Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
Chapter 14: A Class In Defense
"Defense… that is the first word in this class's name, and its main purpose. You need to learn how to defend against any threat that you could potentially come across in your daily lives," the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts said, pacing around the class as she spoke.
James felt his classmate hitting his elbow and turned to see what he wanted.
Sirius leaned closer and whispered, "Hey, don't you think the professor walks funny?"
James raised an eyebrow. 'How could he not realize?' He thought it was obvious. "That's because she's missing her right leg. That one is a prosthetic…"
"Really?" Sirius looked genuinely surprised.
In Sirius's defense, her prosthetic leg was much more realistic-looking than the one used by Alastor Moody. And with her long tunic covering everything except her shoes, it was impossible to see anything unusual.
James only knew because he recognized her walking pattern.
"Really…" James responded. "I mean, she's a former Auror. Did you not wonder why she was no longer in service? She's obviously too young to retire."
"Haven't really thought about that… and I've mostly been paying attention to other parts of her body, hehe," Sirius chuckled.
This earned a look of disapproval from James.
"Oh, come on. I know you only have eyes for Lily, but don't tell me she's not attractive."
James shook his head at his friend's behavior. But he couldn't deny it either.
Valeria Walker, the new Defense Professor, was in her mid-thirties, and despite her disability, she had kept herself in very fit shape. This was evident even with her loose robes. She also had well-maintained, shiny black long hair and a pair of striking blue eyes.
"And she has a nice pair of—" Sirius was not able to finish his sentence.
She must have noticed something then because she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at them. "Mister Black and Mister Potter… are you already bored of my class, or do you have something more important to whisper to each other about?"
"N-No, Professor! Of course not," Sirius hurried to say.
She got closer to them. "Is that so? But it must have been more interesting than what I was talking about. Please, share it with the whole class."
"Well… we were talking about…" Of course, Sirius could not mention he was talking about her breasts, or he'd spend the rest of the year in detention. "We were just commenting on your… leg."
"My leg? What about it?" the professor inquired.
"James says that it's a prosthetic one… is that true?" Sirius said.
James gave Sirius a harsh glare. He was being thrown under the metaphorical bus by his friend.
"Mister Potter said that?" She was now looking at James with curiosity. "You have sharp eyes, then. I spent a year learning to walk with the prosthesis so it wouldn't be noticed."
"Do you have a fake leg?"
"What happened to the real one?"
The other students began to ask.
It was obvious that none of them had noticed what James did.
The first wizard who had taught him alchemy also had a prosthetic leg due to an accident he suffered during his youth. James never realized it, but due to the many years he spent with that person, he could easily recognize that Professor Walker also had a fake leg.
It was already impressive that Sirius noticed anything at all.
"It is true," the professor confirmed. "I lost it due to a corrosive curse in my line of duty. And no, I won't go into any more details than that." She was already seeing many raised hands.
"Let's get back to the matter at hand. Today, you are going to learn about the Protego Charm."
Sirius sighed in relief. The professor didn't seem too offended by the mention of her prosthetic leg. It appeared that they had avoided getting into trouble.
Professor Walker looked around the classroom. "Before we jump into the practical part of the class, let's talk a bit of theory about this charm. Can someone tell me about it and how it works?"
Lily Evans was the first one to raise her hand.
"Miss Evans, go ahead."
"The Protego Charm is the most important defensive spell a wizard or witch can learn. When properly used, it creates a translucent shield in front of the caster that can stop offensive spells. The amount of magic poured into the shield can be increased for better effect," Lily explained with a proud expression before sitting back down.
"Good, one point to Gryffindor. I would have given you more if you didn't just repeat exactly what the book says. I'm afraid that explanation is a bit incomplete, or at least vague."
"Wait… but the book doesn't mention anything else," Lily felt a bit offended. Her answer should have been perfect.
"The book states 'offensive spells.' Does that encompass all of them?" the professor asked.
"Shouldn't it be?" Alice asked.
"If that was the case, I would still have two legs," the professor responded.
"Dark curses," Severus Snape added.
The professor pointed at him. "Good!. But raise your hand next time. One point to Slytherin."
She turned toward the back of the class, where several training dummies had been set up. Her wand shot out from her holster and appeared in her hand. "Stupefy!"
The Stunning Charm impacted the dummy square in its chest. "That is one spell that the Protego Charm would save you against."
She then threw another spell. This one had a much darker light. As it hit the arm of the dummy, it exploded into a million pieces. "That was a Bone-Shattering Curse. It is considered a dark curse and illegal to use against any living being. The Protego would not have helped you much against that one."
"Why not?" Lily asked.
"In our last class, I briefly spoke about the Three Unforgivable Curses," the professor said. "There is one component that all dark curses share in common. And it is this component that makes them so hard to block. Can someone tell m—"
"Emotions," Bellatrix Black answered before she could finish the question.
The professor nodded. "Correct, but you didn't raise your hand, and you also interrupted me mid-sentence, so no points for you, Miss Black."
Bella frowned but didn't respond.
"Now...where was I?." The professor continued.
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