Ron's Take
Hogwarts
The First Day of School
Defense Against the
Dark Arts Classroom
I surveyed my room quickly, making sure that everything was in place. I felt more nervous than I had in an incredibly long time. Luckily, my first class was second years, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and not sixth or seventh years, who were scant years younger than me. My classroom was fairly standard, nice and bright, with stone walls and a window. The weather was brisk but nice, the sun shining in brightly, although shades of autumn were beginning to show greater in the trees, and some leaves were falling. All in all, it was a great day. I was extremely worried. I did have a plan for each class, thankfully, drawn up with Hermione's help, so things shouldn't be too bad. I smiled as I thought of how Hermione was this morning. If anyone had greater nerves than I did right now, it was certainly her, although there was no reason for it - her lesson plans were meticulously detailed, and didn't leave a spare moment to chance. I had seen it and looked over her plans at her request. They were somewhat tough, but otherwise fairly good. Much better than how I was going to do, in any case.
Slowly, young (and jarringly tiny) second years began to shuffle in, beginning with a thin, weedy looking Hufflepuff boy with disheveled brown hair, and finally ending with a young girl Ravenclaw, with black hair that obscured much of her face. I breathed slowly, in and out to calm my nerves.
"Alright," I said to the class, trying to don a commanding and confident voice. The class quieted quickly, and I grabbed the clipboard with the roll. "Let's see...Amney, Clark?"
"Here," an eager sounding boy sounded out.
"Bartry, Jane?"
"Here," a lazy sounding voice said at low volume.
After having gone through roll fairly quickly, I started the class.
"Alright. I am Professor Weasley. Wands out, books away." Inadvertently, I reminded myself of Umbridge - despite the reversal of the words - and almost said there is no need to talk as a joke. I restrained myself, since it really wouldn't make any sense to them, but thankfully felt a little more relaxed. Somewhat clumsy second years fumbled with their books and wands before finally clutching their wands in their hands.
"Stand up." A scraping sound was heard as chairs were pushed back and the students stood up, increasing their height by a few inches.
"Today," I said, "you will be learning a fairly advanced curse called the Full Body Bind. It's tricky, but very useful, if any of you are ever caught in a tight spot. Yes?" A girl with short blonde hair had quickly raised her hands.
"Have you ever used this curse in battles in the war, sir?"
I smiled wryly. "I have, yes, but that's off the subject. Now, if you please, I will need a very adventurous volunteer."
Nobody raised their hands, but slowly, a couple went up, and I pointed to the first one I saw.
"You there! Your name?"
"Morgan Mansy, sir."
"Alright, Morgan, could you please come up here? I won't hurt you, I promise." I grinned in what I hoped was a comforting way as the young girl came slowly up. It had taken hours of arguing with Hermione to convince her that demonstrating it would be a good way to start the lesson, who was apparently sure that even though I had been adept at this curse for over ten years, I was sure to somehow mess it up and drastically injure the volunteer. Which didn't mean I wasn't taking precautions. I wordlessly cast a Summoning Spell on some cushions which magically floated their way over and arranged themselves appropriately, so that Morgan would fall softly. I pointed to a spot which would be appropriate, so that no matter what, she would fall on the pillows.
"Alright Morgan, all I want you to do is stand very still. You're going to have to trust me, alright? This won't hurt a bit, but it may feel a little strange."
Morgan nodded and braced herself comically, snapping her arms to her sides and having her eyes shut tight. I raised my wand quickly and remembered to cast it verbally, so that they could hear the incantation, and exaggerated my arm movements so they could see how to move the wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The spell hit Morgan and she fell directly onto the cushions with a soft thud, as I had cast a Slowing Spell as she fell on her way down. Amusingly, I was so used to the spell that I was surprised when the majority of the class gasped. I lazily cast the reverse spell nonverbally and helped her up.
"Alright Morgan, feel alright? Good. Excellent job, ten points for Hufflepuff. You may go back to your seat." Morgan, somewhat shaken but more relaxed, went back to her seat.
