Disclaimer: The rights of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am making no financial gain from this story whatsoever.

A/N: I edited it a bit.

First reviewer of the story's pointed out that the killing curse isn't Latin. To be honest, I admit ignorance. Just thought it sounded good. Thanks for the review, though.

Please review. I don't know how people are taking it. I'm writing the story as I post, so I'm open to suggestions to how the story's structured.

Chapter 4
Classes

"Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Harry was behind his desk, standing in front of the Gryffindor/Slytherin fifth years. He didn't remember sharing the Defence classes when he was a student, but there were fewer fifth years in the two houses, so sharing would've been smarter.

"In this class, you will learn how to defend yourselves. Defend from spells, curses, enchantments, incantations, potions and so much more."

"The difference from the first five being…?" asked a Gryffindor girl.

"If you don't know a difference, doesn't mean there isn't.

"Some people may feel that after the fall of the Dark Lord, this class has lost some of its value. Allow me to stress the contrary."

He looked at all the students hard. "As long as there are people, there will be conflict. You will always need to be able to defend yourselves."

"Turn to page 59," he said. The students obeyed.

"Sir," one Slytherin student said, "what's the need to study Dementors?"

"Have you ever met one?"

"No."

"Has anyone met one?"

The class all shook their heads.

"I met my first when I was a third year." The class gasped. "I had to defend myself and someone I loved from a group of them at the end of my year."

"They weren't going to…" someone whispered.

"Suck his soul?" Harry said. "Yes they were."

"What did you do?"

"I used the spell you read before you at them, and they left."

"What?" laughed a derisive Slytherin. "Are you telling us that you knew the Patronus at the age of thirteen, and you also used it at a pack of them?"

"Name?" Harry asked.

"Armauq Kilcourd."

"Are you saying I'm lying, Armauq?"

"No sir," stuttered the boy, frightened.

"But you were implying it." He went on, like the interruption hadn't occurred.

"Does anyone know the effects of a dementor?"

A few hands came up. He pointed at a Slytherin girl.

"They suck out your happiness," she promptly answered.

"And?"

"And they make you relive your worst memories, sir" a Slytherin said.

"What's so bad about that?" scoffed a Gryffindor boy.

Harry smiled. A very small part of him wanted someone to think that.

"You think that's not bad?" he asked.

"No," the boy said. "Just ignore it and stick to matter at hand. Winning the fight."

"Tell me," said Harry softly, "have you ever experienced a fierce fight?"

The boy shook his head.

"Have you ever met a dementor… what's your name?"

"Paul, Paul Tyner. And no sir."

"So what gave you the impression that it's easy to just ignore the dementors' effects?" Harry asked. "You're a muggle-born. Are you muggle-raised?"

"Yes. How did you know I'm a muggle-born?"

"I have many talents," Harry dismissed. "Please come here to the head of the class."

The boy did, while displaying his confusion.

"I know of a spell, developed in Italy," Harry said, "that can mimic a Dementor's effect. Wanna try?"

The boy wanted to go back to his seat. But the looks the rest of the Gryffindors gave him told him he would be considered a coward if he backed down now, after throwing a fuss.

"Okay sir," he acquiesced. "But I'm under no danger, right?"

"Not one bit," Harry assured. "I swear all you will experience will be in your mind. I will also perform a simple spell that will show you a dementor, too. Don't worry, it is an illusion."

Harry tried to hide his smile. All he was going to do was conjure a black cloak and then levitate it. But it sounded better the way he said it.

He raised his wand, and conjured the black cloak. He spelled the part that covered the face to be dark, as if one couldn't see a face there.

"That's it?" asked Paul, relieved. The class looked at him in awe.

"Not even close," Harry said. "I didn't even perform the spell, yet."

While the class laughed, Harry did the spell. It was a simple spell, and any wizard worth his/her salt could easily dismiss it. But it wasn't made for fighting, but for research. They tested to see how long Law Enforcement officers could withstand the horrors, or mentallyavoid it. They even tried to develop spells to make wizards immune to them.

