Rowling owns everything except Merlin, who is copyrighted to Zelazney. I hold the copyright to the painting of a ship in storm in the first chapter, but that's about that.
"Welcome class!" he said when everyone had settled down. "My name is Merlin and I'm from the centre of the universe." He paused a moment and then flashed them a broad smile, revealing large amounts of white teeth. " San Francisco, that is. I'm to be your teacher this year and teach you how to defend yourself against wizards and others who mean you harm. First let me tell you, that defence is in no way an exact science, but my job is to make it as close as it can be. We'll go through a number of creatures, talk strategy and you'll learn a useful spell or two. When I'm done with you, you'll be a match for most of the bad people out there. OK, any questions?"
He bent forward over the desk, flashing one of his smiles again. The Gryffindor and Slytherin six-years eyed him curiously and, given their experience of Defence teachers, cautiously. He was quite young compared to the rest of the staff, somewhere in his twenties. He wore a black wizards robe with silver borders, its sleeves not wide enough to hide the muscularity of his arms. His hair was brown and cut short. He was clean shaved and he had a deep tan. When he moved he demonstrated energy and agility.
"No? Right. Let's start with some of the basic. What's the worst that can happen?"
The students glanced at each other. After a few seconds, one of them raised his hand.
"Yes, mister..."
"Thomas, sir. And I think to die would be pretty bad."
The class giggled but their teacher nodded.
"That's true, and even if those of you who are philosophically inclined might have something to say about fate worse than death, it usually boils down to the same thing. As long as you're not dead, you might still be a threat. It doesn't matter how bad it seems - you can come back and make your enemy wish they had killed you properly the first time, or not fought you at all. However deep down you are, as long as you're alive there's always a way back up to the top." He was walking back and forth while speaking, moving his hands agitatedly. "As long as there's life, there's hope, you might say. That's the first rule you never are to forget. A point proved, I think, by this lord Voldmort I'm supposed to teach you how to defend yourself against."
The class gasped. Two of the girls let out a scream. One boy looked as if he was going to faint. Some of the students, however, sat unmoving, eyeing their teacher with renewed interest.
"Yes, I can see that he has made an impact,." Merlin said, pausing to allow the class to get in order again. "That was a very simple attack I just made, saying the name of one who's rightfully feared, and it was very successful... We'll have to work on that, but let's go on with the basics." He took a step backwards and sat down lightly on the desk.
"Now, what kind of fighting's not allowed? Yes, miss..."
"Granger, sir. The three unforgivable curses are not allowed to be used on any human being. The death curse, the torture curse and the control curse." The brown-haired witch made a tiny nod after finishing, as if confirming to herself that she had given the correct answer.
"Very good. And does that mean that you are never to use them, miss Granger?" The smile of the teacher had widened slightly. The witch suddenly seemed to be a bit uncertain.
"Well... there is a life time sentence to use these curses and..."
"Yes, but does that mean that you are never to use them?"
"Well..." her voice trailed off, and the wizard next to her raised his hand.
"Yes, mister..."
"Potter, sir," he said, looking the teacher straight in the eyes. "If you're facing an opponent prepared to use these curses on you, and you have no resort other than to use them yourself, you might not have a choice." Merlin suddenly looked very attentive.
"So, mister Potter. Does that mean that you, as a last resort, can use the unforgivable curses - even if there, as we were rightly informed of just now, is a life time sentence on doing just that?" The boy hesitated just for a moment before opening his mouth, but Merlin interrupted.
"No, I don't want to hear your answer to that question. But I want you all to think of it. If the worst came to the worst - would it be right to use illegal and highly dangerous magic to save yourself? And would you be able to do it?" He gave them a serious look.
"That is in one way the heaviest part of this subject. You don't only have to have the knowledge, the ability, the courage or whatever. You also have to have the guts. You have to be willing to hurt, maybe kill another being. And the only way you can justify it is that they would definitely have done the same to you, given the chance." He kept the serious look for a few seconds, but then flashed off one of those grins again.
"But enough of that for now. Let's do some lighter stuff, but not less important. Who of you can tell me how to perform a magic shield? That is one of the most useful tricks to... Yes, mister..."
"Malfoy, sir."
"Very well. Step forward please, mister Malfoy."
With caution, but apparently at ease with being in focus, the blond wizard stood up, producing his wand with a delicate movement. Merlin placed him in front of the classed and himself by the door.
"Now," he said, reaching inside his robes, "I'll attack you and you are to defend yourself." The wizard stood tense, wand ready, but he relaxed, a doubting grin forming as the teacher produced, not a wand as he had expected, but a bright orange muggle water-pistol. The class began laughing.
