SOLDIER, Flowers and Magic

The First Session

        It was the Saturday after meeting with Sirius and Remus. Inside the Room of Requirement were the fifth through seventh years of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Luna, despite being a fourth year, was also there by personal invitation of Zack and Aerith. Ginny was there too, because she refused to be the only Weasley child to not get taught properly and she proved herself to Zack with her skills. Only a few Slytherins were there as they had realized that Dumbledore and Umbridge were up to no good. One such Slytherin, named Onyx Lewis, looked at Zack when Remus and Sirius hadn't shown up yet.

"So. When are they going to get here? They're rather late," Onyx inquires, arching a dark brown eyebrow at Zack.

"Patience, Onyx. They have to make sure they don't get caught by the Inquisitorial Squad that just started up," Zack says. Not that Zack would ever admit it, but he was a bit nervous that the two Marauders hadn't shown up yet. But that fear went away when the doors opened and in came Sirius and Remus, both grinning.

"Well! This is quite the sizable army, dontcha think Moony?" Sirius says, grinning even more at Remus.

"It is. I'm sure you all know who we are?" Remus asks, getting a murmur of acknowledgement. "Great! Now, as I assume Zack and Aerith have explained, you are here to learn how to properly defend yourselves since that toad isn't teaching you how. In addition, we'll teach you some basics of pranking."

"That's wicked. We get some tips from the pros themselves George!" Fred says excitedly. George bobs his head in agreement.

"Right! So first lesson of the Marauders In Training - The Disarming Charm! It's quite the handy spell when in a duel, or even fighting for your life. As the name implies, it makes your opponent release whatever they are holding - be it a book, wand, etc - hence disarming them. Moony, demonstrate on me, would you?" Sirius explains before turning to the werewolf.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus incants, performing the wand movement as well. A scarlet light shoots from Remus's wand and hits Sirius, causing Sirius's wand to go flying.

"We'll have you split off into pairs to practice on each other. Be on the look out for flying wands so you don't lose an eye!" Sirius grins as he retrieves his wand from the ground.

"Remember, the pronunciation is ex-PELL-ee-ARE-muss," Remus says as he divvies up the students into pair. Of course he pairs Zack and Aerith up, knowing there was no sense in trying to split the two until they started the dueling session. Sirius and Remus watch as the students find a space to practice and face each other. Jets of scarlet fly across the room and blurs of various wand woods go flying around. Sirius has to duck a few times as a wand goes flying past his rather gorgeous, well in his opinion, face. The two Marauders walk around, giving feedback to the students.

"You're doing wonderful Aer! Just a few more times!" Zack beams, as he was disarmed by Aerith for the fifth time.

"Are you sure? I feel bad for making you retrieve your wand all the time," Aerith says.

"I don't mind at all! You know I can't stand still for too long," Zack grins as he retrieves his wand. "Two more times!"

"Expelliarmus!" Aerith speaks, the scarlet light shooting out and hitting Zack, his blackthorn wand flying and accidentally hitting Ron in the face, causing Ginny to snicker at him. Zack covered his mouth as he retrieved his wand from the younger Weasleys.

"Well done Aerith. You've got the spell down pat," Remus praises, causing Aerith to smile widely. "Now Zack, let's see you perform it."

"Oki doki Uncle Moony! Prepare yourself flower girl!" Zack says. Once Aerith was ready, Zack casts the spell, the scarlet light hitting Aerith and her rowan wand going flying - and far. Sirius barely catches it in time.