Suddenly Paul's demeanor changed. His eyes widened and he shook. A couple of seconds later he screamed. He fell to the ground and shook violently.

Harry quickly cancelled the spell. He kneeled beside the boy.

"Paul!" he yelled. "Paul, it's okay. You're fine."

"Make it stop," the boy sobbed. Harry hugged him, whispering in his ears.

"It's over. I'm sorry. I should've checked. I should've checked."

Harry conjured a chocolate bar.

"Eat," he offered.

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat," Harry ordered.

The boy complied. For a few minutes, Harry watched him, forgetting there was a class with them.

"Sir?" someone said, reminding him of his location. He quickly got up.

"I must apologise," Harry said in remorse.

"Why?"

"Dementors bring up your worst memories," Harry explained. "What's a consequence to that?"

A Slytherin girl answered, "People will be affected differently."

"Exactly, five points to Slytherin," Harry said. "Depending on what your worst memories are, they will affect you differently. Make no mistake however; should a dementor stand right in front of you, with the intention of sucking you, you'll be on the floor, regardless of how delightful your memories are."

"How are you feeling, Paul?"

"Better," he replied.

"As you're a muggle-born, I expect you've heard about the Newcastle massacre?"

Paul paled. "That was because of Dementors?" he whispered.

"Unfortunately, yes. Most were sucked out, leaving them soul-less." He turned to the class. "Muggles were told that they were left mad due to a trauma from an attack by thugs and gangs, but that wasn't true."

"Two of your friends will escort you to Madame Pomfrey."

"It's not needed sir."

"I say it is," Harry said kindly.

When thethree kids left the class, Harry continued the lesson.

"What could Paul see that could've affected him so badly?" asked a Gryffindor.

"I don't know," remarked Harry. "And if you don't, it's because he doesn't want you to. I will not hear anyone is badgering him.

"I will, however, tell you why I was affected in a similar manner by dementors in my third year. I'm sure you all aware of the events of my childhood?"

They all nodded affirmatively.

He continued. "When I was in my third year, and dementors came near me, I would hear the screams of a woman."

"Who?"

"My mother. She was begging Voldemort not to kill me, but to take her instead."

The looks of horror from the kids told Harry that it would be better to get back to class.

"Anyways…" he said before getting interrupted by a Gryffindor, who asked what the class wanted to know.

"What do you hear now?"

"It's a bunch of memories, different almost every time," Harry said quietly. "War does that to those who are unfortunate to experience it.

Back to the lesson at hand," he said, cheerily. "As I've caused three of your colleagues to miss the class, I'll teach you the spell next lesson. You're all dismissed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome to Advanced Defence of the Dark Arts," Harry said at the end of the day. He couldn't muster much enthusiasm after saying it a bunch of times before. It didn't matter; he wanted his seventh year class to be serious. No jokes here. He had only a year to teach them what he could.

The students who selected this course from all the houses came together for this class once they were in their last year. As there were so many students, Harry had taught at a different room, a much larger room.

"Can you all hear me?" he asked. They nodded. "Excellent."

"This class will not be easy," he warned. "I will demand a lot from you. I have one year to teach you as many spells to survive. As such, I will not abide by the N.E.W.T. syllabus."

"Sir," called a student over the uproar. "We'll fail if you don't."

"Settle down, settle down," Harry chuckled. "I didn't say I wouldn't teach you the syllabus, just that I won't be restricted by it. I'm going to teach you a lot more spells, and tactics, that the N.E.W.T.s will require. Stick with me, and the exam will be too easy."

"What's the point of teaching us so much?" asked a student.

Harry rubbed his head. He was asked this in all his classes.

"There will always be dark wizards and enemies. A wizard, or witch, who refuses to know how to defend oneself, is begging for death."

