Choosing Darkness

DADA class was the second class of the day, and a double one to boot. The classroom had been changed back to its dark dungeon-ness, much to the relief of the students. They wouldn\'t have been able to deal with those wide eyed kitten plates again. They were chattering with excitement about the new professor and with trepidation that she might be no better than Professor Umbridge.

Arista looked up from her \'fake\' paperwork (without really knowing the true lesson plan, she\'d merely scripted out some of her own ideas and half thoughts for pop quizzes and appeared collected). Students streamed in and filed into their seats, seperating into two seperate houses. Normal schooling garb were robes and Arista had made a point not to wear any uniform. She was not of the norm, so she would not disguise herself. She quickly recognized Gryffindor and Slytherin sigils and sighed softly. This should be interesting. In those three minutes, she assessed who was friend and who was foe.

\"Do you think she\'ll tell us how she got Peeves to listen to her?\" Ron whispered as he kept an eye on his professor as she walked to the front of the desk.

Harry shrugged a little. \"Who knows.\"

\"Good morning, class.\"

There were a few mutterings and one bright \"Good morning, Professor Starfyr!\"

She smiled at Hermione. \"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Sixth year. I\'ve been told that you\'ve passed your OWLs and next year is NEWTs. I\'ve also been told that for the past 4 years, you\'ve been taught more traditionally, and it was a miracle you passed last year. Feel lucky you weren\'t a first year in Professor Umbridge\'s class. Feel even luckier that you aren\'t me attempting to convince them that DADA is ~not~ boring.\" That illicited a few chuckles.

\"Any road, for the past four to five years, you\'ve been taught positively, or externally, if you will. The wand is an extension of your power. And I suppose, during more peaceful times, that\'s all you would learn, and none would be the wizer. However, since this is not a peaceful time, I am to teach you the more subtle things in life. And it won\'t be easy because what I\'m going to teach you will go against much of what you learned, by now.\"

There was an uneasy rumble among the students, to which Arista largely ignored. She produced her own wand and presented it to the class. It was the glorious purple heart wand purchased the day before, and many a student gaped in wonder at it. \"This wand purchased,\" Arista began, allowing her wand to balance on her fingertips like the folcrum of a scale. \"My original wand, however, was made by my own hands, stained in my own blood.\" A few \'ewws\' came from the class as Arista continued by walking up and down the rows of students. \"Yes, this wand has power, but until it\'s tuned to me, it\'s unmatched by my original one, and that is unmatched to my own personal power. This is only a focus, a horn. And it\'s the same for all of you. If you rely on objects and bits of fluff, if you think you are helpless if you are here,\" she tossed her wand to the blonde cocky Slytherin, \"and your weapon is over there, then you are. Weak and helpless. But if you know and trust the Power Within, if you ~want~ bad enough, you will do more than survive...you will prevail. Now, if you would assist me in a brief demonstration?\"

Draco looked lost for a moment, then grinned as he set down the violet wand and hefted his own. After a moment\'s thought, he had the perfect hex in mind.

\"~Tarrantallegra!~\"

Sparks shot from the offensive wand and then fizzled before they touched Arista. She gave an easy smile and held out her hands. \"~Accio wands~.\" Both hers and Malfoy\'s wands flew neatly to her hand. A roar of disbelievement rang out. Arista pointedly looked Draco in the eye as she returned the wand. \"Any questions?\"

Nearly every hand shot up in the air. Draco and his group, however, scowled at her. Arista nodded to one girl. \"If you could introduce yourself before the question, I have a problem with names and faces...\"

\"Hermione Granger, Pssorssor Starfyr. That was a ~wonderful~ spell, but how did you do it without your wand?\"

\"She has her real one hidden somewhere!\" Draco shot an accusatory finger at her. \"She already said that her \'original\' one was not that purple one.\"

