Gordon Owen and the Eastern Warrior - Book Two of the Evil Kneazle Series by AurorKeefy
Chapter Notes: No betas here, for better or for worse. So I'll send my thanks over to the queue moderators for helping keep things moving so swiftly! Thanks guys!
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If Luke was still brooding over his argument with Percy the next morning, then he seemed to be doing a very good job of concealing it. While Percy was even more polite and pompous with Luke on the way to breakfast, Luke seemed quite content to offer his usual glib remarks. By the time they had arrived at the Great Hall and had sat themselves down to plates of kippers, Gordon had almost completely forgotten about yesterday’s conversation. He was also perked up by hearing Charlie talking to another fifth-year about the new crop of Quidditch players coming through, and was delighted to hear his own name mentioned.
Gordon’s good mood was not to last, however. Before long, Professor McGonagall had given them all their timetables for the year, and Gordon was mortified to see that…
‘We’re with the Slytherins all morning!’ said Kyle, aghast. ‘History of Magic and then double Potions!’
‘Well, at least we get a lie in,’ said Luke with a smile.
Gordon nodded. Both he and Luke had been known to drop off in History of Magic, since it was by far the most boring of the Hogwarts subjects. It was the only class to be taught by a ghost, Professor Binns, and most of the students agreed that the subject was as dead as its teacher.
After they had read their timetables, and finished their kippers, it was time to go to their first class. Gordon reluctantly swung his rucksack over his shoulder, and trudged off to the History of Magic classroom.
By twenty past nine Gordon found his eyes drooping as Professor Binns droned on about some Warlock convention in the Middle Ages. Gordon was trying to take notes, but found himself so distracted that he kept writing was he was thinking rather than what Professor Binns was dictating. Beside him Luke seemed to be slightly more on top of things, though Gordon was sure he saw him take several very long blinks. The Slytherins, in spite of their normal hostile attitude to the Gryffindors, seemed to be just as sedated by Professor Binns’ dull manner. Amongst them Gordon couldn’t mistake the huge frame of Marcus Flint, probably the biggest boy in the year, who to Gordon’s dismay seemed to have grown even taller over summer.
Although the Slytherins seemed to lack the effort to give the Gryffindors any grief in History of Magic, by the time they reached Potions it was business as usual. Almost as soon as they had sat at their desks in the cold classroom, Gordon heard the slimy voice of Lee Bracken ring over to them.
‘Well it’s good to finally be back. I’ve been working on my poisons over summer. I think they’ll be a lot more successful than last year.’
Although Bracken said this to Flint beside him, he said it quite loudly enough for everyone to hear. Last year Kyle had been taken to the hospital wing on several occasions, apparently poisoned. Although Luke and Gordon had found out that this was actually the work of Kyle himself, it was clear Bracken was attempting to take the credit for the act. Beside Percy, Kyle’s face had gone rather red.
‘I see you have improved,’ said Luke coldly. ‘The swelling solution you used on your head seems to have worked a treat.’
There was a murmur of amusement from the Gryffindors, and Bracken stared threateningly over at Luke. His stare was broken by the sound behind them of a door slamming, and Professor Snape, as bat-like as ever, swooped to the front of the class.
‘So,’ began Snape, examining them all with an icy stare, ‘I see that you have all chosen to return to me. I can only presume that you have all been studying particularly hard this summer.’
Gordon, who hadn’t touched his Potions book since he had last been in Snape’s class, felt his stomach jolt. Snape immediately seemed to meet his gaze, and a malevolent smile began flickering around the corners of his mouth. Gordon began to feel quite sick.
‘Last year we focused on some incredibly simple potions,’ continued Snape, looking away from Gordon; any trace of a smile now gone. ‘This year will be far more advanced, and we shall see which of you have done an adequate amount of study to prepare for it.’
Gordon shared a nervous glance with Oliver, who had apparently done no more work this summer than him. On another table he saw Eiko and Kyle looking worried, while Alana looked positively mortified. Only Luke seemed completely calm, and was staring dully over at Snape.
