The Gifted Curse

Chapter 8 - Defence Against The Dark Arts

Geneva and Orah left their dormitory the following morning and embedded their way into the flow of students filtering down to breakfast in the Great Hall. As routine, before the food was sent up by the elves working in the kitchens below, Dumbledore began his morning messages to all students. Geneva's hearing was temporarily impaired as she set eyes on Snape, who wore his usual black buttoned up robes and a face as hard as the stone walls of his dungeon. He was always so stern looking. His inability to give any kind of expression or emotion made him appear so dull, even the way he fucked her was so severe, so focussed. What was going on in that head of his? She wondered.

"Due to Professor Flitwick's absence last week, you will find, those of you who were scheduled your Charm assessments during that time have now been rescheduled for the remainder of this week and next. Your assessment times have been fixed to a notice, that which you can find as you leave the Great Hall."

"It had better not be during Quidditch practise," whispered Pansy, across the table.

"It'll be alphabetical order," Orah informed Pansy, "Your slot will probably be next week." She then turned to Geneva with a nudge. "That means you'll be up today."

A lump rose to Geneva's throat. Please, no. Not today. Orah was right. Sure enough after they'd eaten and checked the noticed pinned to the wall outside the Great Hall, Geneva's time slot was written for 11pm – right in the middle of... Potions.

"Not bad Gen!" Orah cheered, with dancing brows.

Trying desperately not to hide the disappointment, Geneva smiled falsely.

"You won't scrape the homework though. I'm sure the ol' dungeon bat will still throw it at us even next week," Orah complained in a stamp of recognition that the last week of term should be strictly relaxed and leisurely. "I mean the Hogsmeade trip is coming up." As they put on their cloaks and set off into the nippy air, down the stone steps for Care Of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, Geneva was so swept away by her own thoughts of missing her Potions lesson, she was giving only half-hearted attention to whatever it was that Orah was talking about.

"...I mean he can't be with us the whole time, because then I won't be able to surprise him. I want to get him something nice for Christmas. He can be around some of the time though. What do you think?"

Geneva blinked and turned to Orah, aware there was a pause in her friend's excited chit chatter.

"Sorry, what do I think about what?"

"About Billy!" Orah exclaimed. "He'll be with us some of the time. In Hogsmeade!"

"Oh, yeah that's okay," Geneva said, looking quickly up, then back down again, hypnotised by the fresh crunch of the untouched snow on her boots.

"And..." Orah slid in with an apologetic look in her eye, "I said I'd sit next to him on the train. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is," Geneva laughed, like Orah even had to ask.

"You're the best! Thanks Gen. I just didn't want you to feel left out, that's all, but I promise we'll hang out as soon as we get to Hogsmeade."

After Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, which had been most unbearable in the icy weather, Geneva headed back into the castle with her class, wrapped in her cloak and scarf, which she kept on for as long as possible, sniffling her way to her Charms assessment – the last place she wanted to be when it had gotten in the way of her Potions class, and a potentially sumptuous experience with her Professor even though the bastard had barely acknowledged her since their moment in the store cupboard. It felt so long ago and the longing to feel him again grew by the day. If Geneva had to masturbate one more time she was positive she'd fall apart.

Due to Professor Flitwick's absence and the cancelation of Geneva's original assessment date, it meant she had already prepared. Flitwick was enthused as ever at Geneva's brilliance of levitating objects, clapping his tiny hands with glee, observing from the stack of books on which he usually stood. Upon leaving the room, she was happy with her efforts, aside from her wand-waving technique during the Accio charm, in which an object is summoned from a distance to meetones grasp. In reflection, she thought she'd perhaps been waving her wand a little too fast. She was sure her grade slipped slightly because of it, and it frustrated her especially since it was such a simple spell.

For the remainder of the day, Geneva hoped she would catch a glimpse of her Potions Professor in the corridors, the Great Hall or on her way to the Slytherin common room, but he was no where to be seen. His absence caused a glum slump in her posture as she lazily placed two elbows on the table.

"How did Charms go?" Orah inquired.

Geneva gave a dithering look, her lip curling."It was ok. I still can't master the Accio charm."

Orah raised her wand to the table and pointed it at the salt-shaker a foot away. "Accio salt."

At once, the salt rose into the air, Orah opened her hand and it instantly attracted to it with magnetic force. She smiled cockily.

"Ok-ok," Geneva rolled her eyes. "Where am I going wrong?"

"It's the way you're waving your wand. Don't wave it," she exclaimed,bossily, lowering Geneva's. "Look."

She proceeded to do it again, this time summoning "Accio pepper," and keeping her wand - as she did the first time –still. "See. Easy."

Geneva gave it another attempt. "Accio mustard," and sure enough, in keeping her wand still, the mustard landed firmly into her open hand with a thud as though she were catching a baseball. She closed her fingers around it,a beaming smile of triumph across her face.

