Advanced DADA - Lesson One

(((Kellin isn't in the room yet so just RP how your character comes into the classroom)))

On the Board:

So my father is now a professor. Fun. Wade thought as he reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Being back in this room brought back memories of earlier years when Professor Umbranox was still around and teaching, and when Wade was actually trying to get good marks in all of his classes. When Wade actually attended classes. But there's no way I can skip this one. Kellin had demanded that Wade take DADA this year, and how can one deny that to a father?

He wasn't in the room anyway, so Wade had a little time to be alone with his thoughts. Quickly reading what was on the board and taking a seat near the back, he mentally prepared himself for whatever his father had planned for their lesson. At least he'd learn how to block his father from his brain.

Morgana hoped that this teacher wouldn't be a person who left without saying anything, or a person who obviously gave better marks to purebloods. Morgana honestly thought it was time to move on from ancient ways of discrimination. However, his name was Malfoy... How brilliant could he be? Then again, Lucy wasn't a bad person. And neither was Ryland, but he wasn't born into that family.

She walked into the classroom and raised an eyebrow, seeing Wade Malfoy, the one person she disliked enough to hate, sitting there already. She rolled her eyes, but was happy that he had seated himself in the back. Morgana had always been one for the front either way. She walked up to one of the desks, ignoring the moron, and sat down, studying the board. Occlumency and Legilimens. That would be interesting. Thank Merlin.

She leaned back and did as asked. Relaxed.

Maya entered the DADA classroom, having high hopes for the class with a new professor. She spotted the other Slytherins "Hey guys," Maya greeted, noticing the obvious tension in the room. Wade and Morgana had hated each other since Maya knew them and obviously things hadn't changed. This was going to be fun.

Maya took a seat next to Morgana and read the board. Leo Malfoy, Maya raised an eyebrow in confusion as she pieced the pieces together in her head and realised that he was probably some relation to Wade. Maya had glossed over the advanced DADA class title. She didn't know if she wanted to be in this class, most of the other students would be older and more accomplished in magic than she was. A great way to boost her confidence. She hated being reminded of her lack of magical knowledge. Not that it had happened in a while, she had made sure to work hard on catching up and gaining more knowledge than her piers. She didn't like feeling inferior. But good god, Occlumency and Legilimens. She couldn't see this ending well.

Even thought Defence Against the Dark Arts hadn't even started yet, Aylee felt like the new Professor was going to be like Professor Elldir. A git who worshipped pure-bloods and sorted them according to their magical abilities. Luckily, there was no question about blood purity in the registration form, so she didn't have any reason to judge the Professor so far. So far. She'd been put in the Advanced class, while Kynan was stuffed in the Regular class. It wouldn't be a surprise. Her brother probably didn't know half the questions on the registration form. Still, she'd be alone in the class, most probably. Sydney might be put in the Regular class, if she signed up at all. Auden might just get into the Advanced class, but her friend usually hung out with Ryland more than she hung out with her these days. Aylee sighed to herself as she headed towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom after lunch.

When she arrived, she noticed that the only students there were- Wade (the git), Maya (who she knew was one of Kynan's best friends) and Morgana (who she knew but wasn't very close with). None of her friends were there. But then she looked down and realized, what if Sydney and Auden didn't want to be friends anymore? Heck, they hadn't talked to her in ages! Ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach, Aylee decided to sit next to Maya and Morgana. Who knows, maybe she won't annoy them! Stupid self-confidence. Silently, she walked over to the two girls at the front and took a seat on the other side of Morgana. She certainly wouldn't be sitting at the back where that stupid evil git awaited.

Setting her bag down under her table, Aylee noticed that the board had writing on it... most Professors did that, these days, when they didn't come to class early. The title was the first thing that caught her attention. Occlumency and Legilimency. She'd read a few things about those, she remembered. Apparently, Legilimency was kind of like mind-reading and Occlumency was used to protect yourself from Legilimency. At least, she hoped she was right. Still, the topic seemed interesting. Reading on, she learned that their Professor was called Leo Malfoy, disliked being called 'Professor' and that they wouldn't need books and parchment and all that junk.

