A/N Second chapter for the day, so don't miss chapter thirty-six! JCWriter.

Thirty-Seven

In Pyther's Defense

Many students at Hogwarts let out grunts and groans of protest and pain the next morning when the sound of Caretaker Carnegie's trumpet rudely and insistently awakened them. Lucky, who was normally a heavy enough sleeper to doze right through it, was not able to sleep through a panicked rabbit landing on her head, one of his feet landing in her mouth in the process. By the time she had completely woken and had sat up, the rabbit was nowhere to be seen.

"My one and only goal in life is to find a hex that will put that trumpet out of its misery," Connie declared as they got ready for class.

"I knew I forgot something. I was gonna bring a tube of super glue to school to glue the valves shut," Lucky muttered. The two of them tried to ignore the sniffing nose of the door; despite the fact it seemed even more intent than usually to get a good whiff of every one that passed by it.

"We really do need to get those paintings fixed," Connie said in a low voice.

"Ya, but who are we to try an' fix them, that's what I wanna know," Lucky murmured back before stepping off at the second floor. She had decided to skip breakfast since she had potions first, so opted for the coffee and pastry option instead. Lucky looked thoughtfully at the folder on her desk with her name on it, opening it to find that despite its slender appearance it had several more pages with pockets inside, rather like a binder, and some of her notes from last semester seemed to have been copied and were in there as well.

"Hiya, Lucky!" Ambrose said cheerfully as he came in from breakfast, sitting down beside her. "Great to be back, isn't it?"

"Maybe, and maybe not," Lucky said, still suspicious of the folder on her desk, since most the notes in it were lists of all the horrendous memorization they had to do of herbs and potencies, and only the first few days of their notes on alchemist notation were in there.

"Good morning, everyone," Jennifer said as she came in the classroom with a bright smile. "I trust you had a decent holiday! I'm sure most of you have already heard that there has been some curriculum changes over the break? Well, each professor gets to decide how to handle that, but rest assured, you no longer have to bring your books to any of my classes," she said, pausing tolerantly for the burst of enthusiasm from the majority of students there. "Today, we're going to be reviewing a lot of the ways of testing potion ingredients by sight, smell and feel like we did last year, so everyone get out your kits. After that, we're going straight into learning how to make basic testing potions to take it one step further. I've included all the potency lists we did last semester…you know, the ones you were supposed to memorize…" she said mischievously.

"We'll be using them as reference, and I think as we go through them you'll start to understand what they mean and why they're important. You'll also find some worksheets I've put in for alchemists notation. Those are extra work, you don't have to do them; and although you won't get points for them, there's going to be a bonus question on them on your tests. Of course, I advise you to go ahead and try to do them, especially if you are already considering any fields involving alchemy or mathematical formulas." Lucky squinted, a bit suspicious that 'mathematical formulas' had been directed at her. "All right, everyone, folders down, kits on the desks. Did everyone get fresh mistletoe this year?"

After that, it was nothing but hands-on training the rest of the day, and not just in Potions. In fact, every major class seemed to have something else in mind rather than cracking open any sort of book. Professor Andrew was busy teaching them magic recycling; Professor Sprout had them elbows deep in muck learning about soil preparation while she lectured on seeding magic perennials. And Professor Tonks took all her classes to the indoor gym for what turned out being nothing short of a class on basic sparring with some of the charms they had learned earlier in the semester, but putting the emphasis on hand movements and dictation rather than full body movements as the club normally did. Even Professor Scribe announced that their classes would comprise of guests speakers the rest of the year; the homework's emphasis back on research and composition papers as they had been in years past, often asking what they felt an event's significance was and why. Only the fifth and seventh years seemed to have any sort of formal homework that semester; most of them working out of study guide folders except for a couple of seventh year classes that were given new books free of charge. Even they seemed very content with their new class agenda, and at dinner everyone was eager to hear from each other what professors they hadn't had yet were doing to finish out the term.

"From what I'm hearing, it sounds like what they're all planning to teach isn't that different than what they taught last year," Tim said after thoughtfully listening to the other Gryffindors for awhile. "They're simply being a bit more inventive of how they're teaching it so they can avoid using any more books than they have to."

"Wait until our aunt finds out about that," Reggie smirked. "Professor Weasley has never taught anything not in the book before."

