Chapter 8

"Sker Scield!" Harry cast before the first of twenty or so curses, jinxes, and hexes flew his general direction, and he ducked behind the shining silver shield.

Multiple gong sounds echoed through the room and most of it's occupants covered their ears.

Harry stuck his wand out from the side of the shield and yelled, "Fortis Conus."

Waves of force rippled through the air in an expanding cone shape, hitting the bulk of the volunteers and knocking them to the floor. He saw two wands fly to the side.

"Only nineteen more to go," he whispered.

The majority of his duplicates had already been found out as illusions and dissipated readily, but that was okay, for now. While they were still confused with the number of other Harry's running around behind their own shields he took advantage of the chaos.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"

"There he is!" cried one of the French students from Beauxbatons.

"Great," cursed Harry.

He willed all of his duplicates to run in front of him and block their line of sight while he mixed in.

"Petrificus Totalus! Locomotor Mortis!"

Two more were down. Two curses hit the shield and he felt a slight tremble notifying him that the charm was almost to it's limit. One, maybe two more good hexes and he would be out in the open. Something whooshed above him and he felt his hair sizzle. Harry had to do something fast to knock the majority of them on their collective butt or he was toast.

A quick peek around the shield revealed more than half of them in a closed circle, protecting themselves from attack from all directions. He lifted his wand above them and waved it in a pattern consistent with the size of the circle, and a large cargo net appeared above them and dropped. They all fell to the ground in a tumble, held down by the large weights attached ever foot or so insuring that they were trapped in a laying position.

Another curse hit the shield and Harry felt it dissipate.

When he looked up there were only five students left, scattered across the room. While the rest of them were struggling under the net. Harry noticed Dumbledore using a summoning charm to take away the wands of those that dropped theirs.

His duplicates were all gone and Harry straightened up and smiled. Pyotr Yudin, Ginny Weasley, Allison Harrington, were standing perfectly still with their wands held ready, while Susan Bones and Raisa Novikov, from Slytherin, stood to the sides breathing hard.

"Congratulations, you've guaranteed your positions as teachers assistants. Now who's going to be Captain?"

He'd taught Ginny and Susan, Harry knew what they already knew. He'd seen Pyotr's lesson plans and knew what he was capable of. Allison and Raisa, however, were unknowns.

None of them rushed to throw off any curses and instead took time to study their opponent. Harry watched Raisa's eyes and found them determined. Allison's were relaxed and confidant.

Harry smiled and raised his wand. The others waited to see what he was going to do, so he did the unexpected and toed his shoes off.

Ginny looked at him with curiosity and Raisa almost broke into a smile at the oddity of her teacher. Pyotr quickly looked around and grimaced toeing his shoes off as well.

"Nox!" yelled Harry, and he dove to the ground as the room was plunged into total darkness.

Two spells shot off and Harry traced one of the red lights to it's source and whispered. "Petrificus Totalus!"

He heard a female yip and a body falling to the floor.

"Four more to go."

A yellow jet of light came in his direction, but flew well above his head as he was crouched down. After it was clear he moved a few feet to the right and encountered the protection barrier that Dumbledore had erected.

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the remainder of the four didn't make a sound; they were too smart to reveal themselves, and Harry thought it was time to reveal the second part of his plan.

He closed his eyes tightly and whispered. "Steorra Berstan!"

A bright light exploded in the center of the room blinding those with their eyes open. He followed the Starburst Charm with, "Torca Ignis!" lighting the room to it's previous setting.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"

Wands were flying everywhere and when he aimed at Pyotr he was surprised to find him covering one of his eyes with his hand.

"Brilliant, Mr. Yudin!" Harry laughed.

The young Russian took his hand away and blinked rapidly.

They circled each other as Harry allowed his opponent to regain the sight in his other eye.

"All better?"

Pyotr nodded. "Da, thank you."

And before he knew it the Russian stepped forward. "Fyst!"

Harry felt the air rush out of his lungs as he was propelled through the air and onto his butt. It felt as though he had been sucker punched in the stomach. Regaining his feet, he turned to the side to make himself a thinner target. He watched as Pyotr followed his lead. Harry only had one more trick up his sleeve that that was planned for the end of the lesson and it was about time to show.

