51.8 Defense Club

As it fell to the ground, it seemed to reform into the shape of a snake, that lunged at her feet, wrapping itself around her. Just as she was about to cast a vanishing spell, a disarming hex her, ending the duel. He dispelled the snake, before helping her up and returning her wand.

"Well played." Kaiser nodded, smiling 'wisely', and patted her head. Susan didn't protest, but was blushing from his actions. Hannah and the rest just rolled their eyes.

Susan challenged Michael afterwards, which obviously ended with his defeat. It frustrated him to no end to lose to a 'girl', and Kaiser's merciless teasing about it certainly didn't help. He was lucky Susan couldn't read his thoughts, or she would've shown him what that 'girl' was capable of.

They were soon joined by Tracey and Daphne, accompanied by their Ravenclaw year-mates, and unsurprisingly: Cho Chang. Cedric insisted they invite her among the first, and no one seemed to understand why. Well, at least, they pretended to.

Next came the Gryffindors quite loudly, and Kaiser swore that if he ever had a secret project, he'd never invite them again. It's a good thing that even if word got out, it wouldn't have much consequences for their overall plans. It would certain up the difficulty, but it wouldn't be an impossible situation. The Hufflepuffs came next.

"Right. Now that everyone is here, I believe it's time we give you guys some answers." Cedric said. "For those of you who read the newspaper, you'll find that in the recent weeks since the attack on the world cup, it has done nothing but praise England's stable situation, and Cornelius Fudge, the current minister of Magic, for his glorious efforts to keep the peace we have enjoyed since the end of the previous war." Noticing that he had their attention, he continued. "I believe everyone here is smart enough to figure out that something fishy is going on, though to be fair, maybe they are just trying to keep everyone fro panicking, but that doesn't change the fact." He took a deep breath.

"The simple fact is: the previous war has never really ended. The Death Eaters that had been imprisoned were the famous ones, while the rest were released because, for some reason, they were under the Imperius Curse. Let's not even get into how ridiculous that excuse is. As you all know, thanks to professor Moody, the imperius curse isn't that hard to get out of. In fact, for those skilled in the mind arts, getting out of one, especially one that lasted for a while, isn't that hard. And it's common knowledge that ancient families teach their children Occlumency the moment they can speak. Regardless, the message of blood supremacy itself has never died. Not to mention, the death eater attack on the world cup wasn't the only one. Last year, there was another one, but it was never made public knowledge."

"So, you're expecting a war might break out again?" Dean asked uncertainly.

"Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that a war is in the horizon. I am saying that the future is uncertain, and it doesn't hurt to be prepared." Cedric answered. "Which why we've decided to open this club, with hopes to improve our offensive and defensive skills."

"So, you are raising an army to fight against death eaters?" one of the Ravenclaws said, looking at him with suspicion, though it was obviously the bad thing to do, as every Hufflepuff in the room glared at him, daring him to say another word.

"No." Cedric answered. The others were waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn't, and just kept looking at them. "Listen, we already made our goal clear to you: we only wish to improve. If, at any point you feel uncomfortable, you are free to say 'No', or to leave if you deem it necessary."

"So, who is going to teach us?" Anthony Goldstein asked.

"Professor Flitwick promised to help us occasionally when he has the time, otherwise, it would be volunteers. For the first session, Kaiser and myself will be in charge of-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence, before one of the older Hufflepuffs interrupted him. "Kaiser? As in the fourth year Kaiser Lunar?" he looked at him incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" Susan asked defensively.

"What's wrong is that he's barely a fourth year!"

"A fourth year who passed his OWLs in charms, Transfiguration, and DADA the previous summer, and got all Os. What's your point?" she glared at him.

"Dave, can you cast spells silently?" Cedric asked him.

"No. We've only started learning how in seventh year…" he answered weakly.

"Kaiser could do it when he was in his second year. Right now, he doesn't even use wand movements anymore, even when trying out new spells." Michael argued. "Let's not even mention his other achievements. I think he's more than qualified." Kaiser, on the other hand, didn't not seem concerned. He knew this kind of thing was bound to happen, which is why he protested against their suggestion, but they claimed there wasn't anyone qualified who'd volunteer at first.

Kaiser's year-mates obviously didn't have a problem with him, as they knew first hand how qualified he was. The rest whispered amongst themselves for a while, but they didn't protest any further. It seems they established they needed more information about him, so the best course of action was to give him a chance, and judge him afterwards.

"For this session, we will start with Silent Casting." Cedric said, earning frowns from everyone in the room. "I know what you're thinking. That's it's a seventh year skill, and therefore too advanced for us to start with. The truth is, you couldn't be more wrong. You see, the reason why it's taught at the seventh year, is because it's not that important academically, and usually takes a lot of time to master just a few spells silently. Which is why they only teach it at seventh year, and usually spend a few sessions on it at most."

"Our real objective, however, is thought casting." Kaiser continued. "It is ultimately possible to cast spell without verbal incantation or wand movement. This particular skill is the most difficult, simply because of how much time it takes. But once you master the first few spells, the rest becomes easy."

Next, Kaiser gave an introduction, mainly for the sake of those who had no idea what silent casting means, explaining the advantages and principles behind it. Kaiser also did a demonstration, asking one of the students, a seventh year to cast the stunning hex, the stinging hex and the banishing charm at a dummy, at the fastest speed he can muster. The result ended being three and half seconds spent to prepare the spells.

Kaiser did the same, the difference being he only spent a second a few hundred milliseconds on the spells, which was a huge difference. It meant that in a real fight, your opponent would be able to throw nine spells at him, while you could use three at most, all of which would have to be shielding charms to stay safe.

They discussed afterwards the best ways to practice silent casting, with Kaiser mainly offering few tips he learned from both Slytherin and Ravenclaw's libraries. Needless to say, he didn't give out anything sensitive.

They did not spend that session trying to cast silently, instead, Kaiser proposed they try to reduce their volume when casting spells, until they could whisper. While it wouldn't give be true silent casting, it would still give them the tactical advantages silent spells gave. (your opponent not knowing what spell you would cast. ) Not to mention, it would help at the same time with their silent casting, since it would gradually free them from the shackles of incantations.

Overall, their first meeting was a success, as some of their friends actually succeeded in casting spells silently for the first time. They practiced the shielding charm next, before calling it a day and dispersing, but not before making plans for another meeting.