Chapter 65: The First Day
"Welcome, dear students, to your first lesson in Charms and Enchantments. My name is Filius Flitwick. I am Head of Ravenclaw House and have taught this subject for many years. However, since last year I have had an assistant."
Flitwick gestured toward me, and I smiled at the first-years.
"Young Draco Black demonstrated exceptional proficiency in my subject last year, and I accordingly asked him to take over the teaching of Charms for the first through third years. He is your primary teacher. I will sit in on lessons from time to time, though not always, but that does not mean my assistant can be ignored."
Flitwick allowed his expression to become mildly stern as he surveyed the first-years.
"Mr. Black holds full authority to award and deduct house points and to assign detentions. I would therefore strongly advise you to pay careful attention to both my assistant and your primary Charms teacher. Draco, I hand over to you."
"Thank you, Professor."
I gave Flitwick a nod and stepped forward.
"So, dear first-years. You all heard Dumbledore's speech last night?"
"Yes."
A ragged chorus of assent.
"Good. Then you understand that theory will be studied primarily on your own initiative. Do not think this means you can simply ignore it. This year's examinations will be somewhat different. There will be considerably more theoretical content, so anyone who does not study will not pass."
The children were not enthusiastic about this.
"I can promise you, however, that you will want to learn the theory, at least in my subject. You see, last year I introduced a certain practice..."
I looked the children over.
"...twice a year I hold a competition between students in the same year group. Last year it was focused primarily on the practical execution of spells. This year I am adding a theoretical component as well. Winners receive a valuable prize. What prize? That's a secret."
I said the word "secret" with a slight smile.
"Though I can tell you that last year's first-year winner received a trip to France for herself and her family."
The children stared at me.
"The end-of-year prize will be of that order. The midyear prize will be something different, but believe me, I will think of something interesting and genuinely worthwhile for you. So I strongly advise you to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Incidentally, as far as I know, a number of other teachers have been observing my approach with interest."
I glanced at Flitwick.
"Indeed. Professor McGonagall is planning to try something similar, and has even secured a small prize fund from the Headmaster. Professor Sprout has decided to provide the prize herself."
I nodded and looked back at the students.
"The teachers, as you can see, intend to encourage you to study independently. And now, before we get into the material, let me show you what you can achieve if you pursue Charms and Enchantments with genuine dedication."
I gave my wand a spin between my fingers and summoned a Patronus from it, silently, without the usual incantation or gesture, though it did cost me a little more effort. But what wouldn't you do to convince children that it was all possible, if only they applied themselves?
"Is that..."
Luna, unlike the other first-years, recognized the charm at once and was looking at the multi-tailed fox with open astonishment as it ran a lap of the classroom, tickled several children with its tails, and settled on the desk beside me.
"Yes, Miss Lovegood?"
"Is that a Patronus?!"
"It is."
I smiled at her kindly.
"A Patronus, a light charm designed to repel Dementors. It can also..."
I leaned down and whispered a few words to the fox. The little creature trotted to the center of the classroom and spoke in my voice.
"...be used to send messages. It is considerably faster than an owl and well suited to urgent communications."
"I've heard of this spell."
I gave Ginny an encouraging nod, as she had fallen silent after beginning to speak, afraid she had started without permission.
"...it's supposed to be extremely difficult. Not everyone can manage it."
"That's not entirely accurate, Miss Weasley. Or rather, it is accurate, but as with everything in magic, there are certain caveats. For instance, this spell can in fact be performed by any third-year. It won't produce a corporeal Patronus in every case. For many it will remain a semi-transparent white mist, but..."
I shrugged.
"That only means the person chose a less suitable memory. And like any charm of this kind, it demands less raw magical power than it does sheer force of will and correct focus. I will even share a terrible secret with you: any first-year who is sufficiently diligent and practices consistently will be able to produce the white-mist form of this spell by the end of the year."
I looked around the class.
"Yes, you, sir."
"Creevey. Colin Creevey. Are you saying that all the spells from the upper years can be done in first year?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"That is not possible, Mr. Creevey, and the reasons for it are something we will be exploring throughout the year. Those are precisely the topics I will be covering in person. The Patronus is simply a special case. Spells like it can be counted on the fingers of one hand."
"But you..."
"Yes, Mr. Creevey."
I nodded.
"I can perform it, along with everything else in the school Charms curriculum. Or nearly everything. There are a handful I simply haven't had the chance to learn yet. And that is due not only to the fact that I have been training every available moment..."
"Here it comes. He's going to say it's because he's a pureblood."
The remark came from somewhere among the girls and carried a distinct edge.
"Miss..."
"Adelina Grupf."
"Miss Grupf, I gather you encountered some particularly unpleasant representatives of the pureblood world on the train. But there is a grain of truth in what they say."
She gave a contemptuous snort.
"There's no need to snort. You're Muggle-born?"
"Yes."
Her voice had a defiant note.
"Are you familiar with horse racing?"
"Of course I am. What do you take me for?!"
"Excellent. And do you know how the best racehorses are bred?"
"Er..."
The girl faltered. She had not expected that question, and at her age she almost certainly didn't know the answer.
