FicWad

Chapter 26 - Lessons Commence

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 2nd August 2001 AD
Country: France - The French Riviera - Marseeleveyre Mountains
Location: Chateau Delacour
Time: Morning

Harry was in his room; he had been there for the last twenty minutes and kept alternating between pacing, brushing his hair and fiddling with his new expensive wardrobe that Fleur had insisted on buying him.

They had taken an extra day repeat to allow Fleur to take Harry to a French Designers, which sold both Muggle and Wizarding attire; he now had at least five sets of smart robes for out of school use, five sets of robes and uniform for school(to use both as a Professor and as a student), a tux, a white tie suit, a black tie suit, two normal suits, one black and one dark grey, new Gryffindor Quidditch gear, a set of plain red and gold Quidditch gear, another set of plain black Quidditch gear, four smart pairs of trousers, five smart shirts, three sets of casual robes, two warm jumpers, two jackets, one leather, one moleskin, one long coat, two dressing gowns, one thick, one thin, four sets of pyjamas, five t-shirts, four pairs of jeans, two black, one blue, one grey, two pairs of swimming shorts, several smart shirts and ties, about half a dozen types of footwear and plenty of new underwear, all equipped with temperature and comfort charms.

Harry had nearly had a heart attack when he saw all the stuff Fleur had got, especially as it was all custom made out of the best possible fabrics, it had taken the Delacour's half an hour of talk, a very cute Gabrielle and a lot of persuasive kissing from Fleur to talk him out of paying them back.

So there he was, dressed in his new robes with his new shirt, tie and trousers, fidgeting with his new collar and pacing with worry about his first day of teaching.

There was a knock at the door before Fleur walked in.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Definitely no." he replied without breaking stride.

She sighed and moved in front of him.

Just to annoy her, when he reached her be picked her up and placed her in a firemen's hold, causing her to shriek.

"Put me down you big oaf." she laughed.

"You were interrupting my pacing." he informed her, spinning around at one end a bit faster than he normally did just to make her squeak.

Since the mating a week ago (or rather a week ago to them, in reality it had only been just over twenty four hours), they had become a much more relaxed couple, Harry had as good as forgiven Fleur for matting with him the way she did and Fleur herself was a lot more relaxed around him allowing him to see even more of the woman which she hid from the world.

They had got to know each other better, they knew each others likes and dislikes, they could read each others thoughts and feel each others feelings, which occasionally got Harry into trouble when they drifted towards the French beauty, causing him to be punished by a thorough French kissing....a punishment that didn't seem to work as he kept re-offending.

Harry felt her Veela powers begin to exert their influence on him as he approached his next turn and he quickly put her down, as much as he'd like to, the last thing he needed now was a bit of fun with Fleur teasing him, her Veela powers were still an unfair advantage that she had over him, though she never abused her power, in fact so far she had only used it a couple of times when he was working out or studying too hard in order to get him to relax and let his mind wander to....other things.

"Calm down Arry," she reassured "You'll do fine, you've got flying to start with, just do what you did on your first lesson."

"Good advice but Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom don't attend Beauxbatons; I don't own a Remembrall and the Academy doesn't even have a Quidditch team for all the Seekers to join."

Fleur giggled before straightening his robes, Harry had to resist the urge to kiss her, she looked almost as cute as her sister when she laughed.

"You'll be fine." she reassured him as she began to tweak his appearance so that he had looked like he had for their dinner, long brown hair in a ponytail, no scar and a slightly longer face, she also added a bit more detail and changed his eye colour to a blueish grey, just encase someone recognised them "Remember, that these charms won't hide your scar for long, so make sure you recast it at least once."

"I'm terrified." he said beginning to fiddle with robes again before Fleur batted his hands away.

"Don't worry, they don't bite....much."

He grinned nervously before taking her arm and walking down to the sitting room where Dimitri and Delphine were waiting for him.

"Harry, we realise that this is a bit late but we thought you might have need of it today."

They moved aside to reveal a large rectangular package.

Looking at them cautiously he moved to open the package, carefully pealing of the paper a box was revealed.

