The following morning, right after breakfast, we headed straight to a double Defence Against the Dark Arts class with our new teacher. As was our habit, Agnes and I sat all the way at the back. This time, however, we first had to beat Theo and Tobias at rock-paper-scissors, since they wanted the last desk just as much as we did.
In the end, we were all seated together like our own little group. The other Slytherins raised no objections. That was how things had been last year, and clearly, this year would be no different. Especially now, when we had no idea what to expect from the new teacher.
Draco had sent a message to his father just the previous evening to get at least some information about her. I was sure Vespera could have found out something as well, but with the delay in opening our first restaurant, she already had enough to deal with. So I decided not to bother her with it.
"The classroom has been expanded quite a bit, hasn't it?" Agnes said after a moment, looking around.
"Definitely," I nodded. "Looks like we'll finally get to practise some spells, duelling, or movement. Most importantly, that cursed garlic smell is finally gone."
"Tell me about it," Agnes smirked. "Where do you think she is? She's already late."
"No idea," I shrugged, scanning the classroom.
To our left sat the Gryffindor second-years. It was almost strange how naturally we had all divided ourselves by house. Looking at us, our behaviour, and the differences between us, I was genuinely glad I ended up in Slytherin. We were calmer, more serious, less distracted, and definitely a lot less noisy.
"Vincent, look at Granger. She looks like she's about to have a heart attack," Draco whispered to Vincent, who was sitting a bit ahead of us.
Granger was sitting in the middle with Potter, while Finnigan and Thomas were clearly enjoying tossing rolled-up bits of parchment into her hair. Judging by Finnigan's look, I assumed Hermione was probably his latest crush.
Before I could take a closer look at the Gryffindor students, however, the classroom door burst open and the new teacher stepped inside. She entered the room sideways, holding her wand extended behind her, and spoke to us in a stern voice:
"Good morning, students. Do not be alarmed, everything is under control."
She moved slowly forward. Behind her, a massive spider floated into the room. At first glance it looked dead—it wasn't moving, merely levitating peacefully in the air like an ordinary object.
While most of us in Slytherin remained calm, Weasley looked as if he was going to have a heart attack at any second. He was pale, clutching the back of his chair tightly, and looked as though he would have been long gone if the teacher hadn't been blocking his way to the door.
Granger, on the other hand, froze immediately and began scrutinising the spider with her signature analytical look. Potter, meanwhile, wore an expression like a pint-sized version of Snape—as if already calculating in his head how the creature could be dismantled into potion ingredients.
Finnigan wore a forced smile, clearly trying to cover up his nervousness, while Dean Thomas seemed entirely composed compared to Seamus.
Judging by its size, I immediately deduced it was an Acromantula. At the same time, I recalled an article in the Daily Prophet about an infestation of these creatures in the Forbidden Forest.
The teacher walked gracefully down the centre of the classroom, deposited the spider on the empty teacher's desk without the slightest hesitation, and turned directly to face us.
The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was fairly tall for a woman, standing only a few centimetres shorter than I was. She had a firmly athletic build, and it was obvious she kept herself in shape regularly.
Her eyes were grey-blue—cool and piercing, as if capable of noticing every detail in the room. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a strict ponytail, and she wore plain black robes tailored in a practical style that reminded me slightly of the Head of Slytherin House, Snape.
"As Headmaster Dumbledore has already introduced me, my name is Evelyn March," she said calmly. It seemed to me, however, that a momentary flash of animosity flickered in her eyes at the mention of Dumbledore's name. "For roughly the past two decades, I served as a Hit-Wizard for the British Ministry of Magic. I am, therefore, more than qualified to teach you everything required to survive."
At the word Hit-Wizard, Granger's hand shot up immediately, eagerly waiting for the opportunity to ask a question. March merely stared at her intently until Hermione slowly lowered her hand and bowed her head in slight disappointment.
For a brief instant, it struck me that her grey-blue eyes softened. A fraction of a second later, they were cold once more, and she continued:
"When I reviewed your materials from last year, I was immensely disappointed. Almost entirely theory and the study of dangerous creatures, with a bare minimum of practical fundamentals and defensive spells." She shook her head disapprovingly. "My duty will be to prepare you for the future so that you are not easy targets."
She paused for a moment, walking slowly from the Gryffindor side on the right over to us, solemnly inspecting every single student.
"An absolute necessity we must cover is the theory of Acromantulas—how to defend against them and how to incapacitate them. Practically." She gestured towards the desk behind her and continued: "As you may have gathered from the Daily Prophet, Acromantulas are currently experiencing an extreme overpopulation in the Forbidden Forest, and the Ministry of Magic is actively addressing the situation. It is unacceptable for such dangerous beasts—classified XXXXX—to be located in such close proximity to students."
Whispers broke out immediately. Once again, mainly from the Gryffindor side, where there were more Muggle-born students who had likely not caught the news yet.
"Silence!" the teacher called out. The room instantly fell quiet. "Unfortunately, you have no choice. For your own safety, I expect maximum effort from every single one of you. It will take a long time to clear out the Forbidden Forest."
