-Hikari Chapter Ten-
As soon as Potions class was over, Harry dashed after Trisha and her friends, completely leaving Ron and Hermione in his dust. He paused as he watched Trisha say good-bye to Jefferson, before walking up to her.
"Hey are you okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah I'm fine," Trisha assured him. "Something like that was bound to happen eventually."
"Well I'm sure she'll be alright as long as one of her friends doesn't try to blow her up." Ron added in.
"Hey!"
"I must admit, Lady Hermione," Ryouchi said, "That teacher of ours seemed exceptionally rude to the four of us."
"Well Professor Snape is the head of Slytherin," Hermione explained, "And prefers his house over the others."
"And he's probably not crazy Americans studying and teaching her too." Ron added in.
"Oh Ron!" Hermione sighed.
"It's alright Hermione," Trisha told her. "Anyways, Professor Snape would have to think twice about getting into a fight with Jennifer Noir."
The fifth year Gryffindors shuffled into the Transmutation classroom. Harry made sure to get a seat next to Trisha again, while Hermione happily followed Ryouchi and Casey while Ron was unsure being stuck by Kelly after Potions. Unfortunately, as soon as the class found their seats, Professor McGonagall started another long lecture about their OWL Examinations.
"…and I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an Owl in Transmutation as long as they put in the work," She said to the class, "including our new students."
"Today we will be starting on Vanishing Spells, a difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL."
After showing the class the motions, McGonagall let the young wizards to practice their Vanishing Spells with the snails on their desks. As the other students each attempted the spell, Harry held his wand over his snail and said "Vanisho!" Much to his dismay, the snail merely twitched its antennas, barely phased. Harry turned to Trisha to see if she had anymore luck, where he saw her looking the spell up in her text book.
"It's alright if you don't get it the first time." He assured her.
"I know." She said, "I'm just checking the wand movements before I give it a shot."
She then turned away from her book, flicked her wand over the snail and said;
"Vanisho!"
At that moment, Harry saw what looked like a reflection of pink light coming off the star shaped jewel on Trisha's necklace. However the young wizard's attention was instantly pulled away when he saw her snail vanished perfectly into thin air.
"Woah…" She said looking at her now vacant desk. Apparently she didn't expect that to happen.
"Very impressive Miss Starlight" Professor McGonagall said appearing in front of them."Are you sure you never used magic before?"
"No not really," She told her, "I mean I read the Transfiguration book half a dozen times over the summer.
"I must say, you have a particular gift for the craft," McGonagall said, "Well done."
"Um, thank you Professor," Trisha replied then turning nervously to her wand in her hands, and then touching the pink star around her neck. Harry had a sudden felling he should ask her where she got that necklace, but figured it wasn't the right time.
By the end of the class, Trisha and Hermione were the only ones who successfully made their snail disappear (Kelly almost smashed hers in frustration) so everyone else assigned to practice the spell for homework. When the young wizards were dismissed, Harry was suddenly pulled away from Trisha by his best mates.
"Hey what's the rush?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing, I just want to get to Defense class as soon as possible, that's all." Harry told her.
"Well I didn't think you would be in a rush to meet the new Teacher," Ron replied ignorantly, "I mean we have it with Slytherins (again) for goodness sakes."
"I think there's another reason Harry wants to get to our next class" Hermione giggled.
Harry's face flushed up. "It's not what you think!" He shot back.
"Yeah Hermione, I don't get what you're saying either." Ron added oblivious.
"Oh boys!" The young witch just exclaimed as they climbed up the DADA Tower.
As soon as they entered the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, Harry saw Trisha sprint down the room to Jefferson already sitting in the front, so the young wizard just conceded again. Though he watched Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins snicker at the two of them, which made Harry's blood boil a bit, but he froze when he saw Trisha slipping her hand into Jefferson's hand under the desks. Harry figured she did it just to make Jefferson feel better about being teased by people in his own house on the first day. They were all really good friends after all, and she was the one who specifically defended him to the rest of their house.
