The Stand

Career Advice

Harry and his friends were chatting about their forms when Daphne said something.

"There's the new teacher" Daphne whispered as they entered the Defense classroom.

Harry looked and saw woman in her late 20 standing by the desk. She had black hair with startling blue eyes. She also had looks which caused some boys, namely Corner and Nott, to drool. Harry could see why but preferred Daphne.

"I guess so" Harry said before giving Daphne a kiss "Partners?"

"Why of course" Daphne smirked, leading Harry to a table.

Draco and Rishi paired up and went to a table as did Hermione and Padma. Harry couldn't resist the urge to chuckle when Draco continued to mutter "I should've gotten a dragon."

Everyone completed their potions during winter break at Grimmauld Place and drank them, revealing their Animagus forms. Most of them had 3, with Daphne and Neville get 4.

Neville got a bull, dragonfly, duck and a goat.

Daphne got a crow, alligator, scorpion, and a lynx.

Draco got a bat, spider (which he planned to use to scare Ron) and giraffe.

Hermione got an owl, otter and a hedgehog.

Parvati got a hawk, butterfly and a red fox

Padma got a raccoon, turtle, and a panda.

They made plans for weekly transformations sessions and would have one after this class.

"Hello everyone" she said "My name is Amanda Whittlestone. I will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts. First, turn to page 3 of your new textbooks."

She waved her wand and sent books flying from the shelves onto the tables "Right now, we'll be discussing dueling strategies. In your opinions, what helps you win more: more offense or more defense?"

The class was much more interactive and Whittlestone kept everyone involved. If someone wasn't paying attention, she sent tickling charms at them, which entertained everyone else.

Near the end of class, she brought everyone into a side room which looked like a forest "An important part of dueling is using your environment to your advantage. At the end of every class, some of you will duel each other for practice. The winners will get points, the losers suffer humiliation. Every class, there will be a different setting."

"For right now, we'll just have one duel" she looked around the class "Harry, Theodore, why don't you to duel each other."

Both kids nodded and walked to opposite sides of the forest. Nott sneered at Harry, who gave him a smile in return, which worried Nott.

"3, 2, 1 GO!" Whittlestone yelled to start off the duel.

Nott sent a curse at Harry which was quickly sent away. Harry decided to play defensive, deflecting and stopping about 10 spells before sending a cutting curse at Nott.

The spell missed him, causing Nott to laugh "You're weak Potter!"

Harry smirked "I wasn't aiming for you."

Nott was confused and while he tried to figure out what Harry meant, a tree crashed on top of him. Some students gasped while others looked around to see what happened. Only Harry's group of friends seemed to understand what Harry did.

Whittlestone laughed and lifted the tree off Nott "Well done Harry! Care to explain what you did?"

Harry chuckled "Of course. I didn't send that curse at Nott. It was at a tree. My plan was to knock him out using the tree. It only took me a cutting curse and Wingardium Leviosa."