Chapter 70: Daily Life
I returned to Hogwarts in triumph, and with a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in tow. He was a retired Auror who had fought through the war against Voldemort and knew full well that a good pair of legs and the willingness to fall face-first in the mud, or worse, saved lives far more reliably than any Shield Charm. And given that he kept in contact with colleagues and had a clear picture of what was happening across the world, and Britain in particular...
In short, a great many students had come to despise me, since he had introduced compulsory morning drills, for which everyone was now obliged to rise two hours earlier than before and submit to what could only be described as cheerful torment. At present, however, people were looking at us with a certain anticipatory gleam, because Teacher Siegfried had agreed to help Flitwick and me run the Duelling Club. And right now, he was standing across from me on the platform while Flitwick raised the barrier and began the count.
"...one, begin!"
I followed with two Cutting Curses and a Disarming Charm. He smiled faintly, raised a second Shield, pouring considerably more energy into this one, and lazily sent several more spells my way. I couldn't dodge them from where I stood, so I conjured a small, dense Shield on my arm. The key was not brute power. It was compactness. Rather than spreading it across my whole body and feeding it enormous amounts of energy, I kept it small and tight, putting in roughly ten percent more than I normally would. It deflected every spell heading for me, though by the end it was laced with cracks.
No time to renew it. I sent nearly a dozen spells at him at maximum speed, simple ones: Disarming, Knockback, Binding, but with no shortage of power behind them. While he was occupied responding, I turned my attention to renewing...
Renewing...
I'm lying on the floor. Thinking. Waiting for the Paralysis Jinx to be lifted. The magic of the mind has its uses. I've already reviewed the memory and can see precisely how he did it. While his right hand parried my volley, his left produced a second wand and sent a single Paralysis Jinx straight through the gap.
Nothing to hear. Nothing to see. Just lying here, staring into memories.
Ah.
I slowly push myself upright, roll my shoulders and flex my hands, then stand and offer a respectful bow. The room is silent.
"Thank you for the lesson. I entirely forgot that some wizards can work with two wands, and that it isn't always a rare innate gift occurring perhaps once in a thousand wizards, but a trainable skill."
"You did notice, then."
"Professor Siegfried, I was hoping you'd be willing to take me apart on the platform once a fortnight or so, and during the regular practice sessions as well."
"You have a mentor already."
"I do."
I nodded.
"But although my mentor is considerably stronger than I am and makes excellent use of my body to test the durability of Shields and walls, I am unconsciously memorizing his style. I'm not experienced enough for that to be a meaningful limitation against someone of his caliber, but..."
I shook my head.
"...it's better to have a second opponent who will disrupt those subconscious and not-yet-formed habits before they set."
"Good that you understand that."
Siegfried gave me an appraising look.
"Colleague?"
He turned to Flitwick.
"No objection from me. Draco will benefit from the shake-up."
"Excellent. Once a week, Sundays, let's say. I'll thrash you on a strictly official basis."
Siegfried gave a satisfied nod.
"No complaints?"
"Bruises and broken bones now. A life preserved later."
"Hmph. If only everyone understood that. Look at this lot..."
He nodded at the students.
"...complaining I work them too hard."
"They just don't understand it yet."
I gave a sad smile.
"When they run into the dark creatures that are breaking through out there, they'll be grateful, if they survive it."
"Fair enough. Now, who can tell me what mistakes Mr. Black made in his duel with me?"
"He was too slow?"
"That is not a mistake."
Siegfried's shoulder twitched with mild irritation.
"It is a developing skill, and it is self-evident that he will be slower than I am. I have simply had more years to refine myself, and I spent those years working, not lounging about. I also fought a war."
"He attacked too infrequently?"
A second-year boy asked the question with a note of uncertainty.
"Not at all. He seized every opening that presented itself."
"His defense was inefficient."
Hermione began.
"He could have used targeted Shields rather than general ones, and..."
"Incorrect. If you recall, I was not announcing my spells aloud, and identifying them under those conditions requires the expertise of a Master of Combat Magic and Defense. A second-year student, even one capable of passing examinations up to fifth year, had no realistic chance of identifying everything I was casting. Well? Anyone else?"
I was watching all this with a quiet smile.
"And what are you grinning at? Perhaps you'd like to tell me what your principal mistake was."
"I believe my principal mistake was a deliberate one."
"Oh?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"I am young and highly mobile. Consistent physical training keeps me flexible. For any real chance of winning, or at least lasting longer, I should have disregarded the stated conditions of the duel and begun moving around the platform, perhaps conjured a blade, and tried to close the distance. Whether that would actually have gotten me to victory, I very much doubt, but I would have lasted considerably longer."
"Correct."
He nodded.
"However, I made a deliberate choice not to do that. This was a demonstration duel, not one designed primarily to improve my own abilities. Its purpose was to show the students what a real duel actually looks like, rather than the farce I had with Lockhart."
"Understood. I expect that when you spar for your own development, you will show me everything you're capable of."
"Without question."
I nodded.
"Excellent. Now I'll stand back and watch what you do with this lot."
I thanked him with a nod and moved on to a considerably more productive session.