Orah shoved her in the shoulder. "You did it! Now put your wand away before someone sees," Orah exclaimed, looking around in paranoia. "We're not meant to have wands at dinner."

Their wands were immediately replaced by forks as they tucked into their vegetable stew with crusty bread. The elves sure knew how to keep bellies full with satisfaction during the cold weather. Orah reminded Geneva as she was taking a gulp of pumpkin juice, that tonight, after dinner at 7pm was the first lesson with Lupin and Harry in the Room ofRequirement. Geneva had completely forgotten. Naturally her mind had been on other things. She thought of how Professor Snape would react if she went to visit him after school hours, but now any thoughts of that had been compressed at Orah's desperate excitement to begin classes and pair up together.

"We'll finallybe taught how to duel properly!" Orah exclaimed. "Let's face it. Lockhart wasa joke."

Geneva laughed, tearing into her bread thinking of the time Professor Snape had disarmed Lockhart as they stood on the long table of the Great Hall in what Lockhart dubbed a duelling demonstration."Don't worry, you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him," Lockhart assured, cockily, before he was thrown back several feet by Snape disarming him with the Expelliarmus charm.

"What a phoney," Geneva laughed with an eye roll. "I'm glad he's gone. What did he teach us?" The question was evidently rhetorical.

                                                                              <O><O><O>

"There's no one here," Geneva whispered, as she and Orah made their way down the dark, isolated corridor of the seventh floor on their way to the Room of Requirement that evening. "Where is it anyway?" she questioned, as they had almost reached the end with no door in sight.

"Hello," came a voice, startling them both. They spun around to see Luna Lovegood behind them, her big blue eyes gazing at them dreamily and a fixed pressed smile on her face.

"You scared us half to death," Orah breathed,clutching her chest. "Don't do that. I thought you were a teacher."

"Yes. We want to avoid those," she smiled nonchalant. "I'm glad to see you here." Her whispy Irish accent carried a whimsical dreamy tone as always. "Everybody else is inside. We all arrived at different times you see. We didn't want to raise suspicion."

"Why are these classes being kept under wraps anyway?" Geneva whispered.

"Professor Lupin will explain when we're inside,I'm sure," Luna assured her.

Geneva looked around, puzzled at the blank wall spacein front of her. It was completely bare, all but a large tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy teaching lumbering trolls how to dance ballet.

"Inside where?"

"The wall of course," Luna smiled, her head floating to one side, gazing as if it were transparent.

Geneva's eyes shifted to Orah with uncertainty and back again, then at the wall.

"How do we get in?"

"Walk past this wall three times, concentrating only on the need of requirement, then, it will allow you through."

"Umm, ok," Orah shrugged, and just as Luna instructed, they walked the three times required in thought, until entry was granted, and sure enough, a door appeared which Luna went forward and opened.

The room was large and ambient, lit by several torches around the four walls, bookshelves housed strange objects, and cushions were splayed out on the floor before them, with at least fifteen occupants, the rest of them spare. Professor Lupin and Harry Potter stood before the gathering. Every head swivelled upon entry of the three girls. Some remained with their gaze fixed, others had turned to their neighbour and started tittering in what only looked like an unfriendly, suspicious manner.

"Slytherins,"Geneva heard Lavender of Gryfindor whisper to her friend Parvati, with a lookof sincere caution.

"What are they doing here?" whispered Neville Longbottom to himself,almost inaudibly, but Geneva caught it.

"Are there any more coming? Surely we can't riskit," whispered a Hufflepuff girl.

"Girls..." Lupin smiled, breaking the tension with welcoming arms across the way. "Sit down, sit down. We're very glad you could join us, aren't we Harry?"

Harry himself stumbled over words as though caught up in the reactions of his mostly fellow Gryffindors. "Uh-uh, yeah,yeah...course. Welcome."

Geneva had never felt more awkward placing herself on a cushion next to Lavender Brown who had just scooted hers away. Orah picked up a cushion and purposely dropped it between the gap Lavender had made between her and Geneva, smiling in sarcasm. Lavender looked appalled an dangled her body away as if a bad smell was wafting in her direction.

Luna placed herself to the side of Geneva,cross-legged as though she were about to meditate. The cushion suited her,unlike Orah who was punching the lumpy mass in attempt to fluff it up.

"Well," said Lupin, rocking on the balls of his feet in front of them. "This is great turnout for our first lesson – everyone found the room ok?" He answered his own question with a tittering laugh. "Of course you did, you're all here aren't you. Right, well, if you're here you'll be wanting to receive extra tuition inDefence Against The Dark Arts..."

Looks were shot once more toward the Slytherin girls, especially from Lavender, who raised her eyebrows at Orah at the words Dark Arts.