Snape then split them all into groups of two, and began scrawling the instructions to make a blemish-removing brew on the blackboard. Gordon found himself partnering Oliver, since Snape was continuing his habit of splitting up him and Luke. Since neither he nor Oliver were very good at Potions, it wasn’t long before thick black smoke started rising out of their cauldron.
‘Predictably,’ began Snape, vanishing the contents of their cauldron with an idle flick of his wand, ‘it seems that none of you have done the study required for this year. Five points from Gryffindor.’
As Snape walked back up to the front of the class, Gordon glanced round the classroom to see how everyone else had done. It seemed he and Oliver were not the only ones whose potions were unsatisfactory, as smoke was rising from many of the Slytherins’ cauldrons, too. Only Luke and Kyle’s potion seemed to be red mixture Snape had described, and Percy was anxiously flicking through his textbook while Eiko popped several of the bubbles forming on the top of their thick pink soup with her wand.
Snape gave them all a small mountain of homework to do for tomorrow, which Percy, Veronica and Alana immediately went to the library to do. Gordon, feeling that he’d had enough Potions for the time being, went with Luke to get some lunch. When they reached the Entrance Hall, however, they bumped into Charlie, who was sporting a black eye and a swollen lip, neither of which Gordon recalled him having at breakfast.
‘What happened to you?’ said Luke, evidently eyeing up Charlie’s lip and a splattering of what looked like blood on the front of his robes. ‘You look like you’ve gone ten rounds with a wyvern!’
Charlie laughed at this and shook his head.
‘Nah, just been to my first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, and I’ve got to tell you, that Shuan-Qu guy is something else!’
‘He did that to you?’ blurted out Gordon, feeling that perhaps two hours of Potions wasn’t the worst thing that could happen on a Monday morning. Charlie beamed and shook his head.
‘Nah, he just had us practicing; he’s a damn site better than Hollowhorn ever was. I’ve never had a lesson like it.’
Gordon felt that the injuries Charlie was carrying spoke volumes about this, and felt his stomach do another little jolt.
‘You get to practice on each other?’ said Luke excitedly.
‘Damn right,’ replied Charlie, continuing to smile broadly, ‘and Bill says that even the sixth-years didn’t do that last year. Have you got him today?’
‘No, our first class with him is on Wednesday,’ said Luke rather gloomily. ‘Suppose I’d better start doing my homework for that in advance, though. Are you coming into lunch? I want to hear all about it.’
‘Can’t, I’ve gotta go to the hospital wing to check on Michael and Leia,’ said Charlie cheerily. ‘He caught her with a jinx that made her hair fall out and she did this, well, I guess it was a type of summoning or repulsing charm.’
Charlie seemed to shudder at the thought of this.
‘What happened?’ asked Gordon.
‘I think you can live without the details,’ said Charlie, who was still looking rather sickly. ‘Hopefully Madam Pomfrey will be able to grow her hair back, and dislodge Michael’s wand.’
Charlie waved goodbye and walked off towards the hospital wing, leaving Gordon stood there with Luke, wondering whether he should be excited or scared to death.
*
By the time they reached Wednesday morning it seemed all of the second-year Gryffindors had heard one story or another about the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. As a result of this, no one was particularly concentrating in Transfiguration that morning, much to Professor McGonagall’s annoyance.
‘Now, that just will not do!’ she said sharply, as Kyle accidentally sent the water goblet he was meant to be transfiguring flying over the heads of a few Hufflepuff girls. ‘What is wrong with you all? I’ve never seen a class so rowdy on their first week back.’
The second-years quietened down somewhat, but there were still people talking in the back rows. Professor McGonagall wasn’t used to anyone speaking in her classes other than her, and she continued to stare crossly at two of the Hufflepuffs in question. They were apparently reading something under the desk, oblivious to Professor McGonagall striding up to them.
