There are teachers that inspire students to learn.
At Hogwarts, that would be Professor Flitwick. He would stand on top of his stack of books so he was almost level with his students and speak of his subject with such passion, students would walk out of his class eager to learn more about the subject. He could mention something casually, like a certain charm that could turn your hair purple and you would run to the library to figure out not just how to turn it purple but to make it the colors of the rainbow. All just so the next time you saw him you could show off your knowledge. He would beam happily at you, almost like he was amazed that you went out of your way to figure out something he was passionate about, and then tell you about all sorts of other spells that would inspire more research. There was never a time that he turned down a student with a question or in need of assistance. He applauded debauchery and would sometimes pull small jokes on his students, once again motivating them to learn more.
There were teachers that made you feel like a better person.
That was Professor Sprout. Any time you kept a plant alive, figured out what seed it was, or identified the type of dirt, she would be the first to make you feel like a better person for doing so. If you treated a plant with respect, she acted like it was a person. She instilled the life lesson in them that maybe they weren't human but they were living things. The plant was something that may not be able to talk but it could feel and it was alive; by caring for them, it was like you were caring for another human being. She encouraged people to work in groups and to name their plants to try to get them to connect to the subject. No one was an idiot and everyone was equal.
There were teachers that help you reach for the stars.
Some teachers supported you no matter what you wanted to be when you were older; Professor Slughorn would have three contacts in that area of expertise and a letter of recommendation ready to go. It didn't matter if you said that you wanted to become a dragon breeder, he knew the owners of the two best dragon conservatories in the world and three handlers, one of which will be at the next Slugclub meeting, and would introduce you. While he admittedly looked for great ability and wanted to be associated with their success, he encouraged everyone's dreams and tried to help make them a reality.
There were teachers that treated you like equals.
Professor McGonagall never treated a student like child. She would treat everyone like they were equals. From the first year muggleborn that couldn't figure out how to turn a piece of string into a needle to the seventh year debating different properties of human transfiguration, she would look at you as if you equal to her. If you had a question, she would answer it like she would answer the same question for Dumbledore. The number of hours she spent debating transfigurative properties with students was commendable. She never expected anything less than your best and if your best was turning your box into a rat that was blue and missing its whiskers and tail, then so be it. But if you slacked off in her class, there was nothing worse than her disappointed look.
There were teachers you wondered how the hell Dumbledore hired them because they had to be insane.
For the Sixth Year students, that was Professor Lawson.
"I'm sorry Professor, I must've been hit in teh head wit a bludger too hard at practice. Woot'd yeh just say?" Elyse questioned as the entire class stared in mild terror and fear at their Defense professor.
"I said that once Dumbledore and some Auror from the Ministry gets here, we're practicing fighting the Imperious Curse."
"Are you out of your Godforsaken Yankee mind?!" Gabe Abbott yelped from his seat.
Lawson smiled devilishly, something that didn't settle anyone nerves at all, and cocked his head to the side, "Probably. But better insane and alive than sane and dead."
"That's one hell of a philosophy," Ursula mumbled to Ben, who nodded.
The back door opened and Dumbledore and Moody. They didn't say anything. They just the two empty seats in the back of the room.
Lawson clapped his hands together, "Alright, now we can get started. As I just mentioned, the Imperious Curse is the only Unforgivable you can fight. Why can't you fight the other two? Evans!"
Immediately, Lily responded, "Because the Cruciatus Curse causes unimaginable pain and the Killing Curse does just that – it kills you immediately."
"Exactly. I would never do this in my classes in America. But things are different here. You have a crazy man trying to kill off half your population. If he or one of your followers gets a hold of you with this curse, they could make you kill your own mother or make you end your own life. There is no sure fire way to defend yourself. I've had my Aurors say that thinking of something worth fighting for can help you combat the effects. Some have told me that they will themselves to do the opposite of the command to stop. Others have said that they simply refuse to do that action. It all depends on the will of the person and how much they want to fight this. Since I don't really know you all that great yet, who is the most stubborn person in this room?"
