Even after returning to their common rooms, the first-year wizards couldn’t forget the sights they had witnessed in class.
Those wizards who had shown terrified expressions during class immediately began to look regretful the moment school let out, as if not going up to pet Pyroar like Harry had was a massive missed opportunity.
“That was so cool!
If Professor Gold hadn’t recalled it so quickly, I think I would’ve gone up to pet it, too,” Seamus said happily, acting as though his failure to touch Pyroar was due to a lack of time rather than his own fear.
Most of the Gryffindors had selectively forgotten their own cowardice, and only Neville and Hermione had a realistic sense of themselves.
However, Hermione also resolved that if another opportunity to interact with Pokémon up close arose next time, she absolutely would not pass it up.
“How could Professor Gold not assign any homework?” she said, looking utterly disappointed, which caused the other wizards to stare at her with looks of pure disbelief.
“Has she gone mad?” Ron muttered to Harry with wide eyes.
Hermione clearly heard Ron’s remark.
“Right now, the study of Pokémon has almost no connection to other subjects.
Just think about it—a brand-new discipline!
If you work hard enough, you might make some unexpected discoveries.
If we can discover over a dozen different uses for Pokémon, just like Professor Dumbledore did with dragon blood, it would be a monumental achievement!” “Maybe our names could even be printed on a Chocolate Frog card,” Ron said, a sudden look of longing appearing on his face.
His older brothers were indeed all excellent, but none of them could get their names and portraits printed on a Chocolate Frog card, could they?
If he could achieve that, he would be more impressive than all of them.
“Only if you study hard enough,” Hermione shot him down.
Hearing their conversation, wizards from other year levels couldn’t help but crowd around, showing immense interest in their upcoming Pokémon classes.
Charlen was unaware of the young wizards’ reactions.
At that moment, he was leading Dumbledore into the natural reserve.
Dumbledore also wanted to study carefully whether Pokémon could play a role in promoting potions or even alchemy.
Charlen was relatively well-versed in Charms and Transfiguration.
After all, when he was studying magic back then, he had definitely aimed to learn how to fight.
As for Potions, although he had decent grades, it was impossible for him to learn all seven years of content in one go like he had with Charms.
Alchemy was even more out of the question.
If not for the period he had spent with Nicolas Flamel a few years ago, Charlen would have had absolutely no exposure to alchemy.
Even now, he was far from a master.
Returning to Hogwarts this time, he also planned to make good use of the library’s knowledge to make up for his deficiencies in these areas.
He had learned a lot from Nicolas, but since that couple had already resolved to embrace death, he shouldn’t disturb them too much in their remaining time.
Dumbledore was highly intrigued by one particular Pokémon in the reserve.
“Is that a wand?” He pointed to a yellow fox standing on its hind legs.
Plugged into its tail was a wooden branch.
Braixen—the evolved form of Fennekin, the Fire-type starter of the sixth generation Kalos region.
Since Charlen had obtained those starter Pokémon a month ago, they had all evolved into their second stages.
A Pokémon like Braixen relied on the twig kept in its tail to battle.
On a whim, Charlen had replaced its twig with a wand.
“Yes, oak.
For the core, I used a scale shed by a Charizard,” Charlen said with a smile.
With the aid of the wand, this Braixen’s power was far greater than that of its peers from the same batch of starters.
In particular, the power of its Fire-type moves was boosted by more than just a little bit.
However, Charlen’s attempt to teach her wizarding spells had failed.
Dumbledore showed great interest.
To him, the ability to use a wand made Pokémon seem to share a certain wondrous similarity with some demi-human races.
“I think you could ask Severus and the other professors for help.
They are all masters in their respective fields,” Dumbledore suggested.
Charlen admitted he had a point.
If Pokémon were to be integrated with magic, they couldn’t shut themselves off.
The teachers at the school were all highly skilled masters of magic.
Potions and Alchemy were just two relatively easy starting points.
In reality, even Herbology could very well have connections with Pokémon.
Before leaving, Dumbledore made sure to remind Charlen not to forget his previous request.
Charlen hadn’t actually figured out how to test Harry yet.
He thought that since he was teaching this subject, he should naturally set up a test related to Pokémon.
But the young wizards hadn’t engaged in any proper Pokémon battles yet, and he was still unsure what level they could reach.
The next day’s class was in the morning, and he was teaching the sixth-years.
The sixth-year students had just finished their O.W.L.
exams and, since it was the start of the term, they assumed the sixth year would be a very relaxing one.
However, Charlen knew that the curriculum for the N.E.W.T.-level classes would soon give them a heavy trial.
But that had nothing to do with his syllabus.
In class, Charlen not only showed them the four Pokémon just as he had with the lower years, but also added a new activity.
“Would anyone like to have a battle with them?” Charlen looked at them expectantly.
The classroom fell silent instantly.
They had heard from the first-years that they could pet the Pokémon, but they had certainly never heard of battling them.
After a moment, a burly Slytherin student stood up, baring a set of rather uneven teeth, and looked at Charlen with a slightly provocative expression.
“Professor, if I win, do I get some kind of reward?” Charlen highly suspected that this boy had stepped forward just to avenge his parents, but he didn’t mind.
Instead, he smiled and looked at him.
“Marcus Flint, what reward do you want?” The Slytherin Quidditch player raised his hand and pointed directly at Arbok.
“I want that one!” Arbok seemed to understand his words.
Its hood spread even wider, and its patterns flared with vivid color, as if it were about to show its aggression.
But Charlen soothed it, and then said: “If you want to obtain a Pokémon, you must first earn its recognition.
If you can truly win, perhaps Arbok will look at you in a different light.”