Wait, Malfoy? Frowning a little, Aylee looked at the back, where Wade was. Leo Malfoy? She knew of a Phoenix Malfoy, but never a Leo. Being her curious self, she started working stuff out. She'd always thought of Lucy and Wade as siblings, really, from the way they acted. But she remembered once, when they first met, that Wade had said that Lucy was his cousin. So if Ryland was Phoenix's adoptive son, that would make him Lucy's brother. And Wade was their cousin. So Leo was probably Wade's dad. If there wasn't another Malfoy involved. She knew of a Draco Malfoy, but she knew that his only kid was Scorpius. Conclusion: Leo Malfoy was Wade Malfoy's dad. Interesting.

She hoped that the Professor wouldn't turn out to be as much as a jerk that Wade was. Turning to Morgana and Maya, she beamed at them and decided to do what the Professor told them to do. Relax. Aylee's way of relaxing, really, was talking to her friends. "Hi Morgana! Hi Maya! How are you guys?" she asked, her voice somewhat low.

Jen had never actually taken DADA before, so now was a good time to start, with the "keeping options open" stuff and everything. It wasn't like she was totally inexperienced. She'd read enough books about the subject and was confident in enough spells to keep up with the class easily. She'd gotten into advanced DADA, anyway.

When she got into the room, she stared at the wall weirdly. Leo Malfoy. Wade Malfoy. How many different Malfoy families were there? Not too many, she was pretty sure. So whoever this man was, it was likely he was related to Wade. And the boy had actually turned up, so that increased the chances of her family theory.

She took a seat in the back corner of the room, to avoid being anywhere near the professor or too near anybody else and read the board in more detail. Occlumency and Legilimency. Didn't sound totally boring. Reading people's minds could be a useful skill. That Gryffindor Shah girl looked awkward. Jennifer remembered that dramatic break-up. It was funny.

Without warning, Kellin walked into the room. "I am assuming you are all smart enough to know what Occlumency and Legilimency are, so we'll skip that part for now." He began, mentally counting the number of students in the room. Six And Ryland and Lucy Malfoy were still to arrive. "Alright, you and you will work together today ." He pointed at his son and the Ravenclaw girl Aylee Walters. "And you two will be partners " he said to Morgana Gaunt and Shah Hazel. "Winchester and Moss will be together." He finalized.

"Sit next to whoever your working with and the one with the earliest birthday in the year will be the one who will try to read the other's thoughts. Get yourselves up to that point and I'll give you further instructions in a second." He said, "We'll see if the other two Malfoys decide it's time to get their ass in class."

Morgana gave a nod to Maya when she entered the classroom, and another one as Aylee entered. She didn't feel like responding to the question: wasn't it obvious that she was perfectly well? Or at least, just like she always was? However, it was Aylee. And with Aylee, Morgana actually made an effort.

"I'm good. Ready to start lessons again," she said, just as an older Gryffindor walked into the room, sitting down with the three of them. Morgana didn't think she had met the girl before. She couldn't remember it if she had.

Morgana heard the door open one more time, but she didn't bother to find out who it was. It could be Santa Clause for all she cared. And then the professor arrived. She studied him for a moment, and came to the conclusion that he seemed serious enough. Good.

And then Morgana was paired up with the girl she didn't know who was. She rose and walked around Aylee, sitting down on the other side of the Gryffindor. "I'm Morgana," she said, her voice a monotone, and simply looked at the girl; it was preferable to know the girls' name before she started this lesson. "And I'm born on the 18th of August," she added.

“I’m good thanks Aylee. What about you? Is Kynan taking DADA this year?” She inquired, her mood plummeting slightly when she seen Aylee walking in alone. Sometimes the siblings arrived together. Maya nearly jumped as a sultry looking man entered the room and demanded the attention of the students. Not that it was hard, the atmosphere in the room was full of tension and there wasn’t much conversation happening. Maya was actually glad that the professor, or whatever they were supposed to be calling him, had entered the room and broken the silence.  So this was Wade’s father? He appeared quite young and wasn’t that bad looking either, for a relation of Wade’s.

Ugh God! Jen? seriously? She was regretting taking DADA already. Maya had once been made partner up with Jen when they had to sort out the decorations for the Christmas party. But that was years ago, and from what she had heard Jen had changed since and she usually just avoided the girl. She definitely got the short end of the straw she thought to herself as she resisted the urge to bang her head off the desk. Maya would’ve refused to partner up with Jen, but she didn’t feel like attracting any attention to herself in a classroom full of older students or didn't want to risk looking like a whiny fourth year. Maya waved goodbye to Aylee and Morgana and made her way over to Jen. She gave the seventh year student a tight smile and began wishing that she had been nicer towards her little minion, Evan. "My birthday is 12 September." Maya said, trying to be friendly towards the girl who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.