"Then perhaps it'll be good for her," Connie said.

"Nah, we'll probably go to books when she gets back," Reggie said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "So what do you suppose our Defense class is going to teach?"

"From what I've heard of Pyther, prolly how to run in ten different speeds," Lucky said. Reggie and Tim both chuckled.

"Oh, come on, Lucky, he can't be as bad as all of that or the Headmaster wouldn't have hired him," Connie said. "Besides, I think it'll be rather interesting having a vampire teacher."

"Sure, long as he doesn't get hungry," Reggie snorted.

"I don't think the Headmaster would have hired him if he thought he'd turn us into lunch, either," Kay said. "All the same, it'll be interesting to hear about it, won't it?"

"Yeah," Reggie said thoughtfully, and then brightened. "Anybody wanna take a pool on who the first victim is going to be?"

If Tim had allowed Reggie to conduct that pool, Francis Pyther might have been one of the first to throw in a coin; knowing without a doubt that the first victim was bound to be Francis himself. Sure enough, it came in his very first class, first year Ravenclaw-Slytherin. Murmuring and sniggering could be heard from his office as they came in and took their places, and when he walked to the classroom door he began to smell a distinct odor that could only be one thing.

It didn't take long to spot the culprits; a pair of young brothers on the Slytherin side sitting with their hands neatly folded on their desks with heavily strung garlands of garlic around their necks. He even knew their last name before he even checked the chart, but did so for good measure anyhow.

"Rather interesting necklaces you have, Mr. Coventry and Mr. Coventry…a bit unoriginal perhaps," Pyther said calmly. "Or perhaps you're afraid of a mosquito invasion?"

"Professor Tonks says we should try to prepare for any situation," Don said.

"True enough, but I'm afraid it's too early in the year for mosquitoes. That's how that whole myth got started, you see. Back in the dark ages before our societies were as hidden as they are now, there was a lot of suppositions made…perhaps to prevent all out panics. Rather like how many believed smelling flowers would help prevent the plague and such. Well, after it was discovered that garlic did an acceptable job of keeping mosquitoes away and they sucked blood for food, some person or another decided perhaps that maybe it would also work on the large variety too. As sure as ducks float, everyone was carrying it, wearing it, and eating it. Rather annoying really, but there you are. I suppose there's worse things to be compared to…not sure what at the moment…but either way, if it's malaria you fear or perhaps you're simply trying to keep the girls away, go right ahead and wear it. Something else, Mr. Coventry?"

"Don't vampires have heightened senses, including smell?" Don challenged him.

"Some do yes, after taking a fair amount of victims. Most vampires gain strength and prowess the more they hunt the unsuspecting. I have never hunted, Mr. Coventry, and short of fairly keen eyesight in the dark, I'd say my other senses are no better than an average human. So um, any other questions or myths that need to be debunked before I start?" Helena and Pimra grinned at each other, but nobody said anything.

The next evening, it was Connie and Lucky's turn to experience their new Defense teacher, making themselves comfortable next to each other near the back while discussing one of the rumors they had heard from the night before when he walked in with a smile, nodding in greeting and waiting for them to settle down on their own.

"My name is Mr. Pyther. I will not profess to be any sort of professor in this subject; so mister will more than suffice. I am a graduate of this school, an artist by trade, undead by circumstance, and a pacifist by choice, but I have several centuries experience in surviving, and hopefully it'll be some of that experience that you'll take away with you during the weeks I'll be filling in. I have been browsing through all the books on this subject, both this year and in years past, and to be perfectly honest, I don't much care for the tone of any of them. In all cases, albeit your last semester's books being the more extreme…I've found that they simply tell you the most effective way to deal with certain terrible situations, but never the most humane way," he said. Lucky and Connie exchanged glances. "And I haven't seen much emphasis on the fact that the best way to defend yourself against x curse or creature is not to get yourself in that position in the first place. If you don't go out looking for trouble, there's less likelihood you're going to find it. In the past, you've learned how to identify curses on Pandora's Box, how to cautiously open it, and what vicious spells you need to exterminate whatever's in it. It's time you learned how not to open the thing in the first place and how to walk away."

"That would be running speed one," Lucky murmured in Connie's ear.

