DADA: Lesson One - Habit

Friday, 2 September 1921
1:00 pm

The doors to the classroom shut, and Roisin made her way to the front of the room, stopping next to the blackboard. “Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts,” she said evenly to the students who were sitting at their desks. The door was not locked, but there was no way for anyone to sneak in without her knowing.

“When it comes to defense, there is one thing that you must do – practice. I’m sure you have all heard the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’, but perfection is not possible.”

Rose turned to the board and with a flick of her wand, words appeared:
DEFENSE = HABIT

“What practice actually does is turn thought into habit. When you no longer have time to think – when you’re tired, startled, or frightened – habit is what answers for you.”

She drew her attention back to the students, facing them.

“Something that I want to be sure everyone in here understands: you will fail. You will be slow. That is okay. The most important thing is that you do not give up – that you continue trying. Repetition is what will help you develop the habits you need to defend yourself successfully. You are learning, so be kind to yourself.”

Rose gestured briefly towards the far wall, where a line of wooden practice dummies stood waiting, motionless.

“We will begin working with our friends soon, but first I wanted to ask something. Well, two things really. When something goes wrong – do you rush to fix it, or do you stop and think? And what do you do first when something is coming at you unexpectedly?”

---

Welcome to DADA! I am very excited for what I have planned for this term, and I hope y’all enjoy it!

I will be updating for the first time on 10 January, around this time.

You will fail.

Ellen did not like to fail. Or be behind, for that matter. That was one of the reasons she was pushing so hard this term. To be one of the best. Of course, she told herself, failing in a classroom was not the same as failing when it mattered. That was the point. Still, the word sat wrong in her chest, like a stone in a shoe.

When something went wrong, Ellen did not rush. After all, rushing invites mistakes. She stopped, assessed, and then acted. Ideally, with enough composure that no one could tell there had been a problem at all. But she kept that bit to herself.

And when something came at her unexpectedly?

“Move,” she answered, simply. “First.” And she almost further elaborated on that, but again chose to keep it within her head. Or.. maybe she should? Was this a rhetorical question?

It was barely the first real day of school and the boy was already over it. They'd just come from lunch, and Benji had become accustomed to a nice long nap as his belly digested whatever he'd consumed. Now, he was being forced to remain awake in Professor Byrne's class.

Except - he remembered she didn't like being called that. For a moment, when she'd told him in first year - he'd called her 'Lady' not sure what else he was supposed to say. Her first name had felt too informal for a professor, but she'd assured him 'Rose' was fine.

Did he dare call her that in front of all the others?

He did not. he'd decided.

“When it comes to defense, there is one thing that you must do – practice. I’m sure you have all heard the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’, but perfection is not possible.”

Benji had practiced, more than he'd ever wanted to in his first two years at Hogwarts. He'd been forced to, his feet often hexed to the ground while his old defense professor had shot spell after spell at him - most he wasn't able to deflect.

It wasn't that Benji wanted to reminisce on these things, but recent events had sort of...brought all the bad to the forefront, making it hard not to think about. He watched Professor Byrne meander around the classroom, explaining how important it was to practice and to allow themselves to fail. She was a sweet lady, but telling Benji he was allowed to fail at anything was a recipe for disaster.

“When something goes wrong – do you rush to fix it, or do you stop and think? And what do you do first when something is coming at you unexpectedly?”

He thought for a moment, but realized usually he didn't think when unexpected things happened. He just acted. James was working on it with him, trying to get Benji to a place where he used his brain more and his brawn less, but it was a battle. The boy had had one - allowable - coping mechanism for the better part of thirteen years before he'd come to them.

"I think when something unexpected is happening, you have to rely on instincts," Benji said. "There's not much time for sitting and analyzing when an 'incendio' is coming your way."

Defense Against the Dark Arts. It wasn't a subject she disliked—certainly not—but it was another class she could've done without on the first real day of classes. The summer had been long; no one could argue that, but she hadn't come out of it feeling rested. Too much had happened; too much was still happening. While Rae was relieved to return to more neutral ground where she knew the rules and even the chaos made sense, sitting through her classes had been...rough.

