Hillevi had never seen herself as athletic.
In a village full of Vikings, she had always been more brain than brawn, and had more or less come to peace with this since coming to Hogwarts.
Watching a flagging Seamus on his next pass, the Valhallan felt proud instead of accepting.
Professor Sprout had set out a test for the joint Gryffindor/Hufflepuff class to run three laps around the castle's perimeter, with two rules.
If they could run the lap in under five minutes, then they would reduce their remaining laps by one; if they took longer than ten minutes, that lap did not count, and they would have to run it again.
Having finished her required laps at a reasonable pace, Hillevi sat with Neville and Flora, watching James-the show-off-make his tenth at a full sprint while the rest of the class struggled through their fifth and sixth.
"Humans and Pokemon are different in many ways!" Professor Sprout called out as she approached Harry and Hermione, who were catching their breath in the hope of a second wind. "But one of the key differences is that we lack their stamina."
James passed again, and the professor rolled her eyes.
"Well, most of us. Even a Golem or a Hippowdon can keep moving far longer than a normal human can. The trick to tracking down a fleeing Pokemon is using your brain."
She gestured towards Neville and Hillevi, the latter holding up her water bottle for Cloudjumper to drink from as Meatlug stretched, happy to be getting some fresh air.
"Tell me, what do you think Neville and Hillevi realized that allowed them to be done before the rest of you?"
Harry gave James a half-hearted glare as James passed by again, sensing a certain amusement from the silent, taciturn man.
"They realized they could do all the laps in the allocated time, but not in the shortened time." Hermione answered, still a touch breathless.
"Yes, but what else?" Professor Sprout pressed, calling the rest of the class when no answer was forthcoming to hand out water bottles. "Today's lesson was not just about endurance, but about a fundamental fact of life. There are no true shortcuts. Neville and Hillevi were the only ones to complete the challenge I set forth…"
She paused to glance at them.
"Twenty points to Gryffindor, you two."
James loped up now that the fun of passing students was gone, not even winded, and Demon laughed at them all with that lolling doggy smile.
"And that is because they put in the work. If you want to track down Pokemon, you can't cut corners. Yes, you can make things easier on yourself, like using better Poke Balls or coming up with strategies. I'm not discouraging from using your heads. But you must put in the work. Mister Longbottom and Miss Haddock decided that they would put in their three laps instead of attempting to cut them down and be done. The rest of you tried to take advantage of a shortcut, and it blew up in your face. In the fields and in the forests, that might allow a Pokemon to flee, or put your life at risk."
Professor Sprout looked at each of her students, trying to impress this message upon them.
"You all know about the battle between Alder and Raikou. Most people forget to mention that Alder chased after the Legendary for three hours before finally managing to corner it for that quick battle. He ran through fields, swam across a fast-moving river, and leapt from tree top to tree top in his pursuit."
She glanced to Hillevi, and her prosthetic, meaningfully.
"If you want to achieve greatness, you can't expect it to just be laid in your lap."
"I thought the first day of classes were supposed to be easy." Ron mumbled, resting his head on the table in their Battle class. "Everyone knows that."
"Ron, if it were up to you, we wouldn't do anything the first day of school, or the second, or the third…" Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.
"And if it were up to you, we'd never leave school. You'd have us taking classes all year round, without breaks, probably strap us to chairs with metal clamps holding our eyes open, so we wouldn't accidentally fall asleep. Have diapers, too, and feeding tubes."
"You've put an awful lot of thought into this." Harry noted, James sending the Weasley a somewhat impressed look.
"That is not the slightest bit true!" Hermione argued as Hillevi played tug-of-war with Blackstar. "I would never suggest we spend every waking moment in a classroom. Learning out in the field, on your own, can be quite beneficial! In July, for example, I spent a week studying different long grass to determine-"
"Called it." Ron muttered.
"What was that, Ron?"
"Nothing."
Tuning out Hermione's current lecture, Hillevi looked up as Dexter popped out of her bag to look over the Irate Pokemon as he dug tiny baby fangs into the rope toy.
"I found some articles on teething Pokemon for you to look through, Levi."
"Thanks, Dexter. I'll take a look at those later."
"Neville, Levi." Harry voiced, leaning across the table to see them. "Have you heard anything about our new Battle Instructor?"
