Hello everyone, sorry for the chapter delay. A lot has happened but I'll talk about that later.

So anyways, let's get to the chapter instead. Defense is up. Lockhart and Moody. Let's have some fun with these, yeah?

—0—

Merlot blinked up at the scarred man who towered over her. He wasn't what she first expected, hearing of a hero who locked away death eaters as his life's work, but then again, some people told her he was known as 'Mad Eye' Moody. The name definitely fit him.

Moody's face was covered in scars, and a chunk of his nose seemed to be missing. That alone would have made him a bit scary looking, but his eyes made him a downright terrifying creature to be faced with. One was normal. A darker brown color, while the other was large, with a pale blue color. The blue eye was strep to the mans face with a strange eyepatch, which allowed Merlot to see it as it spun around of its own accord, before rolling around and falling still at the sight of her.

"You need something lass?"

Merlot blinked, trying to find her voice. She tried looking away from the mans face. Bad idea, he had a metal leg.

'What happened to him?'

"Well? Albus is sittin' right there. What d'ya need lass?"

Merlot looked over to where the man had gestured, finding that the headmaster was certainly there with them. He was sitting at the side of the office, facing the wall, wearing a strange pair of what looked like earmuffs. A further look helped merlot determine that they were some sort of other device, which was connected to a box by a thin cord. The box had a word printed on its surface.

-Stereo Walkman-

The elderly man hummed a tune as he tinkered with a few things in his workspace, each seemingly more interesting than the last.

"Has he-"

"Been like that since I came in. Always liked his tinkering. ALBUS!"

The bark from the scarred man caused the headmaster to pause, before he turned around slowly, a twinkle in his eye. With a firm tap, a click came from the box he was… listening to?

"Alastor, how wonderful to see you! And you've already met miss Scortwit! Sorry if you were waiting, I didn't hear you. Muggle technologies these days are quite-"

The scarred man rolled his good eye. "Yes yes Albus. Muggle devices. All the rage. Now… this is the girl you were talking about?"

Merlot straightened as they both turned to her. Dumbledore gave a warm smile and nodded. "Indeed she is Alastor. Though you seem a bit more wobbly today, miss Scortwit. Did something happen?"

Merlot bobbed her head. "Sort of. I had a few flashbacks last night and Hannah got worried, so…"

The headmaster sighed and shook his head. "I am truly sorry my dear. Perhaps it would be better if you were to rest for-"

"NO!" Merlot shouted, before covering her mouth. "I mean… no. Sorry professor. I feel like I have had a bit too much rest lately."

Dumbledore stroked his beard for a moment. "Still… I don't know if-"

"Let the girl learn a bit Albus. We can go easy today, but sometimes you need a bit of work to distract yeh. Isn't that right?"

Merlot nodded. "Y-yes sir."

"None of that now. Why don't we sit. You tell me a bit about yerself, I'll tell you a bit about me."

"I'll set up some tea while you two get started." Dumbledore smiled, conjuring a kettle.

Merlot sat down in one of the office's numerous chairs, while Moody conjured himself a hard wooden stool and began to undo his leg.

"You can start whenever y'like lass."

Merlot nodded and cleared her throat.

"Well… I used to live with muggles. I was abused for a while and then… then Scortwit found me. Helped me recover and taught me about magic. When I got my letter we were excited, and I came to Hogwarts and began learning all sorts of things. Runes is my favorite so far, though I don't take the class itself, I like to work on my own projects."

"She's the mind behind my cube, Alastor."

The grizzled man nodded and accepted a lemon drop from the headmaster as Merlot continued.

"I also played quidditch and learned a lot in Charms and Transfiguration. The end of the year came and it turned out that Professor Quirrel, the defense teacher, had been possessed by a wraith. He… he tortured me…"

Alastor nodded. "That's enough. You don't have to say anything else. These things can be hard."

Merlot nodded, pushing the emotions back as the man began telling his own story.

"I was a junior Auror when the previous Dark Lord- Grindelwald- rose to power. The war took a lot from everyone, and it left its mark on me… I lost my eye in one of the last battles, torn apart by an unknown curse from a witch named Vinda Rosier. With help from a few friends in high places, I got a replacement. Life was pretty good from then on. I worked as an auror. I had shot through the ranks thanks to the war, and so I mainly made my living catching criminals. Then… He rose to power."

Merlot swallowed. "Voldemort."

"Good on yeh for saying his name." the man smirked. "Yes. Voldemort. I'm one of the few that met him face to face and lived to speak of it. Then again, I lost a good many friends in those days… And of course, my leg." The man gestured to his prosthetic. "Once he fell to the Potters, well… it was my job to go round up the stragglers that worshipped him. I got my last scar from Dolohov. That man… now he was a menace. But enough of that."

The man stretched and accepted a mug of tea from Albus. "Why don't you tell me how you defend yourself?"

Merlot nodded, also taking a mug of tea. "Well… a lot of what I know came from Quirrel. I can do shields, a wind wall, a few things with plants and earth. I can cast some offensive curses, though I don't like seeing anyone getting hurt because of me."