‘What have you got there, Mr Ashley?’ she said shortly, causing both the boys to jump. The boy she had addressed, Carl Ashley, guiltily heaved up his copy of Physical and Mental Resistance to the Dark Arts.
‘Well!’ said Professor McGonagall rather crossly. ‘I would’ve thought that you could have done any revision for your Defence Against the Dark Arts classes in your own time, Mr Ashley! You will now kindly return to the subject of Transfiguration!’
Carl, now rather red in the face, began hastily stowing his book away. Gordon spotted several other people attempting to do the same while Professor McGonagall was not looking. Unfortunately it was Luke, who had the book open on the floor beneath him, that let the steel cover clang rather obviously shut.
‘Not you too, Mr Oakshot!’ she exclaimed, striding over to him and spotting Eiko also hastily stuffing hers into her bag. ‘Miss Iwai! Are you all using my class time as a homework session?’
Professor McGonagall stared furiously at them all, a slight tic going in her face as the many of the second-years stared determinedly at their feet.
‘I want everyone to return all the books that are not required for this subject to their bags,’ she said sharply, ‘and we will continue the rest of the lesson in absolute silence!’
After that no one dared to say a word, and Gordon was extremely glad when the bell went to signify the end of the lesson. By now most of the Gryffindors were itching to see what all the fuss was about, and headed straight to the Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom, where they found several Ravenclaws already filing inside.
As Gordon followed Luke inside, he saw that the classroom seemed unlike any of the others he had seen at Hogwarts. Gordon was sure that the room was larger than it had been the previous year, and there were no desks at all, though several long benches lined the walls. Hung above the benches was a collection of rather vicious looking weapons, including several extremely sharp looking swords and what appeared to be axes mounted on long sticks. At the far end of the classroom were two doors, which he presumed lead to two changing rooms.
‘Whoa!’ said Luke, examining his surroundings. ‘Where did he get all this stuff?’
Gordon shrugged, still trying to take it all in. Luke was examining a sword almost twice as long as he was, when Professor Shuan-Qu entered from his office door.
‘Welcome to your first Defence the Dark Arts class,’ he said, staring appraisingly at them all as they fell silent. ‘Normally, you shall should change into your training robes before we start, but today I want to make a few things clear first.
‘Firstly, I assume you all own the textbook I have issued.’
There was a murmur of assent from the class, and some people began rooting in their bags.
‘I am not asking you to retrieve them now. Indeed, it is unlikely that you should ever use them within this room. It is your responsibility to read them in your own time.’
Gordon thought he saw Luke glance over to him, though he kept his eyes fixed on Shuan-Qu.
‘I will not be setting homework for this class. If you wish to succeed in this subject you will do your own study. If you do not, then that is no concern of mine. I am sure alternative arrangements can be made for those not prepared to put in the effort.’
He looked around them as he said this, as if waiting for someone to object. No one responded, though Percy looked slightly perplexed.
‘I have discussed with Professor Dumbledore the methods used by your previous teacher in this subject. It would seem he focused greatly on the theoretical side of the subject. This may help you in an exam, but much of the theory is dependant on circumstances. I am going to teach you far more practical forms of defence.
‘I would concur with my predecessor that the best form of Defence is avoiding the situations where you require it. However, this is not always possible. My predecessor also believed that the next best thing is knowledge of your foe. While I do not disagree entirely, I believe this is less important than reactions and resistance. A great knowledge of spells is no advantage if your adversary’s first attack is deadly, and he is quicker than you. Equally, being able to cope with a blow that would fell your attacker gives you an advantage.’
Again Professor Shuan-Qu paused, as if waiting for someone to object. No one said a word.
‘Continuous practice of combat situations is, short of the real thing, the best training I can offer for your reactions. The resistance part is more complex, and comes down to two aspects.
