The next chapter in which the lessons begin.
Some explanations and a DADA lesson.
They climbed the stairs and reached the door to Professor Dumbledore's office. They knocked, and when they didn't hear
something, Harry opened the door carefully. Someone in there shouted: "Duck!" And the three did. Harry opened the door
again, and saw someone they didn't expect. It wasn't even someone they knew. It was a chubby man, with greyish brown hair
and a long beard, wearing a colourful robe with strange symbols on it. And then there was the hat. Unlike the rather dull
and short hat most people wore at Hogwarts, this one was brightly coloured, and had all kinds of shiny stones on it. They
assumed it was a wizard, since it said so on the hat.
"Hello children, what are you doing here? The gargoyle told me to tell him a password, so no one could enter. Obviously, it
doesn't work." The last thing was probably more a note to himself.
"Er, sir, we came here looking for Professor Dumbledore, because our usual teachers are gone." Hermione said, her eyes fixed
on the crossbow.
"Oh that little problem. Well, don't worry, little girl, you'll have your teachers back in no time!" He sounded cheerful,
and patted Hermione on her hair.
"She means, where did they go?" Ron tried.
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you, but your headmaster said he and his staff are doing a investigation. Mentioned
someone called Wolderfort, or something."
"Voldemort..." Harry whispered, fear spreading through him. Their assumptions were correct.
"Yes, that's the one. Anyway, Dumbledore said you shouldn't worry, they'd be back in no time at all. Meanwhile, my colleagues
and me will run this school as best as we can. The first few weeks will be a little odd, but I can assure you, you will get
used to it. Besides, we have a Wizard University, so I think we have some experience in the teaching field."
This news came as quite a surprise. "A Wizard University? I never read about that." Hermione said. "Where is it?"
The wizard looked a bit uncomfortable, but was still cheerful. "No need to worry little miss, it's not like you'll be going
there."
"And why not?" She demanded.
"I thought that was obvious. You're a girl. We don't allow girls at our university. The entire idea of women learning magic
is ridiculous if you ask me. But we promised Dumbledore we wouldn't send any girls away, so I suppose you can stay. Now, go
away, I have things to take care off." He pushed them out of the door. "And no barging in here anymore! I'll change that
password as soon as I can!"
"Did you hear that? 'Learning girls magic is ridiculous'! What is this, the Dark Ages?"
Hermione fumed, when the trio was on their way to the Gryffindor common room.
"Calm down Hermione, maybe he's just old-fashioned..." Ron tried to calm her down while they climbed through the
portrait-hole.
"I don't care how old-fashioned he is! I'm one the best students at this school, and he can't say stuff like that!" Hermione
went to the girls dormitory, still angry.
Ron looked at Harry. "You don't think she'll start a new club, like that SPEW one, do you?"
"I don't know, Ron. Everything's possible." A thought occurred to Harry. "What if she actually gets members this time?"
Hermione spent the rest of the day in her dorm, while Harry and Ron took a walk on the grounds, and ran into George, who was
startled when he was them. "George, what's going with you? You look you've seen a ghost." Ron said, sounding worried.
"It's the orang-utan. You never know where he is." George replied, sounding paranoid.
"Come on George, it's just an animal, he can't be that bad." Harry said.
"You haven't been dragged around by him! He's really scary, you know that?" George said, and walked away.
Ron grinned. "So, I finally know what George's scared for. Orang-utans." He remained cheerful for the rest of the day.
The next day they were handed out their time-tables by Mrs Whitlow, and a dwarf who was introduced as Modo, the new
gamekeeper. Mrs Whitlow had an announcement as well. "I am please to say that we've been able to find teachers willing to
head an house. The Senior Wrangler is responsible for the Slytherins, the Dean for the Gryffindors, Professor Stibbons for
the Ravenclaws and Professor Rincewind for the Hufflepufs." After this, everybody continued to eat.
"Hmm, Defence Against Dark Arts first." said Hermione, examining the time-tables.
"You think this time we'll have someone who is who he says he is?" Harry asked, remembering their previous teachers.
Ron, Harry and Hermione were entering the Defence Against Dark Arts room. There was actually a teacher this time, a tall
skinny wizard, with red hair and a short beard. Harry thought Lupins robes were old and shabby, but the robes this man was
wearing were even worse. They used to be bright red, but had been patched several times, and the lower part had even been
burned. Next to him was a large trunk. "Sit down you three. You're late." The man said. They took their places. " The first
thing I want to know is what did your previous teacher teach you?" Everyone remained quiet. The wizard sighed and looked
down at the map he had made off the class. "You, Longbottom, what have you learned so far?"
