Albus Dumbledore and the Wizard's Ruse

Book Three of the Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts Series

Disclaimer: this is a work of fan fiction based on the worlds created by JK Rowling. The story is written for entertainment and not for profit.

Author's Note: Thank you to those who have reviewed. I enjoy hearing your constructive criticism as it helps me to be a better writer.

"Humility is something that must be taught."

Chapter 4 – Lubo's Lesson

At the first breakfast after the students had returned to Hogwarts, the four Housemasters and Housemistresses strolled up and down the great House tables handing out timetable scrolls. Albus grinned up at his hero, Professor Ryan Rolleston, awe radiating from the boy toward the bearded man with pointed, tufted eyebrows. Professor Rolleston had saved Archaeon's life in Egypt last year, so Albus thought the world of him.

'How was your summer holiday, Professor?' Albus said breathlessly, eager as he was to make a good impression first up.

'It was delightful, thank you Albus,' Professor Rolleston said, handing the third year boys their timetables. 'I hear from your mother that you've been working on some very difficult magic.'

Albus ignored this mention of his mother. He was still embarrassed by the fact that she was teaching at Hogwarts. He chose another tack, hoping to impress Professor Rolleston even further.

'Sir, we are going to win the House Quidditch Cup this year, I am almost certain of it.'

'I do hope so, Albus,' Professor Rolleston said. He gave him an enigmatic smile before moving on to another group of Gryffindors. Albus looked down at the scroll in his hand and was about to open it when he noticed that all four of his friends were staring at him with incredulous faces.

'Who has become Professor Rolleston's incy-wincy little pet then?' William teased.

'Oh, beloved Professor Rolleston,' Alabastor said with an exaggerated poncy accent, waving his hands and rolling his eyes theatrically, 'do tell me graciously how delightful your summer holidays were.'

'Oh, Professor Rolleston,' Mars added, pretending to swoon and deliberately falling off the bench, his legs and arms flailing all over the place. This prompted a number of people nearby to laugh and Mars' face to go red, but it was Albus that was the most embarrassed. He told the others where to shove it and buried his crooked nose in his porridge, trying to cool the redness in his cheeks and avoid the gaze of his grinning friends. He did not know why he had appeared so obvious in his adoration of Professor Rolleston and was affronted by the fact that his friends had noticed. What with his mother teaching at school this year and now this, Albus thought it was a dreadful start to the year.

'Oh my, Albus,' William said, reading from his timetable, 'we have your mother for double Defense this morning.'

Albus sighed inwardly. This was definitely a rotten start.

'And it is with the Slytherins,' Alabastor added ruefully.

That was the straw that broke Albus' back. He dropped his spoon in his porridge, grabbed his timetable and scrambled for the exit of the Great Hall. He knew his friends' eyes were following him as he left, but he cared little. At that moment he needed a dose of fresh air. Albus passed through the massive entrance doors of Hogwarts and walked swiftly out onto the green grass that ran smoothly down towards the lake. A light breeze whipped his hair out of his eyes. He found a seat by the seamless silver water and let his brain contemplate what had just transpired.

His behaviour was so irrational, he realized. There had been no reason to schmooze Professor Rolleston, nor had there been any reason to storm out of the Great Hall. He felt like a right idiot, yet he could not explain this sudden loss of reason and logic within himself. It was as though his brain had taken a walk and been replaced by the intellect of a Fizzing Whizzbee. Albus furrowed his brow and strained to understand why he was like this, but he could never have guessed that it was the hormones pumping through his blood that was clouding his mind, not to mention the lingering bitterness over Victoria's death. Albus' emotions were in turmoil and he had no command over their whims.

Albus eventually calmed down and opened up his timetable scroll. Sure enough, he would have to endure his mother and the Slytherins for the first two lessons of the school year, but there was light at the end of this bleak tunnel yet. On Friday afternoon he had double Magical Creatures with the mysterious Horse Man, Professor Equus. Albus' chest felt a little lighter at the knowledge of this promising end to the week. He reluctantly got to his feet and returned to the castle, knowing that his immediate priority was to negotiate this first lesson taught by his mother.

