A Different Path

by Michael in Arizona

When Harry supports Hermione after Ron treats her horribly in POA, it leads Harry and the world down a different road. Always remember that Hagrid was right on the money with his correct perspective that Ron should value his friend more than rats. FRIENDS SHOULD ALWAYS BE VALUED ABOVE PETS! NO EXCEPTIONS! Always remember that friends run far deeper than pets.

25. Professor Protect's First Lesson

On Monday, April 18th, 1994, Harry and Hermione ended up being part of Pamela Protect's first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

After Lupin was promoted to Headmaster of Hogwarts, Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons were put on hiatus to allow Professor Protect time to organize her lesson plans.

Professor Protect's very first lesson on the morning of Monday, April 18th, 1994, just happened to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the third year Gryffindors.

"Good morning class, " said Professor Protect cheerfully as Harry and Hermione took their seats, "My name is Pamela Protect and I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. So, do any of you know what the Imperius Curse is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger, " called Professor Protect.

"The Imperius Curse is a curse used by witches and wizards to exert control over each other. However, The Imperius Curse is known as an Unforgivable Curse and the use of it is punishable by life in Azkaban. " answered Hermione.

"Exactly, " beamed Professor Protect, "Now the Imperius Curse can be fought and I will be teaching you how in time. Today, I'm just going to putting the Imperius Curse on each of you in turn so that you learn how it feels and so I can see if any of you have any natural talent at resisting it. "

"You're going to put an illegal curse ON us?" said Ron indigently, "Some teacher you are."

"Professor Lupin has given me permission to do so because you need to learn what it feels like, " said Professor Protect in a no nonsense voice, "By being introduced to it in a controlled setting, you may be better prepared to face it if you ever come across its use against you."

"The whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to learn to defend and protect yourself, " said Harry fiercely, "You can't learn that without hands on experience."

"Exactly, Mr. Potter, " said Professor Protect approvingly.

Then, without warning, Professor Protect pointed her wand straight at Parvati Patil and cried, "Imperio!"

Parvati felt her mind being wiped blank and was transformed into a state of total bliss when she heard Professor Protect's voice say "Run into the wall. Run into the wall."

Parvati ran straight at the wall and ran into it and the resultant crash brought Parvati back to her senses.

"Man, I had no idea the Imperius was THAT powerful, " said Parvati in a stunned voice.

"That's exactly why we are having this lesson, " said Professor Protect matter of factly, "So that you can learn exactly how powerful the Imperius Curse really is and what it can do."

Next nanosecond Professor Protect pointed her wand at Lavender Brown and cast the "Imperio" spell on her.

Lavender now felt that euphoric nothingness and soon heard Professor Protect's voice, "Jump onto the desk. Jump onto the desk."

Lavender leaped for the desk but missed landing on it and banged her knees on it instead. The pain in Lavender's knees brought her back to reality.

"Parvati was right, " said Lavender shakily, "This curse is SO strong."

Seamus Finnigan was next to be Imperiused and quickly heard Professor Protect's voice, "Sing the Bear Went Over the Mountain. Sing the Bear Went Over the Mountain."

Seamus began to sing, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain. The Bear Went Over the Mountain. The Bear Went Over the Mountain to see what he could see."

Seamus was a terrible singer and the results were comedic as most as the class was literally laughing at how bad Seamus's singing actually was.

Seamus remained unaware of his surroundings and kept on with his comedic bad singing until Professor Protect removed the curse.

Realizing now what had just happened, Seamus moaned, "Was my singing really THAT bad?

"Yes, " chorused, everyone else with smirks.

Professor Protect next placed the Imperius Curse on Dean Thomas and was saying, "Throw your bag in the garbage. Throw your bag in the garbage."

Dean immediately tossed his school into the nearest garbage can without thinking about it.

When Professor Protect removed the curse, Dean retrieved his school bag out of the garbage and said, "That episode showed how subtle and cunning the use of the Imperius Curse can actually be."

"That's right, " confirmed Professor Protect, "I'm trying to introduce you all to as many aspects of the Imperius Curse as I possibly can."

Before long, it was Neville's turn and his ears caught, "Draw on yourself. Draw on yourself."

Neville took his quill and starting drawing all over his body, continuing to do so with increasing giggles from his classmates.

When Professor Protect removed the curse, Neville took one look at himself and hung his head.

Professor Protect patiently performed a Cleaning Charm on Neville, who asked, "Is it likely that anyone would use the Imperius Curse just to embarrass someone?'

"it's use in reality is almost always much more sinister, but it's good to learn EVERY aspect of things, " replied Professor Protect.

Professor Protect went to put the curse on Ron, but saw he wasn't there. Ron had walked out of the class when Professor Protect had announced what this lesson would entail.

So, Professor Protect aimed her next Imperius Curse at Hermione instead, "Do somersaults across the room. Do somersaults across the room."

Hermione did one somersault, but the hard landing returned her to herself rather quickly.

"The Imperius Curse seems most dangerous if you get hit with it suddenly, " said Hermione wisely.

However, Professor Protect was already placing the curse of the very last student, Harry.

Harry felt the happy blankness as Professor Protect said, "Punch Hermione Granger on the back. Punch Hermione Granger on the back."

"No, " said a voice in Harry's head, "Hermione's my bestie, why should I hurt her."

"Punch Hermione Granger on the back. Punch Hermione Granger on the back, " Professor Protect repeated.

"Stupid idea, really, " thought Harry, "Hermione is my BFF."

"Punch Hermione Granger on the back. NOW!" yelled Professor Protect.

"NO, I WON'T!" shouted Harry, who suddenly felt himself again, "That's my bestie, my BFF, I would never hurt my BFF."

"Look at that, " said Professor Protect proudly, "Mr. Potter fought it off. Mr. Potter can fight it off naturally. I will be teaching the rest of you how in time. For today, what I wanted you all to get out this lesson is how powerful the Imperius Curse can actually be."

Between Parvati's, Lavender's, and Hermione's pain and Seamus's Dean's, and Neville's embarrassment, no one was arguing this point.