I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness

Lockhart's office, Hogwarts, 5th September 1992 (Saturday)

Lockart's office was not too different from his classroom: shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart, a few of them bearing the man's signature. Another large pile lay on his desk.

He'd been scanning as many letters as possible, and was shocked to learn that Lockhart knew most of his fans by name, and was even able to tell Harry a thing or two about their lives. That seemed highly unusual for an author of Lochart's caliber and Harry couldn't help but consider the sheer amount of loyal fans, potentially loyal followers and supporters, that the man had managed to cultivate over his career. Even more shocking, he didn't find a single hate mail amongst them. He could probably have a pretty good shot at being elected Minister of Magic if he one day decided that's what he wanted to do…

Among the ungodly amount of self-aggrandizing speeches, Lockhart did impart him a few handful tips on how to properly cultivate and maintain friendship via letter, a task Lockhart had very obviously mastered over the years.

The candles were burning rather low when he heard something. It was a voice, chill the bone-marrow, seemingly brimming with ice-cold venom.

"Come ... come to me ... let me rip you ... let me tear you ... let me kill you …"

"What?" he said loudly.

"I know! - said Lockhart. - Six solid months at the top of the bestseller list! Broke all records!"

"No - said Harry frantically. - That voice!"

Lockhart, looked puzzled.

"What voice?"

"That voice that said… didn't you hear it?"

Lockhart was looking at Harry in high astonishment.

"What are you talking about, Harry? Perhaps you're getting a little drowsy? Great Scott, look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd never have believed it."

Harry didn't answer, straining his ears to hear the voice again, but with no success.

Library, Hogwarts, 29th September 1992 (Tuesday)

Trying to figure out Lockhart ended up being a frustrating experience. The man was undoubtedly a megalomaniac and seemed to get a kick out of forcing students to act out scenes from his books in dramatic fashion, but there was more to it than simple ego-boosting. Every now and then, Lockhart would stop the performance to lead out a class-wide exercise in lateral thinking. Why did he use this particular spell? Was there an alternative solution? What could he have done differently? It wasn't exactly traditional teaching, but they were certainly coming out of the class with a better understanding of whatever spell or situation they had analyzed during the lesson. One day, they spent almost two whole hours and a half discussing the many possible uses of the Fumos spell during a chase. Another time, the discussion was about which weak points of a carriage, if targeted with a cutting charm, would cause the structure to fall apart. Harry had come to the conclusion that Lockhart wasn't cut out to be a teacher, but at the very least he seemed to know his stuff. Or at the very least, know how to act like he knew his stuff. After all, the discussion was mostly between students with Lockhart only acting as a moderator…

After the disastrous first lesson with Gryffindor, Ron was sure the man was nothing but a fraud, while Sally, Daphne and Hermione defended the teacher with zeal. Theo and Harry didn't have a clear opinion: Professor Lockhart seems to shift between a bumbling moron and a genius tactician every five minutes and the dichotomy really frustrated Harry. Was the man competent or not?

Hunting down information about House elves hadn't been easy. As it turned out, Hogwarts curriculum had changed drastically over the centuries, and while certain subjects had lasted longer than others, usually for a century or two with the most notable exception being the three years class of Egyptology, they didn't find anything until they reached the curriculum of 1564, the last year to offer the Fae studies course.

Madam Pince had been uncharacteristically eager to help them out, taking the challenge to scour for those ancient books with passion, but at the same had refused to let the group even touch such ancient tomes, forcing them to gather around as she delicately turned the pages over, looking for their objective. Was she so nasty with the students because she was bored?

"House elves. Chapter 2, page 15." declared the librarian with a victorious smile.

"Yes!" shouted Ron, earning a silent glare from the witch.

"Sorry, Madam Prince."

Returning to the ancient book, she delicately flipped through the pages.

House elves are among the most common examples of refurbished Chimeras

found across wizarding society. Originally crafted by the Aethernauts as

sentient constructs tailored to semi-independent exploration of the Deep Dreaming,

they were swiftly discovered to be unfit to perform their original task due to the

high quantity of Glamour needed to operate properly. Without a use for these

constructs, the Aethernauts sold them for scraps to the disciples of Aretus, whose descendants still hold a monopoly on the House elves market to this day.

The disciples of Aretus were, unlike the Nockers, unbothered by the

construct's high Glamour cost and have since taken upon themselves to learn the

secrets to the creation and modification of these constructs, who soon became

their main source of income and well-guarded secret.