\"Where, Mr...Malfoy, is it?\" Arista raised her bare arms away from her sides. \"Do I have a true wand hidden within my robes? Are my robes invisible, for I can assure you, I wear none. Perhaps you would be convinced if I performed in the nude?\" Arista smiled when she heard the cat calls. \"I\'m sure you\'d like that, gentlemen, but this is Defense Against the Dark Arts. Drawing the Nude Arts is four flights down and to the left.\"

She walked back to the front of the class. \"This wand is nothing but wood, some organic material, and stone. Your wands are the same. It\'s just a focus, that\'s all. The true focus is your will, and that comes from here and here,\" she touched her forehead and her heart. \"All the power you could ever hope to defeat your demons is right in the palm of your hand.\" Arista opened her fist and revealed a blue light flickering within.

\"So, this year will be dealing with the powers within. There is an immediate need to discipline the mind, to quiet outside noise...much like Occulmency, if you will. Then once you have gotten a decent grasp of the philosophy, we\'ll move onto the philosophy of the soul. If I decide to remain for another term, I\'ll continue with a good basket weaving class, but as I said, not till next year.\"

The boy next to Hermione slowly raised his hand. \"How\'d you get Peeves to listen to you last night and leave us alone?\"

Malfoy laughed. \"You were rescued by ~her~ from Peeves?\"

\"Ten points from Slytherin, Malfoy. If you show your favored teachers respect, you can dig deep down there and show a shred of respect to me.\" Her steely grey eyes met Draco\'s slightly acosted silver before she flipped her hair and returned her attention to the class.

\"Let me begin with what you do know. Can anyone tell me about Occulmency?\" Arista had sat upon her desk, folding her ankles demurely so that the fabric draped softly around her. Both her hands were still on the edge as she leaned forward slightly. No one seemed eager to raise their hands if they had an idea. Arista noted the three students off to one side looking somewhat uncomfortable. Well, she supposed she\'d have to start there and she wasn\'t going to call on the girl again. Arista locked gazes with the boy\'s green gaze shot her a look of terror.

\"And you are?\"

\"Potter, Professor. Harry Potter.\"

~My godson.~

Arista jumped a little, but recovered quickly. That was the first time a clear voice had come out of the \'woodwork,\' so to speak. The presence lingered a moment more before fading into the background. She filed it away for future examination and gave a nonplussed glance around the room. Damn, some of them noticed. \"Have any idea what I\'m talking about?\"

\"It\'s-ah-megiacal defense of the mind. A-against external forces.\"

\"Excellent.\" She frowned when she caught on several snickers in the room. \"His definition was valid. What\'s so funny?\"

\"Don\'t you recognize ~Harry Potter~?\" sniggered a Slytherin girl. \"Everyone knows The Boy Who Lived.\"

\"-Dumbledore\'s Golden Boy-\"

\"Professor Dumbledore,\" Arista corrected crossly. \"Unless you want another set of points detracted, Mr Malfoy, I suggest you don\'t keep it up. And for you, Miss...\"

\"Bulstrode,\" the girl responded curtly.

\"Miss Bulstrode. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what you know, and quite fortunately, you don\'t know all that everyone else knows. That is one of many reasons why you\'re in school today.\" Arista decided to plow forward to the next topic, which was the class syllabus. The first half of the year would be concentrating on physical defense and discipline while the second semester would be seated on Dream Weaving, a variation of Occulumency.

The Slytherin half of the class could only gape at Arista as she ignored the deeply reddened face of Miss Bulstrode. The Gryffindor side snickered behind their quills. Harry\'s grin was so wide it looked like his face would crack in half. It was going to be a good year for DADA classes.

Double Defense Against the Dark Arts ended quickly even though no wands were pulled except for the initial demonstration. Arista had spent the rest of the time recapping their current events and learning from them their own concerns and desires for the class to teach them. It was from the mouths of children that she learned of Death Eaters, Dementors, You-Know-Who, and general politics. A favorite subject was the old DADA professor and Former Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Umbridge.

