Chapter Nine: Alecto

Neville started the next day with his favorite class. Professor Sprout seemed largely unaffected by the change in regime and taught Herbology with her normal mix of humor and hard work. They were working with far more dangerous plants than they had in previous years. Sprout started the class with a warning about the work load needed for their NEWT year and followed up that threat by assigning a 3 foot essay on the proper care and preventative steps needed for Venomous Tentacula.

Charms was much the same. Professor Flitwick had them diligently working on the proper incantations for casting a Fidelius Charm, a complex piece of magic that required hours to properly cast and assigned a 3 foot essay as well, asking that the students explain, in detail, the exact meaning of each word used to cast the charm.

Neville hated writing essays, but he wasn't particularly worried about not getting them done. His recent experience with Tentacula would help with the first essay, and he had plenty of time before his next Charms class to complete the second. What truly annoyed him wasn't the increased amount of homework, but how absolutely normal his teachers were acting. They weren't taking any special precautions against Snape and the Carrows, nor were they warning students about them. Then again, they had reacted almost exactly the same way when Umbridge had come two years ago, and there wasn't much else they could do in any case.

Neville skipped lunch to get a head start on his Charms essay and was pleasantly surprised to find Ginny had had the same idea. She looked up at him from her scroll as he walked in and frowned in frustration.

"The whole bloody world is coming unraveled, and they're still assigning us homework? You'd think they'd cut us a break, seeing as there are Death Eaters in charge at the school," she said angrily.

"We are supposed to be getting ready for our NEWTs, Gin. It makes sense," Neville replied.

"None of this makes sense, Nev. You should have heard how the Slytherins were carrying on before class. 'The world is so much better now, isn't it?' and more rubbish like that. How can our teachers just carry on as if nothing is wrong?"

"What else can they do?"

"Fight it! Throw them out! Make Hogwarts a fortress against them! Something!"

"With the full might of the Ministry behind the Death Eaters, that wouldn't last long. They're doing the only thing they can," Neville said consolingly.

Ginny frowned, apparently unable to counter his logic.

"McGonagall made it fairly clear we were on our own here. Besides, we are doing something, remember?" Neville continued.

"When? When are we going to do something, Nev?" Ginny asked intensely.

"Well…I…um…we need to get the DA back together first…" Neville stammered.

"Ok then, let's do that," Ginny said, taking her false galleon out of her pocket and tapping it with her wand. "I just set the meeting for after dinner tonight. Then we can get things going."

"That may not be…" Neville began but had to stop as a group of fellow Gryffindors came in the Common Room. Ginny smiled and winked at him before leaving her seat to go chat with some of her dorm mates.

Neville's unease only intensified as his lunch hour ended. He gathered his books quickly, packed them in his rucksack, and rushed out of the Common Room so he wouldn't be late for his first Muggle Studies class.


Neville arrived at the Muggle Studies classroom to find the doors already open and most of his classmates already inside. Every seventh year student still allowed to come to the school was crammed into the small room. Several of them were standing against the walls, since there weren't enough desks in the room to accommodate the almost 30 students in attendance. Alecto Carrow sat at a huge desk at the front of the room, completely entranced by a book she was quietly reading. Arrayed in front of her desk on stands were several objects. One looked very much like the wizarding wireless from the party last night, the only difference being it had a thin metal wand sticking out of the back. The second sat on a stool and looked to be a small white bottle or container the like of which Neville had never seen before. The third stood on its own, about three and a half feet tall. It had a wide bottom with a handle like a broomstick. A large bag hung from the stick in the front, and what looked like a thin gray rope coiled around the back. The last object, perched on a wooden stand, was a rifle. Neville only knew what it was from descriptions he'd heard from Great Uncle Algie, who had been at the wrong end of one.

Several of the students stared openly and fearfully at the rifle, particularly Lavender Brown and Seamus. Most of the other students feigned disinterest. Neville went to the far back wall to stand next to Seamus, who glanced at him as Neville arrived.

"Why does she have a rifle here?" Seamus asked in a fearful whisper. "What is she playing at?"

"I don't know, Shay," Neville replied quietly, "but I have a feeling we aren't going to like it."

"Good afternoon, class," Alecto said, looking up from her book for the first time. She said nothing after that, allowing the silence in the room to grow awkward when no one replied.

"I expect my classes to be courteous enough to reply when I greet them. Let's try this again. Good afternoon, class."

Several students piped up with a half-hearted "Good afternoon."

"Almost," Alecto said in a lighthearted manner. "I also expect to be addressed respectfully as 'Professor'. One more time, good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Professor," most of the students said, though Neville refused.

"That's better. Now I know many of you are confused, since this is the first year Muggle Studies has been a required subject. When Professor Burbage…retired," Alecto continued with a quick glance at Malfoy, "she failed to leave any form of class syllabus or plan behind, so I will be restructuring this class along the new Ministry guidelines. I expect each and every one of you to keep up, since this restructuring means it does not matter if this is your first class or your fiftieth. I will not accept less. I will not coddle you, slow everyone else down, or explain things more than once. You have a choice only in how you react to this. You can fight it, you can flee it, or you can flow with it. Which you decide to do, I leave up to you."