Immediately, almost everyone was pointing at the table James and Sirius were sitting at. Both their eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"We aren't that bad, are we?" James asked incredulously.
Remus snorted, "You're worse."
"Thanks Moony. What a friend you are."
Lawson brought them all back to attention, "Boys, stop. Alright so which one of you wants to go first? Everyone will have to come up to the front and try to not do what I try to make them do. It will be innocent stuff, don't worry. I might make you sing happy birthday or jump on one foot. Maybe you'll recite your ABC's. Just try to stand there and do nothing. So James, Sirius, who wants to go first?"
Both of them silently conferred before Sirius sighed and pushed himself away from his desk, "Alright, let's do this."
He meandered to the front of the room and faced Lawson, clenching his fist tightly. "Do your worst."
Lawson chuckled and shook his head, "You wouldn't survive my worst. Imperious."
Hop up and down on one foot while singing the school song.
Sirius didn't want to do it but suddenly the overwhelming urge to do just what the little voice in his head commanded. Almost involuntarily, his foot lifted from the ground and his mouth opened. But instead of doing what he was commanded, he ending up crashing to the ground, shouting out an explicative that had a few students blushing and more than a few (namely his friends) laughing at his misfortune.
Lawson nodded appreciatively, "Not bad, Sirius. Not completely effective but sure as hell not bad for a first go. Tell the class what you tried to do."
Grumbling to himself as he stood back up, he responded, "I didn't want to jump and sing that God awful song."
"What did it feel like when I used the curse on you?"
"Like I was a puppet. It felt like I was underwater and had no control over what I was doing."
Lawson nodded as Sirius attempted to describe how the curse felt. "You see, this is just one example of the curse. And I would caution you all to take more precautions than that. You can sit back down son," Lawson told Sirius, interrupting himself before he continued. "I was not using all of my power to control him. For those who guess, I just wanted him to jump on one foot and sing the school song. That would be simple to fight since there was an obvious command."
"What about a complex command or something so subtle that you don't notice? Is that possible?" Lily asked.
Lawson just smirked slightly and pointed his wand in the general direction of the class, "Great question. Let's test that out."
The class was silent. They all regarded each other suspiciously, wondering who (if anyone) was under the influence of the Imperious curse. Every single movement, every single breath was analyzed by everyone.
Alice tentatively raised her hand, looking nervous.
"Yes Alice? Question?"
She nodded, "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" The look of terror and surprise was enough to signal the class that that was certainly not what she expected to come out of her mouth. She started to panic, "Why did I ask that? I didn't want to ask that! I didn't even have a question but I thought I did!"
"Alice, Alice, calm down. You are alright now. I wanted to show you all that you may not know that you are under the curse. Did you feel anything like what Sirius described?"
The horrified gasps from her were answer enough.
Lawson reached into his pocket and pulled out some chocolate, "Here. There's no counter curse from the effects but I find that chocolate often times makes everything better. Random tidbit of information, it counteracts the effects of a dementor attack," he told the class, waving the chocolate bar in the air before going to hand it to Alice.
"This curse is something that I wish none of you would have to experience. I simply want to make you aware of what could happen. We are going to have one more demonstration today and then I want you all to go to your dorms and just relax. Be teenagers because after dealing with this, you all need that. Sirius, Ursula, come up here." Lawson ordered.
Ben's hand tightened around Ursula's under the table for just a moment before he let her go, "Be careful," he murmured before she stood up.
Swallowing her nerves, she nodded, "I promise."
The twins stood in front of the class, regarding each other with concern and slight worry. Lawson wanted to prove something about the Imperious Curse and they didn't know what. They didn't like not knowing.
"You're twins correct? You've never brought harm upon the other? You'd die for each other?" He questioned, though it sounded like he already knew the answer and just wanted them to say it out loud.
Ursula immediately responded, "In a heartbeat."
"With no hesitation," Sirius added.
"Good. Let's see what happens then."
