A/N: alright, the first chapter's rewrite is done. Sadly, this will be my last update until September, since I'm going on a vacation, somwhere far from the daily Internet access I enjoy here. Hope to see you all then and don't hesitate to read and review all of my stories.

See ya!

Now, what the hex(*) is a Spelljammer?

That would be the first question that pops into your mind, right? I'll quote something to you, so you know that basic truth about being a Spelljammer. It's no real mystery. Anyone with enough patience to find the right book about it can find out

Definition (from a note off the memorandum of the Ministry of Magic titled "Weird practitioners of magic, and other oddities"): Spelljammer is a term for a person able to read Magic in use, and to influence it immediately, whether it would be his or someone else's. The wizard (witch) is able to read any spell, and memorize it directly from its user. And when a Spell is cast, a Spelljammer can often block the Magic, "jam" it and return it to its caster. Of course, its use has never been tested successfully on spells like the Unforgivable Curses, for obvious reasons. And if they have, no one has lived to tell the tale.

Spelljammers are uncommon, but they do tend to appear with a significant frequency. To find use for their powers isn't difficult, within the different Ministries of the world, given the advantage it gives a wizard when confronted to curses of all kind. But the number of Spelljammers in a generation isn't high.

The gift is raw at the beginning, but can be refined with some training. And the exact limits of the powers of a Spelljammer are not known completely.

There you have it. So yes, I'm a Spelljammer. I came into it in my sixth year at Hogwarts, which was right after Voldemort had bought it, courtesy of Harry Potter. discovered it at the beginning of my sixth year. You may think the year after such a war would be bleak beyond recognition, what with the re-building and all, but in fact, it was quite the opposite.

September 1998

Let's focus a little more on the context, shall we? This was the Year of Recovery. The War had hit england pretty hard and had spilled a little onto the rest of the world. But Harry potter had put an end to it before it criplled us beyond recovery and even before we got exposed to the Muggles, which was no small miracle, given the mess the Death Eaters had caused all across the world. And in fact, if England had been hit harder than any other country, it was the first to jump back to its feet. there was a certain frenzy, a sense of giddyness, now that the snaky bastard had finally gotten what was owed to him.

The Ministry was in complete reconstruction, since the Fudge administration had definitely proved its inefficiency against Voldemort. Worse, a spy had been uncovered in the inner circle of Fudge himself. You can believe me when I say nobody had seen anyone run away from the Minister chair faster that Cornelius Fudge. So while we were preparing to return to school, the Wizarding world was trying to get back on track after Voldemort's final demise.

Some people had been petitioning to make Harry Potter or Dumbledore the next Minister. That was preposterous of course, at least regarding Harry who was, after all, only eighteen! And either way, he didn't want to hear about that. He had given one interview saying that now, he was only willing to enjoy his life and to help people to forget the fear. What he had in mind was clearly obvious. A magazine had announced that Harry was entering the Quidditch League, three days before the start of term.

One of the main leaders of that Ministry's reconstruction was Arthur Weasley, a man most high ranked wizard wouldn't have cast a second look upon before the war. But he had been such a support of both Harry Potter and Dumbledore that he was now an obvious player in the polotical arena, now. His ideas of protection of Muggles had revealed quite true after all. So he had been given his own Department, the Department of Protection. All the Curse Breakers of England that weren't working for Companies like Gringotts had been offered a new job in the Ministry. But still, we needed a Minister. Dumbledore was supporting candidate Cheldon Ambrosius. My Mum was saying he was the best pick, since he was a man of discussion and conciliation. There were many other candidates, and many were trying to use the current trouble to get ahead. Like always.

I was blissfully unaware of it all. What do you expect? I was sixteen, after all. All I could see was that Voldemort was gone. I had a certain lucidity on that. Unlike most people who weren't involved in the War, I was deeply aware of its price, because Hogwarts had been dragged right in the middle of it and had its casualties. Professor Bishop, the man Dumbledore had hired as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher last year, had been killed in the fight and, even more tragic, so had a few students. While I wouldn't shed any tear on Blaise Zanibi, who had stood on Malfoy's side of the rebellion, Gryffindor had had to suffer the loss of Dennis Creevey, fourth year student and Jennifer Southridge, sixth year, both random victims of a Death Eater. Ravenclaw had lost people in seventh year, like Mandy Brocklehurst, who had chosen to join Harry's side, and so had Hufflepuff.

