Chapter 11: An Average Day In DADA
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DADA Classroom, Hogwarts
September 27th, 1972
"How does a spell travel?" He asked his sixth-year students. He decided to take things a bit differently today, as it was Friday today. Instead of the usual physical activity that he had planned, noticed by the students that attended the morning meetings of Physical Conditioning as they wore their track wear, he decided to do a bit of a demonstration.
"We flick it?" A Slytherin student by the name of Carrow uttered, drawing laughs from his corner of the room.
With a dead eyed gaze, the laughter was strangled at his unamused expression. "No, Mr. Carrow. We do not, indeed, flick magic. Magic is in its essence, Energy. While I could indeed bore you with all these diagrams of the various wave-spectrums," He waved his hand and a massive board of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, "I don't feel like trying to bash the theory of Electromagnetism into your skulls. And yes, I mean that as offensively as possible." Snickers filtered through the room.
With a tired sigh, Ebon conjured a knightly figure of steel armor. "If magic is Energy, then a spell is energy acting at different wave frequencies. It is a little known fact, but visible spells are some of the slowest medium of magic, while invisible spells like the Swapping Charm, or the Unlocking Charm, act at higher wave-states; and are thus faster."
He gazed around the room, "Tell me, what is the slowest charm that you know? We should all know it, I have you practicing it till your fingers are numb."
"The Stunner."
"Five points to Hufflepuff, Ms. Bones." He nodded his head. "Yes, the Stunner. Stupefy." He flicked his wand, and the red bolt of energy hit the armor, knocking it back a bit. "What I just cast was Stupefy. A spell that knocks people unconscious and is known as the Stunning Charm. Yet, we also see from this display that the armor-set was knocked back, which means some of the energy within the spell was converted into kinetic energy; but, this is not a science classroom, and I can tell ninety-percent of you haven't a damned clue what I'm talking about. If you want to know, try and find a Muggle scientist to teach you about electromagnetism, thermodynamics, physics, and physical chemistry. I'm your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, not a damned high-school teacher." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and glared at his class, the sixth years folding into their seats under his ire. "Damned teaching standards…" He muttered, "It seems to get across this lesson, I need to share with you some base subjects regarding electromagnetism. No high-level theory, just bare bones understanding. The chart there has color on it. Do you see it?"
His class mumbled agreements, and he continued, "Color, comes from light. Within our eyes are retinas, reflective material that are connected to nerve clusters called color-cones. When light enters our pupil, it interacts with those color-cones, and the nerves connected send input signals to our brain, which then tell us what things look like. Light is reflecting off everything, and it also moves at different frequencies. This is a wave," He pointed at a squiggly line, "When the difference of the wave's crest and its trough is great, it is at a low frequency, and when the difference is small, it is at a high frequency. Across the spectrum, there are a great many waves. Raise your hand if you've ever used a radio."
Everyone raised their hand, making him breath a sigh of relief, "Wonderful. Radios function off radio-waves, which is the lowest spectrum possible, but they also travel for great distances and don't require much energy to produce. They are the size of buildings, and thus can travel very far. Something unique about electromagnetism is that it doesn't require a substance to travel through. How I am speaking to you, and how you are hearing my voice is due to my vocal cords speaking at a frequency of vibration. Sound itself is a wave, traveling through the air, and entering your ears. Within your ears are highly sensitive and fine-tuned organs that catch the vibrations from the air and translate them to sounds. Your brain then can interpret those sounds and transfer them into language, thus, understanding. Electromagnetism, however, does not need a medium to travel though, and can work even through the vacuum of space. It is how the light of our sun, the photons and cosmic rays can reach our planet. It as we reach up through the spectrum of this fundamental building block of our universe, that we reach visible light." He tapped his wand against the diagram.
"It is within this small section of the diagram that we are able to physically see. Some animals and creatures can see colors that we can't even conceptualize, outside of highly volatile madness inducing magic. For example, my eyes have been altered to see thirty-seven different colors that no language or other human has any frame of reference for. By most definitions, I would thus be clinically insane and or mad." He gave a disturbed chuckle, grinning at the disturbed looks of his students, "Moving along, it is through color that we can tend to measure how volatile or energetic certain magics are. Transfiguration tends to act on the higher spectrum, within the various Rays. Charms tend to act anywhere on the spectrum they so please, while Curses, Hexes, Jinxes, and other projectiles fall within the visible light-spectrum. Why is that?"
He gazed over his students and pointed at a boy, "Erm, Professor, sorry if this is off topic, but what does any of this muggle nonsense have to do with magic?"
