Chapter 16
Sun filtered in through the charmed windows in Kai's bedroom, filtering through the curtains and over the pair of lovers, one lying awake on his back, the other nuzzled firmly against his side. The normally immaculate assassin turned teacher looking rumpled for once, his long hair a mess over his bare chest.
"Do we have to get up?" Tonks' muffled voice came from under the blankets. As if anticipating his answer, she latched her arms around him in refusal.
"Well, Severus is coming to my quarters for breakfast in about...," a quick glance at his wrist update him on the time, "...oh 25 minutes."
"Well then," a small long-fingered hand walked its way up his chest, "I'd say that's just enough time for a little morning fun."
He could feel her smirking against his side. Quick as a fox he scooped her up and dropped her on his chest, "You little minx!" He tickled her relentlessly, "You know I have class right after. Can't be showing up to class with 15-year-olds looking like I've just gotten a good shag."
Tonks loved how much freer he was with her now, just in a couple of weeks; how he laughed with her, played with her.
"Just good?" she purred in his ear.
"What? Did you say you wanted a harder tickling?"
She howled laughter and jumped off him, fleeing for the bathroom.
He caught her halfway and tossed her over his shoulder, "Trying to escape eh? You should know by now that escape is inconceivable!" he cackled dramatically like a cartoon villain. "Now be good," he gave her a good thwack on the ass. "Or your shower will be mighty boring."
She giggled all the way until breakfast.
The three perfectly spaced knocks told the couple that Severus had arrived. Kai went to answer the door while Tonks finished with the table. No house elves worked in Kai's quarters, that's for sure.
"Severus, good morning to you," Kai greeted cheerfully as he swung open the door.
"I do not see what is particularly good about it Boudreau," he replied gruffly as he strode through the opening. "I have double Gryffindor/Slytherin 7th years today. I swear, one day they will kill both me and each other."
He nodded greetings to the now purple-haired Auror as he arrived at the table.
"If I see another ingredient go flying across the room I will have someone's head. They're always trying to sabotage each other it's bloody dangerous. Stupid dunderheaded children!"
Tonks laughed as she poured him a coffee, "So nothing much has changed since I was there then Severus?"
"None, though I remember you blew up your cauldrons just fine on your own Nymphadora."
"Two can play that name game Severus," she smiled evilly, "I know just what pushed your buttons. Don't forget I'm a Black."
Kai dropped his head in his hands, "Actually, I was quite hoping he'd forget you are a Black Chami so that you wouldn't kill each other. Besides, this conversation is all about how ridiculous childhood rivalries are, let's not be hypocrites, eh?"
He looked at Severus, "Have you thought of pairing the students across house? I mean, they couldn't blow up one house's cauldron without sabotaging a housemate as well. Oh, and here's another suggestion: don't be such a git."
"EXCUSE ME?" the broad shouldered man stiffened, nose in the air.
"Well think about it. You don't have to pretend to be a Death Eater anymore – why would you still not punish the Slytherins for the sabotaging behaviour you detest? Why would you only encourage the Slytherins and not the other classes. False praise can be just as bad as no praise. Do you want one of your 5th years thinking they are good enough to brew veritaserum because all they hear is how good they are when they are in reality barely passable? It's dangerous. Students need to know exactly where they stand."
Kai paused to munch on a piece of toast, watching Severus very carefully.
"While I concede that you have some valid points, solving the problem won't happened nearly so easily as that. Some of these kids hate each other. And the Gryffindors are useless at potions," the potion master replied haughtily.
"Alright. Let us propose an experiment then. Try what I have suggested for two weeks. If there has been no improvement by then..." Kai let his voice trail, hinting that Severus to offer an amusing consequence.
"You have to teach for two days with your hair styled like Ms. Granger's. And a bottle of that goblin wine of yours to celebrate."
Kai barked a laugh, "Oh my, Severus, that is an amusing suggestion."
"And if there is improvement?"