‘Firstly, your own fitness is a factor. Strength and stamina are as useful a tool against the Dark Arts as the most powerful of shield spells. The difference is not absolute, but it may prove to be the difference between unconsciousness and death. When encountering threatening magical creatures, the difference is obviously far greater. You should also be aware that as key as your wand is to your survival, you may find yourself without it. A physically weak wizard will be more vulnerable to most spells than a strong wizard.’
‘What about Dumbledore,’ said Eiko, ‘he’s not exactly young and fit, and he’s just about the strongest wizard alive.’
Professor Shuan-Qu did not reply immediately, but instead fixed Eiko with a rather icy stare.
‘Who are you?’
His tone was as icy as his stare, and several of the students shifted rather uncomfortably. Like Gordon, they were apparently waiting to see how he would react to this interruption.
‘Eiko Iwai,’ she replied.
‘And your house?’
‘Gryffindor.’
‘Well then, Iwai,’ replied Professor Shuan-Qu, ‘I shall take five points from Gryffindor, and you will give me ten press ups.’
‘What? But you can’t make me do “’
‘Ten points from Gryffindor and twenty press ups. If you force me to tell you again it shall be a hundred of each.’
Eiko seemed to have trouble believing what he was asking her, but apparently not wishing to get herself or her house into further trouble, she got down and started doing some. As sorry as he felt for her, Gordon bit his lip. He couldn’t do twenty press-ups, and wasn’t keen on the rest of the class finding this out.
‘Your bad manners aside, you are quite wrong if you believe Professor Dumbledore to be unfit. Your headmaster is more than a physical match for any of you, whether you believe it or not. If you doubt the strength of old age, I invite any of you to attempt to beat me at any physical task. I will gladly prove you wrong.’
Again he waited for a response, but perhaps because Eiko was still struggling on press-up number thirteen in the corner, no one said a word.
‘The other side to resistance is more complex,’ he began, ‘that is the resistance of magic by the mind. Many spells require a certain willpower both to cast and to throw off. Spells that affect thought processes are particularly affected. Leglimency and Occlumency are obvious examples of this.’
Gordon, having never heard of either of those two obvious examples, felt rather embarrassed. Thankfully several of the other students seemed equally in the dark about them, and it was Luke who nervously raised his hand.
‘You are?’ said Professor Shuan-Qu, staring at Luke.
‘Luke Oakshot, sir,’ replied Luke rather nervously.
‘Very well. What is your question, Mr Oakshot?’
‘What are Leglimency and Occlumency, sir?’
Professor Shuan-Qu did not reply, and Gordon wondered if he was about to have Luke joining Eiko. Thankfully, he replied quite calmly.
‘In short, Leglimency is the art of detecting lies,’ he replied simply, ‘while Occlumency is the art of preventing the former. You will find Haldeir Ripjaw’s book gives a far more detailed description, which you can read in your own time. You need not concern yourself with either today.’
Luke nodded, but did not reply. Eiko meanwhile had just managed to complete her twentieth press-up, and had now sat back down next to Veronica. Professor Shuan-Qu did not respond to her, and continued to speak.
‘We shall focus on the mental resistance next term. For the time being it is necessary that we work on the physical side of things. You will now go and change into your training robes, then we shall begin.’
The second-years scrambled into the changing rooms and began pulling their training robes out of their bags. As Gordon slid his legs into the white cotton pants, he felt his stomach churn slightly, though he wasn’t sure if was excitement or fear. Looking up, he saw that everyone around him looked rather nervous too.
The second-years filed out of their changing room in silence, as Professor Shuan-Qu peered appraisingly at them all from the front.
‘Good,’ he said, as the last of them filed out. ‘To begin with we shall be doing some warm up exercises. I trust you all understand the purpose of such exercises?’
There was a murmur of affirmation from the second-years.
‘Then you will also understand why they will be crucial to these lessons. I have no desire to spend time casting unnecessary anti-cramp charms when such problems can be avoided with a bit of effort on your part.’
