Yes, I decided to update. If you're worried about Ragnarok, don't be. It's still my main priority.

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Is This Hell?

As luck would have it, fifth-year Gryffindors had double DADA first thing Monday morning, with the Slytherins. This was immediately followed by double Martial Arts, again with the Slytherins. Because of this, all of the said students were convinced that whoever made the decisions upstairs hated them. Or maybe the Almighty just had a mischievous streak. Who knows?

At breakfast on the first day of classes, Ron was repeatedly begging whatever god might be listening to 'kill me now.' Hermione was looking exasperated, while Harry was nervous.

"What do you think we'll be doing?" Hermione, apparently, was not immune to nerves, either.

"I really don't have any idea."

§§§

About half an hour later, the students were gathered around the door. The class had started five minutes ago, and there was still no sign of the teacher. Impatient grumbling was just beginning to start when the new professor poked his head out of the classroom.

"Did it ever occur to any of you that the door might be unlocked?" Professor Date looked slightly annoyed.

"Obviously not, Seiji, otherwise your class would already have started."

Date turned back into the classroom. "I know that, Ryo. Have you ever heard of a rhetorical question?"

"Oh, so you were just trying to make them feel stupid, then?" the voice from inside the room was sarcastic and completely unfamiliar.

"Well, if you put it that way—"then he turned around to find the class still standing there. "Well? Why are you just standing there like statues? I'm sure you're human, you need teachers after all."

When they did not move, a muscle twitched in his eyebrow. "Should I turn you into stone and make the process final, since you seem determined to become bird perches? MOVE!"

The class hurriedly filed in and took their seats. Only then did they chance looking around. Leaning against the teacher's desk at the head of the classroom stood the other man from the previous night.

Looking at him, Harry could candidly say that if the words 'incredibly beautiful' could be appropriately applied to a boy, they would apply to him. He had a long, thick, midnight-black braid that reached almost to his ankles. His eyes were huge, and a brilliant, intense blue, very slightly tilted. He had long, dark, eyelashes, high cheekbones, full lips, and skin best described as caramel. This, coupled with a small, slim, lithely muscled frame, and a delicate bone structure, made him look almost feminine. This illusion was quickly dispelled by the smirk on his face and the sarcastic gleam in his eyes.

Hearing the teacher's voice, Harry quickly brought himself back to reality. Realizing that he was calling roll, he quickly zoned out again, this time studying the teacher.

Professor Date was another very good-looking man. He was taller than his companion, with pale skin and blond hair that seemed to always fall into one of his lilac-grey eyes. One of the differences between them was that while the black-haired man projected a conflicting image of fragility and ferocity, Professor Date was cool, calm, collected. He seemed as if he would fight to the death for something that he considered his. Harry decided right there that he didn't want either one of them as an enemy.

"—Potter? Mr. Harry Potter?" Harry snapped back to reality to find the class snickering quietly at him, the man at the front smirking at him, and Professor Date glaring at him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Ah, so you are here. I was beginning to wonder if you were a mistake or a practical joke."

It was then that Harry realized that he had gotten off to a bad start. "Sir?"

"When a student doesn't answer me in class after I have called them multiple times, I start to wonder if they are real. If you want to convince me of your reality, I suggest that you PAY ATTENTION from now on. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, now that Mr. Potter has graced us with his presence, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Seiji Date. My last name has two syllables, and it does not belong on a calendar. My friend here is Ryo Sanada. We would both very greatly prefer you to call us by our first names. Anyone who still refers to us by our last names a week from now will get a detention.

"That said, I would like to make a few things crystal clear. I have heard about the rivalry between your Houses. I would like to say here and now that you will be learning to at least work together in my class. Any projects given will have inter-House partnerships assigned. If you manage to irritate me enough, you will be sitting in assigned seats, Houses alternating. One day, your lives may depend on someone you do not trust. If that is the case, you will need to learn to work with them. Frankly, I am surprised that your teachers have allowed this petty feud to go on for so long." At this, there were several protests. The professor silenced them with a glare.

"However much you may not like to hear it, it is petty. Petty, childish, and stupid. Now, that aside, I will not tolerate inattention, plagiarism, skipping, copying, or slurs against someone's House, family, intelligence, or parentage. One comment will make me assign seats to you. I am not a nice man; I am not paid to be. I am paid to teach you something important. I do not care how pure-blooded you are, or how much money your father makes, or how famous you are. You will have to prove your worth to me." Suddenly, he grinned. "In fact, that may be the easy part. You'll also have to prove yourself to him—" he jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate Ryo "—and that will be twice as hard, I promise you.