"You continue with my suggestions. Oh, and stop calling Tonks Nymphadora, that's simply instigating."
"Agreed," they clasped hands and a blue light flashed between them. "This is going to be fun."
A large group of half asleep Gryffindor and Slytherin 7th years glared across the hallway at each other as they waited for the arrival of their Professor. He had not been present at breakfast but the students had noted Professor Boudreau was also missing, suggesting they were together. The students thought that was an odd pairing of friends. Someone so fair and unbiased as Boudreau friendly with the most biased teacher in the history of Hogwarts?
'Speaking of the most biased teacher in Hogwarts, where is he? Class started 2 minutes ago,' Hermione thought, looking around at the other students.
As always Neville and her stood apart from the rest, not really feeling a part of the Gryffindor group. That had changed somewhat since she started refusing to be bullied by Ronald. Some of the girls in her year had started talking to her again and she'd even been invited to a makeover night in the 6th year dorm.
Shyly, she glanced toward Blaise, watching the casual way he leaned against the wall. It always baffled her how graceful he looked in even the most casual of positions. This too was something new for this term – meeting Blaise Zabini. Enigmatic even for a Slytherin, he made so few waves that you almost never noticed him. Once he'd caught your attention though, it seems that you just couldn't stop giving it to him.
Her heart fluttered, 'Damn it, this foolishness over a boy. One who really doesn't know I exist.'
Just then Snape swooped down the hallway, robes billowing around him. With a wave of his wand the door flew open and he snapped, "Inside."
The students scurried to obey, finding a desk quickly.
"Today I decided I'd finally had enough of the foolishness happening in this class. From now on, you will be paired with an individual from the opposite house. People in the inside of the desk columns, switch."
The class stared at him, speechless. The two lines of pairs of desks just stared at each other. Reluctantly, the inside columns stood and marched – as if to their deaths – to the other side of the room. There were only two happy people in that whole room: Blaise and Hermione, who had just happen to side in the same row and get paired together.
"Say hello," Snape continued, "to your new lab partner. They will be your lab partner for the remainder of the year. I will hear no complaining, no whining. I simply don't care," he flashed his wand at the blackboard. "Today's assignment is on the board. Begin."
The class was a flurry of activity as students pulled out their books to turn to the appropriate pages. The bickering started almost immediately, if quietly to not draw attention to themselves. Who was going to get the ingredients? Who would do the dicing? Who would...
Two pairs simply worked quietly and one was a total shock. Near the back of the class were paired Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom – arguably the best student and worst student in this class. Draco had quickly retrieved all the ingredients and was calmly and patiently showing Neville how to cut each ingredient to the books specifications.
"See, Longbottom, there is a very clear difference between slice, chop, and dice and this can make a big difference in your...," drifted from the back to Hermione's ears.
She couldn't believed it, but well, something had changed in Draco recently and it had been a change for the better. She and Blaise were working quickly and efficiently, naturally splitting the workload. Both worked silently, not a single word had passed between them since the switch.
Both were then equally surprised when a drawling voice said, "Good consistency Ms. Granger, if you add just a pinch more of the shara root then that color will be more ideal."
Hermione looked at Blaise, "Did that just happen?"
"I don't know...you could be dreaming," the Slytherin reached over and pinched her.
"Ow! Jerk," she huffed. "Guess I'm not dreaming."
"I don't know," dark eyes followed the teacher, "I'd say that it's Kai passing himself off as Snape, but I definitely saw the two of them together this morning and Kai's teaching right now. This just smells of him though..."
"In your seven years in this class, Mr. Longbottom, that is the most precise cutting I've seen you do. Five points to Gryffindor. Ten points to Slytherin for your help Mr. Malfoy."
The whole class froze.
Did...Longbottom… just get points for...Gryffindor...in potions?
But, as strange as Snape was acting, the room was a little less tense than it had ever been. With each piece of constructive criticism the potions got better and better. No sabotage happened between potions. The partners started working better together – not friendly by a long shot – but civilly. There was certainly no love lost between the houses but... it worked.
