Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Duels in DADA
Hermione took a deep breath before asking her next question.
"What happens if I fail?"
Dumbledore sighed. "If needed, Professor McGonagall or myself would take up this burden."
"I need you to promise Professor. I won't be able to do this unless I am absolutely certain that even if something happens to me, Voldemort can still be defeated."
Professor Dumbledore looked Hermione in the eye and said in a voice that was completely honest, "I promise."
Hermione released the breath she had been holding. "Thank you."
Right then the bell rung for Hermione's next class, Double Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins.
"You should get to class now Miss Grey."
Hermione nodded and left his office. Now that she had talked things over with Dumbledore, she felt slightly reassured. Of course, the nerves would never truly go away, she knew that from experience, but the knowledge that if she were to die and someone would still be there to destroy the remaining Horcruxes was comforting.
Satisfied, Hermione turned her thoughts to her next class, with an unknown teacher. Mary had pointed her out at the staff table during breakfast, but Hermione hadn't really gotten a good look, her thoughts still on Bellatrix at the time. Apparently she was new, and the person who had filled the post last year had fallen off of a cliff and then was attacked by a hippogriff. He was currently recovering in St. Mungo's. Mary had jokingly told her about how the position was said to be cursed. If only they knew.
When Hermione arrived at the DADA room, the door was closed and all the other students were already there. Lily glanced up from her conversation with Mary and Alice and beckoned her over. As Hermione walked over she looked around at the other students.
The Marauders were leaning casually against a wall, or at least trying to. Peter was having some problems with pulling off the air of nonchalance that came naturally to James and Sirius. He seemed to realize it was a wasted effort since he soon curled up into a ball and stared in awe at James. Remus was standing in front of James and Sirius with his arms folded calmly as he laughed at something Sirius had said. James and Sirius looked almost like twins, the way they both had their arms folded and their legs crossed in an identical manner. It reminded Hermione with a pang of Fred and George.
The three Slytherins from the run-in with Hermione were just standing in a huddle, sending surreptitious glances every once in a while at her. Snape was sitting against a wall, away from everyone as he read what looked like the DADA textbook. He gave Hermione a curt nod when her eyes rested on him. She nodded back.
"So, Mya, what do you think the professor will be like?" Mary asked eagerly.
"I hope she knows what she's doing. Last year Professor Gillius was hopelessly lost. I feel sorry for the students that had him for the O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. No idea how they could have passed." Alice added.
"It's no wonder he fell off of that cliff. He didn't know left from right!" Mary commented with a roll of her eyes.
"Dumbledore hired him for a reason." Lily said diplomatically.
"Because no one else would take the job. No one has been able to hold that position for more than a year for forever. Neither one of my parents had someone for more than a year, and that was around twenty years ago. Everyone says it's cursed." Alice said quietly, looking at her feet.
There was an awkward silence as the four contemplated that statement. Hermione hadn't spoken, since she didn't know Professor Gillius, and she wasn't supposed to know a lot about the curse.
"Does anyone even know her name?" Lily asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Just the professors I suppose." Mary said thoughtfully. "Dumbledore didn't introduce her at the Welcoming Feast, and we're her first class."
"Well, she looked pretty serious this morning." Alice pointed out.
"Talking about me?" Sirius asked with a grin. Somehow he and the other three had managed to sneak up on the girls as they were talking.
"Of course Sirius, I had forgotten that the world revolves around you." Lily said snidely.
"Obviously Lily, nice to see you've finally caught on!" Sirius shot back with a smirk.
"So, Mya, what was your old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor like?" Remus asked, stopping Lily from saying anything back. Lily shut her mouth and clenched her teeth, shooting one last glare at Sirius before turning to listen to Hermione's response.
"Oh, he was..." Hermione thought quickly, "mean. He wasn't necessarily a bad teacher, he just didn't like a lot of the students." She winced slightly as she thought about how Professor Snape would subtly insult her for practically quoting the textbook. "He did manage to teach us how to do nonverbal spells."
"You know how to do nonverbal spells?" James asked in surprise.
"We don't learn those until this year." Remus added in shock, with a hint of awe laced in his voice.
"Oh. Well, I guess I shouldn't have too much trouble in this class then." Hermione said, a little embarrassed at how everyone was now staring at her.