"Now, to business. From the notes that I have, I gather that you have only had two years' worth of actual education in this class, your third and fourth years, correct?" At the general murmur of assent, he scowled. "That is unacceptable."

§§§

When the students entered their new classroom, they found that it was not a room at all. In fact, five years ago, it had been dubbed 'The Forbidden Corridor,' and it was home to a large, three-headed dog named Fluffy. Now it appeared that Fluffy had found a new home, for the large space was quite empty, except for the mats cushioning the floor. Professor Ryo stood in the middle, wearing a white gi and looking totally relaxed.

"Come in, come in, you're taking this class, aren't you? You have every right to be here."

When they were all gathered around, he addressed them. "First things first. Bags go against the wall, out of the way, and I want everyone to take off their shoes, socks, and robes. Wands are to be left in your bags."

Instantly, there were very loud protests. He cast the Silencing charm. "Now, while I have your attention, I am going to tell you a little about the facts of life. Even if you don't know what martial arts are, I can almost guarantee that someone in your House does. That someone could have told you all that you need to know, including the fact that this sport requires flexibility and freedom of movement, two things that those dresses do not grant you. They could also have told you that this class will not involve magic. The whole point is to teach you to defend yourselves without magic, just in case you and your wand should ever part ways."

A note of pure steel crept into his voice. "Now, do as I said, and I might lift the silencer. Sound fair?"

Needless to say, everyone did as they were told. When Ryo lifted the silence charm, he shook his head in disgust at the large number of people left standing in their underwear, including Malfoy and Ron. With another flick of his wand, they were clad in workout clothes similar to his.

"I expect you to wear these clothes every class. You might have noticed that your break period before this class is ten minutes longer. This is to allow you to get to the nearest bathroom and change clothes. Take advantage of it. The next person I see in here wearing robes gets 50 points off and two weeks of detention helping Filch. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded.

"Now, before we learn any moves or do any sparring, I'm going to teach you how to stretch. How long we spend on stretching depends entirely on you. If you are lazy and do not practice, we may spend several months on this. If you try hard, we may get through it in two or three weeks. It depends on you. But, I will not move on to anything else until everyone can do these. Understand?"

Apparently, Malfoy could not take any more. "So you're telling me that we can't use magic, we have to wear these stupid clothes every week, we have to practice some stupid stretches, and nobody's learning anything until all of us get them right? That's it, I'm out of here."

Everyone immediately looked at Ryo to see how he would respond. They were surprised. "Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy, you have just volunteered for our demonstration. Would you please go fetch your wand?"

Looking puzzled, Malfoy did so. Now, Ryo faced his audience. "I knew that there would be at least one person per class who would try to question my methods and authority. Therefore, I decided on a way to deal with it."

He faced Malfoy again. "You have been taught how to duel?" At Malfoy's nod, he smiled. "Excellent! That is what we will be doing. You will duel me with magic, and I will fight you with my fists and feet." He held up his wand and carelessly tossed it away.

Malfoy stared. "You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am, Mr. Malfoy. Now begin, or I shall make the first move."

Malfoy shrugged. "Rictusempra!"

Before he had even completed the curse, Ryo was in motion. Effortlessly, he ducked away and darted in to deliver a very fast kick to Malfoy's torso. Malfoy was lifted into the air and came to rest none too gently several feet away.

Ryo stood easily. "Surely that isn't all you've got?"

Malfoy rose, casting "Stupefy!" almost faster than you could blink. The curse hit Ryo dead on, and Malfoy allowed a smug look to cross his face. A look that promptly disappeared when Ryo kicked him again.

He stumbled upright. "What—How?"

"My family is one of the oldest shinobi clans in Japan. I was learning to handle weapons before I could walk. When I was three, I started to learn to resist magical curses. Nothing less that one of your Unforgivables will affect me. Even to those, I am resistant. I can throw off the Imperius or the Cruciatus in less than two seconds, and it takes three Avada Kedavras to even slow me down. This is another reason that you need to learn wandless self-defense. Anything is possible, particularly when it comes to magic. You just have to believe in the possibility." Ryo's voice was very matter-of-fact.

While Ryo was speaking, Malfoy snuck around him. Then he yelled "Reducto!"

Ryo quite calmly ducked, then kicked Malfoy again. "Are you quite done making a fool of yourself? Your guard is so sloppy and your attacks so predictable that my three-year-old cousin Kari could have killed you in less than a minute. In case you hadn't noticed, I used the same kick and targeted the same place, without putting my full strength into the blow. I didn't even bother to disguise my moves."

With the Malfoy situation firmly under control, Ryo once again turned to the class. "Now, there are a few stretches that you should always do before any physical activity, and they involve—"

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