"Oh, so you think you can do better, Mr. Malfoy?" Moody growled.
Draco smirked at Su and said, "Of course. My father bought me a wand holster..." before he could finish talking, he was hit by a stinging hex.
"Well, boy? Where's that wand of yours?" Moody continued to fire while talking. Apparently he could do those spells wordlessly, and very rapidly. Draco ejected his wand from the arm-holster, but was struck by another hex right when it shot out, and it flew out of his grasp. It dropped to the ground several feet in front of him, and he had to scramble towards it to pick it up, suffering stinging hexes all the way. In the end, Draco took far longer than Su, and was struck by twenty-five stingers. Everyone was glad to see the loudmouthed bully taken down a peg, but nobody dared to laugh at his misfortune in front of Moody.
"In case any of you still don't understand, I expect every single one of you to have your wand in hand in this class or ready to draw your wand at a moment's notice. This is Defense Against the Dark Arts, and you will NEVER be able to defend yourself unless you practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
"Well, that was certainly an interesting class," said Harry. He was practicing Occlumency in the Gryffindor common room along with Hermione and Neville the first weekend of the school year. Ron decided to play chess with Dean instead.
"I'll say," said Neville. "He certainly knows how to get his point across, though."
"I have to admit, even though he's the most unorthodox teacher we've had so far, I get the feeling we'll learn a lot from him," agreed Hermione.
"Well, at least we know he's got experience keeping himself safe," said Harry, pointing towards the twins. The redheaded duo, after hearing stories of his first lessons (but before they had their first class), made a very unfortunate mistake- they attempted to prank Moody. They had laid a trap for him between his classroom and the office, which was supposed to swap his wooden walking-stick with his metallic prosthetic leg. Somehow, Moody not only dispelled the trap, but also knew exactly who had laid it, and tracked them down halfway across the castle. Fred ended up crawling into the infirmary that day with both legs transfigured into wooden sticks, while George dragged himself there with both legs turned to metal. Sufficed to say, they were constantly vigilant the during their entire first class with Moody.
After checking each other's minds with Legilimency, they decided it was time to test out Neville. They didn't expect him to be able to fend off an attack, but they wanted him to let it know what it felt like when someone was probing his mind. "Neville, don't let anyone know about what I'm going to do next, alright? Kids like us aren't exactly supposed to know how to do this..." Harry said, looking around to make sure nobody was listening in.
Neville raised an eyebrow, but agreed. Harry continued, "I'd like you to concentrate on that greenhouse of yours. Try to empty it out, but leave only one memory in there for me to get. Um... how about the first broom lesson back in first year? When you're ready, look me in the eyes."
Neville closed his eyes, concentrated, and after a minute looked straight at Harry without a word. Harry quietly cast Legilimens, and immediately found himself in Neville's greenhouse. There was a single plant at the center, and as he approached it, he began to feel Neville's anticipation, fear, self-doubt, and anxiousness, everything he felt back in the first year flying lesson. As he got closer, he began to see images, and some glimpses of the argument with Draco from Neville's point of view. Thinking he had gone far enough, he pulled out.
"Good, it seems like you're getting pretty good at keeping your memories organized," complimented Harry. "Could you feel me inside your mind?"
Neville nodded. "It was like... fingers reaching in. So that's how I'll know if someone's using Legilimency on me?"
Harry smiled. "That's right, Nev. Just keep working on the organization, and practice having your mind in that state as often as you can- all day if you can manage it. It's better to get used to having your defences up all the time. You know, like Moody said... Constant Vigilance!"
Neville nodded and went back to concentrating on his own. Harry got up with Hermione, and they left Gryffindor Tower to sneak off to the Room of Requirement again to practice their duelling, Animagi transformations, and try to figure out their apprehensive feelings towards Moody. The room provided a comfortable, padded room with a duelling arena in the center and a hidden entrance. They sat down on the cushions surrounding the duelling arena. Hermione spoke first. "What if he's a spy for someone else? Or an impostor? Maybe he's using Polyjuice?"
Harry thought about it for a minute. "We don't know him well enough to figure out his allegiances. If he has turned traitor or something, maybe one of the other staff will notice. Didn't he fight alongside them during the last war? They should know him fairly well, at least. If he's an impostor, though, we can figure it out tonight at dinner with the Marauder's Map." Even if that checked out, they could talk to Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore later to ask if they noticed him acting differently from how they remembered him in the last war.
Harry and Hermione decided to make use of the room by working on their duelling skills next. Following the first duelling book to get a good overview (or was it review?) of the fundamentals, they began with the protego spell. Both of them, to some mild surprise, managed to do a decent one on their first try, so they tested it out on each other by firing off minor jinxes and hexes until their shields failed. They also worked on changing the size and shape of the shield, expanding it to protect their entire body, or an object beside them. After practicing until they were nearly exhausted, they decided to relax and meditate, concentrating on their Animagus forms.
Throughout the summer, they both felt that they could get in touch with their primal emotions much better when they were together. They had never quite managed to find their forms, however, and failed to progress much further. This time, since they were both exhausted from their first duelling training session, they fell asleep beside each other while in their meditative trance.
Harry found himself flying through the air. Looking at the ground below him, it seemed like he was about the same height as he was when he usually flew during a Quidditch match. Flying back and forth, he looked around for the other players, but couldn't find anyone else. Where was the team? Where were the spectators? He was struck with a sudden sense of homesickness when he realized he was alone. Turning back in the direction where he came from, he started searching for home. Where was his home? He couldn't tell. He wanted safety, comfort... companionship. He knew where he could get it. Hermione's house! Which direction was it? Where did he have to go? He remembered Hermione's home, in a city by the sea. He flew and flew until he reached the ocean. An odd thought struck him as he continued his search. I really shouldn't show up without a gift. As he thought that, he saw something sparkle in the water. The golden snitch! Once again, he let his instinct take over as his sight narrowed and he focused all his strength into diving as fast as he could towards it. Oddly, he didn't reach out to grab it with his hands, but instead used his feet, and then noticed his feet were actually talons. They gripped the snitch viciously, refusing to let go as he went on in search of Hermione's house. He couldn't see it... but something smelled familiar. He moved towards it... yes, it was Hermione's scent. Onwards he flew.
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