"Alright!" I said in a commanding voice, and waved my wand, casting a spell to move all the desks to the side. "You will pick a partner! You will then take turns practicing the Full Body Bind on each other. I will not have any injuries, and any funny business and points are deducted and you receive a detention - so remember to use cushions. Understood? Good. Get to work." The students organized themselves into partners, and five minutes later, the Body Bind Curse was being cast left, right and center. Theoretically.
"Petrificus Totally! Petrificky Totamus! Patrifice Totamy! Why isn't it working? Professor Weasley!"
"Oops! Sorry, Scott, are you alright?"
"Professor Weasley? How do I wake her up!"
"Petrilicus Motalus! Leptrificky Mortarus!"
"The curse is Petrificus Totalus," I tried to enunciate slowly as the rest of the class continued. "Say it after me - Petrificus Totalus."
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Excellent," I said.
"Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus!"
"Now let's not get over enthusiastic here," I added hastily. "It doesn't work any better if cast multiple times."
"Oh..." The student looked comically disappointed. I woke her partner - who had now been body-bound several times - and helped him up, and then left to examine the rest of the class. After a while I decided that most everybody had gotten it down pat, or as close as could be expected.
"Alright!" I roared. The class quieted instantly. "Please sit down in your chairs." The bustle of a class reorganizing itself was heard and the chairs screeched against the stone floor as the students sat down again.
"Now," I said. "Having practiced the Body-Bind, would someone please name its advantages?"
The class went abnormally quiet, an eventuality I had not been prepared for, as Hermione always used to be there to answer questions whenever I was in class. I waited a beat, then decided I may as well pick somebody.
"You there. I'm sure you can name one."
The student didn't say anything, but looked pensive for a moment. "It doesn't injure whoever you do it on."
"Good, the curse will leave people alive and well. How about you, got anything?"
"The person can't move."
"Correct," I nodded. "The recipient will be immobilized. How about a disadvantage? You over there, what's a disadvantage of the Full Body-Bind?"
"It's easily undone," the nervous student replied, almost saying it as a question as opposed to an answer.
"Good. I'm sure you've all written these down." I breathed in and out for a moment as I heard the frantic rustling of parchment being brought out and the frenzied scratching of the quills, relaxing myself. The lesson was going well.
Hermione's Take
The Start of the First Lesson
I nervously paced around my room, checking to make sure everything was right. I had six years first, which was nerve-racking, to say the least. Oh well, perhaps being around people closer to my age would cause me to relax. The bell rang and the students entered quickly, although not as many as a regular class, as they were NEWT students. I had required an E, like McGonagall, to take the course, but most people weren't interested in Transfiguration - it was much too difficult. It was still a fair-sized class, I suppose.
"All right," I said, taking a head count to make sure there were the right number of people. "I am Professor Granger, and I will be your teacher for NEWT Transfiguration. Transfiguration, as I'm sure you know, gets extremely complex around here. First off, though, let's take roll." I went through the names. Everybody was here, unsurprisingly, albeit somewhat tired and disgruntled, and, I could tell, somewhat surprised at how young I was.
"We'll be dealing with more complex things very soon...but for your first day, why don't we start off with some review? I'm sure you all remember Evanesco, the Vanishing Spell. We'll start off very easy - vanishing snails, like you did in the start of fifth year. You should be able to get these on your first few tries, if not your first. After that, you go to mice, and eventually, work your way up to vanishing your desk. If you do not succeed in vanishing your desk and chair simultaneously by the end of the class, you will have to do extra practice with it out of class until you master it, and demonstrate it for me by the end of this week, as this is an elementary spell and you should be extremely adept at it. Also, everybody will have to do a five foot essay on the Vanishing Spell, it's uses, how to do it correctly, and how it is used in the world today. Due Friday." My class sat stunned and some openly gaped at me for a moment, but I heard a groan quickly rise up, as well as an audible mutter of 'an essay already?' from several people. "Welcome to NEWT classes," I said breezily, restraining a smile with great difficulty. I do believe that I am going to enjoy teaching.