Silence fell once more. March began pacing slowly across the front of the classroom, her hands clasped behind her back.
"After Acromantulas, we will move on to survival theory during encounters with dangerous creatures, practical defensive spells which I consider absolute fundamentals, and subsequently we may incorporate practice duels." She paused for a moment, then looked directly at Granger. "Questions?"
Granger's eyes instantly lit up with enthusiasm, and without hesitation, she asked, "What is the difference between an Auror and a Hit-Wizard?"
"You are Muggle-born, aren't you?" March asked bluntly. Without waiting for an answer, she carried on. A whisper immediately rippled through the classroom—amused from the Slytherins, outraged from the Gryffindors. "Aurors are somewhat like criminal investigators in the Muggle world—they hunt down perpetrators, gather evidence, and solve cases. Hit-Wizards are more like police officers or soldiers—their job is to intervene, neutralize threats, and protect others."
She paused briefly.
"A lower-level Hit-Wizard might patrol Diagon Alley, for example. A top-tier Hit-Wizard can be deployed as part of a strike team in the most dangerous cases. Legally speaking, a lower-level Auror and a lower-level Hit-Wizard hold the same standing." She explained calmly and matter-of-factly. "However, I do not intend to spend time now discussing job descriptions or distinctions within the wizarding world. For that, you have the library or your classmates. This is Defence Against the Dark Arts, and my task is to prepare you for survival."
Her voice remained stern.
Just then, the spider resting on the desk twitched one of its legs, instantly prompting several screams—surprisingly, even from the Slytherin side.
Pansy Parkinson flushed completely red, which looked rather amusing against her naturally pale complexion.
The teacher turned calmly, flicked her wand, and said in a steady voice, "Stupefy!"
A red flash struck the Acromantula right between the eyes. Immediately after, she followed up with another spell: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The giant spider rose slowly into the air above the desk, and March began explaining calmly, pointing her wand at various parts of its body.
"As you can see from this specimen—which, by the way, is smaller than average—Acromantulas possess powerful pincers capable of crushing a human. They have eight eyes, granting them a very broad field of vision. You will not catch them off guard easily." Her eyes swept over the room before she continued: "They are fast, strong, and resilient. An average specimen reaches a leg span of up to four and a half metres. Their fangs contain venom that is lethal in larger quantities. Until recently, it was highly valuable, though its market value is currently dropping rapidly."
She paused briefly.
"They are exceptionally intelligent and capable of learning human speech. They can plan, deceive, and cooperate. They live in massive colonies, so where you find one, there will almost certainly be more, even if you cannot see them right away. When hunting, they tend to surround prey and cut off their escape routes."
She paused her speaking and gave the entire class a grave look to ensure everyone was paying attention.
"They are extremely territorial, which is why I strongly advise against entering the Forbidden Forest anytime soon. Their weakness, however, is that despite their intelligence, their behaviour is quite predictable. You know where to find them and what to expect." She slowly lowered her wand. "A single Acromantula is relatively simple to neutralize. The real problem lies in groups. To them, we are prey, so never trust them and never turn your back on them. They are faster than a human."
She lowered the Acromantula back onto the desk and turned to us.
"The first spell we will learn against Acromantulas is Arania Exumai. It is a fairly simple spell, but it requires negative emotions to execute properly." Her eyes scanned the room. "It can be anger, hatred, or even fear. Even a weak and incomplete casting will cause internal damage, causing the Acromantula to withdraw from the hunt immediately. In most cases, it dies later on."
Her voice remained entirely calm.
"Proper execution will instantly destroy internal organs and cause death."
She turned back to the desk, pointed her wand at the spider, and slowly and clearly spoke the incantation: "Arania Exumai!"
A blue jet of light struck the Acromantula dead on. At first glance, however, nothing happened.
"The Acromantula is now dead," she stated calmly. "When used on a non-spider target, the spell causes burns depending on the amount of magic put into it. When cast correctly, the spider will not even twitch. With insufficient focus on organ destruction, the spell may knock it back. With a lack of magic power but correct targeting, the Acromantula might still flee—though it will likely die later."
A dead silence fell over the classroom. Nobody moved, and no one uttered a word.
Evelyn March struck me as a genuinely capable teacher. I certainly didn't regret getting rid of Lockhart.
"In the event that you are surrounded by more than one Acromantula, a useful spell is the elemental Incendio, which you likely learned with Professor Flitwick. However, I have no doubt that most of you could currently do no more than light a candle with it." She paused for a brief moment. "And that is precisely why you should avoid Acromantulas at all costs. They mostly hunt at night, so fire is an effective deterrent. Your priority, therefore, remains Arania Exumai."
She looked across the whole classroom.
"As for area-of-effect offensive spells that would help you against multiple targets at once, I assume you do not currently possess sufficient magical capability."
She paused. Then, with a sharp gesture of her hand indicating for us to stand, she spoke:
"Stand up and move toward the desk. We are moving on to practical training. The remaining time we have left will be dedicated to practising this spell."