Already, she'd sat through three of them, snagging the break while some ran off to divination. All she'd learnt was how locked into summer her head still was. Rae groaned with each professor who had launched into all the assignments they could expect for the term and all the topics they would need to cover before the following summer. Logically, she knew they'd get through it like they did every other year, but it didn't make her feel any better.

Thankfully, it was already about to be the weekend. That would allow the girl a chance to more fully settle back into being there. Next week, she would make realer attempts. Today, she could barely focus. It was just her luck that, with her brain still trying to reboot, the professor already had questions for them.

Slumped against her boyfriend, Rae pondered the pair of questions.

When things went wrong? Didn't they always? Just this summer alone had proven as much. It was one thing after another, and the Slytherin girl hadn't been able to handle any of it in the way she wanted. So, what did she do? Rush, or stop to think? Then there was the matter of things suddenly coming at you. Physically? Socially? Mentally?

She needed more context. Had someone thrown something at her, or had someone simply changed their mind without warning?

"I agree with Benji – and Ellen – but only because he chose something so extreme. If it's only unexpected but not an immediate danger to me, I'd stop and think. Same for if it's actually about to hit me or a concept being thrown my way. There's a reason Gryffindors die the soonest. It doesn't hurt to consider your actions before taking them – when the situation allows for it." Unexpected didn't always mean immediate, only something not anticipated. Rae wasn't the sort to jump before knowing what she was jumping to avoid or what she was moving toward.

It was one of the ways she and Benji differed, and early on, it had been a source of conflict. The sweets shop had been the perfect storm. When Tommy suddenly ratted them out, Benji took off at a sprint, and she remained behind, insisting Ren not run. The pair walked out of the candy shop after, cool and composed, the subject of no one's suspicion.

Benji hadn't liked that. He'd rather they all sink on a silly principle. If she had to do it again, Rae supposed she would've run, too. It wasn't because all these years later she thought he had had the right of it – she didn't; he was a rubbish thief with ideas like that – but because she'd seen for herself how much it had hurt him to think she didn't care about him. Every spot of trouble had a price tag, and the girl could be paid to endure. Not with galleons, but with the things she valued. If it was worth it, trouble was merely a necessary evil.

As for when things went wrong...

"If it goes wrong, I fix it. If 'wrong' doesn't affect me, I let it be someone else's problem." A bleeding heart she was not.

The things that caused her discomfort, she addressed. Everything else was for the birds.

Mia Star was lucky. None of her classmates could hear her real thoughts. If she said the truth? She didn’t stop and think, or rush to fix. She froze. Something coming at her out of the blue? Frozen solid.

Ellens’ “Move” & “First” were straightforward. Benji wanted to ‘rely on instincts’. Ruth Elliot was balanced yet -ruthless - Mia Star didn’t want to be on the end of ‘someone else’s problem’. Didn’t sound fun.

Mia had time to think of an answer, her First Year brain repeating her ‘speech’ she kept prepared.

When called on Mia said, “I -personally- think and analyze first. And if it’s unexpected I try to use what I already know in that new situation.” She DID stop and she DID try. She was simply stretching… “I agree with you Professor - Defense = Habit which is like practicing until it’s instict. So… I guess both are good to practice towards.” Mia rambled a bit as she tried to wrap up.

Her very first DADA lesson and she already felt like she was learning.

Defence against the Dark Art. Bit ironic. Last year it had sounded so out of this world, removed from all things veridical. Something you'd practice and learn about only in theory, intangible and abstract. Beyond her realm of the fathomable.

Cautious tales, ghastly stories of evil men, and certainly things that never happened to anyone you knew.

Well.

Maevie had learned the hard way that true evil existed. She had the scars to prove it and the memories to endure. What were the likelihoods of encountering the same fate twice? Low, she hoped, but yet she'd sworn herself to never again be helpless.

And hence she sat with all the focus she could muster, leaned onto her desk in eagerness to jot it all down, eyes never leaving the pacing form of Professor Byrne.

Practice until defence turns into habit.

