Speak, Memory

First Day of Class

As the boys in the Gryffindor dormitory prepared to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Neville showed his new wand to Ron and Harry. "It took Mr. Ollivander a long time to find the right one for me," Neville said, "but he finally found it, and he's says it's absolutely perfect. He told me it should work better for me than my d--my old one, since it's personally matched and all."

"Yeah, it was great when I got a new wand of my own," Ron smiled at Neville. "It's such an incredible feeling--it just fits you." Harry thought about his own wand and when he bought it from Mr. Ollivander. Which was not what he wanted to be thinking about--

* * *

As soon as breakfast was over, the prefects all gathered their respective Houses and led them to their Common Rooms. Once all of the Gryffindors were seated, Professor McGonagall began to speak.

"It is our great misfortune that we must live through a time of great Dark Magic activity. L-Lord Voldemort is an immensely powerful Dark Wizard who for years terrorized the entire Wizarding community with mass murder and torture. He had many followers as well, known as Death Eaters. V-Voldemort's corporeal being was destroyed on October 31, 1981, but it was resurrected in June of 1994.

"Several Death Eaters are currently being held in the wizards' prison, Azkaban, while the Ministry prepares the cases against them. However, Azkaban is no longer guarded by Dementors, and the Ministry has had to rely on their Aurors, who are professional anti-Dark Arts wizards. In addition, new security Charms have been put on Azkaban, but the Ministry cannot be sure that they will hold.

"V-Voldemort and at least two of Death Eaters are still on the loose. I will give you a pamphlet with the photos, identification and profiles of Voldemort and all of his known active Death Eaters, whether imprisoned or at large." A pamphlet appeared before each student. "I want you to note that Peter Pettigrew, who is still at large, can turn take the form of a rat.

"Now, you must be wondering, what on earth are you to do about all this? First, don't panic. Hogwarts is heavily protected with many ancient magics, and Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort has ever feared. With all due modesty, none of the other professors are to be trifled with either. However, this year all students will be receiving particularly rigorous Defense Against the Dark Arts training. I cannot stress enough though that this is for defensive purposes only; under no circumstances should any of you try to seek out Dark Wizards in order to fight them. If you notice anything suspicious, inform me or another professor at once. This includes any magical objects of whose provenance and workings you are not fully informed of--" Harry saw Ginny turn a bit pale--"and any unusual behavior among your classmates. I shouldn't have to tell you that all rules about being out of bounds must be strictly obeyed. Believe it or not, these rules are in place not to spoil your fun but to keep you safe. Well, I believe that's all. If you have any questions, stay after and I can discuss them with you."

After leaving the Common Room, Harry, Ron and Hermione compared schedules. "Today we all have Charms first," Hermione said, "then Transfiguration, lunch, History of Magic and Defense Against Dark Arts."

"Nice," Harry said. "At least I get to put off Potions for one more day--"

"Blimey, Harry," Ron said, "You really are dedicated to becoming an Auror, aren't you? Hell, I wouldn't continue with Potions even if I had gotten an O on the O.W.L."

"Ron," Hermione said. "You're a prefect; the least you can do is to not be a bad influence."

"Lighten up," Ron said with a touch of defensiveness. "It was just a joke."

"So I guess we'll find out what that Mohan-Gao woman's like," Harry said. Honestly, he thought to himself, Ron and Hermione fought like an old married couple.

"Well she doesn't look evil," Ron said, "and I doubt someone will repeat the Polyjuice trick. And there's no way in hell she could be a worse teacher than Binns, and even if she is, at least she's corporeal so we can do something to her." Hermione gave a disapproving look. "Joke," Ron said.

"Well, I'm interested to meet an American witch," Hermione said. "I wonder which wizarding school she attended."

"The American one," Ron said.

"Ron, there are four American wizarding schools, all of which are quite different from each other, you'd know that if you'd read--"

"Look, guys, can you stop arguing so we can get to Charms on time?" Harry interrupted. "We'll find out about the new professor soon enough."

* * *

Their second class of the day, Transfiguration, had been much anticipated. "This year," McGonagall began, "you will be studying human Transfiguration. Today we will start with the simplest human Transfiguration spell, the Keratinosis, used to alter the length of one's hair for a brief period of time, at most a few hours. To achieve lengthening or shortening, one must form a very clear mental picture of the desired outcome and focus hard while casting the spell. Here, I will demonstrate." McGonagall took several pins out of her hair, allowing it to fall loose. Harry found it strange to see that familiar angular, wrinkled face framed now by loose salt-and-pepper locks that were longer than expected and slightly wavy from being released from their coiffure. "Keratinosis!" McGonagall intoned with a wave of her wand, and her hair grew down to her waist. Pausing a few seconds, she performed the spell again, this time causing her hair to retreat so far into her scalp that she had a buzz cut. With a third casting of the spell, her hair grew out to its original length.