'No. No. Don't kill him. Don't kill him.' He let out a deep breath, visibly mastering himself and causing the boy to stare down at the grown, shaking in his boots. "They say there are no bad questions. Except for those that denote that you've not bothered paying attention. Bellatrix, please have an answer."
"Energy, sir?"
"Expand."
"I'm not sure why Transfiguration spells have higher states of energy. Are the visible spectrum spells more stable, perhaps?"
He smiled, faith in humanity restored! "A most wonderful observation. To answer your confusion regarding Transfiguration Spells, I'd have to rant about Physical Chemistry and atomic principles."
That caused a ruckus, "Professor, you know about atoms?" A girl he recognized as a Muggleborn from Hufflepuff questioned, "Like the atom bomb?"
"Mien Gott." He muttered, "Yes, I know how the Atom Bomb works. Yes, I'm aware such knowledge is highly prized by muggle governments right now. No, I am not affiliated with them. Yes, I could build an Atomic Weapon System if I so please, no I will not do so for 'shits and giggles', Nrrigirath." He rubbed his temple, feeling old. "Physical Chemistry asks a rather simple question. 'What is stuff made of'? What is wood made of, for example, and it looks down to the smallest facets and building blocks of our universe. Transfiguration, ignorantly, manipulates these objects; they are called Atoms, and the study and usage of these atoms was what gave the name to the Atom Bomb which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
He held a hand up, "I am returning to my previous lecture. Now, Bellatrix stated that perhaps spells of the visible spectrum are more stable, and she was, in fact, correct." He gave the woman a beaming smile that had her cheeks blush. He blinked at the somewhat exaggerated reaction but continued unimpeded. "Spells of the visible spectrum need to be 'coagulated' within Arithmancy, for the energies within a spell are important for their effect. Transfiguration, on mundane matter, faces little resistance towards the alterations the materials experience. However, when one desires to change states of matter, or perhaps turn a lower-proton dense piece of matter into a higher-proton piece of matter, then one experiences hardship. Transfiguration is something of an exhausting practice, and it has been tested and proven that the archetypical average wizard would be capable of casting significantly more Charms than they would consistent transfiguration. If it helps, one could imagine trying to lift a weight."
He conjured a cowbell with the big numbers of 10kg. He lifted it with one hand and started pumping it. "This is what it would look like if I were to be casting several charms. I could do this for hours on end, lifting a 10kg weight over and over. However, with transfiguration, one is instead lifting something like," He conjured a 100kg weight, dropped the 10kg and lifted it with one arm. He lifted it thrice, and then put it down. "While it might be more strenuous to lift the 100kg, I'm not going to be lifting such a weight over and over, as transfiguration isn't like a charm that can be dispelled or dodged. Dumbledore and McGonagall are the Super-Heavy Weights of our society, capable of lifting massive amounts of weight for long periods of time, while Flitwick is the light-weight champion, a master of speed and capable of lifting the 10kg weight for hours on end."
"Now," He clapped his hands, "I am going to give you a demonstration. I have, over the last few days, reworked the arithmancy for the Stunner Charm. I am going to show you what happens when you play around with a spell, but first, a base-demonstration between several spells. Ameilia, what color on the visible spectrum is lowest in energy?"
"Uh, Red?" She asked.
"Correct, Ms. Bones. Perhaps some more confidence next time. Now, what color is the Stunner?"
"Red." She stated.
"And it is publicly known that the Stunner is also known as the slowest charm. Fancy that. Within the Visible Spectrum, there is a dividing line within the field of Charms, Jinxes, Curses, and Hexes. This, is the Slug Barfing Charm, a sulfurous yellow." He threw it at the target, and it was indeed yellow. "It is also rather fast, now, this is the blinding hex," He tossed a bright cyan blue hex at the target, and it was absolutely blitzing. "The Blinding Hex is known internationally as the fastest projectile spell, and it can easily take an opponent off guard such is its speed. Now, there is a general rule of thumb to follow. Most Hexes and Jinxes are yellow and orange. Most combat charms are red. Very few are cyan or blue. Most curses are Red, orange, or yellow. Now are there any colors that we haven't seen yet?" He gazed around his class and nodded towards Lucius Malfoy.
"Violet, and…Green."
"Ten points to Slytherin, oh, and twenty points for Slytherin for Bellatrix's answer. Sorry Bellatrix." He apologized. "I'm still quite new to the system."
"Erm, no problem." She meekly waved.
"Yes, now, Violet, and Green." He smiled, "Violet is the highest state of Energy. On a measurement scale based on the meter, a Radio Wave is ten to the third power. A violet wave meanwhile is not point five times ten to the negative sixth power. To understand what I mean, the crest, the top of the wave, and the trough, the bottom of the wave, for radio waves would be the size of a skyscraper, while a visible violet light would be the size of a protozoan, a very small animal that lives in the ocean and is so small it looks like marine snow. Has anyone here seen a crab, or perhaps a barnacle open its shell?"