Even Snape seemed surprised when the first Gryffindor called him over to ask a question.
"Sir, the potion says add the cut daisies as I'm stirring. Can they be added all at once as long as stirring never stops, or should they be spread out over a certain period of time," Irish bravery was something of a marvel.
"Good question Mr Finnigan," yes, Snape was definitely shocked. "Spread it out some, just do not dump the bowl in all at once. Two points to Gryffindor."
At the end of the class, Slytherin had received more points than Gryffindor – which appeased Snape somewhat – but Gryffindor had actually received points in Potions.
'And damnit all, they deserved them,' the Potions Master gruffed to himself.
The 7th years filed out at the end of class, leaving 13 nearly perfect vials of Migraine Potion sitting on his desk. He still took a small amount of vindictive pleasure that Weasley's potion was an abysmal failure. Pairing him with Mr. Goyle was a stroke of luck. Merlin forbid he had been paired with one of his good students.
He sat down hard on the edge of his desk, "Why does he always have to be right?"
"Allllrighty 7th years! Today is that most unlucky day of the week where you have me for a double. Get changed quickly because we have a lot to do," Kai called out, clapping his hands to urge the mass of 17-year-olds along towards the change rooms.
Once all the students were away changing, Kai set about altering the room. Half was made to look like a large disaster zone with rubble and garbage strewn everywhere. Large and small chunks of rock, standing and fallen trees, there was everything you'd see around the lake outside for example. This strewn area was sunk down below the rest, with the rest forming a watching area with benches.
Soon students were slipping out from the change rooms and leaning over the edge to check out this new duelling area. The students chatted excitedly about their theories for what the exercise might be. The class was super hard, but the exhilaration had grown on all of them – even the most stereotypical Ravenclaw. Those on the Quidditch team boasted about how the new class made their game so much better. The beaters hit harder, the chasers dodged quicker, the seekers were more observant, and that was in just a couple of months!
"Improvement does not come without frustration. If you are not faced by a problem why would you ever get better? My class is about presenting you with challenges and helping you improve to overcome them," Kai had told them on the second class.
"Alright class, everyone take a quick seat," Kai called out walking out onto the duelling stage floor.
All talking ceased immediately, the students anxious to hear.
"Today we are going to extend the dodging exercises we've been doing to add another very useful tool to your arsenal. So far we've seen the opposite ends of the spectrum on how much magic you can use to escape a curse. Shielding, of course, uses the most, dodging the least. Today we're going to explore using your surroundings as a physical shield. What do I mean by that?"
Hermione's hand popped up, "Allowing other physical objects to absorb the curses for you?"
"Good Ms. Granger. Anyone have an idea how this could be done, there are three main ways," a hand caught Kai's eye. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy."
"You could move to behind that object – like a wall. Or you could move the object to in front of you," the blond was becoming less and less smug in his classroom. He seemed to honestly try and succeed in the class. Once he had even smiled brilliantly when he defeated one of Kai's games.
"Excellent Mr. Malfoy! Moving behind a shield is an even safer version of dodging. Though beware! It makes it harder to see you opponent. Moving an object in front of yourself is done using a simple levitation or summoning spell and can be incredibly effective. However, levitating a large rock in front of you to take a explosion curse can create a large amount of dangerous debris."
Draco nodded to himself as he listened to Kai speak. That was how the Dark Lord fought. He terrified his enemies by simply walking forward, other people and debris taking all the curses meant for him. He even remembered large marble blocks exploding as killing curses hit them.
'Wait, where did the marble blocks come from? There was no marble at the site...'
"Professor Boudreau!"
"Yes Mr. Malfoy?"
"Is the last option transfiguration. For example if solid rock is not strong enough to block it, transfiguring it into marble or diamond?"