So I knew what it had meant to be at war with Voldemort and his clique and I had gotten a certainty from it. I didn't want a pureblood freak to get in the Minister's chair. Beyond that, i only cared about coming back to a school rid of danger.

September the first felt special, that year. The mood on Platform Nine and Three Quarters was positively festive. While, last year, our parents had sent us to Hogwarts like they were sending us out of harm's way, the same parents now waved cheerfully, wishing us a good term. My Mum had seen me off with a smile, and promised to write. She and Dad were on the road often, so I had little hope, to be honest. I didn't mind, really.

As usual, I had found a compartment for myself right after getting on the train. I had taken advantage of its emptiness to change into my school robes, and then I had started to wait for my best friend, Shannon Weller, to join me. She hadn't boarded the train with me as usual, because she needed to look after her little sister, who was entering Hogwarts that year. Penny was pretty nervous about the whole idea of Hogwarts, so Shannon had elected to help her settle in the train.

While I waited, I put my ear plugs on a started to listen to my Queen playlist. Remember when I said to expect music randomness and sarcasm? Well, here's the music part. I'll explain. Music is my life. I just can't live without it. I wouldn't go as far as saying that music was my first love and that it would be my last, first because that would be offensive to a certain someone I know, and second because not everyone can know who John Miles is and as such get that joke.

So there it was: My only vice. I'm a music junkie. Put earplugs in my ears and I cease to be available for the rest of the world.

Now, since it was 1998 and I was on my way to a castle where no electricity device worked, you may wonder how I could have a music player in working condition. It's not like iPods were available, back then, not that it would have worked in Hogwarts either.

Simple: It's maagic (I can add a little mysterious wave of hand for better effect). More seriously, my Dad being in the music business, in the muggle world, he had been offered an innovative digital player, with limited capacity, but that was the beginning of MP3 music. In came Mum the witch and she bewitched it to extend its memory to something close to infinity and function without magic, like a wireless. It had been my birthday present, that year. I love my folks dearly, but I rarely loved them as much as the day they offered me this. I'm an ungrateful little spoiled kid, I know...

So I was sitting there, with my player on and Freddie Mercury's voice was accompanying me on my trip to school. Early stuff, from the 70's. And to be honest, it felt so nice you could make a whole squad of Dementors walk in front of me, I would only notice that it was a little chilly out there. Yes, I was that oblivious.

Let me explain. I have been raised in music. My dad, as I said, worked with a label of muggle rock music. My childhood had been surrounded by Rock Music. From the Beatles to Led Zeppelin and later with classics of hard rock a heavy metal. My Dad was a metal head and a geek, who couldn't leave a fantasy novel alone for the life of him. When my Mum told him that she was a witch, unlike some people, who would have run for the hills, he just said "Awesome. How does it really work?!"

And if my dad was easily converted to our world, Mum was converted just as easily to muggle music. In no time, she dedicated a cult to the Rolling Stones and she had bought my my first guitar, at the age of seven. The two of them got along perfectly, and I had grown up surrounded by musicians, friends and colleagues of my parents, since Mum had joined Dad in his work.

Now for my tastes, let's say they were broader and more obscure than my parents'. I was a heavy metal fanatic with also a serious passion for progressive rock like Genesis, Kansas and Dream Theater. The bands I loved rarely made it to the muggle radio, so in terms of musical tastes, I was just as much of an outsider in the wizarding world as in the muggle one.

Consider that this was the end of 1998, and that meant that the Weird Sisters were all the rage on the wireless but none of the pure blood wizard kids I knew at school knew anything about Bowie, Queen and even less about Dream Theater and Spock's Beard. And in the meantime, in the muggle world, the biggest sells in music at this time was… Celine Dion singing about a sinking boat. I know, creepy, huh? And the year before, it was the Spice Girls? I mean, come on!