The Slytherins did not disappoint when Albus arrived outside the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. They immediately started throwing jibes at him.

'Dumbledore's going to be a right teacher's darling, is he not?' Isabella Malfoy whined.

'Expect she shall be awarding her son hundreds of points and taking plenty from us,' Mary Pilkington added.

'If that happens,' Frederick Bode said, casting a dark glance at Albus, 'her son will not want to walk the corridors of Hogwarts alone.'

'Close your mouth, you brute;' Emily Marchbanks said haughtily, 'Dumbledore could beat the lot of you blindfolded, without his wand.'

This caused the Slytherins to break out into a chant of "Emily and Albus, sitting in a tree", which made Marchbanks all the more irate because she'd had a long running banter going with Alabastor Meadowes and had never once considered taking an interest in Albus. Meanwhile Albus was getting poked in the ribs by William and Mars and he felt just about ready to curse the lot of them, when Lubo arrived to put an end to the noisy barracking.

'That is quite enough,' Lubo said. 'Please enter the room and take your seats in a mature fashion, if you will.'

Swarbrick Prince ran his shoulder into Albus in order to get into the classroom ahead of him, which left Albus wondering whether the entire world had gone off their collective nut today. He found a seat at the very back of the class next to Mars. Lubo took her place at the front of the class, her aura very much in evidence as she gazed serenely down at her new charges.

'Please bring out your texts, Self Defense for Young Witches and Wizards,' Lubo said. 'Now, William Potter, would you say this is a boring work?'

William's face went bright red immediately, and his response was stuttering in nature.

'Er, no, well, not particularly boring, er um, yes, yes it was quite a satisfying read.'

'Was it?' Lubo said. 'Then enlighten the class with an explanation of the basic principle elicited on the very first page of this book.'

She got a blank stare in return from William. The Slytherins sniggered under their breaths.

'If it amuses you that Potter has not so much as opened this text,' Lubo said, 'then why don't you enlighten us, Miss Malfoy? No? Mister Bode? No? I think I shall take it as read that none of you have so much as bothered to open this book.'

Albus felt like raising his hand and disagreeing with her, because he had read the first four chapters already, but did not want to incur the derision of the class any more than he already had, so he kept his mouth shut and his hand clenched firmly on his thigh.

'I want you all to read the first page,' Lubo said, 'and then I will expect each and every one of you to come up to the front and demonstrate the principle.'

A sigh went up as eighteen books were opened and eyes began to caress the lines of text contained therein. Despite having read it once already, Albus decided it was best to read it again, just in case he'd missed something that might prove useful when it came to having to demonstrate the task in front of the class.

The First Lesson in Self-Defense – Anticipating Your Enemy's Next Move

Every young witch or wizard's first mistake is reacting to their enemies, instead of pre-empting them. In the art of self defense, the aspiring wizard or witch must learn to observe the nature and movement of their opponent, in order that they might foresee the opponent's next move. The first lesson in Self-Defense, therefore, is anticipating your enemy's next move so that you can pre-emptively defend against it. Reactive defense is likely to lead to defeat and possibly even death. Pre-emptive defense is the best guarantee of victory.

Let us consider, for example, a simple Expelliarmus charm. When faced with this charm, many young wizards and witches are caught off guard and lose their wands. Even experienced wizards and witches can become victims of this simple charm by failing to appreciate their opponent's intentions. How can one defend against this? The answer is not by reacting to the spell, but by pre-empting it. Consider the wand movement required for an Expelliarmus. The opponent will be turning their wand hand outwards before conducting a slash-like movement as they utter the incantation. Observe their mouth moments before they speak. Their mouths will open revealing their teeth in order to make the "Ex" sound. These hints enable the pre-emptive wizard or witch to foresee the impending spell and to react pre-emptively. Now, in the knowledge that your opponent is about to attempt the Expelliarmus charm, you can put up an effective block in time to avoid losing your wand. The extra second or two that this buys you could also provide you with time to launch your own counterattack before your opponent can react.