Opening the box revealed a mass of padding.

He turned back to them confused.

Dimitri laughed and said.

"Up."

Immediately a broom sprung up from the box.

Harry stared open mouthed at the sight before him.

Hovering in front of him was the brand new, not even released yet 'Dragon' broom.

Six foot of the fastest racing broom on the planet, this broom was first class, it was the Rolls Royce of brooms, his Nimbus and Firebolt were and in fact still are excellent brooms but they had nothing on this.

Harry turned to them and did a very good impression of a gold fish as he attempted to find some way....anyway, to thank them.

"Your welcome Harry." chuckled Delphine as she placed the broom in his hand.

"Knock them dead." joked Dimitri as he opened the link and pushed him into the fire.
________________________________________________________________________

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 2nd August 2001 AD
Country: France - Pic Du Thaume
Location: Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic
Time: Morning

He tumbled out of the fireplace at the other end landing on his back, his hands clasped protectively around his new broom.

"What do fireplaces have against me." he groaned.

"Velcome to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic Mr. Potter." greeted Madam Maxine trying to hold back her laughter.

"Thank you." he said heaving himself up off the floor.

Looking around he saw that he was standing in an office, it was bigger then Dumbledore's and could almost be described more effectively as a study. It was decorated brightly in light colours set on a background of whitish/grey stone, at one end of the room was a large wooden desk with several chairs gathered around in front of it and a large armchair behind it.

A large bay window could he seen behind the desk, it appeared to look out over the Academy's grounds. The room resembled a stately home, with detailed crafted white stained wood on the walls and doors with additional matching decoration engraved in the wooden furniture.

There were several Wizarding paintings on the walls and crystal and (what appeared to be) ice statues in alcoves set in the wall, all portraying historic moments in French Wizarding history or showing dramatic scenes and landscapes.

In the corner of the room there was a staircase that (presumably) led up to Madam Maxime's living quarters.

"Nice office." he commented.

Thank you, it iz yours." she grinned.

"Mine!" he exclaimed, nearly dropping his brand new broom in surprise.

"Yez, you are a Professor ere and vat means that you need an office."

Harry decided not to try to argue, and not just because she made him look like a midget, it might be nice to have a few perks to the job.

"Come and ave a look at the view." she said smiling, heading towards the staircase.

He followed her up the stairs and through a suite of rooms that he guessed were also his.

They reached another set of stairs, the top of which opened out onto a flat stone surface at least five meters across, surrounded on all sides by a glass dome.

Looking around he had to shield his eyes from the dazzling morning sun, he realised that they were at the top of a stone tower that must have been at the very least one hundred and fifty meters high.

It over looked the school and its grounds, looking down he could see that the tower was a separate building situated in a courtyard.

The bottom of the whitish/grey tower sloped outwards until the bottom of the tower matched the gradient of the ground so that it appeared that the tower was merely an extension of the ground.

Around the tower was a circular building at least six stories high and about thirty meters deep, with one section being slightly higher and thicker, presumably the main entrance.

Beyond that there was a very gently slopping lawn that seemed to stretch on to the horizon, there were also a series of rivers and lakes, interspaced with lines or small groups of trees, shrubbery, plants and gardens. The grounds had obviously been designed and crafted, this was blatantly obvious when he looked down the perfectly straight driveway, it looked like an approach to a stately home, on either side of the road at a distance of about ten meters there were lines of trees and a pair of streams, making for an impressive view of the Academy at the end of said lines.

"Wow," he exclaimed before his brain realised something "Shouldn't this be your room Headmistress?" he asked curiously.

"Strangely no," she replied "For zome reazon the founder dezided to place my Office immediately under thiz one, I ave never figured out vhy."

"So why are you giving this office to me?"

"I thought it might elp perzuade you." she said with a sly smile.

"Its worked." he replied, returning the smile.

"Come on Mr. Potter, I ave yet to show you the rezt of the Academy."

"Please call me Harry." he asked as he followed her down the stairs.

"Only if you call me Olympe, you are a member of staff now."