Maevie wrote that in large letters at the top of her parchment.

She hadn't been able to practice, not when she wasn't allowed to use magic at home or at the summer facility. Yesterday had been the first day that she had rummaged forth her wand again, buried away under heaps of clothes and books and stuffed animals. Having never lived with magic until a year ago, Maevie hadn't gotten used to the fact she was a witch quite yet. Or maybe she had just gotten unused to it during all these months away.

The few attempts she's had since her arrival back at school had been...interesting.

But Professor Byrne said that was okay and to continue trying and Maevie nodded enthusiastically, as though that motivational speech had been directed at her personally.

Never give up. Repetition. Her quill scratched quietly, then added everything her peers gave in answer to the posed questions.

With a lull in the conversation, Maevie raised her hand sky-high. "First duck and then fight back!"

He was certain that Defense Against the Dark Arts was on his list of classes he only wanted to know about in theory. The last thing he wanted were hexes aimed at him. If he did want hexes aimed at him he could have joined dueling before it got axed. Instead he celebrated one less risky thing happening in the castle.

However, now that he had an interest in potentially becoming a healer there was a part of him who wanted dueling back. After all, dueling would result in some interesting injuries in his idiotic classmates. Blinking he realized as he sat in his seat half listening to class that he would join the next campaign to re-start dueling. Hell, he might join the next campaign to re-start quidditch.

Though maybe just people practicing for this class might get him some injuries in the hospital wing.

The catch was it sounded like he was meant to be one of the injured. Certainly he knew he wasn’t the best at hexing people. He more preferred to not have a reason to defend himself. This class was sounding much more like a class that wasn't for him. Hopefully he didn't regret showing up to much as the mistake was already likely made just because he enjoyed Dark Arts last term.

He said “ Wouldn’t it be smarter to evaluate a situation by potential impact to yourself more than the right or wrong of it. If a situation is risky sometimes the best thing to do is to get out of it. “ For him that went double for unexpected situations that appeared to be going south.

He’d let people like Rae fix situations. He’d let people like Benji take risks and call it instinct. As for the others, good luck. He might pull one of the younger years to safety with him as he wasn’t a fighter. He had every intention of looking out for himself if a situation really started to look like it was going wrong and get out of it.

Tilly was tired. It always took time to get back into the swing of things, and classes were quick to zap her energy reserves. Sitting in classes when all she wanted to do was hang out in one of the greenhouses, getting things back in order was like torture. But, Alas, here she was.

Sitting behind Benji and Rae, she tried to pay attention. She really did, but it was hard when her mind was elsewhere. Healer Br… no, wait. Professor Bryne was talking. She heard the words defense and habit. Cool. Talking about Defense in Defense Against the Dark Arts. That was probably a good way to start.

The book was open, her notebook closed, quill still in her bag and eyes on the windows. The voices of fellow students filtered in one ear and out the other. Until Rae started talking. The beginning was washed out quickly, but the end penetrated her brain, “There's a reason Gryffindors die the soonest. It doesn't hurt to consider your actions before taking them – when the situation allows for it."

Having no idea why she said what she said Tilly crossed her arms and gave Rae the stink eye, then kicked the back of her chair and waited for her to turn around so she could childishly stick her tongue out at her friend and mouth the word ‘RUDE!’ Yes, she was a 5th year. No, she didn't act like it.

She tried to pay attention to the rest, students raising their hands and putting in their thoughts. Tilly, however, kept her mouth shut. And honestly, Rae was probably right, she usually was.

Rose listened to each student carefully, processing what they said they’d do. She nodded after each response and focused on each student.

“You’ve all given me things you can do in the moment… some rely more on instinct, some on thought, some on caution, and some on speed.” Rose, who had been leaning against the wall next to the blackboard, now pushed off and moved away from it as she continued to look at the young people before her.

“I want to make something clear. None of those are wrong. But they’re not reliable yet.” She held her hands behind her back as she walked the length of the room. “Instinct keeps you alive – until it doesn’t. Thinking keeps you precise – until you don’t have time to think. Leaving is often the best option, however you can’t always leave.”