This seemingly simple principle is the first lesson in Self-Defense, and a principle that will recur throughout this text. Never forget to watch your opponent for hints of their impending move. In time, this may save your life.

Albus nodded to himself, convinced that he was ready to demonstrate pre-emptive self-defense at the front of the class. He would just watch his mother's wand hand and put up a charm before she sent the spell at him.

'Have you all completed the reading?' Lubo asked. When everyone nodded in reply, she called on red-headed Maggie Weasley to be the first to demonstrate the principle. Maggie was made to stand at the front of the class with her wand out, ten feet away from Lubo. 'Now, Maggie, recall what you read in the text and endeavour to prevent me from disarming you. You need only use a simple deflecting spell, but remember that if you cast the spell too early or too late, you are likely to lose your wand.'

Maggie nodded, gripping her wand nervously and concentrating on Lubo's face and hand. Albus had to admire his mother's graceful handling of her wand. She gripped it lightly between her thumb and forefinger as though it were a feather.

'Expelliarmus,' incanted Lubo. Maggie successfully deflected the spell, causing a pile of books to tumble out of a shelf and land in a heap on the floor.

'Oh dear, I'm dreadfully sorry,' Maggie said.

'Never you mind,' Lubo said. 'That was very well done. I award you a score of ten out of ten for achieving the spell on your first attempt. You may add two points for Gryffindor House. Please note, everyone, I keep a record of your scores every lesson. The cumulative score will help determine your final grade. I do not rely entirely on examinations to assess your abilities.'

Albus found himself breathing harder than before. His head pounded with the added pressure. For two years he had been the premier student in his year, and was desperate to keep it that way. This new fangled method of ranking his performance every day scared him. What if he was not perfect every single lesson? The very real possibility of losing Defense against the Dark Arts to someone like Jenning Ranger crossed his mind.

Lubo went around the class getting students to demonstrate the art of pre-emptively defending themselves against her Expelliarmus incantation. For every extra attempt it took to successfully deflect the spell, a student would lose one mark. Frederick Bode, for example, had eleven attempts and lost his wand every time. He was sent back to his desk with a score of zero out of ten and the homework assignment that he was to practice until he could successfully deflect a disarming charm or face detention. The Gryffindor girls did particularly well, earning six points for Gryffindor between them. Maggie and Emily both had full marks, while Elizabeth and Annabel, both muggles, achieved nine out of ten. The boys, on the other hand, took several attempts to succeed. Mars was pink in the face when he returned to the desk having taken eight attempts and scoring just three out of ten.

'Albus, you are the last,' Lubo said. 'Please come forth.'

Albus was not blind to the fact that the girls had outperformed the boys by some margin today, and was determined at the very least to match Maggie and Emily. He stood opposite his mother at the front of the class, wand clenched tightly in his right hand. He watched his mother's hand closely for that tell-tale outward turn.

It did not come.

'Expelliarmus,' Lubo said. Albus felt his wand leave his hand and fly backward into the wall. He cursed inwardly and ran to fetch it. He faced his mother, a steely glint in his eye.

Again the wand movement did not come.

'Expelliarmus,' Lubo said. Once again Albus' wand was dislodged from his hand before he'd had the chance to react. Now he was sweating heavily. He looked wildly around the classroom for his wand. After several frantic seconds he found it at Maggie's feet. She was wearing a smirk of victory and it displeased him greatly. He returned to his position, staring hard at his mother's hand. He was convinced that he must be missing the tell-tale movement. Yet for the third time Lubo's hand was motionless.

'Expelliarmus,' Lubo said. Albus' wand shot out of his hand again and he gave a cry of dismay. A snigger erupted from the Slytherins, who seemed to be enjoying this immensely. By now Albus' head was pounding and he was breathing like someone who'd run a very long race.

'Albus, you are not watching my lips,' Lubo said. 'If you recall, the text said that one can see the mouth commence moving when the incantation is about to be spoken.'

