"Why can't they see it Padfoot?" James asked Saturday evening, the weekend after his kids and wife had gone to Hogwarts. "That Carrow girl is bad news, Dumbledore said so, and she's just going to turn my family over to the Dark Lord. All because Alan is thinking with the wrong head!"
Sirius had to snort at this as James was being completely hypocritical of his son. "Yeah, because we don't know of anyone that hasn't done that before, do we?"
James ignored Sirius' pointed look, "It was different when I was chasing Lily. She wasn't dark!"
"How did you know? I mean, sure she's a muggleborn, but there was always a chance she was fighting the Death Eaters simply because they were in the way of her plans. She had the temper to be her own dark lady and we were on the receiving end of it quite a bit. Me and Moony discussed it a few days ago and we couldn't figure out why, beyond her temper, we never planned a prank on Lily. After all, she did spend time with Snape."
"Bah," James said, dismissing Sirius' point, "We knew Lily wasn't dark, she was just confused. No Gryffindor would ever go over to the dark."
"Peter." That was all Sirius answered, but it was enough. Fifteen years after the fact and it still hurt to think of their supposed friend and how he sold out them out to the other side. "You're forgetting James that by the end of the last war, lines were too blurred to actually call it light and dark. Hell, I started to use some questionable curses that I was taught in my youth near the end."
"But you were on the right side!" James argued.
"And how do you know that Alyss isn't on our side? Truthfully, I don't think she is, but I know that she is firmly against Voldemort and her parents." Sirius had overheard a discussion between Snape and Dumbledore after one of the Order meetings and he was rather impressed with the damage the soon to be newlyweds had inflicted. Those actions weren't the actions of people going dark, like Dumbledore and James loved to preach, but of some seriously pissed off and powerful people.
"Her family's history will show soon enough and Alan will learn that I was right. The family history always shows."
"Oh, and what about my history James?" Now Sirius was mad. "Do you have your wand trained on me, ready to take me down when my family history shows?"
"That's not what I meant Sirius."
"Then what did you mean! You can't say one thing and mean another that is not how this works! Why James? Why do you insist on finding what is wrong with Alyss and not celebrate the fact that your oldest found someone that he can be happy with? From the letters of Cala and Harry, she seems to be a wonderful girl and Alan seems to be the same as ever."
"Dumbledore said-" James began, but was cut off by a rather irate Sirius Black.
"Think for yourself James! You befriended the Black heir your first year at Hogwarts and haven't looked back since. Why can't you extend that same mentality to the girl that Alan is so obviously in love with? Think about it Prongs, think about it and when you are ready to apologize to me and your son, I may just forgive you." Before James Potter could do anything to stop him, Sirius moved towards the fireplace and through the floo. Now James was alone and wondering just why his life seemed to be falling apart around him.
-Eldest Potter Child-
The next Defense class after the weekends was met with much less enthusiasm from the Gryffindor fifth years than previously. Harry was the most depressed as they had just suffered through a grueling period of history with the new professor and now Harry had a detention that night for arguing with her. It was difficult to stay upbeat after being prodded and then put down by a member of the staff.
Alan and Alyss swept into the classroom and instantly noticed the depressive air around the Gryffindors though the Slytherin students were fine as they weren't the targets of Umbridge. Plus, they didn't have her on days of Defense. "Anybody care to tell me what happened?" Alan asked, his eyebrow raised and stared pointedly at his brother and those closest to him.
"We just had a history class," Ron said and Alan understood instantly.
"Did you all get your feel of ministry propaganda then? I'm sure she loved to tell you all about how great the ministry and minister were. If I didn't know any better, I would say that those two had something going on behind closed doors," Alan laughed as the class turned green and he received a slap on his arm from Alyss. "I can't tell you much, but I will say that the sooner you get used to people like that, the easier your life will become when dealing with politics. But, that is not what this class is about, this class is Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"We've graded your tests and you'll receive them at the end of class," Alyss took over. "We don't really care what you do with them, but this is your OWL year and they are good study guides for you. The top three students in class were Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass, and Hermione Granger in that order." This shocked the Gryffindor students as a Slytherin had outshone Hermione on a test. "You only get recognition for this test, but every test after this and there will be other reviews, will have prizes for the top three students."
