Harry Potter : the next generation

chapter 10

As the days began to pass, Rose found that she couldn't regret being Sorted into Ravenclaw. Scorpius was quickly becoming her best friend, but most of the Ravenclaw first-years were friendly. She could tell that the others were dividing off into groups of friends, too: Faith and Emma were always together, as were Gemma and Aspasia. Most of the boys stuck together, though Rose hadn't quite matched many of their names to their faces, save for Scorpius, of course, and Ciaran Shanahan: Ciaran and Cait Llewellyn had become fast friends with a mutual love of Quidditch and Professor Griffiths, their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

            Rose liked Professor Griffiths; she was a young woman with strawberry-blond hair that she kept extremely short and spiky. She'd started their Defense Against the Dark Arts class off by sitting on top of her desk and saying, "I'm a fully qualified Auror. Got my certification, but the Head of the Auror Office thought I liked taking risks too much, so he suggested I try teaching when the last professor retired. I have to say, I'm glad he did: I'm rather fond of it." She'd grinned, and Rose had let out a breath. Rose's Uncle Harry was Head of the Auror Office, so she would have been worried if Professor Griffiths was holding a grudge over the transfer.

            "You'll probably be seeing the Head of the Auror Office a little later in the semester, by the way. I try to get him in at least once a year to lecture to each of my classes. And, if I can, I like to get both Professors Flitwick and Longbottom in here to demonstrate – yes, you Ravenclaws, your Head of House is a dueling champion. Try to get him to tell you about it sometime; he'll blush and stammer, but don't let that fool you – he really knows his stuff."

            "People who practice the Dark Arts don't hold back, so I don't see much reason in holding back, either. Knowing how to defend yourselves is important – the worst Dark wizards know everything there is about the Dark Arts, so all of you should know how to defend yourselves against anything they can throw at you. I'd like to see all of you get at least an 'E' on your O.W.L., and I'd hope that you keep on for the N.E.W.T., even if you don't need it for your career. When Lord Voldemort took over, he and his Death Eaters didn't care if you were in Magical Maintenance or working on a dragon preserve. I don't think another Lord Voldemort is going to make an appearance any time soon, but I want to make sure that everyone here knows how to fight back if he does."

            "I don't lecture much, and I don't assign much in the way of written homework. Practice is more important. And you'd better practice; if I'm not giving you essays, I expect you to be practicing your spells on each other – in the common room, of course, unless you want Filch on your case! I hold a formal dueling club about once a week. You can get some of your practice in there, if you want. I try to pair students with similar skill levels, so you're not going to get sent to the hospital wing by some seventh-year." 

            Hopping off the desk, she'd said, "I'm sick of talking. Let's go over some elementary spells. In fact, I'm going to teach you the one that Harry Potter used to defeat Lord Voldemort today."

            They'd learned Expelliarmus, and had been given quite a lot of time to practice. "We'll go over counterjinxes and all that once you've got this down. And I don't want you using jinxes I teach you in the halls – although I know at least some of you will." Another grin. "If I see you doing one well, I might even give your House points for it. But you should know you stand to lose more points from other professors than you can get from me, so...well, you know the rules." She'd grinned again. "All I care about is that, if you use them, you'd better do a good job."            When she'd fallen silent and no one had moved, she clapped her hands together and said, "Well, go to it! If you need another demonstration, let me know. Otherwise, I'll be walking around watching you. Work in pairs."