Hogwarts Part 2

The next day Harry had to get up early to go to his classes. He had 8 of his 9 classes today, everything but Astronomy, and Care of Magical Creatures started at 8:30 on the far end of the school. He had had to practically inhale his breakfast, and then run over to the class.

Near the outskirts of the Forest, there were a group of third year Gryffindor's and Hufflepuffs milling around, and a grizzled old man missing a leg whom Harry assumed was Professor Kettleburn.

"Ah, our other Second Year. You're very nearly late." The Professor growled.

"I'm sorry Professor." Harry replied. Harry walked over to where Hermione was standing. "I think I need to something about Luna."

"Why? She agreed to join you on your plan."

"Yes, but she's also intelligent, dangerous, and possibly insane. I think I should try to get her to swear an unbreakable vow."

"How would you get the magic to do that?"

"There were a lot of prisoners in Azkaban."

"Why do you need to get her to swear a vow? You didn't try to get me to swear one."

"Yes, but that was because Voldemort trusted you. You wouldn't destroy the world, and getting you to swear a Vow would impair your advice. Luna could try something, and end up destroying the world, especially if I teach her about Science."

"I guess that's a good idea. Any ideas on where to take over first?"

"I really don't think we should be talking about this in public."

"No one is listening." Hermione replied.

"I don't want to take the chance."

"Muffliato. Now, do you have any ideas?"

"I'm thinking Austria first."

"Austria? Why? They're a French ally, and we need France."

"For one, Emperor Francis is rather unpopular, so the people there would probably support us. Francis has close ties to the German leadership, so they'd probably try to place him back up on his throne. That'd scare the French enough that they'd probably help us depose of the German Emperor, especially since the Chambre d'assistants Estimés doesn't like Francis very much. Then Spain would probably join with us. We'd have a huge power bloc."

" Huh. If that works, you'd be the most powerful player in Europe. It sounds pretty risky though." Hermione replied.

"Even if worst comes to worst, we can always beat the French too."

"Don't get overconfident."

"Ah, everyone is here. Please come over here to see our first creature, the Niffler." Professor Kettleburn called.

Potions, Arithmancy, Herbology, and History had been normal enough, though many of the students had been surprised at the "little kid" in their classes. At 2:45, Harry arrived in the defense classroom, still half-asleep from the History of Magic. There were a number of 4th year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs sitting in the seats, and a vaguely lupine man wearing patchy clothes standng in the center of the room. Harry sat next to Hermione, who had come from Potions. A few minutes later, Remus Lupin stood up.

"My predecessor, David Monroe, was respected by all of you. I'm sorry to say that he also gave you dangerously wrong information. David Monroe gave you a long lecture, where he taught you that one killing curse will kill anything. This is dangerously wrong. None of you can cast the killing curse. It requires an amount of magic that none of you yet have. It also requires you to hate whoever you are casting it at, to want them to die. If a dragon, or a troll, or a basilisk attacks, you may not be able to cast the killing curse. The Killing Curse is a tool. It is a useful tool, but it is also difficult to cast and thoroughly illegal. There is a reason why Aurors in battle do not simply cast the Killing Curse. Last year, two of the students in this classroom faced a troll. If they had simply followed Monroe's advice, they both would have died. Instead, Mr. Potter came up with an ingenious method to kill the troll. That is what combat is about. Combat is not taking one spell, and then saying it is the answer to every problem."

Most students in the room looked shocked. Harry got up and applauded.

"Now, I will be continuing David Monroe's practice of battles and armies. I will however, be making a few changes to the rules. Actual battles are fought over objectives, not just two armies dumped into the woods and forced to fight. Actual people have motivations of their own. The first battle will be in three weeks, on September 24th. Generals will be picked by their armies, not vice versa. Now, let's review the Stunning Spell.