In which there is more tutoring
Harry and his friend group still had tutoring for select courses. Right now they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they had Mr. and Mrs. Nelson again. Also, they had allowed to expand the class a bit, though they only added Ron and Pansy for now. The former because Ron had reconciled and was willing to change. And Pansy because…well, they wondered why? Maybe because she was less of a bitch, they guessed.
“All right, class. Same as before, we all will let you take a test to see what level for Defense you are at. It is not a contest or for grades, it is to show what we know your strengths and knowledge of the subject.” Mr. Nelson had handed out the papers and allowed them all to fill it in.
There were some similar results like last time. Hermione excels due to her intelligence, Cloak and Gryffi had great knowledge due to their longevity and Maps due to having the brain of three top Newt students. The rest of them were fairly decent and didn’t score badly despite each year switching to a new teacher with varying degrees of competence. “Despite everything, it is actually quite impressive you managed to keep a grade average. Some theory has gaps but that is to be expected, but definitely easy to fix.” Mr. Nelson said. “But as you know, there is a practical aspect.”
“I’ll be setting up dummies, and you all need to shoot the spells at them. At least none of you are going to eat any of the material…” Mrs. Nelson said, as she turned to Nom-Nom, whom had her mouth wide open and looked like she wanted to take a bite out of it. She moved to the back quickly. “Anyhow, the dummies can fight back to a degree, so it also test your reflexes.”
“How can it do that? Not even constructs can fire spells…” Ron wondered. Suddenly the dummies started firing spheres the size of tennis balls at them. “Bloody hell!” he said as he started to move around to dodge them and fire spells back. Everyone followed.
Now, most of them tried hard to dodge and fire spells back. Sometimes they felt themselves being hit and the balls had a mild stinging effect upon being hit. Some of them didn’t need to dodge, as Gryffi just unsheathed her blades and sliced them all clean in half. Nom-Nom just opened her mouth and caught them all…before spitting them back at the dummies. Maps shifted her inky form to allow them to pass through her and Trevor, with samurai-like skill swatted them all away with his pipe.
“All right, that’s enough!” Mrs. Nelson said. “Now, we have go to over everything. Now, I see decent spellwork, but some stand out for multiple reasons. Now the…transformed people (we need to get a term for that) have unique abilities that allow greater dodging. But their spellcasting, while good, is basic. That made sense due to aside of a set few, most of them were objects and animals before so they couldn’t have trained in spellcasting.
“I see that Mr. Potter is the best, he is seen doing dodging and spell countering like a duelist.” Mr. Nelson said.
“It was kind of a necessity to stay alive;” Harry droned.
The Nelsons blinked and wondered if they should look into that later. “Er…right.” Mr. Nelson said. “Others of you, practice would make perfect but you’re on the good way. Though a few things. Miss Granger, you seem to overthink when firing spells. Enemies would not in real life give you that luxury. Don’t make it complicated, its best to hit with a spell first rather then think of ten spells and risk being hit.”
Hermione nodded. She got the logic so she wasn’t upset, she knew it of herself.
“Miss Lovegoods spellwork was…random. Yeah, it is good for offsetting enemies, but know that can sometimes lead to reckless spell use if unchecked so best to keep a balance between the unpredictability while assuring safety.” Mr. Nelson continued. Luna was unbothered as she also knew that the reasoning was valid.
“Miss Parkinson, in a real duel people will care more about hitting you then admiring your appearance, so you don’t have to be fearful of not looking neat or ladylike, the important part is coming out unscathed.” Mrs. Nelson said.
Pansy looked pensive. She was raised as a pureblood princess. So of course they expect her to act girly and ladylike. Fighting even with spellwork rarely came up. She could throw spells, but in a duel she realized she needed to practice to even stand a chance.
“And some spellwork was flashy, like Miss Bolt’s.” Mr. Nelson turned to the broom woman. “Now, I understand wanting to look good when casting spells, and with your speed you can afford it. But being flashy can sometimes go at the cost of time and precision. So try to keep it effective and simple.”
“Sorry, can’t help it; I’m an athlete, we don’t mind showing off.” Bolt said. “But I’ll keep it in mind.” She got a bit humbled after she and Harry got outflown by Krum.
“And most of this group…” Mrs. Nelson pointed at all the waifus. “have abilities and skills that allow them to no sell some attacks. But I would advice you practice dodging anyways. Because while those balls were easily stopped, there will be some spells you can’t avoid or block in the same way. There is magic that can still harm you.”
“After all, dodging is the best counter for any spell. No spell works if it can’t hit.” Mr. Nelson added.
“What about shield spells?” Pansy asked.
“Shield spells are advanced, use up magic, and even the strongest shield spells aren’t unbreakable. There will be cases where shields are useful, for most spells dodging is the best solution.” Mr. Nelson said. “And we’ll still teach you shield charms. They are still useful but dodging is also necessary. So for this lesson we also include a physical aspect. Your condition needs to improve so we are going to train. A lap around the lake.”