"Er, well, the first one, professor Quirrell, wasn't too bad," He eyed Harry. "So we thought, because he was a dark wizard."
"Dark?" The teacher asked.
"He was evil, a servant of Y-You-Know-Who." Neville said, obviously nervous at mentioning the name.
"Right, evil wizard. Second year. Granger, care to tell me?"
Hermione blushed a little. "Professor Lockhart was a very nice man..." She started.
"You mean a very nice fraud." Ron interrupted her.
"Fraud? Explain, Weasley."
"He had written books about all sort of heroic things he had done, but it turned he was lying. He didn't teach us anything."
Ron said.
"Except for not letting little monsters loose in your classroom." Seamus whispered, so the teacher wouldn't hear him.
The wizard nodded. "So, an evil wizard and a fraud. Can't wait to hear what the other two were..."
Harry raised his hand.
"Yes Potter?" The wizard asked.
"The third professor, Lupin, was actually quite good sir. He taught us all kinds of things about creatures, and how to
defeat them. And fourth one, Moody, he taught us about curses, but he wasn't who he seemed to be." Harry explained.
"Right, this has been most helpful. I am Professor Rincewind, here to teach you the most important thing when it comes to
dealing with any kind of threat, magical or not. I can't believe none of these wizard taught you the most important weapon
you have."
The class was quiet, since all wondered what this weapon might be.
"Your feet. Your feet are the one thing that can save you from any danger. Simple running is the best thing you can do when
being threatened." The professor said.
The class looked surprised. "Running away?" A few whispered among themselves.
Rincewind sighed. "Of course, you're Gryffindors. You like courage and being a hero, don't you?"
They all nodded.
"Hate to turn down a challenge? Face danger without thinking about the consequences? Unprepared?"
The class nodded, but less enthusiastic.
"These things can kill you. I know you all think dying a heroic death is a great thing, but do you know what's even better?
Living. Living is better than any kind of death, no matter in how many books and legends you live on. If you run away,
you'll live." Rincewind looked around the class. "You might get another chance at victory, but not if you're dead. And
that's why we'll be spending most of this classes outside, to teach you how to run away from danger." He concluded. "Come,
we've only got half an hour." He got up, and walked out the classroom. His trunk got up, standing on hundreds of little
legs, and opened his trunk. He seemed to yawn. "Oh, and that's my Luggage. He'll be your 'danger' for today."
The Gryffindors looked at each other, and got up. "So, what do you think of this one?" Hermione asked Harry.
He shrugged. "Don't know. But how much trouble can running be? A bit of sport never killed anyone."
"That trunk of him might." Ron said, gloomily.
They walked outside, to the Quidditch field. "Right. The first thing you need to know about running away, is that it doesn't
matter where you go, it's the 'away' that's important. Luggage, you stand here." He pointed to a spot, and the Luggage
obeyed. " Who wants to run against him? From here to that hoop." He pointed to one of the Quidditch poles. When no one
seemed to make an offer, Rincewind pointed to Ron. "Right, you stand there, I'll give you a 15 feet advance. You may begin
when I count to three. 1...2...3!" He shouted, and Ron started running. So did the Luggage, who was surprisingly fast for a
trunk with hundred legs and he started to catch up. Ron looked behind him and tripped over a stone. The Luggage jumped on
him and Ron was forced to lie on the floor with a heavy trunk on him. Professor Rincewind looked a little disappointed when
he helped Ron to his feet. "Never look behind you, or you might trip, like you did." He patted his Luggage on the back.
"Well done. Go in the castle, see if any students are up to no good. You know you have to take them to the Librarian,
right?" The trunk seemed to nod. "And no eating them." The trunk looked sad and walked away. "Now our 'danger' is gone, I
want you to race each other." The remaining part of the lesson was spent racing each other back and forth on the field,
with the professor giving tips.
"That was one of the most exhausting lessons I've ever had." Hermione was still panting when the class was over.
"Lucky for you we've got Care of Magical Creatures then, that's only a short walk." Ron grinned. After being chased by the
Luggage, racing other humans wasn't too bad.
Thank for reading, and remember: R/R!