I'm digressing. Sorry about that. Happens to me a lot. Back on the topic. I was in my compartment, listening to In the lap of the gods revisited by queen and my only conscious thought was what kind of guy would be the next Defence teacher. At the end of summer, Dumbledore had announced he had hired a guy named Armstrong, an old friend of him. Since no one in the recent school history had been clearly a normal Teacher, when it came to Defence. Between frauds, possessed Teachers, Impostors in disguise, Werewolves, the school had had the most unusual and short-careered teachers, for that subject. But then again, maybe the curse on the teachers would be lifted and maybe one teacher would last more than one year in a row.

I was about to have my answer.

I was so immersed in my music, that I hadn't noticed a move at the door of the compartment. When a little flash passed before my eyes, caused by the light flickering on the doorknob, I gave a start and turned to the door frame. My ear plugs jumped out of my ears at once.

There was a tall man, with a face which seemed to have been carved in stone, looking right at me. He had a very strong chin and a pointed nose, which made him look like an Hawk or an Eagle of some kind. He had long grey hair that was going silvery at the temples. And so was his long beard. He had sparkling little eyes that matched his smile.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, but I wanted to know if there was room in this compartment," he said.

I nodded immediately.

"Of course," I said. "I have a friend that must join me, but that's all."

"Good," said the old man.

In many ways, the guy reminded me of Dumbledore. He had the same kind of twinkling in the eyes. So I guessed that, like Dumbledore, there was more than met the eye with the affable old man that was now settling in my compartment.

"Let me introduce myself," said the man. "Aldwyn Armstrong. I will be teacher in Hogwarts, this year."

"You're the new Defence Teacher," I said immediately, recognising the name I had heard during the summer.

"That's correct," said Armstrong. "And you are…"

"Oh, sorry, Sir," I said. "I'm Alec Ramsay."

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Alec," said the Teacher. "I hope your year will be fruitful."

"Well, we are sure that it won't be as stressful as last year," I said, smiling.

"Oh yes," said Armstrong. "The War…"

"Well, actually, I got barely involved in the war," I said. "it was pretty tough, But I got really freaked out by the OWLs."

Armstrong chuckled at that. I had good grades in my OWLs, but that wasn't my favourite subject of discussion, right now. Mum wanted me to become a Curse Breaker, like her, and to enlist in the New Order of the Phoenix. I wasn't that sure about it. Armstrong didn't insist on the exams issue.

"I can understand you," he said. "And you're right. I think the mood will be quite lighter this year, now that Voldemort is gone."

I must have flinched at the name, still a little vivid. Because he smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I always refused to call him you-know-who."

"Wow," I said.

At least the Defence Teacher had guts, this year. That was already something.

"So," said Armstrong. "Can you give me some tips about the school?"

"Tips?" I asked, not really sure of what he meant.

"Yes, useful things," said Armstrong, his eyes twinkling again. "Things I should avoid, and know about the place."

"You've never been to Hogwarts?" I asked.

"No," said Armstrong. "Only in visit. I got educated by my own Master."

"Oh," I said, surprised because for me, Hogwarts was a compulsory stop for a wizard in his life. "Well, you should know that there are many ghosts in the Castle. Most of them are friendly, or in the Case of the bloody Baron, at least harmless. But there's Peeves. He's not a ghost, really. He's a Poltergeist. And he's really a burden. And you should be warned that the staircases are unstable. They shift direction often. And once you're on them, you may not know where you can end up exactly."

Armstrong raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"And you have to be wary of the Slytherins, Sir," I finally added.

"Really? Do you say that because you're one of them?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh, no," I said. "In fact, I'm a Gryffindor, and we have serious issues with the Slytherins. But honestly, the Slytherins in our days are a little… Well, you heard about the Rebellion, didn't you?"

Armstrong nodded.

"Malfoy was the leader, but there are still quite vicious people in their house," I went on. "But you're a teacher, so they won't do anything against you, I think."

"That's reassuring," said Armstrong.

What was I doing? I was giving advice to a teacher? I shook my head.

"You know I say that but maybe I'm just biased because I really don't like Slytherins," I finally said.

