Dumbledore put down his piece of toast. "Indeed, you should not be. But I am afraid, miss, there is nothing..."
"Oh, yes there is!" She eagerly interrupted, dropping her pile of books on the table and opening the top one to a marked page. "It says so right here in: Hogwarts, A History, that 'even though the magical Sorting takes place only on a single night each year, for the whole week following any students who are dissatisfied with their placement can be reSorted if they so request'! Well, I so formally request." She closed that book and shoved it aside, already grabbing for the next one. "Then it says here, in..."
"That shall be quite enough, miss." Dumbledore raised palms in mock surrender. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for your most excellent research. I shall look into the matter and, if it is possible, arrange for reSorting this evening, at our twilight meal. Now if you will excuse me, I have some details to discuss, and breakfast to eat, and our mealtime is fast passing."
Hermione pouted. "I think you should give those twenty points to Ravenclaw as well, since I'll be a dual student this evening."
"If you are so Sorted, it shall be." Dumbledore promised, finally getting her to go away.
Twenty minutes later it came time for students and everyone to disperse to classes.
=====
Professor Malfoy's class was being taught on the ground floor, not far from the great hall. It was one of the easiest locations to find in all of Hogwarts, and a nice, big room. The reason it saw no classes for so long was that it was not convenient to the staff quarters and offices. But Nodoka didn't want anyone getting honestly late for her courses. Outside of her door she'd even arranged for two suits of armor to be bearing flags held out at an angle, reading "Here be Magical Defense" so even getting near would be enough to find the room.
She was already there waiting for the arriving pupils and began class promptly on the dot.
"Okay class, pay attention. You, none of you, will ever be attending a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. That course has been dropped permanently. Instead, each of you will begin this year as our first ever class of Magical Defense, which has a two hour tine slot. An official announcement should be coming out in today's Daily Prophet."
Hermione raised a hand. "Is there any difference in the material?"
Professor Malfoy quirked a smirk. "Miss Granger, names have enormous power. There was an honest-to-goodness curse on the DADA slot, placed there by Voldemort himself when he had his application to teach it rejected 20 years ago. Dumbledore so informed me last night." Nodoka's smile turned nasty and she slammed a fist into her palm, drawing notice to the fact that she had dried red-brown stains on her knuckles. "Of course, I had to beat that bastard bloody before he'd admit to anything, but that's the way he is. He dropped a hint and I just couldn't pass up on an opportunity to learn more, especially since the only chance I had to beat that curse was before I'd taught my first class as DADA teacher."
She released her clasped fist to drop her hands to her sides, then arranged some books. "It was mister Dumbeldore's hope to break through the curse with a frontal attack, thinking by hiring a sufficiently talented teacher who could last more than a year it would end. But he's had 20 years to try and hasn't come up with one. He ought to have taken it himself if he felt it was so important. He's ruined dozens of good wizard's reputations and lives through his optimistic idiocy, and frankly I didn't think he deserved another chance. But I digress from off topic. You asked why the name change. It's simple, really. The curse was on a Defense Against the Dark Arts class that they'd never keep a teacher for more than a year. Well now you get your first lesson as Magical Defense students: Curses Can't Think. Even though it may be blindingly obvious that Magical Defense teaches all of those same things, has the same role and textbook, gets graded much the same and so on, it has a different name. It may sound childish, but that's all you need to dodge a curse placed on a name, is change that name. Without a properly identified target, the curse fizzles away harmlessly, failing like a muggle kite with a string cut. If your Headmaster wasn't a bumbling old fool he could've realized that ages ago and saved 20 wizards' careers."
Nodoka finished arranging her books and drew herself up to face the class. "Now, it is possible to protect a name from being cursed, and if you are going to make any enemies you should always remember to do so. Do it before you get hexed because it won't stop a curse already placed. Hogwarts itself is so protected. Headmasters and teachers routinely do it to dodge jinxes from parents or kids unhappy with their grades. The four Houses are all so protected individually. But no one had thought to do so for a teaching slot. Well, that was one of the first things I did last night, was to ward the Magical Defense class from being cursed the same way. You and I should be spending the next several years together in a teaching relationship, getting a better education than your parents did."
The redhaired Malfoy teaching their class at last directed a smile toward her students. "Now that that is settled away, we begin your second lesson. There are only two methods of grounding a curse, jinx, hex or charm onto a target who is not present to have it cast on them directly. The first method takes a ritual and casts it on the name, as we have discussed. The second takes a much longer ritual and requires something intimate of the person to be hit. A piece of the body is most often used, as those have the strongest connections to the spirit. But other things can be substituted for lesser effect, a keepsake or memento, for example. Surprisingly, the muggles know this and that is where they get their legends of Voodoo. Now if you will all turn with me to page six we will overview today's practical and then we will get started."
Nodoka had a different teaching style than most of their other professors, they would later learn. She kept her lectures short and pointed, easy to remember. Most of class was spent on two things. The first half of the period she hauled out a giant, shallow bowl she explained was a pensieve, a class sized one, and everyone would together dip a finger into whatever memory she had selected. That way she could display dark creatures, magical duels, and so on from a first hand perspective without exposing them to any danger.
In that initial day they got their first experiences with seeing vampires, hags, and watching a werewolf transform, experiences none of them would ever likely forget. It was as good as being there, only better because none of those recalled creatures had substance to hurt the young students, and the impressions they gained would last a lifetime. Professor Malfoy could even pause those replayed memories to point out or highlight certain things that they might have missed without her help. It was worlds different from a dry lecture, something no one would easily forget, and conveyed details they never could've gotten out of a book.
After an hour using the pensieve, Nodoka would teach them a spell or two and have them practice those until she was satisfied or the remaining hour was up, whichever came first. If they got done early they were free to go early. There was no homework, other than she expected what she'd taught in one lesson to be mastered by the time she gave the next. So if you got your spells right and paid attention in class, that was it until the next session. (which was a reward for paying attention, and therefore a good reason to do so).
When those two Houses of first years boiled out of their first lesson they could hardly wait to tell the school how great a class it was. Magical Defense quickly became a favorite class of all students of all years.
Everyone began to look forward to it.
For those who desired extra credit Professor Malfoy would have a list of recommended reading material as well as spells they might want to know and where to find them. But it really was extra and she didn't require them, although most of her pupils investigated some of those on their own, and some, like all the Ravenclaws, got deeply into them. Gryffindor students got a bit of a friendly rivalry going on over what they'd often considered 'their subject' and went just as deeply into extra credit time on Defense as most Ravenclaws, benefiting both Houses greatly.
By the end of the first week Madam Pince, the librarian, even had to approach Dumbledore about acquiring extra copies of a score of different Defense books as demand for checking them out got so high. Some NEWT pupils who hadn't signed up for DADA heard of how superior Magical Defense was and approached their heads of Houses to get in on some of those classes.
Nodoka was glad to oblige, providing additional classes for older students.
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(Posted Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:35)
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