World War

"Morning class," Jane Wright said as she entered the Charms classroom. "I hope everyone slept well--I know I did."

With a flick of her wand the curtains pulled away from the giant window that overlooked the Hogwarts entrance and the warm September sun flooded into the classroom.

"There," she said once she reached the front of the room. "Now I can see all of your brilliant faces."

This was her favorite class, the Advanced Charms class. It was her second-to-last class of the day and it was her favorite because there were a mixture of students from every house.

Jane could see some of the students looking longingly out the window, perhaps wishing that they were outside rather than
sitting in class. Jane had to agree that the sun looked inviting as ever.

She smiled. "Would you be opposed to heading outside for lessons today?"

Her students faces lit up, their eyes open more than she had ever seen them during this time of day: the post-lunchtime lull.

"All right," she said once the eleven students were lined up and matched with a giant boulder that was roughly the size of a baby troll.

"I know we're stepping backwards to first-year, but I would like all of you to take your wands and perform a simple Levitating Charm on the boulder in front of you."

All eleven students performed this perfectly.

"Now," Jane announced, "Do it without speaking. Say the incantation firmly and strongly in your head--" She tapped her forehead "--just as if you would speak it out loud."

All eleven students performed this perfectly.

Jane applauded. "Very good, I've seen you haven't forgotten this over the summer."

"Professor, what are we actually going to learn today? This seems absolutely redundant," said a dark-haired girl from Slytherin.

"Patience, Miss Black. I'm getting to that now." Jane said and then asked the class to drop their wands.

"Can't we just put them in our pockets?" said a dusty-haired boy from Ravenclaw.

"No," Jane said, dropping her own wand. "I don't want them on your person."

"You're teaching us wandless magic!?" another student asked.

"Wandless magic!" a few squealed.

"My father works for the Ministry and I know for a fact that wandless magic is not in the Hogwarts curriculum since it is not a means of powerful or controllable magic." Avery Black had spoke again, obnoxiously of course, pointing out that a young Hogwarts professor was stepping out of the set curriculum and teaching them something that was not deemed necessary by any means.

If Jane weren't a teacher she would have told Avery to shut her fat gob, or sealed it for her with a certain spell she created in her third-year at Hogwarts.

"Not powerful you say?" Jane said, smirking.

She turned toward the eleven boulders and took a few seconds to clear her mind and focus solely on the boulders. She held her arms out in front of her, her cloak billowing slightly with wind coming from the Forbidden Forest.

Jane remained motionless, her eyes taking in the boulders and the rest of her surroundings becoming blurred. She thought the words in her head Wingardium Leviosa and when she felt the spell tingling from her brain, through her arms and finally to the very tips of her fingers, she threw her arms out wide.

Slowly she moved her arms in a great sweeping motion and then turned her hands palms up jerking them upwards and watched as all eleven boulders floated higher and higher off the ground.

Jane allowed the rocks to hover for a minute or two before setting them gently on the grass.

"Bloody hell, Professor Wright. That was brilliant," Thomas from Gryffindor said, loudly applauding while the only Hufflepuff in the class stared with his mouth open.

"Thank you, Tom," Jane said and then turned to Avery. "Please, tell me again that wandless magic isn't powerful."

Avery opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding words to say. "Wandless magic is only powerful to those witches and wizards who have been using it for years."

"Exactly. Even though you all are in my advanced class you will not find this lesson easy nor will you leave this class today or any class of mine this year feeling particularly satisfied with yourselves." Jane told them before summoning her wand from the ground.

Jane pointed her wand at the boulders and shrunk them to size of a large dog. "That should make this a bit easier for you. On you go," she said and then conjured up a chair to spectate from.

Jane smiled when eleven wands were anxiously dropped to the ground.

She watched for twenty minutes uninterrupted until a shadow covered her. "How are you, Albus?"

"Not as well as you seem to be," Albus was peering over his half-moon glasses with a slightly amused expression on his face. "Breaking rules again, Jane?"

"Of course," Jane said, grinning.

"I would advice you to teach them at a snail-like pace. Dreadful things can happen to a young witch or wizard attempting wandless magic. It's as if they're eleven all over again, their magic sporadic and unpredictable."

