Chapter 11


Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. *

While he had been expecting it he still found it incredibly annoying. He was actually quite thankful for having been brought up in the muggle world. He couldn't imagine how horrible it might have been if he had had to endure this level of scrutiny his entire life. On the other hand perhaps if he hadn't been away for so long they would have gotten used to him by now and the intense public interest in him would have died out. Another thing he was amazingly thankful for was the fact that his other set of memories included tons of knowledge about Hogwarts. The other first years were constantly getting lost thanks to Hogwart's moving staircases and corridors which seemed to change constantly. He also kept having to dodge Ron Weasley who seemed hell bent on getting to know him. To avoid him Harry had been forcing himself to get up earlier than the others in his dorm. It helped that Ron was already notorious for being the last one out of bed in the mornings. In addition he made sure that he always sat next to Hermione in class so that Ron couldn't accost him there. Instead of hanging out in the common room he spent a lot of time with Hermione in the library. He had managed to avoid the red-headed menace till then but he knew that was a state of affairs that couldn't last forever.

So far that week they had already had Herbology, Astronomy, Transfiguration and History of Magic (which was just as soporific as Harry remembered) so he'd asked Hermione if she wanted to study with him that evening. She had been a little ticked off at him because Draco Malfoy had cornered her earlier that day and insisted on giving her a present and had refused to take no for an answer. Of course Hermione being Hermione came right out and told him that she was a muggleborn and not related to Ravenclaw at all. Fortunately Malfoy had still refused to believe her and instead started insisting to her that she had nothing to worry about as he would never ever dream of revealing her secrets to the other students. Hermione found it all terribly embarrassing and blamed Harry for the whole thing. He was hoping to get back on her good side before long. After the usual delicious Hogwarts dinner, Harry and Hermione got together in the Gryffindor common room. He saw Ron coming towards him but he quickly pulled out his books and sure enough that was enough to deter Ron from approaching them.

"So did you want to get the homework out of the way? We've got the herbology essay and the transfiguration essay as well" asked Hermione.

"Nah, finished those already."

"When did you get the time to do that? We just got the transfiguration assignment today."

"During History of Magic of course, what were you doing during that class?"

"Harry! Why weren't you taking notes? What will you study from for the exams?"

"Oh for gods sake Hermione, don't tell me you took notes for that class."

"Well, of course, we'll need them."

"Crap, didn't I tell you about this? Binns has been giving the same lectures ever since he became a ghost, they haven't changed at all ever since he died."

"Still, you do need to take notes."

"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. Wait just a second." Harry ran up to his dorm room and returned a few minutes later with a ridiculously thick file folder.

"There you go, that's your copy."

"My copy of what?"

"History of Magic notes for the next seven years of course. They were compiled by a Ravenclaw student a few decades ago and ever since they've been available from the upper year Ravenclaws. I'd have gotten only this years, but they only sell them as a set. So there you go, you're all set for History notes. I already verified, they're word for word exactly what he said in class, plus they have additional material on stuff that he forgets to cover but which generally shows up in the exams."

"That's - that's...why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"Sorry, sorry, must have slipped my mind, but hey I get points for picking up an extra copy for you don't I?"

"Yeah, I guess you do. How much do I owe you for this?"

"Forget it, Malfoy can't be the only one allowed to give you gifts now can he?"

Hermione gave Harry her best glare which unfortunately for her just seemed to amuse him.

"Anyway, so if you've already finished your homework what did you need help with?"

"Who said anything about me needing help?"

"Arghh, then why did you want to study together?"

"Cause it's better then studying alone, isn't it? So what do you need help in?"

"Me? But-But I thought you would need my help?" said a surprised Hermione.

"That's remarkably egotistical of you Hermione."

"But you said you wanted to be friends with me because I was smart. Why then if you don't need help?"

"Hermione, that was only one of the reasons I gave. I prefer hanging out with smart people because they're more interesting to talk to, and I want to be friends with you because I like you not because I need you to do my homework. Now do you want help with the herbology essay or would you like to do something else?"

"Well, I guess since you've already done the essay we could do something else."

"Okay, I've got an idea. Tell me, you must have done accidental magic as a child right? Did you ever get something, any type of object to come to you?"

"Yes, that was one of my first incidents, there was this book that I wanted to read but it was on a shelf that was too high for me to reach, I kept jumping up but I couldn't reach it and then it just fell off the shelf."