Alastor pursed his scarred lips. "Well… that's one problem that we can fix. Sometimes it's kill or be killed, you know-"

"I do… believe me." Merlot sighed. "It's because of me that Quirrel died that night."

"You're but a child." Alastor shook his head. "The fault cannot be yours, understand? Now, I can teach you a few spells that you can use to show off. Things to scare enemies into thinking you're a full-on threat. I can look at your shields and try to teach you some of those tricks as well… but a majority of my knowledge comes from proper dueling spells and the dark arts."

Merlot nodded. "I know… but still…"

"How about this miss Scortwit? Alastor will teach you a lot of what he knows, including how to maintain your cool with your tremors and to duel with your cane in tow. He'll also teach you some curses and other offensive spells so that you know them and can use them if you're ever in a life or death situation. Is that alright?"

Merlot bit the inside of her cheek, before nodding. "I think that's okay. Thank you headmaster."

"Of course my girl. Now how about we starts by showing Alastor here what magics you can perform already?"

—0—

The numerous Hufflepuff second years, as well as their Ravenclaw schoolmates, filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to be greeted by its numerous renovations.

The new professor seemed to have gone all out in his setup of the classroom, rearranging bookshelves, adding new moving paintings, and showing off various treasures. The desks were arranged in two groups, split by a long and wide colored panel of the floor, which held the insignias of each house at its corners. Indeed, the only things that remained unchanged were the rooms dimensions, as well as the large dragon skeleton that hung from the ceiling.

"Greetings class!" Professor Lockhart flashed his award winning smile. "Let's get right to it, shall we?"

The two groups of students took their seats as the man strutted to his teaching podium. "Yes, indeed. You all may know me by my books. Gadding with Ghouls, Year with the Yeti, and of course my latest bestseller, Magical Me. Now! This class isn't meant to teach about me at all, but I would rather like to use it to teach one of the greatest assets of a dark arts defender. Treat everything with a grain of salt. Whether you be a brave Gryffindor, a loyal Hufflepuff, or a cunning Slytherin, there is one thing that you still need. Wisdom!"

The man grinned as he flicked his wand, conjuring a chalkboard and beginning to write.

"To begin, I will have each of you take out your books. Pick and choose whichever you'd like. I want each of you to look for a page where I battle a wizard, witch, or creature. Yes Miss Granger?"

"In Travels with Trolls, it says that you used a speaking charm to communicate with the magical creatures."

Lockhart nodded. "Indeed. A good eye. What would your perception of that little excerpt be?"

"Well, I just don't really understand sir. There is no known charm that allows us to communicate with magical creatures…"

"Indeed! 5 points to Ravenclaw miss Granger. You see, that there is one of the many deceptions layered into my stories. I embelish my works a bit. In reality, I simply… killed the troll!"

The class let out screams as with another flick of his wand, the professor was holding a severed troll head, which had been dried and shrunken down to the size of a normal human head.

"Yes yes. Rather gruesome… I would get enough recognition for slaying such a beast, but the point is, I went a bit further. It has always been a passion of mine to study magical creatures from time to time, and I had been observing this specific troll for roughly two months. So… how could I share my findings? By working them into my books!"

Professor Lockhart banished the troll head back to a shelf in the back of the classroom and smiled. "Anyone else? Miss Bones?"

"It says here that you used a muting charm to approach the Banshee in your first book. Muting charms only work on the sound, not the magic contained within it. A banshee's scream has even been said to have a more potent effect when silenced."

The professor nodded. "Yes yes! Another embellishment. I in fact simply approached the banshee on my own. You see, Banshee's are particularly interesting creatures. They have a high intelligence, and can get along with wizards and witches quite well. Old Agatha is always brilliant to chat with."

Lockhart smiled again, before waving his wand and causing the chalkboard to write upon itself. "The main point is, that embellishment and deception can be some of the most powerful tools in a wizards repertoire. For example… Lancia!"

A bolt of white light shot from the professors wand and slammed into the head of one of the students in the front row. When the light cleared, the student was completely fine.

"What just happened? Miss Abbot?"

"You failed a piercing charm?"

The class giggled at that, as did Lockhart. "It seems so, doesn't it? Let's try something else. Accio. Lumos!"

A target leaped into the air, only to be blasted to pieces by the spell from Lockhart's wand. "Did you see anything then?"

"You're switching your spells!" One of the students excitedly exclaimed.

"5 points to Hufllepuff! Yes yes. If you were in a duel, and your opponent began to cast spells like the blasting curse, or the ever-scary flesh-eating curse. What would you do? Miss Macdougal?"

"Dodge, professor. Or try to shield." The Ravenclaw offered.

"Good answer! Now, would it be scarier if you went up against someone using unknown incantations?" The professor grinned. "Yes… I see that a lot of you understand. After all, the wizard or witch would be shouting spells and you have no idea what they are. It makes one wonder what would happen when one switches something that can't be blocked for something that can… Regardless! This is what we will be covering today! And we will review it each week. Now, I would like each of you to take out your wands!"