Albus paid her scant attention. His head was buzzing with defeat and he was determined to reverse the trend. He stared so hard at Lubo's hand that he was genuinely surprised when his wand was disarmed a fourth time.

'That is not fair,' Albus protested, attracting another snigger from the avid audience. 'Your hand is not moving!'

Lubo looked mildly disapproving after Albus' outburst and said nothing further. She allowed Albus to storm after his wand and return to the front of the class. Seven further times she disarmed Albus with casual ease. By the end of it Albus was blood-red in the face, on the verge of tears, and laughter rang out from the Slytherins. Even the Gryffindors were grinning at the sight of Albus Dumbledore bettered by someone else. Only Mars retained a pained expression out of loyalty to his friend.

'Alas, you achieve a score of zero out of ten,' Lubo said. 'Like Bode, your assignment is to practice this spell until you are adept at it. If you cannot successfully evade the Expelliarmus incantation in our next lesson, you will also be put on detention. That concludes our lesson for today. The homework for everyone is to read the remainder of the first chapter. I will be testing you on further principles from that chapter in our next lesson. Class dismissed.'

Albus snuck back to his desk and deposited his text in his bag. He received a consoling pat on the back from Mars, but it did little to alleviate his battered esteem. He was about to trudge out of the room after the others, when he heard a voice inside his head.

'Please remain behind, Albus,' the voice said.

Albus had to give his mother credit. She had used her considerable magic to inform him to stay behind without saying it out loud. This saved him further embarrassment, but it was little consolation for what he had just endured. His cheeks were burning and he could not look his mother in the eyes when he dragged his feet up to her desk.

'I would hope that that anger you demonstrated today was not directed at me,' Lubo said gently.

'No, mother,' Albus admitted. 'I was furious with myself for being so useless. First of all I cannot achieve a single improvement all summer with father, and now I am made to look hopeless in front of the class with you.'

'You might recall receiving a similar lesson in humility from Professor Rolleston last year,' Lubo said. 'I remember you complaining about him in a letter you wrote.'

'What is the matter with me?' Albus said. He was so encompassed by self-pity and anger that he failed to register the significance of the comparison his mother had just made.

'Albus,' Lubo said, with more than a dollop of patience, 'if you had bothered to notice, none of the boys in your class achieved more than four out of ten, while the girls achieved scores of between seven and ten.'

'Are you saying that girls are superior to boys?' Albus said petulantly, 'for I have never once been beaten in an examination by girls or by other boys for that matter. I have never received such a low score in any test, either. I think you are being deliberately harsh on me.'

'Oh, Albus, do grow up,' Lubo said. 'I said nothing of the sort, and did nothing of the sort. The art of self-defense involves a tremendous helping of subtlety and fine handling of one's wand. You have to have a delicate and refined touch when defending against an enemy. At your age, boys are cumbersome in their handling of wands and pay little attention to fine details, whereas girls have the dexterity and subtlety that is required. Had you noticed, I was using wandless magic to disarm you, and you ought to have observed my mouth pre-emptively rather than my hand as you did.'

'That is unfair,' Albus moaned, deliberately ignoring everything his mother had said. 'You did not use wandless magic on any of the others.'

'Detention, Albus Dumbledore,' Lubo said, finally exasperated by Albus' teenage petulance. 'You shall return here after school to practice the art of holding your wand between your thumb and forefinger, and controlling it in a delicate fashion. Perhaps if you learned also to control your temper, we might make progress this year. You are dismissed.'

Albus stomped out of the classroom, reeling with the unfairness of it all. He spent the remainder of the day in a foul mood, barely speaking to his friends and uttering monosyllabic responses in his other classes. In fact, by the time he trudged back to the Defense against the Dark Arts class for his detention, it was the first time in his entire school career that Albus had failed to win any points for Gryffindor in a day of lessons.

To Albus' not-so-great surprise, he discovered that his brother Aberforth was also the recipient of a detention from their mother. He was sitting in the front row looking daggers at Lubo, who told Albus to sit down and then berated them both together.

