DADA Lesson 1 – Years 6 & 7

Rhian raced through the courtyards, corridors, and up the stairs. She'd spent longer than she meant to, writing her latest letter to Conner. It had only been a couple weeks since they'd last seen each other, but after the month he'd lived with her, Mycroft, and Teagan, weeks felt like forever. He assured her that things were going well in the new flat, and with classes, but she knew how much he worried. And she tried to reassure him as best she could, even if it meant being late to her own classes.

Checking her watch as she stopped just outside the door, the Gryffindor cursed inwardly. She was really late. As much as she hated the idea of going in there, so far into the lesson, she knew Jake, and understood that even a partial lesson would be worth it. When her heart settled down enough that she wasn't gasping for breath, she pushed the door open and walked inside.

She set her bag down near the door with the others and stood off to the side, trying to catch on to the lesson. She saw a few of them take turns going up against a spell Jake was using. It took a little bit, but she caught on the which one he was using, and then things started falling into place.

Shit.

Memories of their time with Dementors surfaced, never something she liked to dwell on. Regular spells, she could do. But ones that showed to much of herself...she was more cautious of. When there was a break in volunteers, she moved towards the front to address Jake quietly.

"Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late. I'll do extra work, whatever you need me to do. It won't happen again." And she meant it. Above the urge to attend classes and do well, Rhian always respected Jake, even back when they were both Belladonna's. She wanted to do well in his eyes.

Once that was out of the way, she stepped back to watch a few more. There were some critiques here and there, about the speed with which the students put up their barriers, but Rhian was surprised, on the whole, with how fast they were all doing it. She swallowed hard as she tried to muster the courage for her own turn.

"I'll go," she offered.

Stepping into place, a shot of trepidation ran through her veins. What would he see? What memories would come forward, unbidden? Trying to be proactive, Rhian focused on clearing her mind. Instead of a blank slate, though, memories trickled in. Thoughts of Conner -

The spell hit her hard, her eyes closing as the blackness zoomed forward through pictures, like the movie Conner had taken her to on one of their first dates...

The air was crisp, a February evening. As they walked, arms around each other, she looked up into his face. She'd said something, and the look in his eyes melted her heart. He was speaking then, but she had to focus to remember.

"I want to keep showing you things of my world slowly. Because...you're permanent, I can feel it"

The part of her in the present, with her eyes shut and students tuned out, was relieved. This wasn't that bad, all things considered. But then, it started shifting.

The pitch was warm that day, and they were both sweaty from practice. Well, he was. She could feel the anxiety from this meeting. The way it crept up her throat, threatening to choke her.

"You keep trying, and I'll wait for you" he whispered.

It was the beginning for them.

That still wasn't bad, but not exactly good. Her brow furrowed as she tried to push against the spell. Nothing was happening though. A small part of her had to wonder if she really didn't want it to work. If she wanted these memories, just to be able to see him.

Cold again, the dead of winter. Her knees were numb from kneeling by the graves. "What are you doing here, Conner?"

"Because you asked me to" he answered immediately.

"No," she whispered. This was not a good path. Her jaw clenched as she tried to imagine herself pushing back against the spell. She could almost feel something in her mind, a type of resistance that she was fighting against. But it wouldn't give way.

So much red. Flashes of the prone bodies, on the living room floor at her uncle's house. Elena's blonde hair covering most of her face. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. But he was there, the man was still there...

"No more!" she spoke firmly. Her fists balled, she was determined to get him out.

And just like that, the spell was gone. Her body lurched forward just a bit, and she stumbled, trying not to fall. Mouth scrunching as she tried to reign in her scattered thoughts, she had to fight the urge to avoid Jake. Looking over to him, her lips pursed, she wondered what would happen now. Had she succeeded? She had no idea, and right now, she couldn't really sort things out in her own mind.

Ryan was a little nervous about the fact of anyone being inside his head. Ryan knew the only way to pass this was for him to try this lesson out, so when Jake asked who was next he stepped up to be next. "I'll go sir" he said to Jake. He stood in front of Jake and tried his best to concentrate, he heard Jake perform the spell and it hit Ryan a little too hard, Ryan tried to keep the invisible wall up against his Professor.

"Ryan! Get down here now" Of course it had to be that memory, Ryan kept his life private for a reason so right when he saw that come before his eyes, Ryan tried with all his strength and pushed Jake out of his head completely. Ryan was breathing heavily a little, he wasn't used to this kind of stuff yet but he would be for the future, he just had to.

"I'll go," Cassidy stepped forward when Jake asked for the next volunteer. She felt confident enough that she could do it, use occlumency. And she didn't have anything to hide. Besides, she'd rather learn how to do it than to be faced with a dangerous situation outside of school where she was helpless against it.

She readied herself as Jake cast the spell, and it hit harder than she thought it would hit. And it did shock her a bit, and she felt a strange sensation wash over her as her memories seemed to be pulled forward. Snippets of her life seemed to flash before her eyes, some funny, some sad, and some downright embarrassing.

The first was a scene in her house, looking down at a letter of yellow parchment, and green ink. Turning it over in her hand revealed the Hogwarts wax seal. She had been such an excited and bubbly eleven-year-old, and clearly not much had changed. She ran eagerly to show her parents, but then the memory began to fade, as she began to try and push Jake out of her head, though it proved more difficult than she thought.

The next was a much darker memory, and had contrasted so much with the bumbling elation of her eleven year old self. It was of that dreadful quidditch match she had endured. The one where her best friend had died, and it was painful, and vivid. Thankfully those memories didn't last too long, she was desperate to push them back into the dark and dingy corners of her mind, where all the bad things resided, rarely woken.

She pushed again, harder, but the memories morphed into another, that had been far more recent. She was in the clock tower, holding on to rolls of parchment, jumping as a voice whispered in her ear, catching her by surprise. She felt his lips on her neck, gentle and sweet.

"I chose a place to give us privacy." the Josh had drawled as he moved his hand around her waist.

It was that moment that with all her force, she pushed Jake out of her mind completely. Her fair skin flushed red, eyes widening as she realised just exactly what her teacher had seen, and potentially how much he could have seen. She felt a mixture of vulnerability and awkwardness as she hastily picked up her bag "Good lesson Jake," she said with an uneasy smile "See you," she hastened out of the classroom quickly, wrecked with embarrassment at what Jake had seen.

Lucy stepped forward after the red-headed Gryffindor hurried out of class in a haste "Ready," she stated. She braced herself as Jake cast the spell, and it hit, forcing itself into her mind, and immediately strained to push him back out. She saw all different flashings of different moments in her life, seeming to be bought forward and shuffled about.

The first clear memory that came to her was an epic display of underage magic. When she was younger, and angry. Really, really angry. At what, she couldn't quite recall, probably some childish thing that didn't exactly matter. But she was fuming. It was then that the shutters to her blinds snapped open. Then shut. The open again. And soon the motion was repeating rapidly. And then the door slammed. And opened and slammed again. Bits and pieces of things began to whirl around the room quickly, rattling against the walls. When Lucy looked around the room, anger fizzled into fear. And suddenly it stopped. Objects dropped with a clatter. As her parents rushed upstairs to see what the fuss was, it faded...

It faded to a happier, less stressful memory of of Lucy in the forbidden forest, with Shawn. Just walking and talking, giggling and having fun. It was peaceful, and sweet, all warm and fuzzy. But it turned quickly to a haze, shutting off completely as she managed to push Jake completely out of her head.

She felt a strange tiredness from the effort, but was proud of herself, nonetheless.