Protego
The next days lessons passed in a blur. History of Magic turned out to be duller than Max had expected, the ghost, Professor Binns droning on while the students tried to take notes. Max managed to take notes most of the way through, but he did find himself zoning out a few times. The last lesson that day was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Max, Albus and Orion found themselves outside the classroom in the North Tower at least five minutes early. They were far from the only ones. The Hufflepuff boys had obviously heard good things about the new professor and were waiting patiently for the door to open. They were soon joined by the girls, who shook their heads and tutted when they saw the queue of boys.
The door opened by itself and a melodic voice emanated from the classroom.
"Please come in and take a seat first years." said Professor Mallory. "We have a lot to get through."
Obediently the students scuttled inside and found seats, taking out their books and wands as they sat down. They watched the professor attentively. Professor Mallory was quite young, probably only around twenty, with a friendly smile and eyes that seemed purple in colour. She had long dark hair, that she wore in a plait down her back, and pale delicate skin which contrasted with her full red lips. She was curvaceous, in a figure hugging pale blue robe, with a slim waist and long legs. The twins hadn't been exaggerating about her chest, which was full and voluptuous, and Max felt his gaze drawn to the cleavage showing at the low cut neck of her robe. Max shifted uncomfortably and felt a blush rising to his cheeks as he struggled not to gawp at her breasts.
"Welcome first years." she said, in a voice like silk. "In this lesson you will learn how to defend yourself from all manner of dark creatures and spells. Defence is a key skill in magic and one which a witch or wizard must be knowledgeable of." her eyes moved over the assembled students. "Many of you in this room will have lost people to dark magic, whether to a wizard or creature, and you will understand the importance of being able to protect yourselves and others. I can't pretend that what you learn here will keep you safe in any eventuality, but I can promise that if you master these skills you will at least have a fighting chance against the forces of evil."
The classroom was silent, every student listened intently. Professor Mallory's personality seemed to hold everyone's attention effortlessly, as if she had cast a silencing charm.
"In our first lesson you will learn how to disarm an opponent and how to cast a basic shield." she continued, waving her wand to display two wand movement diagrams on the board. "The disarming spell will remove the wand from the target's grasp, giving the caster the opportunity to take other actions or escape. The shield charm will protect from most minor to average hexes and jinxes. It's strength varies depending on the power and focus of the caster and the strength of the jinxes it repells. It can cause hexes to rebound on the caster if timed correctly. To remove the shield you should cast Finite Incantatem, this is a General Counter Spell and will be of use to you in a variety of other areas. Please practice the wand movements shown on the board and when I think you have mastered it I will introduce the incantations."
The room was filled with students waving their wands as the professor walked the room checking on people. Many of the boys seemed quite distracted by the professor's presence, waving their wands aimlessly as they stared at her, but she seemed oblivious. Albus managed to poke Orion in the eye with his wand at one point and Rose gave them a withering look. Max found it easier to concentrate once they moved on to casting the actual spells, managing to produce a weak shield on his first attempt. He almost managed to disarm Rose on his first try, causing her wand to slip in her fingers before she caught hold of it. Professor Mallory gave him ten house points and he blushed furiously.
That evening at dinner the majority of the talk at the Gryffindor table revolved around Professor Mallory. Even Rose agreed that her lesson had been a good one. They didn't even complain about the homework she had set, to practice the spells for next lesson, many of them practising at the dinner table. A jug of pumpkin juice toppled over as Orion's shield knocked against the table, spilling on Kevin's lap.
"Next time Strychnine casts a stinging hex at me in class I'm gonna use the shield charm." said Albus, smirking as Kevin mopped his robes with a napkin. "See how the mean git likes it when his own hex rebounds in his face."
"Careful Al," warned Serpens, "don't give him another reason to pick on you. He's getting nastier every day."
"There was another cauldron explosion today," said Severus, who had wandered over with his twin, "he got splashed with swelling solution. His chin looked like a pink watermelon by the time he got to the antidote."
"Was it anything to do with you two?" Rose frowned. "Your parents will go nuts if you get in trouble before the end of the first week."
"It wasn't even our year," said Harry, "A fifth year in Slytherin was telling everyone about it. Strychnine has been glaring at everyone who even looks at him."
"Why are there so many explosions in that classroom this year?" said Serpens. "It's like someone is sabotaging the equipment."
"I suppose it could be something to do with Peeves." said Rose, "Mum and Dad said he was always causing trouble when they were here."
"Who is Peeves?" asked Max.
"The resident poltergeist," said Albus, "he tends to target Filch though, why would he suddenly start targeting the new potions teacher?"
"Who knows with Peeves," said Harry, "he once dumped dragon dung over Sev and I, for no reason at all."
"No reason?" said Rose, with a disbelieving look.