With a flick of her wand, the training dummies moved away from the wall, their wheels squeaking. “Wands out. Stand up.”

As they stood, the desks shifted neatly to the sides of the room, leaving plenty of space in the middle. A white line could be seen about ten feet back from the dummies. “Behind the line. Do not cross it, but you may stand on it.”

While the students moved to the line, Rose continued in a steady voice, “This is not about what you think you’ll do; it’s about what you actually do when you aren’t ready.”

Rose stopped next to the first dummy.

“In a moment, each of these figures will send a spell at each of you – don’t worry, it won’t hurt if you get hit, but it will make your timing very clear. You may attempt a shield charm, or any other defensive spell you think may help protect you. You can not attack, and you may not step across the line. Your goal is to protect yourself, even if that means by simply ducking.”

Once the guidelines were explained, she turned to the students, her wand up. “Hold your position when you are ready,” she instructed.

Once the final student stopped shifting their position, she flicked her wand. The dummies were set to randomly time their attacks, so one may go immediately, the other may go after a minute or two.

---

Ooookay! Let’s give this a shot. I hope I explained it well enough. Your dummy will fire a simple zapping-type charm at you, and you have to defend yourself. As Rose said, no offensive spells… only defensive. You may even just physically duck if you like. Some of you will get hit, some will not. You will decide if the action you take is successful, or if you get hit. Please keep your Willow in mind.

I will update again on 16 January… Please reach out if you’d like me to make some decisions for you!

The only thing reliable defense against the dark arts was avoiding it. Though having spent a rather large amount of time at his grandparents shop on Knockturn Alley he knew things happened. The one thing he agreed with was leaving was the best option. There was no sense trying to risk relying on instinct or speed in an unknown situation.

This was definitely not his subject. With a slight huff he slowly moved from his desk towards the line. Or more accurately he moved to a place about a pace behind the line. If a dummy was going to send a spell being a bit further back would give him more time.

Not that he had any idea what he’d do against a spell.

The catch was it wasn’t a person sending it. Would vanishing the dummy count as an attack? Probably. So he debated his other option. Pointing his wand in front of him he conjured a large trunk in front of him as he ducked to hit the ground behind it.

As for where the spell the dummy sent went. He had no idea. The spell either went over his head or hit the trunk. Either way he didn’t care as he didn’t get hit.

He didn’t care his classmates thought him a coward for ducking out of the way. Though he did realize his position definitely left him more hittable and at a disadvantage if there was a next spell. Shit.

THWACK!

"Oi!" Rae protested, spinning around to see what had collided with her chair. All she found was Matilda, tongue out, as if she meant to make some sort of point. "What the hell, Tills?" What had that been for? Unfocused as she was, the girl never wracked her brain for anything that might have caused offense, but had she done so, she'd have quickly come to the conclusion that her friend's firm kick was uncalled for.

There was more she wanted to say, and answers she wanted to demand but the professor was moving the lesson along and her mind had now sharpened to the point she felt she might be able to pay proper attention.

Shame. It was far too early to be learning anything.

"Wands out. Stand up.”

And so it began. With her millionth groan of the day, Rae rose to her feet. Once the classroom settled from its rearranging, she took up a position just behind the line. There, she waited while the professor continued with her explanations and the dummies took up their own positions. For the briefest moment, the Slytherin became excited at the thought they might be duelling. It wouldn't be the full thing, what with it being against dummies and all, but Merlin, was this the part where she got to unleash her fury?

She was ready.

Just name the hex and she'd get it done.

Point her to her dummy and she'd annihila—

"Your goal is to protect yourself, even if that means by simply ducking.”

Rae deflated. Logic told her she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this class was on defense, but there were still tendrils of disappointment creeping their way through her. Maybe during another class then.

The dummy took aim.

Zap!

"Protego!" It all happened in a flash. Within seconds of being cast, the spell ricocheted off her shimmering shield charm before shooting off in Bear's direction. Oh, shit.

"Bear, watch out!" She'd only been trying to avoid being zapped, not trying to roast her friend.

