Lesson One (NEWT & BASIC)

Flint entered his new classroom with some coffee in hand and a briefcase in the other. He strode up to the blackboard and wrote is name and a short riddle.

A boy was at a carnival and went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to pay me, but if I can't, I will pay you!"

The boy looked around and didn't see anything that could be used for cheating so he agrees, thinking no matter what the carny writes he'll just lie anyway.

In the end the boy ended up paying the man. How did the man know his weight?

This would test their thinking ability; but it was not the only thing on the agenda. But first he needed to know where they left off before he came along. He put the briefcase on the desk and pulled out his wand. He took a sip of his coffee and flicked his wand; causing the lights to dim and the words on the board to shine.

Finally, another Dark Arts lesson. And a new teacher. Perhaps Sandra- um, Professor Archer, was caught up with whatever had caused Alan Wake to so abruptly leave his post? Although, if it had been anything really big, it probably would have been reported in The Prophet. They were getting a lot of mileage out of the "hidden war" angle.

Inside the room, it was dark. Ick. There was some writing on the board, but Angelique didn't bother to read it. She was not a first year, so she did not need some halfwit magician using his cheap tricks in a feeble attempt to impress. Looked like this subject was going to be yet another write-off.

James Wake drudged in his usual, nonchalant way. Sandra was gone too now, and had been replaced by someone new. He did not really care who his teachers were, especially when it came to the Dark Arts. As long as they did not practice anything on the students without preperation, he was willing to sit through whatever the teacher's lessons were. Whether it was Wilson's insensitive comments, McCoy's constant meddling in student's personal affairs, James was a being of patience.

He took a seat in the second to last row. There were, after all, students less experienced than him who would actually take the seats in front of him. He took out his notebook and quills. After a second of consideration, he cast Lumos with his wand to ward off the darkness. He quietly took out a feather, and, shuffling slightly through the bag, took out a pair of glasses. The magic behind the spectacles were simple-it was a simple light balance charm that would allow him to see functionally well during the class.

"The first students into my class will always be taking the spots up from Mr. Wake; Mrs. Pyrites, please take a seat up front as well." he told them as he watched them come in and noticed James had taken a seat near the back. Sandra had left a chart with names and faces; Flint had memorized the names and faces quick. He was good at that...memorizing things. And recognizing things rather well was also one of his strong points of life. His wand was tucked behind his arm; out of sight. Punishmenst, well they wouldn't be too severe if he needed to inflict them. "Now; since you two are the first ones here," he told them. "You get the upperhand on this riddle! I want an answer before the end of class; right or wrong from you two because you do get the upperhand by being early." he said and pointed his wand at the board.

Riddles. Otherwise known as entertainment for drips. And Angelique got the upper-hand by what? By being early and having more time to think about it? It was sad, the way some people thought time would make them smarter.

Angelique just hoped she wouldn't be required to act amused at how clever and ingenious the answer was, because really, it wasn't.

"You've made a spelling mistake. It's spelt W, A, I, T," she pointed out.

Dominic walked into the classroom, he was a blooming dark artist and he didn't want to be held back by idiots. For some reason, he found it more appropriate if this class wasn't a class, though. That it'd be something like a club or something outside the school. More cloak and dagger. However, maybe that wasn't a good idea. He looked up at the board with the riddle, and the answer came to him within the reading of the first sentence. As he came in and raised his hand, he said "I got it! The man wrote 'your exact weight' on the paper. Brilliant riddle". He let out a small chuckle and sat down, spreading his supplies out on his desk, picking and choosing what he'd need at that moment. He sighed as he scribbled something down.

Angelique rolled her eyes. Why was she surrounded by idiots?

"Brilliant," she said in monotone. "Except that the question is how the man knew his weight, not what he wrote on the paper."

It was pretty obvious from Dominic's contrived excitement right before he gave the answer that he'd heard this riddle before and already thought he knew everything. Maybe there really was something to learn from this class.

"I assume this lesson has something to do with not taking things at face value," she said.

Julia dragged her feet into the Dark Arts classroom; it wasn't one of her favorite classes, but she found it to be a necessary course. She had entered in time to hear the answer to the riddle she had not yet read, along with a wise remark from a girl she knew to be Angelique from the Dark Followers. To be completely honest, Julia found this girl to be very irksome- she always had to make wise remarks and was overly sarcastic. Was it that hard to enjoy life? More people would like you if you let loose. "Perhaps the riddle was simply a test," Julia interrupted, "so Professor Kenelm could see how quick his new students were. It is, after all, extremely important to be quick witted when in a bad situation." Although she never actually directed her statement towards the girl, it was obviously a remark in her general direction.

Julia found a seat at the front of the room, not letting the topic brew any longer, next to a boy whom she did not know the name of; she was sure she saw her brother talking to him at one point or another. She wondered if the new professor would pick up where Sandra left off, or begin a new subject. Either way, he seemed like he was prepared.

Dark arts, dark arts, the darkest of dark subjects! Cassie was OVERJOYED that she had a new teacher, since she had learnt nothing in the last class she'd been to for this subject. She vaguely remembered a half-hearted argument with that stupid gryffindor who was acting all angsty all the time. A quick look around this room showed that the angst queen wasn't here. WHOO HOO.

In fact, almost everyone here was from her own house. Neato. And almost everyone was a NEWT student. Maybe, not so neato? Cassie hoped the professor would remember poor little her and wouldn't decide to just make all the lessons NEWT related. First years need dark arts instruction too!

Four Slytherins and James Wake. Five slytherins for all intents and purposes. Not that Lulu had anything against the house, but she suspected this lesson would be more interesting if there was a more diverse range of people.

To be honest, Lucy was a little disappointed more people from her own house weren't taking this subject. It was a great learning opportunity, and not very Hufflepuffy to pre-judge the content before you even had a taste of it.