As the weeks passed Jack and the other Guardians slipped into a routine. They taught their classes by day and would take turns patrolling the forest perimeter at night. Jack took more than was completely necessary, but he was beginning to feel cooped up in the castle, for all it's space. The creatures of the forest talked to him, telling him of any new or strange occurrences. The centaures in particular were very helpful, in their own roundabout way. The wolves that inhabited the Forbidden Forest had started to patrol the borders with Jack, trusting him and helping him protect the children. They weren't ordinary wolves of course, living this close to a center for magic they were smart, more like humans really. And they knew the importance of protecting the young.

The lessons continued, after Draco Malfoy had arrived at Jack's next class and publicly apologised, not a single student had dared to cross his path again. Aside from the fact that he had very quickly become a favourite with the Weasley twins and Harry Potter Jack thought it a little odd that students found him intimidating.

Outside of teaching Jack had taken to helping Hagrid around the grounds. As the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and the Gamekeeper, Hagrids schedule was always packed and he welcomed the help. Jack had even been able to convince a few of the shyer creatures to come into the grounds so Hagrid could have a practical lesson with his students. He always treated them with such care. Of course Hagrid had no clue that it was Jack that made the animals come closer to the school, that would have been awkward to say the least.

Jack was grateful that none of the students had tried to go for midnight excursions, it was bad enough having to avoid Hagrid while he was on patrol with the wolves, he didn't want to have to explain to kids why he went into the forest at night and walked around with a wolf-pack.

The major issue of the moment was trying to find out who or what the figure in the slime was. As Jack had been the only one to see it, the task had fallen to him. He was spending as much time in the library and his office as he was outside, it was a good thing he liked reading. The endless tomes on dark legends and myths that dwelt in the library were taken out and distributed around his office. Jack still had no clue what the monster was.

With the cooling weather, the students were getting more excited. The Quidditch season was about to begin and in the hallways it was all that was talked about. Even the latest rumours and stories about Jack and Bunny had subsided in favour of the sport. Jack had watched Quidditch in the past, the game itself hasn't changed much through the centuries, and while he found it all good fun he preferred his own games.

The classes themselves were progressing nicely. The 6th and 7th years could now hover successfully a foot from the floor, while 3rd through 5th had almost finished mastering the basic kata's. It would be time to start them on sparring soon, to practice what they had learnt.

"Alright, next week we start to practice what you've learnt." The announcement was met with excited whispers by his 3rd year class.

Draco Malfoy had been behaving himself. Although barely containing his contempt for Jack, since the incident on the first day classes had been running smoothly. The terrible trio: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, on the other hand had not been so thoughtful. Harry was showing significant promise in some of the lighter hand to hand combats, Ron had the build and the right attitude to be an amazing flyer and Hermione put so much effort into everything that it lost any humour. But they were nearly always late, and Jack had caught them more than once talking at the back of the classroom during theory lessons.

Now though they appeared as keen as the rest of the class, sitting forward eagerly in their chairs. Hermione Granger, who tried to out read Jack, put her hand in the air.

Jack groaned inwardly, her questions never ended well. They always had something to do with the history of the techniques he was teaching them. Something to do with how 12 of them were supposed to be extinct.

"Yes Miss Granger?"

"Professor Frost, I was wondering if there would be a practical demonstration?"

"Practical demonstration?"

"Well, it would be good to have some idea what it was supposed to look like. Are you going to do a demonstration?"

Jack was a little stumped, it was actually a good idea. But other than Bunny there was no one in the school he would even consider sparring against. Maybe he should ask Bunny.

"I'll think about it."

"Yes, professor."

Hermione sat down looking a little pink. The class ended without further incident, though as the students were filing out the door Jack heard Malfoy snigger slightly with a whisper.

"He can do the theory, but he can't actually fight."

Well he would just have to prove them wrong then. Wouldn't he.