Rumors claim that, without the funds obtained from this venue, their own

Umbral exploration is likely to grind to a halt.

"I understood less than half of that." muttered Sally.

"Perhaps we should start from page one, then? I think the subject is fascinating, I'm very disappointed to learn how much of this knowledge has been forgotten." pointed out the librarian.

"Do you think it's possible to re-start the course?" asked Hermione.

The librarian frowned.

"With just the six of you? No. But if you can get a group of twenty or so students interested, maybe we can bring it up to headmaster Dumbledore and I can make a case for it. The real issue will be finding a teacher… The last year to take this course was 1564, after all."

"We'll have to start writing down a list. Make an official proposal with the signatures of everyone interested." pointed out Daphne.

"Well, you six do that. In the meantime, I'll be reading up on the textbook. Find the full curriculum, figure out if there was an advanced class and gather all the necessary books. I'll personally make a request to the headmaster once you have a list."

Teacher's lounge, Hogwarts, 5th October 1992 (Monday)

"Fae Studies?" asked Dumbledore, eyebrows raised in skepticism.

"It's an old subject. The last class was held in 1564." confirmed Madam Pince, sliding the results of her research to the headmaster.

"And how exactly did these students suddenly express the desire to study a subject that hasn't been taught in centuries? One that, I might add, will almost certainly have no one with the appropriate qualifications to teach?" asked the headmaster, skimming through the pages.

He looked at the list: Harry Potter, Theodore Nott, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Daphne Greengrass, Sally-Anne Perks, Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner, Colin Creevey, Percy Weasley, Brook Hearth, Millicent Elms, Rachael Bullwark and Baxter Bricks.

"Mr. Potter has expressed his desire to learn more about House elves. After some research, we discovered they are part of the curriculum for Fae Studies."

Dumbledore nodded. He did remember Hagrid mentioning something similar a while ago. He was hoping to look into the subject himself but hadn't had the chance to do it yet. How curious… Did they really drop House elves from the school curriculum altogether? Seemed hard to believe, but the evidence was right under his nose.

"Why don't we offer that class anymore? - asked Filius Flitwick, the half-goblin Charms professor, leaning over his chair to check the headmaster's papers - It seems like a rather important subject. House elves are rather common and leaving them out of the curriculum seems… unwise."

"From what I gathered, Fae Studies was an elective available to third year students, but interest had been steadily dropping since the mid 1500. The last class only had seven students."

Dumbledore nodded. Seven students were not enough to justify the cost of a teacher's salary. A shame, but Hogwarts' budget was not infinite.

"I can see why it was dropped then. Unfortunately, without a qualified professor, which I'm afraid doesn't exist at this moment in time, I won't be able to re-establish the class. Not to mention, a good number of students on that list are first and second year, meaning they won't be able to take the elective anyway."

Irma Pince frowned. She was expecting this response, but she couldn't help but be disappointed.

"However. - started Dumbledore, a glint in his eyes - Considering the demand for the subject, I suppose I could allow the formation of a study club, so long as we have a teacher who agrees to supervise."

"I'm sure Hagrid will be interested." pointed out an old professor, stroking his beard with a wooden arm.

"What about yourself, Silvanus? - asked a curious Dumbledore - I thought you of all people would be eager to join."

The man shrugged.

"I'm old, Albus. Besides, Hagrid will take over my classes in September. Some practice on how to handle kids will certainly benefit him."

Dumbledore nodded. "A fair point. Regardless, Hagrid hasn't completed the necessary paperwork yet, I'm afraid he isn't legally allowed to act as the supervisor. Would you be able to attend regardless? For safety reasons?"

"That won't be necessary. - said Professor Flitwick. - I read here that UnSeelie studies, the advanced class, has Goblins in their curriculum. I am quite interested in seeing what this book says about them."

Dumbledore smiled.

"In that case, I'll be glad to leave the newly formed Fae Studies club to the joint expertise of Professor Flitwick, soon to be professor Hagrid and Madam Pince. I am sure you three can come up with an appropriate schedule that won't interfere with any class. I will be making an announcement at dinner, in case there are students who weren't able to mark down their name in time. Filius, Irma, Hagrid… even if this is only a club, you are allowed to grant and remove house points to the students as if this was an elective."

With a smile, the librarian nodded.