Suddenly the doors behind them burst open, causing all the students to jump from their seats. Their new teacher with dark hair and black robes stormed down the classroom (Much like Snape earlier today, Harry noted), making everyone around her falling silent. She then took a piece of chalk and quickly scratched her name on the front board.
"My name is Jennifer Noir," She said crossing her arms as she addressed the class. "I know very well I am not from this country, and I have never been to Hogwarts before, and if anyone thinks about mentioning it ever in a negative way, I advise not to so for their own well being in my classAs for the new students I brought here, I assure I will be treating them just the same as I would treat the rest of you."
"That can't be good," Kelly let out Casey beside her. Jennifer gave her a quick glare before continuing.
"And lastly, I know very well I am an attractive young woman, and if I catch any of you teenage boys staring at me instead paying attention to what I'm saying, you will automatically lose five points from their house, no questions asked."
"Bloody hell" Ron stupidly whispered to Harry.
"Don't worry; she said the same thing when she was at our school last year." Kelly bent down and said to them.
"Five points Miss Seadragon." The teacher spoke.
Kelly retreated back to her seat very embarrassed. The new teacher then sat down on a stool in the front and addressed the class.
"Now, if I'm correct, this is the year when you'll be taking your Owls, and I've also been informed this class has had a lot inconsistent learning so far in this subject."
Students nodded to her quietly. Boy she wasn't wrong about that.
"Well it looks like I'm going to have to make sure you're all up to speed on everything." She continued. She then pulled out a textbook and showed it to the class. "I'm sure all of you told to get Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"
The class nodded again to her as they pulled their copies out.
"Good," She said satisfactory as she glanced around the class; "Because I'm going to have you do this to it."
She put the book down on the desk next to her, and with one swift tap of her wand, it suddenly burst into flames and disintegrated into the air. Most of the young wizards jumped back in shock as some others were grinning in anticipation.
"The only thing theories are for is to be proven, and the only way to prove theories is to apply them in situations where they can be used. Unfortunately, as far as Defense Against the Dark Arts goes, whatever theories that may be written down to be learned are meaningless because situations can never be predicted, as well as the right defensive spells to be used."
A hand suddenly shot into the air.
"Yes, miss…" Professor Noir replied, turning to a student roster on her desk.
"Granger professor, Hermione Granger"
"Yes, Miss Granger,"
"If what you say is true, then how are we supposed to know what spells to use and when to use them?"
A smile suddenly appeared on Professor Noir's face. "That's a very good question, Miss Granger, and that goes strait in what I hoped to go over today." The young woman then took another look at her list of names.
"Hmm, let's see…Draco Malfoy" She called out.
Malfoy looked up from the back of the class confused. "Yes Professor?"
"If someone was about to jinx you, what would you do?"
"I would jinx them back" He answered slightly cocky "with a counter spell of course."
"hmm, simple enough," The teacher replied. Harry couldn't help but think she had called on Malfoy on purpose. Then Jennifer instantly called out;
"Patricia Starlight"
"Huh?" Trisha instantly responded. Guess she didn't think she was going to get called on.
"If someone was about to jinx you, what would you do?" Jennifer repeated.
"Um well…" Trisha looked around the class nervously, then back at the teacher.
"If some one tried to shot me with a spell," She let out, "I think I would… um… dodge it."
"Oh why would you say that?" Jennifer asked back.
"Well if someone was about jinx me, I probably couldn't remember the right counter spell in time, and also if I didn't have a wand for some odd reason, I couldn't use the counter spell anyways."
A smile curled on Jennifer's lips again, like she knew Trisha would definitely give that answer.
"Now which of you agree with Mr. Malfoy's answer?" The Professor asked.
Several hands went up into the air (most of them belonging to the Slytherin side) as Malfoy smirked victoriously.
"Now which of you believe Ms. Starlight's answer is also correct."
Only a few hands came up this time, most of them from the new students. Harry made sure to raise his.
"Well I regret to inform you, but both answers are completely valid" Professor Noir said. "Because there is never one 'right way' to defend your self against an opponent, but several possible ways to, and for the sake of today, I can sum it down to three different points."
