Chapter 10: A Serious Session

A Serious Session

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"This should be interesting." Harry noted as he, Hermione and Neville joined the crowd outside room 3C. "My dogfather as a teacher…"

"I'm not certain that my brain is up to the task of imagining it ahead of time." Hermione half-joked, earning several chuckles. "Then again, even he can't be as bad as Lockhart was…"

Before Harry could reply, the door unlocked and Sirius' voice called out.

"Everyone in! Come in, be seated!"

Harry followed Hermione in and they sat at one of the desks near the back. At the front of the classroom, Sirius stood leaning slightly against his desk, his eyes twinkling with humour.

"Well, I see everyone's here, so welcome to your first lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts. I have spoken with Narcissa and she gave me a list of the items she has covered with you, so now I think it's time to begin the solid work of shielding, counterspells and combat tactics.

"As you know, the return of Mouldyshorts was faked last year, but it is possible for other Dark Lords to rise. Therefore, I will teach you how to protect yourselves and each other, basic healing techniques and how to ensure that the other side are the ones that die for their cause.

"A word of warning, though. Later in the year I will cover the Unforgivables with the help of Auror Alistair Moody, who as an Auror Commander is licensed to use them should he deem it appropriate. If I find any of you trying to use any of those three spells, that person will be expelled immediately."

Sirius glared at the class for a moment before relaxing.

"So, to start off with, do any of you know any shielding spells?"

"I do, sir! My older brother Bill taught me." Ron Weasley raised his hand.

"Ah, you must be a Weasley, your hair is unmistakable." Sirius chuckled as he waved for Ron to join him at the front of the classroom. "Ron, right? Gryffindor chaser."

"Yes, sir." Ron said.

"Now, can you shield that target for me, please? Stand close to it, don't worry. I'm aiming for the target, not you."

Ron stood a couple of paces away from the red-painted target and pulled his wand out of his belt-holster.

"Now, cast any shielding spell you want."

"Protego!"

A magical shield rippled into existence and Sirius nodded approvingly.

"Excellent… and it looks quite powerful. Ready to hold it?"

Ron nodded and Sirius' wand seemed to teleport into his hand, unleashing several hexes and curses that splashed off the shield and after a moment, Sirius stopped.

"Well done, Mr Weasley. Five points to Gryffindor, you can sit down now."

As Ron made his way back to his seat, Sirius faced the class. "As you saw, Mr Weasley's shield held against the usual spells used by those who wish to hurt others. While more powerful spells could have penetrated it, it takes longer to cast the stronger spells, giving you time to hit them with a quick spell to stop them or simply move out of the way.

"By the end of this lesson, I want all of you to be able to cast a shield spell. Those of you who can, please help those who can't."

The desks and chairs slid towards the back of the room, rotating so that the desks ended up against the wall and the students could esily get up without anything blocking them.

"Okay, that was cool." Harry admitted as he rose to his feet, giving his now-motionless chair a measuring look.

"Everyone who can shield, please raise a hand." Sirius prompted and Harry raised his hand, as did Neville and Hermione.

"Okay, everyone who can't shield, please choose someone who can to teach you… actually, stop! I'll choose who teaches you."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the girls scurrying towards him stopped with cries of disappointment.

"And Harry, you know I'll be teasing you about this, right?" Sirius added with a smirk.

Harry groaned.

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"…and now that everyone can cast the Protego, here's the homework." Sirius said as the chairs and desks slid back into their previous locations. "By next lesson, I want you to be able to hold the shield for a full minute and strong enough to block no less than ten stinging hexes in that time. Now, since you all managed to cast the shield, I'm awarding a point for each of you who learned to cast the shield today and two points to each of you who helped another to learn. I also want you to look up the variants of the shield charm. I don't expect you to learn them, at least not until you start your NEWTs, that is, but I do want you to be aware of them.

"Now, since we have a few minutes left before the lesson ends, does anyone have any questions. It's fine if they're not lesson-related. Yes, Miss Patil? Ravenclaw Patil, that is."

"Sir… I was wondering about last year when you and Professor Flitwick burned what looked like a necklace…"

Sirius paused. "Ah, you saw that? Well, that was a cursed necklace and to break the curse, we had to destroy it. If the curse hadn't been broken, then hundreds could have died because of it."

Parvati shivered slightly and Sirius looked round. "Anyone else?"

"Why did you become an Animagus?"

"Good question." Sirius replied. "You can blame Remus Lupin for that. As everyone now knows, he used to be a werewolf. When they are in their other form, werewolves reflexively attack humans and James and I didn't want to let him suffer alone, but were wary of his… furry problem. We sought a way to help him and so we became Animagi. Fortunately, James had access to a book that held a different and safer method than the Ministry recommends, but it took us over half a year to achieve it. And yes, for the older students who have grades good enough to be given the chance to learn, that will be the method they will use as well."