Before Ursula could properly realize it, she felt the effect of the curse take over her body. Her wand arm started to move up but she fought it with all her strength. The voice her head telling her to hex her brother grew louder and louder until it was practically screaming at her. She shut her eyes and clenched her fists so much so that her knuckles turned white and her fingernails unknowing cut into her palm. Her head was pounding from the shouting and the effort to counteract the curse.
Her arm started to twitch towards her pocket again and she opened her eyes and saw her brother's confused and worried face. She forced her arm back down and away from her pocket, refusing to move an inch.
Though it must have only been less than a minute, it felt like an eternity before Lawson lifted the curse. Since she had locked her knees at some point, her legs felt like jelly and they weren't able to support her body. Sirius rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground. Ben jumped out of his seat, moving so quickly that his chair fell over, ran to the front of the room and gently grabbed her face, "Are you alright? What's happening?"
"She's bleeding," Sirius said as he noticed her hands and the blood trickling from the surprisingly deep cuts. Lawson strode forward and muttered a healing spell over her hands.
He then snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Ursula! Focus!"
The glazed look in her eyes faded as she focused on her professor's face. He smiled at her, "I must admit, Miss Black that that has to be the most impressive thing I've seen. Some of my Aurors in America couldn't fight off what you just did. I'm impressed."
"Yippie, I've impressed a teacher. What will I think up next," Ursula muttered, still slightly out of it though she was now standing on her own.
Lawson laughed, "You've got spunk. Good for you. Now get the hell out my class and get some rest. That goes for the rest of you lot," he turned towards the rest of the class. "Scram."
There was no hesitation from any student. They all quickly grabbed their things and were gone. Some students were still putting books in their bags as they were leaving the room, not even wanting to pack up their belongs properly.
Elyse and her friends immediately found each other outside the room. Ben had his arm wrapped around Ursula's waist, serving two purposes; to comfort him that she was okay and to comfort her that she was safe. It was a class that none of them enjoyed and was not eager to repeat.
"That was…" Remus said as they walked back to the common room.
"Horrible? Terrible? Weird? Yeah." Peter said, unnerved from the class demonstration.
Elyse snorted, "One hell o' a way ter celebrate me birthday." She grumbled.
"Aw, Lucky, we're still going to celebrate your seventeenth," James said as he slung his arm over her shoulders, "You and King are still going to get us some firewhiskey from Hogsmeade Friday. Then we can all have a great party this weekend."
"But it's Monday," Elyse griped.
Sirius shrugged, "It's the day you decided to be born. We just don't want Minnie to murder us when we show up hung over in her class. We want to live. Ergo we have to wait for the weekend."
"That and there's no Quidditch for us this weekend." James added.
"I still don't like this plan," Ursula said as they finally reached the common room.
Sirius, after saying the password, threw his bag near the fire and collapsed onto his usual chair, "What, Sissy, are you a seer now too?" he teased.
She glared at him as she sat across from him in an arm chair, sharing with Ben, "No. All I am saying is that I feel like something is going to go wrong if they go alone."
"We won't be alone," Ben tried to reassure her, "Elyse and I are going together."
"Just because you two are now seventeen…" she complained.
"Exactly. They are the only two who can buy the stuff because the rest of us are still sixteen." Remus rationalized. "I'm not against drinking it but I think that we shouldn't push it and try to steal it."
"We would leave money," Sirius contested in mock outrage.
James snorted, "Okay Paddy. I don't even care about that. I'm more focused on the fact that apparently, something miraculous is going to happen to us on our seventeenth birthday so that we can drink firewhiskey. Tell me, Lucky, you feel any different? What's the secret?" He leaned over, getting into her face as he questioned her.
Elyse shoved him away and he comically flipped over the couch, "Alright, Skeeter," she mocked.
James's face scrunched up at the mention of the pesky Ravenclaw first year who decided that she was going to start a school newspaper and find out all the news. She had published one paper and it had just been gossip after lie after exaggerated detail. After Gryffindor's spectacular win, she had been hounding the entire team for an "exclusive" but all of them had refused. Unfortunately, that seemed to just encourage the bratty girl.