Wade frowned when his father said he was to be working with Aylee Walters. Aylee, out of all people. But he kept his mouth shut because getting one of your parents to give you detention for talking back was almost as embarrassing as having a crush on Aylee Walters. He smirked as he thought of that, mainly because Ryland was the one with the little-boy crush on the mudblood. I wonder if she knows about Ryland...?

With all of the hate in the world, Wade made his way to where the Ravenclaw was sitting. "February 19th." That was his birthday, the most boring day in the year. Who even cared about the 19th of February? It was the most irrelevant day.

Ryland was late, on the first day. Greeeat. Something was telling him that the class was going to go wrong. He didn't know why, but he almost didn't show up because of it. Ryland had to drag himself out of the Common Room for this.

When he arrived and entered the classroom, his eyes instantly turned to Aylee. Then to Wade. Then to the professor, Kellin. And finally, back to Wade. Whyyyyyyyyyyy? They weren't hard to spot; they were all towards the front of the room. Cautiously and awkwardly, Ryland took a seat at the back.

Victoria knew that she was late for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, again. But to her defense she had an actual valid excuse for it this time, other than her usual 'I'm not a morning person' explanation. She spent the whole afternoon with hear head of house, arranging her schedule differently so all of her classes actually fit together this time. By the time they were done, her class had already started. She ran down the hallway, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately, and towards the classroom.

Thankfully though, she wasn't the only person who was late. She saw a boy walk into the room just a few moments before her. "I had to change my schedule", Victoria explained to the professor as soon as she entered the room. Looking around the classroom she noticed that she was by far the youngest here, which intimidated her a bit. She moved to the back of the room and took an empty seat. Looking at the board she tried to remember as much as she could about Occlumency, which was just the basics.

Aylee smiled at Morgana, and she could tell that she thought her question was a bit silly. Still, Morgana replied and Aylee said, "Cool. I bet you're gonna be in a few of my classes this year!" Then Maya asked something, to which Aylee shook her head. "He's taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he's in the Regular class." Yes, because he barely answered any of the questions. She'd offered to help him with the registration, but apparently he wanted to do it on his own and not cheat. Seriously? Kynan? Not cheat? He's deluded. Suddenly, someone was greeting them. Aylee looked up and saw a seventh-year Gryffindor greeting them. That face was familiar... "Hi! Er, do I know you from somewhere...?" Aylee asked, racking her brains. Then she remembered and exclaimed, "Shah! I tripped over your leg in my first year, didn't I?" Her voice came out a little bit too excited, but she didn't exactly care.

Suddenly, the door opened and in strode a man who Aylee assumed was Leo. The Professor immediately started pairing them up and said that they were smart enough to know what the lesson would be about. Maybe this won't be so bad? Aylee thought, until she heard Leo pair her up with someone. She looked around to see who he was pointing at and saw Wade. What the fuck? No. No. No, she couldn't help but think as Wade came over to sit where Morgana had been sitting earlier. It seemed that Wade was just as excited for them working together as she was, because his voice had, if you noticed, hate in it. "June 10th." So, great, Wade Malfoy, the jerk of the year, would be reading her mind.

Maya Winchester. Christmas Party Girl. Brilliant. Rolling her eyes, Jen watched as the girl made her way towards her. If that brat was going to be the one who read her mind, she would...explode? No, just groan and get on with it. It wasn't like the fourth-year actually had enough talent to see anything of what went on in her mind. It was all a chaotic jumble at the minute.

"4th November," she sighed. "Let's get this over with."

Morgana nodded at Shah and then the girl said her age. Morgana didn't mind that the girl's date was before hers, and she simply sat back in her chair, preparing herself. Her father had used legilimens on her mind, not that she had cared; she never had anything to hide anyways. So she knew the feeling she'd feel, and she knew how to protect herself somewhat. Of course, her concentration would often break.

She looked at Shah then and raised an eyebrow. "Are you waiting for my permission?" she asked, "Just do it."

So Occlumency, okay that seemed fair. But there was the small fact that everyone was pairing themselves off and somehow, Wade and Aylee had chosen to work together. I don't like her anymore, it's all right. Ryland told himself, though he knew very well that it was a lie. Who wouldn't like Aylee? Before he went off into rant about how wonderful the girl was, he turned to the other Ravenclaw girl who had walked in after him. She looked too young to be in the advanced class, but he knew more than anyone how bad it was to be judged by appearances.

