Chapter 33

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The Christmas break quickly passed by, Ethan focusing mostly on his runes and transfiguration as he didn't really want to do anything else.

At every meal, Ethan would notice glances coming from a certain girl over at the Gryffindor table, but he ignored them, focusing on his own thing.

Soon, his friends returned as well, but he did not tell them what had happened during the vacation. He did not want any misunderstanding to arise, so keeping the whole encounter to himself was better.

Ethan's first class after the winter break was a DADA Class, in which Quirrell was uncharacteristically late.

As they waited for their Professor, Ethan nudged Theodore, who was falling asleep, and muttered, "You just returned from the holidays, how are you still so tired?"

His head still against the desk, Theodore rotated it just enough to glance at Ethan, and replied, "I told you already, my vacations were anything but rest. Father brought me to a Potions competition in Bulgaria."

"From which you returned four days ago. Isn't that enough to catch up on your sleep?"

Theodore rolled his eyes, as if Ethan had said something outlandish, and rolled his face back against the desk, his inner sloth taking over.

Ethan looked back at Daphne and Tracy, but they both looked tired as well. It looked like he was the only one who had a restful vacation, although even that was debatable considering his experience with the mirror.

"I'm sorry class, I had trouble getting out of bed!"

Ethan turned his head to look at Quirrell, who entered the classroom looking ragged. His face was pale, paler than usual, and Ethan could see the hint of a limp.

Quirrell got to the front of the class, and seeing some of the gazes on his gait, he said with a nervous laugh, "No need to worry about me, I just fell out of my bed, quite literally."

That got a few laughs out of the class, some genuine, some mocking (that was from Malfoy's group), but it successfully woke up everyone it seemed as Quirrell did not waste any time, taking out their book and saying, "Today we will work on creatures you all ought to know well, and which I have personal experience with. Stalkers of the night, never aging, swift as the wind and devilishly charming, they are…"

"Vampires!"

Several people cried out the answer, which prompted Quirrell to clap his hands with an uneasy smile, "Exactly!"

This time, even Malfoy seemed intrigued as he raised his hand, and asked, "Have you ever met one, Professor?"

Quirrell's already pale face seemed to lose more of its colour as the Professor chuckled without any humour behind it, "I did. Once, in the Black Forest of Albania. That encounter forever changed me."

Turning around, Quirrell quickly drew out a diagram of a vampire, explaining, "Vampires are dangerous creatures of the night, but do not think you are safe during the day either. Unlike popular belief, vampires will not be turned to cinders at the mere graze of sunlight, but will only be weakened by it.

"The most dangerous aspect of a vampire however is their ability to deceive. They are perfectly capable of blending into our society, many have actually, and distinguishing them without the proper knowledge is nearly impossible."

Next to Ethan, Theodore finally seemed to wake up as he came across something that truly interested him, and raising his hand, Theodore asked, "But aren't vampires regulated and protected by the Ministry?"

Quirrell replied, "Some, yes. But the people who made these laws do not understand vampires. They never came across one. You have to understand that in their eyes, we are nothing but prey."

Ethan couldn't help but wonder what kind of encounter their Professor had in the Black Forest to make him this scared of the predatory species. Originally, Quirrell was supposed to have met Voldemort in the Black Forest, but by the looks of it that hadn't happened, so he might actually have met a vampire. A scary one as well.

With everyone's attention on him, Quirrell carefully took out something from his bag. It was covered in a cloth, and carefully unwrapping it, Quirrell revealed a piece of metal.

"This is the one true weakness shared between all manners of Living Dead, including the vampires. It's mere touch is enough to burn off the skin of one, and any injury caused by it would become nearly impossible to heal. Can anyone guess?"

Ethan raised his hand, and answered, "Silver."

Quirrell nodded, grabbing the piece of silver in his hands, before suddenly throwing it across the room to Ethan. Although shocked at the sudden throw, Ethan still caught the expertly thrown piece of metal, playing with it as Quirrell said, "Good catch, Grindelwald. One point to Slytherin."

This got a chuckle out of Ethan, and the Professor continued in a more serious tone, "You should keep it, take it as a reward for your dedication to my class, and not being insufferable," Quirrell glanced in Malfoy's direction as he said that, drawing a shocked gasp from the boy, before continuing, "I strongly believe that everyone should have silver on them, even if solely due to the number of harmful creature weak to it. Any Living Dead falls under this category, but it also affects werewolves, and many other creatures of darkness."

Quirrell waved his wand, and said aloud, "Custodia Malum."

A silvery light was created in front of Quirrell, quickly forming a thick shield as the Professor explained, "Of course, it would be even better to master a spell that conjures silver, such as this one, but they can be tricky to learn. Custodia Malum is among the easiest to learn, but my fifth year students are struggling to learn it, and I still haven't got a single Fourth year who has managed to learn it."

Quirrell suddenly seemed to have an idea, and although Ethan felt the urge to peek in his Professor's mind to see what was going through his mind, he refrained as Quirrell exclaimed, "How about a challenge? If anyone manages to learn Custodia Malum before the end of the year exams, they will automatically receive an Outstanding for their year!"

Many students took a sharp breath at the unexpected announcement. The end of the year exams were always a worrisome affair, and they were graded among six possible grades: Troll, Dreadful, Poor, Acceptable, Exceed Expectation and Outstanding.

Although Ministerial exams only took place in their Fifth and Seventh Year with the Ordinary Wizarding Level (OWL) and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (NEWT) respectively, the exams held by the schools in the years before that were also important, as any failed grade would have the student study all summer in that particular subject to catch up on the other students.

Moreover, grades did not just disappear after a year, the Professors remained the same through the students' education for the most part, and the impression a student made on a particular subject would matter in their selection for a particular NEWT Class.

For example, a student with grades just under the expected threshold but who made a good impression on the teacher of said class could manage to still get in, while a student with better grades but an absolutely awful impression on the teacher could be failed.

So getting any Outstanding was great for any student. Besides, there was also the bragging rights. Not everyone could get an Outstanding, after all.

Even Ethan couldn't help but feel fired up as he looked at the still active spell. Not only could it get him a good grade, but it would also give him a good spell to have learned.

As Quirrell passed down the instructions for the spell however, he also warned, "I would appreciate it if you did not tell others about this challenge, I could get in trouble if the word got out."

Naturally, that was the worst thing to say.