She showed him down through the tower. Beauxbatons, like Hogwarts, was magically enlarged inside, this was proved by the fact that the tower, which was at the very top only five meters in diameter, just one floors down managed to accommodate enough space for his entire suite of rooms and a couple of floors lower down there was enough room for staff chambers and offices on both side of the stairway.

On the way down Harry observed the beautiful whitish/grey walls and the ice and crystalline statues set into recesses every few meters, the corridors themselves were almost circular except for the floor where it was levelled out leaving around three meters of floor flat space, making the corridors slightly thinner than their Hogwarts counterparts and a lot shorter as Hogwarts ceilings are easily high enough to allow a troll to stand upright.

"Beauxbatons is roughly the same zize as Hogwartz, at around vree hundred studentz, with forty per year. Unlike Hogwartz ve do not have housez, but ve do ave a merit and demerit system. From vhat I zaw vhile at Hogwartz, one merit is equal to vive of your house pointz, if you have any problems or questionz during your stay feel free to ask myzelf, one of the other Profezzors or the Ead or Deputy Ead Girl for elp."

By this time they had reached the base of the flight of stairs, they must have past down at through at least thirty floors, probably more as Harry had lost count, they were currently standing in a wide hallway, at least three times larger than the ones higher up in the tower, Harry had noticed how they had got bigger the lower they got, probably to accommodate the additional students that would pass through them towards the classrooms. At one end of the hall they were currently standing in was a large set of double doors leading outside, another set was visible inside the ring building and another on its far side giving a straight path between the grounds and the Main Hall that lies at the other end of the hall they were currently in.

From what he could see, the Great Hall was around the same size as that of Hogwarts except it was circular and the tables were also arranged in a circle with a gap in the ring nearest the entrance, and a slightly larger set of chairs at a larger table opposite the gap.

"I think I'm going to like it here." said Harry with a smile.

"Is this him?" came a voice in French.

Looking around Harry saw a French woman who looked to about fifty walking down the stairs; she was of average height, with grey hair and dressed in clothes that would be suitable for people of an older generation.

"This is the new flying fool."

"Agnes!" chastised Maxine, still in French, obviously thinking that Harry was not that fluent yet and had therefore hopefully not understood the rest of what had been said "Vis iz Profezzor Daniel Radcliffe," she continued in English "Our new DAA and....FLYING....Instructor."

Harry noted the strong emphasis on his second teaching post.

"Profezzor Daniel Radcliffe, Profezzor Agnes Plaindre.'

"He is a boy Olympe." complained Agnes in French; ignoring the hand that Harry extended to her "He can't even speak French."

"He is not a boy, he is a man, he is a very good flier and he could best you in a duel on his weakest day."

Agnes looked slightly shocked as the usually very placid Headmistress vigorously defended the boy.

"Olympe, he does not even look eighteen," continued the Professor, still completely unaware that he could understand her "He probably just came here to try to seduce the girls."

"For your information Professor Plaindre, I already have a very nice French girlfriend who I would not leave for the world, who just happens to be an alumna of this Academy," replied Harry in perfect Parisian, resisting the urge to laugh at the expressions on both the women's faces "Oh, and by the way....I do speak French, I would also be able to understand you if you spoke German or Bulgarian if you would care to test me."

Professor Plaindre looked at him in angrily before turning tail and walking out into the courtyard.

"I did not realise that you were so fluent at Parisian, if had I had known I wouldn't have spoken in English."

"Viktor is a very good teacher." Harry replied.

"You must be a very good student to have learned three languages in such a short time."

"Four actually, other than Parisian, and basic Bulgarian and German he also taught me common French, it is sometimes useful to blend in."

She smiled at him approvingly, obviously impressed by his affinity with languages.

"I apologise for Agnes Arry, she is very traditional and is under the delusion that anyone who does not process at least five NEWT's or higher in qualifications should not even be allowed to be considered for a teaching position."

"I did not know that there were any qualifications higher than NEWT's."

