N.E.W.T. Class - Lesson 5

Landon stared down at the parchment in front of him desperately trying to block the professor's voice out. The less he heard that bloke speak the better; he didn't need to lose any more points. After the other girl's answer about the Killing Curse he heard Professor Wilson mention his name with a snide comment attached to it. Though it wasn't his actual name...Wilson was still going on about this James Bond fellow. He couldn't help but notice that his answer had not earned him any points; even if it hadn't been an eloquent answer it had still been a correct one nonetheless. Obviously fairness wasn't something he should expect from Wilson.

When the professor seemed to be rattling off instructions rather than abusing his authority, Landon turned his attention back towards him, his eyes locked on the boxes in front of him. Peering into the boxes, he saw two larger than normal spiders who, for some reason that was beyond his comprehension, didn't seem bothered by the fact that they were in a box. When he heard that they would be performing two of the Unforgivable Curses he couldn't help but cock his left eyebrow up with skepticism. However Wilson seemed serious...this class wasn't just one big joke after all.

Before Landon could even fully comprehend the instructions, a Gryffindor had gone ahead and done the deed. Wilson seemed to be quite taken with this particular student and Landon figured that it was probably due to the fact that Poe was in his own house. When another Slytherin entered Landon once again heard Wilson refer to a name which he had never heard of before. G.I. Joe? Who the hell was that? This professor was more than slightly confusing when it came to his selection of nicknames. Landon couldn't help but notice that the only two who had gotten these 'petnames' had been Slytherins. The snide comment which Wilson made about his house liking the Unforgivables only confirmed his suspicious that he was letting his bias against Slytherin affect his teaching.

Then somehow the classroom erupted into an intricate conversation revolving around deaths. He realized that practicing these spells could stir up some memories but there was no reason to let something as trivial as emotions stand in the way of school work. It wasn't as though he had asked them to shoot the spells off at each other; they were just hitting spiders with them. What use were spiders anyways?

It wasn't long until a few students left the room because they couldn't handle being around spells which may or may not have killed a loved one. Or at least that's what he assumed the conversation had been about, he hadn't really been listening. Taking his attention away from the social section of the class he focused on the two boxes in front of him. Landon levitated the first spider onto the desk, landing it with a gentle -plop-.

Pointing his wand at it, while subconsciously thinking about how much he would have liked to use this curse on the professor, he clearly stated the incantation, "Crucio." The spider began to twitch involuntarily, the amount of pain it was enduring was written all over its body. After observing the effects he flicked his wand, ending the spell. Now onto the last.

Landon couldn't help but wonder why they weren't doing the third Unforgivable. Was the Imperius Charm just not as important as the rest of them? Of course he wouldn't ask this out loud, the professor would probably just dock him points for one reason or another. But enough with that, he still had one spider left. Bringing out the other he set it in front of him; Landon without hesitation muttered the two words he hoped he'd never hear while a wand was pointed at him. With a green flash of light, the spider fell...motionless and still.

Wilson looked at Landon. ''Good, Bond, good. You have once more proven that your House adores these spells.'', he said with a smile. ''Well, since you have done two things right and one wrong, here's 5 points for Slytherin. You have not received any points earlier because of your... boldness to act stupid. Now, that you have done one of your tasks right, I would not be so unfair to disallow the deserved amount of points for your house.'', he said. ''Oh, and for those of you who think I am antagonizing Slytherin because I am head of Gryffindor or just because I do not like them... you are idiots. My older students, older meaning those who have attended my classes before, know my opinion about such things. I just antagonize people who act irrational or stupid or just James-Bond-like. It is a pure coincidence that the two, G.I. Joe and Bond, James Bond here, have been from Slytherin.'', he explained.

Landon had to bite his tongue to stop himself from replying. Though that didn't help him because he soon blurted out, "Sir, not to be disrespectful, but one Slytherin has already left the room without performing the spells while I simply did them because you assigned them. I don't think our actions necessarily prove your hypothesis." He said this all in a very polite tone and tried his best to keep his face pleasant. Though he was sure that he was going to get points docked off or called James Bond again, he attempted to see if the professor had any rational thoughts or just rattled off the first things that came to his mind. Boldness to act stupid? Landon didn't even both to reply to this but simply gave the professor a curt nod of understanding though he didn't understand at all. Wilson seemed to put everyone into predetermined stereotypes. Landon placed his hands in his lap while looking at the professor for further instruction.