The Shadow smiled knowingly up at him and then nodded his approval, "Excellent. Yes, that is the last option. This is the style of fighting Professor Dumbledore and Voldemort are masters of. Transfiguration, or if you are strong enough, conjuration, is an excellent way to create or change your surroundings. That chair behind your desk suddenly becomes a brick wall. The lamp becomes a badger to take a killing curse. It takes a lot more concentration and experience to pull off than a simple Protegeo but it still takes a lot less power than holding a shield against an onslaught of curses which may be able to pass through it. Well done again Mr. Malfoy."
Draco felt a buzzing on his pant legs. Looking down, he almost beamed when he saw that the black on the pant legs now reached above his ankles.
The lights around the students darkened, "Now we are going to watch the memory of a fight that incorporates a lot of this style. In this fight the man we're focusing on, Marcus, had lost his wand as he was fighting much larger numbers. Marcus has some small skill in wandless magic that allows him to do a few first year spells such as levitate. Let's see how he holds out against the odds using this strategy."
Above the duelling arena but still below the students a 3D image was broadcast of a smaller man with short blond hair fighting a group of five opponents.
The students watched in amazement, thinking that this bloke had not a chance in the world.
Marcus was backed nearly into a corner by his five opponents. His first quick action was to fire some broken furniture at his opponents to make them back off. When his attackers recovered the fire began. Curse after curse came at the blonde. He dodged probably half of them of the curses fired by then a field of rubble – broken bits of furniture, stone bits, books – surrounded him like a meteorite field. Anything that wanted to hit him had to go through there first. The objects were in constant motion as was he.
"This technique is called the Tornado, by keeping objects in constant motion around him like that he decreases his chance of being hit by around 50 percent; the downside being that you can block your own spells," their instructor pointed out helpfully. "And here's where he learns his lesson about blasting curses."
A fire red curse came firing from the left and struck the wall of debris, exploding it towards him at a rapid rate. Some students gasped as sharp shards of rock and wood sliced across the exposed skin of his arms and face leaving red streaks wherever they went.
The fighter shook it off quickly though because there were four enemies still attacking.
'Wait, four?' Draco thought, "What happened to the fifth attacker?" He asked out loud.
Kai leaned in towards Draco, "Me."
"Should have known," he laughed lightly before catching himself. 'Damn this man. He tried to kill your father,' he thought to himself. But it was becoming impossible for him to hate the Shadow and more possible to find a sort of kinship with him.
Even the less observant students started to notice as Marcus' opponents continued to vanish until one was left standing.
The memory vanished and the light in the room increased. Kai took the floor once more.
"So, ladies and gents, that was a good example of how to use your environment to protect you with expending less attention and magic. This provides inspiration for today's activity. You will be placed into teams of two, randomly assigned. One team will stand at the right side of the arena in the designated circles. You cannot leave this circle and you may only fire stunners. The other team is limited only to their half of the arena," Kai gestured at a red lines separating the halves with an arm. "You may only dodge, take cover, or create cover using levitation or transfiguration spells. The exercise will continue for two and a half minutes or until the defending pair are unconscious – whichever is first. Any questions?"
"Will we then switch sides?" Blaise questioned.
"You will switch but only after the class has rotated through. This is to give the stunner team a chance to rest before having to defend. Casting stunners continuously like that can be quite tiring," Kai responded. "Anything else?"
When no one responded he waved a hand at a wall and a scoreboard and timer appeared above the arena. Four names appeared on the board:
Boot and Zambini vs. Malfoy and Granger
Draco snorted in disbelief at being paired with the mudblood. They would lose for sure.
'Except,' his treacherous mind told him, 'that she is a powerful witch who casts with great precision. She will be a valuable asset in this exercise.'
'Damn him again.'
The four placed themselves appropriately, with Draco and Hermione in the offensive circles.
"Blaise is too broad to prefer dodging," Granger whispered to him. "And when he duels he tends to leave larger openings near his feet. The best strategy is for both of us to fire at Terry until he's down – which shouldn't be long – then tackle Blaise together."