Classroom 22, Hogwarts, 11th October 1992 (Sunday)

Irma Pince cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the students

"Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to this first meeting of the Fae Studies club. As I'm sure you all know, I am Madam Pince and thare Hagrid and Professor Flitwick. We are the organizers and supervisors for this club."

Hagrid waved happily at the gathered students.

"It is a pleasure - continued Flitwick - to see you have decided to join us in this learning adventure. Hogwarts hasn't had a Fae Studies class since the late 1500, so there are a few differences compared to the usual classes you have been accustomed to. For once, you might have noticed we introduced ourselves as supervisors instead of teachers. This is because we don't know enough about the subject to teach you like I do in Charm class. We will be learning together with you."

"That doesn't mean that we won't sit by and let you do as you please. This is still a school and we still possess the authority to give detentions and remove house points should we feel it necessary. - pointed out Madam Pince, glaring at the students and pausing for effect. - The second main difference will be your textbooks."

With a wave of her wand, a series of books gently floated through the air and deposited themselves on the desk.

"These books are old. In some cases, older than your entire family line. That means that before you're allowed to even think about touching them, you will need to learn a few protective charms so you don't cause irreparable damage to these precious artifacts. Professor Flitwick will teach you those spells in a moment. The third thing to remember is, once again, that these books are ancient. That means that they were written in a… different way than your modern textbooks. They will be biased. Exceedingly so, in some cases. You will find that often authors like to mention in passing a subject they won't introduce until a few hundred pages later. Often, these subjects aren't even in the same book and in a few cases, do not even appear until the advanced course. That, in turn, means that in order to properly understand something we will have to jump between multiple chapters from many different books from different authors. It will be slow and sometimes tedious, but if you wish to work for the ministry - she looked at Percy Weasley - this will be an excellent exercise in how to deal with the complex paperwork that is the daily life at the ministry."

Professor Flitwick took a step forward.

"Now, are there any questions before I start?"

Harry took a step forward, handing the professor a small notebook.

"When we discovered the subject I sent an owl to ask Sir Harold if he knew anything about Fae. It isn't much, but he sent me this."

"That is excellent news, Mr. Potter! Five points to Slytherin for your initiative in looking for outside sources. Would you care to offer us a summary of the contents of this book?"

Harry nodded.

"Like I said, this isn't much. The author is a vampire that claims to have encountered a Fae during one of his hunts. It gives two conflicting descriptions of the Fae, one before and one after feeding, then proceeds to describe the intoxicating effects of Fae blood. The vampire then stalks and feeds from the same Fae over and over, and the writing becomes more and more unhinged after every feeding. After the fourth feeding, the text is barely legible and after a while is completely replaced with scribbles."

After a few seconds of silence, Madam Pince coughed, attracting everyone's attention.

"That's… mildly disturbing, but certainly enlightening, Mr. Potter. The two conflicting descriptions of the Fae seem in line with one of the first facts we discovered about them: according to these books, Fae are under the constant effect of a 'Seeming', which seems to act more or less like a natural Concealment Charm."

"Disturbing, but highly intriguing. - agreed professor Flitwick. - Speaking of Seeming, the Seelie studies textbook offers a spell that allows a wizard to see through it, and that will be one of the first charms I'll be teaching you. Once you've mastered it, we will all have the opportunity to test it on a few House elves that volunteered for the task."

Classroom 22, Hogwarts, 25th October 1992 (Sunday)

It took three hours for everyone to master all the charms Professor Flitwick and Madam Pience had shown them, with the older students spending about half that time making sure their juniors had properly learned them.

Their second meeting had gone relatively smooth: the first chapters did a pretty decent job at pushing a general understanding of what a Fae was and despite some blatant bias from certain authors ('Fantabulous Fae' claimed that Fae magic was the apex of spellcasting, while 'Fae: a guide to foreign foes' claimed it was a primitive imitation of proper magical practices), they had gotten a fairly good guess as to what was the difference between a Fae, a Changeling (a Fae soul inhabiting a muggle body) and a Chimera (an emotion made sentient and manifested in physical form). There was probably a lot more to it, but Madam Prince had deemed the result 'good enough for now' and decided to move to the next topic.

The first creature they studied were, somewhat unsurprisingly, House elves.

They went through the basics of what House elves were and how their chimeric nature had been altered by runic bindings to turn them into semi-sentient servants.