"Did you say something, Miss Snape?" Pyther inquired, seeing her movement. Lucky nodded without missing a beat.

"I heard we're not having any more random fear tests, is that true?" Lucky asked.

"Well, not as long as I'm teaching this class, you're not, no," Francis said, a few sighs of relief audible in response. "I'm not about to subject all of you to something I myself wouldn't have fared well with at your age. In fact, I was nearly killed with a fear spell."

"But sir?" Connie asked, putting her hand up after the fact, but Francis simply nodded to her. "I thought one of the things that classified them as a fear spell was that they didn't cause any direct harm, otherwise they'd be something else…"

"Then I would have to disagree. Fear can be very deadly…yes, well, I suppose that goes without saying, since that's how I ended up this way," he said, pointing at his fangs. "And probably why this school has long taught students and defend against them and help desensitize you against them, and no doubt that works, but…fear isn't something that should always be suppressed…it can sometimes save your life just as surely as it can take it. It's an instinct put in place in mankind to insure its survival; to remind you that you're mortal, to remind you what the stakes are, to keep you from getting overconfident and to remind you that you do have limitations. Bravado can kill you just as quickly as fear can. You're better off if you learn to live with your fears rather than to try and bury them. Especially since when you try and bury them, it simply makes it more likely they'll come out in full force at the worst possible time…at least, that's always been my experience," Francis said. Lucky frowned and looked at the folder in front of her distractedly.

"So, in short, the answer is 'No,' we won't be doing them," Francis continued. "Although I'm sure we'll talk a lot about how fear can be useful as well as harmful during our time together. But for right now, why don't you open those folders on your desks and look over the fear curses we need to cover over the next couple of weeks. After that, I'm going to hand you some worksheets a few essay questions from your previous tests from the start of the term. Your job will be researching each one and finding alternate…and less lethal…ways of defending yourself in each situation. Hopefully it'll help inspire you when we start getting into avoiding bad situations after your test on countercurses."

As concerned as the rest had the staff had been about Francis filling in at Defense, by the end of the week they had begun to become convinced that perhaps the Headmaster wasn't quite so mad to put him in the position after all. Of course, Jennifer had known before that Francis was a good teacher, and his uncanny ability to relate to his students had quickly won them over to his style and way of doing things.

Even Tonks, who had been less than enthusiastic about the idea of the course taking on a pacifistic approach, was forced to admit that the students were responding quite favorably and had more enthusiasm about the course; although she half suspected that part of that was the lack of having to constantly be on their toes in case the next fear spell drill erupted. Perhaps in some small way that was what inspired Tonks to seek Francis out on Thursday night, although she never would have dreamed that her simple suggestion would go so far to shake up what had been an otherwise perfect first week for the new instructor. For Tonks had run into an old friend in the Charms classroom closet when she was cleaning up for the evening, and knew for a fact that Francis had third year classes his first two periods that next night. Fortunately, Severus got wind of what was going on the next day when he had gone to check on progress in the dungeons and happened to notice the closet sitting in the Defense room.

"Heya girls. Homework done?" Dale asked when he caught up with Laura and Lindsay in the hall.

"Easily," Lindsay agreed, grinning at Laura. "I had werewolves and zombies. You?"

"Golems and vampires, although for the life of me I can't think of why anyone would want to save a golem, they're just animated, really," Dale said.

"Well, technically so are vampires, but I dare you to argue the point to Mr. Pyther," Laura put in. "Personally, I really like his approach on things, quite refreshing."

"Actually, it reminds me of your father's, Laura. Prevention versus what to do after it hits the fan," Dale chuckled.

"Considering their position, can you blame them?" Laura asked as the three of them walked in. Bobby March, already at his spot, stared at Dale openly as the three walked over and took their seats.

"Finally noticing there are other fish in the sea?" Bobby challenged Dale, who was waiting for Lindsay to sit down before taking his own seat

"We're all just friends," Laura said as she took her own seat beside Bobby.

"There's no such thing as 'just friends,'" Bobby said defensively. "They wait until you actually believe you're 'just friends' and then they latch on to you!" he said, demonstrating by grabbing Dale from the back and shaking him.

"Hey, cut it out!" Dale chuckled, swatting at him.

"So what's with the extra closet anyhow?" Lindsay said, pretending to ignore the exchange completely.

