Chapter 10: Reactions and Regular Classes

Dumbledore was in his room. The Sorting hat hated it to be back on the shelf. "Why can't I be on your desk again?" "It is because you wanted to be on the shelf, and could you please be silent again? It is Fawkes' burning day. He feels a bit nauseous. " "Bla bla bla... Bla bla bla... BLA BLA BLA! " Fawkes cawed. He spit out a yellowish substance on Dumbledore's robe, and the three official notices from the Board and the Ministry got drenched in vomit. "Hehehehe" the hat cackled, as Fawkes burst into flame. Dumbledore was uncomfortable with all the puke in front of him, and with Fawkes burning, the hat roared in laughter, as the Headmaster struggled. Dumbledore still managed to throw a crumpled bit of paper into the hat's mouth fold, as the hat spit it out. "I do not ... why.. how in the world did all before me tolerate your..." The hat saw Everard suggest something. "No. No. I won't. I am the very heritage of the castle. I know what that charlatan would suggest. Albus, you don't dare listen to him. I will not be..."

After sometime, Dumbledore chuckled as the sounds from the shaking cupboard on the far side of the room were muffled, and Fawkes arose from the ashes. Good Morning, my dear." The hat hated life.

Muggle London is very crowded. I have no need for speed, and I prompt Bertha to get to Diagon Alley. "Quite the hypocrite, aren't you?" "Shut up. I need to check Gringotts for something. Which pureblood families are you related to? Any close to Avery, or even better, Lestrange?" "Neither. I am actually related by a distant cousin of my mother's aunt to the Yaxleys, but I know not of any other. " "Too bad. Yaxley' account is 8 slots away from the Lestranges. I have a Horcrux in there, and Avery's box is next to it. I need to cry for Hepzibah Smith, you know her? 'Puffs for life. She actually showed me some of her treasures. She took items that were not her own and kept them safe in boxes. They were possessions of the Hogwarts founders, and she kept them hidden for her own reasons."

"Now where have I heard that before?" Bertha says sarcastically. I make a face.

"Anyways, why do you make Horcruxes, die, and then come back, only to eat them back, huh? What do you actually plan on doing?"

"I don't know, Bertha. It seems splitting your soul does save your life, but I do not like being in such a life. It deprives me of joy, except maybe the sadistic one that I used to have. No, you have nothing to worry. I impart a part of my personality in the body I claim. But the host also changes me. I had been using snakes for bodies, but I got more urges for food, and revenge. The snakes couldn't tolerate power, and they withered. Your body has changed my perspective, albeit slightly. I still long to kill the old fool Dumbledore, for not giving my job. Even though he had vacancies."

" I hardly see any person with brains giving a job to a Dark Lord, Tony. Bad career choice. And you teaching children the Unforgivables isn't one that would be appreciated by anyone, Ave you and your cronies."

" They aren't cronies, they are followers. And self defence isn't bad." "You are not worth talking, dummy. Killing isn't self defence. And shut up. I'm going home. You can get some other host to get to the vault. I'm bored. And waiting for Halloween."

Bill Weasley was shaken awake. "Whaat! Am I not allowed to sleep at work? " he yawned, and ruffled his hair up. "What is it Golbug?" "There is a British man waiting for you at the reception. " "Send him in. Where does he say he came from?"

Golbug left without a reply. Bill straightened his hair out, and started twisting the earring of his.

"Sir! I am Dawlish. John Dawlish, from the Auror office of the British Ministry of Magic. I have been assigned to deliver this to you, Mister Weasley. " He handed over a scroll. As Bill rolled it out, he saw the matter. "Is this even approved?" He asked, aghast. "Why would they even. And who suggested this? I knew mermaids were out of the question, and the leak of info within the ministry was such that they cancelled the Dragons and the Sphinx too. But this? Preposterous. Who suggests this kind of ... Umbridge. Yeah, I get it. That old frog ... " "We call her the toad. " grinned Dawlish. "She did not want centaurs in the tasks, saying they are half breeds. Nor were sirens allowed, in case women were selected by the Goblet. So they put off the idea for using Sirens and the selkies depending upon the champions. Hogwarts teaches defending against Kappas Grindylows and Redcaps. Banshees can kill if unaware. And they broke the one Dampener Supreme for Banshee Riddance that the British owned. So it might have to be imported. Canada has high costs for importing Wendigos, and the brethren of Vampires specifically asked to be excluded from this event. They thought it all out early on. So they finally decided on calling for yours."

"Pity, Charlie was giving out the Dragons, wasn't he? And I suspect they sent out an Auror for petty business like this cos'-" "- yeah, they are running out of ideas. The first task is with sarcophagi and boggarts. Maybe even some of ...you know, them, but we thought they would better be left sleeping..." " No, we can actually spare a few. They are in need of a vacation. Maybe the winter of the temperate zones might give 'em a good holiday. They usually just help with curse breaking, with us devising new ways. They hate some of their predecessors, so they help us burgle more magic out of there."

