The Unconventional Professor
Einar was calmly walking through the corridors as he made his way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It seemed his first class would be with the fourth-year students.
When he arrived at the classroom, he entered calmly as all the students' eyes fell upon him with interest.
"What are you doing here?!" Ron shouted in surprise.
"Einar, are you a new student? Then you got the wrong classroom," Hermione said quickly, a bit worried that Einar had gotten lost.
After all, he was the same age as the twins and was new to the country, so he might be supposed to be in their class.
Einar ignored the two of them calmly and spoke:
"Hello everyone, I'm Einar Dovakhiin. I'll be your professor for this class," Einar said calmly.
"What?!" Ron, Hermione, and Harry said in shock, while the other students obviously didn't know him. Only a blond boy who, upon seeing him, began to tremble in fear, remembering what happened during the Quidditch match.
But of course, he would keep this to himself, and as soon as the class ended, he would tell his father to change professors.
"Are you telling the truth?" Ron asked quickly.
"You know I don't like people thinking I'm a liar," Einar replied calmly.
"No, I was just asking," Ron said quickly.
"Then the answer is yes. I'm your professor. Really. Now tell me, what was the last thing you learned?" Einar said with calmness.
"Last year, Professor Lupin taught us how to deal with various creatures. Like Red Caps, Boggarts, using defensive spells... And for a moment Professor Snape took over the class when Professor Lupin was feeling sick and made us research about werewolves. But Professor Lupin dismissed that assignment," Hermione said quickly. It seemed like she was annoyed that her work on lycanthropes was discarded so easily.
"Werewolves? I know some of them. What did he make you research?" Einar asked while sitting on his desk, listening with interest.
"Mostly how to identify one and ways to kill them," Harry said with annoyance, knowing that Snape was trying to make them discover Lupin was one.
"So, the methods to kill a werewolf are...?" Einar asked, waiting for their answers.
"Silver," Ron quickly said since he knew the answer.
"Full moon, since they can't control themselves," Harry said quickly, raising his hand.
"Containment spells," Hermione added.
"Garlic," said a chubby boy behind them while the other students began to laugh.
"It's a werewolf, not a vampire," said the boy sitting next to him.
"Garlic also works, and it's one of the materials used to deal with them. The book says so," Hermione quickly said, making the other boy close his mouth in annoyance.
"Well, that's true. Actually, all strong odors work because they have a great sense of smell," Einar quickly said with a smile.
"Actually, it's said that vampires also have a heightened sense of smell, which is why garlic repels them. Though I've never used garlic to fight either of them. I simply cut their heads off with my sword, and that was enough," Einar said with a smile.
"Professor, you've fought vampires and werewolves?" asked the chubby boy behind Hermione.
"Your name is...?" Einar asked with a smile.
"Neville, sir. Neville Longbottom," Neville said quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed being watched by everyone.
"Well, Neville, to answer your question: Yes, that's right. I fought against various dangerous creatures during my missions," Einar said while rolling up one of his sleeves, which was covered in all kinds of scars.
"This is my first scar. It was from a fight against a vampire. At that time, I was 13 years old and had just left home. One of them ambushed me to turn me into his servant. Back then, I wasn't good with offensive magic, but I had my precious sword. And after a fierce battle, I stabbed its heart," Einar said proudly, as if the scars he had were medals.
"Sword?" Harry asked quickly with interest.
"That's right. It was the first sword I bought with my own money. I enchanted it myself, so when I stabbed the vampire, it burst into flames. You have to remember that they are nearly immortal due to their regeneration, but if they turn to ashes, they can't do anything," Einar said with a smile.
"No. What I meant was why didn't you use magic... professor," Harry said quickly.
"Mm, because I learned it much later. Like everyone else," Einar said in confusion. "You guys don't know how to use swords?" he asked quickly.
To which everyone shook their heads.
"Daggers? Axes? Maces? Bows? Nothing?" he asked again.
Then everyone shook their heads once more.
"You use wands, right? So, what happens if your wand is destroyed or you get disarmed?" Einar asked, frowning.
"Well, then we technically lose," Ron said with sarcasm.
"Meaning, you die. If you lose your wand while fighting a vampire, you simply die," Einar said seriously.
"Can you use magic without your wands?" Einar asked again, feeling somewhat surprised.
"That's something you learn in the last year. But not many succeed even after becoming adults," Hermione quickly said.
"Sigh. I'd better see what you can do, then," Einar said as he stood up with exhaustion, just barely starting the class. "Everyone, make a circle and move the tables, please. Leave the center clear."
"What are we going to do, Einar... professor?" Hermione said.
"Something I'm best at teaching. Fighting. Or, in any case, dueling," Einar said with a smile.
"Really?" all the boys said with interest and excitement. They had duel classes in their second year, but they were pretty bad and then discontinued in the third year.
"Come on, I need two volunteers," Einar said with a smile. Quickly, everyone raised their hands.
"Alright, come over, Neville and Ron," Einar said calmly.
To which the two quickly went to the center.
When they were about to greet each other, Einar stopped them.
"Don't do that. We're having a battle as if you were enemies. Or fighting against a dark wizard. Your enemy isn't going to stop to greet you," Einar quickly said. "Just stand a bit further away, and when I give the order, begin," Einar said simply.
Then Ron and Neville quickly moved away and took their stances.
"Begin," Einar said, watching with interest.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus!"
They both shouted and cast the spell at the same time. Although it seemed Neville did it faster than Ron, his wand took longer to release the spell. Something that caught Einar's attention.
Then, both of their wands went flying from their hands, leaving them confused.
"Well... You're both pretty bad," Einar said with a conflicted smile.
The two quickly felt embarrassed while the others laughed at them.
"Sigh. Alright, can someone tell me what went wrong?" Einar asked as he calmed them down with his hands and asked quickly. "Harry, why do you think they failed?" Einar asked since no one raised their hand.
"Because they didn't dodge?" Harry asked with doubt.
"Good observation, Harry. You told me something about points. How does it work?" Einar asked quickly.
Hermione quickly raised her hand.
"Smile. Your hand will go flying if you use so much strength," Einar said with a smile. "Tell me how it works, Hermione."
Hermione blushed a bit upon hearing that, but still answered.
"Professors can add points to the houses the students belong to if they give an answer that satisfies the professor. Likewise, points can be deducted if they annoy the professor or do something considered a fault. The house points are counted at the end of the school year, and the house with the most points wins the annual cup," Hermione said quickly.
"I see. So, can I give or deduct points to students as I see fit?" Einar asked quickly.
"Well... technically, yes," Hermione said.
"And what's the maximum and minimum?" Einar asked again.
"I'm not sure, but the most generous professors give around 10 points for a correct answer. But Professor McGonagall usually gives 5," Hermione said quickly.
"McGonagall, I suppose I'll use the same amount as her. She seems quite strict but fair," Einar said with a smile. "So, 5 points for Harry and 5 for Hermione. They're from the same house, right? So that's 10 for Gryffindor," Einar said as he noted it down in the notebook he got from the staff room.
Quickly, all the Gryffindors started smiling with joy, while the Slytherins frowned with annoyance.
"Sorry, we got off track. Let's continue with the lesson. Come on, Harry, give me a hand," Einar said as he invited Harry to the center while Ron and Neville returned with the others.
Then Einar stood a few meters away from Harry and spoke.
"Now, Harry, cast the spell you're best at," Einar said while standing with both hands behind his back.
Harry had seen Einar take five spells head-on and dodge many more during the Quidditch match, so he easily followed this instruction.