“You mean running, like with our legs?” Pansy asked.
“Well, you can try running on your hands but that would not be easy.” Mr. Nelson said.
“But working out is for Muggles.” Pansy said.
“Whether Witch/Wizard or Muggle, everyone needs good health. Physical training can not only benefits you, especially in combat situations, but also keeps your body healthy. And a healthy body also can channel magic better. Physical health actually improves your magic, but a lot of wizards and witches don’t do that because they rely on their magic. Magic is part of you but it’s a tool, it is not a definition of what you are.” Mrs. Nelson said.
“Besides, you played Beater. You didn’t need the magic to swing the bat, right?” Ron noted.
“That’s…True.” Pansy said. Most of it was done by flying the broom but she had been hitting Bludgers with a bat, swung by her arms, not a wand.
“Wizards and witches get lazy and out of shape from relying only on magic. The only reason the Death Eaters were a threat is their numbers and use of dark magic, as well as bringing fear to the people. And the Auror corps being underfunded, undertrained and undermanned. But in a straight fight against a few true physically fit and skilled wizards, they wouldn’t last.” Mr. Nelson said. “So now…We are going to take that lap!”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“I’m going to die!” Neville said as they were forced to run around the lake.” He wasn’t really used to physical exercise.
“I am not used to working my legs…” Hedwig said as she panted. “I’m normally a flier, not a runner. I am no roadrunner.”
“I don’t know about you, but I feel fine!” Bolt said as she ran ahead on them. She lapped around the lake and back to them, easily. She was fast in the air and on her feet. “Hurry up, or you won’t get the lap before sunset.
Maps wasn’t fast, even if she could shift her inky form, she can’t emulate speed. But she could shut her braggart sister up. She spread a bit of ink in front of her path, and soon Broom landed on her arse. “Whoops!”
“Ok, I guess I kind of deserves that one.” Bolt admitted.
“How come you are so good at running?” Ron asked, panting as Harry got ahead of him.
“My cousin and his friends did a game called ‘Harry Hunting’. I needed to be good at running to try and escape them.” Harry noted.
“I had to do the same for my bullies.” Luna said, whom surprised everyone by keeping up with Harry.
“Same.” Hermione said she was also keeping up.
“I feel like we should curse each and every one of them…” Fred noted.
“Or use them as test subjects for our prank products…” George added.
Both of them were used to Wood’s workout regime and were able to keep up.
“Oh, no worries about them, they are all defanged by now.” Luna assured them.
“Yeah, I heard my old bullies didn’t even pass their classes and suffer a social stigma.” Hermione said. To her the best revenge was to excel with her intelligence in her new school while they didn’t do jack in their school.
“Besides, Dudley is still in juvie.” Harry noted. “He is no more problem.”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We cut to the juvenile center Dudley was sentenced to. He was harassed by a few others. “Do it again fatty!”
“But I did it five times already.” Dudley whined.
“Do it again!” the other guy reiterated.
Dudley removed his shirt and played with is fat man boobs as he sang crying:
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And they're like, it's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours
I can teach you, but I have to charge
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And they're like, it's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours
I can teach you, but I have to charge
Juvie was torture for him. (The author wants to note that while the song probably didn’t come out in the timeframe that Harry Potter takes place, the joke was too funny to pass up)
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Nom…Nom…” Nom-Nom said as she also didn’t appear very fit. She is a plant, normally she is rooted, not running. Suddenly a giant chicken leg was conjured and floated in front of her. And she shifted into high gear, all fatigue gone as she suddenly just thought of the snack. “NomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNomNom!” she rapidly babbled as she tried to get the chicken leg, whom always started to float out of reach.
“Man, she is really distracted by food easily.” Pansy noted.
“Chicken, I want the chicken!” Ron said as a conjured chicken leg had also appeared and floated in front of him.
Pansy sighed as she sighed: “And somehow he’s still smarter then Draco.” A certain Slytherin was sneezing and he didn’t know why.
“You two are not going badly.” Harry said to Susan and Hannah.
“Oh, my aunt insists on a good workout regime for health and safety reasons.” Susan said.
“And I started doing it when Susan said how beneficial it is.” Hannah said.
“You could do to walk in front of Neville. He may feel much more motivated that way.” Luna said with a sly grin.
“Oh, I like that idea.” Susan said, with Hannah’s identical smirk showing they agreed. They ran in front of Neville. And since they had discarded most of their outer robes for the work out and are in a sports outfit that showed…enough Neville soon found he could run better if he was distracted by the sight of two perky bumbs in front of him. He ran into a tree afterwards, but it had to a degree helped.