"Well, it's good to admit it," said Armstrong, smiling. "It gives more value to your warning."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes," said Armstrong. "Now, I can see the real extent of the danger I'm stepping in."

He winked at me, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

Later in the trip, Shannon joined us. She was surprised to find me talking with Armstrong, but soon she had joined us, as the teacher was still asking questions on the school. Shannon was saying her point of view was even more biased than mine.

"I simply don't like people, Sir," she said with a smile. "So don't expect me to be fair to anyone."

"You seem to be friend with Alec, here," noticed Armstrong.

"I'm making an exception for him," said Shannon. "He's been nice to me for years, even before Hogwarts, and I have come to believe he's even honest. So…"

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't listen to her, Sir," I said. "She likes people more than she admits it."

"Don't you go blow my secret," she moaned.

"Your secret is safe with me," said Armstrong, with another wink.

The trolley with the food passed at the door and Armstrong walked out, to discuss with the conductor of the train.

"Seems a nice fellow, the new teacher, huh?" said Shannon.

"Yeah," I said. "Apparently he's been hunting Dark Creatures all around the World."

"Please, not like Lockhart," said Shannon.

She had heard the stories about Gilderoy Lockhart, the most pathetic Teacher of Hogwarts' History. The idea of getting another show-off like that was unbearable.

"He never published a book," I said.

"So he has to be honest, then," said Shannon, smiling.

"So, what are your plans for this year?" I asked.

"Alright," she said. "I set a list. First, finding a Potion that will get me the perfect Boyfriend. Then, finding the Potion to get you the perfect Girlfriend. Then, ripping Jeri Calloway's eyes out of her head. And I'll try not to screw up my exams along the way."

"That's a lot on your plate, really," I said.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm ambitious," said Shannon.

"You're not that ambitious, or you would be in Slytherin," I said teasingly.

"I'd rather die," said Shannon.

"And who said that we would want you, anyway?" asked a voice from outside.

We both turned toward it and groaned. Standing in the door frame, there was Jeri Calloway, a Slytherin girl in our year, surrounded by her sneering friends. She fancied herself the prettiest girl in the whole school. The issue was a matter of debate, as there was a lot of beautiful girls in the school. But she was by far the one who paraded the most in there. She drew attention. Even some Gryffindor guys were drooling on her. But she also was a real pest, to a few people that she disliked. She could show the sharpest tongue of the world, despite being seen as the fairest young lady of them all.

Jeri was gorgeous, and she knew it. So, in fact, the whole of her world was defined by the fact her beauty made her special. She felt superior to many and saw herself as the one to dictate fashion, and point out people you should hang out with and people you shouldn't.

She was the Queen of shallowness, having succeeded Pansy Parkinson, the only girl who could be a worse bitch than Jeri. Since Pansy had finally left Hogwarts, Jeri had seen her chance. There was no Harry Potter to oppose her House and the way they bullied everyone anymore. There was no Hermione Granger to show her how ridiculous she was. Even Cho Chang had left two years ago, and until she left, Cho had been the decider of fashion. Lavender Brown and Pansy had opposed for the title for their seventh year, but now, Jeri had the field all for her.

And, quite surprisingly, one of her main targets was Shannon. I never had known why, but she hated her. She was always trying to humiliate her, to make her feel insignificant. But Shannon was strong headed, and she was standing up for herself. Maybe that was what Jeri loathed, actually. Shannon was fighting back.

"So you think you're not good enough for us, huh?" asked Jeri defiantly.

"Well, that was a style figure," said Shannon.

"Oh yeah?"

"Absolutely," I said. "Anybody would rather die than ending up in Slytherin. She was only trying to reduce the scope of the discussion. Now you can leave."

"What if we don't want to?" mocked Jeri.

"You can play this game if you want," said Shannon. "But I you made it clear that you didn't want me around you. I get it, though. It would be a shame to spoil your reputation of stupid disdainful cow."

"You'll regret, this, Weller," said Jeri, pulling out her wand.

I sighed. It was meant to be. There was always an exchange of threats, then a wand fight, whenever Jeri and Shannon were meeting without witnesses. I stood up, my wand in hand, in case Shannon needed back-up.

