Funerals and Weddings
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
63
Views:
24,913
Reviews:
272
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
63
Views:
24,913
Reviews:
272
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Ch. 14: DADA
For disclaimer, summary, story codes and other information, please see the prologue.
Chapter the Fourteenth: DADA
Two and a half weeks later
24 September
As usual, the students at Hogwarts had a new Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) teacher this year. After all, it had become somewhat of a tradition to get a new one each year and the students placed their yearly bets with Seamus (the unofficial Hogwarts Betting Master) as to if the teacher would last more than a year (long odds on that one!), if they would be any good and what sort of unexpected circumstances the DADA teacher would wind up involved in. So far, there had been 2 good teachers (Lupin and Moody/Crouch—some disputed the latter, but most said that even if he was an imposter, he was still a good teacher). The guesses as to what oddity the DADA teacher would be or would cause got wilder each year but no one ever got it right. Quirrell with Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head—now who would have ever guessed that?! Lockhart—a poncy, cowardly fraud. Lupin—a werewolf; Moody—a Polyjuiced Death Eater, a.k.a. Barty Crouch, Jr. Umbridge—need anyone say more? This year the odds were in favour of a vampire or another Ministry plant. The odds were dismal in regard to a qualified teacher actually being hired!
The first day of Level I Advanced DADA—which included a mixture of the top 6th year students from all four houses—was eagerly anticipated. Just as class was to start, the new professor strode though the doorway (‘Is it some kind of rule that new teachers have to make dramatic entrances?’ Harry wondered randomly.). A tall wizard with long, black hair pulled back in a plait and coffee-coloured skin that indicated some kind of mixed-race heritage, the new teacher turned and greeted the class.
“Welcome! I must say that I have been looking forward to starting this class—it is my understanding from Headmaster Dumbledore that you are a talented group and I look forward to challenging you,” Here he smiled. “But forgive me, I am getting ahead of myself. I am Balthazar Marchbanks. I worked as an Auror for about ten years, then I left and I have spent the last six years teaching in Egypt.” A murmur of interest went around the class. “I wanted to experience the country that was home to some of the greatest wizards in history—and the home of my mother and her family. But enough about me. Please answer when I call your name—I’ll try my best to have your names memorized by the end of the week, but no promises.” Smiling, he called roll, while Harry wondered if the professor was related to the old witch Griselda Marchbanks who had examined him for his O.W.L.s.
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The first two weeks of classes had been great! Professor Marchbanks obviously knew what he was doing and the class was challenging. At the beginning of the third week of term, Professor Marchbanks announced the class would be starting a new, term-long project.
“Now. I’ve had two weeks to get to know you, your strengths and your weaknesses. Today I will assign you partners based on my observations. You will have this partner until at least the end of term, likely until the end of the year. This person will be your training partner, your sparring partner, your teacher, your student, your motivator—a true partner. Meaning that the two of you will need to develop a solid working relationship and a significant degree of trust with each other in order to learn, to succeed—and prevent yourself from being hexed!” The class laughed a bit nervously. “Most of our classes will be meeting in a new, special classroom—training hall, really—that the Headmaster has kindly allowed me to appropriate. Now, let me assign your partners and then we shall adjourn to the Training Hall where I shall explain the rest of the project—I think you will better understand it after you see the room.”
With that, he proceeded to call out names of partners. Draco noticed that the students seemed to be paired based more or less on level of skill. He felt a little flicker of hope flare in his chest—Harry was known to be good at DADA. Perhaps they would be partnered? Draco crossed his fingers.
“Macmillan and Granger; Malfoy and Potter…”
Draco wanted to jump for joy but restrained himself from such un-Malfoy-like behaviour and contented himself with glancing at Harry over his shoulder and smirking. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he didn’t look annoyed or angry, so Draco allowed the little flame of hope to burn a little brighter within him.
“Weasley and Bones. Now, have I missed anyone? No? I thought not. Gather your things, and follow me please!” Following the tall man down the hall and up two flights of stairs, the Golden Trio chatted quietly as they walked near the back of the group.
“Oi, mate, talk about bad luck! Partnered with the ferret for the term—and maybe the year! What the hell are you going to do, Harry?” Ron asked.
“Do? What can I do? I’ll be his partner and work with him best I can,” Harry replied.
