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-/-
"Your year is rather fortunate, from what I gathered," Snape drawled as he whirled into the DADA classroom with his black cloak billowing, "in that you have had three moderately competent instructors during the last three years."
He stopped in front of the blackboard and angrily scratched his name with chalk.
"I am here to continue your good fortune and will do my best to prepare you for any future inadequacy that may come after I leave the position at the end of the school year," he explained while turning to face the classroom full of fourth-year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors.
"Ground rules," the man continued. "You will refer to me as either Professor Snape or sir. You will raise your hand when you want to either answer or ask a question." He paused and glared at the assorted students. "And you will not cast any spells that I do not tell you to." The glare intensified. "Am I understood?" he hissed.
Some of the Hufflepuffs gulped and shared a scared look before the class chorused.
"Yes, Professor Snape!"
The professor continued his glare for a few more seconds before clapping his hands.
"Good, as long as we're on the same page." Snape started pacing back and forth with a frantic intensity.
"In year one, you primarily learned protocols of behaviour for different dangerous scenarios and some simple spells. The second year revolved around the more common magical creatures you may encounter in Britain. Third year continued that trend onto some less common and more dangerous creatures, alongside introducing you to the dark magic from which it is better to run, the unforgivables. I assume that most of you can already guess what the focus of this year will be," he paused, swept his gaze over this room, and eventually landed on Harry, who was sitting next to Cedric and listening attentively.
"Enlighten us, Mr Evans," the professor drawled.
"Well, students are technically only obligated to complete their O.W.Ls in any given subject," Harry started slowly. "That means that the main threat we've yet to cover, which definitely merits more than just one single year, especially considering that next year will condense all the previous theories and spells, would be dark wizards and witches."
"Correct," Snape said curtly. "One point to Hufflepuff." He twitched his wand, and the projector in front of his desk suddenly blared to light with a metallic clank and projected a moving picture of a crazed curly-haired woman onto the wall above the blackboard.
She was laughing crazily while holding up her prison identification number.
"Bellatrix Lestrange, some would call her the right hand of You-Know-Who."
The picture flipped, replaced with a cowardly rat-faced man.
"Peter Pettigrew, the famous traitor," Snape said with a curl to his lips.
Another image, an older dark-haired man scowling at the camera.
"Augustus Rookwood, a former unspeakable."
Another man, with an ugly scar on his face.
"Antonin Dolohov, a former duelling champion."
The images continued, a dozen or so high-ranking Death Eaters splashed, angry, dejected, nervous, onto the wall of the DADA classroom.
The class gasped as the last image, a still, was projected into the wall. A hooded man with glowing red eyes.
"You-Know-Who," Snape said finally and shut down the projector.
"These are not bedtime stories," he continued, "that your parents might use to scare you into eating your vegetables or going to bed. These are real people, wizards and witches proficient in dark magic who were responsible for some of the disappearances and deaths you may still remember from your early childhood." He swept his gaze over the incredibly silent classroom.
Silent as a grave.
Even Fred and George didn't have anything to say about that.
"Political violence, ideological disagreement, hate, sociopathy. A dark wizard breaking into your home in the dead of night to torture and then kill you and your family is not some textbook cautionary tale, but a horrifying reality currently being lived by countless magicals all over the world. It has only been ten years, in fact, since this was the reality in Britain as well." Snape crossed his arms and tapped his fingers on his elbow. "It is something that can happen from one day to the next, or something that gradually boils over due to unaddressed societal issues. If there is one class in Hogwarts that is not a joke, it is this one, which is why it is so problematic that it was treated as such for so long."
A Gryffindor student suddenly raised her hand. There was some moisture gathering at the bottom of her eyes.
"Introduce yourself and state your question," Snape said coldly.
"Harkins, Emma Harkins, professor," the student said shakily. "What can we do about this? We're just students. There's no magic we can reasonably learn at Hogwarts to stand up against…"
"A valid observation," Snape answered before starting to pace again.
"Obviously, you are unlikely to win a fight against any of the people I have just introduced to you if it ever came to that. Even the weakest, stupidest, ugliest and most pathetic, such as Pettigrew, is a fully-fledged wizard with countless experiences in violent situations. Even if you were a full graduate, you would still be at a disadvantage because any dark wizard wanting to harm you would have more experience attacking others than you would have defending yourself." A shrug. "The issue of dark magic is often political. A functional state does not have dark-magic-wielding insurgents running around, nor is its structure so weak that it cannot defend its citizens. Obviously, changing the political functionality of the government is beyond the scope of this class, but there are certain things that you can do to extradite yourself from dangerous situations involving such belligerents." He turned to the blackboard and wrote.
Prepare. "This year, we will cover some protective charms, such as the caterwauling charm, which warns of trespassers with a shrill scream, that can be applied to a domicile to at least make your home a place in which you can feel safe. Basic wards will be discussed at the N.E.W.T. level, but for simplicity's sake, you can simply think of wards as more powerful charms you don't need to reapply."
Analyse. "We will analyse basic motives and behaviour patterns of dark wizards so that you are more aware of who you are facing. This will make implementing any countermeasures easier."