Hands were raised. "Great. Now, a carb has a very odd mouth." He placed his fingers against his face and wiggled them about. "By simply moving its claw and bringing water to its face, the feelers on its mouth will eat the invisible specs of dust for energy. A crab is always eating because of this. It is also how Lobsters die, they grow so big, that no matter how many tinny protozoans they eat, they starve to death. Do be on the lookout for Time Spiders. While they aren't an officially recognized species of magical creature due to their mysterious nature, they're actually massive crabs that feed on temporal anomalies and have been the death of six Unspeakables researching time turners!"
"Now, where was I…ah, yes violet spells. Now we don't see any violet spells because of the stability factor. When working with Arithmancy, it is highly important to create a spell that is stable as possible, and as one raises the state-of-energy; one loses stability. The Blinding Hex, fifty years ago when it was invented, was thought to be something of impossibility. The reason for that, is cyan or blue colored spells were thought to be too unstable for creation, but the German wizard Alfie Wolfram created the spell and used it to great effect during both Great Wars. It was so fast that the spell could effectively be used in all manner of situations; at close range it was effectively impossible to react to it, and at long range it held an accurate spell effect. Prior to the Blinding Hex, there was one spell that was notable for its unique color, its fast speed, and its horrendous power. Few spells are created based off its Arithmancy, largely due to how related it is to the concept of death, and the negative reputation it holds."
He glanced around the class and saw realization. "Yes, I am of course speaking of the Unforgivable Killing Curse, also known as Avada Kedavra. A spell's color so unique it has become synonymous with death itself. The Unforgivable Killing Curse is rumored to have been created by an Angel of Death, and no I am not speaking of the biblical reference, but a certain type of serial killer." Confusion was abound now. "An Angel of Death is a doctor, sometimes a nurse, and during the interaction with a patient, they may make the impetuous and decision to take their life to spare them pain."
"Although this is just one of many debates on the famous spell. Some say Morgana herself created it, and others believe it to have been created by Herpo the Foul, or any number of famous Dark Lords or Ladies in the age's past. Some believe it was created as a means to mercy kill animals, or a means to hunt magical creatures safely without spoiling the prize. There are dozens of ways to explain the origins of the Curse of Murder." He gazed out around the classroom, "As a man who has taken life, I can tell you that there is a difference between killing and murder. Does a man hate the wolf for acting in its nature? Does a man loath the lion for feeding itself? When a lion kills a gazelle, do we mourn the gazelle? As we fill our stomachs with pig fat and beef, do we take the moment to appreciate and morn the fallen beast we raised to simply become our sustenance? If you feel any empathy for the former, then I commend you. You are a great human being than I." He took a deep breath and let that sit. Then he began again.
"Our humble Headmaster believes in a notion that has permeated our society, something known as the Sanctity of Life; a belief that places moral value on all lives. It is something that I personally agree to disagree with, for the universe and world itself is a place too uncaring for the notions that life itself is something inherently valued or valuable. While we as humans can choose to act and believe in certain things, it does not change the fact that the world and universe is hostile to our existence, and we are an error within the grand design of the universe. Its uncaring beat and drum will march on for trillions of years if led unimpeded, and as our sun and star die, and our species fades to irrelevance, the universe will continue unabated." He had to suppress the grin on his face as he watched his students start to have an existential crisis.
"The root of nihilism is the belief that due to nothing inherently having value, life does not have value. It is a sad way to look at the world and is fundamentally incorrect. For I am here to tell you that life does in fact have value. Perhaps in the perspective of an entity that is removed from life, that looks on an sees nothing but the base components of a universe and can decide, due to the fact that in an unknown about of time we shall become naught but stardust and that our lives will inherently mean nothing." Ebon gazed over his students and saw them waking up from his speech, hanging on each word.
"However, as the actual individuals that experience life, I will tell you now that life is something that you make of it. Purpose, meaning, and any grand idea of the future is nothing more than the lies you tell yourself and all those around you to make your life feel like it has those things intrinsically. Our society, our world, our beliefs and values; all of them are based on this lie. Money, commerce, trade; lies, all of it. We commonly call these lies myth, and if you state a lie enough times, eventually it shall become true. I stand here today to teach all of you a simple lesson. I try to enrich your lives, to teach you valuable lessons, and perhaps try to guide you in your futures. Yet, for all I am as a person standing before you and telling you these things, ultimately it is your decision and impetus to make sense of the vibrations spilling out of my mouth, and the reverberations echoing around inside your ear-canal. And with those sensations, your brain will tell you what words I am saying, and you shall form your own personal reality around nothing more than a shared illusion we call reality."