Quickly putting her hair back up with the pins, McGonagall instructed the class, "Practice on yourselves--only yourselves--for the rest of the class. This spell is trickier than it looks, so don't expect to get it perfectly the first time."

Harry took out his wand and imagined his hair shoulder-length. "Keratinosis," he said, and he felt his own hair tickle his face as it grew, stopping at his shoulder-blades. Somewhat longer than what he had been aiming for, but not bad for a first try. After all, Ron's hair had grown down to his ankles and Lavender had been left with only a bit of fuzz on her head. Neville's first try was surprisingly accurate, if rather shorter than the mushroom cut he had attempted. His magical skills had certainly improved, perhaps because of the new wand.

Harry and the rest of the class continued to practice for two periods until the bell rang for lunch. By then, Harry was sure he had the knack of the Keratinosis spell--it was difficult, for sure, and required heaps of concentration, but he had it down. As Harry gathered his books to leave, McGonagall gave him a small smile and said, "Well, Potter, it looks as if you may have inherited some of your father's aptitude for Transfiguration as well as his flying ability." When he thanked Professor McGonagall, Harry felt himself actually blush.

* * *

As the trio sat down with each other for lunch, Harry noticed Luna Lovegood sitting at an empty table all by herself. He went over to her and said, "Hi."

Luna looked up at him and widened her big, pale eyes. "Oh hello, Harry."

Christ this was awkward. "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind sitting with Ron and Hermione and me for lunch," Harry said.

"I'd like that," Luna said in that dreamy voice Harry found so inscrutable. So the two of them got up and joined Ron and Hermione at their table.

"Luna," Hermione began. Apparently Harry wasn't the only awkward one there. "How was your summer?"

"Sweden was beautiful," Luna said. "Daddy and I didn't find a Crumple-Horned Snorckack, but the local wizards and witches said not to feel bad, the Crumple-Horned Snorckack is really rare and very good at hiding itself."

"Look," Ron said, pointing to Hermione's copy of that day's Daily Prophet, "here's an article about the new History of Magic teacher." Hermione began to read out loud:

Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has hired a new History of Magic professor, Ms. Veronica Mohan-Gao, to replace Professor Borian Binns, whose ghost "moved on" to a higher plane last August.

Although only 25, Ms. Mohan-Gao has an interesting history herself. She was born in New York to an American witch and a Singaporean-born British wizard. Ms. Mohan-Gao attended the Massassoit Center for Magical Studies, which is considered to be both the most intellectual and the most progressive of the American wizarding schools. After graduating with top honors, she went on to do several years of postgraduate study in magical history at the prestigious Zhuangzi Institute in China.

"There's postgraduate study?" Ron asked incredulously. "You mean like extended school?"

"Yes, Ron," Hermione answered. She went on:

In addition, Ms. Mohan-Gao has done extensive Archaemagic field-work in India. She has also studied in Japan and participated in Archaemagic research in Ireland and Mali.

"Goodness," Hermione looked up from the newspaper, "she certainly sounds very experienced."

"What the hell's archaemagic?" Ron asked.

"Archaemagy is the study of historical wizarding cultures," said Hermione. "What your brother did for Gringotts in Egypt--that's a form of Archaemagy." Hermione continued reading the article:

In times past, Ms. Mohan-Gao, as a foreigner and outsider to Hogwarts, might have been unable to get a teaching position at the school. However, recent political events have removed the barriers that might have stood in her way.

"Recent political events have removed the barriers that might have stood in her way," Ron repeated. "Is that some sort of euphemism for 'Malfoy's scumbag father's now in jail where he belongs?'"

"Yes, well, mealy-mouthedness is the Prophet's trademark, isn't it?" Hermione said. "Not all wizarding newspapers are this bad--there are some excellent ones in France, Scandinavia, Canada, the States--"

"Oh yes," Luna joined in enthusiastically, "Daddy very much admires the Roswell Review, he thinks it's one of the world's great investigative papers."

"Yes--right," Hermione said uncomfortably. "Anyway, I think that once I'm out of school I'll become a wizarding journalist. I can travel the world; meet all kinds of people; use all sorts of different magics; uncover corruption, wrong-doing, and oppression; and, best of all, campaign for house-elf rights."

