think many Hogwarts students should know him."
This time it was George's voice.
"Will there be any secret broadcasts from them today?"
Harry and Hermione stood next to Ron, listening carefully to what was being said on the radio. They were very surprised by what Professor Albert said about the members of the "Defense Society" because it was a little different from what they had imagined.
No complicated spells or advanced techniques were taught, only the most basic and common knowledge.
"I have to say that what Mr. Anderson said was very practical," Professor Moody commented. "He knew exactly what you needed."
"Do you also think we need to learn these basics?" Lee Jordan couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, these basics are actually more important than fancy spells." Moody continued, "Of course, some people may have overlooked one thing. Even if you want to learn, you still need to have a certain foundation."
"Why?" Fred asked for everyone.
"Most wizards in the British wizarding world have not received systematic combat training. It's ridiculous to ask them to fight against dark wizards. It's like asking them to die." Moody cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, many students don't know what combat is even after graduating from Hogwarts. It's not like you can fight just because you can use a Stunning Spell. That's actually no different from waving a wooden stick in your hand."
"Of course, this is related to the fact that the content taught in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class is more knowledge-oriented. I'm not saying that's bad, but this part of knowledge is actually helping everyone lay the foundation, and Hogwarts has never really taught everyone how to fight the enemy."
"So, you also agree with Mr. Anderson's training methods?"
"Yes, as long as you complete the most basic training, you can at least become a qualified fighter and be able to resist when you encounter danger."
"Why doesn't the Ministry do that?" George asked.
"The Ministry of Magic is also working on it, but progress is slow," Moody explained.
"I heard that Harry is holding a DA meeting at Hogwarts to teach everyone how to fight."
"To be honest, the DA gathering is indeed somewhat useful, but the professor's Defense Against the Dark Arts..." Moody paused and continued, "It should be said that the greatest use of this gathering is to let students who know nothing learn to pick up wands to resist. Maybe they are not qualified fighters, but they have taken the first step."
"Because they haven't received formal training?" George asked for everyone.
"No, because most students are still in the process of learning spells," Moody said calmly, "just like babies learning speech, they are just starting out and need to lay a solid foundation first."
"… When you are dueling with others, it is very embarrassing to miss the target when you cast a spell on the enemy, so it is necessary to train the accuracy of spells and do basic exercises."
"Harry, should we also..." Neville turned his head to look at Harry, seeking his opinion.
"We don't have that much time, and I think at this stage, everyone should master more useful magic." Harry shook his head and refused. Of course, he knew that what was broadcast on the radio made sense, but sometimes it was not that they didn't want to learn, but that they hadn't reached that level yet.
When most people can't even cast a spell properly, there is actually not much meaning in blindly pursuing accuracy. Take the Apparition that Albert values very much, for example. As Mad-Eye said, most wizards can't even use Apparition properly, so don't expect them to use Apparition flexibly in combat.
Even Harry couldn't imagine how difficult it was.
"I think he taught you these things more to broaden your thinking, especially in combat. Shooting magic at the opponent is absolutely the stupidest thing to do."
On the radio, Professor Moody's lecture continued.
"While this is true for one-on-one duels, the experience requirements for combat are actually more stringent. A duel between ordinary wizards looks more like two people fighting with sticks to us."
Listening to the news on the radio, Ron said depressedly, "I feel like a fool!"
"Of course, you don't have to worry, because most people in the British wizarding world are actually at this level."
"You feel deeply moved by what Anderson said. That's because he is a top duel master himself, so he can explain these things to you clearly."
"In fact, I think Minister Scrimgeour should hire him as an Auror trainer."
"Why not the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Lee Jordan asked curiously.
"Hogwarts students need to lay a good foundation and don't need this knowledge. But to become a qualified Auror, there are some things you need to master." Moody said calmly, "Of course, we have to admit that Albert will be a good teacher. You can always hear him teaching everyone how to protect themselves, and Defense Against the Dark Arts is obviously the most important in this regard. It is more important for us to learn it to protect our own safety rather than to hurt others."