Escape. "We will practice escaping from hostile situations in theory and in practice, learning spells that can open paths, close them, and accelerate one's departure. Obviously, the best escape is apparition or portkey, but the principles are the same, and you always need a backup in case these methods are unavailable."
Snape paused before writing the last part on the blackboard.
Dark Magic. "What is dark magic? What are its basic properties? What are the most common dark spells beyond the unforgivables? What are its restrictions and its strengths? To defeat an enemy, you must first understand the enemy." The professor shook his head. "Dark magic is as multi-faceted as any other branch of magic, but even more obscure due to its illegality. Governments and civil society are involved in a constant arms race against it, but have yet to land a decisive victory. Dark magic is like a hydra; you cut off one head, two more grow to take its place. Fortunately, like any other branch, it follows principles, has identifiable rules, trends and most importantly… weaknesses."
He turned to the class, who was listening, enraptured.
"Well, why aren't you writing that down?!" he snapped.
The scratching of quills promptly filled the classroom.
An hour and a half later, the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors stumbled out of the class with bleary eyes and pages of notes, a full six feet of assignments and a newly-found appreciation for the rather strict new professor.
"He reminds me of Quirrell," Fred joked to Harry as the group started heading towards the Great Hall. "Just, well, scarier."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Just don't tell him that," he remarked.
The redhead laughed and exchanged a look with his brother. "We're stupid, not crazy!" they exclaimed in unison before splitting off towards the Gryffindor table.
Cedric groaned as he sat down at the table next to Harry. "I see that this year's not going to be any easier than last," he complained and started shovelling food onto his plate.
"Wouldn't make much sense, would it? Things are supposed to get harder," Penny commented from the other side of Harry.
"I think Snape will be a good professor," Harry commented. "Maybe it will be a hard class, but as he said, it's definitely a class you'll be grateful for when the worst happens."
"Well!" Cedric exclaimed. "Let's hope it doesn't!" Then he laughed. "Although he did exaggerate a bit. I'm sure I could take that Pettigrew guy, muppet looked like he was scared of his own shadow."
Harry threw his friend an awkward look.
"Mate, as long as you remember to duck the green light, I'll think you'll be able to count yourself lucky."
Cedric puffed out his chest. "I can dodge all the lights, isn't that what we practised last year?" he asked rhetorically.
"I sure hope it was," Harry answered with a sigh. "I sure hope it was."
-/-
"A spin of the gold, a flash of the space and ahead I am to win the race. Wings of time and eyes shine bright, I'll finish first with my magic might," Harry idly rapped to himself as he spun his newly gained artefact.
-/-
In transfiguration class, Harry finally started one of the things he needed most: supervised human transfiguration.
Even if it was only an eyebrow.
One eyebrow at a time, animagus we shall become.
He was so happy to finally get that feeling of progression that he didn't even mind the weird looks he was getting from the sixth-year N.E.W.T students in whose class he was technically intruding.
Life was good.
-/-
"Another spin, another jump and soon I'll give them all a bump, off the road and on the street, a truck will hit your stupid cheek."
Herbology passed as it always did, slowly and surely.
Magical plants were cool, but magical explosions were cooler.
Potions were similar, just that Harry was a tad less competent at the subject, which meant that the whole thing required more attention.
He missed Penny; she wasn't in his class anymore.
He was happy for her, though.
-/-
"I travel time, I travel space, I punch you in your stupid face. Voldemort or death eat' scums to me y'all the same, stupid bum."
Care of Magical Creatures was a rather cool class, although Harry had already consumed most of the literature involving magical creatures out of sheer interest years ago, so it was mostly just practical experience joining the theoretical knowledge.
Ancient Runes was about as interesting as learning Latin back in his old life had been. Tedious.
-/-
"Outrun clock and gargle cock. Wait! No! Outrun clock and hit the dock, my ship is sailing past the reefs avoiding all and any… uh, defeats."
Astronomy was a pain in the ass, as was History of magic.
Harry was basically only waiting until he could bin off both classes after his O.W.Ls.
Hehe, bin.
-/-
"My rap no flow, I take a bow, my heady hurts and shit I blurts."
Harry dragged his weary feet towards the room of requirement, where he promptly collapsed into a fluffy bed and stared into the darkness of the pillow beneath his head.
"Are you alright?" the sorting hat asked from next to him, where it had appeared due to being called.
"Arms at side, the week I did, I hate my life, exhausted, shit," Harry mumbled incoherently into the pillow.
"I see," the artefact remarked. "How about you take a nap? Maybe it will help."
"Tired mind and head full of crap, I must now sleep, conclude this rap."
-/-
Harry awoke groggily on Friday evening after completing his two-hour nap.
He turned around in the bed and stared wearily at the cathedral-like ceiling of the room.
"Ouch," he concluded after a few minutes of thought.
"Better?" The hat asked.
"Yeah," Harry answered. "First week of full schedule plus time-turner. I feel like a full-time student with a night-shift job and a toxic relationship."
Ironically, he knew exactly how that felt as he had indeed studied full-time while working as a night-shift bartender in his past life. Also fuck you Jennifer, you bitch.