Draco could only just stare at her. That was a positively Slytherin plan. And to note the probably only two major flaws in Zabini's defenses...'Damnit. She's a mudblood. She's a mudblood. And a Gryffindor.'
Clearing his head, Draco nodded to Granger once to agree with the plan.
"Start in THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!"
Two fast stunner flew quickly at Boot followed quickly by two more. They were angled in such a way that dodging wasn't an option, nor running. A large rock took out the stunner aimed for his head while he jumped over the one aimed low. Two more rocks caught the others.
'Mmmmm,' Draco thought, 'this is going to be more of a challenge than I thought.'
Hermione never thought Boot would be fast enough to get those last rocks off. Glancing off to the side she saw Blaise with wand in a hand a smirk on his face. Damn. He'd caught on to their strategy too fast and had put his efforts into protecting Boot.
'Oh. Oh. Oh. I have an idea.'
"Malfoy," she whispered. "Blaise is protecting Terry, rapid fire at Terry with everything you've got. I've got an idea."
"This better be good," he sneered at her.
"Oh, it will," she sneered back at him.
Draco continued to be surprised by the sharp tongue and boldness that Granger had been showing increasingly since the beginning of the year. She'd never dare even talking to him before this year. He did as she requested, curious over her plan.
Stunner after stunner flew at Boot, in rapid succession as they were undoubtedly the fastest casters in their year – bar Zabini. Granger looked very focused on Boot, firing the stunning curse quickly. One glance at Zabini showed him working hard, eyes mostly on Boot. And then it happened. A single stunner in Granger's barrage slanted away from the rest, low to the ground.
Zabini dropped like a sack of potatoes. Boot followed not long after.
"Hell yes!" Granger shouted, pumping her hand in the air.
Only his training kept him from doing anything more than smirking wickedly before walking over and standing above Zabini. A quick enerviate saw the black boy waking up staring into Malfoy's smirking face.
"Good morning, sunshine. Have a good nap?"
"Shut the hell up Malfoy. It was Hermione that got me," the Zabini heir stood and stomped over to wake his team mate.
The teams heard loud clapping coming from the stands as their classmates cheered the combatants.
"Nicely done Hermione, Draco. That was an excellent strategy. Blaise, Terry, you used very good control over the objects around you, though I'd have tried to use some of the larger cover more when they teamed up on you. Also Blaise, you have weak awareness below your knees, fix that."
Kai switched the names on the board and the exercise moved on.
After all teams had gotten a chance to try, Kai gave them 15 minutes to shower and change back into their clothes for a theory session.
When the students were settled in comfortable chairs around a large table with their essay journals sitting in front of them Kai began the rest of the class.
"What is the topic of today's discussion? Anyone?"
"Dark magic versus light magic," Neville answered.
"Good, now what was your assignment? Greengrass?"
"To find five spells classified as dark that do not cause harm, and find five light spells that could be used to cause great harm," she answered.
"Good. Why might I have assigned this to you?"
That had them thinking for a while. He sat back in his chair; he wasn't going to give them the answer to this one.
"Because," Susan Bones piped up, "you want us to see that the difference between what is classified as light and dark magic is not clear?"
"Excellent Susan! Nothing in this world is black and white, ladies and gentlemen, only shades of grey. Thinking in black and white is what has England stagnating and a Dark Lord on the rise. You cannot make generalizations about spells, or people for that matter. What did Mr. Weasley tell us last Friday? 'I interviewed a Slytherin and he was evil because all Slytherins are evil.'"
Ron turned a bright shade of red with anger.
"Now, let's share some of what we found, shall we? Give me some of the spells classified as dark magic by the Ministry of Magic here in England."
"A spell used for mining was restricted because people could use it blow each other up."
"A bonding spell that allows couples to be able to find each other when separated. I don't understand why it is classified as dark as it can only be performed with both participants willing..."
"Any spell that involved altering or adapting muggle technology such as the magical battery charm."