"Please, sir - you don't expect me to defend against that... thing?" he asked, shaking his head.
"If you are not, you'll be wet," Merlin answered calmly.
"That's undignified," the wizard said, drawing himself up a bit. Merlin smiled at him, approvingly.
"Well, mister Malfoy. If you want to meet a qualified attack, I actually do have a certain something prepared. But first let me see you fend of an... undignified one." And he squeezed the trigger. Malfoy was prepared, and easily rejected the water jet with his wand.
"Not bad, mister Malfoy" Merlin said. "But next time, do not re-aim my missiles into the class. Do you know any good drying spell, Potter? Good."
He pocketed the gun and straightened up.
"Now, Malfoy, you'll meet something more of a challenge. It won't hurt you if you fail, but be prepared nevertheless." Malfoy tensed again, wand ready. Merlin started to move his hands in the air in front of him in a complicated pattern. And it suddenly seemed like a new quality had been added to the air of the classroom. Something electric, filled of energy. Malfoy blinked, not taking his eyes from their teacher for a second. Suddenly Merlin said a single, strange word none of the students managed to catch, and a flash of light erupted from his hands. Malfoy desperately cried the incantation for the shield charm, but did not manage to fend of the lighting bolt totally. Part of it hit his forehead, and the amazed class could see the light spread through his body until he was emitting light like a bright firefly, his forehead glowing like a 40W bulb.
"Wonderful!" Merlin cried as he lowered his hands, and the class collectively let out their breath. He took a step forward and shook the glowing boys shoulder gently. "Had it not been for your shield, you would have been emitting light to an extent that would make you very painful to look at right now. Don't worry about the light – it'll rub of soon enough. What you did right now was one of the most important things any of you can ever learn." He turned to the class. "Malfoy here did know that an attack was coming, but he did not have any idea of its nature. Still, since he was on his toes, he managed to fend it off. That is the cue. Be prepared like the boy scouts say... Yes, what was it?" Merlin suddenly pointed at one of the boys of the class, who had been whispering something to his friends. Suddenly in focus, he looked very uncomfortable. Malfoy smirked at him.
"Uh, no sir, it was nothing."
"Speak up, boy!" Merlin said, not unkindly, but commanding. "What's your name anyway?"
"Weasley, sir. And you just reminded me of something our last Defence teacher used to say... Constant Vigilance."
Merlin laughed. A short, warm laugh. "Constant Vigilance, eh? Well put. And that was the lesson I wanted to demonstrate today. If you can please go back to your seat, mister Malfoy, and thank you for the demonstration, I think it's time for the rest of you to have some practise as well... yes, miss?" A girl in the very back of the room had risen her hand.
"Greengrass sir. Please sir, how did you do that? I thought it was impossible to do magic without a wand." Suddenly, she had the attention of the whole class. It was obvious that the question was in many of the students' mind. Merlin hesitated for a moment.
"Well, miss Greengrass... that's really a piece of heavy magic theory you are asking for, the differences between magic styles, but essentially, it boils down to how to focus power." Merlin went back to the desk and sat down again, continuing the lecture. "I suppose you know that wizards and witches of your kind... Yes, miss Granger?"
"Sir! We focus magical power into spells with the magical core of the wand as a focus, like a lens. Other than in a few odd cases, the wand is necessary. There have been experiments with other magical artefacts such as crystals, hats, sometimes even living magical creatures or magical light, but not very successful. There are magical creatures, such as house elves, which can focus magical power with the internal magic of their bodies, um..." she hesitated, giving their teacher a shy look. He smiled encouragingly at her. "...there are actually some wizards known to have done magic without a wand, especially... dark wizards known to practice forbidden, ancient magic. It is speculated that they somehow have obtained an immaterial magic focus from... strange sources." She silenced, colour on her cheeks. Merlin glanced at a roll of parchment on his desk and than nodded approval.
"Totally true. I believe you gain points for your houses for good behaviour?" Some of the students nodded. "And your house is..." (Glancing at the parchment again) "…Slytherin, is that correct, miss Granger?"
Quite a few of the students looked taken aback at this, and the brown-haired student vigorously shook her head.
"No sir! It is Gryffindor."
"Ah, sorry. My mistake. Five points to Gryffindor, then, and as for your question, miss Greengrass, it is just as miss Granger described it. To use magic other than the most basal and fundamental kind, some sort of magical focus is needed. Mine happens to be somewhat different from yours." He stood up, smilingly eyeing the class as if daring them to ask more. The students remained silent however.