"Hi!" he smiled at her, "I guess we can be together...My birthday is August 25th...Oh, and I'm Ryland!" he said. He was trying hard to be nice and friendly when all he wanted was to go back to bed.

Just as Victoria was scanning the room searching for a partner to work with, a Gryffindor boy turned to her and greeted her. "Um...hi", she responded rather clumsily. She was a bit nervous about the task ahead. Not to mention that she didn't have any experience with Occlumency at all, but the thought of someone going through her mind didn't sound that inviting either. Not that she had anything to hide, but she would rather not share some things with everyone. 

"I'm Victoria. And my birthday is... on the 6th of October", she said with a sigh. Damn it. She should have just lied and said March, but that thought came too late. So a guy named Ryland is going to read her thoughts, how fun. "I'll try and think of pretty things then. Unicorns and rainbows. I promise", she said with a chuckle. Seeing that would be a lot better than all the messed up stuff that actually goes through mind.

Lucy was incredibly late for D.A.D.A., but who cared? Her unworthy uncle was the one who would be teaching, and it was already a given that Wade was forced to show up. Taking her time despite how late she already was, Lucy made herself walk all the way up to the classroom. Once there, she swung the door open and looked around. What is going on? Her uncle Kellin was at the front of the classroom, and Ryland was sitting with some random girl. Wade and Aylee were sitting together, and Jen and Shah seemed to be working on something. Together. Cautiously, Lucy walked completely into the room and turned to Kellin. "Do we have a seating chart or something?"

When his niece walked in, Kellin smirked at her. "No, we don't have a seating chart. But you're late, so that's five points off your house." he walked towards the front of the room and saw that mostly everyone was already paired up so he was now ready to begin explaining how to perform the task.

"I'll begin with Occlumency." he said. "To successfully block someone from entering your mind, you must first clear your mind of everything. I mean everything. No emotions, no feelings, no anything. If your boyfriend broke up with you this morning, forget it. If you failed your potions class last year, forget it. You need a clear mind so that the intruder can't find anything." He watched as Lucy took a seat reluctantly and decided to use her as his example. He narrowed his eyes a bit, a habit he had acquired during his early practices, and smirked as he discovered the thoughts inside Lucy's brain. "For example, I know Lucy think I'm arrogant, wicked, immoral and unpleasant. Had she been on time to class, she would have known how to prevent me from reading her thoughts." He moved around the room, seeing who was paired up with whom and then continued. "The person who will be doing the Legilimency will have to say the incantation first. Eventually, I hope you will all be able to do so without the verbal spell, but for now, the incantation will be your best friend." As he said so, Legilimens appeared on the board. "You are to point your wand at the person whose mind you will be entering, say the incantation the right way, and maintain eye contact with your victim."

"Doing so successfully will earn you twenty points for your house, so try to do it well. Begin." he told them as he began to walk around and watched the students in case anyone had questions.

"How did I make it into the advanced class?" Oliver wondered out loud as he slowly made his way towards the classroom. He certainly was not ready for such a commitment! Being in any advanced class meant too much homework and class work to do in one day, and Oliver, being the tree-hugging wimp he was, was not ready for this. He turned around the corner and climbed the short stairs to his classroom, ready to run out in case things got too heavy for him.

Just as he'd touched the door's handle, he overheard the professor's loud voice. Kellin Malfoy, or something like that, was his DADA professor's name. Malfoy. Oliver had heard it before but he couldn't recall where. A bit intimidated by the man's loud voice, Oliver entered the classroom quietly and shyly. Like the inexperienced first year he was. "Professor Malfoy?" Oliver spoke up, though it was barely a whisper. How am I going to do this? Meeting new students was one thing, but getting along with his professors was a whole different concept.

Lance slept late, again. This wasn't the best way to start off a new education system, but he was sure it would get better someday. The first class he had was DADA, one of his favorite classes. It was pretty awkward because he had to take class with older students. Some of them are lovesick teenagers. Lance's goal in his pre-teen years was to become a cool, not lovesick teenager. Placing his hand on the doorknob, and opening the door, he read the chalkboard. Apparently, this professor was Kellin Malfoy, but liked to be called Leo. He entered the classroom, and said, "I'm sorry I'm late, Leo." Lance sat in the back, and hoped that he wouldn't take points from his house. He really didn't understand this "points taken away" thing.