"Ok, then. Fill out this form, and state the option that you would be exporting. I think option 'E' is the one. I've got one more stop before I go back home. Remember the Wandmaker? He is to come for some sort of ceremony. They plan on sending Shacklebolt for bringing beasts for the next task. I'm done with this."

"How are Dad and Percy? Any news?"

"Nah, Arthur's fine, we don't get along much, but Percy is in sorrow. That boy is worrying too much for his boss. Barty' son, you know, that Death Eater, he died in the house, and there's an investigation pending. He's crying for Crouch while Crouch keeps his stone face. Ah, let's get going then. Thank you William!" Bill finished signing the form with a curved stroke and took out his stamp. He punched as the Gringotts logo fell emblazoned on the form with the red ink. The goblins standardised the usage of ink, using Red for all human related formalities. They used the usual blue for personal matters, and green for matters of grave importance.

"Try coming for the tournament, Mr Weasley. The French school, whatever its name is, is bringing Veela. The time for a task is sufficient for some backstage kissing." He winked, and left for the Floo.

Bill stared. The students who were going to be selected were poor, poor indeed. To handle the first task would be just that. A monumental task for the worthy, and only for the worthy. He opened the door, and asked for a meeting to be scheduled with King Ramses.

"The other schools would be arriving by Halloween. The Goblet of fire shall be lighted at dawn of the first day of November, and a week's time shall be given for any willing participant. The names of the best will be picked on the 8th of November, and the champions shall be required to attend the great ceremony of the Wand Weighing, and as a symbol of unity, the Yule ball shall be organised. Due to delayed preparatory measures on behalf of the authorities, the First task shall be held on a yet to be finalised date in the second week of January. "

The Gryffindor Head girl was reading the announcement from the notice board aloud, while the Headboy whacked Dennis Creevey with a "Listen, boy, listen." Ron went to the boy's dormitory, picked out his wand from the desk near the bed. He saw Harry coming back from the Common room for the same purpose. "Good morning, Harry!" Harry went back to the bed, and fell down, face first, immediately snoring. Ron shrugged, and waved Neville an enthusiastic "Good Morning!" Neville waved back, as Seamus came in. "They want us to wait for three more years. Boring! And they poke the stick even further into the eye with an endless stream of announcements. This is abusive, I tell ye. Who can wait for years, man!"

"I am gonna try entering. This year." Said Ron. "You possibly can't. It's restricted." "With a proper Confundus and an Age potion, it might just work. By the way, both me and Harry are gonna... we're gonna enter the Triwhiz tourn, and come out with that bag of galleons." "You're raving. As if they would let you enter. It is not gonna work."

"Or we can ask a senior student to drop our names in, can't we? They can go, put our names in and come out, can't they?"

"Sour grapes, Ron. And ain't gonna get ripe for three more years."

Harry rolled, and raised his hand in his sleep. "We'll do this, Ron! Go Gryffs!" Then his hand dropped, and the snores followed.

Ron looked at the sleeptalker with an amaze don't look, and called him. "Hey Harry, we are late for Divination. Climbing the tower would take time, mate. Come on, now."

"Dreams, my children. They are the route of transmission of thoughts from the land of the living, to the land of the unliving."

"How do you unlive, Ron?" "Simple Harry, you un-die and wait to be un-born, ending up back as a sperm in your father's -" as they sniggered, Trelawney stared at them.

With her eyes looking like marbles, she moved toward them, and asked their latest dream. When Ron said he had not had any recently, she shrieked. "Oh, no, my boy. It is an ill omen. Don't you remember any recent dreams? You surely haven't been bitten by a goose in the near past, have you? My dear child, drink some of this." She brought out a cup of old tea dregs collected from used tea bags. As she heated the water, Ron muttered "I don't want... my dreams... I remember one. Professor. I was in ... professor?"

She turned. Apparently she had not heard him. He raised his voice, and continued. "In my dream, I was... in a... a flying chair, professor. It had wheels like Muggle cars, ... and a bird hit me in the face.. as I-" "What kind of bird, my child, was it a raven?" "No, it was a peacock... " "psst Ron! Peacocks don't fly, Ron!" "It's my dream, Harry, they can fly in my dreams."

"My child, if a flightless bird happens to have gained the powers of flight, it is said that the curse of Icarus is upon you. You may die if you fly. The sun is your enemy, and do not go into the open daylight. Beeswax betrays you." As she went past, Ron called her. "Professor, Harry has a dream to tell you about."

"Ron I swear, I'll kill you ... Um.. my dream was... I was roasting professor Snape in an oven. He was crying out loud in pain and I ... increased the heat even more." This class was a single class, so no other houses were present. The present company hated Snape, so there were no rats among them to complain. Naturally, he got a good deal of giggling. "My boy, cooking the guru is said to increase performance, while earning the wrath of the master of that art." "So I make better potions, and Snape tortures me even more?" "That doesn't sound as good as the dream itself, mate."