As he finished saying this Gordon felt some of the muscles in his legs twitch rather uncomfortably, as if they were waiting for the chance embarrass him.
‘To begin with,’ continued Professor Shuan-Qu, ‘I would like you all to separate yourselves out so that you are at least at arms length from the people in front and beside you.’
What followed this was fifteen minutes of seemingly aimless arm swinging and leg shaking, with a couple of jogs around the room for good measure. Considering what Charlie had said about the lesson, Gordon had expected rather more than a repeat of his primary school P.E. classes. Professor Shuan-Qu seemed a great deal more satisfied, however.
‘Good. We shall be repeating that at the end of the lesson to warm down. I want to all to remember what you’ve just done, because it will be your own responsibility to do that from now on. At the start of each class you will be given five minutes to do your own warm up, and it will be clear which of you have neglected to do so,’ he said, fixing them all with a piercing stare.
‘Today we shall be practicing the disarming curse, which should also serve as a foundation for later lessons on reaction time.’
With this Professor Shuan-Qu raised his walking stick and swung it at a pile of mats in the corner, which danced up into the air before coming to rest at his feet. Gordon heard the people on either side of him gasp somewhat. On the other side of the classroom Gordon could hear one of the Ravenclaws whispering excitedly to his the boy next him. Unfortunately for the boy Gordon was not the only one who noticed.
‘And you are?’ said Professor Shuan-Qu icily, turning the Ravenclaw quite pale with one irritable stare.
‘H…Henry Bostone sir,’ said the boy, attempting a winning smile that was obviously lost on Professor Shuan-Qu.
‘I have no objections to your attention to my staff, Mr Bostone, but I will not tolerate your speaking out of turn. I will take five points from Ravenclaw and you shall give me ten press-ups.’
‘Now,’ said Professor Shuan-Qu, as Henry trudged over to the corner, ‘the disarming charm is of most use when you are involved in combat with another wizard. Disarming your opponent of his means of attacking you is far more advantageous than being able to attempt to counter his spells. A particularly potent disarming charm may also be enough to knock your opponent off his feet, which is of particular use if you are fighting multiple opponents.
‘The incantation for the charm is Expelliarmus. Repeat with me.’
“Expelliarmus,” chorused the second-years, though Gordon was sure someone behind him had put an extra syllable in.
‘Expelliarmus,’ emphasised Professor Shuan-Qu. ‘It is most important that you should get the pronunciation correct. By the nature of the situations in which it was devised, the charm has a far less rigid wand movement than many other spells you will have learnt so far. Expelliarmus.’
“Expelliarmus,” chorused the second-years once more. To the relief of many of them Professor Shuan-Qu seemed rather more satisfied.
‘Good. Now as I said before, the wand movement for this spell is not quite as rigid. There is no absolute movement for it, and one wizard’s wand work for it may be very different from the next. It is up to you to discover your own wand work for the spell, for that is likely to be the most natural movement for you. Try to imagine what movement would seem most appropriate for disarming your opponent.’
Gordon blanched. How was he supposed to guess the wand movement for a spell he had never seen before? At least with every other charm he had learned he had been able to watch Professor Flitwick do it first. Or failing that there was always the chance to copy Veronica or Percy. For the first time all lesson he tried to share a confused look with Luke, who didn’t spot it and still seemed to be rehearsing the incantation.
‘I do not expect you all to get this at the first attempt, nor should you expect it of yourselves. It may take several different variations before you find the movement most comfortable for you,’ continued Professor Shuan-Qu, walking over to his desk and retrieving the register. ‘As I call out your names I want you to step forward onto the mats, and we will begin. Henry Bostone! Penelope Clearwater!’
A Ravenclaw girl from the front row with dark curly hair walked up to the front, followed by Henry Bostone, who was still rather red in the face. Professor Shuan-Qu gave them both an appraising glance, before walking over with the register.
‘Firstly,’ he began, ‘you shall both show me that the wand movement you are to use. A successful casting should be quite precise, so I would advise against any wild wand movements. You first, Mr Bostone.’