As soon as we stood up and moved over to her, she flicked her wand. All desks and chairs immediately slid back against the walls, clearing the entire space in the middle of the room. Next, she pulled several small wooden mannequins from her pocket and restored them to their original size with a Finite spell. She began arranging the mannequins along the walls around the room's perimeter, starting from the left side, so that every student would have enough space and a target of their own. When she finished, she gestured toward them:
"Everyone to your own mannequin. We have plenty," she ordered. She waited a moment while we began moving into position. "The incantation, as I have stated several times, is Arania Exumai. The necessary emotions are negative, and focus must be directed toward internal damage to the target."
We all split up toward the mannequins. However, because we remained grouped by house, quite an interesting situation unfolded. Nearly all the Slytherins were on one side of the classroom, the Gryffindors on the opposite side, and we gradually met in the middle. It was rather comical.
Right next to me at her mannequin was Agnes. Behind her stood Theo, then Tobias, Draco, and the rest continued down the line.
"I will be observing you and will assist with your spellcasting if necessary," she announced in a calm tone. "You may begin."
This curse was a considerably simpler version of Cruor Flores. It similarly attacked the interior of a target, but was specialized for spiders. That piqued my interest. How was it possible to create a spell that distinguished between spiders and humans? It was strange.
I didn't have time to ponder that now, though. Compared to Cruor Flores, which I had already spent countless hours practising, the Arania Exumai spell seemed surprisingly straightforward. Without hesitation, I drew my yew wand, briefly focused on the spell's intent, and was among the first to cast the curse:
"Arania Exumai!"
A blue beam shot from my wand, striking the centre of the mannequin a moment later. It didn't move an inch. It didn't shake, and no visible signs of damage appeared on it.
I simply shrugged and smoothly continued with further attempts alongside the others while March walked among us. Now and then, I felt her gaze on me. However, she only stopped beside me near the end of the lesson. After another successful cast, she spoke calmly:
"I assume you are familiar with the Organ-Dissolving Curse."
I looked at her searchingly. She appeared completely calm, and in her eyes I saw no condemnation, but rather understanding. Even her emotions were balanced, though significantly muted. She likely wasn't using Occlumency; it was more the natural emotional control of an adult witch with years of experience.
Before I could say anything, she merely gave a subtle nod, as if confirming her own conclusion.
"Carry on."
Then she moved on to Agnes. Her mannequin bore scorch marks, likely from her first failed attempts. Toward the end, though, her spell looked completely proper. The mannequin remained motionless, no further marks of damage appeared, and even the colour of her beam matched mine. Because of that, March didn't linger beside her long.
When the bell rang, we quickly gathered our things, said brief goodbyes, and left the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Great lesson. My favourite subject from now on," Theodore declared immediately, a few paces outside the classroom.
Judging by the excited whispers of our classmates, I gathered he was far from the only one who shared that opinion.
"Definitely. She seems like a powerful witch," Agnes agreed with quiet admiration.
"I assume she isn't pure-blood, though," Draco chimed in.
We all turned to him at once. Even the tips of his ears flushed slightly pink, but before he could explain his remark, I spoke up:
"Does that change anything, cousin?" I asked curiously.
When he quickly shook his head, I continued:
"I think we definitely scored a win with her as a teacher. She seems very capable, and I'm convinced she has a lot to teach us. I'm curious what your father writes to you about her."
What I liked most was that she didn't condemn my obvious use of darker forms of magic at all, even if she was mistaken regarding the organ-dissolving curse. Although Vespera had written that curse down in the spellbook she gifted me last year, it was certainly not among the spells that truly interested me.
"I'll let you know," Draco nodded with a pleased smile. It was always clear how much he enjoyed it when we relied on him for something. It was actually quite endearing.
"Alright, but hurry up, boys," Agnes spoke up. "We have a double period with Flitwick."
"We'll make it," Theodore assured her with a smile. "We still have plenty of time, Agnes."
After the lesson with Flitwick, I'll need to discuss the duelling tournament. I hoped he'd take my suggestion and run it as a mixed-year tournament. Duels between the same year wouldn't offer us much. We needed opponents who could force us to improve.
***
Author's note:
What do you think of our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor? I feel like Madam Bones made a solid choice here—probably wanting to ensure a top-tier teacher for her niece's sake!
Did you enjoy this dive into a magic lesson, or are you more eager to see the plot unfold outside the classroom?
The whole spider situation in canon always annoyed me a bit, so I decided to fix it... honestly, Acromantulas aren't even native to Scotland, and having an infestation that massive right next to a school is wildly dangerous.
Thanks for reading!
***
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94. Favors and Frustrations
95. Power and Glory
96. Morning Drills and Slytherin Deals
97. Thrill of the Fight
98. Calculated Risk
99. Flight and Fortune
100. Calculated Arrogance
101. GW: A Cunning Kind of Courage
102. GW2: My Best Friend
103. Pride Before the Haircut
104. Fire and Thunder
105. Better to Be Feared
106. A Serial Killer Under the Bed
107. The Legacy of Rookwood Castle
108. Worse Than Horcruxes
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