"Not just this class. All the teachers are going to be expecting us to use nonverbal spells." Lily said.
Before Hermione could say anything in reply, the door to the classroom swung open, this time with no one to greet them. Apprehensive, the Gryffindors slowly walked in, soon followed by the Slytherins.
The classroom was set up differently than the others. Instead of desks for two people in rows, there were no desks. Now there were only rows of chairs in the back while there was a large platform floating about two feet above the ground in the front. There was no teacher's desk, and the door to the professor's office was closed. The actual professor was nowhere to be found.
Unsure of themselves, the students sat themselves down in the chairs, the Gryffindors in the front, Slytherins in the back.
Hermione examined the room carefully, trusting her instincts that were telling her that she was being watched. She slowly extracted her wand from her robes and clutched it tightly in her hand.
There! The almost imperceptible indentation on the carpet of the platform. Hermione smiled to herself. A Disillusionment Charm, and their professor was standing, no, now pacing, on the platform.
"Good afternoon class." Came a disembodied voice of a woman. Many students jumped in their chairs, while others quickly jerked their heads in the direction of the sound. Hermione was the only one who showed no signs of surprise, something that did not go unnoticed by a certain student.
"My name is Professor Wiccara. Fey Wiccara," she continued, as if talking to a classroom of students invisible was an everyday occurrence. "I will be this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
" 'This year's?' " Lily seemed to have recovered enough to ask. "Are you only going to teach for one year?"
The voice chuckled. "I'm invisible and the first question you ask is if I'm going to be teaching only one year." Hermione was sure that if she could see the woman, she would be shaking her head. "Yes, one year. One year working at Hogwarts and then I go back to being an Auror."
"You're an Auror?" James asked.
"Yes, I am. I have to take a year off for reasons you won't ask about, and then I'm going back." The pacing had stopped, and the indentations were now in the center of the platform. Her tone of voice left no room for argument.
"Any questions?" The smallest vibration in Hermione's feet almost immediately after the indentations disappeared. Hermione guessed that she had hopped off of the platform.
Suddenly a woman in black robes appeared. she had shoulder-length straight brown hair and brown eyes that seemed to take in everything with one glance. She was about 5' 6" with a rounded, moderately attractive face. Her pink lips were pursed slightly, and her arms were folded. Her feet were spread apart, her weight perfectly divided between them, granting her perfect balance. One look at her and you knew she was a fighter.
"None?" Professor Wiccara asked, and cocked an eyebrow. "Since you don't have any, I'll ask some. Who can tell me when I entered the room?"
Hermione raised her hand, and once again all eyes were on her. "You've been in the room the entire time."
The professor stared at her for a moment, then said, "Miss Grey, isn't it? Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor. How did she know?" this time directing the last question to the rest of the the class. No one moved. She sighed. "Miss Grey?"
"I saw the indentations on the carpet of the platform from your feet. You were standing when we first entered, then you started pacing. Then I felt the vibration in my feet when you hopped off right before you took off the Disillusionment Charm."
"Excellent. 25 points. Did you know that it was a Disillusionment Charm before or after I revealed myself?"
"Neither."
Everyone looked at her in confusion, but Professor Wiccara just smiled broadly in response.
"I think the others are confused by that Miss Grey. Care to explain to them what you mean?"
"I don't know for sure that you cast the Disillusionment Charm. I could be wrong, but that possibility is unlikely. I theorized that it was a Disillusionment Charm before you revealed yourself, however."
"Fifteen points to Gryffindor. I'm impressed." She broke eye contact with Hermione to look around at the class. "Never assume anything. That is the number one lesson in this class." She turned back to Hermione, took a few steps forward and looked her in the eye.
"So, what led you to theorize that I used a Disillusionment Charm?"
"Simple. If you were wearing an invisibility cloak," James and Sirius immediately paid more attention to Hermione's words, "and I saw the indentations I would be looking at your feet."
"Take another fifteen points. You have brought up another goal for this year." Professor Wiccara began pacing back and forth in front of the chairs, looking every student in the eye.
"You are going to learn and understand what your surroundings are telling you. But before we do anything else I want to see where you are, how much you've learned. Which is why the classroom is set up this way," spreading her arms out to indicate the changes.
