[1990 Pt.9]

[September 2, 1990.]

Nathan and his fellow hufflepuffs found themselves in DADA classroom along with House Ravenclaw.

Tsuria Solomon had retired after finishing one term of teaching. It was something that the Hogwarts staff had agreed upon after concluding that the DADA curse only lashed out violently against a teacher when they were insistent on wanting to stay for more than a year. No point in tempting a curse that had killed at least two teachers if it could be managed by just changing them every year without fail.

Nathan agreed with the simple and safe approach to the problem, seeing as he could not break the curse before Voldy had been dealt with after he destroyed all his Horcruxes.

Maria Kassidy, Nathan's new DADA professor, had a carefree look about her. She was young and wearing what the purebloods would call Muggle clothing, probably close to Nathan's own age when he was murdered and the devil-may-care smirk was enough for Nathan to understand the type of person Nathan would be dealing with. Professor Kassidy was the type of person that Nathan had always been jealous of in his previous life- The type that lived by the idea of You Only Live Once.

In his previous existence, Nathan had spent his prime years dedicated to a career that demanded his constant attention. People like Maria, who partied, went to raves and indulged in carefree living, had always sparked a twinge of jealousy in him. He had told himself that they wouldn't amount to much, but deep down, he recognized that his loneliness and envy had clouded his judgment.

Did he regret pursuing power and influence in his previous life? No, Nathan couldn't deny the euphoria he'd experienced when the public hung on his every word during speeches and rallies. Knowing that his mere presence could draw a crowd and that he was making a positive impact on the world was an irreplaceable feeling.

However, his perspective has evolved over time. People like Maria now appeared more reasonable to him, especially when he reflected on his desperate pleas as he bled out, wishing not to die. Those last few words, 'Mum, I don't want to die,' that he had been repeating as he clawed at his bleeding neck as he looked at his parents still haunted him, even after twelve years of living.

Nathan could honestly say that he no longer felt jealousy or annoyance toward people like Maria. It was precisely why he had befriended Alan, whose carefree and simplistic approach to life had become a source of joy in his existence.

So as Nathan sat there thinking, waiting for his new professor to start her class, he hoped that she was at least competent enough to teach the children stuff that might save their lives. Madam Solomon had been competent and very knowledgeable about the use of spells to combat other hostile wizards and Nathan hoped they could get one more year of good teaching before idiots like Lockhart and Umbridge prowled the halls of Hogwarts.

"This is my first time taking this class, can somebody tell me what you were taught the previous year? Introduce yourself before you answer."

Nathan raised his hand, hoping to make a positive impression on the woman.

She nodded to him and Nathan said, "Nathan Grey, House Hufflepuff, Professor. Professor Tsuria had taught us about combat against wizards. Spells like the silencing charm, using levitation offensively, etc. She also had us make a lot of notes on combating large numbers of enemies."

The notes had been immensely useful to Nathan who knew that in the future such pieces of knowledge would be very useful. He had already read upon the ones she had given to all the other years.

Their new teacher also seemingly felt the same way, if her raised eyebrows, were anything to go by.

"Hmmm….. Your previous teacher seems to have done the same for the sixth year too. However, the spells they learned were more than simple distraction techniques. I have checked the notes. It should give you all a basic outline of what is necessary knowledge. And seeing as I will not be here next year either, I will follow in her steps and give you a general outline of things along with notes so that you can expand upon your skillset by yourself in the future, one year after all simply is not enough time to teach you everything about combating the dark arts."

Here she paused before smiling and saying, "Though you need to understand that I have no actual field experience as a veteran auror would say. Dear students, let me now introduce you all to your professor to-be, I am Maria Kassidy, an avid treasure-hunter and a veteran at curse-breaking. I often work hundreds of meters deep in the ocean as I try to break open a cursed treasure chest or a cursed vault on a remote island left behind by a wizard-king or lord who used a lot of dangerous magic to safeguard his property. Sometimes I also get an easy paycheck when I find a muggle vessel or lost treasure. My profession is not the most traditional, but it pays ridiculously and can be very fun."

"Good lord. Why are so many witches so badass?" Nathan blinked as he heard Alan whisper the words in awe.

Nathan's voice was very dry when he replied, "Trust me mate, I have been asking myself the same questions for the past twelve years."

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Professor Kassidy went on to tell the second years that she would be teaching them about various types of precautions one must take when dealing with cursed objects and at the end of class even stated that she would be starting a club that would teach people about how to get into treasure hunting and how to do it safely.

Nathan while very interested did not have the time to attend. Alan, however, decided to join whenever the club started since he had free time and was also very interested. Nathan, being the good friend he was, took the chance to tease Alan about how Tonks would be devastated by his betrayal.

It was at the end of the day that Nathan, Alan, Jacob, Orion and finally Merton found themselves in an abandoned classroom.

"You invited Graves?", Orion nodded at Alan's question before saying, "I wanted to invite the twins too but they have been busy with their charms work."

"So how are we going to learn Occlumency?"

Nathan, deciding that it was his turn to speak, said, "Well I will help with that."

"How?"

Nathan decided that he needed to be blunt, "My family has been teaching me Occlumency for a few years."

Alan looked shocked and shouted, "HUH?! You never told me!"

Nathan internally winced and said, "It never came up."

"It literally has been discussed among us!!"

Nathan took on a more neutral face as he decided upon a better excuse before saying, "Well, my parents didn't want me to tell others. Mind magic, as you can imagine, isn't generally well accepted."

"Why would you not want to defend your mind from getting violated?!" Nathan could see everybody except Orion and Merton giving him slightly hurt looks.

"Because Occlumency is necessary if you want to learn Legilimency, mate, and trust me it is a piece of magic that most normal folk don't like to dwell on much," Nathan's reply took the wind out of Alan's sails and the boy paused and turned to Orion before saying, "You knew about this?"

"Yeah, he offered to give me some pointers and will also help you two."

"Two? What about Merton?"

"I am a member of a family notorious for our work in law enforcement. I already have enough proficiency to repel any competent legilimence."

Alan sighed out and his shoulders slumped before looking at Nathan and asked, "You seriously couldn't tell me mate?"

Nathan nodded even as he felt like a bastard for it before saying, "And as an apology for that, I am going to help you get proficient in Occlumency."

Alan nodded before he gave Nathan a small grin and asked, "So how are we starting?"

"Oh, it is simple. I am going to use legilimency on you."

Alan was not pleased with Nathan's answer.

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A|N:

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