The students did marginally better in their second round against Faith. Connor told them as much- and added that if she'd been an actual vamp, they would have merely ended up maimed, not dead or turned. By this point, though, the students recognized that as high praise, so they weren't as offended as they would have been at the beginning of the year. (Faith had snorted and said that they still stood more of a chance in hell, than against a Master vamp, so they took their compliments where they could get them.)
Next class, they were back in the classroom. Professor Reilly, when they walked in, was manually writing notes on the board. (Hermione helpfully informed the class- against their will- that most of the chalk in Hogwarts had been enchanted to write on its own, like a Quick Quotes Quill.)
"What can any of you tell me about the Scourge of Europe?" he asked, once they were all seated. The wizard-born students shuddered at the name, but didn't raise their hands, while their Muggleborn counterparts looked at them in confusion.
"No one?" Professor Reilly pushed. "Not one of you? Granger, come on, you don't know?"
"S—sir?" Neville Longbottom surprised the class by speaking up quietly. Reilly raised an eyebrow at him. "What, Longbottom? Speak up!" he demanded. "Sir!" the boy snapped to attention. "The Scourge is a myth about a vampire who laid waste to Europe." (The rest of the wizard-born nodded sagely. The Legend of the Scourge was commonly told to misbehaving children.)
Professor Reilly nodded in approval. "Right on all but two points, Longbottom." He began to pace in front of the class. "One- there were four vamps that were part of the Scourge. And two- they were very much real."
This proclamation was met with gasps from the wizard-born, for most of whom, the Legend of Scourge had been the source of many a childhood nightmare. One Ronald Weasley's indignant voice rose above the clamor.
"You can't possibly know that!"
Professor Reilly fixed the red-head with a hard stare. "On the contrary, Weasley. I've met three of the four, personally." His stare turned inward, as if he was seeing something the rest of the class couldn't. "I was there when they died."