Jane nodded. "I already know, trust me. I had a bloody difficult time learning wandless magic myself."

Dumbledore chortled. "That's hard to believe--"

"OY, GERRY! PUT ME DOWN!"

Jane and Dumbledore watched as Tom rose swiftly into the air as if something had him by the ankle. He was fighting with his cloak and finally was able to unclasp it.

"Gerry, please put Tom back on the ground!" Jane yelled.

Gerry's face was beat-red and dripping with sweat. "Erm--I don't think I can, Professor."

Jane took out her wand but Dumbledore stopped her. "Let them figure it out." Jane then instructed Gerry and Tom that they had to do it themselves.

Dumbledore conjured up a seat next to Jane. "Headmaster Dippet will not be happy when he hears of this."

"He won't know if neither you nor I tell him." Jane said, watching as Gerry finally lowered Tom to the ground.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm afraid that Madam Pince has been watching your lesson and has already set out to tell Professor Dippet once he wakes up from his second nap."

Jane grumbled and sunk lower in her seat, cursing under her breath. Jane knew Irma was getting her revenge for all those times Jane had fallen asleep in the library and had been found drooling on the precious pages of Irma's books.

"That girl needs a life...or a man, although I doubt any decent man would fancy her--"

"Jane, that is no way to speak of a colleague," Dumbledore reprimanded.

Jane clamped her mouth shut and muttered her apology but watched as Dumbledore leaned closer to her and cupped a hand around his mouth. "But I do say I agree."

"Professor! Prooofesssooorr!" a red-haired girl from Ravenclaw, Rose McAdams was shouting as she ran up to Jane holding a hand over her left eye.

"What's happened?" Jane asked and Rose peeled her hand away from her eye. The white of her eye was entirely red.

Jane stood at once and examined her eye. "Were you holding your breath?" Rose nodded and Jane sighed. "That's the one thing you shouldn't do when practicing wandless magic. Grab your things and head to the Hospital Wing."

Jane settled back into her chair and watched, much to her dismay, as Avery Black lifted her boulder a few centimeters off the ground.

"Why are you teaching them wandless magic, anyhow?" Dumbledore asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Jane pointed to the sky and just as she did three planes flew overhead, the noise of their jets not able to pass through the protective charms and spells that had been cast on Hogwarts and the surrounding land.

"They shouldn't be babied in times like these. Muggles their age are going to war, fighting for their country. And if something were to happen and the Muggles need us I want them to be ready. As much as this war is not theirs to fight it is still their country that is under attack." Jane said, and almost added how she was also preparing them for the magical war that was happening overseas, fronted by a man she knew Dumbledore knew well: Gellert Grindelwald.

Dumbledore seemed to be beaming. "Very noble reasons, Jane. I'm sure if the Headmaster were to hear them he would find no harm in these lessons."

Jane smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Albus."

"You're welcome." Dumbledore stood from his chair and at once the chair vanished. "I'll be heading back to the castle now. I have my last Transfiguration class of the day to teach."

Once Dumbledore had gone Jane made her chair disappear and announced that class was over.

"Good job today guys. For homework I want you to start lifting various object. None of friends though--" She eyed Gerry jokingly. "And if you're feeling daring try a Summoning charm without your wand."
_____

Jane had finished her last class of the day, a first-year Charms class with Slytherins and Gryffindors. She opened the door to her office with a quick motion of her hand and plopped down in her chair and rested her barefeet on the top of her desk, her heels banished to its underneath.

She twirled her wand in her hand and rested her head against the back of her chair. This last class was her most exhausting. The students from Slytherin House always seemed to pick fights with the Gryffindors, more so than they usually did with the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Half of the class was spent deducting points and threatening detention.

Her eyes caught sight of a paper airplane zooming through the doorway of her office. It did three loop-de-loops before nose-diving into a pile of books.

Jane sighed as she sat up in the chair and snatched the airplane from her desk. She unfolded it and inside was Dumbledore's loopy handwriting.

Jane,

You'll find us in the Room of Requirement tonight. I trust you know where that is.

Albus