The class room was buzzing with anticipation. Noises of excitement and nervousness were bubbling here and there. Some of the 42 students in the class had known each other for a few days now and so were starting to form small friendship groups. Evidence of this was dotted around the desks of the room; house colours all clumped snugly together. Though getting used to general feel of Hogwarts, these first years were now awaiting their very first Defence against the Dark Arts lesson.

No sign of Its Professor left a feeling of unfulfilled expectations about this subject so far but watching a falcon fly from rafter to rafter was at least a little entertaining. The tall, black grandfather clock at the back of the class stroke 9am and its chimes began to ring. On its ninth call, the falcon in the rafters screeched proudly and soared head first to the centre of the classroom floor. Gasps ensued from the first years and a couple of girls screamed as they realised it was not prepared to pull back up into flight. Just before the crash landing, a noise like a gentle breeze scuffling through tree leaves was heard and the falcon transformed in a blur. All of a sudden, a devilishly handsome man was positioned on the floor in the centre aisle between desks; exactly where the bird should have collided with the ancient wood floor. Knelt on one knee and face down, the man elegantly rose with a sense of purpose, setting off into a quick stride to the front of the class.

‘Good morning class. Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm Professor Rex and I hope with the utmost sincerity that I get to know you all very well. This happens to be my first year also, so let's see if we can't get through it together shall we.’

A warm smile shone across the Professor's face as he concluded his introduction. So strange it seemed to the first years that that which had alarmed them so much only seconds ago now emitted such an embracing, kind aura.
‘Now, for our first lesson, seeing as the weather is on our side, I thought it would be nice to take the class out in the grounds this morning,’ the Professor said, checking the sky’s condition through the arched windows. The sky was a cloudless, rich, vivid blue. The intensity of the sunlight, enhanced the colour of all it touched. It made the grass greener, the lake bluer and the castle’s grey stoniness somehow shine. He took out his wand and rapped four wooden boxes, one after the other. To this, the boxes hoisted themselves into the air slowly. The first years couldn’t help noticing that this movement had appeared to upset the contents of these boxes. Whatever was inside was now growling and trying to break free. Finally the boxes took their leave, floating speedily out of the opened window. ‘Now I’d like everyone to pair up and follow me please’.

Two by two, the class trailed behind the Professor out of the class room and down the corridor. After descending The Grand Staircase, Professor Rex ushered the first years out of The Entrance Hall and down to the lake where the boxes from the classroom were now waiting. Reaching the waterfront, Professor Rex turned around and directed the class to pay attention.

The Professor cleared his throat and began to talk loudly. ‘Right, now there are a few things, I believe, you should know about this subject before the practical. First of all being, that you shall not always be living in the comfort of these school walls. Once you have left, no professors shall be around to aid you in times of need. It is for this reason that you must know how to defend yourselves from the dark magic that lurks in every corner of the wizarding world. You may find it in the form of dangerous beasts, dark wizards, or even the more complex Old Magic. Magic is wondrous beauty; a natural force of Light and Darkness. For magic to exist, it needs both good and evil. One without the other would eradicate every wisp of magic from the world. Just because Dark Magic exists however does not mean that it should be tampered with. It is a damaging force, not only to its intended victims, but to its caster as well. Remember this.’

A quiet seriousness had engulfed the class now, broken only by the Professor’s following speech which was delivered with the same comforting smile he had shown in the classroom earlier that morning.

‘So, it is my job to teach you all how to protect yourselves from this Dark Magic. Now for your first lesson with me, I shall start you off with a few handy spells which you should find most useful. Now the first of these which I would like you to learn is the Ceasing Spell. If ever a wizard finds himself under the effects of a spell cast upon him, the Ceasing Spell will cancel this spell out. Now then, to demonstrate, I would like a volunteer. Anyone?’

Most of the students took a silent plea not to be chosen at this point while averting their gaze away from the Professor lest he choose them for making eye contact.
‘I’ll do it,’ a young Gryffindor boy called, waving his arm in the air from the middle of the crowd.
‘Excellent, what’s your name?’
‘Alexander Falthier sir,’ the boy replied. He was quite a small boy for his age, most definitely the shortest amongst his classmates. He had greyish green eyes and short blonde hair with a fringe that looked as though it had become accustomed to having a hand run through it regularly.
‘Marvellous. If you could just stand next to me Mr Falthier,’ Professor Rex said as he positioned Alex beside him. ‘Good, good. Now then Mr Falthier, I’m going to cast a harmless spell on you, no need to look so worried my boy, it will only be for a second. Now once you’re under the influence of this spell, I’ll cast the Ceasing Spell. I want you all to pay attention, understood?’

