HP: Too Late, System! I’m Already the DADA Professor

Thanks to Douglas Holmes leading the applause, the students followed suit, though their clapping was half-hearted and scattered.

"Please sit down, Miss Granger," Douglas said. "I think Gryffindor deserves five points."

Then, turning to Ron and Harry, his tone cooled.

"I've already heard about your little adventure yesterday. Honestly, I thought the two of you would have had plenty of time to review your textbooks while soaring through the sky. Clearly, that wasn't the case…"

Harry flushed, about to explain, but Douglas cut him off with a wave.

"No need to explain—I know the whole story. And I'm sure everyone else here does too."

A few students whispered below:

"Of course we know! Ron told us the whole thing as soon as he got back to the common room last night!"

"If it weren't for that Howler this morning, I'd probably be jealous of them."

Douglas motioned for quiet, then announced, "Since everyone's up to speed, that makes things easier. Here's your first assignment for this class: Write an essay titled 'If I Encountered the Entrance to the Wizarding World Maliciously Sealed, What Should I Do?' Based on your current abilities, each of you should write a paper of no less than ten inches."

A collective groan rose from the class. More than a few students shot Ron and Harry dirty looks.

Only after assigning the essay did Douglas finally let the two dejected boys sit down. Ron and Harry exchanged glances, both breathing a sigh of relief—at least they hadn't lost any House points.

Douglas then smiled and asked, "Tell me, would you all like to use your wands in Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

The room erupted with excitement. After a whole term of listening to Professor Quirrell drone from textbooks, the prospect of wielding their own wands against real Dark creatures was thrilling.

"Yes!" they shouted in unison.

Douglas stepped down from the dais and into the midst of his students, motioning for calm.

"I'd love to let you get hands-on right away, but unfortunately, per Ministry of Magic regulations, students below third year are mainly required to learn about Dark creatures from the textbook…"

The students' faces fell. Two more years of waiting?

But then Douglas's tone shifted:

"However, if you can complete the textbook requirements ahead of schedule, I don't mind using the extra time to teach you how to apply any spell you've learned in real combat. Remember, Defence Against the Dark Arts isn't just about dealing with magical creatures. Sometimes, you'll need to know how to duel other wizards as well…"

No sooner had he finished than Hermione Granger shot her hand into the air.

"Oh, Miss Granger, is there something you'd like to ask?"

Hermione rose, eyes bright with excitement. "Professor, I've already memorized the entire textbook. You can test me on anything—can I start learning new material early?"

Douglas returned to the podium, shaking his head with a hint of regret.

"Unfortunately not, Miss Granger. You're all a team. Only when everyone knows how to properly handle Banshees, Ghouls, Hags, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and so on, will we move forward together."

As soon as Douglas finished, a buzz of discussion broke out among the younger students.

Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Harry, remember the ghoul in our attic?"

Harry Potter shook his head. "Never seen it. I haven't even been to your attic yet!"

Even the usually reserved Neville Longbottom piped up, "Ron, we've got a ghoul in our barn too. Loves eating spiders and moths."

Ron visibly shuddered at the mention of spiders.

Some of the Muggle-born students looked on in awe—or horror—at the idea of having ghouls as family pets.

Listening from the front, Douglas couldn't help but marvel at how easily children were influenced by their peers. In his past life as a Muggle, he'd never understood wizards' eccentric tastes. He'd once considered getting an owl, but after seeing his roommate's owl deliver dead mice, he'd quickly abandoned any thoughts of magical pets.

"Quiet!" Douglas called, silencing the room.

"Now, for some announcements. First, I'm appointing Miss Granger as the Class Representative for second-year Gryffindor Defence Against the Dark Arts."

He gave a brief rundown of the Class Representative's responsibilities.

"You're all to cooperate with Miss Granger. If you've memorized any knowledge point, go to her and recite it. Don't think you're done once you've finished reciting—Miss Granger, before the end of each class, give me a report of who recited what. I'll assign homework accordingly. Of course, you can slack off if you want to spend the whole term glued to your textbooks… So, besides Miss Granger, you should monitor each other as well."

Douglas grouped them by magical creature category, without dividing up the content for them. They were to start memorizing from page one.

Once the arrangements were made—regardless of some students' already pale faces—he called Hermione to the front to supervise the class, then sat down himself to grade the previous lesson's test papers.

It wasn't laziness; there simply wasn't much practical content in the first- and second-year curriculum. The core knowledge was all in the book. Douglas planned to supplement the rest during assignment reviews. More importantly, he had no intention of spending his time, like previous teachers, telling stories in class. Hogwarts professors needed to master the art of strategic laziness—seven classes a day, plus marking homework after hours. He had no desire to burn himself out.

The lesson passed quickly. Clearly, the students weren't yet used to his teaching style—no one managed to memorize the full introduction to Banshees.

Hermione, unsurprisingly, was both anxious and disappointed. For a true academic, nothing was more frustrating than mastering all the material before class was even over.

With five minutes left, Douglas called a halt to the recitations. The students all let out a collective sigh of relief.

But Douglas wasn't about to let them off the hook.

"Very good. I see you're all working hard, but your pace is still too slow. If I'm not mistaken, second-year Gryffindor has Defence Against the Dark Arts again this Friday? By then, I expect each of you to have memorized everything about Banshees and recited it to Miss Granger. And you'll also write a fifteen-inch essay on the topic. Let me be clear: I won't tolerate any plagiarism."

He turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, if you're free after seven in the evening, come to my office each day and bring me the list of who's recited to you."

Hermione nodded enthusiastically. To her, Douglas's methods were perfect—constant study was the only way to foster a true learning atmosphere.

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