"You're going to duel each other. No Dark Magic allowed, no severe wounding of each other, and do not cast anything that may interfere with my ability to monitor and intervene. Don't even think about endangering your partner's life. Are we clear?" She asked, looking at Bellatrix in particular. The other members of the class gave shocked nods.
"Good. Your partners are already assigned," causing a groan to release from the class, "and are on the board." the professor continued as if no sound had been made, and waved her hand at the board, where a list of names appeared.
"First group, get up onto the platform. Don't begin until I say so."
J. Potter- L. Evans
S. Black- A. Dolohov
R. Lupin- M. Boot
P. Pettigrew- S. Snape
A. Everett- E. Rosier
M. Grey- B. Black
There was another collective groan from everyone when they saw the list.
"Ready Evans?" James asked with an ecstatic look on his face as he stood up.
"Ready to win." Lily replied with determination, accompanied by a soft groan once his back was turned.
They got onto the platform and took their places at opposite ends.
"Begin when ready." was all Professor Wiccara said.
It was over surprisingly quickly, although maybe not to some. It soon became obvious that James couldn't bring himself to actually hit Lily with any kind of spell. Instead he let her take the offensive as he focused on blocking and dodging. It was over when Lily sent a Disarming Charm immediately followed by a Stunner. James managed to block the first one with a quick Shield Charm, but was knocked unconscious by the second. Sirius was laughing as he helped his best friend stand, saying something about love and stupidity.
Lily seemed slightly angry.
"You didn't even try!" She hissed at James. He just shrugged in response.
"What can I say, I can't bring myself to hurt you." he said quietly staring into her eyes, capturing her gaze. Lily couldn't seem to come up with anything in response to that, her mouth opening and closing as her green eyes looked at his hazel ones. Suddenly she seemed to realize what she was doing, and turned away quickly. She sat down and focused her attention on the upcoming duel.
The next took slightly longer, but resulted in a Gryffindor win. Sirius managed to sneak a Disarming Charm in between a Reducto and a Diffindo, making Dolohov stand there in shock for a few seconds. Sirius took a few dramatic bows to the enthusiastic applause of James, before getting pushed off the platform by Remus, making him land face-first on the ground. This time it was James who was laughing as he helped Sirius up, saying something about attention and stupidity.
Remus seemed to struggle with the same problem as James until he was hit with a Furnunculus and ugly boils grew on his face. He quickly got rid of them and sent a flurry of charms and spells that resulted in a surprised Mary staring at her hand where her wand should have been, but was now resting in Remus' where it had landed after being summoned. Remus bowed respectfully to Mary after he returned her wand, when she smacked him behind the head lightly. She grinned and the two talked about the spells and techniques the other had used, complimenting each other often on their way to their seats.
Snape seemed insulted that he was paired with Peter, who looked absolutely terrified as he struggled to climb onto the platform. Sirius, James and Remus encouraged him loudly and James and Sirius insulted Snape thoroughly. Professor Wiccara appeared behind them and leaned against the backs of their chairs.
"What was that, Black, Potter?" she whispered when she slipped her head in between theirs. Both boys jumped and leaned away from their teacher. She chuckled and grinned at them. Once they relaxed, she said, "Ten points from Gryffindor. Don't talk like that in my class." and she moved away quickly.
James and Sirius looked at each other while Remus laughed at the looks on their faces. By then Peter had managed to get to his spot. Wiccara gave them the okay to duel, and it was over before it began. Snape stunned Peter before he had a chance to even open his mouth and summoned his wand. James and Sirius shook their heads and helped to revive Peter and get him to his seat. Peter blushed when they began to tease him for what had happened, and grinned sheepishly.
When Alice faced Rosier, the outcome was surprising. Throughout the fight it seemed that Alice had the upper hand, but her reflexes were just too slow when a Full-Body Bind was sent her way. Mary and Lily glared at Rosier as he smirked at them and jumped off the platform. They then took off the spell and comforted Alice as she sat down. Hermione couldn't hear much of it, but there were quite a few 'git', 'arse', and 'idiot' comments.
Finally it was Hermione's turn.
When she had first seen her 'name' on the board next to Bellatrix', she had been horrified. A split second later found her to realize that this was not the woman she knew. She knew Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman who had gone crazy from numerous years in Azkaban and had been a Death Eater for years before incarceration.
"Be careful with Bellatrix, she's the best dueler in our year." whispered Lily.