The bell rang all too soon for some students and Arista watched them file out, the next generation for a hopeful future.

\"Mr Potter, if you have a moment?\"

A fevered whisper buzzed in the back of her mind too quickly for her consciousness to understand. A swirl of emotions crashed through her, but her outward appearance never changed. She was used to this type of unslaught more than she cared to admit.

Harry didn\'t seem nervous as he waved his friends to go ahead of him. He stood before Arista\'s desk, waiting for her to finish jotting down an note. \"Professor Dumbledore told me a little about your past. Surviving Voldemort, dealing with fame and fortune,\" she dramatized, waving her hand in the air. \"I won\'t try to play favorites, but he wanted me to make certain you had my lessons down pat. I\'ve not had the chance to set up a curriculum, yet, but he mentioned about the failed attempt at Occulumency.\"

Harry frowned when she hinted at last year\'s lessons failure with Snape. He was secretly thrilled that he would be getting extra lessons, or that was what he thought she was hinting at, he really didn\'t know.

\"Don\'t you let my appearance put you into a false sense of security, young man,\" she admonished half-seriously. \"I can be a hard ass when I want to be. I just figure that you can tell me about your life when you\'re good and ready. I just expect you to be a student in school-unless, of course, we get bombed, or something. ~Then~ I want you to fluff through being a hero. When you eventually Save the World and All its Inhabitants, I do expect you to be extremely dramatic about it. There\'s nothing like a good melodramatic hero... and I want a twenty-er-inch report on my desk.\" She gave a small wink to let Harry know she was joking about the report bit.

Harry laughed at that, causing Arista to chuckle herself. He liked her as much as he like Lupin when he taught DADA. \"Thanks, Professor Starfyr.\"

\"Any time. And I do mean that. If you need me, I will find out. Now, go on before you\'re late for class.\"

\"Okay.\"

Arista\'s smile faded as Harry left her classroom and the first year students tumbled in. It was going to be a long, dangerous year. She shifted her parchment to the next session, deciding to do roll call this time. She smiled warmly at all the half scared faces who had listened to the upper classmates legends about the class. \"Welcome to Defense against the Dark Arts class. I am your Professor, Arista Starfyr.\"

Long year, indeed.


**


Arista slowly walked on the grounds, watching the day turn to night. She felt the rush during Dusk, the changing of the veils washing over her and nearly threatening to sweep her away. She grinned, her eyes drifting over the Quidditch field to her right. She tore her shoes off and sank into the late summer\'s grass, grateful for the end of Day One.

\"You have acclimated well, I see,\" spoke a voice as the soft thumping of hooves stopped behind her.

She turned, looking up into a strong face with wild silver hair. Her eyes continued down the bare chest and torso until it melded with an equine body. \"In all my lives, I have never been graced by the presence of a Cenataur,\" she murmured reverently, not knowing what to say.

The cenataur\'s posture was clearly one of suprisement as he stepped forward. \"My herd would have thought you were mocking if they heard you.\"

\"Do you?\"

\"...No.\"

\"Then that\'s all that matters,\" she declared firmly, turning back to look up at the stars that were just beginning to form. \"All creatures are noble in their own right, just as they are foolish. Unfortunately, we can\'t see our own foolishness until it\'s too late.\"

\"Professor Dumbledore said that I would find you a good friend. That you would empathize better than any other human.\"

\"He said that? Hm, I suppose I would. I\'ve been away from my Tribe for a long time, now. I miss them.\" Arista\'s voice faded into silence as she looked up to the sky. \"There\'s going to be a lot of blood shed. Much death in the times to come.\"

Firenze looked upwards as well, his white hair spilling across his back. \"You follow the stars as well?\"

\"And the earth. The Great Dragon cries for Her children. Hey, maybe you can tell me something.\" She swerved around and took a step forward so suddenly that the cenataur took an uneasy step back. \"Why is the Great Dragon\'s negative polarity, yet dragons themselves are positive polarity, and Unicorns are negative, but when you speak of the sky, it\'s pos--\" she sighed, noting Firenze\'s blank stare. \"Never mind. Guess you weren\'t the guru to answer that for me.\" She looked out to the Forbidden Forest.

