Chapter 7

The class gaped at their new Defence teacher. Most students were looking at her as if she had grown an extra head and others seemed to have forgotten their near death experience as soon as they saw the young and beautiful professor. Ron, of course, seemed to drop in that category. He gazed at his professor with a slightly open mouth and an expression opposite to horror like most his classmates. Hermione lifted her hand and tapped him lightly off the head; she was in too much shock to muster the strength to whack him properly. Harry was looking at Claire with shock before it quickly dissolved into comprehension; he sat back down with a small smile on his face.

"Harry? What's up with you?" Hermione asked a little color returning to her cheeks.

"It's ok 'Mione, sit down." Harry said quietly awaiting his teacher to start roll call or any such normalities he was sure weren't going to be so normal in this class. Ron and Hermione slowly sat down beside him and put their wands away. They were looking at Harry sceptically before they pulled out their text books and started another round of bickering.

"Ron, your stuff is on my side of the desk…"

"So?"

"So, they're in my way! I need to arrange my quills there." Hermione exclaimed as if teaching a one year old the concept of shapes and colors.

Harry tuned them out as he examined Professor Laurel, she was looking at the class in interest, but then he remembered her disability. How was she going to teach when she was blind? Harry had a feeling this class, by far, was going to be the most interesting yet…

Clair listened to the exclamations of horror when she revealed herself and the students finally realized they weren't in any danger. She heard many mutterings and curses but many rude comments that made her cheeks flame. Finally, when most students had calmed down enough to take their seats she cleared her throat.

"It's nice to see you all so responsive! Assessing the problem at hand with almost no hesitation." She waited for her words to sink in before awaiting the long stream of questions and hopefully some students who would eventually figure out that, no, they had never been in danger. She wasn't disappointed.

"What was all that about? Are you trying to kill us already?" a rather rude and smug voice said from an area near the back of the class. Many students murmured their agreements and awaited her answer.

"Absolutely not Mr. Malfoy, if you had an ounce of problem solving skills you would have already understood that." She answered with a small trace of triumph in her voice. She had heard his voice in the Great Hall during breakfast and associated it with the name many people addressed him as. She noticed the class had gone silent on the end she had deemed as the Slytherin half. When she had pointed her wand at the desks it had indicated that the Gryffindors and Slytherins had separated themselves as far as possible in the big classroom. Well, that would never do. She decided a change of desks was in order, like it or not.

So immersed in her plans for the houses, Claire hadn't noticed the rude and impertinent comments coming out of the Slytherins mouth.

"Ten points from Slytherin, for using inappropriate language Mr. Malfoy." Snickers could be heard from the Gryffindor side and she turned her head quickly.

"Any laughing or taunting of any other student will be cause for loss of house points and detention with Filch." Other than favouritism, there was one thing she couldn't stand and it was bullying.

"Never in this classroom will there be any form of taunting or ridicule. Every person will be treated with respect. If you show me respect I will return the favour, I expect the same consideration among yourselves."

The room went silent quickly and a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She imagined fifth years and older were going to be fun. She walked the length of the room and picked up a paper that had popped into the room only a few minutes before she had confronted the Malfoy brat.

She noticed it was a roll call paper and quickly brushed her fingertips over the bumpy surface.

"Euan Abercrombie" She sensed an arm raise in the air but it quickly descended and was replaced with a quiet "Here Ma'am"

"Mr. Abercrombie, it is alright with me if you simply lift your hand rather than speak, I may be blind but I am not oblivious to everything in the room." Clair nodded absently when the student acknowledged her statement.

"Lavender Brown"

"Here Ma'am" After she named most the class she came across Harry Potter. She noticed the classroom went quiet when they knew who was coming next. She knew what they expected but she simply continued calling names.

"Harry Potter"

"Here Ma'am" She nodded and continued down the list. She memorized every voice hoping she could remember them all. She didn't have a problem remembering names when she was in school herself but then she didn't have to remember each and every name of students who came through Hogwarts' doors.

She finished the list quickly and readied herself for what was to come.

"Are there any questions so far?"

An outburst of noise met her ears and she winced slightly, many furious and angry questions racked the air, others were quieter and some in hysterics. She held up her hand for silence and waited till every person quietened.

"Raise your hands please."

Many hands rose into the air and she pinpointed each person with the help of her wand.

"Yes Mr. Longbottom?"

"W-what was the attack all about?" The boy stammered slightly. She was going to fix that by the end of the year.

"Would anyone care to answer that question?" She asked almost certain there was one who could.