"A bloodmagic ritual adopting a child into a pureblood family."
"Bloodmagic rituals in general are classified as dark magic here in England," Blaise added, being next in line. "That is, no humans are allowed to perform them. The goblins perform bloodmagic everyday when they verify identity and inheritance claims."
"Let's pause for a second and think about why people may have classified these as such. Starting with the blasting spell that Padma told us about. It is a very powerful blasting curse, equivalent to dynamite. So, what makes this spell 'evil'?" This was the crux of the matter. He wanted students to see that few spells were in themselves evil by definition.
"Well...nothing. The spell was created for a particular purpose. It does harm when people misuse it," Hermione answered.
"So what you're saying Hermione, is that it isn't the spell that is evil, it depends on the intent of the user? For example, one person intends to mine for gold with it, another intends to maim someone. This spell can be used for good or evil. Can anyone think of a way to you the levitation spell that would cause harm?" Kai continued to push the class.
"You could levitate someone up and drop them from a height, like off a cliff," Dean answered.
"So, the levitation spell could also be used to kill or maim. Why is it not classified as a dark spell?"
The class was silent, thinking, processing.
"I was thinking Professor Boudreau, you use bloodmagic don't you?," Hermione piped up before slamming a hand over her mouth.
Kai smiled benignly, "Yes, that is true."
Most of the class gasped, pulling away from him subtly.
"B-but doesn't that involve human sacrifice?" Padma peeped, looking disgusted.
"No, no, no! Blood magic is about connecting yourself to the gods. There are about 45 known gods you can speak to and only one, Hades, requires human sacrifice. No master blood mage in the world will teach or perform the rituals of Hades. The rest require only runic rituals in their name using some of your own blood and magic. I'm connected to Apollo – the god of Truth and Light, and Athena – the warrior goddess for example. It can do all kinds of wonderful things. Like Neville could choose Persephone, the goddess of Spring, to help with his seedlings," Neville smiled, pleased that his Professor had remembered his passion. "Like any other magic, intent is what is important. Any magic can be abused – very little magic is inherently evil."
"So, by our country's definition, you're a dark wizard?" Susan asked.
"Yes, I suppose, but only in Britain, Scotland, France and Spain are the magics I practice illegal."
Ron huffed, "Dark wizards are all Death Eaters."
Half the class turned to glare at Ron.
"Really, Ronald? That's what you have to contribute to the conversation?" Hermione snapped.
"Interesting statement, Mr. Weasley. Now, let's say I'm standing on the border between France and Germany on the German side. In France, I'm a Dark Wizard, in Germany I'm not. Are you saying that as soon as I step foot on French soil I become a Death Eater? Then recant when I step back?"
The class laughed except for a few of the Gryffindors from Ron's pack.
The redhead just glared and stayed silent.
"I for one am not a Death Eater," Kai glared at him, rolling up his sleeves to show bare forearms. "And I certainly thought that spewing hateful comments about people based on one characteristic of them was something we should leave for the Death Eaters. We are all better than that."
The Gryffindor crew looked slapped. Ron grew redder and redder with anger. Soon he was just sputtering with indignant rage over what he interpreted as being called a Death Eater.
"I'm not a Death Eater! You are you slimy snake!"
"My Weasley, please remove yourself from my class," the teacher spoke quietly. "I don't take accusations like that lightly. When you find yourself capable of discussion without frivolous anger and ego, then come see me."
Eyes hard, Kai pointed to the door. For the first time his students felt the energy of how dangerous their instructor really was.
"And if I refuse?" Ron stood, face still red.
"Then you're a fool."
A larger invisible hand grabbed Ron by the collar and dragged him unceremoniously to the door. At the doorway his was bodily picked up and tossed out. The heavy wood door slammed shut behind him.
"Alright," Kai was suddenly chipper again. "Let's move on."
For the rest of the class the group couldn't help but glance occasionally at the closed door.