Son of the Storm

Refrain

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," Cassidy said. "You've probably been wondering, who is this devastatingly handsome Irish bloke? What's he doing here? Why's he, a 'muggle', teaching at a school of magic?" He smirked. "And maybe a few other things, but they aren't appropriate for a teacher to say in public."

That raised a flutter of laughter, particularly from the older students. Cassidy's first class was taking place in the Great Hall, being one of the few rooms large enough for all the students who wanted to take part to fit. Harry privately felt that at least half would drop out when they realised that they wouldn't be getting handsy with the handsome Professor Cassidy, or his charming assistant, Warren, who was lounging against a wall off to one side and ignoring the admiring, envious and occasionally coquettish looks thrown his way.

The entire floor was also covered in blue crash mats, designed to make the experience of falling somewhat less painful.

He sobered. "Well, first off, I'm Irish-American. I've just lived in Ireland and Scotland for pretty much all of the last thirty years, around two thirds of my life. And yes, I said thirty and two thirds. I don't look it, and that's because I've led a pretty interesting life. The details aren't important," he said. "As for why I'm here… the world's getting darker and more dangerous every day. Hogwarts is as safe a place as you'll find, a fortress of wards. But the Winter Soldier waltzed straight onto the grounds, the straight off them again. According to Professor Hagrid, who followed his tracks, he'd been living in the forest for days, maybe even a week. And no one noticed. Not Hagrid, not the centaurs, none of the teachers… no one."

There was silence.

"And the Soldier was a scout. There's a storm coming, ladies and gentlemen. And you'd better be ready," he said, then paused. "Professor Dumbledore employed me for two reasons. First, I've been going toe to toe with the likes of HYDRA and the Death Eaters for forty years. I've fought as a superhero in Cuba, as an intelligence officer in Vietnam, as a cop in Ireland, and as a spy in Bosnia and Serbia. I've spent most of my life working for Interpol as a detective." He took a moment to let this sink in. "And aye, I said superhero. My power is audiokinesis. I can control sound in a limited radius around myself. Amplify it, mute it, detect it and…"

He whirled on a line of six wood dummies and let out an unearthly scream. Not a moment later, they exploded into sawdust.

"Project it," Sean finished, turning back with a slight smile to face the stunned crowd. "It has a number of applications. I can even use it to fly and by controlling the frequency, I can do all sorts of interesting things like ruin your balance, knock you out, shatter your bones, even control you, if I catch you off guard. And that's just the start." He waved a hand. "But this isn't about me showing off. Because, see, my powers helped me out a lot. At first, I was pretty much only good for flying and smashing things. And occasional sonar. But even as I diversified, I found out something. There were ways to neutralise my advantages. A power suppressor, a Silencing Charm, sleeping or poison gas… even being whacked on the head from behind would do it – I'm no tougher than any other man. So I learnt how to fight hand to hand. Which is what I'm going to teach you."

He scanned the crowd. "Now, some of you, I can see by your faces are sceptical," he said, then picked one student out of the crowd. "You, Miss… Why are you sceptical?"

The Slytherin student, who Harry thought was probably in his year, looked a little uneasy at being picked out, said, "Miss Greengrass, sir. And, well, Professor, with magic, surely a muggle couldn't even get close? A supersensory charm would detect them and then a stunning spell would bring them down."

"That would be a sound strategy," Sean said. "If you knew for certain that a muggle was following you. If you could maintain the charm and remembered to do so. If you were certain that they hadn't found a way around your magic, and believe me, a few of them have. If they even needed to get close. And even if you knew that… can you dodge a spell?"