"I don't know, but I saw it shake and rattle a few times, so I'm guessing a demonstration," Bobby said.

"Already?" Lindsay said with a frown, wishing she didn't always get stuck in the front row.

"Probably just a boggart," Dale said with a shrug. Lindsay suddenly paled even further.

"Laura, can we change seats?" she asked quietly.

"Absolutely," Laura said and got up.

"Don't you think Mr. Pyther's going to notice?" Bobby asked, while Dale was busy trying to figure out what was wrong.

"I don't care. I'm not going anywhere near that thing," Lindsay said firmly.

"Good evening, everyone!" Francis said with a smile as he came in from his office. "I hope everyone gave their best efforts on their first assignments. Did anyone have any problem finding a non-lethal solution to his or her problem? Bobby?"

"No, not exactly, but I did want to know why anyone would want a non-lethal solution to a bog wight. They're not sentient, let alone alive. Wouldn't it be better to put it out its misery?" Bobby asked.

"This wasn't a philosophical assignment, Mr. March, it's to show you that there are a variety of other methods open to you," Francis said calmly, taking his assignment. "Not in the least of which being simply to choose not to walk alone in a bog at night to begin with. Thank you, Lindsay," he said, taking Laura and Dale's papers without mentioning the switch and moving to the next two rows. Lindsay relaxed a little.

"We're going to have a bit of a demonstration today on a creature easy to subdue without killing it or harming it other than getting it to move along from its hiding spot…a boggart. Some of you may have encountered them already," he said with a smile as some of the students looked wary than the others, but no one more than Lindsay. "This particular one has been in this castle well over sixty years, and I'm told survived quite a number of these demonstrations when he finds somewhere particularly annoying to haunt, but rather like a particular poltergeist I could name is an accepted presence in this castle. Boggarts are often categorized as a vampiric creature since they feed off of fear, although personally I've never liked the whole energy vampire concept any more than I like getting compared to a mosquito…but I suppose that's neither here nor there. Does anyone know the best way to subdue a boggart? Yes, Laura?"

"Laughter, classically speaking the riddikulus spell," Laura said calmly.

"Very good! Do you know it already?" Francis asked, and Laura nodded. "Care to give it a shot, then?"

Laura nodded and got up, walking over to the closet doors. With a flick of the wand, Francis unlatched the door and opened them, listening to everyone gasp as they saw the huge snarling werewolf standing inside looking as if it were ready to snap Laura's head off.

"Riddikulus!" Laura cast firmly, and the werewolf suddenly appeared in a full-length flannel gown and lace night bonnet, resembling the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. Laughs and sniggers went out in response, and Francis snapped the doors back shut with a chuckle of his own.

"Very well done, Miss Lupin, ten points for Ravenclaw!" Francis said with appreciation as Laura took her seat. "That could not have gone better, and the thing about it that mattered the most is the fact that she knew exactly what to expect. She knew what fear the Boggart was going to bring out, and planned in advance how to tackle it. This is what I mean when I say learning to live with your fears is more effective than suppressing them. Knowing what they are and understanding why they're there are the first steps in dealing with them. That said, some of you will more likely meet some unpleasant surprises on the other side of that door if you don't know yourself so well. If you're not certain what you'll see, I want you to simply concentrate on what makes you laugh. If you know what it's going to be, concentrating on making it look…well…ridiculous," he said mischievously. "So everyone get up and line up in front of the closet and we'll all have a go at it," Francis said, but as they all got up, he noticed that one student wasn't moving. "Come along, Lindsay, it'll be all right."

"I'd rather not," Lindsay said, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't have brought Humphrey in here if I didn't think he was something everyone here couldn't handle," he said coaxingly, but she shook her head again.

"Very well, Miss Black," Francis said at last with a nod. "I suggest you stay out of its sights and watch from a distance then."

"You're going to let her get away with that?" Cheryl asked. Laura gave her a dirty look.

"Miss Kingsley, one of the things I want to emphasize while I'm teaching this class is knowing your limitations. If Miss Black feels for whatever reason she can't handle this exercise, I'm not going to force her into it," Francis said. Across the room, Lindsay relaxed slightly. "Now, why don't you go first, Cheryl?" Half tempted to put up a fuss so she could sit down too, Cheryl sighed and stepped up in front of the cabinet.