“Aren’t you worried that he’ll try to hurt you?” Harry could see Ron was worried.
“Well, I’m not completely daft; I’ll keep my guard up. But I can’t afford to waste the opportunity to learn everything I can in Defence. I think the DA pretty much maxed out my “independent study” of spells; if I want to continue to improve, I need to learn from someone more advanced than I, not only from books. And Marchbanks seems to be the real deal—so I don’t plan on letting Malfoy bugger this up for me,” Harry said seriously.
Hermione was impressed with Harry’s attitude. “Good for you, Harry! I noticed that Professor Marchbanks seemed to be pairing us off based on our abilities, which makes sense, it wouldn’t do to have a partner that couldn’t challenge you. And I s’pose Malfoy would be good at the Dark Arts—it makes sense that the two of you would be partnered, really.”
Ron was obviously not convinced. “Humph. Dunno if Malfoy’s as good as Harry; I expected the two of you to be paired, honestly. Harry, I’m not saying not to learn everything you can, I mean, with You-Know-Who getting stronger…well, we all need to be prepared, especially you. But just be careful, all right? Hermione and me, we’ll watch your back as much as we can, right Hermione?”
“Of course, but it will be hard to do while working with our own partners—Ron is right, Harry—do be careful, won’t you?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Yes, mum, yes dad. I promise I won’t let the big, bad Malfoy monster get me. Feel better now?” He grinned.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort just as they entered the Training Hall but the sight of the room made her forget what she was going to say. The Hall was enormous! High ceilinged with wide-planked wooden floors, large cupboards and fat, squashy cushions covered the far wall. Marchbanks was standing on small, raised platform that stood centered against the adjoining wall and the trio crossed to gather with their classmates.
“Excellent! Now, for the project. Each day you work with your partner, you will need to cast a One-Way Bubble Charm. I will teach it to you today. The Bubble will allow people—namely me--to see in but the people inside—you and your partner—not to see out.” At the students’ puzzled faces, Marchbanks asked, ”Can anyone guess why I might have you work this way?”
Surprisingly, it was quiet Hannah Abbott who answered. “If we can’t see out, we won’t be distracted by what everyone else is doing. It will help us focus.”
“Ten points to Hufflepuff, Miss Abbott. Very good. I find that it also makes people less self-conscious…and less likely to try and show-off.” He smiled. “I will circle the Hall, watching all of you, throughout the class. If I need to speak to you, as well as when it is time for class to end, I will cast a burst of purple light against the bubble—those inside will be able to see it. When you do, end your One-Way Bubble Charm. Any questions so far?” Seeing heads shake in the negative, Marchbanks continued,
“To start, I will assign the spells to be practised. Later on, I will ask you to research and find new spells to use. Of course, you will need to thoroughly research the spells and write up your findings before I will let you use it on each other. That’s right—each of you will use all spells against your partner, so that both of you may become skilled at both attack and defence. That said, there are some ground rules. Absolutely, at no time, are the Unforgivables to be used. Full stop. Clear?” At the students’ solemn nods, he went on. “Any student using a spell or hex or curse to cause deliberate harm to your partner or another classmate will be harshly penalised. I am aware in a class such as this that accidents can and will happen—but there are to be no intentional attempts to cause harm. To that end, each class will be recorded. I will use the recordings so that I may review your skills and help you as needed in future classes—I am not able to watch all of you at the same time so I need a way to see how you are all progressing. These recordings would also be utilised in the case of an accident that causes injury or if someone should be accused of purposefully causing harm to another. So the recordings are help me to help you and also to serve as a kind of protection.
“That is all for now, unless there are any questions?”
Hermione raised her hand. “Professor, how will we be graded for this project?” Naturally, Hermione would want to know this bit of information!
“Ah, yes, I failed to mention that. You will be graded on several factors: how well you co-operate with your partner, how seriously you use your time in class to practise, your written research of spells and your improvement at casting and defending against spells. There will be occasional quizzes on new spells we learn as well. Other questions?”
