Dean arrives in class much more punctually than he had yesterday which turns out to be a very good thing. Dean enters his classroom to see two students nose to nose and shouting while the rest of the class watches. If he had arrived any later, Dean might have been taking the blonde Slytherin to the hospital and giving the red-head a detention and tips on how to improve his right hook.

"Hey! That's enough!" Dean's voice booms through the room and all eyes turn to him. "You two, sit down right now. Even if you wanted to fight, you're not ready for it at all. You don't have your wand easily accessible," Dean points to the Slytherin, "and you are way too close to make your punch effective, not to mention your fist form is poor." Both boys seem embarrassed and startled at Dean's commentary. "What? If you're going to fight, that's none of my business. But don't do it in my classroom, and don't make me look bad by fighting poorly."

Dean walks to the front of the classroom. "The lesson from last class was to keep your wands accessible. How many of you started to consistently carry your wands so that they are easy to use?" Almost the entire class raises their hands. Dean sighs. "Could all the people who are lying please lower your hands?" Dean watches as most hands are lowered and he is left with only a handful who did their 'homework.' "Alright, that's more believable. I wasn't expecting you all to get into the habit right away because it is difficult to remember not to just shove it into your bag for the day. This is only our second class together, but I expect by next week to have much more of you taking my advice seriously.

"Something that wasn't on my class list for the day, but what was raised so kindly by the two who were itching for a fight, is how to make a proper fist. Everyone raise your dominant hand in front of you like this," Dean demonstrates and faces his palm to the class. "Close your fingers tightly, and then curl them into a fist. Close your thumb around your knuckles, and then you're ready for hitting things." Dean punches the air in front of him with two quick jabs. "If you ball your fist like this," Dean closes his fist, showing how his fingertips rest in his palm, "Your fist is less sturdy, and your fingers have a greater chance of getting injured. One student raises a tentative hand. Dean notes it's the girl from Monday who had noticed Sam doing wandless magic. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry for asking, sir, but what does fist fighting actually have to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"It's no problem, and it's actually a good point. What do you guys think?" Dean opens the question up to the class. "How would being able to physically fight help you if you had to defend yourself against, say, a dark warlock or witch. Say your names as we go too, please." Dean gestures to the student who had his hand up first.

"Seamus Finnigan. It would be unexpected, for one."

"That's right. In a duel between magic folk there is often some honour at stake. There are rules, and Codes of Conduct. But if you have gotten into an informal fight with another magic user and they are gearing up towards using a nasty dark curse, sometimes an unexpected punch may be all that is needed to end the fight – if it is thrown well. My brother for one, is very good at throwing punches." Dean taps his left cheek gently which he can feel is several shades of bruised. "We had a practice duel this morning and if he had been fighting someone who wasn't used to those kinds of tactics, he probably would have got an easy win. Any other thoughts?"

"Harry Potter, sir. We could be away from Hogwarts for the summer and not be allowed to do magic."

Dean notices that the student doesn't use the word 'home,' but he doesn't comment on it. "That is true. But keep in mind that between getting a slap on the wrist for using magic and protecting yourselves, and getting seriously injured, always choose the former. Someone else this time, preferably without a red tie."

"Ernie MacMillan. We might not have our wands with us at the time."

Dean places his hand on his chest and feigns being aghast. "What do you mean? You should always be carrying your wand!"

The kid stumbles over his sentence trying to bring his point together. "Well, we might have dropped it during the duel or they could have used Expelliarmus to make us drop it."

Dean grins. "Yup, those are good points. Even though you are all magic users, there may be times when you don't have your wand on you. Although it shouldn't be because you've forgotten it at home." Some of the class giggles. "Someone who wants to fight you isn't going to wait for you to pick up your wand when they just made you drop it. So, keep your options open.

"This is actually a great segue into today's lesson. We'll be working on the spell Expelliarmus, otherwise known as the Disarming Charm." Dean puts the phonetic spelling on the board. After making the class say the spell and showing them the wand movement several times, he lets them break into pairs. With a wave of his own wand, Dean moves all of the desks to the side of the room, and the students begin practicing the spell on each other. Dean stops and gives them tips as he goes by.

"It's not just a jab. There's actually a small movement that you have to do with your wrist. See? Try it again. Yeah! You got it!"

"Emphasis is pretty important. Ex-PELL-ee-ARE-muss. Sorry, my accent can turn into a pretty thick drawl, sometimes." Dean jokes with a Ravenclaw student who was getting frustrated at not mastering the spell right away. They are quickly successful though and they smile at him proudly. He gives them a thumbs up.

Dean continues his walk until he reaches the Gryffindor who had asked the initial question about fighting in duels. She has gotten the spell down pat and is quickly frustrating her partner who keeps having to retrieve their wand. Dean places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention over the voices of students practicing the spell.

"Thank you for asking your question –"

"Hermione Granger."

"Ms. Granger," Dean smiles. "I'm glad that the class had a discussion about relying on more than just magic. I probably would have left the class with just proper fist-form, but I think that it really sunk home with talking about it. So, thanks. And good spellwork." Dean can see Hermione preening under the praise. He didn't want her to leave class feel reprimanded from the discussion. Dean finishes his walk around the students, and glancing at his watch he jolts. Class is over already? Dean whistles with his fingers, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at him

"Great work today, everyone. Your only homework for the weekend is to practice the Disarming Spell so we can come back to it on Monday. You should also work on making the proper fist shape. I'm not condoning you all become street fighters, but if you need to throw a few punches to get yourselves out of sticky situations, at least be able to do it right. See you guys next week." The students leave with grins on their faces and Dean watches them leave with a smile of his own. However, grinning reminds him painfully of his still bruised face. He had forgotten to get patch himself up after he and Sam parted ways that morning, although the bruise did serve as an alright demonstration in his lesson. With a quick stop in the bathroom and some healing magic, Dean's face is as good as new as he heads to the Great Hall for lunch.

-.-.-.-

AN: I bet y'all didn't expect my oversharing and excessive smileys when I said I would reply to your comments, but here we are. I wanted to add more to this chapter, but my muse has gone awol and I wanted to give you guys something. Thank you to everyone who has faved, followed, and reviewed! I love you all!