As Pyther released the door, a giant black snake came barreling out and her, and for a moment she paled and stared at it a moment, only half aware of Pyther's coaxing before she finally cast, the snake suddenly tying itself up in knots. Everyone burst out laughing and Cheryl backed off with relief, grinning smugly. Dale was next, and he shuffled up with a suspicion of what it was going to be at the Boggart zeroed in on him. Sure enough, he found himself standing in front of a man wearing a strange hockey mask and carrying a machete.

"Riddikulus!" he cast quickly, and the figure was suddenly wearing a pink ballet outfit and carrying a large lollipop instead of a knife.

"You're afraid of a hockey player?" Bobby asked critically when the laughter died down.

"Never let a seven-year old stay up all night watching horror flicks," Dale advised his friend, who shrugged in confusion.

"Come, Mr. March, you're up," Francis told him, and Bobby came over, wand ready but completely clueless to what was going to come out.

So he couldn't be more surprised with a creature that he knew couldn't possibly exist came whiffling and burbling towards him with massive claws and giant teeth in a frothing maul looking every bit as real as his father once described the creature that ate rotten little magic born for dinner. Bobby backed up quite abruptly as the Jabberwocky took a step forward, the students behind him protesting loudly as he pushed back into them.

"It's all right, Mr. March! Think of something positive! Clowns or pixies or butterflies or anything!" Francis advised him, and Bobby nodded and pointed his wand at it and tried to cast. But as the monster gnashes his jaws and snapped at him, Bobby found he couldn't speak the words. "Hang on! I think you need a breather…" Francis said and stepped up in front of him with his wand out.

Francis had expected to see Rafe in one of his foulest moods. He had even worked out a very lovely counter in his mind to counter it. He would have looked very entertaining in a bunny suit. But to his complete surprise and utmost terror, the Boggart suddenly changed from the briefest image of Rafe to that of someone else completely.

It was Alicia, only never as he had seen her before with a face pale, grey, dead. Thin black strands replaced her golden hair, and the green eyes replaced with flaming red eyes filled with hate and a hunger for death. She was furiously angry, angry perhaps that he had made her that way, baring her fangs at him in a soulless rage.

Letting out a blood-curdling shriek that made all the students jump away from him in fear, Pyther suddenly lost consciousness and crumpled to the floor. A panic quickly ensued, the Boggart quickly taking advantage of the situation by scaring every student nearby, changing forms so fast that by the time one recovered to try and stop him he had moved on to the next.

"Laura, do something!" Lindsay screamed, and Laura jumped out in front trying to get its attention, while Dale came around the other side, shouting at it as well.

But the Boggart wasn't interested in unfrightened students when there were so many easier targets in the room, and as soon it spotted Lindsay cowering in the corner, the Boggart suddenly growing immense in size as it turned into a huge dragon and headed straight towards her. Lindsay dropped her wand in terror and curled into a ball, covering her head with her hands and preparing for flames to burst out around her. The memories of that night her parents died pushed to the forefront of her mind despite her best attempts to stop them and began wishing everything around her would just go away. But a mere second later, in what seemed interminably long to Lindsay herself, she noticed that the room had gotten quiet and shakily peeked around to see the back of some black brocade robes.

The rest of the class looked on in bewilderment as Headmaster Snape faced off with a mirror image of himself. The class was so stunned by the boggart's chosen form that they quieted down and watched with anticipation, momentarily wondering which was which. But Severus simply sighed and grabbed Humphrey by the collar, pulling him over to the closet.

"In," Severus said, tossing the hapless boggart in the closet and latching the door. He paused and gazed at Lindsay searchingly for a moment, but Laura had already reached her side and was helping her to her feet. "Everyone to your seats, please," he said, tapping Dale on his shoulder from where he knelt beside Francis. Obediently Dale got up and Severus took his place, taking out a small phial and waving it under the vampire's nose.

Francis suddenly blinked, gazing in confusion at Severus.

"What happened?" Francis asked hazily.

