That's a little weird but she can foresee the incense being a yearlong problem.

He goes over the curriculum, mostly, then in the second hour starts in on the earliest magic in the British Isles. "We don't have many surviving accounts from that time," he says. "Primarily oral tradition, and what we can guess from the remaining workings - and our ancestors worked amazing magic. They didn't have wands as we know them - while some Gaelic magical lineages made use of sacred branches, the wand proper was invented in Greece, and came to Britain with the Roman invaders. Rather, magic was focused around astrology and sacrifice..."

He details some of the early rituals - "Deemed Dark, nowadays, as if that is a reasonable brush to paint an entire culture with," - and mentions some of the workings that still remain active. (There was no full concept of a national identity yet, but the early protections against Roman invasion were used as the foundation for strengthening the protective magics over the entire British Isles. Several protections on barrows also remain constant - primarily keeping the restless dead within, and the living from disturbing their sleep.) He speaks with light admiration, mostly, of their ingenuity in sacrificial magic - but doesn't get too far in before the last fifteen minutes, when he pivots to giving homework assignments.

"No essays this first week," he says, "Though I'll give you a short one over Mabon on today's topic, which we'll continue next week. Your reading assignments are the first chapter of Wyrd and Wicce, as well as the section of A History of Magic's first chapter labeled 'Prehistoric Northern Europe.' If you wish to do further reading, the library has a copy I believe of Runes Before Writing by Edyth Glenn, which has a section for Northern Europe, including the Nordic countries and the British Isles. There is also Blood and Ash by Aodh Mag Raith, though some of the comparisons to the - admittedly much better documented - sacrificial traditions of the Mediterranean are more than a bit of a reach, in my humble opinion."

That was actually pretty interesting once he got going. Definitely a different slant than the texts; she's already read the assigned excerpts.

Art, at four in the afternoon, is less intrinsically fascinating, though they do learn an overview about materials used in magical art - though they'll be getting their legs under them with nonmagical materials, first. Charms - after lunch the next day - is less fascinating than either, given Ellie already learned everything Flitwick's teaching today over the summer. She can rack up a few points for Ravenclaw's House Cup by answering questions, though.

An hour after Charms lets out is her first proper class with Professor Reynolds, Defense Against the Dark Arts (alongside Slytherin House).

She's been looking forward to this.

Professor Reynolds is standing in the front of the room, leaning back against her desk, as all twenty two students file in. Scarlet Be Thy Coat is asleep on the desk in a cardboard box slightly too small for them. The divisions between the Ravenclaws and Slytherins are a bit starker than between the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors - though one Slytherin girl crosses the gap to sit with Ellie's classmates Lisa and Mandy (both muggleborn) and glare back at some of the girls from her own House.

The Defense classroom is pretty large but not cavernously so, fitting their crowd well. There's a large white board on the front (a feature of none of their other classes; apparently no one else believes in putting up notes for students), and some shelves with copies of the textbooks (across all seven years) and a few other Defense-related books. The room's light and airy, decorated with pictures - muggle style - and artwork of people fighting in both magical and muggle traditions, as well as some prominent muggle-style posters on anatomy, stretches, and body mechanics.

"Good afternoon, class. I'm Professor Fay Reynolds," she says, once everyone's found their seat and the clock's ticked to four. "I'll be teaching you all self defense throughout your stay in Hogwarts - officially, Defense Against the Dark Arts, though I believe proper self defense extends farther than that."

"Now... I'd actually like to get to know all of you, rather than have you all sit here listening to me ramble on. I think it'd be helpful for us all to introduce ourselves. I'd at least like everyone to include your name, if you have any previous experience with self defense or martial arts, what you'd like to see me teach, and a fun fact about yourself. Would anyone like to go first...?"

Ellie raises her hand.

"Yes, Miss Potter."

"My name is Ellie Potter. I don't have any previous experience with self defense. I'd like to see non-standard uses of standard spells. Voldemort died in close proximity to me when I was a baby."

Small smile. "Well, the second is what I'm here for, and the third is certainly doable. Thank you for going first, Miss Potter."

She asks for further volunteers.

Getting Anathema, next.

"Hi! I'm Anathema Canta. I know some spells that're good for defense, like the Knockback Jinx, and how to hit someone with them. I wanna learn self defense from magical creatures like Dementors. I stayed with an Auror in training over the summer, and she's the one who taught me jinxes."

"Very good. We won't cover many specifics about magical creatures this year, other than some very common ones, and Dementors specifically aren't until fifth year - but I can certainly teach you some foundations for those later modules."