Some explanations and a DADA lesson.
They climbed the stairs and reached the door to Professor Dumbledore's office. They knocked, and when they didn't hear
something, Harry opened the door carefully. Someone in there shouted: "Duck!" And the three did. Harry opened the door
again, and saw someone they didn't expect. It wasn't even someone they knew. It was a chubby man, with greyish brown hair
and a long beard, wearing a colourful robe with strange symbols on it. And then there was the hat. Unlike the rather dull
and short hat most people wore at Hogwarts, this one was brightly coloured, and had all kinds of shiny stones on it. They
assumed it was a wizard, since it said so on the hat.
"Hello children, what are you doing here? The gargoyle told me to tell him a password, so no one could enter. Obviously, it
doesn't work." The last thing was probably more a note to himself.
"Er, sir, we came here looking for Professor Dumbledore, because our usual teachers are gone." Hermione said, her eyes fixed
on the crossbow.
"Oh that little problem. Well, don't worry, little girl, you'll have your teachers back in no time!" He sounded cheerful,
and patted Hermione on her hair.
"She means, where did they go?" Ron tried.
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you, but your headmaster said he and his staff are doing a investigation. Mentioned
someone called Wolderfort, or something."
"Voldemort..." Harry whispered, fear spreading through him. Their assumptions were correct.
"Yes, that's the one. Anyway, Dumbledore said you shouldn't worry, they'd be back in no time at all. Meanwhile, my colleagues
and me will run this school as best as we can. The first few weeks will be a little odd, but I can assure you, you will get
used to it. Besides, we have a Wizard University, so I think we have some experience in the teaching field."
This news came as quite a surprise. "A Wizard University? I never read about that." Hermione said. "Where is it?"
The wizard looked a bit uncomfortable, but was still cheerful. "No need to worry little miss, it's not like you'll be going
there."
"And why not?" She demanded.
"I thought that was obvious. You're a girl. We don't allow girls at our university. The entire idea of women learning magic
is ridiculous if you ask me. But we promised Dumbledore we wouldn't send any girls away, so I suppose you can stay. Now, go
away, I have things to take care off." He pushed them out of the door. "And no barging in here anymore! I'll change that
password as soon as I can!"
"Did you hear that? 'Learning girls magic is ridiculous'! What is this, the Dark Ages?"
Hermione fumed, when the trio was on their way to the Gryffindor common room.
"Calm down Hermione, maybe he's just old-fashioned..." Ron tried to calm her down while they climbed through the
portrait-hole.
"I don't care how old-fashioned he is! I'm one the best students at this school, and he can't say stuff like that!" Hermione
went to the girls dormitory, still angry.
Ron looked at Harry. "You don't think she'll start a new club, like that SPEW one, do you?"
"I don't know, Ron. Everything's possible." A thought occurred to Harry. "What if she actually gets members this time?"
Hermione spent the rest of the day in her dorm, while Harry and Ron took a walk on the grounds, and ran into George, who was
startled when he was them. "George, what's going with you? You look you've seen a ghost." Ron said, sounding worried.
"It's the orang-utan. You never know where he is." George replied, sounding paranoid.
"Come on George, it's just an animal, he can't be that bad." Harry said.
"You haven't been dragged around by him! He's really scary, you know that?" George said, and walked away.
Ron grinned. "So, I finally know what George's scared for. Orang-utans." He remained cheerful for the rest of the day.
The next day they were handed out their time-tables by Mrs Whitlow, and a dwarf who was introduced as Modo, the new
gamekeeper. Mrs Whitlow had an announcement as well. "I am please to say that we've been able to find teachers willing to
head an house. The Senior Wrangler is responsible for the Slytherins, the Dean for the Gryffindors, Professor Stibbons for
the Ravenclaws and Professor Rincewind for the Hufflepufs." After this, everybody continued to eat.
"Hmm, Defence Against Dark Arts first." said Hermione, examining the time-tables.
"You think this time we'll have someone who is who he says he is?" Harry asked, remembering their previous teachers.
Ron, Harry and Hermione were entering the Defence Against Dark Arts room. There was actually a teacher this time, a tall
skinny wizard, with red hair and a short beard. Harry thought Lupins robes were old and shabby, but the robes this man was
wearing were even worse. They used to be bright red, but had been patched several times, and the lower part had even been
burned. Next to him was a large trunk. "Sit down you three. You're late." The man said. They took their places. " The first
thing I want to know is what did your previous teacher teach you?" Everyone remained quiet. The wizard sighed and looked
down at the map he had made off the class. "You, Longbottom, what have you learned so far?"