"Don't compare me to that devil child. Minnie told me that she tried to publish an article saying that I only let my friends on the team and that we used some performance enhancement potion before the win. To say the least, Minnie destroyed that article."
"Teh lass's an idiot," Elyse complained.
"Um, James Potter?" A meek voice said from their right.
All seven of them turned to look at the nervous looking first year.
"Yeah? Who're you?" James demanded as he popped up over the edge of the sofa.
The girl looked petrified and Remus took pity on the girl, "how are you Stacy? I assume that Professor McGonagall sent you for James?"
Stacy nodded her head in a nervous manner and added, "And Ursula too."
"Well, let's get to it." Ursula declared as she stood up. She offered James a hand and held yank him to his feet. "Probably to meet whoever we're going to tutor?" She questioned Stacy.
The girl once again simply nodded, staring up at the tall sixth years. She looked impossibly nervous and her eyes kept on flitting over to James like she wanted to ask him something.
James took notice and knelt down so he was closer to eye level with her, "What's wrong Stacy. You're looking at me like I might step on you."
She turned a brilliant red but responded, muttering, "Professor McGonagall said that she wanted you to tutor me and Jake and Ursula to tutor Harlon and Grace."
"And? What's so bad about me?" James asked with a gentleness that didn't surprise his friends. He had always had a soft spot for younger students, especially ones from Gryffindor, his insatiable need to look out for everyone transferring onto them.
"Well Professor McGonagall was talking and said that you were the best student she had and then I heard other people say that you're the smartest guy in this school and you can do anything and you didn't like stupid people and I'm one of those stupid people and you hurt the people you don't like," she said all in one breath.
James was silent as he tried to understand what he had just been told. Is that what people truly saw him as? A bully? Someone who looked down on others and was cruel? That was everything he fought against! The idea that he would do something like he did to Snape to someone of his own house was preposterous. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his cool demeanor and not show how much those words had cut into him.
"Stacy, the only people I don't like are people who hurt other people. I don't hate stupid people, I hate ignorant people. There's a difference."
"But my brother said—"
"Don't listen to what your brother said. How about we make a deal? I'll help you with Transfiguration and when I start acting like a git, you get to hex me. And if I'm really being an arse, I'm sure you can ask Ursula to help you think of some right nasty spells to use on me."
"But why? I can't hurt you!" Stacy looked terrified at the thought of hexing the older student.
James laughed, "Stacy, I won't fight back. Sometimes you can't fight back and that's when you learn something. So remember, if I turn into a prick, hex me and I'll stop being a prick. You just have to keep your grades up. Deal?" He held his hand out for her to shake.
After a moment's contemplation, and a questioning look at Ursula who nodded, Stacy shook James's hand. He beamed and stood up, ruffling her hair as well. "Alright, kid, let's not keep Minnie waiting." With that, the trio left the Common Room.
Now with James not on the couch, Sirius kicked his feet up and lounged back. "This is boring. We should go find Snivellus." He suggested.
The glare he got from Remus was enough to nix that idea.
They were silent as Ben pulled out a book from his bag, Remus reading one of his text books, and Elyse staring blankly into the fire while Peter practiced some of his charm work. Sirius, horrified with how everyone was perfectly fine with just sitting there doing nothing, poked Elyse's thigh with his foot.
"Lucky, I'm bored. Entertain me."
"It's me birthday. Yeh should be entertainin' me." She responded.
Sirius shrugged, "We have all the entertaining stuff planned for tonight. We can't rush perfection."
"Nah, but I kin rush yeh," Elyse quipped.
In mock outrage, Sirius spun so that instead of his feet on Elyse's lap, his head was. He looked up at her with his best puppy dog eyes (which were exceptionally good considering his animagus form) and Elyse tried to ignore it but in the end, she caved and apologized, "I'm sorry Paddy. Yer just too easy ter rile up." As she said that, she ran her hand through his curly hair absent mindedly.
Sirius sighed contentedly. He would never admit it out loud but this action brought him great comfort. Whether it was because his own mother hand never done that for him as a child or because of his animagus form there was something comforting about someone running their hand through his hair. He remembered when he was younger and terrified of thunderstorms, Ursula would sneak into his room, or vice versa, and would comfort him by hugging him and running her hand through his hair.
