A sirius matter

Chapter 6 - Lessons

Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a second after recognizing the new student, but were quickly brought back to the present by the instructor.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Mr. Tucker, and I'll be teaching you basic karate. First of all, I'm going to pass out a white belt to everyone." He smiled. "You get this for showing up today." He then gave a handful of white belts to the closest student and continued as they were passed around.

"This is an accelerated course designed for kids who go away to boarding school for most of the year. We will be meeting Monday through Friday until the third week of August, after a total of ten weeks. That's not much time to learn karate, so I expect you to do your best.

"The order of karate belts varies a bit in different schools, but in this one, the order is white, yellow, purple, green, blue, brown, and black. The white you have now. In three weeks, I will test you all for yellow. If you fail, you'll have one week to practice on your own and retake the test. Six weeks after that, you'll be tested for a purple belt. If you pass, you may either practice here for the remaining week or stay home, your choice. Those who fail that test will have that last week to practice with my help. It is my hope that all of you will achieve the purple belt by the end of this course.

"You will receive a training manual that covers this course's material at the end of this lesson. There are manuals available for sale here that cover the material for every level, should you desire to continue studying. At the beginning of next summer, you can arrange for an evaluation to determine what level you should study. There's no reason why everyone who works at it shouldn't receive your green belt at the beginning of next summer and start working on the blue belt. A few of you might even make the blue belt if you work extra hard, but that's rare.

"After you receive the blue belt, it will take more than a year of hard work, most likely two years, to earn a brown belt. After that it will take at least two years, more likely three, for you to earn a black belt. So basically, if you work your butt off all year long while you're away at school, you might be able to get a black belt in five years. It's more likely to take you seven years. Let's get started on lesson one."

As with everything, the first lesson is always boring, laying the foundations that everything will be built upon. After it was over, Harry and Hermione went to their locker rooms to change. Once he changed, Harry walked up to Neville and said, "Hi Neville. I was surprised to see you here. How's your summer been so far?"

"You were surprised?" countered Neville. "What about me? Both you and Hermione are taking this class! I'm surprised Ron wasn't here."

Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well, we had a bit of an argument. Hermione and I told him we were dating…"

"You're dating?" asked Neville. "I always had a feeling about you two. Dean, Seamus, and Colin each owe me a Galleon."

"Why?"

"Colin bet you'd date Ron's little sister Ginny first, Seamus bet you'd date the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang, and Dean bet you'd date Parvati Patil. I bet all of them that you'd date Hermione first," he explained with a smile. "Anyway, what happened with Ron?"

"At first he seemed to be all right with it, but then he found out I was staying at her house and he kind of flipped out. I'm sure he'll get over it."

"Yeah," agreed Neville. "So am I. He's just jealous. You do know he fancies Hermione, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I got her first. Besides, all Hermione and Ron ever do is argue. We'd better get out there before Hermione comes in here looking for us."

They left the locker room in time to see Hermione purchasing all the books necessary to attain a black belt. Harry walked up to her. "Er, don't you think we could wait a few years on some of those books?"