She solicits further volunteers, going around the room until the twenty other students have all introduced themselves. Most students seem to want to learn 'cool spells' or 'how to jinx someone.'

"Alright," she says at the end. "It seems we have a pretty high interest in spell based defense this section. Now - classes will be half lecture or discussion, half practical at first, and in future years I'll sometimes move a lot of the lecture content to readings on your own time. We won't be starting on spells right away, though. I want you all to learn the basics of martial arts - how to stretch before exercise, how to wind down after, how to minimize injury, and how to take a fall, to start with. Our first module is in that vein going to be on the philosophy of defense - and the legality, both within this school and in the magical United Kingdom as a whole."

"Lectures and discussions will be in this room, but the main room we'll be using for practicals is across the hall."

"Any questions, before we begin?"

Not from Ellie.

She spends the next little bit on discussing Hogwarts' rules about duels and other fights between students - you need a Professor's supervision, either in class or in a related club. Hogwarts, like the Ministry of Magic, does have a concept of self defense, but the bounds of that are pretty strict, and it's common for both parties to a fight to get in some amount of trouble.

She also discusses spell safety, a bit more in depth than their Orientation class, explaining the why of it all - many offensive spells are similar, and if you don't keep a clear head, you can easily overload or alter a spell, risking harming yourself, your opponent (more than you intended to), and any bystanders. (She gives examples of cases she's seen, not flinching away from how some of these are rather gruesome.) Offensive spells are also often aimed over a greater distance than other spells, usually at a moving target, and if you miss your spell could end up harming bystanders (common in school fights) or could damage your environment somehow. (She knows someone who set his house on fire while Aurors were trying to arrest him. The Aurors got him out, but he had some pretty bad burns.)

Because of that, you should avoid using spells you are not intimately familiar with in a fight, unless you have absolutely no other choice. Avoid seriously harmful spells if bystanders are around, sticking to effectively harmless spells if there's an outright crowd. (Many spells are designed for harmlessly subduing your opponent - they have risks, like all spells do, but those are lower.) Keep your environment in mind - don't try to set your opponent on fire in a wooden house.

And as promised half the class actually ends up dedicated to stretching, basic exercises, and some practice catching themselves in a fall. Most of the Slytherins grumble about this.

Professor Reynolds mostly just seems amused. And, after assigning the week's homework - a chapter in Duel or Defense, and one in Arm Yourself - she says, "This Saturday, since most clubs won't be meeting yet, Professor Flitwick and I will be putting on a dueling demonstration for students. First years are required to attend, unless you get permission otherwise - we'll be working through some of the basics I want you all to know." And a small smile. "And, yes, there will be cool spells used creatively."

Oh, that sounds exciting. She's definitely going to that.

Professor Reynolds, unlike their other professors so far, actually explains how to contact her outside of class hours - her office is in the same hall as the classrooms, as is her TA's office and a Defense-focused study room. Both she and her TA are available for answering questions (about anything, she stresses, related to her class or not), offering help with homework, and offering tutoring - "Or," Professor Reynolds says with a smile, "If you simply want to come pet Scarlet here." She rubs the kneazle's ears a bit. (She also tells them where her rooms are - again, nearby - in case they need her in an emergency after hours, "I won't get you in trouble for being out after curfew or even breaking other rules - I'd rather you come get help," and explains how to call on the house elves and how to use the portraits to send messages.)

Her TA's office hours are broader, since he doesn't teach classes like she does. Hers are mostly in the evening on week days, with some longer ones Saturday and Sunday.

She also won't be assigning essays just yet, "Though expect a short answer quiz on the readings next week," but when she does, she doesn't have any limits on what they can write on or with. "If you have trouble with handwriting, there are actually typewriters in a study room near the library - sadly, the current configuration of the wards messes with electronics, so we can't have proper computers here."

Not that Ellie knows how to type, but that's still kinda neat.

She dismisses them right on time.

Ellie lingers a bit packing up her things, waiting for most of the people to leave.

Anathema pauses when she notices Ellie not leaving - though all their other classmates file out.

Professor Reynolds stays in the classroom, too - tidying up some things a bit idly.

"Are you settling in okay, Miss Potter?" she asks.

"Yes, thank you Professor." She walks over to Scarlet to see if they're friendlier now she's not camping in their territory.

They look up, mrrping and tilting their head.

They in fact seem to be friendlier, though they had warmed up a good bit by the time Ellie had left for class.

Anathema walks up too.

And Scarlet gets up out of their box, coming over to the edge of the desk to meow demandingly at them.