Tulip tended to sit at the back in most classes, sitting at the front meant people noticed you ore especially the professors. She often sat away from people too, but that was less choice than developing the sort of caustic personality that made others not want to be tarred with your brush. She was fine with it, her sisters were the social ones, even Briar, who had her own little weirdo friends. DADA was no different, she liked her piece at the back of the room, even if it was likely they would be forced to do so group work.

Tulip was also happy the DADA professor had changed, no more Laurence and her crackpot ideas, the room also had a less creepy vibe which was a plus.

“We will begin working with our friends soon, but first I wanted to ask something. Well, two things really. When something goes wrong – do you rush to fix it, or do you stop and think? And what do you do first when something is coming at you unexpectedly?”

The Gryffindor smiled, there was a simple solution to when things went wrong, "When something goes wrong you hide the evidence and leg it." she mused, as to how she would deal with something coming at you, "Depends on what it is, you fit the response to the thing coming at you."

“Instinct keeps you alive – until it doesn’t. Thinking keeps you precise – until you don’t have time to think. Leaving is often the best option, however you can’t always leave.” “Wands out. Stand up.”

Tulip looked confused, trying to make sense of the professors comment, "Surely when instinct fails to keep you alive you're dead and it's all a mute point." she mused getting to her feet and pulling her wand out of her robe pocket.

“In a moment, each of these figures will send a spell at each of you – don’t worry, it won’t hurt if you get hit, but it will make your timing very clear. You may attempt a shield charm, or any other defensive spell you think may help protect you. You can not attack, and you may not step across the line. Your goal is to protect yourself, even if that means by simply ducking.”

Tulip was liking this lesson more and more, "What? We're actually learning to defend against Dark magic rather than conjuring it?" That's a turn up for the books." she said squaring up to one of the training dummies. When you lived in a house of seven girls you learnt how to defend yourself quickly, especially around those times of the month. Whilst they weren't allowed to use magic at home, things got thrown about a lot and ducking was a skill. Of course the sisters still fell out with each other at school and then magic was fair game. Tulip knew her fair share of defensive magic, but her practical charms were better.

She watched some of the other students and thought of her options and pointed her wand at a different Dummy from the one in front of her, "Accio Dummy" she said aiming to use the other dummy as a shield, she saw the zapping spell hit her Dummy shield but she forgot about the momentum of the Dummy and had to catch it, stumbling slightly off balance and ending up embracing the Dummy. This just made Tulip laugh it was hilarious but at least she now had a more permeant thing to hide behind

Maevie continued to scribble down every piece of information Professor Byrne offered but they had finally reached the practical part of the lesson. Eagerly, Maevie sat down her quill and grabbed her wand instead, standing from her chair just as it began to move itself away. Desks and chairs scraped noisily over the floor, neatly lining themselves against the walls and in their stead training dummies rolled into the now empty space.

As told, Maevie moved to stand behind the white line, facing one of the dummies. Listening to what was about to come, it was clear her option would be limited. She didn't even know any defensive spells yet. She'd seen some of the older students cast them, had heard the incantations. And she had tried them herself, once or twice.

But it had become very apparent very quickly that Maevie's magic simply refused to even send a spark of protection through her wand. No matter how hard she had concentrated, no invisible shield had appeared. Ducking and dodging would be her best bets today.

Professor Byrne gave the signal to ready themselves and Maevie tugged away her wand, hands free, feet slightly apart and in front of each other. With a soft bend in her knees she waited, eyes fixed on the dummy across, determined to do the best with what she got.

A flick of a wand and one of the dummies already shot its first attack. Maevie resisted the urge to look around and see how the others were doing, forcing herself to keep her eyes ahead so she wouldn't miss her turn. It was hard to take the situation all too serious. They were in a classroom, with a teacher and dummies. It didn't feel particularly threatening or fear-inducing but she supposed that was the point.

Train their instincts, their reaction time until it could actually help them in the real world.

