Chapter 12: The Duelling Lesson

"It is my intention, at least until next year, for Defence Against the Dark Arts to be an environment where you can ask your questions and share your concerns free from too much judgement. I am aware that your instruction thus far has been lacklustre to say the least, so our first couple of sessions together will be mainly focused around understanding where our current abilities lie. Any questions?"

Narcissa looked amongst the sea of third year students, looking back at her with a little bit of fear, and then to Hermione on her right hand side. The younger woman gave a little shrug, which she wouldn't usually tolerate but honestly? She felt quite the same. How was she supposed to work with this level of participation?

A boy at the back of the classroom raised a tentative hand, raised in parallel with his ear. His face was pale, as though it had been a while since he had indulged in the sunlight, and the area below his chin suggesting he indulged a little too much in the nightly feasts - but all-in-all, she admired the boy's courage in speaking up. A Gryffindor, it would figure.

"Yes, Mr…"

"Tanner," he replied. "Lovell Tanner, Mrs… Professor Malfoy. I just wanted to know if the rumours are true with regards you being a death eater and all."

The classroom fell silent as Gryffindors and Slytherins alike quietened down to find out this dark witch's true allegiance, even the stray Ravenclaw's interest piquing. She could hardly blame them, for Narcissa herself barely knew herself why she had been allowed to teach at Hogwarts.

"I am not, and never have been a death eater. But what I hope to install upon you is that the dark arts goes far beyond what you might have heard about the battle earlier this year. You need to understand and be confident in defending yourself against dark wizards, but to be aware that not all dark wizards will operate as the death eaters did. While the Dark Lord tended to utilise more obviously violent forms of dark magic, there are more subtle, more intelligent forms of magic which I suspect will be utilised more in the future."

"Well, like what?" he replied, suddenly very interested in the course material.

"Well, Mr Tanner, you've no doubt heard about the unforgivable curses? While they've been made illegal once more, some wizards are unperturbed by the legalities of using the curses. These are the most sinister curses a witch or wizard can use, and you truly must have the desire to use them for malevolent purposes. I certainly recall being subjected to the cruciatus curse, but I know of uses of the curse which have tortured witches and wizards into insanity. It's really quite a cruel curse and it carries a life sentence in Azkaban. So don't even think about it."

And for another 10 minutes she spoke of dementors and cursed objects, potions and curses, with a key emphasis on how the syllabus would focus on using magic to protect oneself against these entities. Surprisingly, the students listened in keenly and politely, giving Narcissa their full and undivided attention.

"Unfortunately, as Ms Granger will be able to tell you, you are not protected from the dark arts just because you are a child. In fact, sometimes you are left more vulnerable."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately as you get older you realise that not all witches and wizards will use their magic for good. It's better to prepare now and hope you are never subjected to dark magic, than to assume you're safe from it and end up caught out."

"Quite," Narcissa agreed, standing up from her spot on the edge of her desk.

"Sometimes, a simple Expelliarmus is enough to give you the advantage in a duel," she said, projecting her voice over the noise of the students chatting. "Sometimes, protego might actually prove more useful. So, let's try both. Pair up and take turns disarming one another, then take turns using protego to block a simple stunning spell."

The students were quick to climb to their feet and make space in the classroom for their exercise. Hermione came to stand a few feet away from her, following her example in giving the students a few moments to get settled into the activity.

"Our first duelling lesson was shockingly bad, did Draco ever tell you?"

Narcissa paused a moment before shaking her head, "I don't recall him ever mentioning it. Why? What happened?"

"Do you remember Gilderoy Lockhart?"

"Yes, I believe he's been permanently institutionalised in St. Mungo's."

Hermione nodded, "That's him. He formed a duelling club, short-lived of course, but nevertheless. Not only did Professor Snape immediately disarm him during a demonstration, but when Draco had conjured a snake he just launched it into the air and it ended up injuring a boy in our class. We never really had any more consistent duelling practice until fifth year when we started our own club, called-"

"Dumbledore's Army," Narcissa finished, surprising herself with the chuckle she afforded the young woman. "I remember it had been Draco's personal mission to catch you all. A little more petty than we'd typically encourage, certainly, but we'd known that things were going to get rather dark that summer. It was just nice to see him with a focus, and obviously he ended up rather down the following year, so…"

"I understand," Hermione said, and Narcissa was in no doubt as to her sincerity. After all, this was a young woman who had spent the best years of her life fighting an entity which sought to destroy her very kind. If there was anything the young woman could empathise with, she hoped it was that one had to take advantage of life's lighter moments - for they certainly weren't there in abundance.

So Narcissa gave her a small smile, "I'm sure you do, Ms Granger. Now, it looks to me that Ms Woodsworth's hand movement is more akin to unlocking doors than protecting her from harm. Would you like to do the honours of demonstrating the correct movement while I go emphasise to Mr Tanner the importance of the correct pronunciation in spell-casting."

If Draco could see her now, moving through the rows of a classroom with Hermione Granger, correcting the wand technique of her students - he'd likely have checked her into an institution with Gilderoy Lockhart and the Longbottoms.

Certainly before the death of her only child, she wouldn't have even entertained joining the staff team at Hogwarts. She'd have been perfectly content spending the rest of her life on Lucius' arm in a beautiful ballgown and enjoying trips to the most beautiful parts of the world. Her life, though far from redundant, had been very different than the life awaiting her as a professor. And she was still very financially secure and certainly maintained the aesthetic and personal standards which she had been expected to learn from a young age.

But contrary to her upbringing, she could never have imagined having a perfectly civil conversation with a muggleborn witch and helping her to decide if teaching was the profession for her. Sure enough, she had threatened this very young woman and her friends not two years ago on a trip to Diagon Alley. And now? Now she never wanted another parent to understand the pain of losing a child. Even if that child was born of muggle parentage, she would do everything in her power to arm them to go into the world and to stay as safe as possible.

She wanted these kids to understand the true possibilities of dark magic and the risks that came with associating with it - the unforgivable curses were only scratching the surface of the damage that evil could do in the Wizarding World. Narcissa knew better than anyone the toll repeated exposure to trauma could take on the psyche and the best way to avoid that would have been to have been able to defend herself in the first place.

"Mr Tanner, would you consider yourself well-equipped with the English language?" Narcissa said, struggling to keep the patronising tone from her voice. And when the Gryffindor looked back at her with the most innocent brown eyes, she could have almost been inclined to take pity on him.

Almost.

"Of course, Professor."

"Then pronounce the charm properly, Mr Tanner. Pro-TAY-goh. You'll find the spell actually works much better when you prioritise pronunciation and enunciation."

"Enunciation?"

Fucking hell.