'I am terribly disappointed in you both,' Lubo said. 'I expected that my own sons would be the most respectful and well behaved students in my classes, but it would seem that I was mistaken. I have taken up this position as a favour to your father's friend Januar, and to Professor Prewett. You are both to get used to the concept of your mother as a Professor at this school and treat me with the respect I am due. Perhaps this detention will serve to remind you that I am your mother, not some house-elf that you can treat badly. Aberforth, you are to write a thousand lines "I will not make rude remarks about my mother in class", and Albus, you are to practice the fine handling of a wand as I told you earlier. I have business to attend to elsewhere, but I assure you I shall know if either of you two violates the conditions of your detention.'

Lubo Dumbledore made a swift exit, leaving the two boys in stunned silence at the front of the class. Eventually Aberforth picked up his quill and began writing out the lines on a scroll. Albus followed suit and picked up his wand between his thumb and his forefinger.

'How difficult can this be?' he wondered in his head. He tried to cast simple spells at a pile of books on the floor. To his surprise many of them did not work and he frequently dropped his wand. It was as if he had little control of his own fingers. They were clumsy, longer than he remembered them to be, and he longed to be able to hold his wand in the full grasp of his hand.

'Why has she got you holding your wand like a girl?' Aberforth enquired under his breath, as though he were scared Lubo was listening through the walls. It was not an impossibility given their knowledge of her vast magical abilities.

'This morning the girls outclassed us boys in a simple act of self-defense,' Albus muttered. 'She told me that I lack the subtlety and fine handling of girls.'

Aberforth snorted.

'What about you?' Albus asked.

'Alas, I kept muttering under my breath the entire lesson,' Aberforth said. 'Little did I know that she heard it all, but said nothing until the end, by which time I had done myself in, so to speak.'

Albus suppressed a grin. He could just imagine Aberforth giving a stream of cheek during the lesson only to learn that their wily mother was quite aware of it the whole time.

'I suppose we ought to behave ourselves,' Albus said quietly. 'After all, she is terrifically good.'

'That she is, little brother,' Aberforth admitted.

'I just wish she had let us in on the plan to teach at Hogwarts,' Albus said. 'I must confess it came as something of a surprise.'

Aberforth and he were silent for several moments, each concentrating on their detention task.

'You know, Albus,' Aberforth said with a sideways glance, 'there is one positive to be gleaned from our mother's presence here.'

'And what is that?' Albus asked.

'The girls are mad about her,' Aberforth said. 'I heard them jabbering on at lunch about what a divinely good witch she is, and how they all ought to be just like her.'

Albus smiled at Aberforth's avid expression. He could just see Aberforth trying to inveigle himself with the girls, using his mother's status among them as a talking point. Albus knew that there was one Ravenclaw girl in particular that Aberforth wanted to 'befriend', being the same girl that he'd tried to kidnap the previous year.

The boys worked on in silence until Lubo came back to end their suffering. Aberforth had only managed three hundred lines, and Albus' fingertips were burning from the effort of trying to handle his wand with a delicate touch.

'You are free to go,' Lubo said. 'I expect a much improved attitude from the both of you. I confess I ought to have informed you of my intention to teach here, and I understand that both of you have reacted with surprise and even anger. But from hereon in, I expect you to be shining examples of Dumbledore discipline and excellence. Is that understood?'

'Yes, mother,' the boys said, before taking their leave. Neither spoke as they wandered downstairs for dinner in the Great Hall. They were like two puppy dogs with their tails between their legs, humbled after Lubo's lesson.

Author's Note – the attentive of you might have picked up that Swarbrick Snape from the first two books is now Swarbrick Prince. That is because I want him to be Severus' ancestor, and I wrote the first book before Half-Blood Prince came out and identified Severus' ancestor as a Prince. I apologise for the inconsistency and ask for your understanding. Needless to say, the error is now corrected and Swarbrick will remain a Prince for the rest of the series.