"Now, who can tell me what this object is?" she concluded, pointing at the not quite wizarding wireless. Lavender Brown raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Brown?" Alecto said cheerily.

"It's a radio," Lavender replied.

"And what is a radio, Miss Brown?"

"It's…it's kind of like a wizarding wireless, but it doesn't use magic to send a signal. It picks up radio waves," Lavender replied hesitantly.

"Naturally our half-blood students will be better versed in Muggle artifacts," Alecto said in an offhanded tone. While this drew a snicker from the Slytherins in the room, Seamus sneered.

"Very good, Miss Brown. Ten points to Gryffindor," Alecto said with a smile, oblivious to the students in the back. "Who can tell me what this is?" she asked, pointing at the white bottle. This time Hannah Abbot raised her hand.

"It's aspirin," Hannah said when she was called on.

"And what is aspirin, Miss Abbot?" Alecto probed.

"It's medicine. It can dampen pain and lower fevers for people who are sick," Hannah replied.

"How interesting. How long does it take to do these things?"

"Um..it depends, I think. Normally between half an hour and an hour."

"Thank you, Miss Abbot. And can anyone tell me what this is?" Alecto asked, gesturing towards the stick with the wide base. To everyone's surprise, Seamus raised his hand.

"Mr. Finnigan?" Alecto said.

"It's a rocket ship," Seamus said flatly.

For a moment his answer hung in the air while Alecto looked at him questioningly. She picked up her book and started flipping quickly through the pages.

"And…and what is a…a rocket ship?" Alecto continued, still flipping furiously through her book.

"It's a form of Muggle transportation. Much faster than a broom, but not instantaneous like a Portkey or Apparition,"

"I want one," Draco said sarcastically, just loud enough to be heard. Several students giggled at this comment, including Hannah and Lavender. Alecto looked up from her book and narrowed her eyes at Seamus.

"Mr. Finnigan, is this really a rocket ship?" Alecto asked quietly.

"No, Professor. It's a vacuum cleaner," Seamus replied innocently.

"Why did you say it was a rocket ship?"

"Uh…new teacher initiation?" he replied.

"I see. Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, and I expect there to be no more of this 'initiation' rubbish. Am I clear, Mr. Finnigan?"

"Yes, Professor," he replied humbly.

"Since you have volunteered, what is a vacuum cleaner?"

"A Muggle cleaning device. It sucks up dirt from carpets and stores it in that bag to be thrown out later," Seamus replied.

"Good, Mr. Finnigan. Lastly, what is this?" Alecto asked, gesturing at the rifle.

Blaise Zabini, who up until this point feigned complete disinterest, raised his hand to the shock of his housemates.

"It's a rifle. It shoots tiny pellets of lead at incredibly high speeds. It is used for sport shooting of targets, hunting for sport or food, and in war to kill others. May I take a look?"

"And what…wait…" Alecto began. Before she could continue, Zabini got out of his seat and walked to the rifle. He picked it up and pointed it towards a window, sighting along the barrel and holding it very professionally.

"Sight is a little off, needs to be recalibrated," he continued, then pulled the bolt action back making a loud clicking noise. Hannah ducked under her desk, and Lavender squeaked quietly in terror.

"Not loaded, probably a good idea. Looks like a standard .22 bolt action rifle. Not very effective as a weapon, but great for target shooting," he said, sliding the bolt back into place. "If you have some ammo, I could give everyone a demonstration outside. It's purely mechanical, so it should work, even on the grounds."

"That won't…" Alecto began with a higher pitch to her voice then before. She swallowed, the continued, "That won't be necessary. Please take your seat, Mr. Zabini."

He shrugged, set the rifle back on its stand, and went back to his seat. His housemates stared at him openly. Draco smirked.

Alecto shook herself, then addressed the class again. "So, class, what do each of these Muggle artifacts have in common?"

At first, no one answered, then Draco raised his hand.

"Each of these is an imitation of something we can do much more effectively with magic," he said triumphantly when Alecto called on him.

"Exactly. Ten points to Slytherin. In the case of the radio, our wizarding wireless is far more reliable. Our potions work instantly to cure fevers and pain, while the aspirin takes much longer. A simple spell can clean an entire room in an instant with no need to empty a bag. And of course, our killing curse is cleaner, more accurate, and more certain than a Muggle rifle. For the next fifteen minutes, I want each of you to come up with two more Muggle objects that do things which magic can do better, more efficiently, or more quickly. Some of you will be called on to share these objects, and the spell that accomplishes the task in a better fashion."

"Rubbish," Seamus said just loud enough to be heard.

"Mr. Finnigan, was there something you wanted to share?" Alecto said.

"No, Professor," Seamus replied.

"Good. To work, then," she said.

Alecto spent the rest of the class calling only on the pureblooded students to share their objects and spells and ended by assigning them a 3 foot essay on why magic is better then technology. Neville left the class angry and sullen, sharing Seamus' mood.

"You know what she's doing, right," Seamus asked as they left the classroom.

"I'm not smart, but it's pretty obvious. We're going to need to do something about it," Neville replied.

"We are. I'll be at the meeting tonight, and we can figure out what to do," Seamus said with a smile.