Henry Bostone, who evidently didn’t have much more idea of what to do than Gordon, gave his wand a bit of a flicking motion before looking over to Professor Shuan-Qu. If he was expecting a response or some advice it did not come, and Professor Shuan-Qu simply motioned for Penelope to attempt it. Her effort seemed to be slightly sharper than Henry’s, but Professor Shuan-Qu seemed no more impressed.
‘Now, I want the pair of you to both take five paces back and face each other. A little bit further, Miss Clearwater. That’s fine. On the count of three I want you both to attempt to disarm the other, using the Expelliarmus spell. Ready your wands. One…two…three!’
There was a flash of light, and Gordon felt his wand flip out of his hand. Henry had reacted quickest, but his spell had soared several feet wide of Penelope (whose spell was quite on target) and hit Gordon, much to the class’s amusement.
‘Silence!’ snapped Professor Shuan-Qu, and the second-years stopped laughing immediately. Henry, no doubt wondering how long he’d be in the corner this time, seemed to go quite pale.
‘Good,’ said Professor Shuan-Qu, to Henry and the class’s surprise. ‘Mr Bostone’s effort should act as an indication to you all of the importance of aiming your movement. Speed is nothing without accuracy, remember that. Now, Francis Cross! Joanna Fraser!’
As Professor Shuan-Qu continued down the register, the quality of people’s attempts seemed to improve somewhat, much to Professor Shuan-Qu’s satisfaction. Soon Carla Norris had disarmed her brother John, and it was Gordon and Luke’s turn.
The nervousness that had struck Gordon originally had rather subsided as he walked forward. Not having a wand movement to copy had at first seemed quite daunting, but it soon emerged that pretty much anything went. Gordon was also relieved to have Luke for a partner, since if anything went wrong, he was at least likely to forgive him.
The wand movement Luke adopted seemed to be a rather sharp looking slash, accompanied by an odd sort of foot shuffle that Gordon wasn’t sure was intentional. Gordon had decided that Eiko’s overhead stab was more to his liking, and figured that if he was going to disarm someone, he might as well avoid looking like a fool doing it.
‘Ready your wands,’ said Professor Shuan-Qu, as the pair of them took positions. Gordon readied his wand overhead and watched Luke prepare his stance, a mad look forming in his eyes. Gordon tried to do the same.
‘One…two…three!’
‘EXPELLIARMUS!!!’
Gordon felt the pulse of the spell leave his wand, before feeling like someone had just kicked him in the chest. Before he knew it he found himself falling back onto the mat, and hitting it with quite a thump. He tried to stand back up, but felt his arms and legs rather weak beneath him, and it was all he could do to sit up. Several feet away, Luke was on all fours.
‘Good! Good!’ said Professor Shuan-Qu, practically beaming. ‘That’s more like it! Can anyone tell me what they did differently?’
Gordon didn’t know what to say to this, but supposed it was a compliment. Luke was now making some rather hollow breathing sounds, but Professor Shuan-Qu remained unconcerned.
‘They shouted?’ said Kyle, who seemed rather more concerned with Luke’s health than the question.
‘They put force into it!’ said Professor Shuan-Qu. ‘Force into the action and force into the incantation! That’s how you achieve a truly successfully disarm! Not even the fourth-years managed anything as successful as that, have either of you disarmed anyone before?’
Gordon shook his head and tried to hide the grin that was threatening to burst out all over his face. Luke seemed to have finally got his breath back, but was too concerned with inhaling to reply.
‘Good accuracy as well! Though if I might suggest, Mr Owen, aiming your spell a little higher up would be kinder to your practice partners. Ten points to Gryffindor each! Kyle Pratchett! Alana Thistlethwaite!’
As he pulled himself up of the mat and helped up Luke, Gordon felt giddy with delight. Not only had he found something he was good at, it also looked like he was going to get house points for assaulting Luke.