"Er, well, the first one, professor Quirrell, wasn't too bad," He eyed Harry. "So we thought, because he was a dark wizard."
"Dark?" The teacher asked.
"He was evil, a servant of Y-You-Know-Who." Neville said, obviously nervous at mentioning the name.
"Right, evil wizard. Second year. Granger, care to tell me?"
Hermione blushed a little. "Professor Lockhart was a very nice man..." She started.
"You mean a very nice fraud." Ron interrupted her.
"Fraud? Explain, Weasley."
"He had written books about all sort of heroic things he had done, but it turned he was lying. He didn't teach us anything."
Ron said.
"Except for not letting little monsters loose in your classroom." Seamus whispered, so the teacher wouldn't hear him.
The wizard nodded. "So, an evil wizard and a fraud. Can't wait to hear what the other two were..."
Harry raised his hand.
"Yes Potter?" The wizard asked.
"The third professor, Lupin, was actually quite good sir. He taught us all kinds of things about creatures, and how to
defeat them. And fourth one, Moody, he taught us about curses, but he wasn't who he seemed to be." Harry explained.
"Right, this has been most helpful. I am Professor Rincewind, here to teach you the most important thing when it comes to
dealing with any kind of threat, magical or not. I can't believe none of these wizard taught you the most important weapon
you have."
The class was quiet, since all wondered what this weapon might be.
"Your feet. Your feet are the one thing that can save you from any danger. Simple running is the best thing you can do when
being threatened." The professor said.
The class looked surprised. "Running away?" A few whispered among themselves.
Rincewind sighed. "Of course, you're Gryffindors. You like courage and being a hero, don't you?"
They all nodded.
"Hate to turn down a challenge? Face danger without thinking about the consequences? Unprepared?"
The class nodded, but less enthusiastic.
"These things can kill you. I know you all think dying a heroic death is a great thing, but do you know what's even better?
Living. Living is better than any kind of death, no matter in how many books and legends you live on. If you run away,
you'll live." Rincewind looked around the class. "You might get another chance at victory, but not if you're dead. And
that's why we'll be spending most of this classes outside, to teach you how to run away from danger." He concluded. "Come,
we've only got half an hour." He got up, and walked out the classroom. His trunk got up, standing on hundreds of little
legs, and opened his trunk. He seemed to yawn. "Oh, and that's my Luggage. He'll be your 'danger' for today."
The Gryffindors looked at each other, and got up. "So, what do you think of this one?" Hermione asked Harry.
He shrugged. "Don't know. But how much trouble can running be? A bit of sport never killed anyone."
"That trunk of him might." Ron said, gloomily.
They walked outside, to the Quidditch field. "Right. The first thing you need to know about running away, is that it doesn't
matter where you go, it's the 'away' that's important. Luggage, you stand here." He pointed to a spot, and the Luggage
obeyed. " Who wants to run against him? From here to that hoop." He pointed to one of the Quidditch poles. When no one
seemed to make an offer, Rincewind pointed to Ron. "Right, you stand there, I'll give you a 15 feet advance. You may begin
when I count to three. 1...2...3!" He shouted, and Ron started running. So did the Luggage, who was surprisingly fast for a
trunk with hundred legs and he started to catch up. Ron looked behind him and tripped over a stone. The Luggage jumped on
him and Ron was forced to lie on the floor with a heavy trunk on him. Professor Rincewind looked a little disappointed when
he helped Ron to his feet. "Never look behind you, or you might trip, like you did." He patted his Luggage on the back.
"Well done. Go in the castle, see if any students are up to no good. You know you have to take them to the Librarian,
right?" The trunk seemed to nod. "And no eating them." The trunk looked sad and walked away. "Now our 'danger' is gone, I
want you to race each other." The remaining part of the lesson was spent racing each other back and forth on the field,
with the professor giving tips.
"That was one of the most exhausting lessons I've ever had." Hermione was still panting when the class was over.
"Lucky for you we've got Care of Magical Creatures then, that's only a short walk." Ron grinned. After being chased by the
Luggage, racing other humans wasn't too bad.
Thank for reading, and remember: R/R!