She turned her head towards Harry Potter expectantly, seeing as he was the only person in the class who had not raised their hand she had assumed he knew the answer. When the boy didn't volunteer and all the raised hands fell back down, she prodded a little further.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Looks like another teacher who's going to call on Harry all the time" whispered the boy she now knew as Ronald Weasley. She sensed Harry shift in his chair before opening his mouth to speak.

"You were testing our senses, reflexes and strength as a group." The boy answered shortly.

Claire was mildly impressed, that had been exactly what she had done.

"Very good Mr. Potter, Ten points to Gryffindor." Clair awarded. She heard many whoops of joy from the left side of the class and hisses from the right.

She frowned a little towards the Slytherins but let it pass.

"Yes class that is exactly what happened. Most of you, without a doubt, have already come to the conclusion that, no, you had not been in any danger from the start, I simply wanted to know where my starting point lay. You all have good reflexes but I noticed many spells I would rather not have in this class until later on during the year." She glanced at Malfoy before returning her attention to the class.

"Your timing needs work and your reflexes, although good, can be improved. In this class, you will learn to dance when you duel, deflect and create spells you have never heard of and improve upon the skills you already possess. I will take any suggestion you may offer to me. I will take every persons opinion to heart and I shall do my best to ensure you all learn how defend yourselves while still having fun. If you ever have a problem you can come see me and if you do not like my teaching skills, please feel free to express yourself as long as it's respectful. These are all promises I'm going to make you for the year." She smiled lightly when many eager students shifted in their seats. "You will do written work as well, never fear."

Many low groans could be heard throughout the class but she smiled instead of reprimanding them. She heard only one exited squeak and she turned her wand in the direction of Hermione Granger. She inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly, she didn't know much about the girl but if she was anything like herself then she hoped they would get along. Actually, she hoped to get along with ALL her students. Even the smuggest of Slytherins she intended to befriend.

"All right, the first thing I believe that needs to be done in this class is some seating arrangements."

Many intakes of breath could be heard on both sides of the class. Was she actually going to mix Slytherin and Gryffindor?

After several minutes, every Gryffindor was between a Slytherin. There was no way anybody would be talking in her class.

"Ok class, I want to begin our year a little on the action side," Many exited exclamations were herd among the students. "Today I want to start you all off on the basics of attacking and defending."

"I would like you all to stand up." The shuffling of many chairs was heard as student's scrambled to their feet in anticipation. She quickly separated the class into two groups mixed of both houses. She claimed one to be 'Attack' and the other 'Defence'. She had each group sit in a circle at either end of the class and discuss what they knew about their subject.

Many shouts and arguments later, she ended their discussions and made them face the opposing group.

"Now, pick a captain to represent your group." After the selections were made, she noticed with a groan that Harry and Draco had both been picked as captain. Oh well, she had a class to teach and so she turned to her class and directed the captains to meet in the middle and shake hands.

She could faintly hear teeth grinding as Harry and Draco shook hands. She quietly placed a transparent barrier over the two groups and addressed the two captains.

"From what your teams have discussed, I want you to face each other, Mr. Potter as defence and Mr. Malfoy as attack, to duel. Mr. Potter, under no circumstances will you attack, you will defend only, is that clear?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"And, unless Mr. Potter disobeys this order, Mr. Malfoy, there is no reason for you to defend. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ma'am" he said a little disrespectfully but she paid him no mind.

"Very well, you may begin."

As soon as the words left her mouth Draco launched a strong hex. Harry sidestepped just in time, the hex missing him by inches. Squeals from the Gryffindor girls caused the Slytherins to snort and cheer when Harry almost got hit.

"Defend Mr. Potter don't dodge."

She sensed the young man grip his wand tighter and his jaw set in determination. Draco than unleashed a series of hexes all more powerful than Clair would have preferred. Harry lifted his wand and barely managed to deflect all of them. The force of the spells forced him back towards his group, many students jumped up to help before they hit the invisible barrier between them and the Boy-Who-Lived. The on slaughter continued for awhile before both students were panting. She noticed Draco's spells were very powerful but he managed his agility poorly. His movements were sluggish and predictable. He exaggerated his wand waving and shouted his spells. Not very subtle, she thought while examining the continued duelling. Harry on the other hand was also sluggish with his movements and reacted almost too late before managing to deflect them. She was slightly impressed with his determination and knowledge of defence but both of them needed work.

"Enough" she called to the two boys. They both ceased their movements and glared at one another. Malfoy, she could tell, was smirking. Harry on the other hand, she noticed was simply content with glaring. She could feel the chill settle in as the possibility of the two meeting in that very situation later in their years seemed almost too likely. To dispel the negative thoughts, she quickly addressed the class once more.

"Are there any comments on your classmate's performances?"

