Harry went down to the Great Hall and sat down beside Ron to
breakfast.
"I was wondering about that guy last night," said Ron.
"Yeah, me too."
"The Prewettes, they were part of the bird watchers club right? The first one. Moody showed me a picture last summer."
Harry said quietly, "Yeah. Fabian and Gideon Prewette. Moody told me they died fighting like heroes. Took 5 Death Eaters to get Gideon."
Somebody further down the bench was passing out schedules and Harry looked at his schedules. Harry glanced at his list and didn't recognize the first name on it, "Who's Professor Delano?"
"I dunno. Hey! We didn't even bother checking the staff table last night to see who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is. I bet that's who he is."
"Yeah. And we've got our N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts class first. Oh well, at least we'll be able to figure out what type of class we're in for. As long as he isn't anything like Umbridge we'll be fine."
Hermione sat down, "What makes you so sure the professor is a he? We very well could have a witch you know."
They went to class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took seats in the front. Harry was glad to see that Neville had made it into the class too. The class buzzed with anticipation. The teacher was nearly ten minutes late, though there was a hawk sitting on the desk nearly statue still.
Harry and the others looked at the hawk wondering why it wasn't in the Owlery and the teacher wasn't in class.
Suddenly Harry felt a hand around his throat, not choking him but with power that threatened he could be choked at any moment. A deep voice said, "Petrificus Totalus". He heard gasps in various corners of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that students were enduring the same treatment as him or who wands in their backs. He was proud to see Ron and Hermione on either side of him had leapt to their feet and were covering the man who was choking him with their wands. The eagle on the desk transformed and became a tall, blonde woman who couldn't possibly been more than 40; she spoke in what Harry was fairly sure was an American accent, "Enough! Release!"
The man who had Harry's neck let go and he preformed the counter- jinx, as did the other men and women who had attacked his classmates. Hermione and Ron however were still covering Harry's attacker with their wands.
"Children, I said release," the teacher said sharply.
Only reluctantly did they settle back in their seats.
"I'd like my volunteers to please come forward." Half a dozen men and women came to stand at the front of the room. "That was a test," she said simply. "I must say you all failed dismally. Although I must applaud the efforts of the two of you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
"You know our names already?"
"I make it a point to know my surroundings, it's safer this way. You are in my classroom and therefore you are part of my surroundings for however long I shall be teaching here. As I said, though I applaud your efforts, everyone still failed dismally." Hermione's hand went up. "No, Miss Granger this was not a graded test." Hermione's hand went down. Professor Delano smiled. "Now, my volunteers here were hiding in this classroom using whatever means of stealth they felt was best for them. All of you sat here in this room for more than 10 minutes and didn't perceive their presence. Nor mine. They were hiding using Disillusionment Charms, Invisibility Cloaks, and a form of hypnosis of sorts that makes you convinced you do not see someone even if you are staring right at them. Now, they didn't do any curses that would inflict serious damage just some minor jinxes like the full-body bind, jelly legs, and the impediment curse. Had this been a real situation and not in a classroom you could have all been killed or badly injured. Any questions or comments?"
Everyone was silent.
"No questions? This class will be dull indeed."
"Can you demonstrate the Disillusionment Charm?"
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom. I will." She tapped her wand over her head. And suddenly the class could see right through her, literally. She was a human chameleon. She tapped her wand on her head again and returned to normal. "Anything else?"
"Your history. How did you come to teach here? Your accent is American," said Lavender.
"Yes. Observant. I attended Hogwarts a number of years ago and shortly after graduation I moved to the United States. I was teaching there but have come back this year as a special favor to Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Why did you leave Britain in the first place?" asked Dean.
"I have my reasons." Her voice brooked no nonsense and clearly stated that she would not be answering that question. "Anything else? No? Good. Then I shall proceed to explain this year's work. You will be dealing extensively with curses, counter-curses, hexes, and jinxes. Any questions? None? Good. That means you're brighter than I anticipated due to your lack of awareness at the beginning of class. Your Defense Against the Dark Arts course last year was utterly useless I am sorry to say. I still don't rightly understand how a single person was able to pass their O.W.L.s well enough to get in this class. Though I suppose some extra efforts outside of class could have done accomplished that." Harry had the fleetingly feeling that she looked in his direction. "I don't believe any Slytherins made it into my N.E.W.T class, or at least not more than a couple. At any rate there is a lot of work to do this year. You will have to practice. And practice. And practice. Constant vigilance is the only way for you to pass. Because the real test isn't the final exam at the end of term. The real test will come out in the world when you are attacked by Dark Wizards. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Professor," the responded.
"Take out your textbook."
They did so.
"Now put it away and take out your wand. Your textbook will be of very little use to you in this classroom and your wand is the most important thing to carry. For the remainder of the class break up into teams of three. One of my assistants will be with each group. They will teach you a basic curse. If you understand it and can perform it flawlessly they will move to a new one. I expect you to get through about five of them. If you can get through ten I'll be thoroughly impressed."
Most groups managed to get through 7 or 8 of the curses, having studied many of them during the past year at the D.A meetings. Harry's group managed all ten and Professor Delano awarded them 15 house points. The bell rang and they left.
"What did you think of class?" asked Ron.
"I guess every teacher has a method for introducing themselves to a new class. McGonagall said Trelawny always predicted a student's death. This must just be how Delano breaks in a class. It was certainly interesting," said Hermione.
"I don't think she likes me," said Harry.
"What are you talking about?"
"After the beginning part, she avoided looking at me. And it was kinda just a feeling I got. Like she seriously wanted to avoid me."
"That's just silly," said Hermione.