"Great, that kind of thing is one of the most common types of accidental magic, although for most kids it's because they can't reach the cookie jar or something." Harry pulled out a book from his bag, hiding the cover from Hermione. "This book is the best book you will ever read. No, No" Harry said pulling the book out of Hermione's reach. "You can't just be handed it, it is a very special book and the only way you will ever get to read it is if you make it come to you. Now I want you to imagine the book coming to your hands. Visualize it flying from my hand right into yours."

Hermione glared at the book. "Nothing's happening."

"Hermione, this book holds the answers to life, the universe and everything. If you don't get to read this book you might just fail all your exams and then they'll send you back to a non magical school. Do you want that? Do you want to fail? Come on Hermione, unless this book comes to you, you will never ever be able to learn magic properly. Are you a witch or not? Now make it come to you."

The book flew from Harry's hand and smacked into Hermione's hands with a thump. Harry smiled at a surprised Hermione.

"Congratulations Hermione, you just performed a wandless summoning charm."

"Wandless magic! But that's supposed to be terribly advanced. They don't even teach it here at Hogwarts."

"What is accidental magic Hermione? It's all wandless, right? The only difference is that one is controlled and the other is not. Now, how do you feel?"

"A bit tired."

"That's to be expected, wandless magic does require a lot more effort. You should rest a bit before trying again."

"Okay." Hermione finally got around to looking at the book. "Hey, this is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

"I did tell you that it held the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything."

"Yes, but I didn't think you meant 42. That was amazing Harry, you have to teach me more stuff like that."

"Not a problem."

o-o00o-o

The next day was their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson which everybody had been looking forward to. Unfortunately it was yet another class with the Slytherins. Professor Quirrell was still sporting the turban which he told everyone had been given to him by an African prince as a thank you for getting rid of a zombie. It looked absurd but Quirrell thought that since he had started wearing it to hide the face in the back of his head he might as well continue in case Dumbledore asked him why he had stopped wearing it. Thankfully he had decided to forego the stutter.

The first years entered the DADA classroom to find Professor Quirrell waiting for them. He waited until they had all seated themselves before starting.

"Good morning class, I am Professor Quirrell and today I will be introducing you to Defense Against the Dark Arts. For now please put your wands away. Now who can tell me...Mr. Weasley you seem to be wearing some of your breakfast" said Quirrell pointing at a spot on Ron's Robes.

"Do you mind?" said Quirrell taking his wand and pointing it at the spot. On getting an embarrassed nod from Ron, he cast a scourgify which vanished the spot.

"That will be one point from Gryffindor Mr. Weasley. Would anyone in the class like to inform Mr. Weasley of the mistake he just made?"

"He shouldn't have dropped food on himself" sneered Malfoy.

"That was a thoroughly useless answer Mr Malfoy. Anybody else? No? Let me give you a hint then. Mr. Weasley do I look like your Mother? Your maid perhaps? No? Am I here to teach you Defense Against The Dark Arts or to do your laundry? Then why did you let me cast a spell on you Mr. Weasley? When a wizard points his wand at you IT IS A THREAT, and you have to treat it as a threat."

"But you're a professor" protested Ron.

"And? What do you know about me Mr. Weasley, Apart from that useless fact? Have I taken any oaths not to harm you? No! I could just as easily have cast a cutting spell that would have left you bleeding to death. For those of you too slow to understand my point let me be absolutely clear. When you were handed your wands you were being given a deadly weapon. A wand can be used to torture, maim or kill. Magic is not all unicorns and rainbows. This piece of wood is also the deadliest weapon that most of you will ever handle and it must be treated with respect. Now Mr. Weasley, what is Rule No 1?"

"Uhh, never let anyone point a wand at you?"

"Almost correct Mr. Weasley take five points for Gryffindor for helping me illustrate my point. Rule No 1 is that if you see a wand pointed at you - it is a threat and you will treat it as such. Duck, run away, do whatever you have to but do not let anyone you do not absolutely trust cast a spell on you. For our muggleborn students, when a wizard points a wand at you it is exactly the same as someone aiming a loaded gun at your head. Now can anyone guess what Rule No 2 is?"

The class was silent and absolutely no hands were raised.