The period ended with Trelawney mostly ignoring their non-academic comments and instead resorting to setting up a Dream diary, with notes on it for the entirety of the next month. The following months would be interpretation. With angry groans, they left the tower, Sir Cadogan marching alongside them with comments adding to the misery of the situation.

George was woken to reality with a rough shake. It was Moody's first class, and the twins had come soon so that they mad a good impression on the professor. He also planned on asking him for improvements on the sweet, seeing as he was impressed on their work. It was all lost as Moody yelled. "You don't sleep in my classes. Understood? Yes. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! He shouted, as they felt their spines straighten up.

"Good. Whatever you have learnt so far is just basic defence against non human entities. Defence," he said "comprises of One, knowing your enemy, Two listening to, seeing at and speaking with the enemy, and Three," whatever he said came up on the blackboard.

"You decide the course of action next. Tell me your immediate move. What do you do as the enemy comes forth. First year, Professor Grave taught you..." he paused, as Alicia said "Zombies don't exist."

"Yes of course, an important part of knowing your enemy is if he exists. You can't fight an imaginary enemy unless you've been under hallucinogens, or with schizophrenia. NEXT!"

"We learnt to run fast under the next professor. And muggle fighting. Nothing much-"

"Running away from the enemy is probably the best thing you scumbags can do, boy. It shows you two things. Your intellect,a don your physical strength. A punch to the nose can easily fracture it, with an excellent rate of bleeding. Cutting the wrist with a flick of your knife. You can kill a person casting curses with that if he doesn't know a simple healing charm. Next!

"Vampires hate garlic."

"You see, it is possible for you dunderheads to ignore such information. Eating a garlic before fighting a vamp an easily reduce the chances of you joining the undead. Silver with werewolves. Wax and feathers with any maze. A sword or even a good grip on the horn with a Minotaur. A good apology to a centaur." He chuckled. "Next!"

"Never let pixies out from a cage. Actually we did not experience it, but some of the... fourth years of this year did. Professor Lockhart opened and let loose a bunch of Cornish pixies into the classroom." Said George.

"And what do you learn from that?"

"Don't let a tied up enemy free for boasting?" " Never let the enemy loose?" " Don't be Lockhart?"

"All of that" grinned Moody. I got a chance to speak with your previous Professor of the subject, Remus Lupin, and I am under the impression he was well received among you people."

"Now. List out all possibilities of avoiding fight. Start."

He wrote down on the board as they spoke and in the end the board was filled with a flow chart of sorts. Most options were stated by the Ravenclaws.

1. Run away.

2. In case running fails- Use some diversion to escape. Damage opponent's means of tracking you. Formulate a way to trap opponent.

2.1 If opponent uses Unforgivables- try a brave escape, and inform Ministry(sure punishment.). Try freezing enemy

2.2 If opponent stalls - expect reinforcements, call for some of your own, formulate escape routes

2.3 If opponent strikes- retaliate and escape. Escape.

2.4 If opponent's cause is/might be justified- try talking, be ready to escape, anticipate an attack always.

Usually, retaliation is taught to students younger than you all, and second year might be perfect. Your previous teacher's were mostly worthless, with exceptions, of course.

Now then, I suggested the Unforgivables for an option, so which one of you knows those curses, mmm? It's well below OWL standards, but still..." Angeline raised her hand, as did the twins and all the Ravenclaws on the other side of the room. "Miss Johnson?" "The Imperius, The Cruciatus, and The Killing Curse, sir."

"Good, take a point to Gryffindor." See a demonstration... right .. here. Now." He took a jar with 5 spiders. "One for each year." He took one out, and muttered an 'Imperio' as the spider stopped struggling. It dangled, as Moody engorged it. The spider grew up to the size of a Crystal Ball that was used in Divination.

"Illegal to be performed on humans and other sentient species. Total command on the being. We Aurors have received special permission for usage of the Three Curses, at times of need. It was the previous war, you see. Now. Where can this Curse be used and what is the difference between the Confundus and the Imperius? Essay in a 8 foot long parchment to be submitted on Tuesday."

"No consumption of gum in my class, Mr Phelps. You know, your Uncle caused the Stinkitus of 1979. 800 stink pellets on the Prophet. It is a commendable feat, with all the crap they wrote. Don't smile, I just remembered the good times. Still, no gum in class."

He stopped the curse and put on the Cruciatus. The spider writhed, as Moody stopped it. "Not funny. It is torture. You do not get fun out of it. Avada Kedavra." The twitching spider died. "That was Euthanasia. Add a footnote on the properties of light in wandlore, there's more to it in Arithmancy, and why the Killing curse emits a green glow even if cast wrong. Make the essay a 10 feet one. Off you go. CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

How is Moody's class? I did not want the usual classes for the trio, so I wrote it like this instead.

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