Stepping into the cool room, after placing down his suitcase, Ammosta breathed out comfortably as he looked at the spotless office.
While others enjoy their Christmas holidays on vacation, his Christmas holiday is spent working overtime.
Over the next two weeks, he was kept busy helping the orphanage staff take care of the children, from morning till night with no time to spare. And back at Hogwarts, there was still plenty for him to do but it was a lot easier on his body.
As expected, in his absence, letters from all over the world, mainly from countries in Europe, had piled up on his bed like a small mountain, and even a layer had scattered on the ground beneath the bedrails.
Most of these letters were fan letters, and unlike Lohort, Ammosta wasn't responsible for them all. He would only pick out a few to respond to when he had time.
Once the warmth from the fireplace dispelled the chill in the room, Ammosta had quickly gone through all the letters to check if there were any from people he knew or any official organizations. The rest of them were put away in a widened space at the bottom of a bookshelf.
Taking off his coat and throwing it on the bed, Ammosta 'collapsed' into his office chair, placing both feet directly on the desk, holding a cup of steaming hot green tea, staring blankly at the rough stone tiles on the ceiling.
The casual remark by Professor McGonagall about sports class just then had given him a bit of a reminder.
He had planned this course since the beginning, to make sports a regular part of life.
Of course, physical education is different from basic magical subjects such as Potions, Spellcasting, and Transfiguration, which a young wizard must begin to study upon entering Hogwarts. His physical education class requires a certain theoretical foundation and magical proficiency. This course cannot become a basic subject but is more like Divination or Runes, becoming an elective for students after their third year.
Starting from the third grade, he completed the entire training process for sports, which took three years, and participated in the OWLS level examination. As for whether to open an advanced class, Ammosta hasn't made up his mind yet.
Of course, the current batch of physical education students won't take three years of sports class, in fact, their training has officially entered the tail end.
These students have grown under Ammosta's nearly ruthless prodding. Once the formal classes begin, he can't expect the students to get used to being bombarded with dung balls in just a short one or two months, nor can he integrate the young wizards into his own mental world as a way to prolong training time and control the injuries. These are emergency measures to avoid danger.
By then, the normal progress of sports classes will become much more 'humane'.
In fact, the training of the current batch of students has already entered the tail end. As the saying goes, 'A master can only take a student so far.'
Ammosta has pointed them in the direction of self-improvement, but how far they can go depends on their own understanding.
So when on Friday's sports class, Ammosta told the students that their training would end at the end of this term, for a moment, the classroom was silent. Each person's face was full of confusion and bewilderment. During these nearly one year's time, they had become accustomed to suffering a series of torments every week in this classroom and leaving with weary bodies. Suddenly, Professor Blaine said that the course was ending, which made them all unable to accept it.
Even the sensitive girls started to sob softly.
"Are you giving up on us, Professor?"
Fred shouted indignantly, and Harry behind him clenched his fists, lips tightly pressed together.
"I'm afraid I don't have that intention, Mr. Weasley..."
Ammosta feigned a lighthearted tone, but his heart wasn't doing well on the inside.
Looking at the young men in front of him, with steady brows and a mature, decisive demeanor, he recalled ten months ago when these students were exhausted after running around the Quidditch pitch for two laps and howling in pain after being hit by a dung egg. Ammosta's expression softened.
Physical education will endure at Hogwarts for a long time, and this group of young men are the first students to graduate from his course.
"I'm not saying that the course will end now, Mr. Weasley--"
Ammosta smiled and said,
"And, even on the day when it truly ends, I hope you don't forget the skills you've acquired after enduring many tests. I require that you continue to do morning exercises after the course ends, and every half-month, come back to this classroom for a sensitivity training session. As for duel techniques, I will also conduct regular evaluations."
Hearing Professor Blaine say so, the students finally felt a bit better, but there were still some questions in their hearts.
"Please speak, Miss Pettyer--"
In the Ravenclaw group, Padma Pettigrew raised her hand high.
"Professor Blane -" Padma stared at him with jet-black pearl eyes, "What should we do now?"
"It's a good question, Miss Pettyer——"
Ammosta leaned on a desk, his gaze sweeping over the faces eager for an answer, and he smiled faintly.
"The course has lasted until today, I think everyone of you should have realized the changes in yourselves -"
The students nodded in unison. Hufflepuff's Hopkins whispered to Ernie beside him, "I knocked down my parents all by myself during the holiday!"
Draco tilted his head slightly, and a hint of pride shone in his gray eyes.
Since the beginning of sports classes, he had written about it to his father, who had warned him not to give up the course that Professor Blane taught, and instructed him to write a letter every month to tell him about the progress of the course.
Since the second half of last year, when they started learning the theoretical course on dueling, his father had placed even more emphasis on it. Sometimes in his replies, he would offer some advice on dueling and mail him valuable books that would be helpful for his current studies.
Just like Hopkins, during this Christmas holiday, as per his father's request, they had a sparring practice session together. The outcome of this match was incredibly encouraging to him.
Of course, he couldn't defeat his father. However, even the mighty and wise father in his eyes had no answer for him. After tearing up several lawns in the garden, both of them finally stopped panting.
When he saw the look of astonishment on his mother's face, who was watching on the sidelines to ensure he wouldn't get hurt by accident, Draco couldn't help but grin widely with delight.
"Incredible, incredible..."
Narcissa repeated twice, staring at Draco who was sitting on the lawn, sweating profusely but hadn't sustained any injury, with an expression of disbelief.
"All of this is thanks to Ammostat Blane's training?"
Draco nodded heavily.
"Dear——" Narcissa aimed her gaze at her husband.
Lucius fought back the urge to praise his son, exerting less physical effort as most of the time in the match he was keeping Draco at bay, only unable to disarm him.
In the face of his wife's gaze, Lucius shook his head slightly, indicating that he hadn't given his son an easy fight. He couldn't say that outright, but he certainly couldn't unleash Avada Kedavra or other dark magic on his son.
"I've told you, Narcissa——"
Lucius's hand rested on his wife's arm, as if on purpose, his eyes pointed to the location under his sleeve with a tattoo, speaking in a low voice that Draco couldn't hear.
"Blane is our fallback--"
"Everyone of you has realized the changes in yourselves, we've learned in this course how to protect ourselves and subdue others when conflicts arise. But that doesn't mean you are invincible, it means you can handle all sorts of dangers. For the next period of Physical Education, I think, we should let you learn how to get out of unfavorable environments –"
(Chapter End)