"Oh yes, there are the HAWK's, Highly Advanced Wizard Credits and then above that, EAGLE's, Extremely Advanced Graduation Level Exams, they are studied either at one of the worlds Wizarding Ministries or at one of the Wizarding schools, you do what I believe the Muggles would call a Degree. At the Ministries you complete an entirely study based course whereas at the schools you do a practical course which I personally believe is more useful, but no one has attempted to take one at any of the three great European schools in many many years."

"Isn't hawk spelt with a K, not a C." asked confused.

"The original designers of the courses had a love for animal, birds in particular; they just couldn't think what else to call them."

An idea grew in Harry's mind.

"How does one go about taking a HAWK or an EAGLE?"

She turned to him smiling, realising what he was about to suggest.

"You take employment at one of the stations I have already stated, shall we say a school for the moment and, just to be specific shall we say Beauxbatons. Now unlike NEWT's and OWL's that check to see what you have learnt, the HAWK's test to see if you can assist in teaching at OWL or NEWT level, while the EAGLE's test to see if you can teach independently at OWL or NEWT level....I will send a confidential message to the Examining Body, explaining the situation and that you will be taking the course while in disguise, would you prefer to take the EAGLE in DAA, Flight Instruction or both?"

Harry thought for a moment, thinking that an EAGLE in DAA would be more impressive but taking both may turn out to be a better career move.

"Both I think."

"Excellent, I will also add that because you will be teaching both OWL and NEWT level subjects, if you are discovered to be a competent teacher, which of course you will, you will end up receiving two double EAGLE's as you will be teaching both levels in both subjects."

By this time a few students seemed to have woken up and had wandered into the tower, most looking at him curiously as they passed.

Harry compared their uniform to that which they had worn to Hogwarts.

"Why are these students wearing blazers, while they were wearing those tight fitting blue dresses and robes when at Hogwarts." he asked.

"The dresses and robes are for special occasions, they are our form of dress robes, the blazers and skirts are the usual attire."

The uniform the girls around him were wearing consisted of a blouse, a pleated skirt for the younger student's, a tight fitting skirt (like those worn at the tournament) for the older students with a pair of shoes and a blazer to finish it off, all the garments were pale blue.

A soft bell rang out somewhere near the top of the tower.

"Breakfast." explained Olympe as she turned and led him into the hall and around to the teachers table, some students were already seated and were either talking or eating their French cuisine, he noticed that the older students seemed to be positioned closest to the teachers table, and if he had to guess he would say that the 7th year students were positioned either side of the teachers and then the 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd were alternated between the two sides, down to the 2nd and 1st years who were furthest away from the teachers and closest to the door, so from door all the way around the circle and back to the door the layout went 1st years, 3rd years, 5th years, 7th years, Teachers, 7th years, 6th years, 4th years and 2nd years.

On either side of the hall was a line of, what Harry guessed were Wood Nymphs, they were singing softly as a gentle backdrop to the quite chatter of the students. The Nymphs looked similar to young women except their hair was made out of vines and their skin looked like bark.

Olympe directed Harry to a chair at the end of the table teachers, next to one of the groups of 7th years. He observed a group of them a few seats along pretend to look at their food as he looked in their direction.

In a matter of minutes the hall was full and waiters began bringing in dishes and plates.

It was at this point, when the hall was full that Harry realised for the first time that the student population of Beauxbatons was entirely female and that there can not have been more than half a dozen men in the entire hall, four of whom were waiters who looked to be, if Muggles, in their forties and fifties so they were probably over seventy and the last two being elderly male Professors, both of whom had to be just a few years shy of Dumbledore, with rounded beards and very little hair on top.

He began to worry about the reason that the girls had been staring at him, he was the only male under the age of thirty in the entire school surrounded by at least three hundred young women, eighty of whom were over sixteen.

He inwardly gulped at the thought, especially as a fairly large number of them were looking at him admiringly.

Madam Maxine stood, towering over the other the other seated professors.

"Good morning," she greeted "Today we are joined by a new member of staff, allow me to introduce Professor Daniel Radcliffe."

Harry stood and bowed as the students and teachers applauded for him. He heard at least one of the students give him a wolf whistle, he wasn't quite sure if he should laugh or look embarrassed.