Looking around his charges, he saw most give an affirmative signal. Whether it a nod of the head or a quick heavy blink in his directions.

Professor Rex stood back from Alexander, still facing him and aimed his wand at his abdomen.
‘Ready?’ asked the Professor.
Alex nodded through squinted eyes.
‘Rictusempra,’ spoke the Professor. No sooner had the incantation left his lips did Alex clutch his stomach and fall to his knees. A silver and red trail of light had stuck Alexander in his side. The immediate reaction by the class was of utter terror. Was a member of staff allowed to attack a student? Surely not. This question was considered void two seconds later when the class had realised Alexander was not in pain at all. In fact he was laughing hysterically. The other first years started to laugh now. Not because they were under the influence of the same Tickling Charm the Professor had just cast but simply for the comedic faces Alex was pulling from his spasms. ‘Finite,’ spoke Rex, again pointing his wand at Alex. At this, the magically induced laughing fit subsided and Alex got to his feet. ‘Wonderful Mr Falthier, ten points to Gryffindor. You may join your friends again.’

As Alex staggered back to his previous place in the crowd, the class was being given their first instructions.

‘You’ve all seen how it’s done, very simple these two spells, no specific wand techniques needed, simply point and speak the incantations. ‘Rik-tuh-SEM-pra’ and ‘fi-NEE-tay’, repeat with me,’ instructed Rex.
‘‘Rik-tuh-SEM-pra’ and ‘fi-NEE-tay’,’ the class chanted back with the Professor.
‘Excellent. I’m sure you’ve been told this in other classes but just in case, remember that the volume you speak the incantation and the emotion you place behind it are two contributing factors to the force of your cast. Now, go off in your pairs and take turns on each other, one casting, one being cast upon and keep switching roles. Anyone who needs help just call for me.’

A small stretch of the lake side had now been taken over by the first years, all shooting silver and red from their wands at one another. It looked like a small war. The students were for the most part able to handle this level of magical difficulty. There were however a few stragglers. One girl had shouted her tickling incantation so loud, it had caused her target to be violently prodded all over by invisible fingers rather than gently tickled by them.

Calling them back, Rex was ready to move the lesson on. ‘Excellent class, excellent, now gather round, I’d like to demonstrate a few more spells which I’d like you to learn. The next few spells, like the Tickling Charm, can all be used to defend yourself from attacking forces you may encounter. Now this time I would like three volunteers to assist me. Anyone?’

This time, the Professor had been much more successful in his request. Hands shot up from at least two thirds of the class.

‘That’s more like it. Now then, let’s see.’ Rex considered his choices. ‘OK, you, you and you,’ he said as selected his volunteers by pointing his wand at each individual. He chose a Slytherin boy from the back, a Ravenclaw boy from the middle and a Hufflepuff girl from the front. They made their way to Professor Rex quite excitedly. ‘I’m going to stand here, and you three are going to surround me, ok?’ he asked.
Two of them replied ‘yes sir’ while the last simply nodded.
‘Off you go then,’ he told them. They spread out and positioned themselves to resemble the points of an equilateral triangle, with Professor Rex in the centre. ‘Good, now on three, I want you to run at me; as fast as you can. Ready? One...two...THREE!’

The three students began pelting towards the Professor but after only a few paces, Rex raised his wand to the Slytherin boy, ‘Levicorpus!’ He turned round to face the Hufflepuff girl, ‘Immobulus!’ Finally, Rex swirled again to greet the Ravenclaw boy who was able to run the farthest and closest to the Professor. ‘Impedimenta!’ called Rex.

Laughter rippled again from the class as they looked on at the runners. The Slytherin boy was hanging upside down by an invisible rope around his ankles. The Hufflepuff girl was frozen stiff in a running position with only one foot on the ground and the Ravenclaw student had stumbled back and fallen on his behind. The Professor walked over and helped the fallen boy up, turned around and cast the Ceasing Spell on the young girl who began to run again at full speed, slowing to a halt as she went. For the Slytherin boy, he walked over to him and addressed the class.

‘What you may find in some circumstances is that the Ceasing spell may not be enough to counteract the jinx, hex or curse that you may be trying to undo. If this is true, then you may find that you need a specific spell, a certain object, maybe a particular potion even? For the ‘Levicorpus’ jinx, you need such a spell. ‘Finite’ will simply not do. To undo this jinx, speak the incantation ‘Liberacorpus’. Right?’ Rex explained. He pointed his wand to the still upside down pupil and gave the incantation to set him free. He fell with a thump to the floor and scrambled to find safety with his class partner. ‘Ten points to Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff,’ he finished.

Rex waved his wand in the direction of the wooden boxes. The box on the far left gave a small shuffle before opening its lid, letting parchment and quills fly to the class. One parchment and one quill to each pair.