The dummy raised its wooden arm at last, a spell shooting from the wand pointed at her legs and Maevie jumped, right on time to hear the hex hit the ground just behind her feet. "Ha!", she cheered, pointing a finger at her dummy in triumph but the thing wasn't done yet.

Another spell barrelled her way and Maevie ducked, hitting the ground flat with a muffled oof, head snapping up, eyes widening when the next spell was already halfway across the space, coming straight for her head.

She scrambled sideways just as it shot past her, pushing to her feet but too slow this time. The third charm hit her in the shoulder, sending a zapping sting down her arm, all the way into the tips of her fingers and she stumbled to one knee. "Ouch," she mumbled, rubbing the spot with her hand.

Benji grinned, stretching out his legs in front of him as he leaned back in his chair, his arm slung lazily over Rae's shoulders as it always was. His eyes flicked to hers with amusement and he gave a little 'tsk', just before a hard thump whacked into the back of Rae's chair.

He turned with his girlfriend, his eyebrows coming together as he looked at Matilda and then back at Rae. Apparently the Gryffindor quip hadn't landed well with the lion, but deciding it was none of his business, he turned back around.

“Wands out. Stand up.”

Benji obeyed, like the good little Hufflepuff he was, groaning only slightly as he pulled himself to his feet. Byrne was an okay one, he figured - at least they wouldn't be sitting about listening to lectures for the entire hour.

"What? We're actually learning to defend against Dark magic rather than conjuring it?"

Ah, good ol' one-brain-celled Tulip. Normally, Benji didn't make it his problem to engage the girl who seemed to like chaos for chaos's sake, but it was his mum she was poking jabs at. "Well it does make sense, doesn't it, Asquith? Considering this is Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the old class was just Dark Arts." Smart cookie, that one. An entire yet spent in his mum's class and she hadn't worked out the distinction.

He twirled his wand between his fingers, nearly missing as his dummy shot the first spell at him. Defensive spells only. Boo. He ducked, skirting out of the way of the spell, and flicked his wand quickly, "Expelliarmus!" Where others might want to shield, Benji was of the mind to not get attacked a second time.

It seemed the most logical at the end of the day.

Roisin stood in silence, watching as each student worked out what to do. She didn’t react as they
moved, just let them figure out what to do on their own. It was important that she understood where everyone’s strengths and weaknesses were, so that perhaps she could help them overcome the things standing in their way.

“Stop.” Her voice cut through the sounds of spells being thrown, her wand making a quick movement through the air. The dummies immediately stopped and reset – returning to where they had originally been before beginning the exercise. When everything was back in its place, she stepped forward, into the space between the students and the dummies.

“You all found a way to not get hit; some moved, some ducked, some put something between yourselves and the spell, some of you cast. That’s instinct. Instinct is useful and keeps you alive in the moment. But instinct can be inconsistent.”

She let that settle for a moment.

“Distance. Timing. Luck. All of those can change. You won’t always have this much space between you and your opponent. You won’t always be lucky. Habit can help though. If you know what you’re going to do before you have to do it, then you can think ahead and eventually turn the situation around so that the other has to be on the defensive side.”

She made her way back to the spot she had originally been standing in, beside the dummies and outside of the practice area. “We are going to do it again. Right now. We’re repeating the exercise. You will still be behind the line. Only defend yourself. Do not attack.”

Rose paused momentarily. “For the next few seconds – consider what you did before. Could you do it again? Would it be a smart thing to choose as your main defense? Is there something your opponent could do with what you did to use it against you?”

Silence… thirty seconds or so. Rose wanted them to reflect. At the end of the moment, she raised her wand.

“You now know what is coming and what to expect. You should be able to react quicker this time. Will you do the same thing again, or have you realized that action is something you can’t rely on?”

Rose flicked her wand, and the dummies once again came to life.

---

Sorry for the delay. Brain has not been braining.

Redundant? Perhaps, but that’s on purpose when talking about habit. Feel free to change your method of defense this time. If what you did before is something you don’t think you can do again, then try something else. No one is wrong, and no one will fail.

As last time, same rules: do not cross the line, do not attack, only defend.

I will update again on January 22.

