"Physical Defense?" Dean asked. "Like karate and stuff."
"Like 'karate and stuff'," the man acknowledged. He added, "It won't just be karate. I'll be telling you how to disguise yourselves, defend yourselves and you might even learn to fight a few…things…I've brought along…without magic." He stopped. "Now where are my manners? I know all your names, why shouldn't you know mine?" He waited a pause. "You all may call me one of two things. One, Professor Park, which gets a bit boring after a while, or you can just call me Adam." Harry could almost feel Hermione's nose wrinkling as she digested this part of un-scholarish behaviour. "I will be calling you by your first names, and in this class, it will be necessary to come in Muggle clothing. If you don't have any, I'm sure there are a lot of your friends who would be happy to share." The black dressed man slouched against the desk. "Now, since I had nothing planned for this lesson, I'll start off by the introductions. I'll ask a question, that all of you have to answer, then one of you can ask me a question. Sound fair?" Adam smiled sarcastically at all the reluctant nods. "Nice to see all of you are enthusiastic. First off, name your favourite subject. We'll start with Hermione."
"Transfiguration, Professor Park," Hermione said as he winced at the name.
"Harry?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Ron?"
"Care of Magical Creatures."
Adam went through the class, most being Transfiguration, Defense Against Dark Arts or Charms. As they all finished, he children raised their hands for the questions. He chose Neville.
"Did you come to school at Hogwarts? If so, what house were you in?"
Adam perched on his desk. "I never came to Hogwarts, since I lived in America until three days before the beginning of term. But from what I gather of the houses, I think I'd probably be in Gryffindor, Slytherin or Ravenclaw.
"My turn. Birthdays."
"September twenty-second, Professor Park."
"July thirty-first, Adam."
"January sixth."
They continued again until everyone was done. Adam chose Lavender as his next questioner.
"How old are you?"
Adam grinned, although not as if he enjoyed the question, more like he had expected it. "My friends would probably have something to say about this, but I'm barely eighteen. They think I'm almost twenty." Adam looked down at his watch. "That's all the time we have for today, but unless all of you want to be asked pretty much the same questions, or for some reason want to know more about me, don't bother coming to any classes until next week. Now, bugger off."
"Out of all the lessons, I have to say Adam's was the best," Harry said after a full week of classes. Hermione snorted.
"The best? That man has no idea on how to run a class," she said slightly snobbishly. "He's like a younger, more sarcastic Professor Snape."
"Why? Cause he does it a fun way?" Ron asked, managing not to shake some sense into the girl.
"Shh!" Harry hissed as they came up to a spare classroom. He signaled them to stop, and they did, flat against the wall and eavesdropping…listening, thought Harry…to the conversationalists inside.
"Rocky, no…look, Andros did what he had to. Killing him is justified…I killed more than the team put together…okay, maybe us two put together, but we'd still outnumber them." A slight pause. "What, you expect me to come over and go Avada Kedavra?"
Harry felt a jerk in his insides as he heard that. Avada Kedavra…the killing curse. Only Ron's pinch brought him back to the present. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, and listened closer.
"Yeah, Rock, she killed. Hundreds and hundreds. But do you realize…" His voice dropped, and even when Harry strained he couldn't pick up any more. He silently motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow him as he walked towards the Gryffindor common room.