George and Lee Jordan, tangled together in a flailing mess of limbs, jumped down together.
George chuckled, his voice filled with wild excitement. Lee, on the other hand, clung to George for dear life, screaming in pure, unadulterated terror.
Just as they were about to hit the snow-covered ground, a large, shadowy bat appeared beneath them. It gently caught them and deposited them, none too gently, onto the snowy ground.
Fred, who had already landed, walked over through the snow and threw his arms around both of them.
'Exciting, Lee?' he teased Lee Jordan, a wide grin on his face.
'Too thrilling… No, I have to slow down,' Lee Jordan gasped for air, leaning heavily against the cold stone wall of the castle next to him.
Fred and George glanced at Lee with undisguised disappointment, then stopped paying attention to him. They walked aside, arm in arm.
'How was it, George? Was it fun?' Fred asked, wiggling his eyebrows conspiratorially.
'It was alright, but the 2nd floor is still too low. It might be more interesting to jump from a taller building,' George said, looking up at the higher towers of the castle, his eyes glinting with mischief. 'What do you think? Would it be more fun to jump down from Gryffindor Tower?'
'You can jump all you want. But I will not be catching you.'
Dracula's voice, smooth and laced with a hint of amusement, rang out from the side.
After their little conspiracy was discovered, the twins showed no guilt at all. Instead, they crowded over and said to Dracula with playful, cheeky smiles:
'Professor, why do you not tell us how to avoid falling to death when you jump from a high place? Then we will not have to trouble you to save us!'
Dracula raised his hand to catch another small wizard who had just jumped down, and said casually, 'I thought you should already know the Slowing Charm at your age.'
'So it is a Slowing Charm?' the twins said excitedly. 'Then we will go and learn it right away! Thank you, Professor!'
Dracula glanced at the 2 of them, then looked away wordlessly, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Led by the 2 pioneers, the 3rd-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs began to jump down from the windows of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom one after another.
The little lions of Gryffindor were the most enthusiastic jumpers. They even crowded together at the window, with those at the back pushing those in the front. With one great shove, a whole group of them fell down in a chaotic, tangled mess, like dumplings being dropped into a pot of boiling water.
Under Dracula's subtle control, a group of shadowy bats would always appear at the feet of each young wizard at the critical moment, saving them from the unfortunate fate of a 2-day trip to the school infirmary.
The last one to jump was Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff. He had just stayed in the classroom to organise the "jumping out of the window" order, and had been urging those who were too afraid to jump to face their fears actively and jump bravely.
Cedric did not use Dracula's bats to land. Instead, he cast a Levitation Charm on the back of his school robe, allowing the buoyancy of the cloak to lift him up slightly, before landing lightly and gracefully on the snow.
The twins, who were standing nearby, looked at Cedric's smooth movements and felt very unconvinced.
'Why can he be so handsome when he lands, but we can only step on bats?' Fred said to George, his voice a low grumble. 'The professor can obviously choose a better-looking animal and win the battle more quickly!'
'Shh!' George quickly put his hand to his mouth and whispered, 'Be careful! Do not let Professor Dracula find out that you are saying bad things about him. He seems to like bats very much—he uses bats for everything…'
Fred quickly shut his mouth.
Fortunately, Dracula's attention was not on the 2 of them at this moment. He snapped his fingers after all the students had arrived.
A group of round snowman targets emerged from the snow. They lined up in a neat row, standing face to face with the young wizards.
'The content of our practical class today is to practise the accuracy of casting spells.' Dracula faced the students and began his lecture for this highly unconventional practical class on Defence Against the Dark Arts. 'What I need to impress upon you is the importance of accuracy in spellcasting.'
'Although the behaviour of the 2 Weasleys in attacking a teacher is not something to be advocated, what is worthy of recognition is that the spell they used could accurately make the snowball hit Professor Quirrell on the back of the head. This shows that the accuracy of their spells is, at least, not a problem.'
The Weasley twins smiled at each other, their expressions even more proud. As the Beaters of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the 2 of them had no problem with their eyesight or their accuracy. This was precisely why they had been able to so accurately hit Quirrell's head with the enchanted snowball.
'The accuracy of a spell sounds simple, but in actual combat, you will quickly learn how difficult it is.' Dracula looked at the young wizards again, and then said, 'Everyone, stand in line with a snowman. Keep a distance of more than 5 metres.'
'When I say "start," everyone will fire your best magic spells at the snowman target in front of you. Let me first see what the hit rate of your magic spells is like.'
A colourful burst of magic spells flashed as the young wizards attacked the snowmen in front of them.
The Weasley twins and Cedric immediately smashed the snowmen in front of them into smithereens. But for the others, it was not so simple. Most of their spells were tilted to one side. Some of them accidentally hit the classmates next to them, giving them a painful blow and quite effectively capsizing the boat of their friendship.
'Do you now understand the importance of the hit rate of your spells?' Dracula looked at the students and asked. 'For example, in a duel, it is not whoever casts spells more frequently who will win the final victory. It is about making more of your magic spells hit the opponent within a certain period of time, causing effective damage!'
He snapped his fingers again, restoring the shattered snowmen to their original round appearance.
'Hold your wand straight and aim well. In the practice of casting spells, the 3 elements of goal, determination, and calmness are all very important, and not one of them can be lacking,' Dracula said, his voice carrying a new authority.
'Now, let us start the next round of spellcasting hit rate practice!'
On a vast expanse of pure white snow, the Defence Against the Dark Arts practical class was in full swing.
There was a long row of snowmen lined up, and each snowman was guaranteed to correspond to a specific young wizard, so that they could practise the accuracy of their spellcasting.
From time to to time, the light of a spell would light up and hit a snowman, blowing it into pieces. The snowman target would then automatically repair itself so that the young wizards could practise their magic spells without interruption.
At this time, an uninvited guest came over.
'Good morning, Professor McGonagall.' Dracula came to the witch, who had a very serious expression on her face, and greeted her calmly.
'Professor Dracula, I need an explanation.' Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly. 'If I saw correctly, many students just jumped from the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom on the 2nd floor, did they not?'
'How dare you teach students like this?!'
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