Thankfully, Professor Byrne halted the dummies and their attacks. Maevie probably wouldn't have made it out of the way should hers have decided to keep the fire coming at its ridiculous pace. Maybe it had sensed her incapability to defend herself through magic and had wanted her to dance like she had. The sick thing.

Giving her arm a shake, Maevie got back on her feet, listening to the professor's words.

So, essentially, she wanted her to do it again. Duck and jump and roll out of the way because there wasn't anything else she could do. Maybe in a real life scenario she could hie behind something, like a shelf or a desk. But there wasn't anything for her to shelter behind for this exercise, nothing she didn't have to conjure up first like Bear had.

But she couldn't do that.

It was well enough though. She supposed it was all just training then. Physical, instead of magical. Besides, you never knew when you ended up without a wand, for whatever reason, so practicing dodging wasn't all too bad of an idea.

Professor Byrne moved towards the wall again, readying everyone to do it all again.

“For the next few seconds – consider what you did before. Could you do it again? Would it be a smart thing to choose as your main defense? Is there something your opponent could do with what you did to use it against you?”

It sure wasn't the greatest option to chose as her main defence. She'd get tired at one point or another and when she finally began to slow, her opponent had made an easy target out of her.

Her gaze trained on the dummy across, her feet back in their defensive stance, Maevie waited for the attack to begin. This time, it shot at her right away.

She slid to the left, avoiding the spell as it zipped past, and immediately crouched down low. The second spell ruffled her hair as it shot overhead but it harmlessly hit the ground at her back. She dodged the third and fourth spell too, breath coming in quicker, movements slowing, and when she shot upright the dummy finally managed a hit.

It caught her in the stomach, zapping through her body and she froze for a moment before stumbling sideway, straight into another student.

---

feel free to be stumbled into by Maevie <3

Professor Byrne had given clear instructions for defensive spells only.

She'd said they couldn't attack, only defend.

There went Tulip and Benji using offensive spells anyway, while Rae had restrained herself to the use of a basic shield – one that ended up ricocheting toward her classmate without intervention and causing more harm than either of them had. She hoped Bear was alright, but the girl didn't have the focus needed to think about it when she was so busy considering her next move.

Already, the professor had returned to her lecture, giving the same instructions, but as her boyfriend and the Gryffindor girl had proven, when it came to the defense against the dark arts professor – not to be confused with the dark arts professor, as Tulip seemed to like doing – rules were optional.

If that was the case, why cast another shield?

Rae had never been the sort to cower behind protection. Fiery as she was, the girl had always preferred offence as her firm defence. It was a fact well proven each time she'd taken to the block for duelling. Dodging? Shielding? Hiding? Those hadn't been her strategy since her first year and had never truly been effective even then. If you wanted a threat to leave you alone, you had to give them ample reason. That was the way of the world. The real monsters didn't stop until they were made to, and her diligent wand work had made her very capable of providing such incentive.

Will you do the same thing again, or have you realised that action is something you can’t rely on?”

No, it was safe to say Rae wouldn't be the only sucker following the rules this time around.

Wand once again at the ready, she walked back up to the line, but before she could take aim, there came Little Maevie stumbling right into her. It caused the Slytherin to stagger a few steps before righting them both.

"You alright? Looks like it got you good on that last one." At least, she assumed as much with the way Rae could feel the faint traces of static clinging to the girl.

In her moment of distraction, her own dummy sent a spell right at them. Her brain had less than a fraction of a second to think before her body pulled her and Maevie out of the way.

Again and again it shot, unrelenting, but Rae had the perfect remedy.

"Expulso!" See, she could break rules, too, and Merlin did send the dummy flying.

Beautiful. Chef's kiss. Sometimes she amazed even herself.

”Bear, watch out!"

Those frightening words. Coming from Rae they were even more frightening as that meant something big was coming at him. In his current position all he could do was crawl a bit out of the way hoping to dodge. Thankfully, he’d managed to get out of the way.

Then as the exercise ended he stood. The tactic he’d taken before of hitting the ground and putting something in front of himself wouldn’t be repeated. Standing or maybe even squatting would have been a better idea.