"Now, as I mentioned earlier," Alan took his turn again, "This is Defense Against the Dark Arts. Can anyone tell me just what are the Dark Arts?"
Unsurprisingly, Hermione's hand shot up and Alan called on her. "The Dark Arts refers to any spell that is used to cause harm, control, or even cause death to the victim."
"Textbook answer Ms. Granger." Hermione beamed. "Now can anyone tell me what's wrong with the textbook answer? Mr. Zabini," He prompted the Italian descended wizard in training.
"If we were to go by that definition," Blaise said in his accent, showing that he did not spend a lot of his time in Britain, "Then every spell cast could be considered dark… or light."
"That is the point I wanted to make," Alan said as he pointed at Blaise. "I'm sure you all have heard this before, but I will say it again and hope that this time you all think on it. Magic is all about intent. Ms. Brown, you are what the British call a half-blood, are you not? And you have spent much of your time in the average world correct?" At Lavender's nod, Alan smiled, "Then tell me, can you think of a use for any of the unforgivable curses in a manner of light magic."
Lavender was surprised in being called on in class, after all she knew what the students around her thought about her and Pavarti. She did not deny that they liked to gossip and seemed more interested in it than magic, but nobody seemed to care about what they actually did in class. Even the teachers, great though they may be, fell susceptible to the rumors others had spread. These teachers were different though and seemed to not care of anything that was said by the school and she was not going to disappoint them. The question was hard and she heard many in the class start whispering unkind things about her as she thought, but Alan simply kept a calm smile on his face, as well as Alyss, as they waited for an answer.
"The defibrillator!" She yelled after a few minutes of thought. The smiles on her teachers' faces made her even more certain of the answer.
"Indeed, the torture curse can bring someone back to life under the right circumstances, but we won't get into that. Many in Britain and Western Europe will tell you that you must enjoy causing pain to the victim, but that's not true. Magic is all about intent and it is true that you will get a stronger reaction out of the subject if you hate them, but a spell is just a spell. Miss Parkinson, since you were the first to make fun of your fellow classmate, perhaps you can tell us a light aligned use for the imperius curse?"
Pansy knew that she had been caught out, but honestly, she wasn't the only one that had laughed as Professor Potter had called upon the airhead of Gryffindor. The fact that Lavender had answered a question correctly shocked all in the class and not just her. She knew that she couldn't get out of answering the question, but she wouldn't be like those stupid Gryffindors and say she didn't know an answer. She was going to get this right. She, like most of the dark aligned in Slytherin had experience with two of the unforgiveables and it wasn't always a pleasant experience. She truly hated when her parents used the imperius curse because they used her phobias to great effect. Suddenly, inspiration hit her.
"Could it be used to cure phobias?" She asked.
Alan shifted a little before answering, "Yes and no. There's no concrete evidence in the curse actually helping to cure the fear, but there are some instances that people have used it for such a thing. I believe that's more luck of a draw. But, you were on the right track and can greatly help someone who say is trapped in a burning building-"
"Without a wand," Alyss interjected seeing that Draco was about to say something.
"Without a wand, of course," Alan agreed. "They're trapped in a burning building and any spell on the fire or walls will cause the building to collapse. To get the trapped individual you would have to override their fears and lead them out of the fire."
"What about the killing curse then?" Dean Thomas asked.
The professors shrugged and Alyss decided to take this one. "It serves no real purpose even for those dark lords and their followers. The curse can be blocked by a flimsy piece of plywood and although the wood would be destroyed, it would take another curse to get to your target, whereas you could throw a severing charm and get the intended results you wanted. The killing curse cannot be cast silently either which puts the caster in a distinct disadvantage."