"Professor Radcliffe has managed to spare some time in his busy schedule to come to France just to teach you Defence Against Assault and Flying."

There was a murmur of excitement at the prospect of a Professor teaching two subjects especially one that required him to wear sports gear, the prospect of having a foreign teacher was also heavily whispered about. Harry was sure he heard one of the 7th years say something about hoping he was Italian.

"He may not be with us for long so please take advantage of the expertise he can impart, in addition he will not only be teaching 1st years to fly, he will be doing refresher courses for all years, Flying classes will fill Lesson Group 3."

There was another murmur of excitement from the older students.

He sat back down as the students began talking about the latest teaching appointment.

Harry began selected his breakfast off the plates in front of him, whilst talking quietly to the elderly male Professor beside him, who just happened to teach DADA, he had got quiet used to French cuisine while at the Delacour's and he had become quiet fond of it, he had noticed that the French cuisine was noticeably lighter than the food he was used to, but this was supplemented by serving more courses.

The way the food was distributed was very clever, the waiters placed the bowls and plates on a rail that ran all the way around the table; the food was then hovered along said rail until it reached the other end of the table where it would rise twenty centimetres before floating back in the opposite direction, when you want to take some food you simply tap on the bowl or plate and it would float out of the main stream of food and hover just in front of your plate, allowing you to take what you wanted, once finished with it you just tapped the bowl again and it returned to the rail, ensuring that everyone had the chance to get the food they wanted.

After about ten minutes he heard a slight cough to his right.

"Excuse me Professor."

He turned to look at the 7th year sitting next to him, she looked around his height, with green eyes and dark brown straight hair that fell to her waist, she could almost have been mistakenly called his sister.

"Yes." he replied pleasantly.

"My name is Monique, I am the Head Girl, Madam Maxine has instructed me to assist you in anyway that I can, whether you need a tour, help with your classes, help grading the student's homework, anything."

"Thank you," he replied, he could not help his mind thinking exactly how far she believed anything extended, it was at times like this that he was glad that he was mated as it meant that he could compare Monique to his mate....there was no comparison "I may take you up on that."

"May I ask you a personnel question Sir?" she asked shyly, looking over her shoulder he could see that the other 7th years on that side of the table were listening intently to the conversation.

"You can ask whatever you want, it doesn't mean that I have to answer." he said echoing Fleur word's to him.

She smiled shyly "How....how old are you?"

Harry smirked at the question, he thought it was going to be more personnel than that, he mentally recalled the cover story they had come up with for him, it had been made as truthful as possible as it was always easier to cover up a mistake if it is just a slight lie rather than a complete lie.

"I am seventeen." he replied, giving the age one year above his own, they got the feeling that the elder students would not want to be taught by someone younger than them.

Monique look surprised while the other girls talked excitably about their new prey.

"Shouldn't you still be at school studying for your NEWT's?" she asked.

"I get home tutelage, I am doing this as a favour to Madam Maxine and because she will allow me to study for EAGLE's while I am here."

If they didn't look surprised before they most definitely did now.

"But you haven't even done your NEWT's, how can you do an EAGLE without NEWT's!....Sir." she added hastily remembering that despite the fact that he was her age and incredibly attractive, he was still a Professor....twice over.

"Let's just say that I am good at Flying and DAA." he said with a smile.

"I bet you couldn't beat Harry Potter." said one of the girls behind Monique challengingly "I bet he could defeat you out in under a minute....and he's an excellent flyer."

"Violette," chastised Monique "He's a Professor."

The other girl looked suddenly abashed and very nervous, realising how impolite and rude the sentence may have sounded.

Harry chuckled "Do not worry; I don't expect to be treated like an ordinary Professor, especially as I am the same age as you and as for Mr. Potter," he grinned, trying hard not to laugh "Well you may be right."

Violette breathed a sigh of relief, brushing a lock of her shoulder length dark brown hair back behind her ear.

"So," continued Monique "Where are you from Professor?"

"England, I came over to see my girlfriend when Madam Maxine found me and asked me to take the job....jobs."

