The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

141. A Return to Basic Principles

"It'll be okay, Neville," Althea was saying consolingly as they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Have you realized how much work we have?" he replied despairingly. "We have a foot and a half on giant wars, a foot on the properties of moonstone, and Trelawney's dream diary."

"I know," Althea said soothingly. "But we can go down to the library tonight after dinner and start our research. Then, if you write one essay tonight and the second one tomorrow, they'll both be done. The dream diary, depending on how you do it, can either be something you work on each morning or if, like me, you never remember your dreams, you can just make it up and get it all over with in one sitting."

"But Althea, you never seem to get behind on work," Neville said suddenly as they took their seats. "How do you do it?"

"I finish everything the night it's assigned, but that usually means quite a few late nights," she explained. "But it means your weekends are free."

"I want to try that," Neville decided.

"Okay," Althea said, resisting smiling.

It would be nice to have someone to stay up with instead of being on her own all the time.

Before they could speak more, however, Umbridge, who had been already sitting at the teacher's desk when they arrived, said, "Well, good afternoon!"

Although a few people muttered good afternoons back to her, most remained silent.

"Tut tut," Umbridge remarked, rising from her seat and coming to stand by the large blackboard. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class chanted back with more than a few rolled eyes.

"There, now," Umbridge said sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Althea sighed, stowing her wand in the wand pocket of her robes before withdrawing her quill, ink, and parchment. She had just filled her quill with ink when Umbridge sharply tapped the board with her own wand. Instantly, words appeared there.

Defence Against the Dark Arts
A Return to Basic Principles

"Well, now," she began with a honeyed smile. "Your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now being rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

As she tapped the blackboard again, the previous statement was replaced by the following.

Course aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

Althea frowned as she copied these down. While the first two, while rather boring, made a lot of sense, the proper meaning of the third point was alluding her. However, the more she considered the three points as a whole, the less and less she grew to like them.

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge asked once the sound of scratching quills had come to a stop.

There was a dull murmur throughout the class.

"I think we'll try that again," said Umbridge in the same sickeningly honeyed voice. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," the class chanted again.

"Good," she replied. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."

Althea, whose frown had been deepening by the minute, opened to the first chapter and read the first sentence.

While the understanding of defensive magic has largely become misrepresentative of the one necessary in order to cultivate a productive society, wizards and witches of the new age must begin to...

She did not read anymore. It had become too much. She raised her hand. Any author who believed their view was the only way to uphold a productive society was not one she trusted. Not to mention, the course aims and the very title of their textbook seemed to imply they would be spending far more time talking about theory than learning any practical application.

To Althea's surprise, she found Hermione was also raising her hand at her seat just a few down from Althea. Turning back to the front, however, she kept her eyes fixed on Professor Umbridge, who was pretending to study the ceiling. As more and more time passed, over half the class was either looking at Althea or at Hermione.