"I think," he concluded out loud. "That I've finally reached my limit."
He was now taking 30 hours of classes per week. Not just easy classes anymore, either.
N.E.W.T. level transfiguration and arithmancy were not a joke. Potions always required attention, and he had to at least show up to the other classes, too. History of Magic was more of a sleep session, so realistically, it was only 27 hours of classes per week, but that number quickly jumped to 40 hours per week when you counted in the homework and studying he had to do. Three hours for arithmancy, two for transfiguration, one hour for each other subject.
The only reason he had time for his extra-curricular projects, such as the animagus transformation, book of Eibon enchantment and duelling, was because of the time-turner. His weekend wasn't even free. He was meeting Flitwick today, Snape tomorrow and the golden trio for duelling practice on Sunday. Essentially, Monday to Friday was a gauntlet, while he'd only get two half-days off on the weekend.
Brutal.
Without the trinket, he might have very well died trying to upkeep this workload.
"Well, next year will be worse," the hat remarked, failing to cheer Harry up. "You'll have all your O.W.Ls except Charms, which you have this year, alongside your N.E.W.Ts in arithmancy and transfiguration."
The boy groaned. "Don't remind me."
"Well, at least you'll have more time the year after. Sixth year. Arithmancy and Transfiguration done, History of Magic dropped. Ten classes down to seven."
"Two more years, huh," Harry muttered. He was starting to suspect that he was going to have to start using the time-turner on the weekends to catch up on rest rather than work.
Honestly, unless he would be able to keep the time turner with those seven classes he'd still be taking, he might just drop Potions, Ancient Runes, Herbology and Astronomy. That would leave him with Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures.
Now that would be nice.
He had been thinking that it was a bit of a waste to study those supplementary subjects at Hogwarts while he had access to some of the best masters he could find for Transfiguration and Charms.
A decision for the future, but if two years of ten class suffering could be followed by two years of three class bliss, well, that was something to seriously think about.
A bowl of water suddenly appeared next to Harry's bed, which he promptly used to splash himself in the face to wake himself up.
The now-empty bowl was replaced by a pepperup potion and an espresso. Harry chugged both. Then he jumped off the bed and sprinted once around the room.
"I AM READY!" he announced loudly and promptly went towards the exit.
He felt awake, he felt energised. It was time to meet Flitwick.
-/-
Harry leaned back in the chair in Flitwick's office, where they were meeting to finalise the terms of their collaboration this year.
He tapped his armrest with his right hand, then held up the appendage and channelled his wandless magic to create an invisible number seven above his pointer finger.
"What number do you see?" he asked the professor, who was squinting his eyes at his student's finger.
"One," the professor eventually said.
Harry shook his head. "It was seven." He turned the number into the letter B.
"Now?"
"An eight."
"It was the letter B."
Flitwick ran a bit red in the face before coughing into his hand. "Well, they look very similar," he excused himself.
"It's alright to not be perfect," Harry answered kindly. "As we discussed, while you still have a grasp of duelling and Charms fundamentals I can benefit from, I can reciprocate by sharing my experience with more obscure branches of magic."
Flitwick crossed his arms and sighed. "Well, I never claimed my magic sense was anything but rudimentary. I can tell apart spells very well; the deeper hints are lost on me."
Harry nodded along and considered. "I'd like to propose a truce. Let's leave behind the student and professor situation."
Flitwick nodded. "Of course. As odd as it may seem, you will be as much my teacher as I am yours this year."
"That means no sharing secrets, even if you think they implicate your responsibilities as a professor," Harry warned.
The half-goblin seemed to consider for a second before nodding. "If you wouldn't tell me whatever you tell me, I wouldn't know to act on it; in that sense, I don't need to."
"Good," Harry muttered, hesitating for a short second.
The diadem had been removed from the room of requirement years ago.
That had been the biggest issue: showing people the room.
Well, that and the fact that the more people knew about it, the less Harry could use it.
But he owed Flitwick.
There were three things that Harry could help the man with.
Magical sensing, sorcery, occlumency.
If magical sensing improved, the other two would follow.
Flitwick had defeated Dolohov to protect his students in the books.
Making the man stronger was just an investment; also, Harry felt he could trust him with a secret.
"Magical sensing is the basis of all obscure magical knowledge, in my opinion," Harry started, Flitwick nodding along.
"I have a secret training method through which I gained the proficiency I have now. Keyword being secret," he emphasised.
"I am aware of the etiquette surrounding trade secrets," Flitwick hurried to agree.
"Alright. I'm currently using the resources, so we'll have to figure out a way for our schedules not to overlap, but…" Harry paused and pierced his student with an intense gaze.
"Have you heard of the Room of Requirement?"
Flitwick fell off his chair.
Ah.
He was the Head of Ravenclaw, wasn't he?
-/-
AN: Give back to the people, give back to the homies, give back to the real ones. Harry knows loyalty. BTW, increased my subscribers advantages on patreon. Tier 1 now gets 10 chapters, tier 2 21 and tier currently gets 41 chapters in advance.