Defending oneself
Wednesday morning came about quite quickly. Rested, fed and prepared, the seven students set out towards the site of the previous evening's dinner. When they entered, the place was unrecognizable. All the exquisite furniture had disappeared; a number of training dummies and round targets had replaced it. Most of the curtains had been drawn, leaving the room in a state of semi-darkness. A light mist, its source unseen, hovered low above the floor, the finishing touch to the eerie spectacle. All four students froze and took out their wands. Cautiously, Harry went forward step by step, surveying his surroundings. The others followed closely behind, eyes alert and wands at the ready. Each step left a fain echo, and for a moment Harry thought he could hear another noise, that of wood striking stone, whenever the group moved forward. When they stopped, however, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Harry felt it first. A sudden surge in the ambient magic, similar in feeling to static electricity. Before he had even consciously processed the implications, he instinctively jumped to his right and took Lyra in his arms. He pulled her out of the path of the red beam, which passed less than an inch from her face. "Get down!" he yelled. At that point he realized he had missed the other stunner that was heading for his chest. He swerved again to avoid it, but by this point his body had assumed a position in which maintaining balance was impossible. He fell on his back, taking Lyra with him. As soon as he touched the ground, he let her go and rolled over so that he would face the direction from which the attack came from. He could now faintly make out the shadowy figure of their assailant. He raised his wand and cried, "Expelli-" He was cut short as his wand was suddenly and violently yanked from his hand by an invisible force in the direction of the attacker. The entire episode lasted less than four seconds.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"An extremely familiar voice yelled.Harry and Lyra knew that voice as they heard that whenver they did a prank that went wrong.When Harry's sight re-adjusted, he finally saw their unmistakable attacker,Her face,her eyes...
"MUM?"Harry and Lyra said at the same time.
Cassie examined her son's wand in actual curiosity as if Sirius had never shown it to her,before she broke it off and she met Harry's yes her startling blue eyes met green and she started laughing.
"Good work Harry,I always knew you would be able to recognize the change in the ambient magic of this room,though Lyra.... She trailed off and she was right,Lyra was usually the one to warn Harry when she and Sirius were outside the room if they were arranging a prank there.
Lyra flushed and said "Your aura wasnt visible"
Aura?Now that was weird,deciding to investigate later when she saw the state the rest of her students were put in.
Harry was shocked and also happy.Shocked because he didnt know his mum could do that and happy because she praised him as his mum was the disciplanarian of the family.Though when he looked around to his friends were a different story. Daphne,Theo and Neville both lay flat on their backs in various states of disorientation, their wands nowhere to be seen.Astoria and Stefen were also in the same position.
"They will be fine," his mum said, seeing Harry's concerned expression.
When she said that the rest of them were revived instantly,Harry looking at his mum who said"mass renervate spell I made just before this" giving a wink to the siblings before their friends overcame their disorientation.
"That was amazing,I didnt think you could do that Mrs Potter-Black" the 5 students said basically at the same time.
Yes, well, at least that's out of the way," said their mum, "Take a seat." She indicated the four cushioned chairs that had appeared behind them. The 7 walked, or, in Neville and Theo's case, limped to the chairs. "That was a good start,Harry. The rest of you, pathetic but unsurprising. If I were a Death Eater all of you'd be dead," Their mum commented. The students, still slightly shocked, listened attentively. If Harry and Lyra had been paying closer attention to their friends, they would have noticed that for the first time in their lives, Theo and Stephen was not only taking a berating without protest, but actually seemed to enjoy it. Their mum handed their wands back, smiling when she came to Harry's.
Five minutes later, when his students had recovered at least, Cassie began the lesson in earnest. The first surprise came when she told them that she would not be using the Hogwarts books. "Don't look at me like that," she said. "This rubbish isn't worth the paper it's printed on." She summoned one of the books in question from a table of the far side of the room. Opening it on a random page, she read aloud, in a mockingly feminine high-pitched voice, "'The voco aegis charm is a useful basic barrier that can protect you from light to moderate hexes and jinxes. To cast it, assume a position facing your opponent, make the wand movements described in figure 21.B and enunciate the incantation.'" By the time he had reached the end of the passage the students were chuckling. "What Ms. Goshawk apparently cannot comprehend," Cassie continued in her voice, "is that in the two and a half seconds that it takes you to do that, I will have disemboweled you with the Evisceration Curse, which, might I add, is not blocked by that cute little light show she calls a barrier. The dolts that write the curriculum do not see the point in teaching the proper Shield Charm, the one that can actually save your life, until the fourth year." Cassie closed the book and threw it over her shoulder. "If you insist on inflicting that nonsense on yourself, you can waste your own time." Having finished her small rant, Cassie proceeded with the day's lesson. "We will start with classical dueling. Most of what we will cover in the next six weeks will still be useless in a real fight, but at least we can then build on from the basics. Oh, and you'll probably impress your friends at Hogwarts. If standards keep falling the way they do, I guarantee you should be able to take on fifth years when you get there." The boys' faces especially lit up at the latter prospect.Cassie paused, then continued "Have you been told about the six forms?"
