Call It Home - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter Four: DADA Class

One of Roman's favorite classes in his class schedule was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Considering today was the first Monday of his fifth school year, he had been waiting until his sixth period. Professor Skylark Strix was by far his favorite teacher, being the first openly trans professor known to be hired at Hogwarts.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, filling the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was quite a challenge and Headmistress McGonagall cycled through almost as many as Dumbledore had in the years prior to her as Headmistress. Finally, she discovered the young Professor Strix, who was a rising name in the wizard world for his excellent abilities in dark arts and his desire to teach young wizards and witches the dangers ad defenses of such. He was hired a few years before Roman ever got to Hogwarts and had been his favorite ever since his first year.

"Good afternoon class," he greeted with a kind smile. 

The Gryffindor student felt his lips quirk up into a smirk; Skylark Strix was a kind person with a very nonthreatening appearance, but he knew that underneath his kindness was magical abilities capable of producing a full Patronus charm in seconds, a feat not many could accomplish until much later in their life.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts! I hope you all had wonderful summers and enjoyed your time to relax and have fun because this year you will be tested in ways you've yet to experience," Strix warned as he paced in front of the class. "As many of you are most likely aware, this year you will be experiencing O.W.L. testing. Now my class has always been a challenge, but I have to warn you that there will be a higher workload this year in preparation of these tests. Nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy the lessons you will learn and I encourage you to continue working hard as most of you have done in the past."

He made eye contact with several students that had been proving to be excelling in his class in the years prior. Roman happened to be one of him, making him puff out his chest a little with pride; he'd won his house several points over the years and was determined to do so again. 

Professor Strix smiled and turned to the chalkboard, flipping it over to reveal the curriculum of the year mapped out. "For those of you who love to take excessive notes, I'm looking at you Miss Raywood, this is the breakdown of the year ahead," he said, gesturing to it. "Here are the spells you will be attempting and these are the creatures you'll be studying."

He looked toward the chalkboard curiously. Oh! I can't wait to learn Stupify! he thought to himself. I've been trying to practice it a bit on my own, but I can't quite get it right.

"So starting this coming Friday, we'll be jumping right in with disguising between non-magical and magical serpents," Strix explained. "That's an important thing, being able to tell between them. It could save your life if you ever came across a snake in the wild. We'll also be learning the Snake-Vanishing Spell, Vipera Evanesca, which you'll be able to use in the case that you do come across a magically summoned snake."

Roman could feel his excitement growing as he read through each of the spells, rubbing his hands together excitedly under his desk.

"For today's lesson though, we'll just be talking about what we remember from your couple last years in my class," the professor said. He turned to the class with an expectant look on his face. "Or at least what you should remember from the previous years in my class. Now, who can tell me what the Boggart-Banishing Spell is?"

Most of the class called back the answer with enthusiasm. "Riddikulus!!"

"Very good, but which of you can tell me what kind of magical illness a werewolf falls under?" he said, smirking a little as the room fell into a thoughtful silence. "No takers?"

A hand rose into the air slowly and silently, making the class turn toward them. Professor Strix looked a bit surprised but smiled and nodded to the student to answer. Virgil Black flicked his hair away from his eyes a bit shyly and cleared his throat. "Uh, lycanthropy sir," he replied softly, just loud enough for Roman to make out his voice. 

It was low, soft, and smooth, making his heart skip a bit. He was pretty cute but he didn't seem like his type; not to mention the whole 'not wanting to be sorted' thing. I mean, who didn't want to be sorted into a house?

"Well done, Mr. Black," the professor said with a nod. "That was a difficult question, I'm pleasantly surprised you knew the answer give your education background."

The unsorted student nodded understandingly, swallowing as he looked down. Clearly, it was a bit of a touchy subject. Professor Strix smiled. "I'd normally award points for such a brilliant answer, but alas, you've no house to associate points with, so we'll award ten hypothetical points to you, Virgil Black. Let's give him a hand class, we're glad to have you here."

"T-Thank you," he replied as the class clapped for him. 

He looked flustered by the attention and he was hiding his face behind his hair. Roman gazed his direction a little longer as the class moved on to continue the review. He couldn't really see his face that well because of his purple bangs, but remembered from the previous night that he'd been wearing black eye shadow. 

It was a rather unique characteristic. Make-up wasn't something unheard of in the magical world and certainly didn't go unused, but many students prioritized other belongings over make-up when they came to school. The fact that his eye shadow was important enough to him to bring with him to Hogwarts made him wonder about the kind of person Virgil Black was. Was there a reason he wore such dark make-up? 

He shrugged and focused back on Professor Strix. Those were questions he didn't need to know the answer to, and that he'd unknowingly learn the answers to during the year that was to come.