Eric watched the sun sink downward. It had been a week since he was dismissed as a teacher's assistant, but the hurt hadn't abated. His studies resumed, and he had gained more time to pursue his own interests. Snape was still Snape, but while that hadn't changed, the other instructors were working with him to develop a course of independent projects that would continue his education. All of that should have made the dismissal more a blessing than a slight. Still, the fact that he lost an opportunity and a challenge that he had earned still dug at him.

He could tell that Professor Lupin's class was dismissed. Some of the students were coming out into the courtyard. In addition, several other students from various classes were beginning to mill about. The usual clutches of friends began to form, and it was inevitable that Dorian, Naomi and Eric found themselves in a corner discussing their current classes. They were soon joined by Neville Longbottom, who was thrilled to his heart that he had successfully faced down the boggart.

"It's a shame that you can't get involved with the other classes anymore. It'd be a real help if we could know what we were about to face."

Eric smiled. "Thanks, but it sounds like you don't need any help. You're finally getting the hang of things."

It was Neville's turn to be embarrassed. "Well, about some things, anyway. So, if you're not helping out the teachers, what are you doing?"

"Taking much the same classes, just working on things at my own pace. Not so many tests, but a lot more essays."

Dorian gave Eric a droll look. "Which means, you're studying things we can only hope to get into. I mean, what do you study in the topic of Dark Arts?"

"Ok, for one thing, it's Defense against the Dark Arts. It's good to remember not to drop that first part. To answer your question, I'm learning about guards and wards."

Naomi looked to the group. "One thing I don't understand. If it's 'Defense against the Dark Arts', why aren't the defenses taught dealing with the Dark Arts? I mean, first year was the most basic of dark fairies. Second year was imps and pixies. You third years are dealing with boggarts. Students don't start dealing with dark wizardry until the fourth year. Why does it take so long?"

Eric turned to her. "It's a question of building up needed skills. By dealing with dark entities, you develop the skills to face full-fledged dark wizardry. Besides, it's kind of an ethics thing. They want to build in Hogwarts students an aversion to dark entities before they begin to study dealing with dark spells."

Her expression turned sour. "It's dark magic. Won't that create an aversion enough?"

Eric sighed. "Well, that's just the thing. There is no such thing as dark magic."

Neville stared at Eric as if he just turned purple. "What did you say?"

Eric backed up several inches. "Easy, now – hear me out. There is no such thing as dark magic. There's using magic for evil purposes, and there are spells that do harmful things, but the plain truth is that magic is just magic – neither good nor evil. A spell won't make a person good or evil. Certain spells are considered 'Dark Arts' simply because they either create effects that we find distasteful or can only be used to hurt people. As a result, only dark wizards who have no qualms about it use them."

Dorian looked to Eric. "Is this what you're studying?"

"No. I'm studying how to defend an item or location against magical influences, like the foundation spells to Hogwarts that keeps magic either in or out."

Naomi turned to him. "Explain one."

Eric began to show them a simple circle. This was a defense that would keep magic from crossing a border. It was, in fact, a fairly intricate spell that took several minutes to describe in any detail. Further, as Eric explained more of the details, students began to gather around to hear what they could. Most were Ravenclaws, but there were a few from the other houses who had never had a chance to see an open display like this. Finally, Eric gave a demonstration, creating a circle then challenging one of the Slytherins to break it. Although highly confident, he soon became frustrated as every spell he cast simply spilled across the ward, with no actual effect.

Finally, a young Slytherin piped up. "So, how do you break it?"

Eric was too caught up in the discussion to mind what he was saying. "It's a magical barrier, not a physical one. You just walk over it."

"Oh, like this?" She stood up and stepped confidently towards him, wand outward. "Distempers!"

The bolt shot outward, striking Eric square in the chest. He flew backwards several yards before crashing downwards to the ground. It was several seconds before he could breathe enough to finish the thought. "Yeah, that would do it."

She rushed over to him. "I'm so dreadfully sorry! I didn't mean to, honest!"

Eric's entire body had become one big sore spot. "Ok, I'm just going to go back to our dorm and lie down." Twitching several muscles, he found that everything was struck numb. "Um, could somebody help me up?" Feeling arms to his left, he was very grateful to find Doran helping him upward.

Unexpectedly, he found the Slytherin girl to his right. "You can't go to the dorms now. You've got to see Madame Pomfrey right away."

Eric was instantly put off. Getting knocked off his feet by a spell was nothing. Going to the hospital would make him look foolish. "All I need is some rest. If I could just..."

Unfortunately, it was too late. She had already found Professor Flitwick, who was beside himself that one of his house was injured. "It's probably nothing, but best to be safe than sorry. Besides, it's very kind of this young lady to be so concerned. It would be rude not to accept. I must insist that you see Madame Pomfrey, at least briefly."

Eric went to the hospital, only to be berated for bringing in such a triviality. She was quite certain that a good meal and an evening's rest was all that was requred, which Eric was more than happy to comply with.

As he left for the main hall, he found the Slytherin girl waiting for him. "I'm glad it was nothing. I'd hate to have hurt you."

It suddenly struck him that she was familiar. "I'm sorry, but weren't you behind me, about three seats to my left at the welcoming feast?"

She seemed to blush a little. "Um, yeah. I'm Lenora Surrey."

"I remember you from my first year. I'm Eric Sable. Look, thanks for the concern, and no hard feelings. Right now, I just want to get some dinner and rest."

"Great! I'll walk you to the hall."

There was something about Lenora that made Eric uneasy. Perhaps it was that she seemed, well, a little too nice for a Slytherin. Yet, he liked her company, and regretted it more than a little that she had to go to sit with her own house when they reached the hall. After watching for a bit, he caught himself staring, and shook it off to rejoin his friends.

As he sat down, he found himself looking squarely into Naomi's eyes. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing." He couldn't say why, but he suddenly felt like he did something wrong.