Chapter 109
Preparation for War
The very last thing Remus wanted to do the next morning was get out of bed. The thick, warm covers were wrapped tightly around him and honestly he didn't even want to move, let alone drag himself to Defence Against the Dark Arts. He'd been up far too late last night tutoring Peter with far too little results to show for his struggle. Now he was tired, and not to mention sore now that the moon was waxing again, and he didn't want to get up.
"Moony..." Sirius said lightly but bounced on his bed with enough force that Remus bounced with it. Remus didn't reply at first so Sirius pulled back the covers just enough that Remus had to bury himself further in the pile of heavenly warmth.
Remus said something that would make his mother very upset in response. As usual no one reacted the way they were supposed to when you violently request that they go die in a hole with more curse words than you usually say in a week.
Sirius laughed, "already? Must be a new record, mate. New moon wasn't even a week ago. Professor Jynx won't take your rabbit as an excuse this early."
Remus moaned under his blanket, he knew it was true but he still wanted to strangle Sirius for saying it out loud. At least he was kind enough to blame the nonexistent rabbit instead of throwing his lycanthropy in his face.
"G'away," he mumbled his words slurring together in the attempt to use as little energy as possible.
"Can't blame you for wanting to bunk off Defence, though." Remus heard James' voice through the filter of his blankets. "That essay was murder."
"Right? Who cares what spells are counter-curses and which are counter-jinxes?"Sirius' voice agreed.
"I doesn't even make sense, why are there even a distinction when the terms curse and jinx are flexible anyway." James' voice huffed, and Remus was beginning to fall into their trap. He was trying to prevent it but he knew (and they knew) he was just going to get frustrated and get up just to explain to them what they already knew.
Why was he so predictable!?
He held on for as long as he possibly could, but eventually they pulled out the big wands, they started purposefully getting things wrong. It was agonizing to hear them claim counter-spell and hex-deflection were the same basic categories, and torture to hear Peter claim that red caps live in the water and kappas live on deserted battlegrounds (Remus wasn't sure if Peter actually believed that or if he too was getting mixed up on purpose.)
Remus was still grumbling as they finished breakfast (James and Evans' daily greetings/goodbyes passed without comment) and headed to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
They were in for a surprise when they arrived, instead of their usual male Defence teacher a woman sat on the teacher's chair her feet crossed on top of the desk in the front of the room. She had spiky white hair, dark skin, and celeste blue robes. There was a glowing white orb floating around her head that made a low humming noise Remus was pretty sure the others couldn't hear.
Remus didn't think she was a substitute, she looked like she'd made herself at home after all. The decorations in the classroom and everything had changed, and they were much preferred over the childish charts and motivational posters Professor Jynx had hanging everywhere. Maybe the moving paintings of dark silhouette using a explosion spell on a person's head, or a young woman running in terror from a fiendfyre curse were a little disturbing, but Remus didn't mind. Becoming a werewolf messed with a person's violence tolerance.
"Come in, come in. Don't stand there in the doorway, don't you know doorways are some of the most dangerous places in a building?" She rebuked and the Marauders as well as a group of Ravenclaws who had arrived just after them.
"That's because you're a target to everyone in both rooms. Isn't it?" A Ravenclaw girl Remus didn't know asked as she sat in a seat in the very front of the class.
"Well that and you have a few hundred tons of building resting about two, three in you midget's cases, feet from your head." The spiky haired woman shrugged. Sirius gave a chuckle at her sense of humor, though no one else seems to think the realization of how much weight was on top of them was funny.
"Where's Professor Jynx?" another Ravenclaw asked as more students piled in.
"Azkaban." She said calmly as her class went into a panicked sense of shock. She adopted a humorous smile. "Caught muggle-baiting Saturday, no better defense against the dark arts than using them yourself."
Again, Sirius was the only one amused by her joke. By now the whole class had filtered in.
"Is that a joke?" Lily Evans looked angry, and being a muggleborn, Remus thought she had every right to be.
"No, the joke is that he was completely plastered and did it right in front of five aurors one of which was Mad-eye Moody himself." She told them, and there was some scattered laughter this time.
"I am Professor Svalinn, ex-auror, and you're new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." She dropped her feet to the floor with a loud smack that made most the class jump, Peter gave out a loud squeak, and stood.
"Ex-auror?" A ravenclaw in the back asked sounding unimpressed.
She shrugged. "Rules aren't my forte." There was some whispers in the classroom and the looks James and Sirius shared were not comforting. "That does not…!" she said loudly, over the increasing volume of the classroom, the class quieted, "mean you'll get by with anything in this class. Your grade as of right now is obsolete, I don't give homework, and I don't have quizzes. Your final is the only test you will have this year."
There were cheers from the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws were a mix between looks of horror and confusion.
"Your grade is dependent on what you actually accomplish from now until finals. If you're behind and can hardly disarm someone and in the rest of the year you only manage to master two spells you may well still end up with a passing grade."