"Well, you've certainly had a lot of practice solving mysteries and fighting evil here at Hogwarts," Harry smiled, "even if it was outside the classroom."

"But what newspaper will you write for?" Ron asked. "You said it yourself, the Prophet's crap, and I doubt it'll get any better--"

"I could ask Daddy to hire you for the Quibbler," Luna offered brightly.

"Um, thank you," Hermione said. "I think I'll try to get a job with a foreign newspaper, maybe help one of them launch a British edition. I might even start my own papers, though I'll need a lot of gold for that. Maybe I can talk to the new professor about it--there are lots of wizarding newspapers in the States, she might know something useful."

"How do you think she'll do at Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "Seeing as she went to another school and all that."

"I think it'll be good," Hermione said, "having someone from the outside who'll have a different perspective on things at Hogwarts. And I read that Massassoit is a very open-minded place, as well as having excellent academics."

"But no Quidditch," Ron said. "How can we have a teacher from a place where they play Quodpot, for crying out loud?"

"Ron," said Hermione.

"Joke," said Ron.

* * *

After lunch, the sixth-year Gryffindors headed off for their first class with the new professor. She certainly dressed differently than any of the professors at Hogwarts, Harry thought. Not only was she wearing Muggle clothes, but they were cool Muggle clothes. Her tight black flares showed off her slim hips and long, lean thighs. On top she wore a white see-through blouse with a white tank top underneath. Her shiny black hair had been done up to allow silky tendrils to fall down and frame her sculpted face.

"Hello, everyone," Mohan-Gao began in a clear, deep voice. Her accent was standard East Coast United States. "My name is Professor Mohan-Gao, and if you could please go around the class and say your names I'll do my best to remember them. Sorry if I make any mistakes, I'm new." After everyone had said their name, Mohan-Gao continued. "Alright, I'm not much for rules, so I'll only say four things: Please be on time to class, complete all your assignments on time, do the best work that you can, and treat me and everyone else with the respect that you yourself would like to be treated with. If you have problems with anything, come to me and we can try to work it out together. I came here to be a teacher, not a jailer, so let's make this classroom experience as positive as possible, the last thing I want is to have to do is play the bad guy and give detentions and take away house points. You're all mature enough so that shouldn't be necessary." That seemed like a fairly auspicious beginning to Harry, a teacher who wasn't much for rules and didn't like giving out punishments. "Frankly," Mohan-Gao continued, "I don't plan on giving or taking away any House points. I don't approve of this House system at Hogwarts; I think it pigeonholes students at a far too young age and creates much needless animosity within the community. We didn't have Houses at Massassoit, nor do they have them at the vast majority of the world's wizarding schools. In addition, I find the idea of collective punishments in response to the actions of individuals unfair, and I feel that good deeds and academic excellence should be their own rewards." No one in the class spoke. They'd never heard anyone attack the House system like that. They'd never imagined that anyone could attack the House system; one might as well make a diatribe against glaciers. And of course they were all fiercely loyal to Gryffindor. Harry thought that while in some ways Mohan-Gao had a point, as both a new teacher and an outsider she could be more tactful in her criticism.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Seamus raised his hand. "Yes--Seamus is it?" Mohan-Gao called on him.

"Excuse me professor," Seamus asked, "but are you Irish?"

Mohan-Gao gave a small smile. "My maternal grandparents were and Irish-American wizard and an African-American witch. So yes, I'm one-quarter Irish."

"And your dad?" asked Lavender. "He was Chinese?"

"My paternal grandparents were a Chinese-Singaporean wizard and a Tamil-Singaporean witch," Mohan-Gao answered. "However, my father grew up in England and attended Hogwarts before moving to the U.S. as a young man. Well if that's all, I guess I'll begin.

"As you are all too painfully aware, Voldemort has returned. Therefore, Professor Dumbledore has decided that it is essential that all Hogwarts students learn about the true origins of magic, the history of Muggle-wizard relations, pureblood prejudice, and last, but not least, as much as we know about Voldemort himself and the first war fought against him.

"Many students fail to take the History of Magic seriously because they feel that it isn't 'magical' enough so to speak; just a bunch of dry dates and facts that any Muggle could memorize. Well, they couldn't be more wrong. Not only is understanding the History of Magic crucial for dealing with the present wizarding world, it is crucial for gaining knowledge of one's own magical self, for connecting with the magical core deep within us that makes us all witches and wizards.

"So we'll start from the beginning. The universe was created about thirteen billion years ago in a tremendous release of energy known as the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang there was literally nothing, no universe. The Big Bang is the origin of everything in existence, including magic.

