Disclaimer: I don't own anything ... Okay, perhaps the Contraception
Charms. But the rest belongs to JKR.
A/N: Popped up in my head in the middle of the night. Wrote it the next day at school. Not much more to say. If you like it - review. If you don't - be constructive, or do not review. Thanks.
~*~
Professor Flitwick - An old, experienced professor, enthusiastic about his job, respected of the teachers as well as the students in spite of his height. And then... He had dreaded this day. Tuesday the fourteenth of May 1976 - the day he had to teach the sixth-year students in the Contraception Charms. Well, he was used to it, of course, with more than twenty-five years experience, but this particular class was - and had always been - especially hard to control. No doubt encouraged by Sirius Black and James Potter, the two worst troublemakers Flitwick had ever known. Yes, they were indeed very bright both of them, but with the knowledge he had to them and their other friends - Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew - this particular lesson could turn out rather nasty and embarrassing.
Flitwick sighed and went from the chamber he had been waiting in into the still empty classroom. The bell would ring in about thirty seconds. He heard voices and laughter from the corridor outside the room, and the next moment some of the Hufflepuff girls entered and found their seats. The Hufflepuffs had, to Flitwick's delight, always had Charms with the rather unruly Gryffindors. Flitwick was under the impression that they had a good influence on at least the girls of Gryffindor, who usually seemed torn between annoyance and amusement of their male housemates' frivolousness.
The bell rang.
Flitwick watched from the top of his stool the students arrive, chattering and laughing and finding their seats. In front of the desk sat the always willing to learn group of Hufflepuff girls, Deanna Sterett, Miranda Carrel, Dolores Jaffe, Ivory Kensington and Emma Avalon. They were all looking eagerly at him, sitting with their already open books. Right in the middle of the classroom sat Lily Evans, Nathalie Magellan and Shirley Emerson, the only Gryffindor girls in their year group. Christopher Wella and Coronus Fidele, two of the Hufflepuffs, sat in a corner and were looking intensely at a piece of paper and whispering to each other. The last Hufflepuff boy, Daniel Tanner, who nobody ever spoke to, was almost invisible in his usual corner of the classroom, apparently staring absentmindedly at the blackboard. And in the back of the room were, as they usually were in the start of the class, four empty chairs. Flitwick shook his head slightly. He couldn't remember a single lesson where those boys hadn't been late, and he really couldn't figure out what had gone into McGonagall's head when she had made James Potter a prefect last year. Talk of the devil...
The sound of someone who was running in the corridor suddenly reached the classroom, and the next moment James Potter and Remus Lupin, followed closely by Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was grinning broadly, and Peter slapped James.
"I told you, we hadn't enough time to look at it -"
"You're late, boys," said Flitwick, wondering what they had been looking at. "Now, as everybody is here, we will start. Will you all please open your books on page 546 -" there was a noise while the students found their books from their bags, " - for now you have reached the start of your sixth year, it is my duty to teach you in the Contraception Charms."
It took an instant for the students to catch the message - and then almost all the girls broke into fits of giggles. Here and there, a couple of heads blushed deeply, but most of them seemed to think it was a joke. Sirius Black raised his hand.
"Yes?" Flitwick said, nodding towards Sirius, who tried, and failed, to control a smile.
"It's just, Professor, do you really think we need it? I mean - we know them, don't we. At least some of us," he said with a sidelong glance at James, who elbowed him. A couple of rows nearer the desk, Lily Evans looked down in the table and blushed.
"Well, Mr Black, if you already know about them, you will just have a chance to get very good marks, won't you?" Then, thinking fast, Flitwick added, "Perhaps you will tell us something about them? Just mention everything you know."
Sirius shrugged, and then consulted his book before saying, "Okay. There are two different Contraception Charms, one for the male and one for the female. The male one is Masculus Nongravia. That's all."
He looked innocently at his teacher - or, what he maybe thought was innocently. No one who just knew him at the minimum would ever be fooled. Flitwick covered a smile with his hand. He hadn't been wrong when he had discussed this lesson with McGonagall the day before - those children really needed information. For that was what they were - children. He had known all of them since they were eleven, and that was only six years ago. He actually doubted anyone of them would have any use of this lesson until later, but, as McGonagall had said, you can never be prepared too much.
