Hagrid glanced around the room and was disappointed to see that most of them had their books tied up.
"Cute? You mean this book that bites itself when it goes mad?" Malfoy said sarcastically, then mockingly.
"If my father knew, he would be amazed at the new Professor at Hogwarts for letting us buy such dangerous books! I never knew such things could be used as textbooks!"
"Jesus, what if we accidentally rip off our arms? You must think it's cute, don't you?" Malfoy exclaimed.
Hagrid seemed at a loss as to what to do, stammering and stammering. Were they not cute enough when they bit hands?
Malfoy was about to say more, but was interrupted by a sudden noise.
"Your father can't teach you everything, Malfoy!"
Ivan came out of the crowd with the biting book in his hand. To everyone's surprise, the book stayed in his hand.
"If you're smart enough, you'll understand that the Monster Book of Monsters is meant to be used in the teaching of magic, and that there are ways to soothe it. I think this is a little test left to us by Professor Hagrid, don't you think?"
"Hagrid wants to see us find a way to placate him through our own cleverness, and I'm sure it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience!" Yvonne exclaimed, looking around at the wizards.
"Experience? You mean having your arm bitten off by this book?" Malfoy scoffed.
"I suppose it's not all that brutal," Ivan said, shaking his head.
The Monster Book of Monsters may seem scary, but it's still just a book. At most, it will scratch you.
With this in mind, Ivan looked around at the crowd and asked.
"Did any of you spend some time trying to figure out how to placate the book, or go through some of the grimoire's details, rather than leaving it in a corner to collect dust?"
All the young wizards shook their heads at Ivan's intense gaze.
Hermione was even more annoyed, as she had been too busy this term to go through the relevant information.
"Why do we have to work on pacifying the book? It's pointless!" Malfoy exclaimed.
Ivan simply ignored him and continued talking to the wizards.
"I would like to caution you that the makers of many of the most advanced magical books in the wizarding world have placed minor enchantments on the books to see if the viewer meets the required reading criteria, and that if you cannot break the enchantment, you are destined not to see the contents of the books!"
"I'm sure any of you who have been in the Restricted Section and borrowed some advanced books will understand that," Ivan added.
Some of the Slytherin wizards nodded at Ivan's words, as this was most likely the case in books on the Dark Arts.
Yvonne was also reminded of the copy of Cutting-Edge Dark Magic that he had been impressed with in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He could have easily broken that spell.
"It is possible that this was the idea behind the book's creation, as many magical creatures are quite dangerous, and it takes a calm mind and a lot of patience to calm and be friendly with one," Ivan concluded.
Clap, clap, clap …
After a brief silence, there was a round of applause.
The vast majority of young wizards were surprised by Ivan's speech and thanked him for teaching them a valuable lesson.
'Is that so?' Hagrid couldn't help but nod.
Ivan then turned to Malfoy with pity in his eyes. "You can't expect your father to do these things for you every time. I thought you were grown up, Malfoy!"
Malfoy's face turned red, and he drew his wand, intending to duel Ivan, but then he realised the difference in strength and decided against it.
Ivan ignored him and turned to Hagrid, saying, "Professor Hagrid, I should have made your point clear, shouldn't I?"
"Ah! Yes! That's right! That's what I thought!" Hagrid exclaimed, recovering quickly from his shock and clapping his calloused hands together with a noise like muffled thunder. "I'll give you fifty points for a brilliant speech!"
Hagrid then turned to look at Harry and the others.
"And, of course, Harry, Ron, and Hermione! You have mastered the art of soothing the book before class, and each of you will receive ten points!"
Harry and Ron were so happy to have a professor they were so close to that they thought they could finally balance out Snape's point-picking.
Hermione was not particularly pleased, as Ivan was the one who had taught them how to pacify the Book of Spirits, and she thought it would be unfair to the other Houses.
Ivan, having helped Hagrid out of his predicament, did not remain standing and returned to his original position.
Hagrid showed the other wizards how to calm the Monster Book.
After Ivan's lecture, most of the students listened with rapt attention, giving Hagrid a taste of what it was like to be a professor.
"Ivan, we almost thought you were the professor," Harry teased when he saw Ivan approaching.
"Yes, that's wonderful!" Hermione was equally amazed. "I had no idea the spell attached to a spellbook could do that."
Of course you don't. I was just making things up…
Ivan shrugged, thinking to himself.
However, he had come to a similar conclusion in a book, and it was true that some highly skilled wizards would set up similar tests, but more often than not, it was the producer's bad taste.
Take, for example, The Invisible Book of Invisibility in Liheng Bookstore, which was made by a real imp…
It required the use of a counter-curse to read, or else the entire book would be invisible, and most of the wizards who read it had not even mastered the Disillusionment Charm.
As a result, the book's sales were so poor that it was left unattended in a corner of the bookshop, so much so that the owner forgot where he had left it.
It was during one of his visits to the bookshop that Ivan accidentally kicked an Invisibility Book and figured out how to read it…