Many students quickly settled on comments such as "they did okay", "They sucked" or "I could do better."

Well, she would be the judge of whether they did any better.

"Each group line up facing the other please," the two groups quickly lined up facing the other. Defence against Attack. "The person in front of you is your sparring partner. You will not attack any other student other than the one you are facing and you will not defend any other student other than yourself. Is that clear?"

A chorus of "Yes Ma'am" echoed throughout the room. She quickly replaced the invisible barrier but in between each pair so that potentially harmful spells wouldn't hit other students. They wouldn't have to acknowledge her rules because she was reinforcing them without their knowledge.

"Ready? Begin!" And the fireworks started.

\\\\

Severus had a headache already. He detested Hufflepuffs almost as much as Gryffindors, they were clumsy and incompetent. Oh, how he hated children.

"Mister Summers, would you care to pay attention?" He snapped, the first year Ravenclaw jumped and stared at the potions master like he was about to wet himself at any second. He had been teaching the idiot first years the properties of a bezoar when he caught the little twit writing a note to his friend. He glared at the student till he was sure the first year was visibly quaking with fear. Fear was good, fear was an emotion he liked when faced with his students.

They wouldn't dare disrespect him, especially not first years. He would bet anything they would disrespect Miss Laurel though. He smirked slightly at that. Maybe he would find her in a wreck when he dropped by to make sure the students hadn't completely destroyed her. After all she was with fifth year Slytherin and Gryffindor. If he were alone he might have let out a low whistle, those classes weren't normally put together due to their resentful natures. Albus only placed those classes with him because Severus was quite capable of handling them, but from past experiences, other teachers had given up trying to get them to truce and had asked that the classes never be mixed. It was almost time for his 'check up' he looked around at the class and noticed they were staring at him. He must have trailed off in the middle of his sentence. He cursed himself inwardly for his lack of concentration that morning and quickly picked up where he left off.

"Miss Crewitt, if you so much as think of touching those ingredients I will make it my duty and pleasure to skin you alive and give the remains off your useless body to an animal in the forbidden forest." He whispered threateningly, venom laced with every word. The young Hufflepuff girl squeaked and sat up straighter then humanly possible, her back arching painfully as she tried to gain space between her and the potions master only inches from her face. He turned his eyes to the side and noticed a crumpled piece of paper that had fallen from her hand onto her desk.

He unravelled it and his eyes travelled over the poorly drawn picture of himself, his face on a bats body to be precise. The words 'Bat from Hell' were scribbled on the bottom. He groaned inwardly, great, a new name for the students to call him. He slowly turned his head to face the girl whose face had begun to lose its color. He could only imagine how threatening he looked; he congratulated himself silently for being capable of the 'deadliest glare known to wizard kind' as Albus had put it one evening.

He was about to deliver a sarcastic and witty remark about her having to serve detention with Filch, 'The Ogre-that-got-hit-one-too-many-times-with-the-ugly-stick from Hell' when the small bell on his desk rang, an indicator of his babysitting job he needed to attend to.

"Detention with Filch this evening at eight pm Miss Crewitt, do not be late for I shall know. I shall return in a moment, if any ingredients are missing, if there is any disturbance in my class during my absence, you shall all be punished severely. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" He asked with as much promise of pain in his voice that he was capable of.

"Y-y-yes S-s-sir" The class chanted quietly. He then swept out of the classroom in a flurry of robes.

His shoes clicked as he stalked through the castle, intent on finding the Defence classroom and leaving as soon as he found the teacher in a wreck due to the houses she was meant to teach.

As he approached the classroom, he heard shouts and explosions. No matter how prepared he was to find the place in a disaster, he was still shocked that Miss Laurel had not even been able to break up a fight before it escalated to this level. He brandished his wand, ready to intervene, and opened the door. Spells were flying everywhere but seemed to disappear once they reached a certain point or angle. Students were duelling all over, Severus' rage quickly boiled to a dangerous point. Where was she? Why wasn't she even bothering to try and break up the fights?

He spied Malfoy and Potter duelling fiercely but odd enough, Potter wasn't fighting back, he was only defending. He watched as Weasley fought against Crab but why wasn't his Slytherin attacking? Just like Potter, he was simply defending. He finally spied Miss Laurel near the back of the room, hidden half in darkness. If one didn't know any better, they would assume she was observing the fight. Severus was ready to stalk right over to her and shake some common sense into the women before he decided to break up some of the fights along the way. He aimed his wand at the pair closest to him and cast a separating charm. To his aggravation, his spell like all the others disappeared before getting close to the pair. He fired at another pair but nothing happened. So the witch had put a charm, enclosing each pair so other students wouldn't get hurt. But why? What was she playing at? Suddenly his anger got the better of him, if his spells couldn't make them stop, his presence sure as hell could.