"You haven't heard?" Neville replied, surprised, as Dexter started searching for the information in his databank.
"Heard what?"
"Well-"
"I'm just saying, why do extra work when a C is good enough?" Ron stated loudly, drowning out their conversation.
Before Hermione could argue-or strangle the Weasley-, Dexter chirped in accomplishment.
"The Battle Instructor for Hogwarts is-"
Gilderoy Lockheart burst into the room at that moment, and Hillevi dropped her forehead to the desk with a groan, earning a coo from the invisible Cloudjumper.
"Greetings, future trainers! Please, I ask that you hold all questions and requests for autographs till the end of class."
"Wonderful." Harry muttered as all of girls let out little sighs of delight.
"Please, put me out of my misery. I can only take so much." The Valhallan grumbled in agreement.
"Now, from what I've gathered, you spent much of last year watching a stuttering man in a bad hat show you some mock battles and have you fire on a few targets. Bor-ing!"
Lockhart paced back and forth, the ankle-length coat tails of his jacket whipping with each turn.
"Do you know how you best learn? By doing! Yes, you could spend the next six years studying every book in the library on dueling strategy and famous battles. You could research Lance Blackthorn, Drayden Arkenstone, or Delia Ketchum, and examine all the facets of their different battles. But let me tell you a little secret. You could do that, and you'd still lose."
The man threw open his arms dramatically, ever the showman.
"Open your Battle App and select Section Three, then delete the entire app and forget all about it!"
Dexter squeaked at the thought of deleting anything, especially something that was-in his mind-integral to his user's education, and looked to Hillevi for guidance.
Shaking her head, the Valhallan pat her Rotom Pokedex on the head, glaring at the so-called professor as Cloudjumper shimmered into view to comfort Dexter.
Surprisingly, almost the entire class did delete the app, leaving only her, Harry and Neville as hold-outs.
Some, like Ron, did so happily, while others, especially Hermione, struggled to follow orders.
"In this class, we will learn by doing! We will learn through trial and error, and through self-education. I will not be teaching you, children, you will be teaching each other!"
Lockheart began to pace down the row of students, pointing at random.
"In my classroom, you will be the teachers! You and you and you! Your homework will be to aid your fellow students, and your grades will be determined by your ability to teach one another!"
The professor was practically dancing around the room, caught up in his own hype, and Hillevi levelled him with a deadpan look as Cloudjumper cuddled a still-shaken Dexter in her arms.
"You will each pair with your desk mate. You will then be assigned a chapter from your Battle App and, on your assigned day, present the information you have found to the class. You will be graded on showmanship, your ability to wow the crowd, and dazzle!"
"Uh, sire?" Neville spoke up.
"Yes, you…Merlin, you don't stand out much, young man. You need to work on that. You blend in, and don't do much to catch people's attention. You'll never make it as a trainer…Maybe try a different shampoo."
Cloudjumper puffed up, glaring at the professor as he startled, suddenly seeing the Latias and the animate Pokedex in her hands.
"Sir, how are we supposed to present a chapter from the Second Year Battle App when you had us delete the guide from our Dex?" Neville wondered, pulling the attention back to his concern.
Lockheart blinked, as if his brain was restarting.
"Did I have you delete it?"
The class nodded.
"Well, reupload it! Yes, yes, just upload it again! Purchase it again if you must, purchase a backup too, just in case."
As the class went about doing so, Hillevi caught the professor openly staring from the corner of her eye.
Dexter hardly seemed to notice, quite glad to not be caught in such a dilemma anymore, and she pat his head with a tiny smile as Blackstar whipped his toy around with a muffled giggle.
When Lockheart went pale, she turned to find James leaning on the wall next to her desk, staring the man down while Abe calmly sharpened his blade and claws.
"Well, it seems that's all I have for you today." The Battle Professor stated, a quiver in his voice. "Why don't you all make it an early day? I know you'll want to get started prepping your lesson plans!"
He turned away quickly, making a show of looking through some papers on his desk, as Ron leapt up with a grin.
"Alright! Come on, lets hit the common room and snag a good seat before anyone else!"
Sparing the so-called tracker one last glance, Hillevi gathered up her things and followed her friends out, troubled despite herself.
There was something about how he had looked at Cloudjumper…