\"Where have you come from, and why are you here?\"

\"Originally, I was merely on a journey. Now...\"

\"Yes?\"

\"Fate says otherwise. I have to help you guys save the world, or prepare you to save the world, or something to that effect.\" She tossed a hand haphazardly. \"Ah, I forgot. I need to save a few souls while I\'m here, too. They haven\'t yet realized that they can only choose darkness for only so long.\"

\"You are extremely arrogant,\" the cenataur concluded, stepping forward enough so that he was no longer behind her.

\"No. Just extremely tired. I miss being free of responsibility, miss just being free...four hooves pounding hard along the grass without a care.\" She turned her neck to look in the distance. There was a twinkling in the forest. \"Are those unicorns out there? What\'s going on? It\'s too late for foaling...\"

Firenze moved towards the direction of the Forest as his tail flickered nervously. \"They are coming this way.\"

In the secret of the shaddows, Snape froze as he heard the cenataur\'s and new professor\'s voices. He could neither make his presence known nor turn away. So much for a long walk to clear his thoughts. And lately, he needed these meditative walks more and more, since the coming of the new DADA professor. His dreams were haunted by the flaxen haired beauty with a more secrative past than his own. Her rich alto voice startled him back to reality.

\"Well, look at you,\" Arista murmured as the unicorns crept closer. They were old ones, ancient stallions with alicorns impossibly long. Their hides were honeyed white and probably would blind people in the sun. They stepped unhurridly towards the woman, their only concern was for the cenataur who did not move from her side. She held out her hands, waiting for one of them to accept her. Finally, the largest one nosed her cupped hands and breathed into them.

Firenze rolled his eyes slightly as the rest of the unicorns fawned over Arista. \"They\'ll never leave you alone if you continue to encourage them.\"

\"That\'s fine,\" she replied softly, pressing her forehead against one and lightly stroked it\'s cheek.

\"They are free.\"

\"I know. They came because they wanted to.\" She paused as the animals whuffled and snorted. One of them tossed his head, braying so loudly that worn teeth flashed in the night.

Arista held up her head and looked at the leader who was mere inches from her face. \"I will. Dark of the moon, so no one will know.\"

Firenze stomped an impatient hoof as he appeared unconcerned through the whole one sided conversation. \"You understand Unicorn?\"

\"And speak it, if I have the vocal chords,\" she answered. \"Though, there are some words that are easily translated to a form of verbal speech we\'re used to. Spell work, mostly.\"

\"And these creatures want something from you?\"

\"They want me to train the tribe to fight.\"

Firenze coughed at the remark, trying to avoid laughing out loud. \"A human with humor!\"

Arista smiled softly, her gaze still on the unicorn. \"Hst, he doesn\'t understand.\"

\"Understand? A witch teaching a unicorn to fight, and I don\'t-\"

\"I am not a witch,\" Arista responded quickly and swerved to descend on Firenze so quickly that two of his hooves left the ground. \"Do not make that mistake again, do you understand?\"

There was something to that soft growl of voice unnerved the great creature. He stepped back quickly, not knowing why he was backing down and at the same time unable to resist it. \"I understand.\" But he quickly regained some of his fire. \"How do you expect to teach a herd of unicorns how to fight?\"

\"How I always have.\" Arista pat the unicorn\'s cheek one last time before allowing them to leave. \"They will be allies, soon enough. And they\'ll need to remember how to fight...the wind changes.\" She turned to look at Firenze, her grey eyes boring through him. \"Be well. Dragons guard your path. I\'m certain we\'ll talk again.\" She held out her left hand briefly and let it drop down when he didn\'t take it. She glided silently away as the unicorns had...as if she\'d never been there.