"ENOUGH!" he hissed loud enough for every person to hear. Every pair of eyes turned in his direction. The spells stopped and the voices dimmed till they to, ceased. Every wand was lowered and the students stared at him in astonishment.

"Miss Laurel," he whispered threateningly, "would you be so kind as to explain WHAT exactly is going on in this classroom?" He glared his fiercest glare at her, he knew she couldn't see it but it was more for the students to view than for her.

"Professor Snape, what a nice surprise, it is wonderful to see you crashing my lesson. As much as I am sure the students here enjoy your company as much as I, I'm going to have to ask if we can have this conversation in the hallway." She was a little irritated that he had just waltzed in and ordered HER students to stop what SHE had told them to do. Was this her classroom or not?

Severus glared one last time at every Gryffindor student before sweeping out of the classroom. Claire followed and turned to her class.

"Take a break if you wish, you may socialize till the bell rings."

The students nodded wordlessly before crossing the room to get away from the opposite house.

Claire closed the door behind her and turned around to face the potions master. She sensed him raise an eyebrow and fold his arms over his chest. His toe started tapping on the floor; it was the most irritating sound she had ever heard.

"Kindly stop tapping Severus, you're giving me a headache."

"I guess it's a shame I already have one Miss Laurel." Severus said bad temperedly.

"Well?"

"Well what Severus?" She said a little impatiently.

"Care to explain to me why the students in your class are wrecking havoc in your classroom without your interference?"

"That is none of your business Severus, what I do in my class is my concern, not yours." She couldn't believe what he was doing. They were her lessons and she could do them any damn way she pleased.

"It becomes my business when I have to check on a young incompetent witch who can't seem to keep track of her own classroom." He growled at her, there was no way she was going to tell him what was or wasn't his business.

"What are you talking about?" She seethed, why was he checking on her in the first place?

"I was doing a favour for Minerva, babysitting you is hardly my idea of— She caught him off.

"Babysitting?!" She almost shrieked

"Yes, babysitting, would you like me to fetch you a dictionary?" he sneered.

She took a deep breath; she wasn't going to argue with him.

"I do not need a babysitter" she said the word with disgust. "I am managing fine on my own."

"Obviously not, or else your 'managing' needs some improvement, your students were fighting Miss Laurel!"

"Call me Claire" she said forcefully.

What was the witch getting at? What difference would it make whether he called her Claire or Miss Laurel? The fact was that she was obviously not capable of handling a classroom full of idiotic children.

"Claire, I highly suggest you find a way to control your class"

She sighed a little, grabbed his hand and yanked him forward. He tried to pull it out of her grasp but she held on tightly. His skin was so soft…Ok so not the time to be thinking about that. She tugged him farther and opened the door to her classroom where her students sat with their own groups of friends.

How dare she touch him? He tried to yank his hand out of hers but she held on tightly. Damn witch, what gave her the right to touch him? Before he could protest against his lack of personal space she had yanked him into her classroom. She released his hand and she strode to the middle of the classroom.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, please come here."

He watched as both boys stood up and walked towards their teacher.

"I would very much like it if our two captains were to perform a duel for Professor Snape."

He watched Potter look at him with a great amount of distaste where as Malfoy lifted his chin and regarded him with an air of superiority. They were both brats, sometimes he wondered which one was more spoiled.

"Just as before, Mr. Potter you will defend and Mr. Malfoy you will attack. Mr. Potter you are not to attack. You may begin."

Was she serious? There was no way in hell that was going to work. He could see it now 'Boy-Who-Lived murdered while duelling against pompous blonde Slytherin.' He wanted to tell her to quit while she was ahead but a small part of him was curious about her new teaching methods. He watched as Potter deflected many of Malfoy's curses but never attacked. Odd, he would have thought Potters wish for breaking rules would have overruled his sense of judgment by now. They continued for a while before Clair spoke once again.

"Enough." They both ceased immediately. He raised his eyebrows, not many teachers were capable of halting the two infamous enemies from duelling.

"Reverse positions" The boys looked a little confused before Potter's eyes glittered. Oh great, now they were going to have to interfere. There was no way he was going to let her continue with her insane lessons. Before he could even take a step, Potter attacked. He watched, transfixed, as Malfoy defended himself. Many times it looked as though Malfoy was about to attack, but one look from Miss Laurel made him shut his mouth. What had this witch done to earn such respect from the students? It took him years to perfect his snarling voice and intimidating posture.

Soon enough, the sparring was over and he simply turned around and headed out the door, a new found respect for his co-worker.