Several days later.
"Draco, is it true?!"
Penny turned to me at breakfast with a look that left no room for evasion.
"I have no idea what you're referring to. If you hadn't noticed, I haven't opened the paper yet."
"Is it true that Lockhart tried to cast the Killing Curse on you in court?"
"Yes."
I shrugged with complete indifference.
"You're so calm about..."
A hand descended on my head and seized my hair in a firm grip.
"Bro-o-o-o-ther. Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"
I sighed.
"Let's do this properly. I'll tell you everything this evening. Every detail. We'll sit by the fire and..."
The hand pulled. Quite firmly.
"Bro-o-o-ther."
"Nympha, don't. I'm alive, unhurt, I came back without so much as a scratch, so there is absolutely no reason to panic. We'll talk about it this evening."
"Fine. But if you fob me off..."
"Sister. Not in the middle of the Great Hall."
She snorted, but released my hair.
"Although frankly, I'm surprised they only published it now. I expected an emergency edition the same evening."
"Damn it, you're so insufferably calm about everything. It's impossible to even be properly angry at you."
Nympha shook her head, and the other girls just sighed. Harry kept looking back and forth between Nympha and Penny, then at me, then at the girls.
"Tracey..."
"I'll explain everything later, Harry."
She gave him a gentle smile, though she overlooked Ginny sitting on his other side.
"Lockhart tried to kill Draco with the Killing Curse at the hearing."
She pushed the newspaper under Harry's nose. He blinked and began reading. He didn't notice Ginny throwing Tracey a look of cold, unhurried superiority, and Tracey returned it with a look of irritation that was no longer mild.
Over the weeks since the first of September, Ginny had been encroaching on Harry's personal space with increasing frequency. Did she actually realize she was jealous over a boy who wasn't even her boyfriend yet?
"Right, time for lessons."
I stood and headed to the classroom.
"Professor Black..."
I looked at Luna, who had her hand raised.
"Yes, Miss Lovegood, I'm listening."
"Professor, would you consider giving an interview to The Quibbler?"
Snickers rippled around the room. I closed my eyes.
"Miss Lovegood, this is not the time or the place for that sort of question."
"Even so..."
Luna was not deterred.
"We will discuss it this evening, by the fire. Until then, unless you have a question relating to the lesson, I would ask you not to distract the others."
"All right."
She lowered her hand, and I continued the lesson, which proceeded in a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere. The first-years were a source of genuine satisfaction, as were my other students. The great majority of them had thrown themselves into learning the minimal theory and were prioritizing practical work with admirable determination. Luna, for her part, devoured every piece of supplementary reading I assigned.
That was precisely why I allowed her slightly more latitude than the others. Ginny, by contrast, relied almost entirely on sheer persistence. She was a bright girl, but had no love of extra theory, and tended to go to Luna to have things explained to her.
"Weasley, cleaner wand movement at the end. Your stress is correct, but the wand is drifting slightly as you complete the motion, which weakens the spell."
"Thank you."
Ginny nodded and slowed the movement down, and this time it worked perfectly.
"Carstone, stress on the first syllable, not the second. I understand it feels more natural the other way, but the correct pronunciation places it on the first."
The Gryffindor first-year gave me a grateful nod. I continued making my rounds, thinking over everything that had happened recently. The boy who had been under the potion, for instance, had left Hogwarts before anyone could identify who had administered it. The court hearing had revealed that Lockhart himself had sent the letter. And there had been additional plans, for someone to set upon Daphne, Hermione, and Nymphadora.
That news had put a cold fury in me that had come very close, in the courtroom, to something unforgivable. It was entirely thanks to my study of the magic of the mind that I had remained in my seat, smiling pleasantly.
I thought I noticed Lockhart flinch slightly and go a shade paler when he caught that smile.
No matter. I had already decided that his time in Azkaban would be rather eventful. Arrangements had been made.
"Professor... has something happened?"
I looked at Luna in mild surprise. She had come to stand beside me, while the other students were carefully averting their eyes.
"What makes you think so?"
"The smile you were wearing."
Luna looked up at the ceiling with a dreamy expression.
"And your Wrackspurts were extremely agitated."
"Back to the Wrackspurts again."
I shook my head.
"Forgive me. I was remembering something that brings me a particular kind of joy in the darker corners of my soul, and it showed on my face."
"I see."
Luna nodded. The lesson continued. I looked once more around the room to confirm everyone had mastered the spell, then offered them a new one.
"Who would like to learn another?"
"Yes!"
The class answered in a cheerful chorus, and I took genuine pleasure in demonstrating the next simple spell, one aimed primarily at developing wrist flexibility and correct wand movement.
I had done good work over the summer and found a couple dozen spells that served the same purpose for first-years as the wrist exercises I had previously assigned as drills. The exercises still had their place, but everything had become considerably more engaging, and the results were already showing. The children were developing wrist control noticeably faster, though Luna kept giving me those knowing looks whenever I introduced something new. Her wrist was already well-trained, not so exceptional as to suggest she had been practicing for years, but enough to indicate that her father had put some thought into preparing her for Hogwarts.
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