Sinistra and Lockhart

Soisen was busy the next day acting as a guide for his juniors, it was only at this time that he remembered that Lockhart must have been introduced as the new DADA master, which he didn't really care too much about during the banquet as he was more interested in seeing who was joining his House.

How would Hermione and Silvia have taken it?

He must have looked down at their tables, they must have had an amused expression for sure.

Oh, but he was going to give them a basket of brownies anyway, they could consider it a consolation for losing. In fact, before going to bed, he wrote home to explain his theoretical appointment as prefect and his request for urgent brownies.

After helping familiarize himself with the castle and introducing the secret passages to the first years, he finally had time to himself and resumed his research thanks to the common room facilities. A few hours later, he went outside to get some air and clear his mind and heard of Potter and Ron's arrival.

It turns out that they still tried to take the flying car, but whatever Dobby did, it caused the car to start losing altitude over time and the invisibility field stopped working as soon as they left the city.

Maybe he simply drained the magic gasoline or something.

Anyway, in the end Arthur located his "stolen" car and after finding his son and his friend tired, hungry and cold inside it, he hurried to take them to the Burrow and write to Dumbledore to allow them to use the castle's Flu network to send them off. Soisen couldn't help but click his tongue, he didn't understand why the students still had to use the express after so many years. The Flu network was much more convenient and faster.

The look on Ron's face when he learned that his little sister ended up in a house other than Gryffindor was to make her into a magical portrait. Maybe I should study making one for myself.

In the evening, Professor Sinistra appeared in the common room when everyone was present after dinner and announced that she officially took over as head of house, which last year Dumbledore had to hold despite it being Professor McGonagall who did everything.

Some habits never seem to change.

Aurora Sinistra was a tall woman with dark eyes, skin and hair. She usually wore olive green clothing and a matching peaked hat. Strict, but she got along well with everyone once we threw her a small welcome party with which the elves in the kitchens gladly cooperated.

When she found out we had our own private observatory with the innovations of the last five years, she practically moved in.

Well, I explained to him that we had a little bit of everything, he just found it hard to believe at first.

Professor Sinistra also gave me my golden badge that acted as prefect and delegate, so now I had some responsibilities and powers. The negative part was that I would have to use some of my time in fulfilling my duties, the good part was that there were so few students in the house that the workload was negligible and by the time they grew up in a year or two, I could appoint some additional prefects to help me, as each house can have up to six at a time.

Also, I can now take points off those who step out of line or send them to Dumbledore if they dare to use words like dirty blood.

On a side note, Minerva managed to rearrange the classes to accommodate the fifth house over the course of the summer, so sometimes we have the lesson shared with one or two houses depending on the day.

Of course, I'm still the only sophomore from Galegold house, so for me it really didn't make too much difference compared to last year, it just really affected my juniors.

Today I have DADA lesson with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, so I sat in the classroom with Hermione and Silvia on either side of me, both of whom looked like they wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

-Relax," Soisen comforted them in a low voice to avoid the wrath of the brainless ones, "While I'm as surprised as you are that the best (and only) school in Britain chose that guy as a teacher, I remind you that the bet is still only valid in a purely hypothetical situation. I asked an older student yesterday and he said that there hasn't been a prom at the school in years, meaning it's much more likely that we'll graduate and you won't have to do anything. Looked at that way, it seems I didn't really think it through.

Hearing that, the two witches visibly relaxed but also felt a little bad for Soisen. After all, he won the bet fairly against all logic and didn't really get anything.

-By the way, I've already written to my mothers to send me some brownies for you. And Hermione, if what I think will happen in this class happens, believe me, I'll be happy to teach you some private lessons," Soisen added, but he felt that his last words didn't seem quite right, he didn't know why.

Okay, now the two witches felt worse about themselves.

-Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart, that's right, winner of....

Soisen disconnected almost instantly, rummaged through his robes for two copies of parchment he'd gotten during lunch and discreetly handed to the witches at his side. They opened it and saw all sorts of information about Lockhart. His favorite food, favorite color, etc.

They looked at him with questioning eyes and he motioned for them to wait.

-But enough about me! -Lockhart pulled out a stack of papers and began to distribute them, "I think it is necessary to have an assessment of your current knowledge, so please complete this test to the best of your ability.

The students were nervous, because Quirrell wasn't the best teacher and they weren't expecting a test on the first day. But after a closer look, their bewilderment only grew.

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

How did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Banshee?

What brand of shampoo does Gilderoy Lockhart use?

Which Gilderoy Lockhart book did you find most inspiring?

Soisen wasted no time, pulled out his own copy and began filling out the test while consulting the information. Hermione and Silvia looked at him dumbfounded, but soon began to imitate him, although Hermione found it difficult to "cheat" during the test.

Only when she managed to convince herself that it wasn't a real test and Soisen told her he had a good reason for it did she begin to fill out the sheet. Lockhart quickly skimmed the papers as he collected them one by one and commented at the same time.

-Magnificent! -He said as he collected the answers from Soisen and company, "The most complete answers I've seen in the whole class, fifteen points for each of the three of you!

The other students looked at them in two ways. With envy at their idol's praise or as if they had suddenly discovered a new continent. As Lockhart showered the three with praise, he pulled out a covered cage that rattled when he poked it with his wand.

Knowing it was going to happen, Soisen held up his hands and prepared to cast some spells.

-Let's see you take care of the Cornish sprites! -Lockhart shouted before opening the pandora's box and releasing those little blue devils.

Shield enchantments appeared simultaneously covering Soisen, Silvia and Hermione. At the same time, some other students with whom Soisen got along better were also locked in magical shields, like Neville.

Lockhart ran to hide in his office and Soisen pondered whether to use the same solution Hermione used in the original story or think of a new approach.

Better to be somewhat creative.

He stopped Hermione who wanted to cast Immobilis and with a few gestures, generated a small typhoon in the classroom, which sucked up all the sprites like a vacuum cleaner and slithered into the cage, which closed with a snap. The creatures were tremendously dizzy and disoriented, unable to continue laughing as before.

With another casual gesture, he tidied up the mess in the classroom, including the dragon skeleton that had fallen from the ceiling when Lockhart's wand was stolen. The shields vanished and perhaps because he no longer heard commotion, the teacher appeared again with a smile.

-That's just what I was looking for to happen! An excellent way to deal with these little pranksters and you have been very thoughtful in offering to tidy up the ruckus, which you deliberately cause, of course," he said as he took the cage and looked closely at the creatures with a sneer, "Thirty points for Galegold!

The best part of the lesson? When the Cornish sprites couldn't take it anymore and vomited all over Lockhart, covering him in a mixture of green and purple.

Soisen had to hold back a lot to avoid saying one of the best phrases for the occasion.

-Constant vigilance!