When no one moved to say anything, the tall wizard taught them all the One-Way Bubble Charm. They practised until all had it mastered. It was then that Marchbanks issued his next unorthodox set of instructions: to get with their partners, enclose themselves in a bubble…and talk.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A/N: I know there’s not a lot of action but DADA will play an important role in Harry and Draco’s relationship so I wanted to establish it clearly. Read and review please! Thanks!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chapter the Fourteenth: DADA
Two and a half weeks later
24 September
As usual, the students at Hogwarts had a new Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) teacher this year. After all, it had become somewhat of a tradition to get a new one each year and the students placed their yearly bets with Seamus (the unofficial Hogwarts Betting Master) as to if the teacher would last more than a year (long odds on that one!), if they would be any good and what sort of unexpected circumstances the DADA teacher would wind up involved in. So far, there had been 2 good teachers (Lupin and Moody/Crouch—some disputed the latter, but most said that even if he was an imposter, he was still a good teacher). The guesses as to what oddity the DADA teacher would be or would cause got wilder each year but no one ever got it right. Quirrell with Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head—now who would have ever guessed that?! Lockhart—a poncy, cowardly fraud. Lupin—a werewolf; Moody—a Polyjuiced Death Eater, a.k.a. Barty Crouch, Jr. Umbridge—need anyone say more? This year the odds were in favour of a vampire or another Ministry plant. The odds were dismal in regard to a qualified teacher actually being hired!
The first day of Level I Advanced DADA—which included a mixture of the top 6th year students from all four houses—was eagerly anticipated. Just as class was to start, the new professor strode though the doorway (‘Is it some kind of rule that new teachers have to make dramatic entrances?’ Harry wondered randomly.). A tall wizard with long, black hair pulled back in a plait and coffee-coloured skin that indicated some kind of mixed-race heritage, the new teacher turned and greeted the class.
“Welcome! I must say that I have been looking forward to starting this class—it is my understanding from Headmaster Dumbledore that you are a talented group and I look forward to challenging you,” Here he smiled. “But forgive me, I am getting ahead of myself. I am Balthazar Marchbanks. I worked as an Auror for about ten years, then I left and I have spent the last six years teaching in Egypt.” A murmur of interest went around the class. “I wanted to experience the country that was home to some of the greatest wizards in history—and the home of my mother and her family. But enough about me. Please answer when I call your name—I’ll try my best to have your names memorized by the end of the week, but no promises.” Smiling, he called roll, while Harry wondered if the professor was related to the old witch Griselda Marchbanks who had examined him for his O.W.L.s.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The first two weeks of classes had been great! Professor Marchbanks obviously knew what he was doing and the class was challenging. At the beginning of the third week of term, Professor Marchbanks announced the class would be starting a new, term-long project.
“Now. I’ve had two weeks to get to know you, your strengths and your weaknesses. Today I will assign you partners based on my observations. You will have this partner until at least the end of term, likely until the end of the year. This person will be your training partner, your sparring partner, your teacher, your student, your motivator—a true partner. Meaning that the two of you will need to develop a solid working relationship and a significant degree of trust with each other in order to learn, to succeed—and prevent yourself from being hexed!” The class laughed a bit nervously. “Most of our classes will be meeting in a new, special classroom—training hall, really—that the Headmaster has kindly allowed me to appropriate. Now, let me assign your partners and then we shall adjourn to the Training Hall where I shall explain the rest of the project—I think you will better understand it after you see the room.”
With that, he proceeded to call out names of partners. Draco noticed that the students seemed to be paired based more or less on level of skill. He felt a little flicker of hope flare in his chest—Harry was known to be good at DADA. Perhaps they would be partnered? Draco crossed his fingers.
“Macmillan and Granger; Malfoy and Potter…”
Draco wanted to jump for joy but restrained himself from such un-Malfoy-like behaviour and contented himself with glancing at Harry over his shoulder and smirking. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he didn’t look annoyed or angry, so Draco allowed the little flame of hope to burn a little brighter within him.
“Weasley and Bones. Now, have I missed anyone? No? I thought not. Gather your things, and follow me please!” Following the tall man down the hall and up two flights of stairs, the Golden Trio chatted quietly as they walked near the back of the group.
“Oi, mate, talk about bad luck! Partnered with the ferret for the term—and maybe the year! What the hell are you going to do, Harry?” Ron asked.
“Do? What can I do? I’ll be his partner and work with him best I can,” Harry replied.
“Aren’t you worried that he’ll try to hurt you?” Harry could see Ron was worried.
