Harry Potter and the Greek Gods

{16} Magical Lessons

PIPER'S POV

After spending only a night in the Slytherin dorm, I could already understand why they got a bad rep. Sure, some of them were nice, but most acted like entitled brats. I mostly stuck by Nico because the other Slytherins seemed to avoid him.

The only girl in my dorm that didn't seem like a brat was a girl named Ashley. She had brown hair and glasses and looked fairly innocent. She was actually a master pickpocket who took great joy in messing with people for no particular reason, but, once again, she wasn't a stuck-up prat, which was a win in Piper's book.

I sat next to Ashley- making sure to keep an eye on my valuables- during my first class of the day, which was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor house, but she didn't seem to let it interfere with the way she treated other houses.

I had double Potions with Gryffindors second. The moment Nico and I entered the classroom we made a beeline for the table that Clarisse, Percy and Jason were sitting at. We got some disgusted looks from the other Slytherins, but to be honest I didn't care.

"Settle down." The teacher- Professor Snape- ordered as he slammed the door behind him.

The classroom quieted down immediately. 

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L, or suffer my... displeasure."

His gaze lingered on a nervous-looking Gryffindor boy.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me. I take only the best into my N.E.W.T Potions class, which certainly means that some of us will be saying goodbye."

At this, Snape glared at Harry, who glared back just as intensely. As she watched, the professor's eyes shifted to Percy and Clarisse, who were most definitely not paying attention.

"You will most certainly fail if you don't listen." He declared pointedly.

I nudged Clarisse under the table. She whirled around to scowl at me.

"What is it, McLean-"

"I believe what your classmate is telling you, Miss La Rue, is that it would be wise to pay attention to me." Snape snapped.

He stared at Clarisse and Percy a moment longer before continuing on with the instructions for the class. I made sure to listen to every word of it. There was no way I was failing any of my classes.

JASON'S POV

By the end of the day, I was beginning to see that this was going to be a very long year. Hogwarts may be a magical school, but it was still a school, something which both Clarisse and Percy had complained about many times during the day.

We had double Defence Against the Dark Arts last, with the new professor. I wasn't one to make snap judgements about someone, but I had a feeling that she wasn't a very good person.

When we entered the classroom, she was already seated at her desk, fluffy pink cardigan and all. Everyone was silent as we sat down.

"Well good afternoon!" She said false-cheerfully when we were all seated.

A few people mumbled a 'good afternoon' in reply, myself included.

"Tut, tut. That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon class!"

"Good afternoon Professor Umbridge." We chanted back at her.

"There now, that wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

The class exchanged gloomy looks. Professor Umbridge drew out her own wand and tapped the board, words appearing on the board. They read 'Defence Against the Dark Arts; A Return to Basic Principles'. Jason could only read them because of the spell on his glasses. The rest of his friends, excluding Frank, were using special quills and had charms that allowed them to read better, although not perfectly.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L year. You will be please to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following please."

She tapped her wand on the board again, producing three bullet points under the heading 'Course Aims'. For a few minutes, the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Percy seeming to drift in and out of consciousness, but he was probably just bored.

Following the copying of the course aims, Professor Umbridge instructed the class to read the first chapter of the book. It was incredibly boring. Jason only managed to get a page through it, which took almost ten minutes, when he spotted Hermione with her book closed and her hand high in the air.

As the minutes passed, more and more people were simply watching Hermione instead of reading. It was then that Professor Umbridge decided to call on her.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"

"Not about the chapter, no."

"Well, we're reading just now. If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims."

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

"And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully.

"Well, I don't. There's nothing in there about using defensive spells."

There was a brief silence in which most of the class turned to frown at the course aims still written on the board.

"Using defensive spells? Why I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

And so began the slew of outraged questions from Gryffindors, and Percy and Jason trying to stop Clarisse from doing anything rash. It continued until Harry and Professor Umbridge began to argue back and forth, and Harry uttered a name that made everyone go white in the face and look around nervously.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter."

I didn't think that was fair. All Harry did was tell the truth. Sure, he wasn't as polite as he could have been, but he didn't deserve to be called a liar or to have points taken away.

"Now, let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard is back from the dead-"

"He wasn't dead," Harry interrupted, "But yeah, he's returned."

"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself." Said Professor Umbridge in one breath, "As I was saying, you have been told a certain dark wizard is at large again. This is a lie."

"It is not a lie!" Harry replied angrily, "I saw him, I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr Potter. Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie."

...

So, Harry got detention for the rest of the week and got sent to Professor McGonagall's office. The only thing I learnt in that lesson was that if it was necessary, the combined effort of Percy and I could stop Clarisse from brutally murdering someone.