Let Friends Die…

Too much had happened in just these few days. The Dementor entering the Quidditch pitch alone had taken up most of everyone’s attention, while Professor Snape’s paper had consumed their entire weekend.

So when they saw Professor Scamander again, they could not remember what this class was about for a moment.

"It’s all right. I completely understand that everyone may not have been in the best state recently."

Professor Scamander smiled understandingly, then said,

"So for the first half of this class, we only need to learn one set of movements. Then, during the second half, you can come to either Adam or me and pass the assessment one by one. Your homework for this lesson is to practice these movements until you are proficient."

The so-called set of movements was roughly: squat down—wiggle—turn around—lift your robe—shake your backside—roll over. The complete courtship dance was merely repeating that sequence, accompanied by leg movements imitating the gait of an Erumpent, to mimic the full courtship display.

The young wizards immediately erupted into groans, though some of them brightened and looked toward Adam.

Why make things difficult for fellow students? Adam’s side should be easier, right?

Once the first half of the lesson ended, they split into two lines for the second-half assessment, with Adam and Professor Scamander serving as examiners.

When the young wizards who had chosen Adam saw the machine he pulled out, their faces went green.

Bernard especially. How could he possibly fail to recognize it when others did not? It was clearly a camcorder. Recorded embarrassing history was far darker than a mere photograph!

"Seriously, can this thing even function normally in the Wizarding World?"

Bernard tried to reason with him.

"Adam! Turn it off! I remember precision electronic equipment malfunctions in the Wizarding World. What if it explodes later?"

"Don’t worry. My magic can protect it. It would be fine even if I used it to film a basilisk."

Adam grinned with utter abandon.

"Come on, everyone. I’ll record your dancing so I can help you better identify the flaws in your movements. You know, if you ever encounter an Erumpent, getting the dance wrong would be no laughing matter!"

Professor Scamander nodded in agreement.

The young wizards: "…"

Was it still too late for them to switch to Professor Scamander?

Unfortunately, it was too late.

"I should never have done it!"

Bernard desperately slapped his thigh as he was pushed forward to be the first to take the assessment.

"I should’ve chosen Professor Scamander like Eugene and Klon!"

He never should have trusted Adam’s reliability in matters that would not endanger their lives but would humiliate them!

"You’re thinking too highly of yourself. Look at the back of the line."

Adam, who had just returned after stepping away briefly, pointed behind Bernard. When Bernard turned around, he saw Eugene and Klon standing farther back in the queue, both wearing bitter expressions.

There were also many other young wizards who had originally been on Professor Scamander’s side.

"They…?"

"I thought Professor Scamander was still under a bit too much pressure. I was worried he might not have enough energy, so I brought them over from his side."

Adam smiled with great understanding, looking as though he were deeply considerate of the professor.

Klon and Eugene: Sos, why am I here…

Though Adam’s smile made their scalps tingle, once the assessment truly began, they found that seeing his stern expression behind the camcorder made it not quite so embarrassing.

After each person finished dancing, Adam replayed the recording, pointed out every place they had gone wrong, and then sent them off to practice on their own.

Although the young wizards all looked horrified and wanted to curl their toes into the floor while watching the recordings, only they and Adam could see them. Besides, this method was undeniably more efficient than Professor Scamander’s approach of stopping them whenever they made a mistake and personally guiding them step by step.

That said, for many of the Hufflepuffs, the hands-on instruction over there seemed more appealing. In response, Adam merely tilted the screen playing the footage slightly toward the crowd that had been secretly peeking. The Hufflepuffs immediately settled down.

Put down those embarrassing recordings, and everyone could talk things out!

By the time Adam’s side had finished, Professor Scamander’s queue was still not done. Professor Scamander simply waved a hand and threw all the remaining students to Adam for assessment.

After class, Professor Scamander rubbed his somewhat sore lower back and looked curiously at the camcorder in Adam’s hands.

"Adam, your method really is more efficient. I think the other classes could use it too."

The young wizards who had not yet left exchanged glances and hurriedly nodded.

"Yes, yes!"

"Professor Scamander, your method is far too exhausting!"

"We can’t be the only ones whose videos are kept, mmph—"

Oh dear, someone seemed to have accidentally spoken their true thoughts. Fortunately, they were cut off in time, and Professor Scamander appeared not to have heard.

"No problem, Professor Scamander. The protective magic I cast can last a long time. I’ll teach you how to use it…"

Whether it was an illusion or not, the young wizards watched the old man and the young boy huddled together at the front, occasionally breaking into laughter, and a phrase inexplicably surfaced in their minds—birds of a feather flock together!

Though it was not quite that four-character idiom, it was roughly the same meaning.

Unfortunately, the die had been cast. Even though they realized they might have fallen for a villain’s scheme, all those whose humiliating moments had already been recorded could do was drag more people into the water.

As the saying went, better a dead friend than a dead me—but if I was going down, my friends had to go down too—

They could not help exchanging looks before turning toward the classmates who had been assessed by Professor Scamander and had no recordings left behind.

They had to find a way to make them record a video next class too!

"Adam, why don’t you say something? I’m scared."

After returning to the dormitory, Klon looked uneasily at Adam, who had not said a word the entire way back.

The other three nodded repeatedly.

Even if he took out their videos and properly mocked… no, teased them for a while, then the social death they would suffer would only last a moment.

Instead of leaving them hanging like this, making them feel restless and unsure when their social death would arrive.

"Hm? Is that really the kind of person you think I am?"

Adam looked at them, seeming rather shocked.

"Aren’t you exactly that kind of person?!"

They were even more shocked than he was.

"Remember when you discovered we were afraid of cockroaches, so you developed ninety-nine-percent lifelike cockroach candy overnight…"

Klon began counting on his fingers.

"That thing was half the size of my palm, and it could even fly!"

Bernard could not help adding.

"Ahem, wasn’t that because you’d only ever seen German cockroaches? I was broadening your horizons…"

"Remember when that cockroach candy fell from the ceiling and landed right on the desk in front of Eugene? He nearly smashed the desk…"

Uther chimed in as well.

"Hm?"

Adam frowned.

"That happened? Impossible… I clearly remember never doing something like that!"

Eugene: "???"

Eugene: "…"

Eugene: "!!!"

Seeing Eugene on the verge of passing out, Klon hurriedly changed the subject.

"Then what about that time you scared me in the middle of the night after we watched a horror movie?"

Just thinking about it made Klon tremble all over—yes, definitely from anger!

All he could say was that it was fortunate he had emptied his bladder thoroughly before seeing that scene… If he had seen it before going to the bathroom, then he probably would not have needed to go afterward.

"After the horror movie… Oh, that time. I was only woken by the noise you made going to the bathroom. I just opened my eyes to take a look. It was an accident, an accident!"

Mentioning it reminded Adam of something.

"When should we watch another movie together?"

"No!" x2

Bernard and Uther, however, looked somewhat interested.

Adam gave them an innocent smile.

"Come on, movies aren’t all horror films. This time, I’ll show you something healthy, sunny, and uplifting!"