Year Four - Chapter Seven

The books were surprisingly heavy. Apparently, masonry construction spells required books with brick-like motifs that weighed like bricks. I couldn't help but snort at the Wizards' logic, and its unfaltering desire to make things in theme, and yet utterly bonkers to the logical mind.

I slammed the book open, no index to aid me, and began to scribble down the spells and the motions of the wand required. Some of it fell under the aegis of Conjuration magic, which was a higher branch of Transfiguration, which we'd deal with in the sixth to seventh year. On the other hand, some went with Transfiguration magic, since the only way to ensure things would stick was to actually transfigure walls from basic materials.

This reeked of Minecraft theory. I had to transfigure clay into bricks, and then the bricks into walls, in order to have brick walls.

It did beat having to put up a brick oven though, since all I needed was a wand and time, but it still was an annoyance.

The year was looking up to be great. Sure, Alastor Moody's first lesson involved him planting stinging hexes in the guts of whoever came through the door without a Hex-Deflection spell at the ready, and those who dodged merely were hit with another spell right in their backs, but it was the norm, and I'd accept it.

"So I heard someone decided to put my words into practice and pick a fight with Death Eaters!" he grumbled, his magical eye swishing over all of us and settling on me. "Guess this little rascal thinks he's got the guts to face a practiced curse-slinger, but I've seen too many hotshots get in over their heads and suffer from it," he patted his wooden leg, letting it thunk noisily. "I've been one myself, and if I can disavow your hot blood and turn it into something practical, then I damn well will."

I coughed awkwardly. "That's why, we're going to practice the ancient art of slinging spells," Alastor Moody continued. He flicked his wand, and the desks floated to the sides of the classroom. "Each of you, pick a partner." He spoke with a gruff voice. "Remember, Expelliarmus and Hexaprotectio only. I don't want to see any jinx or stinging hexes fly, or I'm going to answer in turn and you won't like it."

As soon as he said that, I found myself grabbed by Amanda's hand and placed in front of her. I hadn't picked a partner; the partner had picked me. As I looked right and left, I briefly wondered who'd be the unlucky one left with Alastor, but since everyone seemed to have a partner, my brows furrowed slightly. Had I miscounted? Was someone sick?

I craned my neck, let it pop with a sigh, and extended my wand in front of me, my other hand behind my back. Amanda did the same, a short distance away. "Expelliarmus!" she began, a fizzy crimson bolt leaving her wand. Wordlessly, I thrust the spell away and up against the ceiling. Then, I returned an Expelliarmus.

"Hexaprotectio!" she blurted out, taking my spell and making it sail in the air. Taking a deep breath, she sent another Expelliarmus my way, properly enunciating it. Even so, I wordlessly deflected it. This went for a few minutes, my mind quietly pondering on whether to actually throw two Expelliarmus in a row or not, but then deciding against it. I wasn't planning on showing off, but simply following the lesson.

Then, a fellow student threw an Expelliarmus wordlessly my way from the sides.

I took a step back, letting the spell impact against a fellow student to my left.

"Hey!" the wandless student exclaimed, loudly. I simply chuckled, and threw an Expelliarmus the way of the wayward student, who actually dispelled it with grace and quickness. True Auror-Material, that one student that made our class strangely even for the first time since my arrival at Hogwarts, wouldn't someone agree?

"Classes have always been done in odd numbers since there were eleven sorted Ravenclaws in my year," I mused aloud, turning my full attention towards the strange student, who had in the meantime kept ignoring their partner, while Amanda stopped peppering me with spells trying to understand what was going on. "So everyone having a partner...means there's an extra."

The student's hair turned bright pink. I moved to the side, glancing towards Alastor Moody. "Constant Vigilance, isn't it?"

Alastor gruffly grumbled something under his breath, "Fine, you're partnering with me then, wise ass," he didn't pull out his wand as much as literally make it appear in his hand, before slamming an Expelliarmus so flawless and wordless that I actually barely managed to move my wand in time to intercept it.

Even so, I felt the wand slip ever so slightly.

"A bit of wordless magic and all wizards think they're hot stuff," Moody grunted, walking forward as the students moved to the sides. A second spell left his wand, fast like lightning, and even so I barely managed to catch it in the nick of time. "They lower their guards, and get done in." A third spell, a third deflection, was it me, or was the speed increasing?

I tried to flick my wand in the motion of the Expelliarmus, but I soon had to abandon that and move to the side, a spell striking the spot where I had been a second before. Moody had been fast, quite fast. "You got some footwork, but not enough!" Moody growled, twirling his wand in such rapid succession that I only saw two of the three thrown spells. Even so, I only deflected the first.

My wand sailed in the air, out of my grip, and as I swiftly summoned it back to my side I slammed it in a quick jab forward. The crimson spell departed its tip, sailing through the air with the soaring of a crackling flame. Ever so quickly, Alastor batted it away, swirling his wand and sending it right back at me.

I concentrated, slamming my left hand against it and sending a fellow Expelliarmus back. I took a wary step forward, just as Alastor did the same. The torrential deluge of spell that came my way was perhaps akin to concentrated, small bursts of automatic rifle fire. There was nothing prohibiting a wizard from chaining spells, if he just kept moving the wand in repeated motions of the same spell. Like writing in cursive, as long as one did the motions once, finished them, and immediately began once more, more than one spell could be cast at the same time.

Even so, I hadn't discovered that, but shown it, and in quite the humbling matter. My wand left my hand a dozen times, though a dozen times more I recovered it.

I tried them all. I swung with my hand, I batted away with my wand, I moved to the side, but Alastor's spells were the thing of legends, and even so, he wasn't anything when compared to Dumbledore.

Truly, it put things damn well in perspective.

My breathing was starting to grow hard, and there was sweat pouring down my brow. How long had we been going at it? The class hadn't ended yet, so less than an hour.

He finally stopped the practice with a swing of the wand, sending my last, feeble Expelliarmus to sail out of the open window. I wheezed and nearly collapsed, grabbing my knees with my hands to gather my breath.

And I couldn't take out of my head the thought that he'd gone easy on me.

"This is why, you brats, you need Constant Vigilance!" he snapped angrily. "Catching someone by surprise is one way of winning against a Wizard, but when you don't catch them by surprise, you're in for a fight you might not even run away from!" he jabbed his wand in my direction, and I sighed, too tired to even lift mine. "Ten points to Ravenclaw for having lasted this long, you arrogant brat! Next lesson, you better be faster in the draw and the swing!"

I quietly nodded, glad it was over.

The moment the class was over, and I attempted to leave, a spell struck me in the back and sent my wand flying straight into Moody's extended hand.

"Constant Vigilance!" he snarled in my direction.

I...I just couldn't...

Hogwarts Jinx on the DADA professor, please...

...can't you come a bit sooner this year around, pretty please?