"Yes, Mr Black, that's right. A point to Gryffindor. Do any of you know why there is one for the male and one for the female? Why can't we just use the same? Yes, miss Carrel?"
"Because - because they don't have the same function," mumbled Miranda Carrel agitated. "They don't do the same thing."
"Exactly. One point to Hufflepuff. Well, we can't really try the charms in practice -" more fidgety giggles, "- so we will just study the theory. Now, as you can see on page 547, the charm for the female is Femineus Nongravia and, as Mr Black told us, the one for the male is Masculus Nongravia. We will start with the female's. Repeat after me: Femineus Nongravia."
There were scattered attempts to say the charm, but most of it turned into more giggles. It was only when Flitwick, a little impatient, said, "Come on, if it is that hard, then pretend it is a Summoning Charm or something else," people managed to say it without problems. After about twenty minutes, Flitwick was satisfied with them, and they moved on to the male charm. After having finished that, Flitwick cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Now, you have learned to say both charms, but in practice, you only need the one for your own sex. A man can't cast Femineus Nongravia on a woman or the other way round. If anyone does that, there'll most likely occur some unpleasant side effects, which is not to be recommended."
Shirley Emerson raised her hand and said immediately, "Have you tried, Professor?"
Most of the class burst out in giggles again, but Flitwick chose to ignore it. He frowned slightly and waited for them to calm down again.
"You now have the rest of the lesson to read about the Contraception Charms, and I want you to summarise it. You will hand it in on Tuesday," he said as almost everybody had returned their attention to him. They began to read, some of them still giggling. But, as Flitwick had half expected, only a couple of minutes went before everybody was talking or sending messages to each other as they usually did. It was a relief to dismiss the class and watch them walk out of the classroom, chatting and laughing exactly as they had done when they arrived. Flitwick smiled happily to himself as the last student left - it hadn't been half as terrible as he'd expected, but he was glad, that there was now a whole year before this had to happen again.
A/N: Popped up in my head in the middle of the night. Wrote it the next day at school. Not much more to say. If you like it - review. If you don't - be constructive, or do not review. Thanks.
~*~
Professor Flitwick - An old, experienced professor, enthusiastic about his job, respected of the teachers as well as the students in spite of his height. And then... He had dreaded this day. Tuesday the fourteenth of May 1976 - the day he had to teach the sixth-year students in the Contraception Charms. Well, he was used to it, of course, with more than twenty-five years experience, but this particular class was - and had always been - especially hard to control. No doubt encouraged by Sirius Black and James Potter, the two worst troublemakers Flitwick had ever known. Yes, they were indeed very bright both of them, but with the knowledge he had to them and their other friends - Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew - this particular lesson could turn out rather nasty and embarrassing.
Flitwick sighed and went from the chamber he had been waiting in into the still empty classroom. The bell would ring in about thirty seconds. He heard voices and laughter from the corridor outside the room, and the next moment some of the Hufflepuff girls entered and found their seats. The Hufflepuffs had, to Flitwick's delight, always had Charms with the rather unruly Gryffindors. Flitwick was under the impression that they had a good influence on at least the girls of Gryffindor, who usually seemed torn between annoyance and amusement of their male housemates' frivolousness.
The bell rang.
Flitwick watched from the top of his stool the students arrive, chattering and laughing and finding their seats. In front of the desk sat the always willing to learn group of Hufflepuff girls, Deanna Sterett, Miranda Carrel, Dolores Jaffe, Ivory Kensington and Emma Avalon. They were all looking eagerly at him, sitting with their already open books. Right in the middle of the classroom sat Lily Evans, Nathalie Magellan and Shirley Emerson, the only Gryffindor girls in their year group. Christopher Wella and Coronus Fidele, two of the Hufflepuffs, sat in a corner and were looking intensely at a piece of paper and whispering to each other. The last Hufflepuff boy, Daniel Tanner, who nobody ever spoke to, was almost invisible in his usual corner of the classroom, apparently staring absentmindedly at the blackboard. And in the back of the room were, as they usually were in the start of the class, four empty chairs. Flitwick shook his head slightly. He couldn't remember a single lesson where those boys hadn't been late, and he really couldn't figure out what had gone into McGonagall's head when she had made James Potter a prefect last year. Talk of the devil...