"Well," smirked Severus, "we may have been carrying a bucket full of it to throw at Chris Waller, but that's beside the point."
The Gryffindor's laughed and Rose smiled and shook her head. They told stories about the things Peeves had done over the years until dinner was cleared away. The twins followed the others to the Gryffindor common room while Max set off for the dungeons and his special lessons.
XXXXXX
Max walked down the dungeons his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. The torches flickered as he passed, making shadows twist and jump. He glanced into the potions classroom as he passed, Strychnine was at his desk hunched over his marking. Max hurried past quietly, trying not to attract his attention or his anger. Max let out a breath when he spotted the snake sculpture ahead of him and hurried towards it.
The snake in the sculpture was curled in an infinity symbol, clutching its own tail in its mouth. The scales seemed to shimmer realistically as Max stared at it. He turned away from the sculpture, to face the door, and whispered the password. The door faded away to reveal a set of stone stairs leading downward. Torches burned in brackets on the walls, but their light seemed dimmer than elsewhere in the castle. Max edged forward and began to carefully descend the stairs.
At the foot of the stairs another wooden door opened without a sound and Max boldly stepped inside. A dark hooded figure stood in the shadows of the far side of the room. Max found his wand in his hand without even thinking. He froze in place, unsure of the figure's intentions. The figure moved closer, still in the shadows, and Max edged back slightly.
"Who is it?" called Max, a slight tremor in his voice.
"If I had been an enemy you would surely have been hexed by now, or worse." said a familiar voice. "Do they not teach elementary defense any more?"
"Evan?" said Max, stepping forward and squinting.
"Obviously." smirked Evan, stepping into the light. "Who else did you expect?"
"I thought it might be McGonagall," Max admitted, "but I didn't really know who to expect."
"Yet you wandered, alone and unprotected, into an unfamiliar place and left yourself open to attack?" Evan said, arching an eyebrow. "How could you know I was not a threat?"
"My wand glows when it thinks I'm under threat." Max reminded him. "Plus Professor Longbottom sent me here, I know he wouldn't send me into an ambush."
"Oh?" said Evan, looking at him appraisingly. "Logic? Impressive, but that's not what we are here for."
"Why are you here Sir?" Max asked.
"First of all to assess your abilities," Evan said, "and secondly, to tutor you in subterfuge and caution. Something many Gryffindor's fail to master."
"Weren't you a Gryffindor?" said Max.
"Let's just say the hat also thought me just as at home in Slytherin." smirked Evan.
"Me too!" grinned Max, "Actually, it told me I would do well in any of the houses. It couldn't make up it's mind so it asked me to choose."
"It what?" said Evan in surprise. "I had heard you were a hatstall, but I had no idea the hat had that much trouble. I would advise you to keep that quiet. There will be some who will mistrust you if they hear about it."
"Why would they mistrust me?" Max asked, biting his bottom lip nervously.
"The hat is a powerful and ancient magical artefact," Evan explained, "if people know that it could not place you then they may consider you to be an anomaly. Anomalies can be dangerous."
"I understand." Max nodded.
He glanced around the room. It appeared to be a potions lab, disused judging by the dust. The workstations and stools had been pushed against the wall, leaving a large space in the middle. Evan drew his wand, pushing up the sleeves of his robe, and stepped into the empty space gesturing Max to join him.
"I understand you have learnt some basic spells already." said Evan. "I want you to use a shield to block my attack."
Max nodded and raised his wand, waiting. He saw the briefest flicker in Evan's eyes before he doubled over giggling as unseen hands tickled him. Tears streamed from his eyes and he rolled helplessly around the floor. Evan dismissed the hex and the tickling stopped. Max got to his feet and scowled at Evan.
"What happened?" he said. "You didn't say anything."
"Wordless casting is common among more powerful wizards." Evan said. "You must learn to anticipate your opponents thoughts. Try to read my intentions. Try again."
Evan wordlessly cast a stinging hex at him and Max dodged, avoiding the spell by millimeters.
"Well predicted Max," said Evan, grudgingly, "but I said use a shield charm not dodge."
Evan cast another stinging hex.
"Protego!" shouted Max, and the stinging hex flew back at Evan, catching his wand hand as he tried to dodge.
"Impressive," he said, shaking his fingers, "try again without speaking the incantation."
He fired the tickling hex at Max for a second time. Max thought 'Protego' furiously and was astounded when Evan was forced to dodge his returning hex. Evan made him repeat this four more times before calling him to stop.
"Shall we try wandless now?" said Evan, catching his breath.
Max put his wand on a shelf and concentrated hard. He saw the stunning spell a split second before Evan cast it and, focusing all his mind and energy on it, cast a wordless, wandless Protego. The force of his shield threw Evan backwards, into the row of desks and stools, where he slumped on the floor motionless.