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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the delay... Hope everyone is having a great spring. Enjoy. :)

The next morning, Nick and Brian headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Brian helped himself to some scrambled eggs while Professor McGonagall was passing out schedules.

“I still can’t get over it,” Nick said, staring at Brian’s scar.

Brian ignored him and shoveled two bites of toast into his mouth.

“Here you go, Weasley,” McGonagall handed a piece of paper to Nick. “And here, Potter.”

Brian took his form and stared at it, wondering what year of classes he was going to be placed into. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or terrified that he was going to be with his fellow seventh years. The last “class” listed was called Remedial Wizardry. It didn’t have a day or time mentioned.

McGonagall, as if she knew what he was staring at, said, “The Remedial class is tutoring. We’re going to try and get you caught up. I’ll contact you when I know who your tutor is going to be.”

That had to be a good thing, right? Someone who could one-on-one show Brian how to use magic.

“Don’t make yourself sick,” McGonagall commented to him. “You’ve got my class first today. Look alive!” she smiled and continued passing out schedules.

“Wow, you sure have an in at Hogwarts,” Nick commented.

“How so?”

“Well, you haven’t passed the O.W.L.s… Ordinary Wizarding Levels,” he continued knowing that Brian was about to ask. “You have to pass to get into the upper level classes.”

Brian wasn’t sure how he felt about any special treatment. Maybe they didn’t make him take any tests because they felt bad for losing him in their protection program.

Howmione sat next to Nick.

“Where have you been?” Nick asked.

“Getting permission from Dumbledore to take an extra class.”

“Overachiever,” Nick pretended to choke into his hand.

Brian laughed. Then he noticed that students were heading out of the Great Hall.

“Time to get to class!” Howmione said, sounding like a teacher.

Luckily, Howmione and Nick knew where they were going, so Brian was able to follow them.

“Hmm… which way is the staircase leading today?” Howie stopped when they reached the second floor. “Nope, that’ll take us the wrong way…” They took a detour down a long corridor and then found another staircase.

“How do you keep track of that?” Brian asked.

“After enough times of being late and getting detention in the Forbidden Forest, you learn to pay attention,” Nick laughed.

A few minutes later, the three of them were standing at the doorway of a classroom. They went inside and Brian saw that there were similarities to a regular high school room. Desks were set up and there was a blackboard at the front. What he wasn’t used to was seeing a cage of pixies hanging from the ceiling or notes levitating across the room.

They found seats in the front. This was because of Howie’s insistence; Brian would’ve much rather hidden in a back corner of the room.

The Professor walked in and went to her desk. The nameplate sitting on it read Fatima McGonagall. “Welcome to Defense Against the Auto-Tune Arts. You won’t need your textbooks today, but I’d like for everyone to take out their wands.”

Oh, great, Brian thought. He was hoping that they could just do some simple reading today.

“Let’s make sure you lot haven’t forgotten everything over the summer holiday,” Fatima said. “Can anyone explain to me what the Auto-Tune Arts are?”

Howmione shot his hand up into the air.

“Yes, Mr. Granger?”

“The Auto-tune Arts is a brand of dark magic that, in essence, reprograms other wizards’ magical cognitive abilities and causes them to backfire on the victim in question. It was a field of study that He Who Must Not Be Named was quite proficient, and what he used when he almost took over the wizarding world.”

“Correct,” McGonagall said. “Now, we are all aware of the three unforgivable curses. The one we are going to work with today is the A Capellius Curse. Can anyone…”

Howmione was already half out of his seat, his arm stretching upward. When called on, he said, “The A Capellius Curse is used to control other witches and wizards, causing them to function without the mental processes that usually guide their every move. When the curse is done effectively, all that the victims are capable of hearing is the mental track of the person wielding the spell, which forces them to do his bidding.”

Brian didn’t like the sound of that one bit. He was almost afraid to hear what the other two curses were, yet he was disappointed when it seemed like Fatima was moving on.

“Since you all are in your last year of study at Hogwarts, I don’t want to waste any time. Some witches and wizards of capable of deflecting this curse, which can be useful in a variety of careers you may want to pursue, especially if you end up interning at the Ministry of Magic in any kind of political or auror position.”

McGonagall lined the up students, and Brian was relieved that he was at the back. He was horrified when she pulled out a wand of her own. “I wish say one more thing before proceeding. These are unforgivable curses, as I said. They are not permitted to be used on Hogwarts grounds, or on anyone for that matter. It is illegal to force witches or wizards to do things against their will.”

“Then, Professor…?” Howmione asked.

“I’m getting to that, Granger. I have obtained special permission to use it for the purpose of teaching you to defend the spell. I doubt anyone will be able to keep any control today, but with practice a few of you will see improvement over the next few months. The spell will be broken immediately after, and Dumbledore, in order to allow the minister to give us this privilege, will be personally inspecting you all to make sure that no remnant of the curse remains. Now, let’s get started!”

Brian’s definition of “immediately” wasn’t exactly the same as McGonagall. He watched as, one by one, the students attempted to deflect the curse. A Ravenclaw student did the Macarena and Nick a few ballet moves. The other students laughed as he twirled. At least no one seemed to be in any pain. Still, this would be the first time (in memory, at least) that anyone had used a spell on Brian. He smiled when Howmione did the “shopping cart” and “lawn mower” dance moves, and then realized that it was his turn next.

Brian suddenly wondered why McGonagall had said nothing about how to ward of the spell. Surely there was a countercurse? In class, the unforgivable curse seemed to be all fun and games, but if someone really used it on you, then it would be a completely different story.

“Potter,” McGonagall said, as Howmione went back to his seat.

Brian took a deep breath. He’d be the last student to fail at the assignment, but at least he would be in the same boat as the rest of the class. Maybe she’d made him do something extra funny that he could joke about with his classmates. Maybe they’d begin to see him as a fellow student instead of staring at his scar. “A Capellius!”

Brian held his breath and waited.

Nothing happened.

McGonagall paused and looked at her wand. “A Capellius!” she cried again with more fervor.

Still, Brian felt completely normal.

“Very good, Potter!” she said. “And they were worried you wouldn’t be able to keep up with your classmates… A true Gryffindor!”

Brian went back to his seat, realizing how stunned everyone in the class was. So much for fitting in.

“How’d you do it?” Nick asked.

Brian shrugged.

“No, really. You can tell me!”

“I have no idea, I just stood there!”

Howmione looked pensive. Nick gave Brian a high five, and they gathered their things. As they all filed out of the classroom, McGonagall called after them.

“Don’t be surprised if you hear from the headmaster to make sure there’s no trace of the curse left. Well, except you, Potter!” she beamed.