Over the course of breakfast he got to know Violette and Monique, Violette turned out to be the Deputy Head Girl and both she and Monique were in his first class.

They were also the first and the third best students in school and could apparently by the sound of their grades give Hermione a run for her money.

As breakfast came to a close the students headed to there classes while Harry went up to the roof of the tower where he had left his broom, from the top he could see his class of twenty 7th year on the lawn, chatting next to the line of brand new Nimbus's.

An evil idea came to mind as he surveyed them. After disposing of his robe he opened the glass panel in the dome, mounted his new broom, floated outside, closed the glass and went into the fastest dive of his life.

The broom was incredible, it responded to the slightest touch; Harry was beginning to suspect that all he needed to do to turn was to roll his eyes in the appropriate direction.

He pulled put of the dive with a meter to spare before flying up and over the roof of the Circle Building and shooting towards his class, full throttle, at ground level.
________________________________________________________________________

"Where did he say he was going?" asked Violette as she and the other 7th year girls chatted as they waited for their refresher course flying lesson.

"He said he had to get something," explained Monique "Though I don't know what, there are twenty one brooms and twenty of us so what else could he need."

"Hey.....what's that noise?" asked another 7th year curiously.

Listening the girls could hear what sounded like very fast wind movement.

Before any of them could look around, a broom flew straight over them, barely missing their heads.

Coming to a stop Harry looked back to see that most of his class had ended up on the ground.

Giving a low chuckle he flew back to them as they scrambled to their feet, some looking exited, some laughing, some dishevelled and the remaining few looking most put out.

"I apologise, I could not resist."

"Sir, is that....is that a 'Dragon'?" exclaimed one of the students.

"Yes, brand new, only ridden once, and that was in the last five minutes."

As he dismounted, the broom was instantly surrounded by the students, he managed to step out of the way as the broom was admired.

After five minutes of them doing this Harry decided that it was time to begin, he levitated the broom out of the mass of students, almost comically picking one up off the ground before she decided to let go.

"Come on, we have a lesson to start."

The girls all formed one straight line beside the brooms, clasping their hands behind their backs they all stood to attention; he wondered if all the students did that.

"As I understand it, my predecessor was fairly strict as regards the uses of a broom."

"Yes Sir." answered Monique, "She said that a brooms only purpose was to get from A to B Sir."

She sounded almost military as she played back the words he had already heard, the stance looked positively painful.

"You can relax, you don't need to stand bolt up right if you don't want to, I won't give you demerits."

Some of the girls exchanged looks before relaxing slightly, while other positively beamed at him and him and almost slumped, he noted that the Head and Deputy Head Girl merely moved to stand at ease. His thoughts wandered to the Tournament when he has seen the Durmstrang students enter the Great Hall in what can best be described as a military march; he was beginning to wonder if Hogwarts was the only school that didn't train its students in discipline.

"Would I be correct in saying then that you only know the basics of flying?"

"Yes Sir." responded Monique.

"Ok, can you all call the brooms from the ground and then hover about ten feet of the ground please."

"Errr Sir," began Monique "What do you mean 'call the broom'."

Harry looked at her, half expecting her to be joking but seeing the faces of the most of the group, they had no idea either.

Harry almost groaned, she must be joking, what had the last teacher done with them for the last seven years.

Harry summoned a Nimbus with his wand before dropping it on the ground and raising his arm over it.

"Up."

The broom instantly jumped into his hand, causing many gasps from the students.

"Try it, step up to the left side of the broom, put your hand over the broom and say 'Up'." he instructed before adding an afterthought "A merit for everyone who gets it first time."

Many of the students thought that would be an easy task and were fairly surprised when it did not work on their first try.

"With feeling, don't beg it, order it."

Only four had got it right first time.

"Excellent merits to Violette," he pointed at the next one,

"Florette." And the next,

"Lysette." And the next,

"Ninette."

Harry raised an eyebrow, he could see these four were a group; he would have been able to tell even if their names hadn't all finished with 'ette', they all had the cunning look in their eyes.