Even if he thought of what he could have done better, he didn’t really want to have to do it again. Tulip had a better idea of recruiting the dummy to hide behind. In fact those attacking seemed to have better idea in all this. Incapacitating one’s enemy was far better than ducking and dodging. Even if it wasn’t the instructions others were succeeding with that tactic better than he could by defending.

He pointed his wand at the dueling dummy and said “ Incarcifors “ hoping to turn it into a cage for itself. In his mind he figured that had to count as defensive. It was also ingenious. He smiled at his own attempt.

Naturally he still ducked out of the way of anything coming in his direction. Still standing he had the ability to move more than before.

Watching the chaos – mostly Maevie getting zapped and stumbling into Ruth – Roisin smirked. No one was seriously injured… she’d made sure of that. Still, she caught Ruth using an offensive spell. She’d noticed a couple others use them before, in the first set, and she hadn’t addressed it. Mostly because this was the first lesson and she was using this as a benchmark for where the students were skill-wise.

“Stop.” With a flick of her wand, the dummies stopped and moved back to their spots along the wall, resting because their job was now done.

“Very good work, everyone. I did notice that some of you tried to end the problem instead of defending against it. That makes sense; if something is attacking you, stopping it feels like control. But, that often leads to escalation which is when bad things happen.” She paused and looked at everyone (not just the students who hadn’t followed orders).

“Offense and defence are not the same skill. Ending a threat is not the same as surviving one. When I say defence only it is because I am asking you to practice restraint and control. The ability to protect yourself without escalating the situation.”

She thought about the actions in the Dark Tower in March. Gideon had told her every detail, especially when they found out about the trial.

“We do not always want to completely demolish our target. Sometimes we simply need to incapacitate them so they can do no more harm and they can be apprehended.”

Perhaps they’d see the connection to those events. But that was for them to figure out, and ultimately not the point of the lesson.

“The point of this exercise wasn’t about power, or winning, or proving what you know. It was about showing me, and yourselves, what you reach for first. That is your starting point when it comes to learning how to defend yourself. Practice one defensive response until it feels dull,” Roisin said. “That’s when it stops being a reaction and starts being a habit.”

She paused for effect, her hands behind her back.

“Any questions?”

---

I am so sorry for the delay, once again. I have been struggling this past week. BUT enough excuses.

Here is the final update! I will be posting a final, closing post in a few days to wrap up the lesson and respond to any questions or comments your student may have. A bit after that, I will lock the thread for grading.

Lesson two is set to begin on January 31.

She still felt the zap of electricity in her chest when she barrelled into Rae, luckily the other girl managed to right them though. "I'm alright," Maevie breathed, rubbing her chest to ease the lingering sting there. "Sor--"

Rae pulled her away, out of the path of her own dummy's spell that shot right at them. Maevie stumbled backwards, keeping behind the older Slytherin as she retaliated, eyes wide in awe. With one final push, Rae catapulted the dummy across the room. "Yes! Good job, Rae!", Maevie whooped, hopping in place and clapping her hands excitedly. "That was awesome!"

She needed to ask her to teach her how she did all these things, Maevie thought to herself as Professor Byrne addressed the class once more. Maybe if she finally learned more spells she wouldn't feel like this helpless, little girl anymore -- so that she knew how to fight. If she had a wand, that was.

Offence or defence, she'd be happy with either. Anything to keep her from waking up in a nightmare again. Professor Byrne's words made sense though, to try and prevent something from escalating further by using protection, incapacitating instead of demolishing. Practicing something until it was muscle memory, automatic and happening without having to think.

Not that she knew how to do any of that. Maevie mulled it over.

She thought of the Dark Tower and how everything had gone so fast, had escalated so quickly. She couldn't fathom having to fight Thayer, how to decide on what spell to chose, whether offence or defence had been the better choice. Whether having to look at the dead body of her captor could have been prevented or if that outcome had been an inevitability.

Maevie raised her hand. "Will you teach us offensive spells too? What if defence alone isn't enough?"