“This…is…so tiring.” Daphne noted. Despite all her positive qualities, like Pansy she hadn’t done much in terms of workout in her life.
Her girlfriend Tracey on the other hand was an athlete. “Seems the ice queen is on the verge of melting. Try to keep up, sweetie.”
“Easy for you to say, you have been doing this for years.” Daphne sighed.
“You know, if you can catch me, you can do whatever you want with me…” Tracey said, running in front of Daphne.
“I’m your girlfriend, I can do that any time.” Daphne pointed out.
“Doesn’t mean you cannot try anyways.” Tracey said as she continued to run in front of Daphne in a way that shows she deliberately showed off her hips.
Daphne growled, as logically she knew that as girlfriends she has access to Tracey anytime and she wouldn’t withhold her body…but somehow she got roped into a chase that made the running much more bearable. At the end end Daphne was all like. “Damnit, Tracey!”
“I knew you could do it.” Tracey said.
“I hate you…” Daphne panted.
“You didn’t say that last night when we…” Tracey said as Daphne put her hand on her girlfriends’ mouth.
“I see you all managed to finish the lap. Some with more efforts then other.” Mr. Nelson said. He looked and saw Luna, Hermione, Harry and everyone else on the Quidditch teams not being winded, while still sweating. Most of them sat down or were lying in the grass panting and coughing. Neville was given Susan and Hannah’s lap to use as a pillow but he was a bit too out of it to realize in full and may pass it off as a dream.
The conjured chicken legs were not dispatched yet. And while it didn’t move anymore, one still floated above Nom-Nom, as she tried to jump frantically to get the chicken leg. “Nom! Nom! Nom! Nom! Nom!” she said as she tried to jump for the treat. While Ron was being dragged along across the floor as he tried to hold on his magical chicken leg, not enjoying being dragged like cans behind a honeymoon cars but also not wanting to let his price go.
“Though you have to keep up the training regime. So I expect you to finish a lap a day, or a distance equivalent to a lap each day. It is going to be hard, but over time you’ll find it works out best for you.” Mrs. Nelson said.
Pansy wasn’t listening as he saw Ron with the conjured drumstick. “Normally when Draco does it, he looks like a fool. But when this idiot does it, it is quite…endearing. I wonder why.”
“Because you may have a thing for him?” Hannah said.
“What? No…I…Ron and I are friendly acquaintances at worst, maybe sort of friends but…” Pansy said. “I can’t have a thing.”
“Would you know what a real crush is? Your crush with Draco didn’t feel real, right? And what you feel for Ron is different?” Susan pointed out.
Pansy realized it a while back, but she only lashed upon Draco because it was expected but not because she genuinely loved him. She tried to keep mutual respect out of courtesy but he wasn’t worth that. But Ron…when did she call him ‘Ron’ instead of ‘Weasley’? That’s something to think about later. “Well, have you made Longbottom put his mind on something else but plants? Like for example how you can share him between you two?”
“Touché, Parkinson.” Both of them said.
“They’re quite obvious, aren’t they?” Harry noted as he observed Pansy, Hannah and Susan to respectively pine for Ron and Neville. All while he sat down near the base of a tree with Luna and Hermione cuddled up to him.
“Yeah, how can they do all these obvious things and not notice.” Hermione decided to rest her head on Harry’s shoulder. It’s because Harry was gallant and allowed it, and for no underlying reason.
Luna was the only truly aware one between the three of them but she wouldn’t say it outright since she wanted to give them a chance to learn something from it. “I can feel your abs, Harry, quite impressive.” Luna was allowed to give hints.
“Yeah, lifetime of Harry Hunting, Quidditch, Tournament training and fighting for my life has some benefits. I’d have preferred a gym membership though.” Harry noted.
“Would abs look bad on me or Hermione? We are girls but…” Luna asked.
“Abs don’t look bad on a girl. I think it would be beautiful, like an Amazon or something. As long as its not bodybuilder buff.” Harry noted.
“Magic amazon sounds good.” Hermione said. She imagined herself as Amazonian, so she’d be brains, brawn and magical prowess. And the fact the fantasy involved Harry and Luna drooling over them didn’t have anything to do with it.
“Ugh! Hormonal teens!” Mr. Nelson sighed.
“Yeah, they are obvious, for Harry and Hermione we have waited for years for them to spill it. And somehow Luna endeared herself to joining in.” Fred explained
“It altered our original betting pool, and now any combination between Harry, Hermione and Luna are bet upon.” Fred explained.
“Want to join in?” Fred asked.
“I can spare a few Galleons.” Mr. Nelson said.
“Kent!” Mrs. Kelson chided.
“Come on, Inza, let me have this!”
In the background, Nom-Nom had finally jumped up high enough to get the drumstick, but now she was biting into it and hanging off it like a dog whom didn’t want to let go of his favorite chew toy, included the growling.