"Good, merits to you four." everyone else had the broom in their hand by now except for Monique who, he could tell was finding it very embarrassing, especially as she was Head Girl.

Harry moved closer, he was puzzled by the fact that the broom wasn't even moving, it should at least have been rolling around on the floor.

A though occurred to him as a possible explanation, though not something he had encountered before it made sense, looking closely he could see the outline of Monique's wand in her right hand wand holder on the inside of her blazer.

"Are you left handed Monique?" he asked.

"Yes." she answered confused.

"Step to the other side of your broom and use your left hand."

She did as he told her.

"Up."

The broom must have hurt at the speed that it rose, causing most to gasp at the cracking noise it made upon contact with Monique's hand.

"Good, that was probably the best calling I've seen today, even better than my first try actually, take two merits, it was my fault for not realising that people may be left handed, you're the first witch or wizard I have seen who is."

Monique blushed.

"Mount up."

The girls climbed onto there brooms.

"Wait, stop," said Harry "You ride side saddle?"

"That's how we were taught Sir, can we...." asked Monique as she and the other girls all brightened up at the possibility of the correct answer to Monique's next question "Can we ride.....normally?"

"If you want to." he responded.

Harry was sure he saw a couple of girls punching the air as he said it.

"Thank you Professor," beamed Monique "Riding side saddle was always so uncomfortable."

"I am not surprised, the charms on the brooms aren't designed for riding side saddle, it must have hurt like hell."

Several students laughed at such language from a Professor.

"Sir?" asked a Florette cautiously.

"Yes." Harry said turned to look at her.

"We can't ride normally, our skirts get in the way,"

Looking around Harry saw that she was not the only student having the problem, the school issue skirts for the older students were so close fitting that sitting on the brooms would reveal exactly what they were wearing underneath, which Harry was sure, by the looks a few of them sent him during breakfast, several of them wouldn't mind doing. Several looked like they might be planning to do just that if he did not think of something quickly.

Luckily an idea came to him just in time.

Drawing his wand he said a spell he had heard Ginny say her mother had used on her once when she had had to go into the fields surrounding The Burrow in winter without having a chance to change.

"Muto Vestis."

Florette's skirt transfigured into a pair of trousers.

"How about now?" he asked with a smile.

Florette almost beamed at the change in her garments, he could imagine how wearing those skirts might become uncomfortable after several years.... Not to mention the draft.

"Everyone; cast the same spell....Muto Vestis....You didn'r know this would be a charms lesson as well did you." He smiled

"Can we wear trousers to every lesson Sir?" asked Violette hopefully.

"All flying lessons yes, unless you want to ride around with your dresses hiked up and your underwear on show."

There was a splattering of giggles and a few mischievous looks exchanged.

Soon all the girls were mounted on their brooms and hovering several feet above the grounds, Harry quickly mounted the remaining Nimbus before shooting into the air to join them.

"Here are your instructions, as you have all been flying for at least seven years, I want to observe your skill level, I have been flying for that long and I am a good flier, but I have a friend who can barely hover a meter off the ground."

From the looks of some of the girls, they appeared to be having plenty of trouble just keeping their brooms level, he got the feeling that at least two of them were afraid of heights.

"I want you to gain a bit of height, then fly at whatever pace you are comfortable at towards that tree over there and fly back, it is not a race, I just need to observe your skill level."

The four girls he had given merits to earlier took off immediately, rocketing ahead of the pack with Monique just behind.

The rest were rather evenly spaced out and passed around the tree and back in a gradual trickle.

The four girls came back to hover beside him, their skill was evident in the way that they did the broom equivalent of a handbrake turn when coming to stop within two meters of him in a perfect straight line.

"You have done this before, haven't you?"

"Yes Sir," answered Violette "We all play Quidditch during the summer."

"What about you Monique?" he asked as she came to a more traditional if not slightly fast stop.

"Only your predecessor classes Sir."

"You're a natural then."

Monique blushed causing the four to laugh.

An hour of manoeuvres later Harry dismissed the class and returned the brooms to the closet, he had enlisted the four in teaching the others how to fly as their skill was easily at the same level as himself.