‘Take these and tick each spell as and when you think you have conquered it. I should warn you; knowingly attempting to lie and mislead the parchment will result in the quill writing the word ‘detention’ at the bottom. The quill will not be misleading you,’ the Professor warned. ‘Now go find a space to yourselves and practice in your pairs, same as before.’

The first years all went off with their instructions and warnings in mind. Each parchment piece already had the spells they were to practice, written smartly upon it, waiting only for their quills’ ticks. Screams and laughter filled the lakeside as the first Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson entered its main practical phase. Professor Rex looked around and admired his work. For his first class, he could not have hoped for better. His fears of being fired on his first day were shattered as he progressed from pair to pair, refining the pupils’ techniques and praising their achievements. This spell casting session lasted around 30 minutes before Rex called the class back together near the water’s edge.

‘Excellent everyone, simply wonderful,’ the Professor told the class. Their small faces beaming from his encouragement and their ability to please their teacher so. ‘Please hold up your quills and parchments for me to collect,’ he said. He waved his wand and each pair’s equipment flew in front of the Professor’s face for him to scan, before taking rest back in the wooden box they came from. ‘Marvellous, all ticked off and not a detention in sight,’ Rex said, smiling back at the class. ‘Now that I know you are all fully capable, for a final test of your new skills, I want to see how you handle...’ Rex rolled his sentence to a pause while he pointed his wand to the boxes once again. ‘These.’

The covers of the remaining three boxes had now blasted open. What looked like small, black stick figures were now flying up and toward the class. The first years restlessly readjusted themselves on the spot as the approached, lifting their wands to the swarm.

‘I wouldn’t recommend letting them bite you,’ shouted over the Professor as he stepped backwards from the class.
‘Immobulus!’ yelled Alexander, the first to attack the approaching enemy.
Incantations now bellowed from the rest of the class trying to hit the fast dodging doll-like creatures which were now surrounding the group.
‘GET IT OFF ME!’ shrieked a blonde Slytherin girl. One of the creatures had clung to the witch’s robes and was now pinching and kicking her in the shoulder with its four hands and four legs.
A Hufflepuff boy turned around and pointed his wand at the beast beside her head. ‘Levicorpus,’ he spoke. At that, the little monster flicked upside down and was quickly pulled into the air by his feet. Unfortunately, so was the girl. After the shock, she let herself down.
Half of the infestation was now incapacitated in some form, but the rest were fiercely scratching at the class.
‘IMMOBULUS!’ hollered a young black haired Griffindor witch with her wand pointed straight to the sky. Her pale blue eyes were fixed on and burning through one of the creatures heading straight for her.
Every remaining creature had frozen mid-fight. She and the rest of her class mates straightened themselves up and started discussing what just happened. Professor Rex was walking back over.
‘Excuse me my dear, what’s your name? Rex asked as he pointed his closed index and middle fingers at the girl who delivered the final blow.
‘Me? Um, Lyla Sir. Lyla Wytherton,’ she answered timidly.
‘Wytherton? Does your father work at the ministry by any chance?’ Rex further enquired.
‘Yes sir. He’s an Obliviator.’
‘Ah yes I know him. He’s a good man your father. It seems to me that you’ve inherited some powerful magic from old Wesley. Well done Miss Wytherton for remembering to use volume of an incantation and emotion to empower your spell. Ten points to Gryffindor,’ he said. ‘As for the rest of you, not bad, not bad at all. Those creatures are called Doxies. A Doxy, or Biting Fairy as they are sometimes known, is a venomous magical being, similar to regular Fairies. Their bites are quite toxic but not to worry, these particular Doxies have had their mouths magically bound for this lesson so you were always in safe hands. But for the cuts and bruises they may have caused you, ‘Episkey’.’

As the Professor cast the healing spell, all of the small abrasions to the students’ skin healed up instantaneously.

‘We’ll be learning that healing spell next week. In the meantime, I would like you to take these pieces of parchment and visualise casting each listed spell in your head. They’re all ones we’ve gone over today. Do not practice them with your wands when out of the class please, it could prove dangerous without supervision of a Professor,’ the Professor warned while handing out the sheets with his wand. Some students however couldn’t help but notice the Professor winked as he gave this cautioning. ‘I would also like on my desk, at the beginning of the next lesson, a short essay on the differences and similarities between Doxies and Fairies.’

He moved his wand across the scene in a long, drawn out, horizontal swipe, gathering up all of the immobilised Doxies from the floor and the air, settling them back into their boxes. With the container tops all securing themselves tightly to their assigned boxes, the Professor rapped each box again, beginning their ascension to the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom window.

‘Class Dismissed.’


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