"However if you're ahead and are messing around you will fail." She paused looking around the, now quiet, room, her eyes rested on Sirius and James for longer than most of the others.
"So all the work we've done so far is useless?" Another Ravenclaw in the front asked. The Ravenclaws in general weren't taking this news well, though the Gryffindor's were ecstatic.
"Well, Miss..."
"Rockwood, Charlotte Rockwood."
"Well, Miss Rockwood, that depends on what you define as 'useful,' for your grade, yes it's all useless." Professor Svalinn leaned on her desk, her smile was gone. "However, the reason you are all in school right now is to prepare you for life outside of it. Ten years from now and you're staring a Death Eater in the eyes and nothing but your instincts and reflexes stand between him and the people you love, your grades aren't going to matter in the slightest. When the counter-jinx you learned two weeks ago save your mother, father, brother's life, the work you've done in the past year won't be so useless, will it?"
The classroom was silent.
"I've been through ten years of wizard schooling and a good six years of muggle schooling before that, and none of it, none, I would describe as truly able to prepare you for the world you will enter in three and a half years. Times change and so must the way we teach our children. Your textbook in this class is whatever book you find that can teach you the defensive spells you would best be able to apply in a reflex-only life or death fight. If you can get a super-complex patronus charm to become instinct the moment you need it, do that. If you hesitate when attempting said patronus charm then find something else. Does everyone understand?"
Lily Evans raised her hand, but she didn't look quite so angry as before. "If we're all doing different spells what will we be tested on at the end of the year?"
"How much you've accomplished." Professor Svalinn's smile returned and the ball of light hummed happily hovered beside her. "This is Trix," she pointed at the orb, "she's a púca. The moment you came in the door she memorized you: your skills, your talents, your nature, your attitude..." again she peeked at Sirius and James, "She memorized everything that makes you an individual and she relays that information to me. At the end of the year when you take your exam she will transform into you, the you from the moment you stepped in this classroom, and the two of you will fight. Regrettably I cannot perfectly simulate a fight with a death eater, as the Headmaster seems to think that would result in too many deaths, but I doubt any of you are actually able to kill someone anyway..."
There was excited whispering, and Remus felt himself pale significantly. If that was the case then she had to know what he was, but she wasn't showing signs of knowing. Had Dumbledore warned her? Or had she just not received the information yet?
No, with the way she looked directly at Sirius and James when she was talking about messing around and attitudes she had received the information already without a doubt.
"Your performance in this fight will be your grade, there will be no opportunity to fake skill, I can assure you. I will know if you've been wasting your time in this class. There will be no written portion of this exam. Now if you will all stand, grab your things and move them to the back of the room."
As they all moved she vanished the desks, including her own. "Since you have not had a chance to research your next projects I want you all to practice the counter-spells Professor Jynx taught you. If you already know it find a partner who doesn't and teach it to them, the best way to learn something is and will always be to teach it."
Since Sirius and James both were far ahead of the class, and Remus quickly claimed Peter, they had to find other partners, leading to Evans practicing the jinx instead of the counter on James when he insulted her by assuming she didn't know them yet. Professor Svalinn complemented her and used the opportunity to remind the class that sometimes a good attack was the best defense, she then left James at the mercy of Sirius who was too busy laughing at him to actually apply the counter-jinx.
It was the most interesting Defence Against the Dark Arts class they'd ever had, and promised even better ones.
"You know what this means right, Prongs?" Sirius asked as the piled the classroom, Remus was trying not to get run over by a group of angry Ravenclaws.
"We can stop getting held back by the rest of the class?" James guessed, he was just as excited as Sirius.
"I think it's horrible that she took all that information without even telling us." Marline McKinnon growled from behind them and they turned at the voice. "That's private information, aren't there laws about that?"
"What's wrong, Marly? Got something to hide?" Sirius teased and she turned red.
"No! I'm just saying..."
"I think it's a good idea, actually." Evans cut in, saving Marline from further conversation with the only person in the world who could make her act like a girl. "Everyone get's to learn at their own pace without the pressure of tests to make it harder, and in order to pass it needs to be practical. All those spells we learn that'll never get used are really just a waste of time."
"Cheering charms." Alice said through a cough, causing a laugh.
"Got that right." James agreed, "If you need magic to make someone happy you need to re-examine what you've been doing with your life."
"I can say one thing," Remus piped in, talking for the first time since class started, "the exams won't be boring."
They all agreed unanimously, not a hint of hesitation among them.
A/N) Finally! Past Christmas and I've finally found a plot for this year! _ They never talked about their fourth year, so I've been going by the seat of my pants and making it all about the animagi training, which while important and kind of awesome, aren't interesting when talked about every single chapter. (or at least written about in every single chapter.
I know you lot don't care, but I was getting bored with it.