"They are pretty wild, aren't they Harry? And I mean those dragons were wicked awesome!"
"Yes…I don't know, something tells me that they know even a bit more than what they're saying. Well, I get that from Arya at least. I mean she's amazing, but I get the feeling that there's more to her."
"You sure you don't just like her mate? She is absolutely gorgeous-"
"No Ron, it's not that. I mean what was that thing with her dragon last night…it was weird…"
"Dunno mate." Ron slid into the seat next to Hermione, leaving Harry to sit in the front by himself. The DADA class room was littered with students talking, passing notes; just a normal class, minus a great wolf that stood in the doorway. A howl quieted the room, and students scrambled to their seats. The silver streaked black wolf ran to the table at the front of the room and jumped on it, transforming in the process. There sat Arya, still in the black and red armor from the night before, flashing everyone her lopsided smile. "Good morning class!"
"Good morning Professor." Everyone chimed, still shocked from her animagus.
"Now, now don't sound too excited about starting this morning! Anyways, you may call me Professor, or Professor Arya. I will be teaching you a lot of valuable tactics that you can use at anytime, with or without a wand. You will all not only discipline your minds, but your bodies as well. Every other day for this first term we will be training your bodies in the martial and physical arts; later on, we will learn- Ah, yes Mr. Malfoy?"
"Why are we learning all that physical rubbish when all we need is our wands? It's not like we'll use this everyday." Arya's gaze met his sarcastic stare as she strolled over to his desk.
"There will be times when you are attacked and you cannot reach your wand, or it's lost or expelled away. It is in these moments that you will need all this training. Furthermore Malfoy, you may come across a dark creature which you will not be able to take down simply with magic," she continued to wander about the room, "Have you ever come face to face with a giant? Maybe a mountain troll, or a fully enraged Centaur Mr. Malfoy? If you have, and survived, I would be most surprised. Better yet…have you ever come face to face with a dragon?" Malfoy's smug look dissipated as she walked again towards the front of the room. "Has anyone done any of these things?" Harry, Ron and Hermione's hand rose from the front of the class. "Alright you three- tell the class, did you solely rely on magic during those times?"
"No," Hermione began, "Each of us needed physical and mental skill to get past each creature. We also required will power and sometimes courage and faith to win with our lives."
"Precisely, does anyone else have any other questions? None? Now as I was saying before, you will later learn to incorporate magic into these tactics. And if time allows by the end of the year…we might have several new registered Animagi from this class room!" murmurs of excitement filled the room. "Now everyone, wands and books away." With a flick of her wand four different rows of training clothes appeared at the front of the row. Another flick of her wand, and each set of training clothes flew across the room to their respective students.
"These are what I had to wear for the tournament…" Harry said looking over his black and red striped outfit. Every student in the room looked over their clothes finding their last name on the back.
"As for your uniform, I expect you to change into these outfits each day that I teach you in class. After my class however, you will need to return to your normal uniforms. So…are we ready to get started?" Excitement filled the room as Arya showed everyone the locker rooms. After everyone had changed they filed out onto the Quidditch field, where they saw giant mats and other training equipment. "Alright everyone, get into lines and space out…that's right, now I'm going to teach you some basic forms of martial arts. We will cover Tai Chi, Southern Praying Mantis, Northern Shaolin, and Ba Gua fighting styles. Now, each of these relates to the elements- Tai Chi for water, Praying Mantis for earth, Shaolin for fire, and Ba Gua for air. I think it best that we start with Tai Chi…"
"That has got to of been one of my favorite lessons. She's as good as Lupin or Mad-eye."
"Yes Ronald, but what about spells. I mean it's all well that we are learning how to defend ourselves without our wands; I hate to say it, but Malfoy was right to some degree, what about defensive spells?"
"Well remember she said that we would only change for when she was teaching us. We don't know what Andrew is going to do yet…" Harry said as they walked into Transfiguration. "Speaking of Andrew…Hey there erm…Professor."
