Like Harry, DADA was Darius’ best subject as well. He didn’t let the lack of good teachers best him and used the extensive resources of the RoR to better himself and the added support from the Grimoire was a great help too. He was well beyond Hogwarts standards already and now the only thing left to do was to continue to learn more knowledge and get actual experience.

Like Snape had once said, “The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.”

And he had been all too right! New spells or newer versions of old spells were created every year. There were so many magical creatures out there that they were still unaware of. There were still some dark lords other than Voldemort in the world. Voldemort was a small fry compared to some of the greater dark lords. Grindelwald was a truly powerful one. He had been on the cusp of taking over all of magical Europe and had even set his eyes on America. Voldemort could barely manage to take over Britain. It was only his annoying habit of splitting his soul that was still keeping him alive. That and the countless dark rituals he had done to augment his powers. But that was still not his own strength and came with its own drawbacks. It wasn’t like Grindelwald, who depended on his own strength and charisma to fight his battles. Voldemort just like to inspire fear and toss around unforgivables like they were going out of fashion.

Today's first class was to be DADA. According to the books Remus was supposed to be a decent teacher, though he did overtly focus on the dark creatures side of it. But of course, Darius was in his fifth year and the curriculum had to be different. He was kinda looking forward to it. It would be nice to learn from a decent DADA professor for a change, even though there was an excellent chance that he already knew whatever was going to be taught.

IT was double DADA first thing in the morning and all the students filed in quickly. Remus came in soon after and turned to face the class.

“Good morning class, my name is professor Remus John Lupin and I will be your DADA professor for the foreseeable future. I have already been briefed as to your previous teachers and realise that the lack of any continuity has left a rather gaping hole in your foundations. As this is your OWLs year, it is critical that you be brought up to scratch and that is what I shall attempt to do. Usually, I am rather partial to teaching more about dark creatures but I am also well capable of teaching you everything else you may need.”

The class was silent and looked at him with rapt attention. This was the first time that a teacher had appeared to be even remotely competent and they were looking forward to see how he taught. And he was certainly not wrong about the lack of any sort of continuity in their lessons over the years.

“First I shall give a brief overview of how DADA is usually taught. There may be a few changes of course, depending on the teacher and a few topics may be discussed earlier or later than usual but this is the basic framework.

First year deals with the most basic spells. Minor spells, jinxes and harmless hexes are taught to the students. They will usually not used in any sort of fighting and only serve to buy time. Though I have seen some creative wand work which may use even these disregarded spells in fights. For instance, in a fight between you and a first year, if the first year manages to get you a tongue sticking hex, langlock, they would win the duel unless you are capable of n-vbl spells. They are also taught about the weakest classification of creatures, X, which consist of those few creatures which couldn’t harm you if they tried.

Second year deals with creatures a little higher on the power scale, XX and XXX rated creatures. XX rated are still mostly pests but some of them can be a great bother and it is always good to know hoe to fight them. XXX is where it starts to get tricky. Many of them are capable of killing you or causing your death. They are usually the creature magicals normally encounter out in the wilderness. A well-trained witch or wizard could take one on easily. The topic continues to the third year as well.

Third year is a continuation of the XXX creatures. You will be taught how to defeat them or at least defend yourself from them. By this time, you should be at least able to do the latter. Rudimentary duelling lessons may also be provided, but that depends on the teacher. And even id it is, it will merely be shields, disarmers and stunners.

Fourth year gets interesting. We start dealing with darker hexes and curses and how to detect and defend against them. Some curses and counter-curses will also be taught. You will finally be capable of at least taking rudimentary care of yourself in a duel.

Fifth year i.e., the OWLs years will see a continuation of curses and duelling along with some basic warding. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation and unable to flee, it would be a wise choice to get to a warded area or erect one yourself rather than making foolhardy choices and running towards the danger itself.

Sixth year DADA will once again come back to magical creatures, those of XXXX classification. They are dangerous and most of them easily capable of taking your lives. The training is more for your ability to survive them rather than to defeat them. I sincerely hope you never encounter any of them in a hostile situation. It takes a team of skilled wizards to put down any of them. You will also learn some things about XXXXX creatures but all of them are far too dangerous to be actually brought into Hogwarts. You will only learn the theory for dealing with them, but my sincere suggestion is to leg it in the other direction if you catch a sight of them.

