Chapter Seven: Classes
The following morning timetables were distributed. The Gryffindors had Defense against Dark Arts with the Slytherins first up. Everyone was very excited about this class. None of them had ever been taught by Dumbledore before. Harry sat with Ron and Hermione as usual. Dumbledore walked into the room beaming at all of them.
'I know that most of your previous teachers with the exception of Remus Lupin have hardly taught you anything. The one impersonating Mad Eye Moody also did his job though he turned out to be working for the wrong side. At least you know how to throw off the Imperious Curse. Despite Professor Umbridge not giving you any practice I saw that all of you especially the Gryffindors did very well in your OWLS. This year things will be getting tougher. Our first lesson will be how to throw off the Cruciatus Curse. I think two of you here have been under this deadly curse. Could you tell us how it feels Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom?'
All eyes turned towards Harry and Neville. Voldemort had thrown this curse on Harry the day he had regained his body during Harry's fourth year. Bellatrix Lestrange had hit Neville with the Cruciatus Curse the previous year. Harry spoke first.
'Well.......It was like.....like.....a fifty foot fall from a broomstick or hundred daggers getting into different parts of your body or many whips thrashing on your back or maybe.....all of these together. Ya, I think that's the most accurate description', he said. Neville nodded in agreement.
'So you see how bad it is', said Dumbledore, 'Only very advanced wizards can completely throw off this curse and frankly I expect none of you to do it. Even I can't. What you can do is reduce its effect. The counter to the curse is similar to the Patronous charm. It is completely in the mind. Unlike the Patronous charm you do not have to say anything here. When you feel pain you have to picture with full concentration the most pleasurable feeling in your body. It could be your mother stoking your hair or even something like lying comfortably in a bathtub. Depending upon the level of your concentration you will fell less and less pain. In the class however I will not use the Cruciatus Curse on you. Instead I will use Barkamious spell. It is not an unforgivable curse and causes much less pain. I will call you here five at a time. When I say 'Barkamo' start visualizing. If and when the pain gets intolerable raise your hands and I will stop. You will be marked out of ten on your performance. So all ready?'
By the end of the class everybody had got the hang of how to counter the Barkamious spell. Neville did the best by resisting it for a touch under eight minutes. He got ten on ten of course. Harry, Hermione and Malfoy had also done well getting nine. Ron however was one of the few in the class who got less than five. The students were very happy with the class. They knew that this professor would certainly last more than a year.
The other classes were also exciting. In transfiguration they started life transformation of bigger size. Everyone remembered how Victor Krum had transformed a stone into a dog. They were all eager to try it. Professor McGonagall told them that students securing high marks in transfiguration would qualify for Animagus training during their seventh year. This made all of them work hard.
In Charms they started with the basics of apparation. Professor Flitwick informed them that they would have to take their apparation tests by the end of the year. In Potions they started with the theory for Polyjuice Potion. For once Harry did not find the class as difficult as usual. The homework did not disappoint him. In fact he thought it was a real opportunity to impress Snape. Another class, which everyone was curious about was Occulamency.
They had their first Occulamency class three days after school started. Snape gave them a brief introduction about the subject and why they needed to study it.
'With evil forces rising the importance of Occulamency has doubled. It is possible that one of you may end up getting kidnapped. The enemy may then can easily get into your mind and get to know certain things, which will be useful for him. If you know Occulamency you can prevent people from getting into your mind. It is however not vey simple'
One by one the students went up to Snape who tried to get into their minds. The had to stop him. Not surprisingly Harry was the best of the lot as he had practiced Occulamency during the previous year. In fact he was so far ahead of the rest that Snape painfully awarded him ten points so as to not raise suspicion about Harry having learnt Occulamency earlier.
Hagrid told them that Care of Magical creatures to start with would be theoretical. They would be learning about dragons. Since raising dragons in England was illegal they would be making a short trip to France later in the year to gain practical experience. Their end of the year examination would include marks obtained in this practical experience.
In Herbology Madame Sprout said that they would he studying very rare and exotic herbs during the next two years. They would also be learning methods to control the size and behavior of plants.
Harry was happy that he no longer had to study Divination, Astronomy and History of Magic. Professor McGonagall had informed him that he would indeed be the new Gryffindor Qudditch captain. He would have to hold tryouts for beaters and chasers shortly after Halloween. He also had to restart 'Dumbledore's Army'. He sicerely hoped that none of the Slytherins would join. On top of this he planned to coach Colin and Hermione for Quidditch. So his schedule was tight from every perspective. One good thing that happened was that his homework on Polyjuice potion received top marks in the class along with Hermione's. Perhaps this was exactly the boost he needed before starting his tight schedule.