The sound of someone who was running in the corridor suddenly reached the classroom, and the next moment James Potter and Remus Lupin, followed closely by Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was grinning broadly, and Peter slapped James.
"I told you, we hadn't enough time to look at it -"
"You're late, boys," said Flitwick, wondering what they had been looking at. "Now, as everybody is here, we will start. Will you all please open your books on page 546 -" there was a noise while the students found their books from their bags, " - for now you have reached the start of your sixth year, it is my duty to teach you in the Contraception Charms."
It took an instant for the students to catch the message - and then almost all the girls broke into fits of giggles. Here and there, a couple of heads blushed deeply, but most of them seemed to think it was a joke. Sirius Black raised his hand.
"Yes?" Flitwick said, nodding towards Sirius, who tried, and failed, to control a smile.
"It's just, Professor, do you really think we need it? I mean - we know them, don't we. At least some of us," he said with a sidelong glance at James, who elbowed him. A couple of rows nearer the desk, Lily Evans looked down in the table and blushed.
"Well, Mr Black, if you already know about them, you will just have a chance to get very good marks, won't you?" Then, thinking fast, Flitwick added, "Perhaps you will tell us something about them? Just mention everything you know."
Sirius shrugged, and then consulted his book before saying, "Okay. There are two different Contraception Charms, one for the male and one for the female. The male one is Masculus Nongravia. That's all."
He looked innocently at his teacher - or, what he maybe thought was innocently. No one who just knew him at the minimum would ever be fooled. Flitwick covered a smile with his hand. He hadn't been wrong when he had discussed this lesson with McGonagall the day before - those children really needed information. For that was what they were - children. He had known all of them since they were eleven, and that was only six years ago. He actually doubted anyone of them would have any use of this lesson until later, but, as McGonagall had said, you can never be prepared too much.
"Yes, Mr Black, that's right. A point to Gryffindor. Do any of you know why there is one for the male and one for the female? Why can't we just use the same? Yes, miss Carrel?"
"Because - because they don't have the same function," mumbled Miranda Carrel agitated. "They don't do the same thing."
"Exactly. One point to Hufflepuff. Well, we can't really try the charms in practice -" more fidgety giggles, "- so we will just study the theory. Now, as you can see on page 547, the charm for the female is Femineus Nongravia and, as Mr Black told us, the one for the male is Masculus Nongravia. We will start with the female's. Repeat after me: Femineus Nongravia."
There were scattered attempts to say the charm, but most of it turned into more giggles. It was only when Flitwick, a little impatient, said, "Come on, if it is that hard, then pretend it is a Summoning Charm or something else," people managed to say it without problems. After about twenty minutes, Flitwick was satisfied with them, and they moved on to the male charm. After having finished that, Flitwick cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Now, you have learned to say both charms, but in practice, you only need the one for your own sex. A man can't cast Femineus Nongravia on a woman or the other way round. If anyone does that, there'll most likely occur some unpleasant side effects, which is not to be recommended."
Shirley Emerson raised her hand and said immediately, "Have you tried, Professor?"
Most of the class burst out in giggles again, but Flitwick chose to ignore it. He frowned slightly and waited for them to calm down again.
"You now have the rest of the lesson to read about the Contraception Charms, and I want you to summarise it. You will hand it in on Tuesday," he said as almost everybody had returned their attention to him. They began to read, some of them still giggling. But, as Flitwick had half expected, only a couple of minutes went before everybody was talking or sending messages to each other as they usually did. It was a relief to dismiss the class and watch them walk out of the classroom, chatting and laughing exactly as they had done when they arrived. Flitwick smiled happily to himself as the last student left - it hadn't been half as terrible as he'd expected, but he was glad, that there was now a whole year before this had to happen again.