"Look, is there a problem?" Orah shot to Lavender. "Not all Slytherins are likethat git Draco Malfoy you know. We aren't snitches. We know this class is private."

The room was silenced for a moment, and so wasLavender.

"Stop putting us in a box!" Orah hissed. "I have as much right to be here as youhave. Does anyone else have a problem with us?!"

Not an audible word was spoken, but the response in wide eyes spoke volumes.

"Good. That's settled then. Sorry ProfessorLupin, carry on..."

As much as Geneva believed in Orah's words, an invisibility cloak at that moment wouldn't have gone a-miss, just to hide from the stares.

"It's true..." Luna chimed in, before ProfessorLupin had a chance. "Geneva has been good to me on many occasions. People haven't always been the kindest."

Geneva had stuck up for Luna a fair few times during classes when mean notes had been passed, as well as a time Luna wore a crochet carrot scarf during a Hogsmeade trip and flowers in her hair which were pulled out and stomped on by a group of spiteful Slytherin girls.

Lupin took a breath and continued as he began with a clap of his hands, to shake the awkwardness and gain everyone's attention. "Defence Against the Dark Arts...the protection of yourself from dark hexes, jinx's, curses, creatures and of course...duelling."

Orah's face lit up.

"Now as you know, we have covered a fair bit in class, but in this room we will be taking part in what some like to say is too advanced for your level of Witchcraft and Wizardary, but myself along withHarry here, feel that with circumstances the way they are, one can never be too prepared."

Geneva noticed how Harry himself looked like he was swallowing a lump in his throat with the latter part of Lupin's words and pushed his hands into his pockets.

"We shall not speak too much on the matter, butI'm sure you're all aware of Harry's latest encounter withHe-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and the circumstances surrounding it. He and his good friends thought it may be of value to further the skills in which are needed to fight the Dark Forces, which are why we are gathered in this room today."

"To form an army?" Asked Parvati.

Lupin didn't brush her comment, but neither accepted it and swayed his head perusing for an answer, pushing his hands into his pockets. "We are...expanding our knowledge. For now."

"But there are just eighteen of us," Cho Chang observed.

Neville stuttered, with a shudder in his voice."Is he returning to Hogwarts?"

"Numbers matter not," Lupin spoke wisely,ignoring Neville and answering Cho. "The importance lays in the loyalty of friends, skill, trust, belief and hard work."

"Hold on a minute," said Zacharias Smith,holding his hands up. "I didn't sign up to this class offering to take onHe-He-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Hermione rose to her knees and turned to face Zacharias. "If you do not wish to arm yourself with the defensive skill set above your peers which could destroy the course of evil should it arrive, you may leave." She pursed her lips, knowing very well he wouldn't, and sure enough Zacharias Smith piped down.

"Harry," Lupin spun to him and smiled, "Over to you."

Harry nervously cleared his throat and pushed his glasses to settle correctly on the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, ummm...thanks for coming." He took his hands from his pockets and began talking with them. "Like Professor Lupin said,we're going to be meeting each week to work on counter jinxes, counter-spells,duelling... and we'd like to keep this class private, so please – not a word to other students, teachers especially and our arrival must be staggered. The time you arrived today is the time you are allocated to show up. If too many people head up this way at once, it'll raise suspicion."

"May I interject Harry?" asked Lupin politely."I believe the best way in which you can learn to defend yourself is the practical approach. Of course, this is frowned upon with particular spell work, particularly at your age, but with the right training and protection and space that this room provides – much bigger than our usual classroom - I feel we can achieve some spectacular results"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, opening his palms to the crowd before him. "So, if you're all in favour of classes, please sign the bookHermione is passing round, and then split into pairs."

Every single person in the Room of Requirement that night, gladly, without reluctance or delay, took the quill and signed the book. It was passed back to Hermione by Ron, and upon its closure, they were the last two to partner up together. For the next half an hour - because they'd spent the first talking – they practised the disarming charm – Expelliarmus, which involved a duelling pair and a command to disarm the opponent. If done correctly, the wand would fly from their hand. If done at advanced level, it could send one flying backwards, disarmed and often concussed.

There was a lot of shoddy spell work going on in the room; wands flying this way and that, knocking objects off shelves, and inNeville's case, wands flying causing nosebleeds, as his backfired. Geneva and Orah had managed to successfully disarm each other by the end of the lesson.

"A good strong disarm, that one!" Lupin praised.

There were several others who were successful and keen to develop the strength of their spell. When the hour was up,Professor Lupin and Harry commended their efforts, and once again stressed the importance of the secret group and that practise was not permitted outside theRoom of Requirement.

"I believe next Thursday is your Hogsmeade trip," Professor Lupin concluded, "Then we have the Christmas holidays, so we shall meet again on the first Thursday back of the new term. Thank you ever somuch for coming. You may leave in random numbers."