It seemed that the class wasn't impressed. Harry got angry. He could tolerate the lower classes not understanding, he had time to change that. The seventh years only had a year.

"Very well," he said to the skeptical faces. "Who are the ten best duelers here?"

Half the students raised their hands.

"… to duel with me," Harry continued.

All the hands went down. Harry laughed.

"Ten wizard or witches will duel with me at the same time. Come one, ten against one. Use whatever spells you wish. Except the unforgivables, and extremely dark curses, of course. Come on, who're the best? Twenty-five points will go to the houses of each student if I lose."

The four houses started to urge their choices of the better duelers. In the end, 3 Hufflepuffs, 3 Ravenclaws, 2 Slytherins, and 2 Gryffindors got up.

"Talk amongst yourselves about some sort of strategy," he offered. "You have five minutes."

While they huddled together, he turned back to the class.

"Dueling can either be a sport or a fight. I will take it to be a sport now. They will, of course, take it to be a fight."

"Are you done?" he asked after the five minutes were up.

"Yes," one of them, a dark-skinned Hufflepuff, said.

Harry waved his wand, and the seats near the stage vanished, and the stage increased in size. He waved it again in intricate patterns, and a blue barrier appeared around them, covering the whole stage the teacher usually stood on.

"For protection of the other students from stray curses," he explained.

"Shall we begin?" The duelers nodded. Harry bowed, which they returned.

And then Harry waited. He leaned on the wall lazily. The ten opponents looked at one another, wondering who to act first. The professor clearly wasn't.

"Let's all send a curse at the same time," said a Slytherin. "On three. One… two… three…"

They all yelled. Right then, Harry moved.

The spells all hit where he was, and he was already 3 steps ahead. Spells flew towards him, but he dodged and spun, and the spells couldn't hit him.

"Impedimenta!" yelled a Ravenclaw. The spell brushed aside him, as he spun.

Harry moved with amazing speed, but didn't throw any spells at them. The opponents grouped together, according to the house, and sent spells simultaneously. They still had no effect. Even the ones he didn't dodge were blocked easily.

Harry jumped, too high for a normal man. When he reached the peak of his jump, two spells left his wand, hitting two of the Ravenclaws, who fell to the ground, and did not get up.

Harry ran towards the two Gryffindors very quickly. They sent as many spells as he could. He leaned to his left or right to dodge them, but somehow kept his top speed. When he reached them, he quickly slapped both their heads with the wand, waving it like a conductor's baton. They were unconscious before they hit the ground.

Taking advantage of the shocked looks he was given, two spells were sent and hit two of the Hufflepuffs, removing them from the proceedings.

He jumped on the walls, stayed there for a moment, and jumped off, conjuring ropes to wrap around the remaining Ravenclaw and one of the Slytherins. He quickly stunned them.

That left one Slytherin and the dark-skinned Hufflepuff.

Harry animated the rug on the ground with an enchantment, and sent it to attack the Hufflepuff.

The Hufflepuff suitably distracted, he threw his wand at the Slytherin, and promptly ran at him. The Slytherin's eyes never left the wand, despite knowing Harry's approach. The Slytherin reached up to get the wand and… his Defence professor punched him.

The Slytherin fell to the ground, Harry's wand in his hand. Harry retrieved his wand, before getting blasted off his feet.

The Hufflepuff got rid of the rug, and sent a spell at Harry. Impressive, Harry thought. He was sure it would've taken the student longer to deal with it. He saw the rug in flames.

He stood before the Hufflepuff, waiting for the student to strike first. The Hufflepuff sent a surprisingly weak spell at him. Just when he was about to block it, he noticed what was behind him.

Harry jumped to his side, avoiding a spell that struck where he had stood. The funny thing was the spell came from behind. Harry smiled.

He turned to the student, who looked disappointed his plan didn't work. He had to finish the duel now. He was starting to get tired.

Harry let the spells out in droves. He threw curse after curse, overwhelming the Hufflepuff. One disarming curse was enough to extract the student's wand.