He was perfectly content to just lay there until James and his sister got back but with a horrifying realization, Sirius recalled Elyse getting a letter this morning from Pat. He abruptly sat up and moved to the other side of the couch, ignore Elyse's shout of surprise. It was easy to forget. It was easy to forget that she wasn't there to be his, that he wasn't hers in return. She had someone else that she loved and cared for and it certainly wasn't him.
"So, what did Pat say?" Sirius asked, simply because it was the first thing that popped into mind.
Elyse looked surprised by the sudden question but answered it anyway, "He just wanted ter let me know that everything's all well 'n good since movin ter Dublin."
Remus looked up from his book, "He moved? I didn't know that."
She nodded, "There was a Death Eater incident not too far from me house. His mam wanted ter move em where no one would know where. Just a precaution."
"That's not a bad idea," Peter added. "My mom is looking to move too to make it harder to find us."
"Why would Death Eaters go after you, Wormy?" Sirius scoffed. "You're about as much of a threat as a toad."
Ben tossed his book at Sirius, "That's rude. Peter's aligned himself with us and therefore the Order. He's just as much of a target as anyone else right now."
"Target, shmarget," he waved his hand in dismissal.
"This is serious, Sirius."
Sirius smirked, "Seriously? 'This is serious, Sirius?' King, seriously?"
Ben rolled his eyes, "I feel like I'm friends with children."
"You're dating this child's twin. What's that say about you?"
"That Muse and I'll be bloody amazing parents since we've had so much practice with you and James."
That certainly shut Sirius up. Elyse and Remus laughed at Sirius's sickened and disturbed expression. "Oh, Merlin, King! What the hell!? I don't to think about you and my sister doing….that! and making babies!"
Ben turned a brilliant red, "Sirius! We haven't—just stop—how could y—we haven't—"
Deciding to save his friend from his embarrassment, Remus stood up, "Well, now that we've settle Ben and Ursula's nonexistent sex life, can we move on to more important topics?"
"Like what?" Sirius asked dryly. "We could talk about the muggle deaths in the past week? We could talk about Slytherin becoming a recruitment center for Voldemort. We could discuss the possibility of us dying in less than five years because that is a distinct possibility. We could discuss how James went full on dad/big brother on that little girl. Or maybe we can shut up and wallow in all our worry and pretend to actually care about our classes. Or how about how our plan for next week when Moony goes all shit-crazy on us? That's always a laugh."
"Or maybe you could just shut your mouth and leave your pessimism to yourself." Remus not so subtly suggested.
The mood was dead though and Sirius simply laid back on the sofa, silent. Elyse began penning a letter while the others continued to do their work. The silence was deafening for Sirius. Usually there was James and there was always Ursula. Not to sound like a clingy overly dependent baby, he missed them when they weren't around him. Ben obviously was missing Ursula as he kept on checking the door. Peter was nervously looking up and Elyse had been tracing Dearest Pat for the last five minutes. Even Remus seemed disgruntled with the other two missing.
"Guys?" Sirius said breaking the silence.
"Hmm?"
Sirius stared up at the ceiling and spoke what they were all thinking, "This sucks."
Across the castle, James and Ursula were sitting in the back of the Transfiguration room while they waited for Minnie to dismiss her class. They had been introduced to their tutees while the class had been working on a practical application. It was horrifically boring. They had found this specific lesson terribly easy when they actually belonged in that class but now six years later it was nearly unbearable.
"Oi, Muse," James whispered.
"What?"
"Cat got your togue?"
She was about to respond when instead of saying anything, she meowed. Hissing at a nearly hysterical James, she felt her whiskers scratch against her cheeks.