The following morning timetables were distributed. The Gryffindors had Defense against Dark Arts with the Slytherins first up. Everyone was very excited about this class. None of them had ever been taught by Dumbledore before. Harry sat with Ron and Hermione as usual. Dumbledore walked into the room beaming at all of them.
'I know that most of your previous teachers with the exception of Remus Lupin have hardly taught you anything. The one impersonating Mad Eye Moody also did his job though he turned out to be working for the wrong side. At least you know how to throw off the Imperious Curse. Despite Professor Umbridge not giving you any practice I saw that all of you especially the Gryffindors did very well in your OWLS. This year things will be getting tougher. Our first lesson will be how to throw off the Cruciatus Curse. I think two of you here have been under this deadly curse. Could you tell us how it feels Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom?'
All eyes turned towards Harry and Neville. Voldemort had thrown this curse on Harry the day he had regained his body during Harry's fourth year. Bellatrix Lestrange had hit Neville with the Cruciatus Curse the previous year. Harry spoke first.
'Well.......It was like.....like.....a fifty foot fall from a broomstick or hundred daggers getting into different parts of your body or many whips thrashing on your back or maybe.....all of these together. Ya, I think that's the most accurate description', he said. Neville nodded in agreement.
'So you see how bad it is', said Dumbledore, 'Only very advanced wizards can completely throw off this curse and frankly I expect none of you to do it. Even I can't. What you can do is reduce its effect. The counter to the curse is similar to the Patronous charm. It is completely in the mind. Unlike the Patronous charm you do not have to say anything here. When you feel pain you have to picture with full concentration the most pleasurable feeling in your body. It could be your mother stoking your hair or even something like lying comfortably in a bathtub. Depending upon the level of your concentration you will fell less and less pain. In the class however I will not use the Cruciatus Curse on you. Instead I will use Barkamious spell. It is not an unforgivable curse and causes much less pain. I will call you here five at a time. When I say 'Barkamo' start visualizing. If and when the pain gets intolerable raise your hands and I will stop. You will be marked out of ten on your performance. So all ready?'
By the end of the class everybody had got the hang of how to counter the Barkamious spell. Neville did the best by resisting it for a touch under eight minutes. He got ten on ten of course. Harry, Hermione and Malfoy had also done well getting nine. Ron however was one of the few in the class who got less than five. The students were very happy with the class. They knew that this professor would certainly last more than a year.
The other classes were also exciting. In transfiguration they started life transformation of bigger size. Everyone remembered how Victor Krum had transformed a stone into a dog. They were all eager to try it. Professor McGonagall told them that students securing high marks in transfiguration would qualify for Animagus training during their seventh year. This made all of them work hard.
In Charms they started with the basics of apparation. Professor Flitwick informed them that they would have to take their apparation tests by the end of the year. In Potions they started with the theory for Polyjuice Potion. For once Harry did not find the class as difficult as usual. The homework did not disappoint him. In fact he thought it was a real opportunity to impress Snape. Another class, which everyone was curious about was Occulamency.
They had their first Occulamency class three days after school started. Snape gave them a brief introduction about the subject and why they needed to study it.
'With evil forces rising the importance of Occulamency has doubled. It is possible that one of you may end up getting kidnapped. The enemy may then can easily get into your mind and get to know certain things, which will be useful for him. If you know Occulamency you can prevent people from getting into your mind. It is however not vey simple'
One by one the students went up to Snape who tried to get into their minds. The had to stop him. Not surprisingly Harry was the best of the lot as he had practiced Occulamency during the previous year. In fact he was so far ahead of the rest that Snape painfully awarded him ten points so as to not raise suspicion about Harry having learnt Occulamency earlier.
Hagrid told them that Care of Magical creatures to start with would be theoretical. They would be learning about dragons. Since raising dragons in England was illegal they would be making a short trip to France later in the year to gain practical experience. Their end of the year examination would include marks obtained in this practical experience.
In Herbology Madame Sprout said that they would he studying very rare and exotic herbs during the next two years. They would also be learning methods to control the size and behavior of plants.
Harry was happy that he no longer had to study Divination, Astronomy and History of Magic. Professor McGonagall had informed him that he would indeed be the new Gryffindor Qudditch captain. He would have to hold tryouts for beaters and chasers shortly after Halloween. He also had to restart 'Dumbledore's Army'. He sicerely hoped that none of the Slytherins would join. On top of this he planned to coach Colin and Hermione for Quidditch. So his schedule was tight from every perspective. One good thing that happened was that his homework on Polyjuice potion received top marks in the class along with Hermione's. Perhaps this was exactly the boost he needed before starting his tight schedule.