"About 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth, Sun, moon and all the other planets in our solar system were first formed as some of the energy and matter released by the Big Bang began to condense. This is why the Earth and the celestial bodies are so full of magic--because their formation was the distillation of much of the original magic released by the Big Bang.

"For about a billion years the Earth underwent many transformations, until the first, simplest forms of life appeared. Over billions of years more and more complex forms of life evolved, some endowed with the primordial magic, and some not. Finally, around 2.4 million years ago, genus Homo evolved, distinguished from its fellow primates by its considerably larger brain.

"Homo continued to evolve, attaining larger and larger brain size and more and more complex intelligence. At last the modern Homo sapiens emerged around 100,000 years ago. These early humans had all the mental capabilities of humans today, and some individuals contained within them some of the Deep Magic. However, magical and non-magical people alike were very ignorant, and did not yet understand either the natural phenomena around them or the mysterious occurrences that seemed to result accidentally from the emotions and desires of certain individuals. For these earliest witches and wizards were causing spontaneous magic without even realizing it; if they were cold, a bundle of twigs would catch fire; if they were menaced by a wolf, that wolf would suddenly become docile and friendly.

"Eventually, both Muggles and wizards began to harness their powers. About seven thousand years ago, humans created the first civilization in Sumer, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now Iraq. For homework tonight you'll be reading about the ancient Mesopotamian wizards and their relationship with the Muggles in their society. Class dismissed."

As the class made their way towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione enthused to Ron and Harry about Professor Mohan-Gao and her class. "Wasn't that absolutely fascinating? Before I came to Hogwarts I was always interested in evolution and history--now we'll be learning about how it all ties into to the development of magic. I can't wait to do the reading tonight--I'm so eager to find out more about those ancient Mesopotamian wizards."

"It does seem interesting so far," Harry said. "Now that I've dropped Divination it looks like I'll only have one class this year that I don't like."

"Still," Ron said, "I'm going to miss having a nap during History of Magic. They always helped me feel so refreshed."

"Ron," said Hermione.

"Joke," said Ron.

"Guys," said Harry, "let's hurry up for Lupin's class."

* * *

Professor Lupin smiled warmly at the seated sixth-year Gryffindors. "Hello, everyone, it's great to be back, I've really missed teaching you."

"We've missed you too, Professor," Dean said.

"Now, I don't need to tell any of you that practical training in Defense Against the Dark Arts is more essential for you than ever," Lupin said. "Despite your criminally negligent 'education' in the subject last year--" Harry noticed an uncharacteristic tone of anger in Lupin's voice as he said that--"I was most pleased to hear that many of you took the initiative yourself in studying defensive spells, and everyone in this class achieved at least and E in the Defense Against Dark Arts O.W.L.

"However, this year we will not just be studying hexes and jinxes and counter-jinxes. This summer I did a good deal of studying of my own, with some of the master witches and wizards of the Far East. I learned from them the rudiments of Oriental magical defense techniques, which I shall be teaching you.

"For today, however, I would like you to get into pairs and practice the Expelliarmus, used to disarm one's opponent of his wand. Before you begin, I shall demonstrate with Harry." Harry went up to the front of the class. He was certainly no stranger to using the Expelliarmus spell; he'd even taught it to the D.A. last year. He wondered if he might even be able to "outdraw" Lupin. "Neville," Lupin said, "on the count of three, Harry and I will attempt to disarm each other. Could you do the honors of counting down for us?" Neville nodded, looking slightly intimidated.

"One," Harry prepared himself "two," Harry felt a surge of anticipation, "THREE!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew out of his hand. He felt rather disappointed; he couldn't beat Lupin after all, not yet, anyway--

"Alright," Lupin said pleasantly, "Harry pair up with Hermione, Neville with Ron, Padma with Seamus and Dean with Lavender. I'll do the countdowns out loud, and on the count of three you try to disarm your partner. Ready?"

They practiced for the rest of the class. Even though she was his best friend, Harry was pleased to note that he beat Hermione the majority of the time. "That's why Lupin put us together," Harry thought to himself, "he knows we're the two best in the class, we'll only improve by practicing against each other." Watching Ron and Neville, Harry felt glad for Neville that he was winning about half the time while at the same time wishing that Ron would beat Neville roundly. Harry certainly wanted his other best friend to become an expert at the Expelliarmus spell as well--

Class over, Harry and Ron went back to the Gryffindor dormitory while Hermione headed off to her Arithmancy class.