He drew his wand and flicked it towards a hidden cage obscured by a length of fabric. He levitated it in the middle of the room and allowed all of his students to see the frightened rabbit and its kids within.
"Within this cage are not transmuted creatures. These are real, living and breathing rabbits. Today I am going to introduce you to a concept. It will stay with you your entire life, and perhaps as you fly on the carriages back to Hogwarts next year, you will remember this lesson as you see the thestrals." He flicked his wand and the lighting of the room changed. Within the center of his classroom was a dueling strip, the desks of his students forming around it. Boards around the room were all charmed to mirror whatever he was writing on his central board, allowing all his students to see what he was working on no matter their position. His students were shrouded in darkness, and only the center of the room was illuminated.
"I would like to make a few facts clear. I am not going to eat these creatures, and thus I am not killing them for survival. I am not ritually sacrificing them for divine blessings or demonic attention. I am doing a very simple thing; killing them because I want to." Cold eyes stared out through the room, and everyone shivered as the temperature seemed to drop. "As I am a teacher and Master of Charms, along with a registered teacher at Hogwarts, I have received permissions enforced by the ICW to demonstrate, not teach, the Unforgivables."
He rounded the creatures within the cage, "Throughout today's lesson you have learned about the spectrum of light. Today, I am going to teach you something truly profound, and horrifically dangerous. It is an unrecognized school of magic, one that is from my own invention. I call it Meta-Magic."
Aiming his wand towards the creatures, one rabbit hopped over to the bars to face him, "Avada Kedavra." He intoned.
A splash of green light washed over the creature, and it died. He flicked his wand and the creature's corpse was apparated out of the cage. He then flicked his wand, and he vanished it. Then he aimed again, this time at one of the kids, and instead of a flash of green, "Avada Kedavra." He intoned, a flash of sulfuric yellow blasted over the creature.
A hissing sequel came over the creature, and instead of the peaceful death, it suffered. Its white fur blackened, it rotted and decayed, and soon nothing but the base components of the creature were left. The room filled with a foul stench, vanished by a wave of the professor's wand. "Through the manipulation of a spells Arithmancy, one can produce different effects from a spell. In this example, I have altered the Killing Curse to perform on a lower frequency. In this form, the spell does not work at the correct frequency to penetrate magical shields; however, it functions less as a Killing Curse, and more as a Death Curse. Upon contact, you will die. Horrifically, might I add." He rounded the cage once more and started again.
The next kid, burrowed into itself faced his wand, "Avada Kedavra." This time an orange light erupted from his wand, and a murky white vapor left its mouth, before its eyes popped out of its skull explosively. "In this variation the spell functions as a Soul Curse, expelling the Soul and causing death by spiritual leaking; the bonds between your soul and your spirit are severed, and it is a spell that theoretically, could be used to create a ghost out of anyone."
One more rotation around the cage had him cast it again, "Avada Kedavra." He intoned, and a red bolt of light crashed into the next rabbit, ripping apart its flesh and sundering it until it was reduced to nothing. "This form of Avada Kedavra holds most similarities with the arithmancy of the famous Cruciatus, hinting at potential developmental strains between each other." One last rabbit was left.
"Instead of decreasing the wavelength of light for the spell, instead, I will increase it." He conjured the electromagnetic spectrum and tapped the green section, then he extended his wand forward, and forward, and forward…
"Gamma Rays. The most energy intensive form of electromagnetic radiation. Arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei, it is the Gamma Ray that often forms Beta Particles which are a form of radioactive particles that can cause skin burns." He aimed his wand at the last rabbit and chanted.
"Avada Kedavra Memento Mori."
There was no flash of light. One moment the rabbit existed, and the next…
The room blinked. 'What…just happened.' So wondered reality itself.
"For those of you that are confused, the Avada Kedavra Curse was so overcharged, that I had to stabilize the spell with fractured remains of arithmancy taken from the fidelius charm; a high-level charm that removes all knowledge of a specific location or item. By casting this alternative form of Avada Kedavra, I have effectively removed the rabbit from existence, conceptual or otherwise." He clapped.
As the lights came back to the room, the students within were wide eyed and utterly shocked. "Now, I expect five-hundred words of your summary of today's class. I also expect three-hundred words of your considerations for the moral ramifications of using the Killing Curse." The class bell rang, "Class dismissed."
And so the Sixth Years toddled out of DADA, loitering in the hallway, looking very dazed.
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