"Because she cheats, uses spells she's not supposed to, and everyone she's faced has been terrified of her." added Mary.
"But don't worry about it. You'll be fine." Alice said, but without any real conviction.
Hermione nodded in acknowledgment. But I've dealt with the fully-grown Bellatrix Lestrange who was one of Voldemort's right-hand people. I can handle Bellatrix Black, the student who isn't crazy. Yet.
As Hermione stepped onto the platform and walked over to her position, Bellatrix did the same. They faced each other at opposite ends of the rectangular dais, and Bella smirked. Her face was full of a smug sense of superiority, which irked Hermione to no end. After the torture that she had undergone and the person before her had yet to inflict, Hermione was more than ready to wipe that smirk off of Bella's face.
"You may begin when ready." Professor Wiccara instructed.
Both girls pointed their wands at each other, but neither one cast a spell. They simply stared into the other's eyes, waiting for them to make the first move.
Bellatrix clenched her teeth, the muscles in her face rippling slightly. Hermione's face remained impassive, knowing from experience not to show any emotion that might betray her thoughts. You can't afford to feel emotion when you are in a duel. Mad-Eye Moody had once told her. If you are emotionally invested in the battle, then your emotions will rule and not your brain. You need to use your head to win against Death Eaters. Most are stupider than a pile of dragon dung, but the ones that are smart are sly as well. Your face betrays more than you might think, and you can't give them any kind of an advantage. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
Hermione and Bellatrix stared at each other for a few seconds more, while the class muttered in the background. One of the Slytherins, Hermione wasn't sure which, shouted for Bellatrix to hurry up and finish her off. The Gryffindors were nervous, knowing that Bella was a formidable opponent.
Finally Bella couldn't take it any longer.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego." Hermione remained calm, the Shield Charm casted with barely a flick of her wand. She then pointed her wand at Bella once more and waited.
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes.
"Stupefy!"
"Protego."
"Reducto!"
"Protego."
It continued like that for a few more spells, Hermione casting the Shield Charm over and over again as Bellatrix tried in vain to get past them. And then Hermione decided it was time to fight back.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!"
And then it was Bellatrix who was casting the Shield Charm, working furiously to keep it up under the onslaught of hexes that were being delivered as Hermione slowly advanced on her, backing her into the wall. Anger began to surface, evident on her face. Hermione knew that Bella was about to do something desperate to win. She was right.
Bellatrix muttered something under her breath, too soft for Hermione to understand, and suddenly Hermione was blasted backwards, flying through the air and landing on her back. The blow had knocked the wind out of her, but she soon recovered and scrambled to her feet, ready to fight.
The duel resumed with an intense fervor from both parties. Different colored jets of light were flying through the air, some missing, but a few managing to hit their targets. Soon they were hurling more dangerous hexes and curses, the pretense of a classroom exercise completely forgotten. Bellatrix somehow managed to flip Hermione upside down, but she was still fighting well.
Then Bellatrix slipped the counter-curse in between a Stunner and a burst of flame, making Hermione fall ungainly to the ground. Hermione quickly got up and shot a Stunner before her mind had processed what was going on.
Bella had constructed some kind of shield that covered her like a dome, with no way for Hermione to get past it. Inside she was muttering some spells and doing some fancy wand-work as something thin and black, similar to a cloak, slipped from the tip of her wand.
None of the occupants of the room seemed to understand what Bella was trying to do, Hermione included. She could only watch in fascination as the thing rippled and contorted, as if trying to escape from the confines of Bella's wand. Professor Wiccara seemed intrigued, although a little apprehensive.
Finally the black cloak-like thing managed to twist it's way out of the tip of the wand and fell to the ground. Bellatrix's face was now tired, but fiercely exultant. She looked at the thing, pointed her wand at Hermione, and smirked grotesquely. The shield didn't disappear, but it did expand to cover the entire platform so that Professor Wiccara would not be able to interfere.
Suddenly everything clicked in Hermione's mind as the black thing slowly made its way toward her. After reading through Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them several times, she could only deduce that it was a Lethifold, also known as Living Shroud.
The shield that Bellatrix had extended could only be for the purpose of making sure that the professor would not be able to stop the Lethifold from killing and devouring her. If her life wasn't in danger, Hermione would have been analyzing her memories for clues as to how her opponent had managed to conjure up such a dangerous creature, but at the moment she was too busy trying to remember how to keep herself alive.
