Gellert was sitting at the staff table, which was inevitably the first place everyone looked when they arrived in the hall. The question of DADA had been buzzing around the train for the whole trip, and now they could only assume that the post had been filled by Gellert. She could hear the mixed emotions in the murmuring, some people thought it would be great because he was a powerful wizard, others were concerned that he'd be teaching them dark magic and others still were afraid that he'd practice dark magic on them. From what she gathered, everyone would be handing in their homework on time atleast. Her own opinion was certainly mixed; he was without doubt a powerful and knowledgeable wizard, but he also didn't classify between dark and light which meant she worried about the subject matter that he would teach.

She took a seat with Ron, then fixed on the students still flooding in. She had expected Harry to be here already, having been late to the carriages. She felt Gellert's eyes on her and looked up to the table to see him lean towards Professor Dumbledore and whisper something. The headmaster's eyes darted over to her too and he said something in reply, then Gellert stood and strode from the hall.

He returned soon after the sorting, a bloody Harry and a fiercely scowling Snape in tow, in fact, Hermione was certain she'd never seen him look quite so sour before. Harry had a manic grin on his face as he took a seat next to Hermione.

'Gellert threatened Snape!' he exclaimed as soon as he sat down, 'told him that if he didn't let me take potions, he'd oust his secret to the death eaters.'

'What secret d'you think he's talking about?' Ron asked eagerly. Harry claimed to not know, but Hermione could tell he was lying.

'You don't think he'd tell them Snape's working for the order do you? Hermione asked nervously, looking up at the high table.

Dumbledore and Gellert were talking again, McGonagall listening in but most of the other teachers were either studiously ignoring his presence or shooting him blatantly terrified glances. Even Trelawney was present, which would have garnered more attention had Grindelwald not also been sitting at the table.

The hall fell silent when Dumbledore stood, the announcements the same as every other year. He introduced Gellert, which garnered the usual polite applause. The dark wizard didn't even look up from where he had somehow managed to save a generous slice of chocolate gateau.

'I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe.' Dumbledore continued. Gellert was paying attention now though, although that was perhaps that was because he'd picked the cherry off the top of his cake and was slowly nibbling bits off it. 'The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them — in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours.' Harry was glaring across the hall at Malfoy, who was levitating his spoon and not paying any attention to Dumbledore either. 'I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety.' Professor Dumbledore finished and the students climbed to their feet with a rumble of voices.

Hermione's second lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts, she wouldn't say she dawdled on the way there, just that she took the time to check the homework they had been assigned for Runes. The door had just opened when she arrived, so she filed in behind the rest of the students.

It was surprisingly normal inside. She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected – perhaps some Germanic castle or a dungeon. Instead, the room was decorated almost entirely in the same way as it had been when Lockhart was here, although now the portraits were all of various famous witches and wizards. Gellert leant against his desk, wand tapping his thigh as he counted them in. Once everyone was in, he waved his hand and the door shut with a gentle click.

'Welcome to sixth year Defence.' Gellert began, 'you have probably heard many different things about me, I doubt even half of them are true.' He flicked a hand at the chalk board and a stick levitated over the board, poised to copy down as he dictated.

'Those who delve deeply into the dark arts are often those who are willing to push the boundaries, to use magic to its full extent, so by its nature they are ever changing. If you hope to defend yourself against them, you must be equally as fluid.'

Students watched him warily, wondering perhaps where he was going with this. What was he going to teach them without books?

'I will not teach you many spells, instead, I will teach you how to think and adapt. Your will be expected to teach yourselves a new spell between lessons; one that you believe will be useful, in addition to any other work you may be assigned.' Nobody dared groan, fearful of the wrath of the dark wizard.

'However, today we will be focusing on wordless magic. Can anyone tell me why this form might be useful?' Nobody put their hand up, and he raised a single eyebrow. After a moment, Neville Longbottom shakily spoke up.

'It means the person you're duelling won't know what spell you just cast, Professor Grindelwald, Sir.'

'Excellent!' Gellert exclaimed, 'anything else? No. Everyone think of a spell, a nice offensive one. Wands out.' There was a rustle of excited movement as people pulled out their wands. Hermione wracked her brain for a suitable spell, eventually settling on a jelly legs curse.

'Now stand in a semi circle, yes like that around me. Neville, you're going to curse me, the minute you finish, Seamus, you do the same. I want every one of you to cast your curse at me, as quickly as you can. Ready?' The students shuffled nervously; there were a lot of them and nobody wanted to curse the teacher in his first lesson. He nodded to Neville, who cried out a disarming charm, Seamus shouted his bat-bogey hex and Gellert deflected the first spell. His wand flickered, a white barrier appearing at each spell, absorbing it, then collapsing in time for a weak stinging hex. To hit whomever had just cast the spell. He quickly overtook the students, Hermione ducked her jinx but Padma's hit her square in the chest. Then as quickly as it had begun, their wands were all frozen by their sides. The light of the spells faded, and Hermione surveyed her fellow students; about half of them sported a pimple sized sting where they'd failed to avoid the hex but they all bore impressed looks.

'Now who cast faster?' The students answered back and he sent them back to their seats.

He spoke for a bit, about concentrating on the spell's incantation and how to use the gesture to help reinforce it, then he split them into pairs and set them practicing in front of the portraits, who offered advice and shouted at them when they cheated.

The lesson was over quickly and Hermione could hardly fault it. Apparently nobody else could either.

'That was wicked!' She heard Malfoy telling his Slytherin friends animatedly. 'Did you see how fast he was.'

'I managed to duck that jinx. Did you.'

'Oy Hermione!' She turned to see Ron and Harry jogging to catch up. 'Did you get it?'

Unlike any other teacher, Gellert had not drawn attention to her when she had successfully achieved it, just offering her a quick nod of recognition. She had been offended at first, thinking it was due to their argument, but he had offered little more to anyone else who had achieved it.

Now, she needed to learn a new spell, perhaps a shielding charm. She would bet that was what they covered next.