"Then, as I said, it's time for the rest of you to stop just sitting and listening and get some practise yourselves. We'll do the shield charm mister Malfoy demonstrated... you all know it since earlier, I suppose... Split up in pairs and practise. I'll walk around and see how you're doing and..." he produced the water gun again, "test your reflexes. Get moving."
They spent the rest of the lecture practising the shield charm. Merlin walked around them, looking, now and then shooting at someone with his water gun. It was soon, to the Slytherins' great distress, obvious that the Gryffindors all managed the spell perfectly, while many of themselves still had trouble. Especially Crabbe and Goyle were soon soaked. At the end of the lecture Merlin silenced them again.
"Well done. Some of you still have some practising to do, but that'll be professor Snape's business to sort out." These words were greeted with an outcry from many of the students.
"Yes, I've not much practise of your kind of spells, so Snape has kindly agreed to fill in now and then to keep you in shape in that department. My lectures will focus more on the theory and strategy of defence, which is hard enough. Anyway. I hope this introduction has given you some idea of what we'll be working with the lectures to come. Just one more thing before you leave," he said, raising his hand to keep the attention of the students. How many of you are taking muggle studies?"
A few of the students raised their hands. Merlin counted them and nodded. "Good. You might see me there as well. It has been arranged for me to do some lectures in computer engineering, which I tell you can be much more exciting than the muggles know. And for the rest of you... On your toes, Constant Vigilance and all that."
He was moving his hands in that strange, gripping motion again, and the air took the same electric quality as before. Then, with a strange word, he made a tugging motion, and the air in front of the desk started to shimmer. Some of the students had gripped their wands, but most only sat and gaped. Then, it was as if a tunnel opened in the shimmering part of the air, a tunnel surrounded by rainbows, leading away as far as they could see. And something was approaching, fast, from the other end.
"Be prepared." Merlin cautioned, and the remaining students raised their wands as well. Suddenly, the approaching things had reached the classroom and plunged towards the students. The fastest were able to do the shield charm. Some simply ducked but the rest were showered in chocolate. As they realised this, and they had recovered from the first shock, they begun laughing. Some of them stuffed their pockets.
Merlin laughed as well as he went forward to pick up a pike of chocolate that had fallen on the desk. The tunnel was now gone. "Well, that's it. See you next lecture," he said as the bell rang and the students started to leave.
Malfoy was already at the door when Merlin called him back. The teacher waited until the rest of the students were gone until he talked.
"I just wanted to tell you that being able to fend off that bolt was a really good piece of magic. I hadn't actually expected you to do it." Merlin smiled warmly at the boy who was looking very pleased with the compliment. "Now" the teacher laughed in a slightly embarrassed way. "I arrived just this morning, so I haven't had time to find my way around yet. Could you show me the way to the staff room?"
Malfoy willingly agreed, and they walked out in the corridor. The student had just pointed out the gargoyles flanking the staff room door when one of the paintings on the wall, a nineteen century wizard, bent forward in his frame.
"Excuse me, but is this our new defence against the dark arts teacher I'm adressing?" He asked with dusty voice." Malfoy was just about to answer, but the reaction of his teacher totally surprised him. Merlin has suddenly jumped a step backwards, his eyes on the painting, his hands moving in the air before him. Malfoy could feel the electricity in the air, and for a moment he though he saw something silvery uncoil from Merlin's left arm.
The portrait was obviously as taken aback as the boy, because he let out a frightened yelp and hid behind the frame. For a moment Merlin stood completely unmoving, in something that resembled a fencer's stance, glaring at the picture. But then he relaxed, the electric feeling disappearing from the air.
"I'm sorry he said," laughing slightly "Magically animated painting, is it? Ingenious, what will they come up with next, eh?" The portrait retrieved himself from under the frame, quickly adjusting its wig and pointing angrily at Merlin.
"Well, that is manner, is it? Attacking with no warning or reason. In my days you would be put in the dungeon for this, sir."
"Hey, I said I,m sorry" Merlin said, laughing again, even if Malfoy didn't understand why. "Where I come from, talking pictures means trouble, so you startled me. All right?"
"Hmpf. Well, apology accepted", said the picture, somewhat calmer. "As it is, I happened to keep your position for a fair number of years in my days, and I was only intending to give you my greetings."
"Well, consider it done. I would love to stay and chat, but we'll have to save that for later." Merlin opened the door to the staff room. "Thanks for showing me the way, Malfoy. Don't get late for your next class." And with a last, suspicious glance at the portrait he closed the door.
The student waited a moment and than walked over to the portrait. The frame was empty now - the old Defence teacher obviously away to tell his friends of the incident. But in the frame Malfoy could see a burnt mark, and when he touched it he could feel that it was still warm.