“Well, I’m not completely daft; I’ll keep my guard up. But I can’t afford to waste the opportunity to learn everything I can in Defence. I think the DA pretty much maxed out my “independent study” of spells; if I want to continue to improve, I need to learn from someone more advanced than I, not only from books. And Marchbanks seems to be the real deal—so I don’t plan on letting Malfoy bugger this up for me,” Harry said seriously.
Hermione was impressed with Harry’s attitude. “Good for you, Harry! I noticed that Professor Marchbanks seemed to be pairing us off based on our abilities, which makes sense, it wouldn’t do to have a partner that couldn’t challenge you. And I s’pose Malfoy would be good at the Dark Arts—it makes sense that the two of you would be partnered, really.”
Ron was obviously not convinced. “Humph. Dunno if Malfoy’s as good as Harry; I expected the two of you to be paired, honestly. Harry, I’m not saying not to learn everything you can, I mean, with You-Know-Who getting stronger…well, we all need to be prepared, especially you. But just be careful, all right? Hermione and me, we’ll watch your back as much as we can, right Hermione?”
“Of course, but it will be hard to do while working with our own partners—Ron is right, Harry—do be careful, won’t you?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Yes, mum, yes dad. I promise I won’t let the big, bad Malfoy monster get me. Feel better now?” He grinned.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort just as they entered the Training Hall but the sight of the room made her forget what she was going to say. The Hall was enormous! High ceilinged with wide-planked wooden floors, large cupboards and fat, squashy cushions covered the far wall. Marchbanks was standing on small, raised platform that stood centered against the adjoining wall and the trio crossed to gather with their classmates.
“Excellent! Now, for the project. Each day you work with your partner, you will need to cast a One-Way Bubble Charm. I will teach it to you today. The Bubble will allow people—namely me--to see in but the people inside—you and your partner—not to see out.” At the students’ puzzled faces, Marchbanks asked, ”Can anyone guess why I might have you work this way?”
Surprisingly, it was quiet Hannah Abbott who answered. “If we can’t see out, we won’t be distracted by what everyone else is doing. It will help us focus.”
“Ten points to Hufflepuff, Miss Abbott. Very good. I find that it also makes people less self-conscious…and less likely to try and show-off.” He smiled. “I will circle the Hall, watching all of you, throughout the class. If I need to speak to you, as well as when it is time for class to end, I will cast a burst of purple light against the bubble—those inside will be able to see it. When you do, end your One-Way Bubble Charm. Any questions so far?” Seeing heads shake in the negative, Marchbanks continued,
“To start, I will assign the spells to be practised. Later on, I will ask you to research and find new spells to use. Of course, you will need to thoroughly research the spells and write up your findings before I will let you use it on each other. That’s right—each of you will use all spells against your partner, so that both of you may become skilled at both attack and defence. That said, there are some ground rules. Absolutely, at no time, are the Unforgivables to be used. Full stop. Clear?” At the students’ solemn nods, he went on. “Any student using a spell or hex or curse to cause deliberate harm to your partner or another classmate will be harshly penalised. I am aware in a class such as this that accidents can and will happen—but there are to be no intentional attempts to cause harm. To that end, each class will be recorded. I will use the recordings so that I may review your skills and help you as needed in future classes—I am not able to watch all of you at the same time so I need a way to see how you are all progressing. These recordings would also be utilised in the case of an accident that causes injury or if someone should be accused of purposefully causing harm to another. So the recordings are help me to help you and also to serve as a kind of protection.
“That is all for now, unless there are any questions?”
Hermione raised her hand. “Professor, how will we be graded for this project?” Naturally, Hermione would want to know this bit of information!
“Ah, yes, I failed to mention that. You will be graded on several factors: how well you co-operate with your partner, how seriously you use your time in class to practise, your written research of spells and your improvement at casting and defending against spells. There will be occasional quizzes on new spells we learn as well. Other questions?”
When no one moved to say anything, the tall wizard taught them all the One-Way Bubble Charm. They practised until all had it mastered. It was then that Marchbanks issued his next unorthodox set of instructions: to get with their partners, enclose themselves in a bubble…and talk.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A/N: I know there’s not a lot of action but DADA will play an important role in Harry and Draco’s relationship so I wanted to establish it clearly. Read and review please! Thanks!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^