Lethifolds... very rare creatures, found solely in the tropics... well not anymore, but... attacks sleeping wizards... first known account of a Lethifold attack was in 1782 by Flavius Belby... first used a Stupefying Charm, then an Impediment Hex... and then he used a Patronus!
Quickly sifting through her memories for the happiest one she could find, Hermione settled on how she had felt when she had flung herself at Ron after he had shown compassion for the House Elves, and the kiss that followed. The Lethifold was now only about six feet from her when she cried out, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver otter burst from the tip of her wand and swam through the air to attack the Lethifold, which was now fleeing back to it's conjurer. Bellatrix's eyes widened as the being came upon her and slashed her wand through the air in anger, the Lethifold being sucked into it.
Hermione used this moment of distraction to quickly cast a Stunner, knocking Bellatrix unconscious the second the last bit of black disappeared, also causing the shield to fall. Not wanting to take any other chances, Hermione Summoned her wand, stepped off the platform, and handed it to Professor Wiccara, who seemed to have a knowing smile on her face.
The entire classroom was completely silent until Wiccara revived Bellatrix, whose anger and displeasure immediately showed. It also seemed to wake up the Gryffindors, who burst into applause and cheered. The Slytherins, on the other hand, scowled at Hermione and refused to look at Bella, not wanting to incur her wrath.
When Hermione reached the others, they were immediately patting her on the back and shaking her hand, all talking at once.
"That was amazing Mya!"
"You can cast a Patronus?"
"Where did you learn how to duel like that?"
"You took down Bellatrix! Every time we've done in class duels she's always won!"
"What was that thing?"
"Have you seen one of them before?"
"How did you know to use a Patronus?"
"More importantly, how do you know how to cast a Patronus?"
"QUIET!"
Everyone quickly sat down and shut up at the commanding tone of voice Professor Wiccara used.
"The bell is going to ring in a few minutes, so I'll be quick. Fifteen points to everyone who won their duel, five points to all who lost, and congratulations to everyone. This really has helped me figure out what we need to work on. Oh, and fifty points to Miss Grey for being able to cast a fully corporeal Patronus Charm." Her brown, intelligent eyes rested on Hermione. "For someone so young to do something so powerful... that is impressive." Wiccara smiled, still looking at Hermione. Then a look of disappointment and barely concealed anger crossed her face as she looked at Bellatrix. "Miss Black, Miss Grey, I would like to see both of you after class.
Hermione nodded, but looked confused as to why her professor wanted to speak with her. Bellatrix looked murderous as she glared at Hermione, but nodded nonetheless.
The babble that began after Wiccara conjured up a quill and parchment and began to write was soon interrupted by the bell. The Gryffindors left while replaying their own duels with pride or talking about Hermione's duel with awe. The Slytherins slowly trudged out with their backs hunched, shame apparent from their bowed heads. A quiet hiss from Bellatrix and their backs straightened and arrogance once again exuded from their skin.
Hermione and Bellatrix remained seated at opposite ends of the row. Professor Wiccara kept scribbling something down, the scratching of the quill against parchment cutting through the silence. A few moments later she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand, making it disappear. She then tapped her quill, making that disappear as well. Wiccara walked over to the platform, turned around, and leaned against it as she folded her arms.
"First of all, I wanted to congratulate you again, Miss Grey. Your Patronus was, as I said, impressive, as was the rest of your handiwork," her brown, intelligent eyes resting on Hermione.
"I also wanted to apologize. I should have been able to stop the Lethifold before it got anywhere near you, but the shield Miss Black created was very strong. I regret to say that I would not have been able to get past it before the creature was upon you.
"Which brings me to Miss Black's creations. First, you create a shield that kept me from interfering, after I specifically said not too, and creating a shield that was obviously Dark Magic, since it attempted to drain my life when I tried to take it down. Then you deliberately endanger the life of another student.
"I have sent a message to Professor Dumbledore, who should be arriving shortly, along with Professor Slughorn. The three of us will decide what punishment is suitable. Miss Grey is here because I think that her opinion will be valuable in this matter."
Silence followed her little speech. Hermione was slightly nervous as to why her opinion might matter. Bellatrix simply folded both her arms and legs as she sneered, looking like she didn't care what her sentence may be.