"You opened Pandora's Box, Mr. Pyther," Severus said dryly and then got up, pulling Francis up with him. At the sight of his class, what had happened came flooding back in, and he found himself wondering how long Severus had been there. "Why don't you go sit over there and recover and I'll finish this lesson?" he said, and despite his suggestive tone, Pyther knew it was anything but a suggestion as he found himself heading back to his desk well out of view of the closet doors. "Miss Black, would you go sit by Mr. Pyther, please? Now, who here has successfully finished this exercise? Sit over there…everyone else, line up in front of me. Whose turn was it when things got out of hand?" he asked. Sheepishly, Bobby stepped up, eyeing the door warily. "What did it come out as, Mr. March?"

"A Jabberwocky, sir," Bobby said.

"Hm. Well there are worse things to be afraid of than creatures that don't exist, I suppose. I assume you have some idea now how to negate it?" Severus asked. Bobby nodded. "Fine, then we'll begin again. If you anyone sees something unexpected, allow yourself time to identify it before proceeding; it won't attack you except for taking a form it thinks will scare you. Keep your wand ready, but hold up your left hand if you need a pause. Let's begin again, shall we?"

Bobby was more than ready to get it over with when the door was unlatched again; the frightening form taking shape again only to be immediately to have its jaws trapped in a muzzle and its claws covered pink wool mittens knitted on the ends of a red scarf that wrapped around the creatures neck tight enough that it almost looked like a giraffe with a cold. A chuckle broke out from around him, and Severus called the next, getting a more enthusiastic response from the student who put a gas mask on a Dementor.

At first many of the responses were timid, still nervous as they were from what happened earlier, but as more got through them confidence began to build again. Once Severus had to step in a moment for someone to regain their composure after seeing their big brother standing there, but there was something very funny about just seeing two Headmasters standing in the room that made it easy to remember it was a boggart and not what they were thinking it was. The line had to pause only once more for Tuck Porter, who had the misfortune for none other than Francis Pyther to form in front of him. The class broke out in laughter even before Tuck had a chance to cast any spell at all, his face growing redder by the second. But for good measure, Severus murmured the spell under his breath and the boggart suddenly went into a swan dive to the floor. The class was roaring so loudly and so close to tears after that that Humphrey decided to slink back into the closet to hide. Sitting in the back of the class, Francis Pyther was very much wishing he could do the same thing.

"I suppose he's had enough for now, best get back into your seats," Severus suggested before walking over to where Francis and Lindsay were sitting. "Come, Miss Black, you and I are going to have a talk. I don't suppose this is the only demonstration you had planned tonight, Mr. Pyther?"

"Um, well, I was going to go over boggarts with my class next period too, but under the circumstances…"

"Fine," Severus said, cutting him off abruptly. "I'll be back in half an hour or so to do that demonstration for you as well just…don't try anything until I get back," he advised, a padlock appearing on the door of the closet as he lead Lindsay out.

Francis sighed, looking at the rest of his lesson plan and wondering how he was going to get through it, and found himself merely assigning them their homework and letting them work on it for the rest of the class instead. How could he have let things so out of control? Fainting in the middle of class like that…and in the process doing everything he was trying to teach them not to do. By the time Severus got back, Francis was more then ready to get the whole night over with and gladly handed his Gryffindor-Slytherin class back to Severus…although he was more than a little surprised to see that Lindsay had come with him and Severus asked her to demonstrate to the class on how it was done. There was a strange look on the girl's face when Severus led her to the closet; haunted, but determined. Severus patiently waited for her to decide when she was ready and opened up the closet, the rest of the class reacting as a large dragon tried to make its way out of the closet.

"Riddikulus!" Lindsay intoned, flicking her wand at the dragon, which suddenly turned into a fat little canary with undersized wings. Chirping in surprise at the change, the canary fell to the floor with a squeak. A burst of laughter rang out from the other students, while Lindsay smiled in obvious relief.

"Well done, Miss Black, ten points for Hufflepuff…and you have homework to pick up, I believe," Severus told her with a nod, apparently losing all interest in her as he began lining up the class itself. Pyther smiled at her warmly and handed her over her notebook and homework, curious to what Severus might have said to get her to step up like that.

After Severus went through the exercise with the rest of the third years without incident, the Headmaster quickly nodded and excused himself from the classroom, heading back to his study as if nothing had happened. And when the class ended, Francis Pyther went into his office and stared at a letter waiting for him there. Recognizing the handwriting immediately, he returned it unopened.