As the students did so, Lockhart smiled and drew a large bullseye on his chalkboard.

"Now. Pick a spell! Something harmless. It could be a shield charm, a light charm… you could go with one of the lesser hexes or jinxes, like the jelly legs or bat bogey hex. Now, you've got it good and in your minds, pick something to swap! That will be your spoken incantation. Now please, nothing too dangerous, yes? We don't need any explosion charms going off in here! One by one, I'll call you up. Miss Abbot?"

The Hufflepuff student walked to the front of the class and was set before the chalkboard. "Cast right at the target my dear, don't be shy now!"

"Erm, right professor. Lacarnum Inflamare!"

A burst of bluebell flames flew from Hannah's wand, only to be extinguished by Lockhart's own wandwork. "A good try my dear! Would anybody like to take a guess as to why it did not work? Miss Granger?"

"Is it harder to do with two word spells? To maintain focus on one spell enough to cast it with a different word is probably harder the longer the incantation."

Lockhart nodded. "That is one reason. But the other is mainly, it was a first try. Perhaps if you wished to swap a lumos for a lancia like I had, you would have succeeded."

Hannah gave a bow and returned to her desk as Lockhart straightened.

"Who's next?"

—0—

"Good! Good! Well done everyone!"

Neville smiled as Professor Sprout made her final rounds about the greenhouse.

"Your mandrakes are properly repotted. Next class, we'll focus on the uses of adult mandrake in potionmaking. Make sure that you clean up your stations before you leave, and have a good rest of your day!"

As everyone else scrambled to pick up, Neville slowly drifted over to the planters at the side of the greenhouse. These were special, and housed some of the more dangerous plants that Professor Sprout used to teach her N.E.W.T. students.

"I think she's doing rather well today." Ronald spoke as he approached, delicately curling a vine from the Venemous Tentacula around his finger. "A little bit slow, but we are getting to the frigid months…"

Neville nodded and took another vine from the large plant, petting it affectionately. "Perhaps we can talk to professor Sprout about having one of the runes students install warming charms."

The boy shook his head, causing his blackened hair to bounce to and fro. It was becoming rather curly near the ends. And quite long at that.

"You're looking better than I had expected."

The boy raised an eyebrow but made no other motions, surprising the Longbottom heir. It was rather controlled… aristocratic, in a sense.

"I suppose. About as good as one with no family can be."

Neville sighed and shook his head. "You understand that your mothers… less than notable reputation… has fallen because of this, correct?"

"You reap what you sow."

Neville suppressed a chuckle at that. "Perhaps. Though… from what rumors I have heard, you still do have a family."

Ron shook his head. "So I had heard myself. Who knows. I was not alive to see what my father did to conceive me."

"Of course not, of course not." Neville smiled, returning his attention to the Tentacula. "Still… I have a bit of a grudge against that family-"

"Believe me. I know." Ron smirked. "After all, you put Draco through hell in your dormitories."

"Just the dormitories? His information to you seems to be lacking." Neville smirked.

Ronald shrugged. "Well… outside your house seems to be all and one. Unity is something that can be presented as a strength. You two seem more like brothers at the Slytherin table than enemies."

"Just goes to show how much trust you should give to your sight." Neville rolled his eyes. "My point is… I despise the Blacks. Should any of these rumors be true-"

"Then I will gladly duel you." Ron returned. "But know this Longbottom, I am not my parents, whoever they may be."

Neville smirked and shook his head. "Very well. Have a good night Ronald."

With that, he turned and collected his supplies, before leaving the greenhouse.

"You passed the test."

—0—

Alright. End of the chapter, some things to discuss. First off, sorry for the hiatus. Election happened and I uh… I'm not okay.

I've gotten pretty caught up with making appointments so hopefully fingers crossed- I'll get into NYC to get bottom surgery by the end of the year.

Who knows.

Either way, I'll have to keep writing. It keeps me sane, and I really need something like that rn.

So with that being said, let me talk about Lockhart!

Holy hell, one of my favorite characters ever. Magical Con Man is so funny. The problem I have is that NOBODY wants to write him differently. With the exception of "Amalgum: Lockharts Folley" Ever story that I have read has had Lockhart as a terrible person. I get it, I do. He stole from wizards and witches and blah blah blah, but if you are going to go ahead and make a story where Harry unironically turns to calling Hermione a 'mudblood' (Ew, by the way) and wants to sleep with Draco Malfoy, all because the goblet of fire shot out his name… Like, no offense, but really? Can't you at least give my guy Gilderoy a chance?

I'm going to have a lot of fun playing around with this character, and I hope you all have just as much fun reading about him. Yeah yeah, I know, my description of Ao3 shows him as a loon, but you're just lacking the context. That will show up soon.

Dnd stuff and then I'm dippin'! I gotta call my surgical clinic so until next time, adios!