By the end of the lesson even the nervous few were comfortable flying at a reasonable travel speed.

He had DAA next.
________________________________________________________________________

He walked into the room that Olympe had said was his class room.

It was a wide open space, crash mats covered the floor, they were arranged in lines of colour to help divide the room up for duels.

In the centre was a slightly higher duelling strip for demonstration purposes, this could apparently be raised to give an even greater view or lowered to allow the middle section of the room to be used, there was also a ring painted on the floor for when they actually started doing practicing for real life duelling, not just the formal kind.

He heard a small knock at the door and turned to see a first year poking her head around the corner.

"Excuse me Sir, can we come in."

"Yes." he replied smiling "Please enter, place your bags against the wall, you only need your wands."

They placed their bags against the wall before lining up like his flying class had done; he was surprised to see such discipline from such young students, scanning the students he found the one he knew.

Gabrielle was in this class, he had to remember that she did not know who he was. It had occurred to him shortly after he had been given the teaching position that Gabrielle was only ten and he started school at eleven, apparently Beauxbatons offered an introduction year where they were taught about the Wizarding world and proper womanly behaviour. He wished that Hogwarts had done something similar, it would be a good idea for all the Muggle-Born students to learn about the Wizarding World before they started school, Beauxbatons actually brought all students in a year early to ensure that all the students started at the same level.

"Good morning."

"Good morning Sir." they chanted back to his great surprise.

"Welcome to Defence Against Assault, this is my first time teaching this class as well so please be gentle on me."

A couple of students laughed before looking worried and reassuming their military like stance.

"You are allowed to laugh you know, you aren't training to become Aurors, and you don't have to stand to attention."

Unlike the 7th years the 1st years immediately relaxed, looking more comfortable already, while several others looked uncertain before copying their classmates as the teacher did not tell them of for doing as he had said.

"Before I start teaching I would like to know if anyone here has any previous duelling experience."

For a moment no one moved before Gabrielle slowly raised her hand.

Harry should have expected that, her sister was a champion after all.

"Miss Delacour isn't it."

"Yes Sir," she answered surprised "How do you know my name?"

"I know your sister; I met her when she visited England," Harry subtly avoided mentioning the Tournament "Please come onto the platform."

She looked nervous and did not move.

"Do not worry, you won't get hurt."

She cautiously stepped up on to the platform and drew her wand.

Harry stepped up after her and moved to the other end of the platform.

"Who taught you duelling?" asked Harry although he was 90% certain he already knew the answer.

"My sister taught me sir, she's a champion duellist."

Harry nodded before continuing.

"I do not expect you to beat me as I have greater experience than you do, you can use any magic you wish to defeat me as long as the spell is not illegal or restricted. Do you understand?"

She nodded nervously.

Harry drew his wand and bowed to her, she bowed back, they both assumed duelling stances, Harry waited for her to attack.

After a few seconds of nothing he opened his mouth to tell her that she could begin when the first spell came flying at him.

He easily dodged it and fired a weak stunning spell back which she blocked with a partial shield before firing of a pair of disarmers which he dodged by turning sideways, one passing on either side of him, which was immediately followed up by a set of cords firing themselves at where his head had been.

He countered with a spread of three disarmers, one of which was dodged; the other was blocked but the last sending Gabrielle's wand sailing out of her hand, in a very courageous move she dived after it catching it in mid air and landing on the very edge of the platform.

Deciding to end the match Harry summoned her wand to his hand.

"Good, very good, take a merit for surviving against a more skilled opponent and another for the tactic you used at the beginning, waiting for me to become distracted before attacking, very good, a round of applause for Miss Delacour please."

Gabrielle blushed deeply as she got down of the platform to join her class mates.

"If you recall," continued Harry "You may have noticed that I did not use a curse to disarm Miss Delacour, I used a simple summoning charm, an important lesson is to think about what other spells could be used to defeat your opponent, not just the standard ones....the first think I will teach you will be the correct duelling stance, what you do is......




AUTHOR NOTE: I apolagize for my atrocious French accent