"Rule No 2 is that you never ever point your wand at a person. Whenever you are holding your wands they must be pointed straight down at the floor at all times. If I see any of you wandering the halls with your wands pointed anywhere else but at the floor I will deduct points. Repeat offenders will be banned from my class. Is that clear? I said - Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor Quirrell" chorused the class.

"Good. Now Rule No 3 is also very simple. Be aware of your field of fire. Right now you are just starting to learn and will have little or no control of your magic, so you will never ever cast a spell where it might hit a person, you will only practice spells when your field of fire is absolutely clear. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor Quirrell" chorused the class.

"Good. Rule No 4 is that you will never ever use what I have to teach you against another student. If I ever catch a student hexing another student I will have that student in detention for the rest of the year, and I will refuse to ever teach that student anything ever again. I don't care if your father is on the board of governors" this was with a quick glare at Malfoy, "or the Minister of Magic himself, if I hear of you hexing another student I will make sure you are punished most severely."

"Now, there is a small circle on each of your desks. Does everyone see it? Good, take out your wands and touch the circle with them." Quirrell waited a few minutes then waved his wand at the blackboard which filled with the names of the class. Each name had a time next to it.

"That is the amount of time taken by each of you to touch the circle. I see Mr. Potter managed to touch the circle first with a time of 2 seconds. That is very good Mr. Potter - for a beginner anyway, take one point for Gryffindor. Miss Brown could you tell me why it took you more than a minute to touch the circle with your wand?"

"I had to get my wand out of my bag Professor."

"And that leads me to my final rule. A wand is useless unless you can get to it quickly. If you had been in a combat situation Miss Brown, in that one minute you could have been killed many times over. Always make sure your wand is easily and quickly accessible. You might want to look into wand holsters and their like. Remember to take good care of your wand, keep it clean and well maintained, it may mean the difference between life and death someday. I want each of you to write these rules down now. Remember them for I will not be repeating this lesson but I will definitely be enforcing these rules."

Quirrell gave the class a few minutes while they all copied down his rules.

"Now, the name of this class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, can anyone give me a definition of what the Dark Arts are?" Hermione's hand was reaching for the sky. "Yes, Miss Granger."

"The Dark Arts consist of spells and rituals that are used for destructive purposes. It can refer to any type of magic that is mainly used to cause harm."

"Very good Miss Granger, take a point for Gryffindor. Now class, if I simply teach you all how to defend yourself against dark magic, do you think that is enough to keep you safe? Is Dark Magic the only thing you have to defend yourself from? Can you give me an example of a purely light spell? Yes, Mr Finnegan."

"Well there's Lumos."

"Very good Mr. Finnegan, the Lumos charm can of course can be used to provide light, as such I'm sure you'll will all agree that it is purely light magic that could never be used to harm anyone. Correct? Put up your hand if you agree."

Almost the entire class raised their hands. Professor Quirrell raised his wand and a bright flash of light blinked from the tip of his wand leaving the class blinking with watering eyes.

"How many of you are now seeing spots? That was just a variant of Lumos that was developed for photography. Just a little more power and I could have blinded all of you for at least several minutes. Extending that spell could permanently damage your eyes. Now in the dark arts there is a blinding curse but why would I ever need it if I can blind you with a simple Lumos? Even that simple flash I just did might give me an edge in a duel. It does not matter if magic is Light or Dark children, what matters is how you use it and what you do with it."

Professor Quirrell then went on to demonstrate several other offensive uses for some common charms and spells, even going so far as to conjure up a training dummy to demonstrate upon. Finally he called the class to a close.

"For your homework assignment you will each select 5 spells from The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 textbook and describe how you would use it in an offensive manner. In addition you will also select 5 spells from the examples of Dark spells provided in Chapter 4 of your DADA textbooks and describe how you might use them to help someone. In our next class we shall be covering basic jinxes and their counters so read ahead on those, but do not practice them on your own."

Quirrell dismissed the class but signaled Harry to stay behind for a minute.

"What did you think of your first DADA class Mr. Potter?"

"It was great Professor, although I did see some of the students looking a bit green when you showed them how to drown someone using the Aquamenti charm."

"Excellent, it's very important to impress upon them exactly how dangerous magic can be. Can't have foolish children playing around with spells they don't fully understand. A little nausea now may save their lives someday."

o-o00o-o

*Excerpt from Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone