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"Hey, Draco" said Blaise as the two of them hurried to lessons (which coincidentally, happened to be Defense Against the Dark Arts) "I have a great idea of how we could get Carmilla to be friendlier to everyone."
"Hmm. And what would that be?" asked Draco, who was pretty sure that Blaise's idea would probably involve getting in trouble and the reduction of house points. But, being the good friend that he was, he decided to find out anyways.
"Well, why don't we hold a party? I mean, we could celebrate with all the 5th year and over Slytherins, it would be a masquerade and we would all have fun and make friends! How cool would that be?" in the process of expressing his ideas, Blaise had become excited and hyperactive and as they reached the doors to the classroom, Blaise had begun to jump up and down and wave his hands in expressive gestures, which showed his Italian heritage. All the other students (it was a joint 7th year Slytherin and Gryffindor class) were staring at Blaise and the bravest actually dared to snigger.
"What are you staring at! Move your arses or I'll be forced to do so myself! Move it!" shouted Draco in a commanding voice which sent all the students scurrying into the classroom with fright.
As the students seated themselves (Blaise and Carmilla sat at a table together, while Draco sat right in front of them next to a Gryffindor) Professor Magnus walked up to his desk. He was calm and composed, and he expressed an air of arrogance common to pureblood aristocrats. Despite his coldness, many of the girls in the class were sighing and their eyes were glazed over as they fell deep into their romantic fantasies.
"In this class we will not be using textbooks and I will not make you write useless research papers. This year, as you know, the Dark Lord has arisen in full power. We do not know when the War will begin, it may happen tomorrow or next year. Thus, I will teach you as quickly as possible important spells to protect yourselves. Also, with the permission of Professor Dumbledore, all students 16 and older will learn the Unforgivable curses, which I'm sure you've all heard of. No gossiping, whispering, or note-passing will be permitted in my class. You may not be late and I will not tolerate failing. I expect you all to earn high grades, and I will achieve this by any means possible. I will not refrain from severely punishing disobedient students. This class is the most important you will have this year, and the knowledge you will learn will be important in the upcoming months. Have I made myself understood?" the frightened students nodded in silent agreement. This teacher had not made a good impression on them, but from the look in his eyes, they understood that he definitely wasn't kidding.
"Good. Today I want to begin with dueling. I believe you already learned the basics several years ago. I will attempt to teach you spells that will be more useful in a duel with a Death Eater, then simply using a Bat Bogey Hex. These spells will hurt your opponent, perhaps even kill. For this reason, you will not practice against one another. I will be a dueling partner with all of you, because I will be able to easily protect myself against amateur spell casters. Another whom you may duel with is Carmilla Nemesie, your fellow student. She is a highly experienced dueler and I trust her to protect herself."
All the students turned to Carmilla in surprise. She was equal to the teacher? Draco and Blaise exchanged a special smirk that meant "I told you he/she was cool." by the way, Blaise and Draco silently communicate with special smirks that have different meanings. That way they can comment without saying a word or anyone else know what the mean
"Now, first I'd like to demonstrate a duel using all the spells that you will learn this week. By the way, I'm sure you are aware that you shall have Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons several hours every day, including Saturday."
What! The class sure wasn't happy. A class every day including a weekday for several hours with a teacher who acted like a full blown Death Eater and threatened torture without blinking an eye! Resisting the urge to whisper furiously among one another, the class nodded, but everyone was angrily scowling.
"I see you aren't very pleased. That is not my problem. One way or another, you will do what I tell you. Now, Carmilla, please join me for a duel." said Magnus as he motioned for the class to stand up and clear the desks as to make room for dueling. Carmilla gracefully stood up and handed Magnus a ribbon with which he tied up his hair. Then they both took their dueling positions. The students held their breath in anticipation.
Carmilla and Magnus both made their bows (very gracefully and aristocratically, as Draco noted), but not before Magnus said "Don't bother learning the bows correctly. When at war, you'll probably be dueling against a man without honor, and he will attack immediately without warning. You must be ready to protect yourself instantly, and be sure to keep your back protected, in case someone attacks from behind."
From there they dueled for a full hour, throwing curses in bright flashes of light and summoning dangerous spirits to help in the fight. Neither bested the other, but everyone understood that this duel was a friendly example, not the real thing. In between hexes, Magnus would point out a special spell: "this one will make your opponent internally combust," "this one explodes the wand," and "this one is a legal version of the Crucio curse." All the students were amazed when Magnus finally threw a spell which exploded Carmilla's protection field. The duel had been magnificent, and it made the students respect Magnus all the more, now that they all saw his talent and power.
"I hope you paid close attention to the curses and counter-curses that we used. I expect tomorrow to begin teaching you some of the less dangerous spells. Also, I recommend you do some research on internal combustion curses. I don't want you to come to my class completely ignorant. Thank you. You are dismissed." Magnus said as he waved his wand to put all the desks and chairs back into their proper places.
The students remained shocked for several heartbeats, but they soon jumped up and quickly filed out, eager to discuss the class. Draco and Blaise stayed behind to escort Carmilla. She spoke with Magnus for a little while, then they kissed each other on the cheek and Carmilla went to join the boys, who now walked with her everywhere (they had all the same classes together), whether she wanted them or not.
Several weeks passed and Carmilla slowly warmed to the other students. Blaise's costume party had been a real success. Both boys had dressed as renaissance noblemen/wizards, and Carmilla had made a costume that amazed all the students present. It had been a sexy, revealing gown, the type a vampire would wear in a gothic horror novel, and it was very elaborate, with lots of expensive materials and jewels. However, the interesting fine points were morbid little details, such as worms gnawing at a sleeve, bloodstains on the corset, a snake winding around her leg and rotting flesh on the arms. All of this was accomplished with simple illusion spells, but it looked very original, if not macabre. All the other students had convinced her to wear the same costume to the upcoming Halloween ball/masquerade, where she could shock the entire school. Blaise had even agreed to make himself a costume in similar style, so that he could accompany Carmilla.
This had only been the beginning in a slowly forming friendship...