"I'll tell you. You take two horses with exceptional ability and put them together. They mate, and a foal is born. In a number of cases, the foal not only inherits the parents' aptitude but surpasses it. Among the aristocracy this is described rather more elegantly: a dynastic marriage, in the case of Muggle ruling families, or a contract marriage, in the case of wizarding nobility. If a family line spans more than five generations, its descendants, provided no one made a poor match somewhere along the way, are genuinely more powerful magically than Muggle-born witches and wizards."
The Muggle-born students all frowned.
"However, that is merely a starting advantage. In practice, any witch or wizard can become an Archmagus. There is only one requirement: never stop developing. If a pureblood simply coasts on his inheritance while you, Miss Grupf, work on yourself consistently, by second year the gap between you will be minimal. By third year, you will be stronger."
She blinked.
"As for me personally, I was simply fortunate. Fortunate to be born with a small anomaly that allowed me to begin studying magic considerably earlier than my peers. And, naturally, a great deal of relentless effort. Believe me, Miss Grupf, you would not want to live by my schedule, the one that got me to a Journeyman qualification in Charms at twelve."
"But what if I want to try?!"
There was a challenge in the girl's voice.
A flick of my wand, and a weekly timetable appeared on the board in chalk.
"...there you are. No need to copy it. It's been arranged around my own commitments, so it won't be directly applicable."
"But... where's the rest time?"
Ginny raised her hand to ask the question.
"Well, let me see... here."
I pointed to the hours I spent in lessons with the first through third years.
"These can be considered rest. And here..."
I pointed to an evening slot.
"One hour to spend with friends and acquaintances. That doesn't mean they don't come and find me when I'm working, but..."
I shrugged.
"...everyone knows that during that one hour I am liable to be a very poor conversationalist."
"But you're responsible for the first through third years, not just teaching, but helping Penny too..."
Astoria looked equally taken aback. She knew I studied extremely hard, but not quite to this extent.
"Yes. This timetable accounts for the time I'll need to step away to answer questions or deal with any problems that arise."
"That's terrifying."
Ginny shook her head, and every first-year in the room agreed.
"You don't need to worry. Nobody is asking any of that from you. If you keep up with your work and stay out of detention, you will have plenty of time for friends and rest."
"But what if I wanted to..."
Ginny swallowed.
"...be able to produce a Patronus, not like yours, just something, by the end of first year?"
"Then set aside at least three extra hours of spell practice per day."
I shrugged.
"More is better. But we've drifted from the topic. I think..."
The bell rang.
"...yes, I rather talked too much. Though since today was the introductory lesson, no harm done. Your homework: read the first three chapters. They are about safety in this classroom. And I want you not simply to read them, but to learn them thoroughly, as you would a prayer, whether to God or to Merlin, whichever you prefer. Anyone who violates those rules in my lessons will be penalized heavily and assigned the most unpleasant detentions I can devise. You are all dismissed, except Ravenclaw, whom I'd like to stay. I'll finish up now and walk you to your next lesson."
I filled out the register quickly. The students were easy enough to count, and it was simple to confirm everyone was present. Then I turned to face them.
"Right. When we leave the classroom, please line up in pairs, and I will take you to your next lesson. That's Defense Against the Dark Arts, yes?"
"Yes, Professor Black."
One of the boys answered, and I nodded at him with a slight smile. We set off together, and I waited until Lockhart unlocked his classroom before making sure all the Ravenclaw first-years had gone in.
"Penny will collect you afterward."
With that I left. Lockhart had been shooting unfriendly looks at me. He had probably either found out the price of the book I had recommended he adopt, or he had read it and realized he couldn't actually teach from it, given that he didn't know two-thirds of the spells it contained. I would ask the younger years about it this evening.
As for myself, I headed to the small room reserved for my personal study, since the next lesson, sixth year, was Flitwick's to teach, which left me free to devote time to my own work and to prepare for a rather complex ritual.
The rest of the day passed quietly enough. After a few more lessons I was genuinely satisfied with how they had gone. The second-years were the most encouraging. They had clearly not lost too much ground over the summer, and some had actually improved their Charms work. I had not yet assessed everyone, and the third-years had no lesson with me today, but the pattern was promising.
"Right... first-years, everyone together!"
I called the gathering for our evening session, which would run daily for the coming week and then twice or three times a week for the month after that. I amplified my voice slightly, which made several of the children jump, but they assembled soon enough, clustering around Penny and me. While she and I sat in comfortable armchairs, the first-years had been provided with poufs in every possible shape and color, which caused a brief but spirited argument about who should sit where.
"Right. First item of business. Have you been issued your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks?"
"But we bought them ourselves..."
Ginny was the first to respond, hesitantly.
"When you say that, you mean..."
"Professor Lockhart's collected works."
"Ah."
I frowned slightly.
"...I see. All right, we'll come back to that. How was your day?"
And that question unleashed an excited torrent of voices, each trying to share their impressions before the others. The broad consensus was that Lockhart was a terrible teacher, Professor McGonagall was very strict but extremely impressive when she turned into a cat, and I had shown them an excellent spell. All in all, the evening was a success. Or at least the children seemed to feel that way about both their first day and the gathering itself.
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 272
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 189
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 273
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 117
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic