Four days later, at the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Azarynth separated with a short goodbye.

  “Well, Harry. It’s been nice, but I’ll leave you to your friends. See you in DADA. Till then.”

  “Goodbye, ma’am”

  “-and lastly, I want to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Veyloran!” The response was rather lacklustre. The students were accustomed to disappointments with DADA teachers, and this one seemed no different, considering none of them had heard of her.

  Well, except for a few Slytherins and one Gryffindor. Harry Potter grinned happily at the announcement, earning himself a few confused looks from his fellow Gryffindors.

  His reaction was a stark contrast to Draco Malfoy’s. His face had gotten so white that, had he not been sweating bullets as well, he would have been mistaken for dead. Besides those two, only a blond-haired and blue-eyed Slytherin girl showed any sign of recognition, even if it was gone so fast no one even realised it was there.

  “-and with that said and done, dig in!”

  The very next day, the Gryffindors were to have DADA with the Slytherins. They entered with no excitement. The book made it obvious that they wouldn’t be dealing with someone competent here and would instead have to face a ministry representative who had been chosen for political correctness rather than competence. None of those in the know had spilt the surprise, and so only a very small number of students had any expectations.

  “Greetings, class.” As expected, the teacher had sat down behind her desk and didn’t even look up when they entered. “Please sit down.”

  They obeyed, and once everyone had sat down, she started talking once again. “Now, first of all, I want you to take your books.” The last bit of hope for practical teaching had been dashed, before she continued, “and ignore them for now. Instead, I have something to give to you now.”

  She took out a stash of books that looked suspiciously like the one around her hip.

  “This is a traditional Grimoire, as they have been used for millennia. They are enchanted to record the details of every spell you learn, ever. This can be very useful if you need to check an incantation or have forgotten a certain spell. It does not, however, teach you the spells inside it. This one also contains every single spell you will learn from me this year. It’s not a lot, and I really do not want to waste the time I have to teach you these basic spells, because that is, in essence, what it is. The very basics. Any questions for now?”

  The hand of Hermione Granger shot up at a speed that made everyone wonder whether she really was a human.

  “Yes, miss?” She pointed in Hermione’s direction.

  “Granger, ma’am. If these grimoires existed for so long, then why have I not heard of them in the wizarding world? They were not mentioned in any books, nor did any teachers tell us about them.”

  “Good question, and good observation. Can any of you tell me what a Grimoire is?”

  Only two hands went up. Malfoy and an, until now, unknown girl from Slytherin. Azarynth first pointed towards the girl.

  “What do you know about Grimoires, miss?”

  “Greengrass, ma’am. Grimoirs have been used for a long time, predating the creation of Egypt, and have been immensely popular since their inception. It is only since just before the rise of Grindelwald that they have fallen out of fashion, because the family that had monopolised its production method had been massacred, and with them, the knowledge of how to make them was lost. Many have tried to reproduce it, but sadly, none have succeeded, until now it seems.”

  “Oh, what do you mean by until now?”

  “Those are new. The colours of their pages make it obvious. Those have never been bonded to anyone and aren’t old either.”

  “Very astute observation. I made these myself, so you would be right about that. These are free, but there will be no replacements if you lose them, so be careful with them. Now onto their use, each of you come up and take one. They will automatically bond with you.”

  As the students took their books, the books immediately changed in colour and thickness.

  “Now open your books to the first page. You will see the spell incantation, the wand motion, the effect, and the theory behind the spell, or what you know of the theory, yes? This is the format all spells in here are in. There is one page per spell in the book, so the thickness directly correlates with the number of spells you know.”

  This piqued some students' interest, so she threw in a quick warning.

  “This is not, however, a reflection of your skill. You will see an example of why later in my lessons, but for now, the important thing is that a single spell can do so much more if you train it a lot than a thousand spells. As Bruce Lee said, I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times. This applies to magic just as much as it does to martial arts, so keep that in mind. Quality trumps quantity.”

  She may have muttered what came next quietly, but every student still heard what she said next, “Though quantity sometimes has a quality of its own. Anyway, I’m done monologuing, so I should start actually teaching.”

  She stood up and took a deep breath.

  “From what I know, your defence knowledge up until now was quite lacklustre, so there will have to be some revision, but I also have to teach you how to defend yourself beyond tests, so past content will be largely self-study for you, not that that’s something new for you. Now, to start your first lesson, I want you to take your books and throw them away.”

  “What?!” The scream came from Hermione, and the rest of the class was also shocked.

  “This book is an absolute waste of paper and contains absolutely nothing of relevance. Instead of teaching you about the greatness of the ministry, I’m here to teach you how to defend yourselves, and to start that, I want to ask you a question. What are Domains?”

  Hermione's hand shot up at a speed that disproved Einstein’s claim that nothing could reach the speed of light.

  “They are the fields of magic every spell belongs to.” She said.

  To which Azarynth answered, “That is correct, but sadly incomplete. It probably comes from a textbook, right?”

  “It’s from the standard Book of Spells 2, by Miranda Goshawk”

  “Then sadly, it is an incomplete description. Nonetheless, it is still a correct one. Now, does anyone know the full definition? Yes, Miss Greengrass?”

  “Domains are the fields we categorise spells into for easier understanding. They are by no means infallible, and aren’t actually important for the spell itself.”

  “That is correct. Now I have a question for you. What domains of magic are taught in Charms class? Mister Potter?”

  “Charms.”

  “Correct. Now, what is taught in transfiguration? Mister Weasley?”

  “Transfiguration.”

  “Correct. Lastly, what is taught in my class?”

  This time, the hands stayed down. Eventually, a reluctant hand rose.

  “Yes, Mr Malfoy?”

  “Maybe the Dark Arts?”

  “A good guess. It’s even correct, if very incomplete. In DADA, every domain is meant to be used. Things like Charms, Transfiguration and the Dark Arts are the obvious choices, but even Runes, Divination or Arithmancy are applicable in combat. And essentially, that is what I am supposed to teach you. How to use what your other teachers teach you to defend yourselves.”

  She stopped pacing and looked at them. “Now that’s enough pure magical theory for today. One of the most important things you need to learn to defend yourself is what to do before you even know you will fight. But almost as essential is the ability to analyse a situation and adapt on the spot. Now, analysis or more specifically adaptation will only be taught theoretically for now, and that will be what we are looking at today. Specifically, I will be teaching you how to use your brains in combat now.”

  She took out a small bottle full of a silvery liquid.

  “I have brought a memory of mine, where over 500 of the most powerful people simultaneously fought one being. This being was immensely powerful and the darkest I have ever faced. It was a long fight full of death, surprises and such. I will oftentimes stop and ask you for your opinion on what happened, what you would change in the current approach and why. Do note that you cannot really give a wrong answer here, since it’s unknown how well it would work. Despite that, I will tell you my opinion on your plan. Now let’s go.”

  She opened the bottle and waved her hand, causing all of the students to get enveloped by some kind of silver-grey mist. This was promptly followed by plummeting into the darkness, before seeing an unbelievable scene in front of them.

  They were in a giant throne room, with a monstrous being sitting on a black throne, confronted by a mass of people. Both sides obviously about to fight.

  The monstrous being was pure darkness. It looked like an amalgamation of shadows, darkness and evil. Despite its humanoid shape, it was obviously ancient.

  Its opponents weren’t just humans. Harry could see sharp ears, somewhat reminiscent of house elves, but connected to unimaginably beautiful beings instead of the wrinkly, small house elves. He could also see horns that looked suspiciously like they belonged on a dragon's head, green skin and many other indicators that these weren’t all humans. Despite that, their figures were all humanoid, and they all emitted an incredible amount of power.

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  It was at this point that he heard a scream behind him and realised that both he and all of his fellow students looked like ghosts.

  “No need to panic,” Their teacher said, “You are in my memory. I made it like this so you know who’s real and who’s a memory.”

  She paused until everyone had collected themselves. She continued, “This was one of the most horrifying fights I have ever been in, and the reason should be obvious. That thing on the throne is called the Ashen Harvester. It was an absolutely horrifying being. Once one of the most respected people in the world turned dark enough that any human would look like a joke in comparison.”

  She let them process that information for a little bit. “It was an ancient being before it turned dark, and used a very carefully controlled combination of cruelty and restraint. Just barely keeping the rest of the world from uniting against it.” Then she laughed a little bit.

  “Luckily, it was arrogant. It believed itself to have surpassed everyone and to be truly undefeatable, especially since no legendary masters were still alive, so it attacked the elves. That was the final straw. Three ‘dead’ masters stepped up. It turned out news of our deaths were greatly exaggerated,” she muttered something about how that forced her out of retirement, before asking whether any of them had any questions.

  The first hand to shoot up belonged to Daphne Greengrass, and once she was called upon, she asked, ”You said ‘news of our deaths,’ does that mean you were one of those masters?”

  “Well, yes. I had decided to retire quite a while before that, but I was constantly getting attacked by arrogant people who wanted to prove themselves by killing me, so I faked my death in a duel against a regular rabbit. The reactions were quite funny. Now don’t look for us yet. None of us three have arrived yet. We found out about the attack a lot later than the rest. Downside of being retired.”

  Then she began to explain the factions. “Now, the biggest faction here consists of the elves. Their capital was just attacked, and they sent all of their Archmages here. For context, Albus is an Archmage, and they just sent 200 of them. Although Albus is probably stronger than all of them, purely due to the amount of versatility he has.”

  Then she pointed to a large group of black clothed people of all races, even if they were predominantly human. “This is the Black Block. At this point, they are a rather new faction. No one really knew much about them except that they accept just about everyone. All of those they sent here were also either Archmages or Grand Knights. A Grand Knight is roughly equal to an Archmage in terms of power. They fight a lot more close ranged, though.”

  She points at a group with clothing suspiciously similar to her own. “Lastly, we have the Reapers. I founded them. They are not used to fighting Monsters like this one, and work more as a police force than this. Despite that the 140 people here are Archmages, Grand Knights or Hatamoto. Once again, all roughly equal in power, a Hatamoto is a lot more offensively focused than a Grand Knight. The rest of the people here belong to small factions and aren’t relevant. Now, what do you see in the way they are organised? I’ll go with someone who’s said nothing for now. You, Mr?” She points to Neville.

  “Longbottom. It seems like it’s planned?” He seems quite unconfident. “Those in the front all wear armour and seem to be Grand Knights, who, according to you, fight more closely, with a few Hata—” He seems to have forgotten how they are called.

  “They are called Hatamoto, but you can call them Ronin. It should be easier and is just as accurate.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. There are a few Ronin mixed into the second and third rows of knights, probably to use any opportunities they see to attack. All of the Archmages are in the back and are spread out, probably so everything is watched, and not all of them can be taken down at the same time. It’s just the way your people stand seems weird. It’s almost like they are expected to get attacked by those around them.” And he proceeds to immediately lose all of the confidence he just had. “It’s all just my opinion, though.”

  “It’s all correct. Very good Analysis. Ten points to Gryffindor. Do any of you have something to add or a different opinion on something? Miss Davis.”

  “The black clothed ones seem to be preparing for a fight against the ones around them as well, but yours just seem paranoid to me, so I’d say they aren’t dangerous.”

  Azarynth laughs. “Oh, they are. I taught them that way. You need that kind of paranoia if you’re supposed to bring the worst criminals in the world to justice. They tend not to be very cooperative, so we had to always be vigilant. Now, does anyone have something to add? No? Alright then, how do you think this whole battle will go from what you know right now? Yes, Mr Potter?”

  “I think they will lose miserably.”

  “Oh, why?” The teacher smiled dangerously, “You always need to give me a reason when you say something like that.”

  “They seem very jittery and not confident in the slightest. Add to that just how ridiculously powerful their opponent seems, I just don’t have much hope for them.”

  “We’ll see. Now let’s see how the battle begins.”

  Suddenly, all three hundred mages start casting simultaneously, throwing a combination of fire and wind magic at the Ashen Harvester, causing the students to gulp at the raw power in those spells. Even Harry started to second-guess his opinion when the monster emerged from the sea of flames with only light burns. None of the people on the ground seemed surprised at that, so they must have expected a long and drawn-out fight.

  The mages immediately shift their focus, everyone casting on their own since the Harvester was now so close to the Knights that any big magic hit their own people. It quickly became obvious that that had been their goal, as countless chains, vines, runes, and other magical constructs started holding the monster. The ground even melted, controlling the monster's legs. Over a third of the mages cast such controlling spells, while the rest continued with very focused, immensely powerful spells that left the students in awe.

  Meanwhile, the Knights had started their thing. They stood in front of the Mages and Ronin, always blocking the attacks of the monster. No attack had gotten through them despite the incredible speed the monster had shown before getting bound. Now, some of the knights had started using their weapons for attacks as well. The Ronin dashed out of the protection of the knights for short bursts of damage before falling back instantly.

  It all seemed like an incredibly well-organised strategy that worked like a charm. Leaving the students in awe at the power, skill and coordination that was displayed.

  It was at this moment that the situation once again froze, and Azarynth asked, “What do you think of what you just saw?”

  Hermione’s hand shot up immediately. “Yes, Miss Granger?”

  “That was a very well executed Formation. This kind has been used for a very long time. It was created before the first Egyptian Pharaoh had even been born.”

  “Correct. I would like to know what you think of their choice of formation, what the risks here are and how they adjusted it for their specific opponent.”

  “The choice of formation fits what was described in Combatting the darkness: Formations and strategies of old. It recommends this one for groups of high numbers. It is very well executed.”

  “You just answered the first question, and that’s it. Maybe someone else then? How about Mr Potter?”

  “It seems like they have experience with this formation, so it’s a good choice. It seems logical to use something all of them know in such a hodgepodge team. They seem more focused on controlling their opponents than usual. It is quite a risky choice, though, because if the knights mess up even once, it could kill a major portion of the control-focused mages, which would make the Knights’ job a lot harder and would lead to a slow defeat.”

  “What other idea do you have that’s less risky here, and why do you think they didn’t use it?”

  “They could have also split up into small groups, with at least one knight and mage in every group and dragged it out a lot more. It is a lot more risky for the small groups, but the consequence of failure isn’t as high. It would also be incredibly taxing solely because of how long they’d take, but they could have like a shift system, maybe? It would take forever, though.”

  “A very good analysis. That was, in fact, an idea they had, but it was shelved and for a different reason than yours. Can anyone guess the real reason? Yes, Mr?”

  “Nott, ma’am. They fear getting backstabbed. It was obvious in the way they moved before that the groups don’t trust one another, and small groups can be taken out by a single backstabber, while backstabbers in this large group would get fried quickly.”

  “Correct. Do you have any other recommendations for them in terms of strategy?”

  “The surroundings they are in are a bad choice. They are fighting in the monsters’ territory instead of on their own terms. They would’ve had quite an advantage in a forest, for example. The fire magic would’ve had much more of an effect if they started a forest fire, which they then strengthened with wind. It would’ve caused some devastation, but some nature magic should be able to fix that. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made.”

  “Cold. But correct. Now I will ask you the same question I asked Mr Potter. Why did they not do what you just recommended? What are the downsides of your strategy?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Does anyone else know the problem? Yes, Miss Granger?”

  “It would be immoral. There are so many beings in a forest, and killing them would’ve been callous.”