We also start to deal with n-vbl spells. They are a great tool in any witch or wizard's arsenal and very important to learn properly. You will notice most competent adult magicals preferring to use n-vbl spells. You will work your way through most spell that you have learnt in the past five years and attempt to do them non-verbally. It is a gruelling task but very rewarding. It also gets easier as you grow more accustomed to it.

Seventh year is generally not fixed to any particular topic and is up to the student’s choices. Many of the more proficient students choose to take up apprenticeship during that year. Further research is always appreciated and students who also have proficiency with arithmancy, often take to spell-crafting.”

The class had sat in stunned silence through that entire speech. They had never had the entire subject in such a concise yet meaningful way and it took a few seconds for it to sink in. It also set them to thinking about their various inadequacies and many of them realised with a wince, just how much they lagged behind. They would have to put in some serious effort this year to bring their game up to scratch. At least they had an actual DADA professor this year who knew what he was talking about.

Lupin then proceeded to put them through their paces and had them perform many of the basic jinxes, hexes and curses that they already ought to know about. It was a gruelling performance and many of the students were in a miserable state by the end of it, having seen just how much they lacked. None of them were put off by it though. At least they had a year to make up for it. If they walked into the exams the way they were now, it was doubtful whether they could pass.

Darius, of course, got it all right and Lupin gave an appreciative twenty points to Gryffindor. The real surprise were the Weasley twins though. They were almost as good as Darius and the entire class was awed. Darius had always known the two of them were hidden genii and this just confirmed it for him. But it truly was awesome to see them perform so well on the stage.

Because of the situation outside the castle, Lupin decided that Dementors were the first Dark creatures that would have to tackled in their studies.

“Many of you saw the dementors on the Hogwarts Express recently, maybe even felt its debilitating effects but you need to know about the true scope of its abilities if you ever have to face it. In fact, we have three of the students, Mr Fred and George Weasley as well as Darius Icarus here with us who were some of the few who managed to repel the dementors on the train. It was a praiseworthy effort and I hope more of you may learn to do the same come the DA lesson this weekend.

Now, on to dementors. Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life.

If it is able to, it may even suck your very soul out through a process named the Dementors Kiss. It clamps the hole it has for a mouth on to the victim and sucks their very soul out, leaving them a husk of their former selves. They don’t die but many would say their fate is worse than death. The bodies are merely husks with no soul or personality within them.

One of the few ways to repel these foul creatures is the Patronus Charm.

The Patronus is a kind of Anti-Dementor – a guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor. It’s also a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon – hope, happiness, the desire to survive – but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it.

There are two types of Patronuses; corporeal, which means a Patronus with a particular shape and form and uncorporeal Patronus. Uncorporeal Patronuses have no particular shape and do not actively protect against dementors the way corporeal Patronuses do.

The ability to cast a corporeal or non-corporeal Patronus is down to the skill of the witch or wizard. Each Patronus is unique to the witch or wizard who conjures it, and it’s possible, in some cases, for a Patronus to change.

To successfully cast the spell, one begins by mustering the happiest memory they can think of; the happier the memory, the better the charm will work. Alternatively, one could imagine a scenario that would make for a very happy memory. The next step is to begin drawing circles with their wand so as to increase the power of their spell. They must then say the incantation, Expecto Patronum; the Patronus will come from the tip of the wand and can be directed towards a target by pointing one's wand at said target.

The DA has already asked for the presence of a few professors for the open lesson on the Patronus charm and I am one of the few who will be present. I hope as many as possible students are able to pick up the spell as possible. As we are short of time today, I’ll be ending the lecture here. Homework is a 1-foot essay on Dementors and the light magic involved in Patronus.

Chop! Chop!”

The students quickly got up from the seats and started exiting but they all seemed happy with the class. Remus was a competent professor and they had sorely lacked one for years. He was going to be very popular with the students.