We've read about them, ma'am," Daphne replied, "But I don't really get it. Are they some special moves or spells?"
"The book is really vague on that bit," Theo added. He then asked with a barely contained grin, "Could you perhaps show them to us, ma'am?" Cassie sighed.
"I suppose you deserve a little show after that clusterf-, er, mess. And remind me to get you proper books next time." Cassie stepped away from the four chairs and moved to the center of the room. With a swish of her wand, she summoned several of the training dummies in a semicircle behind him. "To begin with, a form is more than a style or a set of moves. It is an aspect that you assume, a state of mind; a broad descriptor of a particular approach to using magic in combat. If that sound like waffle, it's because it is. A form is something that is experienced, not explained, though this doesn't stop self-proclaimed authorities on dueling from spewing out entire tomes in trying. Forms are difficult to describe beyond the initial stance because of the fluid nature of combat, and even then it only applies to controlled dueling settings. A master duelist will learn to execute all of them with varying degrees of skill, but will usually have an affinity for one of them, which he/she will then try to perfect. Discovering which form suits you best can only be done by experience. There are no shortcuts. Spend enough time in combat and eventually it will become your second nature." She paused, and removed her over-cloak to reveal the dark-red sleeveless dueling robe she was wearing. He then took out his wand and turned to face the dummies, which had drawn their fake wands on her.
"The first form," Cassie continued, "is a bit hard to define because it is the most basic. Most wizards who are taught to fight will not progress beyond it. It's also the most ancient, which you can see from the opening stance." She stood with legs apart at slightly more than shoulder width, his wand arm extended three-fourths of the way; she held her wand at an angle, gripping it like a sword. "This pose has been found on murals in Egypt that are several millennia old." Cassie then flicked his wand lightly and the dummies became animated and started firing stunners at him. He leapt out of the way with surprising agility,. Her seven students looked on astonished as she sent out several Reductor Curses in rapid succession, each time moving her arm slightly to adjust his aim. Within seconds, the dummies were in pieces. A lazy flick of her wand and they repaired themselves, assuming their initial inactive position. "There is very little else to say about this particular form. It prioritizes aim and accuracy, and is equally suited for offense and defense. Professional duelists and aurors avoid it, unless they want to throw the opponent off balance or they are experimenting with a new spell or move in training," she concluded. She paused for a moment to check that the students had taken everything in, and received seven approving nods in response.
The second form," She announced. With a swish of her wand, She sent back all of the dummies except one, which was directly facing her. "An elegant, sophisticated style from a simpler age. It evolved from fencing and as such is best against single opponents. If you find yourself in a dueling competition, the crowd loves it. The initial move is this." She stood fully erect with her wand arm raised so that the wand hilt was slightly above eye level; she then executed a large downward slash that brought her right hand in front of her hip. "This used to be a formal salute among duelists, though nowadays you would be stupid not to use that move to cast your first attack or your shield." The dummy opposite executed a similar movement and they started to casually trade curses with each other. The motions were graceful and fluid, though not at the expense of revealing weaknesses. Strike, dodge, counterattack, riposte. From the side, the back-and-forth motion slightly resembled a game of tennis. "Notice," Cassie talked over the combat, paying no attention to her instinctive moves, "that we are moving back and forth along a straight line, similar to a dueling platform. Also, note that I am keeping my feet on the ground at all times. This form is useful if your mobility is limited by fatigue, injury or old age, or if you are in a confined place like a corridor or tunnel. I am trying to keep my distance from my opponent until he tires and lets his guard down. Confringo!" The well-aimed blasting curse finally overwhelmed the dummy and it split into several burning pieces. Moody turned back to his students. "Because of its popularity among stage dueling stars, the second form has sometimes been called the 'peacock style.' Famous users of this form, which are regarded as masters of it include the renowned potioneer Horace Slughorn and yes,yours truly.I won the Hogwarts dueling cup six years in a row with this style." Harry and Lyra were beaming with pride."Although"she continued "The greatest and most well known master of this style is Gellert Grindelwald".