  “I will be frank with you, Miss Granger. That is wrong. The forest was an example, not the plan. The plan was for them to choose the location and use it to their advantage. Please listen carefully to what your classmates say. Also, I should probably add that the consequences of losing would have been a lot more dramatic than those of a forest fire. Any other Ideas?”

  Harry reluctantly raised his hand. “Yes, Mr Potter?”

  “Backstabbing again? It seems like they spontaneously went to the throne room, not giving their opponent any time. If they had to choose a location and the backstabbers they fear told the Harvester the plan, they might end up being disadvantaged by the territory. This way, they at least had the advantage of surprise”

  “Very good. I think I will end this impromptu planning session and return to what’s actually happening. How do you think this will go, Ms Brown?”

  The pale girl looked surprised at being called, but answered nonetheless, “It looks like they will win.”

  “Oh? Why?”

  “The Monster is under control. They seem to work well together, and they seem well prepared, too.”

  “The analysis seems more based on feeling than facts, but the base reasoning is sound. Does anyone have something to add? Yes, Ms Dunbar?”

  “It seems the other way around to me. It seems advantageous for now, but none of their attacks have done anything until now. They might tire themselves out before this fight ends and retreat with losses. And that is the best outcome for such a scenario.”

  “Very good reasoning. Do you think they knew of this possibility? And if so, did they prepare for it?”

  “They definitely knew about it. Otherwise, they would’ve been surprised when their initial attack barely did anything. But I don’t have any Idea how they could’ve prepared for such an eventuality, except maybe with a shift system as Harry recommended?”

  “Does anyone have any other ideas on how they could’ve prepared for such an eventuality? No?” She looked around some more. “Alright. I’ll ask you something then. Have any of you ever heard of potions?”

  Everyone nodded and seemed quite ashamed they’d forgotten about their existence up until now.

  “The Knights carry a lot of what is now called Pepper-up, and the mages have so many mana potions that their subspaces are almost filled.”

  “Always remember.” She cautioned, “Never underestimate a potions master. They might just throw a healing potion at you and neutralise an entire army, because they accidentally misbrewed it. They are crazily unpredictable and even more dangerous, because they tend not to even know what their really dangerous potions do. “

  She reminisced, “I once saw a potion master look shocked after he single-handedly killed a dragon, because he thought he’d thrown a sleeping draught at it, but the dragon blew into pieces instead of falling asleep. It later turned out he’d accidentally used too much water in his concoction.”

  “Of course, that wouldn’t work here. All tricks had been tried before the traditional way, because of the risks this fight poses. Sadly, they all failed.” She said, before correcting herself, “No, there was one that worked. A potion master decided to apparate all of his potions into this room in very brittle glass bottles, which somehow led to the monster not being able to leave the room for a while. Sadly, the magic started weakening a few weeks in, so this attack was organised.”

  ‘Potions can do that?’ Harry, as well as the rest of the students, was in shock. He’d never thought potions could do that. It was at this moment that he remembered what Neville could do with his cauldron and shuddered at imagining him having any actual skill with potions and deciding to be destructive with it.’

  “I think I will end the lesson here. It was a lot of information already, and we will continue this topic in the next lesson. Until then, I want you to write an essay on the strategies used here and alternative ones you’d have recommended. Full with advantages and disadvantages, please. I don’t have any requirements in terms of length, except that it needs to contain at least three strategies in full. Thank you. See you next Monday.”

  “Phew. That went a lot better than I’d expected.” Azarynth said to herself once the class was gone. “I have absolutely zero teaching experience after all. Hmmm, I should probably prepare some more stuff for them next time. Need to teach them some new spells after all. And brush up on old ones, too? That’ll be a mess. My wand magic is still just slightly above an average seventh year. I’ll need to prepare the specific spells to teach them, huh? Now let’s go, I need to prepare for the seventh years after all. I have them tomorrow, and I have no idea what they need. Honestly, I think I’ll just pull out another memory and do pure analysis as well as fill out holes occasionally while helping with self-study. That should be the best approach."