The class was wide eyed at this. Their world was being turned upside down at the moment as their teachers showed them that the so called unforgivable curses weren't worth the power they required when using them for darker purposes. They also hadn't expected uses other than torture for the unforgiveables. "This isn't to say that anywhere else in the world, people can use these spells freely. Everyone who uses these spells are heavily monitored because there is so much potential for abuse, but it isn't a one way ticket to a prison that violates basic human rights."
"Enough of that though," Alyss shook her head. "The debate portion of the class is over, even though we truly didn't debate. We'll get you all to that point though. Now though, pair off and we will do some spell work. We want you running through all the spells you've learned in the last four years to see just how much work we have to do."
The class quickly complied, happy to take their mind off of anything but spells as they progressed through the years. Harry didn't realize how much he had forgotten as there were many times he or his friends ran back to their books to look up the wording or movement of a certain spell and he had to admit, it was kind of embarrassing to do that in front of his brother. But, he took solace in knowing that everyone had to research a certain spell. What he didn't notice was that his close circle of friends contained the most that had to go back and Alan and Alyss took notice of this.
As class was winding down, the students found themselves catching their breaths in at their desks. "That wasn't too good," Alan stated bluntly, "And it looks like we have a lot of work to do. Next year, you all start nonverbal casting and unless you have mastered your spells and know what they are supposed to do, you will fail at that aspect of training. When you all completed a spell, there was no debate on whether you could do it, but that's not enough. Learn the spell in class and then practice that spell until you become comfortable with all the spell contains. Your assignment is on the board and you can pick up your test from Alyss on the way out. I also highly recommend that you at least review the spells that you have learned so far. Class dismissed."
It was later that afternoon that Alan and Alyss found themselves enjoying a section of the lawn next to the Black Lake. If there was anything good about being teachers, it was that all the students gave them a wide berth even though they were the most well liked on the staff at the moment. "Mind if I join you?" A voice asked and the two looked up to see Lily standing there with a small smile on her face.
"Sure mum," Alan returned his own smile and patted the grass beside them. "Maybe you can help us figure something out as well," He said while pointing towards the stack of parchments in between the two.
"What's the problem?" Lily asked, happy that she could help her oldest child. It wasn't often that she could actually help him, but she could do it a lot more than James could, which earned him much teasing.
"Well I'm wondering why you allow Hermione Granger to be compared favorably to you for the most part. She's intelligent and excels in tests, but she really isn't smart if you catch my meaning. Look at this," Alan said as he pulled the largest scroll out, "This is Ms. Granger's work and at first glance it is impressive. But, you have to realize that this paper is four inches over the maximum limit and almost repeats the books available to her verbatim."
"She does that to my assignments as well, but I don't see many things wrong with that. It just shows that she takes her research seriously."
"Lily, it shows a lack of understanding. This girl said the same thing four different times and added a bunch of nonessential information to pad her paper. If we were to do this for any of our classes in the states, we would fail the paper. If she turns in another paper like this, we will have to."
"I've never thought of it that way," Lily blushed. Now that it was pointed out to her, it was an obvious flaw in the school's teaching. She really wished that there was a teacher's handbook, but all of them in Hogwarts were simply thrown into the deep end of the pool. Sure, she remembered her own assignments, but that was all she had to go by. "How did you catch this?"
"We have contact with our old teachers. I know you've complained about the lack of instruction and all the teachers in the states go through a training course, so we get some much needed advice and send a few essays their way."
"That sounds wonderful, do you think they would be willing to do that for me?" Lily's eyes were alight with the thought of improving her skills. She truly was a great teacher, but the lack of training limited her.
"I'm sure they would be delighted."
A/N: Sorry for the wait and I'll apologize as it will probably be another 1 1/2- 2 weeks before the next chapter. I'll try to have more interactions with the world outside the classroom next chapter as I really just wanted to establish the kind of lessons they would have. If you have any suggestions feel free.