Harry still disagreed but he kept the opinion to himself.discover who the visitor was.
"I was wondering about that guy last night," said Ron.
"Yeah, me too."
"The Prewettes, they were part of the bird watchers club right? The first one. Moody showed me a picture last summer."
Harry said quietly, "Yeah. Fabian and Gideon Prewette. Moody told me they died fighting like heroes. Took 5 Death Eaters to get Gideon."
Somebody further down the bench was passing out schedules and Harry looked at his schedules. Harry glanced at his list and didn't recognize the first name on it, "Who's Professor Delano?"
"I dunno. Hey! We didn't even bother checking the staff table last night to see who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is. I bet that's who he is."
"Yeah. And we've got our N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts class first. Oh well, at least we'll be able to figure out what type of class we're in for. As long as he isn't anything like Umbridge we'll be fine."
Hermione sat down, "What makes you so sure the professor is a he? We very well could have a witch you know."
They went to class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took seats in the front. Harry was glad to see that Neville had made it into the class too. The class buzzed with anticipation. The teacher was nearly ten minutes late, though there was a hawk sitting on the desk nearly statue still.
Harry and the others looked at the hawk wondering why it wasn't in the Owlery and the teacher wasn't in class.
Suddenly Harry felt a hand around his throat, not choking him but with power that threatened he could be choked at any moment. A deep voice said, "Petrificus Totalus". He heard gasps in various corners of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that students were enduring the same treatment as him or who wands in their backs. He was proud to see Ron and Hermione on either side of him had leapt to their feet and were covering the man who was choking him with their wands. The eagle on the desk transformed and became a tall, blonde woman who couldn't possibly been more than 40; she spoke in what Harry was fairly sure was an American accent, "Enough! Release!"
The man who had Harry's neck let go and he preformed the counter- jinx, as did the other men and women who had attacked his classmates. Hermione and Ron however were still covering Harry's attacker with their wands.
"Children, I said release," the teacher said sharply.
Only reluctantly did they settle back in their seats.
"I'd like my volunteers to please come forward." Half a dozen men and women came to stand at the front of the room. "That was a test," she said simply. "I must say you all failed dismally. Although I must applaud the efforts of the two of you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
"You know our names already?"
"I make it a point to know my surroundings, it's safer this way. You are in my classroom and therefore you are part of my surroundings for however long I shall be teaching here. As I said, though I applaud your efforts, everyone still failed dismally." Hermione's hand went up. "No, Miss Granger this was not a graded test." Hermione's hand went down. Professor Delano smiled. "Now, my volunteers here were hiding in this classroom using whatever means of stealth they felt was best for them. All of you sat here in this room for more than 10 minutes and didn't perceive their presence. Nor mine. They were hiding using Disillusionment Charms, Invisibility Cloaks, and a form of hypnosis of sorts that makes you convinced you do not see someone even if you are staring right at them. Now, they didn't do any curses that would inflict serious damage just some minor jinxes like the full-body bind, jelly legs, and the impediment curse. Had this been a real situation and not in a classroom you could have all been killed or badly injured. Any questions or comments?"
Everyone was silent.
"No questions? This class will be dull indeed."
"Can you demonstrate the Disillusionment Charm?"
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom. I will." She tapped her wand over her head. And suddenly the class could see right through her, literally. She was a human chameleon. She tapped her wand on her head again and returned to normal. "Anything else?"
"Your history. How did you come to teach here? Your accent is American," said Lavender.
"Yes. Observant. I attended Hogwarts a number of years ago and shortly after graduation I moved to the United States. I was teaching there but have come back this year as a special favor to Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Why did you leave Britain in the first place?" asked Dean.
"I have my reasons." Her voice brooked no nonsense and clearly stated that she would not be answering that question. "Anything else? No? Good. Then I shall proceed to explain this year's work. You will be dealing extensively with curses, counter-curses, hexes, and jinxes. Any questions? None? Good. That means you're brighter than I anticipated due to your lack of awareness at the beginning of class. Your Defense Against the Dark Arts course last year was utterly useless I am sorry to say. I still don't rightly understand how a single person was able to pass their O.W.L.s well enough to get in this class. Though I suppose some extra efforts outside of class could have done accomplished that." Harry had the fleetingly feeling that she looked in his direction. "I don't believe any Slytherins made it into my N.E.W.T class, or at least not more than a couple. At any rate there is a lot of work to do this year. You will have to practice. And practice. And practice. Constant vigilance is the only way for you to pass. Because the real test isn't the final exam at the end of term. The real test will come out in the world when you are attacked by Dark Wizards. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Professor," the responded.
"Take out your textbook."
They did so.
"Now put it away and take out your wand. Your textbook will be of very little use to you in this classroom and your wand is the most important thing to carry. For the remainder of the class break up into teams of three. One of my assistants will be with each group. They will teach you a basic curse. If you understand it and can perform it flawlessly they will move to a new one. I expect you to get through about five of them. If you can get through ten I'll be thoroughly impressed."
Most groups managed to get through 7 or 8 of the curses, having studied many of them during the past year at the D.A meetings. Harry's group managed all ten and Professor Delano awarded them 15 house points. The bell rang and they left.
"What did you think of class?" asked Ron.
"I guess every teacher has a method for introducing themselves to a new class. McGonagall said Trelawny always predicted a student's death. This must just be how Delano breaks in a class. It was certainly interesting," said Hermione.
"I don't think she likes me," said Harry.
"What are you talking about?"
"After the beginning part, she avoided looking at me. And it was kinda just a feeling I got. Like she seriously wanted to avoid me."
"That's just silly," said Hermione.
Harry still disagreed but he kept the opinion to himself.discover who the visitor was.