"Now then, the third." For this demonstration Cassie summoned all of the dummies and had them surround her. "This is the most defensive style of them all. You always start off with a shield and this is your opener. Protego!" After casting her shield, she assumed a semi-crouching stance; she held his wand horizontally, slightly above her head, and pointing forward, while her left arm was half stretched and her left palm was opened. The dummies fired at her from all directions. The first volley was absorbed by her shield, but it soon gave way. She ducked to two curses, then turned around and cast the counters to another one, before moving out of the way of three stunners. She recast her shield and counterattacked the nearest dummy, shattering it. This continued for two more minutes. When the last dummy had hit the floor, Cassie continued his explanation, "You will have noticed that I remained in the same spot. The eye of the storm, if you will, which is why the colloquial name for the third form is the 'hurricane style.' What you didn't see is the three perimeters that I was drawing in my mind. There are different approaches to threats in each one of them, but more on that in a few weeks. Other than that, this form relies on shields and counter-curses, so it can be very draining. After a few minutes, most will either switch to a more aggressive style to create and opening or will begin their retreat. But a wizard with a large reserve of power can become nearly invincible. This is the preferred style of Madam Bones,your father Harry but its greatest master to date is old Dumbles. In fact, that's how he won his famous duel – it was a battle of attrition; after nine hours, Grindelwald collapsed from magical exhaustion." Harry had chuckled at her name for Dumbledore,He understood how much she hated the old man. Cassie then repaired and readjusted the dummies for his next demonstration.
"The fourth form is somewhat special. For one, it is much more physical and athletic than the others. The initial stance looks like this." She crouched, bringing her left leg and knee forward and placing her right leg further back. Her right hand was extended half-way, her wand held upwards and slightly to the back. Her next move surprised everyone. She leapt into the air with uncharacteristic agility and speed, sending down a sweeping volley of curses that dispatched three dummies. She landed with a powerful shockwave that threw two others off balance. An instant later, she executed a sweeping kick, following it up with a blasting curse in the opposite direction. She moved in a blur, with unmatched reflexes and alacrity. Harry noticed that half of her attacks were actually physical: punches and kicks supplemented her spellwork. "That was a somewhat limited demonstration. A true master will likely stay in the air as much as possible to gain an advantage. This superior position has led some to dub the fourth form 'griffin style.' You should also note that this form requires you to be in excellent physical condition to use effectively, and even then it can be very tiring. Most users of this style are in more danger of succumbing to fatigue than being overpowered, especially against a master of form three. That, or closed, narrow spaces, which render is nearly useless. The greatest living master of the fourth form is Professor Filius Flitwick. His small size gives him a particular advantage when it comes to the aerial acrobatics."
"On to the fifth," Cassie continued. She revived the unfortunate dummies for yet another thrashing. "A synthesis of sorts between the second and fourth forms. It's less physical than the latter but more aggressive than the former. You start with your wand arm lowered in front of the opposite leg, and then make an upward diagonal slash. This usually guarantees you get the first strike." She was already battling the dummies before she had even finished speaking. she went on as he fought, "The key here is to keep the initiative. Follow each enemy attack with a counterattack. Parry, rather than dodge. Keep moving towards your opponent, keep him on the defensive, keep him guessing, and don't let him rest. If you are overwhelmed, retreat and resume the attack from a different direction. Use overwhelming force; there's a reason this is called the 'dragon style.'" The remaining dummies soon succumbed to the relentless assault. "This style requires endurance, and very good focus and mental discipline. It was Severus Snape's preferred form. It is also mastered by dad, harry." Cassie took a moment to rest before she moved to the final demonstration. SHe reanimated her targets again, this time making them bigger and giving each two wands.
"Sixth form," she said with a smile, "the basilisk style." She let her actions do the rest of the talking. She jumped forth and unleashed a torrent of curses on the throng. Her casting was so fast that it was impossible, at least for the untrained eyes of the seven students, to distinguish their number or nature. Her movements were erratic and sudden. She continued her assault, thrusting and brandishing her wand. By now it was evident that she was using much more powerful and darker curses than before. When she turned sideways, the seven could see that her expression had changed. Her eyes blazed with fury, and her mouth was twisted into a maniacal grin,that terrified Harry and Lyra,they had never seen their mum like this . The ferocious onslaught lasted roughly twenty seconds, and when she was done, absolutely nothing remained of his opponents. His students looked on in absolute awe. Moody finally put away his wand and picked up his staff to steady himself. After a moment, she proceeded, "This is an evolution from the fifth form. Only a handful have ever mastered this style. This is because there are no special, defined movements or sequences. The key is to unleash your emotions. Wrath. Rage. Fury. Unleash chaos on the battlefield. This style works best when driven by controlled anger, and that is why some have even called it a Dark Art. Incidentally, those are the same ones who have no potential to learn it. The legend has it that Slytherin himself created it, and,it is the preferred style of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort."
"Now, then. I've been playing for you long enough. Get off your behinds and get to work!" She concluded and vanished the four chairs on which his students were sitting on,grinning while doing so.