Chapter 10

A/N: Any spells you don't recognize are derived by me from Latin. My Latin reference is at http://archives.nd.edu/latgramm.htm

Willow walked to the front of the room and sat in the desk the professor had offered to her. As he chose a few scrolls, she watched him thoughtfully. He wasn't what she'd have expected in a Defense professor. His thin frame seemed more fragile than the robust fighter she'd anticipated. Graying hair framed a gaunt face, and he looked like a good wind might knock him over. Then again, Buffy didn't look like much to tangle with either, until you saw her in action.

He met her gaze, and his face brightened with a friendly smile. "I'm always glad to have an eager pupil, Miss Rosenberg. Most students wouldn't dream of taking summer classes."

"Well, I love to learn, but also, I'm just so behind in magical learning, Professor..." she trailed off.

"Oh, it's Professor Lupin."

"They didn't give me your name, just the time of the lesson."

"I'm sorry about that; I've been indisposed the last few days. We can dive straight into the material now."

He shuffled the scrolls in his arms. "I've seen your test results. You seem to have a solid understanding of many kinds of creatures but hardly any awareness of the spells involved in defending yourself against them. It's a combination I don't often find in students."

"Until very recently, I didn't do this kind of magic-- I didn't even know it existed," said Willow.

Prof. Lupin raised his eyebrows but gestured her to continue.

"I've been practicing magic for years, but I never knew there were such short spells. I even thought wands were just in fairytales. One hundred percent Wiccan knowledge here. I'm just grateful there's some spillover between the two kinds of magic."

"I see. If you are a studious as you seem, Miss Rosenberg, I think we'll get you caught up to the other students by the end of the summer. That 'spillover' knowledge will help you greatly as a foundation, as will the Latin background that I suspect you have from Wiccan magic."

Willow nodded.

"We'll start off with some simple spellwork, so I can gauge your wand ability, and we'll take it from there."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a battered wand. Lifting it up, he turned to look at Willow. "The first part of any magical defense is a good shield charm. The easiest one to start with is protego. This will give you a shield against any attack coming from that direction. For example, to guard against a frontal attack, you would direct the energy of the spell forward."

"The bad guys don't always attack from the front. Sneakiness is one of those things that gets you lots of points if you're bad," Willow said with a half smile. "So what do I do about protecting the rest of me?"

"You're thinking ahead-- I like that. You're right. It's important to be aware of what's going on all around you and be able to defend yourself accordingly. We'll get to that after you master the basic spellwork, I promise," said Prof. Lupin. "Now just os you can visualize the process, I'll give you a demonstration."

He handed her a thick textbook.

"You want me to find a spell to throw at you?" asked Willow.

"No," said Prof. Lupin, with an almost mischievous smile. "I want you to throw the book at me."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, you asked for it..."

Willow lifted the book and threw it with all the strength she could muster. Prof. Lupin took up a defensive stance, and as the book sailed toward him, he lifted his wand.

"Protego!"

The book bounced of an invisible wall about 6 inches from the outstretched wand and landed on the floor. Prof. Lupin looked over at Willow.

"Obviously, it'll take you some time to get used to using a wand, but I think you'll find it less draining and more precise once you've used it for a while."

Willow nodded. "I kind of figured that-- how long do you think it'll take me to get comfortable with a wand?"

"It really depends on you," said Prof. Lupin. "Practicing won't hurt you, but some of it just needs to come naturally. It might help for you to visualize the path of your magic. When you channel, say, a ball of fire, you almost see the magic going to your hands, right? Well, instead of channeling your magic into a particular direction, focus more on the wand and imagine it as your only conduit for projecting your power. Here, you might find this useful."

He handed her a small, dusty book. On its cover, Willow could just make out the words, "The Power Within".

"Why don't you sit here and read the first few chapters and make an outline of the spells and their results? Then if you've got any questions, you can bring them straight to me."

"Ok."

Willow opened the book and settled down to read. This professor seemed so helpful. All the same, there was something familiar about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about him reminded her of home. Not in a bad way, just... I've got to stop distracting myself-- time for schoolwork, not daydreaming, Willow thought. Taking a deep breath, she started to read in earnest.

The first few chapters held a wealth of new spells for her. Besides protego, there were a few minor offensive spells such as aculeatus to sting your opponent and clareocomae to cast a blinding light, as well as stealthy spells like distentum to draw their attention from you and dissimulo to help you blend in with your background.

Ever the studious one, Willow quickly filled out her outline, although using the quill and parchment proved to be a challenge in itself. Her final product, though not in her best handwriting, was complete after an hour of hard work. Scanning over the parchment one last time to look for mistakes, Willow stood up and walked over to Prof. Lupin's desk.

"Here you go, Professor. I'm all finished."

"Excellent. I'll look over this, and we can discuss our learning pace at your next lesson. That's all for today; you can leave early. Mind you, in the future, I wouldn't count on too many lessons running short."

"That's ok. I know I've got a lot to learn, and I'd really like to join the upper-level classes in the fall," said Willow.

"As I said, you've got an excellent foundation in magical knowledge, so that isn't an impossible goal. Now go on, I'm sure your friends are anxious to see how you liked your first Defense class."

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