So you want to learn to defend yourself? It is no easy task, I assure you. Anyone can do it, though. Yes, that's right. Even the student who sits way in the back and hides from the professor, hoping that he or she will not be called on can learn to defend him or herself, with this book. Your professor will go into greater detail if he or she is good, but this will be useful to everyone. Even Aurors have things to learn. But I should neither ramble so much, nor write this informally. This is supposed to be a textbook, correct? I thought those were boring. Hopefully this one will not be as boring as most others.
I should move on,yes? I should think you'd like to know what exactly you will be learning in this book. It's called: The Dark Arts and Self Defense: Volume 1, but what exactly does that mean? I can tell you, since I'm writing it. That means that this is the first in a series of books meant to teach you about the Dark Arts, and how to defend yourself against them. My philosophy is a little different than most people would think, though. If your professor has chosen my book, he or she must have the same philosophy.
My philosophy is simple, really: You must understand what you are fighting in order to properly fight it. That is the most important thing you should get from this book. Volume One begins with an overview of the Dark Arts as a whole, and starts you off with some basic magical theory on the Dark Arts. Why you are being started off with such a hard aspect is beyond many people, but it is entirely important to properly defending yourself, and hopefully you will understand later, when you're in the NEWT classes. We won't talk about those now, though.
This introduction is short, but I'm bringing it to a close now. You can't fight something you are ignorant about, so pay attention. One day, it may save your life.