"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione. So tell me how did the lesson go this morning? Was my sister an alright professor?"
"She was absolutely brilliant! That stuff was wicked." The three just laughed at Ron as he went on explaining how their lesson went.
"Professor Andrew- you are here to help the students, not converse with them!" Andrew quickly returned to the front of the room behind Professor McGonagall muttering a small apology. "Today students, we will be transfiguring the inanimate objects that I have placed on your desks. As today is the first day back, you may choose what to transfigure it into. This is practice students, so use your time wisely. Begin." Hermione was able to change her tea cup into a multitude of other objects before anyone had transformed their items even two or three times. Yet with a little of Andrew's help, Harry turned his whistle into a watch, and had it sing the time for Professor McGonagall before the end of class. After dinner at the end of their lesson, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down to visit Hagrid. "Bloody hell mate, where'd you come up with the singing watch idea?"
"From Moody…it was a while ago though."
"Mad-eye?! Mad-eye Moody gave you that idea?"
"Don't knock it Ron…remember he came up with the 'Amazing Bouncing Ferret'!"
"Who's a Ferreh'?"
"Hagrid!" They all yelled.
"Come in, come in. I was just about to put on a pot o' tea…" The trio sat on the couch as Hagrid poured them tea and Fang came up looking for attention. "So, wha' are you three up to 'eh? I see you didn' sign up for any of my classes…"
"Hagrid, we're really, really sorry! Ron and I tried to fit it into our schedules-"
"And I hafta take extra lessons from Arya. We really did want to take your class."
"Aw that's alright, don' you worry 'bout tha'. Just focus on getting ready for 'you-know-who.'" They chatted for awhile until finally Harry brought it up.
"Hagrid…what do you know about Arya and Andrew? I mean, you're in the order, and they must have something to do with those two. They told us some things last night…but I just get the feeling there's more to them…" Hagrid looked a bit unnerved and hesitant, but finally spoke.
"Ya know Harry, there's a reason for tha', considerin' they're in the order and-"
"They're what?!"
"But that's not possible…I mean only overage wizards are allowed in!"
"Not quite 'ermione. Yer see…two years ago right after ya saw him Harry, Dumbledore notified his daughter- Kiara. She herself was a dragon rider at the time Voldemort was last in power, but he killed her dragon when she refused to join 'im. So Dumbledore wanted the twins to be safe, knowing that Voldemort would go after them. Well, one day the twins had been out training in a forest up in Romania- thas' where they live, an' they 'elped yer brother take care of Norbert, anywho," Harry and Hermione looked at Ron who had a shocked look on his face, "Arya had gone back to get something fer the dragons, leaving Andrew alone. Well some death eaters snuck up on him and took him back to a rendezvous point in a house to be interrogated by old Voldemort himself. Arya was able to trace her brother, using some 'o their rider magic, to the house. Meanwhile, Andrew had gotten his wand back and defended himself against 5 er 6 death eaters until the dark lord knocked him out! Can you imagine- Voldemort 'is self! Just as Voldemort was about to kill 'im, Arya jumped in an' saved her brother. She held Voldemort back long enough to get 'er brother and get out of the house. Mind yeh, it was a lot harder since they put up a barrier so that no one could aparate." Hagrid paused to see the astonished looks on their faces before continuing. "Dumbledore thought that because they finished their magical training at the age o' 11, and they have those rider powers that it would be a good idea to induct them. They're two of the most powerful wizards and witches in the world. Voldemort and Dumbledore are the only ones who surpass 'em, and even then it's only by a bit. At time I could swear that the two could overtake the professor. And besides Arya is the key-" Hagrid stopped suddenly with a shocked look on his face. "I shouldn' have said that…I should not have said tha'…Well look at the time! It's almost dark and you three need to get back up, I'll see you later- and stay out of trouble…all of yeh!" Confused, they walked back to the castle and up the grand staircase.
"Something is defiantly not right…She is hiding something and I will find out…"
"Find out what?"