He dug his left hand into his pocket without being seen. "Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!" yelled Pyotr.

At that Harry threw a handful of gobstones at the Russian and yelled "Protego!" to defend against the rebounded Disarming Charm.

Pyotr looked down at the black juice on his shirt and grimaced.

Harry smiled. "It's not about magic, Mr. Yudin. It's about winning. Congratulations, Captain. Well fought."

The Russian's eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

A sudden swell of noise rose around the room as Dumbledore dropped the protection spells on either side. Some were clapping, others were yelling, most were already reliving the duel. He heard Seamus in the background. "We should have charged a Galleon at least!"

"Well fought, Harry. Well fought," Dumbledore remarked as he took in the carnage.

They watched as friends performed countercharms and helped the students underneath the cargo net. Even they were in good spirits as the Headmaster picked out five more students that managed to hold on to their wands the longest. Harry spotted Neville Longbottom who had arrived to give Pyotr the antidote to the gobstones juice he himself created. Harry handed it to him and soon the Russian joined them rubbing his head from the slight ache which was a side effect of the juice.

Harry gave him a handshake and Pyotr smiled.

"I did not expect you to have anything other than your wand, Sir. Thank you for teaching me this valuable lesson."

Harry nodded. "Start your club next Monday. I suggest you get your assistants up to speed with your lesson plans."

Hermione snuck in under his arm and slid her hand around his waist. "You know, of course, they'll be talking about this for the rest of the year. Twenty-one to one ... really, Harry. Sometimes I think you just like to show off."

He falsely looked hurt. "I'm not the one who invited half of Hogwarts to watch me duel a prospective D.A. teacher, and I thought it would be a heck of a lot quicker to do it this way than to duel twenty-one people individually." He looked up, rather proud of himself. "So it was purely a time saving technique."

Behind him Ron coughed and then snickered. Harry turned around. "What are you laughing at?"

Ron smiled and held out his hand. "I just made ten Galleons off you, mate." He shook his head. "Those Durmstrang transfers didn't know what hit them."

"What, they thought I'd lose?"

Ron pocketed the coins. "No, they thought it would take you a lot longer. I told them ten minutes tops and it was over. Had me worried there for a moment. Nine minutes, thirty seconds."

Hermione scowled at him. "Ron, what if you lost?"

It was Ron's turn to look offended. "I would have paid them. I got a job with Fred and George over the summer. I had enough coin to cover."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "A job with Fred and George? So if any fireworks go off in my classroom I know who to call."

Ron laughed joyfully. "Never do that to you, mate."

They said their goodnights at the portrait of the Thin Lady and Harry sat at his desk letting his head clunk on the hard wood. Hermione walked on to the bathroom and changed for the night. When she came back out Harry was skimming through a text book.

"Seventh-years tomorrow?"

Harry looked up from the text. "Yeah, double first thing in the morning."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Well then I'll let you get back to studying." She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Don't stay up too late."

She started to turn and he snaked a hand around her waist pulling her into his lap.

"I've been a bad husband today."

Hermione leaned in and hugged him tightly. "Why's that?"

"I haven't asked you about the thing that happened on the third floor. Are you okay."

He felt her nod. "It's almost becoming second nature. I don't know what I'd ever do if something or someone wasn't trying to kill one of us every year. Probably be very boring."

Harry laughed. "I'd settle for a little boring in my life."

She leaned back and looked amused. "Not while I'm around Mr. Potter."

He shoved her up and spanked her lightly on her soft bottom. "Off to bed with you, Mrs. Potter. I have work to do."

The next morning, Harry escorted his wife to the third floor and made sure the room was secure before leaving for the Defense office with fifteen minutes to spare before class. He peeked out the classroom door and was pleased to see half the room already full and several people turn toward him with their wands raised. He laughed and closed the door back.

"I guess word got around," he said to himself.

He sat back at his chair waiting until the second bell rang for the beginning of class and stepped slowly out to walk downstairs with his hand fingering his wand. The students watched his progress until he reached the lectern, sat a folder with his lesson plans and a very thick stack of parchment down on the desk beside.