With a wave of her wand, she non verbally turned James's ears into donkey ears. His eyes narrowed when he ended up braying when he tried to use another spell on her. That was the beginning of the end as the two went back and forth nonverbally transfiguring each other into more and more ridiculous states. Neither of them realized that they had been causing a ruckus that brought the entire room to a standstill as they watched the older students duke it out like a bunch of first years.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Black, even when you are not in class, you somehow manage to find a way to disturb my classroom," McGonagall said. "It is an accomplishment that no students of mine have ever achieved." She waved her wand and they were returned to their natural state. "I still must say, the ears suit you Mr. Potter." She said with a slight smirk.
Ursula doubled over with laughter James frantically grasped at the donkey ears that were still attached to his head.
"Et tu, Minnie?" James dramatically griped.
"It is Professor McGonagall, Mr. Potter. Now I would suggest heading over to the hospital wing for Madame Pomfrey to give you a remedy for your…affliction. You wouldn't want to explain this to Miss Evans would you?"
Flushing red (something that was extremely rare for James) he quickly took her advice and left the room. McGonagall shook her head fondly, "Still, I must award you and Mr. Potter for your excellent display of nonverbal magic. It was quite impressive." She praised Ursula.
"We've had a great teacher. And some natural talent. And brilliant brains."
"I'm inclined to believe you but I must not in fear of encouraging your antics." McGonagall's words may have been disapproving but there was only proudness shining in her eyes. She turned to address the rest of the class, giving them their assignment for the next class.
Once they were all gone, Ursula meandered to the front of the class, "So Minnie, how do you think they fair as a group. They can't surpass our group but they might have potential."
"No one could be as gifted as you and your friends are," McGonagall spoke candidly.
"Aw, Minnie, who knew you thought so highly of us?" Ursula gushed while stealing a biscuit from the tin on her desk.
McGonagall simply laughed softly, "I would have thought that since none of you have been expelled for some of your more vicious pranks in the past it was obvious that there was someone fighting in your corner. Perhaps your great intelligence didn't quite register that."
Though teasing, Ursula recognized the truth in what McGonagall said. Ursula settled down and seriously asked, "Why did you stick your neck out for us? We were just a bunch of trouble makers. We aren't worth you time."
"You were and you still remain worth my time," McGonagall quickly assured her. "There have been few students who have left such an impression on me. You and your friends have. As to why I stuck my neck out for you, perhaps I saw something in you that you haven't seen in yourself. And let me say this, in two years time when you graduate and are doing…your job… I will fight knowing that I have at least four of the most brilliant, gifted, and brave witches and wizards on my side."
Ursula was touched and fought the urge to run up to her professor and hug her, "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."
McGonagall shook her head, touched by the respect coloring Ursula's words, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "When we are outside of class, it's Minerva, Ursula."
Ursula didn't fight it that time and stood and briefly hugged her. This was the first woman who had truly cared about Ursula when she had first come to Hogwarts, even before Mrs. Potter. There were things she could say to try to express her gratitude but it would just cheapen the moment (and she didn't think she could actually put it into words) so she instead chose silence.
The bell chimes tolled, signaling that it was time for lunch to begin. Ursula pulled away from McGonagall. "I have to go. It's Lucky's birthday and I have to get the cake from the kitchens."
McGonagall didn't even question how Ursula knew where the kitchens were. She simply nodded in understanding and turned to retreat back to her desk. Ursula was just about out the door when McGonagall called her back.
"Ursula, please wish Elyse a happy birthday on my behalf."
"Got it, Minerva." With a smirk and a wave, Ursula was gone, leaving McGonagall in the oddly empty and silent classroom.
She would have stayed to spend the rest of the day with Minnie but she had a birthday to help celebrate.
There you guys go. I hope you all enjoyed this next chapter. I have been busy with school so updates are bit spread out but hopefully they will stay moderately consistent. I actually have some of the next chapter written because I decided to split this one into two. It would have been obnoxiously long otherwise and it would have been too much. I would love to hear what you guys have to say about this sort of interlude that wasn't really because of the stuff that happened in class. Unfortunately, things are just going to get darker and darker and suckier and suckier from here on out. Just stay along for the rest of the ride and things...well, I can assure that they certainly will be interesting. At least, I hope you'll find them interesting.