"Furunculus!"

This time, Jeri had been the fastest. But at that moment, I was thinking: If only she could get hit instead of Shannon.

And there was a flash of light. When lights got back to normal, I then saw Jeri holding her face, screaming in horror. It was a real mess. The spell had hit her square between the eyes.

"Wow," I said. "I didn't know you were that fast, Shannon."

Shannon shot me an incredulous look.

"I didn't do anything!" she said.

"What's going on here?" asked a voice.

Armstrong was back in the compartment. He looked at the face of Jeri.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, Jeri cast that spell, and I don't know what happened after that, Sir," said Shannon. "It must have rebounded on something, but…"

"No, Sir," wept Jeri. "She attacked me."

"That's not true," I countered. "You're the on who cast the spell. It's easy to check. Your wand will prove it."

"Anyway," said Armstrong sternly. "I heard the voice shouting the jinx and it was yours, young Miss. You can leave, now."

"But… I'm ugly!" she cried.

"Tell us something we don't know," muttered Shannon.

I succeeded in suppressing my laughter. Armstrong sighed. He muttered a formula and waved his wand in front of Jeri's face. The furuncles disappeared suddenly.

"Now, you be off, Miss," said the teacher. "And I don't want to see you involved in any more school fights. Am I clear?"

Jeri nodded, and then dragged her friends with her, looking furious. Then Armstrong turned to us. He looked amused.

"Now I can see what you mean by Slytherins being bad," he said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, now I want to know what happened," he said. "Who did the shielding charm?"

"No one, Sir," I said. "In fact, I believed that it was you, since you were in the corridor."

"No, it wasn't me," said Armstrong.

"So we got really lucky, then," said Shannon.

"Luck doesn't exist in counter-spells," said Armstrong, gesturing to us to take a seat. "Alright. Did any of you do something? Anything?"

"I was swearing because I hadn't been fast enough," said Shannon. "I was sure I would be hit."

"And you, Alec?" asked Armstrong.

"Well, I had my wand in my hand, but I hadn't been fast enough. So I just wished the spell would hit Jeri instead of…"

My words died on my lips. No, it wasn't possible. Nobody could just deflect a Spell like that, jut by wishing it. Armstrong had now a mysterious smile across his face.

"No way," I exclaimed. "It was just a thought. It couldn't be enough."

"This will need an inquiry, of course, but it is possible," said Armstrong. "There are some cases when something like that can happen. And we will need to know if you could do it again."

"So what? You will jinx me with furuncles until I sent them back to you?" I asked, a little under panic, now.

"Don't be afraid, Alec, I won't do anything of the sort," said Armstrong. "We will first wait to see if something like that happens again, and if this happens to you. So we will be sure that there is something."

"And that something would be…" said Shannon, letting her sentence trail off.

"That Alec may be a Spelljammer," said Armstrong.

"Oh, cool, there's a name for your pathology, then," said Shannon, with a twisted smile.

I was sitting motionless, still under the shock. That was the very first day of the year, and I was already in trouble. A Spelljammer… that sounded odd.

Many questions in my mind. First, what the hex was going on? That was a stupid question, but you have to admit that many people ask themselves something like that in such cases.

Second, what was a Spelljammer? At this time, I hadn't had the chance to read the very handy definition at the beginning of the chapter, so I didn't even know how to spell it (no pun intended). But it felt spooky.

And third, why was this happening to me? This is also something often rising in the mind of people like me, when in trouble.

Armstrong refused to explain any further, before we got to Hogwarts. That was frustrating. But he told me that incidents like this could happen, without any relation to me. He had mentioned something that had been destroyed far away in Central Asia that could cause Magic trouble all around the world. So maybe it was it. He didn't want me to build up false ideas. I understood later that he was only caring for my inner balance, so he didn't let on all of what he knew. At that point, though, I really liked the new Defence Teacher.

And I also came to realise something else. This was going a hex of a year.

(*) I often get remarks about this expression I use. People come to me and say "it's 'what the hell" or "what the heck!" and to all of those, I retort "you're a muggle, aren't you?"