He revived the fallen students and removed the barrier. A crescendo of applause was heard once the barrier was removed.

"That was bloody brilliant," a young man screamed.

Harry waited for the class to settle down, and the duelers to return to their places, before speaking again. He set the class back to normal then. Many of the curses left burn marks, and the teacher's table was in pieces.

"Fifteen points to every dueler, and twenty extrapoints to the last Hufflepuff dueler standing."

"Why?" he asked. "I couldn't beat you, and you're giving me thirty five points?"

"You tricked me," Harry explained. "Forgive me from sounding arrogant, but that's rare. What's your name?"

"Nathaniel Zabini."

"Zabini? Are you Blaise's brother?"

"Yes," he asked, confused.

"I was in the same year as him," Harry said. "Let me applaud your use of the lasso enchantment. An amazing method. You made the spell while I was dealing with the Slytherin, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Ingenious. You performed the spell, and then held it behind me. You distract me with a simple spell, ensuring I'd block and not dodge. While I block, all it took was a tug of the wand to get the spell to come to me."

"While this tactic is used in many duels," Harry explained to the class, "I've never seen a student do it."

He turned to the class."There's much to take from this duel," he said. "What's the first? Yes," he pointed at a Ravenclaw witch.

"You were showing off." Her friends tried to shush her, thinking she was stupid for insulting the professor.

"That's true," Harry said. "What was the worst?"

"I don't know. You jumped on the wall, when just throwing a curse would've been effective. You hit two of the duellers with the wand when throwing a curse is easier. You risked them getting you when you ran at them. I think the worst was when you threw your wand and punched the dueller. What if the opponent just killed you while you ran? Not everyone would look at the wand."

"Ten points to Ravenclaw for each example," Harry awarded. "You're right. I explained that I was going to take this duel as a sport. Doing these moves in a real fight could get you killed. I've seen it happen. On the other hand, some of these moves can be the difference between victory and defeat."

"How do you know when to do it?" asked a Slytherin witch, who participated in the duel.

"You never really do," Harry said. "Dueling at it's most advanced is just instinct and reflex. You must trust yourself and your abilities. You must already know curses and counter-curse, tactics and moves. You must be willing to perform something at the blink of an eye, because only then would it be most effective.

"Also, you must be aware that wizards all duel differently. What works against me probably wouldn't work against Voldemort."

"What mistake did you make with Voldemort?" someone asked.

"You saw all that jumping on the walls?" they all nodded. "That has saved my life countless times with Death Eaters. Works like a charm, especially if there is a group of them. I once used it on Voldemort, and it was a horrifying mistake. I felt the pain of that duel for many, many months. I never thought of using it with him again."

He finished the lesson. "That duel, while enjoyable to watch, shows how a dueler can befuddle his opponents. You will have enemies and if you can't defend yourselves, the stunners I used in the end could be the killing curse.

If you are going to lose, let it be because your opponent was great, and not because you were pathetic. Too many wizards and witches died needlessly during the war against Voldemort because they couldn't defend themselves. Class dismissed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

During dinner, there was a buzz in the Great Hall. When Harry entered, some students cheered, while the rest laughed.

Harry shook his head, a smile on his face. When he reached the table, he met a frowning Hermione.

"Something up?"

"Yes," she said. "Three of my classes, each having had a class with you before, asked for presentations. I asked why, and they all said you gave them one."

"Yeah, Potter," said Malfoy, laughing. "Now I've gotten students saying they wish Charms was as fun as Defence. I swear, the guys are praising you to Merlin levels, and many of the girls have crushes on you."

"Sixth and seventh year crushes?" Harry asked hopefully. "Ouch!" he exclaimed when Hermione kicked his shin under the table.

Malfoy just laughed harder.

A/N: I hope you don't feel I made Harry a super-powered wizard. He's defeated Voldemort alone. I feel beating 10 students isn't too fanciful. Please review.