He recognized almost all of his students as his former classmates from years previous. There weren't quite as many in seventh year as not everyone could fit Defense class in with their seventh year workload, considering their chosen career path.

"Welcome to your last year of Defense Against the Dark Arts," he started and clasped his hands behind his back. "Most of the year we will be concentrating on getting you through your N.E.W.T.'s. "

He paused for a moment and picked out a Hufflepuff sitting on one end of the first row. "Megan would you come up and distribute the course syllabus to each of the rows. Take one and pass them down please."

"As I was saying, after only taking my N.E.W.T.'s last year I can assure you the test is as bad as rumored. My written was over two-hundred questions long and the practical consisted of two spells from each year, third and forward. It's your best guess as to what these are going to be."

Ron raised his hand. "Are you saying we have five years of Defense spells to memorize?"

Harry gave him a consoling nod. A few of the Hufflepuff's look ill, and most of the rest sighed, wearily.

"You'll see in your syllabus that we will spend the summer term in review of all previous years. So please trust me when I say, your personal life is over in seventh-year if you want to pass, much less score an Outstanding in any of your courses."

He opened his folder and pulled out his schedule. "If any of you have questions regarding this class, my office hours are posted on the board by the door along with after hours times that you may visit with me in my study on the seventh floor of Gryffindor Tower."

His face soured for a moment. "These times are allocated for class discussion only and anything pertaining to N.E.W.T. study, etcetera. Please do not come to me with frivolous questions that can be readily found in your text as I'm sure I will be quite busy with many seventh-years for the next few terms.

"I would further suggest for you to form study groups among your various houses and quiz each other relentlessly on obscure material because I can guarantee it will be on your written."

He looked down at the lesson plan and looked back up. "Any questions about anything I've just said?"

One of the transfer students from Durmstrang raised his hand and stood. "Sir, the schedule note's that we will be having night class this Friday in the Forbidden Forest? The Headmaster said at the Sorting Feast that the forest was off limits to students."

Harry nodded. "I'll be there to conduct class, Lev. I thought a practical lesson in meeting dark creatures in their natural habitat would be an interesting experience."

This sent a collective shudder throughout the class.

Harry smiled wickedly. "And contrary to popular belief there are no werewolves in the forest."

"Only giant spiders," Ron choked.

Half the class turned to see if Ron was joking and fear filled their eyes when they realized he wasn't. They looked back at Harry with nervous anxiety pouring off of them.

"I'd suggest that you start researching the different types of creatures that are indicative to this terrain and climate. It's best to know that a Stunning Charm only annoys a Picketfarrow and makes it want to only eat you that much slower." Then as an afterthought, "And you might want to make very good friends with Professor Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. He will be accompanying us and I for one always feel safe with him at my back. I suggest mulled wine and taking a keen interest in whatever he is doing for class that particular day."

Another hand raised, this time from Susan Bones. "Sir, about our Thesis ..."

"Yes?"

He saw a number of people flipping their parchment over and finding another long list of assignments on the back.

"We can pick any Curse?"

"Yes." And to the rest of the class, "You'll note in order to pass this course and qualify to take your N.E.W.T.'s you will be required to turn in twenty feet of parchment on a curse or family of related curses right after Easter break.

"The particulars are on your syllabus, but in general, you will research your topic, provide historic references, examples of use, defensive strategies, and so on. I expect your thesis statement on my desk by the end of the month for approval."

It was beginning to set in on each student exactly how much work was being expected in their seventh year and they hadn't even been to all of their classes as of yet.

"I know it seems overwhelming at first, and you're right, it is. This is why I highly suggest the study groups, and a little bit of advice: when you find people you can work with, choose similar curses or perhaps even the same curse, share your research materials."

He received a few looks of disbelief.

"I'm not saying to cheat. If I see two thesis' that are the same, both of you fail, and get to repeat the year or move on. This means you can have differing opinions on the same curse and use the same notes, thereby cutting your workload a lot."

He breathed in deeply and exhaled. "Any more questions we can cover next time. I'm sure you're uptight enough as it is without covering the entire year's work in a one class."

Harry smacked his hands together and smiled. "Now who wants to learn some new magic?"