When the room around her went quiet, Amelia knew something was wrong. Even without looking up from the floor, to which her eyes had been firmly glued since Professor Wilson made his comment about her and Arthur, Amelia could tell she was not going to like what came next. Her body immediately tensed in response to the sudden silence, which didn’t last very long because Professor Wilson quickly filled it with the worst possible string of sentences Amelia could have imagined.

What was he doing? Amelia stared on in horror as Professor Wilson played match maker, describing the multitude of ways in which she was perfectly designed to be Arthur’s one and only. At first Amelia hoped that he was making one of his many jokes, praying that some sarcastic statement would follow, but she should have known from the silencing charm that he wasn’t about to poke fun at them. Wilson never missed an opportunity to publicly ridicule his students, which meant this conversation was not going to be followed up by a joke to demonstrate his facetiousness.

Which meant he was serious.

Which meant Amelia wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out.

Softer? Amelia thought angrily, though nothing aside from sheer embarrassment was showing on her freckled complexion. I’ll show him softer. His ribs will be softer after I throw a bone liquefying hex at his chest!

But none of that could rise to her lips, both because it would have immediately earned her a detention and because she seemed utterly incapable of speech at the moment. She was staring in wide-eyed disbelief at Professor Wilson, her mouth hanging open with incredulity. She could not believe this was happening, nor could she wrap her mind around the prospect of even being voluntarily in the same room as Arthur, much less being his perfect match.

Professor Wilson was delusional, or at the very least very mistaken. Amelia had no idea where he has gotten these ideas from, nor did she know how to respond to such false allegations without flinging curses or stating what she thought was the obvious: that there was, and never would be, any Amelia and Arthur. Not. Going. To. Happen.

By this point, both Professor Wilson and Arthur were staring at her, waiting to see what her reaction would be. She didn’t know how they had convinced themselves that her reaction would be anything other than what was about to happen. She wasn’t particularly close to either of them, but they had both been part of her academic life for long enough to know how she dealt with these types of situations.

“As I have completed the assignment for today, I will be taking my leave now,” Amelia said levelly, her voice as taut as the tendons in her neck. She was not asking permission, because at this point, it wouldn’t matter if she received it or not. She was leaving.

And so Amelia, in a methodical, controlled nature – in the hopes that she could control at least some part of this situation that had so quickly spiraled out of hand – gathered her things and stood up, and without a backward glance at Arthur she inclined her head respectfully toward Professor Wilson and strode out of the classroom, hoping that by locking herself in the library for the next several hours she might be able to block out what had just occurred.

''Oh, blast it I have made her mad! That is not good, is it? I was too direct, wasn't I?'', Wilson asked looking at Arthur. ''Oh, I have made you angry too... darn. But, that is a good point. It means that the both of you react, which means that there is an emotion, which means that there is a chance.'', he exclaimed. ''Professor, that is the minor problem. Now I will have to apologize.'', Arthur said. ''Well, why complain? You get to talk to her. Now, you lad... Bond, you have said something and I was supposed to reply to it... right? But what utter nonsense was it... ah yes... of course. I have no prejudice, I just follow the statistics. It is what you call an inductive conclusion. Muggle logic, a brilliant subject. The majority of your friends either is or will become members of the Death Eaters and that is a fact. You may even be a member of the Order, as much as I care, but I am just stating statistically proven facts.'', he responded.

(I am closing this tomorrow... so, for those of you who haven't replied... sorry :-D)

Landon had heard quite enough by this point and watched enviously as the Ravenclaw girl simply picked up her things and left the room. Wishing for the same satisfaction, he brushed his things off his desk and into his bag before walking quickly out of the room; though he did make sure to give a curt nod of farewell towards the professor on his way out.

''Another dissident? If someone had told me that he witnessed this, I would not have believed him. But, since you do not care, I care even less. Class dismissed.'', Wilson said shortly, finishing today's class.