For this particular class, they had called for Professor Babbling, professor of Ancient Runes, to offer her expertise on the matter.

Now Dokby and Zeemy, a pair of the Hogwarts House elves, were standing on the desk, following Professor Flitwick's instruction to remain still.

"Now everyone, like we practiced."

"Verum Sui Revelio!"

As Harry's spell coalesced over his eyes and the meekly frame of the house elves was stipped bare. In their stead there were now two objects in a vaguely humanoid shape crafted from wood and mud, stitched together by wicker threads and covered head to toe in glowing red runes.

"Fascinating. - muttered Professor Babbling, in a high enough voice for all the students to hear it - This is some exceedingly complex runeworks. A lot of restrictions. Command clauses, perception arrays, non-binary pathways… Fascinating indeed."

The professor started to explain the various rune scripts with passion, often needing to be reminded by Professor Flitwick to 'dumb it down' to make it more digestible for those who hadn't taken up Ancient Runes as their elective, but even without prior understanding of the subject, Harry understood most of it. It wasn't too different from the way John talked about programming languages, after all.

What shocked most of the students was the fact that the creature's runic script wasn't protected by any type of durability or shield charm, leaving the professor to speculate that perhaps the runes were intended to deteriorate over time.

Professor Babbling wanted to test her theory by temporarily erasing part of the elf's runic script responsible for Dokby's sense of touch. As she suspected, the House elf was suddenly no longer reacting whenever the professor poked it with her quill. Theory confirmed, the professor tried to rewrite the runes on Dokby's back, but she soon discovered that the ink didn't stick, but slid down the creature and pooled on top of the desk to the marvel and astonishment of everyone present.

Professor Babbling left the room to get some engraving equipment, but despite the numerous attempts, she just couldn't find a way to put the runes back on the construct. After many attempts, the rather frustrated professor was forced to give up on her attempts to restore the House elf to its original condition.

"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?" had whispered Colin, causing Harry and Hermione to smirk. An embarrassed Colin had to then step forward and explain the joke to those in the room that hadn't any experience with muggle IT.

As they were leaving the class, Professor Flitwick stepped in front of Luna Lovegood.

"Miss, I couldn't help but notice your lack of shoes today. Mind if I inquire about that?"

Luna nodded, smiling at her head of house.

"It's nothing, professor. Dabberblimps have been hiding my shoes around the castle all week."

Filus raised an eyebrow. He was aware of the many fictional creatures the young Ravenclaw believed in, but this was new. He was also aware how the girl wasn't exactly liked by her housemates and, as a half goblin, he knew very well how childrens were capable of being.

"Have they really? Have these…Dabberblimp, you said? Have these creatures been targeting anyone else?"

Luna shook her head.

"The others don't see them. The Dabberblimp have no reason to prank them."

Flilius smiled, hiding his frown under a facade of happiness.

"That's good to hear, Miss Lovegood. Would you allow me to accompany you to your room?"

And have a word with your roommates, he added in his mind.


Notes

A small section to keep up Lockhart's true potential. He would make for a terrific politician, if he wanted to...
Speaking of Lockhart, am I the only one that found it odd that instead of 'Merlin's Beard', his expression of choice is 'Great Scott?' (that's from the books!) Is Lockhart secretly a fan of Back to the Future? Wouldn't that be an interesting crossover...

Fae Studies! I did mention how much trouble I had to fit House elves into WoD, but at the end of the day Chimeras were the only creature I felt made any sense. I know they are based on Brownies/Domovoy/other household spirit, but that's honestly the best I could come up with. If I had to give an estimation, they are 85% of a perfect fit (with 100% being turning a wizard into a Hermetic Mage and 0% turning Dumbledore into Zapathasura).
Yes, I made House elves into the magical equivalent of robots, with all the implications regarding free will when you are literally controlled by a string of code (or inth is case, runes) that dictate every action you can take. No, I'm not going to explore this any further because it's a messy subject that I don't want to get dragged into. Besides... They're not the main subject of the story. Better authors than me have tried and failed to properly tackle the subject, but if you want to write your own story using this as a jumping point, feel free to do it. Just let me know so I can link interested readers to it.

In case anyone got it... yes, Fae Studies dropped out of favor as a direct consequence of the Shattering. Less Fae around means less interest in studying them...

Luna's bullying is being addressed and nipped at the bud, as it should have been in any decent school with teachers that aren't blind.