Several students looked interested and Sirius chuckled. "While I'm your DADA professor for this year only, I'll make sure the method remains available to those able to learn. Of course, there are other methods available, such as that used by the American Shamans and the Aboriginal Elders, but… the method that we Marauders used works and that's the main thing."

Before anyone could ask another question, the sound of the Hogwarts Bell echoed through the room.

"Okay everyone, pack up and head off." Sirius waved one hand in a lazy gesture. "Go on, your next lesson awaits and I'll see you next week."

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"Isn't the Protego meant to be a fifth-year spell?" Hermione mused as they made their way to the Charms classroom, going up a flight of stairs in order to go down one level. "I remember reading it…"

"It's probably my fault." Harry admitted. "I was researching the use of magic in history with his help and introduced him to the concept that if you don't know something's impossible, you have a chance of doing it. Heck, most Accidental Magic is kids not knowing something can't be done and managing to do it…"

"That sounds… probable." Neville agreed.

"According to the history books he has, the real ones and not the sanitised ones that the Ministry of Magic approves of, most spells were developed as ways of duplicating what small children were capable of. The Lumos spell is a notble exception, though. That one was created by an Unspeakable due to insufficient lighting."

"I… didn't know that." Hermione admitted, then her gaze sharpened. "Hold on. Sanitised?"

"Sanitised." Harry confirmed as they moved to the side of the corridor to allow some pupils to pass in the other direction. "The Ministry likes to hide things, such as the fact that they stole the engine for the Hogwarts Express and didn't give the workers who had built it any financial recompense because they were just Muggles and Memory Charms were easier."

"That's… that's… that's just…" Hermione failed to find the words she needed and Harry nodded.

"I know. Things like that are why they sanitise the history books, to stop people realizing how often the leaders of the past decided that just because they could do something, it meant that they should do it."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "Please tell me that they don't do that any more."

"Bagnold and Sirius." Harry countered and Hermione flinched. "They do it less, though, and it seems to be limited to the Magical World these days."

"That's not very reassuring, Harry." Hermione replied sourly. "What's to stop them doing it again?"

"Communication." Harry replied, his normal humour vanishing from his voice. "The more communication there is, the more the leaders have to account for their decisions and thus the more they know that they will be held responsible. That's why the Ministry keeps such a tight grip on the Daily Prophet."

Hermione winced.

"Of course, with the systems that Evans Enterprises is setting up, we'll soon have a multi-layer planetary datanet which anyone with the right equipment can access. While the Muggle and Magical sections will be carefully seperated, except for specific interface points, the mere fact that the datanet exists will quickly lead to either an attempt by the governments to clamp down hard on who and how it can be used, an attempt that will fail, or will usher in a new age of accountability and responsibility."

"The Ministry is not going to like that... whatever it is." Neville predicted as they came to a stop outside the Charms classroom.

"The Ministry is predominantly staffed by Purebloods who try to ignore anything new. By the time they realize the threat that my company poses to their corruption, it'll be too late." Harry smirked.

Several paces behind them, Draco Malfoy tilted his head slightly, his face blank as he considered what he had just heard.

.

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"Nott."

Theodore looked up from the textbook that he was perusing.

"Malfoy."

"May I?" Malfoy motioned to the seat across from the table and Nott shrugged.

"Sure."

Malfoy slowly sat down, pulling his wand out by the tip and placing it on the table in front of him, handle towards Nott in the Pureblood gesture of nonaggression. Nott raised an eyebrow, then put his book down and followed suit.

"Nott, your father, before Potter slew him, had many allies in the Wizengamot and much of the Ministry. Have any of those allies contacted you?"

Theodore gave a slow nod. "Some have. Most are waiting for me to come of age before they decide on whether or not to re-affirm the alliances. May I ask why?"

"Potter is seeking to reduce the power of the Ministry." Draco stated, causing Nott to blink. "He's seeking to overturn most of the traditions that make our society what it is."

"How so?" Nott enquired after a moment.

"You may have heard about the phones that have been installed just off the other Houses common rooms, allowing the Muggleborn to contact their parents whenever they wish."

"So they can whinge to their parents." Nott shrugged. "I do not see the problem."

"The phones are but one problem, albeit a large portion of it." Draco continued. "With constant contact with their parents, Muggleborn will be less driven to adapt to the proper ways of living. Not only that, they are likely to try and undermine our society, to twist and warp it until we are effectively reduced to being Muggles who happen to be able to cast spells, our lineages unimportant."

"You… are certain of this?"

"I heard Potter boasting about it to his friends." Draco growled. "I need to contact someone in power... preferably quietly and quickly"

Theodore frowned in thought before looking at Draco.

"I can get you in contact with one of the Undersecretaries, one who it is rumoured dislikes Potter immensely. You'll need to meet her in person…"

"My mother signed my Hogsmead permission slip." Draco noted.

"Then I will send word, but it will take a while for the meeting to be set up. Be ready."

Draco gave a nod that almost verged on being a bow before he reclaimed his wand and rose from his chair. Theodore watched him walk away, then turned back to his book.