She then took the chalk again and started writing on the board again. Harry as well as the rest of the class pulled out their quills and began to copy down what she wrote. "First, Education," She lectured. "Meaning what you've learned in school and know how to do. This of course includes spells, hexes, etc, basically the reason you are all at Hogwarts. The second is Environment, meaning different things around you and your environment, and how you can use it with the spells you have learned. And finally Experience, meaning what ever you have done in the past in a similar situation, like where you have been and what spells you have used in the past. Though there are still hundreds of other factors involved, but these should get you in the right direction."
The class seemed then seemed utterly confused so Jennifer turned back to the class. "Alright, what would you do if, lets say, your opponent has set the whole room on fire?"
"I would use Extinguisho to take out the flames." Pavarti called out.
"Good" Jennifer replied, "Anyone else?"
"Ooh! I would summon a bunch of water to take it out in one swipe." Kelly jumped in.
"Or, one could just take control of the fire and use it against your opponent." Ryouchi added. Kelly just glared at him.
Professor Noir spent the rest of the class spouting out other examples, adding a bunch more situations, and then having the class think up of what they would do on the spot. Luckily for Harry, she never called on him or he might have been forced to say something from of his encounters with Voldemort. They all seemed to be having fun until she assigned to write a foot about an example from the book, including five different answers and why for each.
"Well that was quite enlightening" Hermione said after class was dismissed.
"Are you kidding, I didn't understand it one bit." Ron said back.
"Neither did I." Kelly agreed.
"Of course you wouldn't Kailyn" Ryouchi said.
"Baka" Kelly scuffed at him.
"Yú Bèn" Ryouchi spoke back.
Harry just sighed, not really knowing what they said, then turned to Trisha "So I like your answer." He said. "About dodging the spell I mean."
"Oh thanks," Trisha replied, "It's just something my brother always told me to do in video games. Um, you know what video games are right?"
"Oh yeah" Harry told her "My cousin actually has something called a playstation…"
"Well that was a load of rubbish"
Harry heard Malfoy mouthing off again a head of him.
"I tell you, this class keeps on going more down hill each year," The blond Slytherin continued to complain, "The teachers as well. I mean where does Dumbledore find these people?"
Trisha then suddenly marched up to Malfoy, almost right in his face.
"Excuse me but I thought learning what ever we can about defending ourselves against people who are trying to kill us was a good thing." She said.
Malfoy simply snorted at her, "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it, you filthy mudblood"
A slight gasp came down among the students. Harry found himself squeezing his fist, wanting to punch Malfoy right in the jaw.
"What did you just called me?" Trisha asked her eye brow rose in confusion.
"He called you a mudblood, Trish" Jefferson explained. "It means you have bad blood because your parents are muggles."
"Oh, so if I'm a mudblood, then what does that make you?" Trish asked Malfoy.
"A pure-blood of course" He smirked back with the other Slytherins chucking in glee.
"Oh well, I guess I'm better off being a filthy mudblood than some one like you." She casually shot back.
A loud "OOOOOOOO" flooded the hallway as Trisha strolled back to her friends. Harry grinned happily at her, but he suddenly saw Malfoy coming from behind, about to pull something out of his robes.
"TRISHA, LOOK OU…"
SNAP!
A wand flew out of Malfoy's hand onto the floor. Kelly's leg appeared up in the air out of no where. Well, that one way to disarm someone with out using a spell.
Malfoy gripped his hand furious. "Wait till my Father hears about this, you bloody foreigners!" He said before he scurried off with Crabbe and Goyle.
"I bed he's going to complain about his hand hurting for the rest of the week" Ron said to them.
"What a cry baby." Kelly replied, "I hardly touched his hand."
"Still you need to be more careful in the future." Trisha scolded her "I don't like the idea of being expelled after the first day."
"Keh…"
As Trisha and her Gryffindor friends, along with Jefferson, strolled down the corridor. Harry could only watch and wonder;
"Who are these people?"