Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 41

I kinda love Auriga as a professor ngl :)

"And, I would like to welcome your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore was saying, "Professor Auriga Malfoy!" There was a burst of scattered applause from the students, many of whom she recognised. She hastily stood up from where she was sat between Snape and the Arithmancy Professor and waved her hand, before sitting back down. Fudge had encouraged her to make a speech, but she had declined, arguing that it would only make people more aware. In reality, she just didn't want to write one.

The feast continued on, and Auriga spent most of it quietly observing Draco where he sat at the Slytherin table. He was talking with Blaise Zabini about something or other, but he wasn't the usual smiley self Auriga was used to. She found her eyes drifting over to the Gryffindor table, where she saw Ron and Granger chatting animatedly, but Potter was staring over at the other side of the room. She saw him smile as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. Her eyes flew back to the Slytherin table. Draco smiled back. And suddenly, all the looks they'd exchanged over the summer, looks she thought were of distaste, had a completely different meaning.

She spluttered on her juice and Snape handed her a napkin. "Thank you, Professor," she said, now trying not to look at the students.

"How are your syllabus planning coming?" he asked.

"I planned it," said Auriga, "And then I asked Draco what they'd already covered. And now I've got five months to teach them that year's work while I try and catch them up."

"Sounds very much like what every other Defence professors have told me," he said. "But you set two textbooks for the whole school?"

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," said Auriga, "It has everything you need for magical creatures quite neatly summarised. And An Archive of Defensive Spells by Robert. P. Dresden."

"An interesting choice," said Snape, "I can't say I've read it myself." Auriga just shrugged and returned to her meal. She was not looking forward to this.

*****

It was the first afternoon, and Auriga was already fed up, having spent her morning desperately trying to explain to eleven year olds the differences between curses, jinxes and hexes, shortly followed by two hours explaining to the seventh years that unless they did the same lessons that everyone from fourth year onwards were doing - but faster - they were all going to fail their NEWTs. It was the reason Auriga hadn't done the DADA NEWT - the teachers were far too inconsistent.

Now she was perched on the front of her desk, watching as the fifth years filed in, wondering with uncertainty what kind of teacher she was going to be. The answer was a simple one: harsh. Because they needed to learn, and they needed to learn fast. Eventually the bell went, and the last few Gryffindors hurried in and took their seats. "OK," she said, trying her best to sound positive, "My name's Professor Malfoy, and I'm not going to even try to learn yours just yet, because I won't be here next year anyway."

Question number one was thrown her way by one of the Gryffindor girls: "Why's that?" she asked. Auriga almost cursed the stupidity of her.

"You've had a new teacher every year," Auriga said, to the snickering of some of the Slytherins, "Why should I be any different?" Nobody else put their hand up. "You've got your OWLs at the end of this year, and it's up to you how well you do in them. I will help you as much as I can, but if you don't do the work you will fail." Everybody looked quite nervous now.

"Your year group is the most behind out of everyone, but I believe we can cover everything that might need covering. So, we'll start with third year creatures." She flicked her wand and the list of creatures they'd be studying in the next four weeks wrote itself on the board. One or two students quickly copied it down.

Question number two came from Granger: "But Professor, we studied loads of creatures with Professor Lupin?"

"Professor Lupin neglected to tell you that you were actually covering everything you missed in second year," Auriga informed them. There were a fair few uncertain glances. "All of these creatures are rated XXXX by the Ministry. Who can tell me what that means?" Granger's hand shot up like a fireball, and Auriga started a little. There were no other hands. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"The beasts are dangerous and require specialist knowledge from a skilled witch or wizard," said Granger.

"Excellent," said Auriga, and she was pleased to see some people making notes. She supposed she ought to award some points. "Five points to Gryffindor." Granger glowed. "As you can see there are ten creatures listed, and I've given us four weeks to cover it. After that it's up to you. Today we will be learning about centaurs and erklings. The centaur is somewhat unique in its classification, in that..."

The lesson continued on, with Auriga giving points for answering questions and so on. She found that aside from Granger, people were unlikely to volunteer answers, which was when she started picking on people. After all, she couldn't have all the points going to Gryffindor.

"Your homework for this week is a roll of parchment detailing the incantations, appearances, and effects of the three Unforgiveable Curses," she called out as everyone began packing away. There was a groan. "Any problems come and see me."

She waved her wand and the board began to clear itself, before clearing any rubbish off the desks ready for her next lesson with the third years. A Gryffindor boy shuffled forward, egged on by Granger who stood waiting for him by the door. "Yes?" she asked, resuming her usual seat in front of her desk.

"Um...I'm not sure I'll be able to do that essay," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Right," said Auriga, "Well if you're struggling academically then you're welcome to come and find me and we can work through it together?" she suggested.

The boy shook his head. "It's more...um...I know enough about the Cruciatus Curse-"

Auriga stopped him. "I see," she said, "What's your name?"

"Neville Longbottom," said the boy. That name rang a bell...what was it...something to do with Bellatrix Lestrange, she thought. And that was never good.

"I understand," she said. "How's your spellcasting?"

He looked scared for a moment, as if she'd ask him to demonstrate, but he shrugged and said, "Not great."

"Well instead of the essay you can start going over the spells we need to cover," she said. "I'd suggest looking through chapter one? That's all the first and second year stuff. And if you feel comfortable it wouldn't hurt to look over the Imperious Curse and the Killing Curse."

Longbottom nodded, looking far cheerier. "Thanks, Professor," he said.

"No problem," said Auriga as the third years started filing in. "Thank you for letting me know."

She waited for the bell to go before she began her lesson, when two Gryffindors strolled in, late. "That'll be five points each from Gryffindor," she said, and a quarter of the class sighed. "Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts, I'm Professor Malfoy-" her name appeared on the board. "I won't waste time in learning your names or checking you care about mine." A laugh echoed around the room and she smiled. "This term we'll be studying defensive spells, and making a start on magical creatures.

"Today, we'll be learning about the Stickfast Hex," she continued, "Now, who can give me the definition of a hex?"