The Grind (And Helping Heather Potter) [Book 2]

I'll freely admit my hands were shaking a bit as I spoke, "Right, everyone seated? Great, let's get started…"

For some reason, Flitwick decided it was a good idea to put me in charge of his classroom for the first classes of the year. Some kind of 'sink or swim' test that he fully expected me to pass with flying colors as I tended to do for the other tests he'd given me when I was still a student. His faith in me was inspiring but it didn't do much to help my nerves.

My only saving grace was that the first class of the year was focused on revision and he didn't have me teaching the First Years. That would have been throwing me to the sharks instead of just into the deep end. Flitwick still watched over me but he'd basically given me free reign to teach however I wished.

The first section I was assigned went surprisingly smoothly. I mostly chalked that up to it being a NEWT-level class composed of the most studious Seventh Years.

I'd even tutored a couple of them before so it was easy enough to fall back into that mentality. I treated the class as an open-study session where the students could freely ask me questions as we shook off the rust of the summer together. That seemed to be a successful decision based on how the Teaching and Speech XP came flying in fast and furious for me.

< +1 to Teaching, +3 to Speech for 'Swimming' >

< Teaching 34+1=35/100, Speech 13+3=16/100 >

The second section wasn't as simple as the first. It was a combined class of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Fourth Years, the section that Heather, Hermione, and Ron were in. Since they were just Fourth-Years, I decided to go with a more structured lesson plan to help them revise and remember the charms and spells they should have learned last year.

I looked out over the classroom, three rows of desks perpendicular to me holding my captive audience. Some seemed eager and ready to learn such as Heather and Hermione. Some seemed as if they'd rather be anywhere else or learning from anyone else such as Ron and the other Gryffindor boy next to him. And yet more — one pair of Gryffindor girls in particular — seemed to be overtaken by fits of giggles, whispers, and poorly-concealed glances at me.

I put the admittedly attractive blonde girl and her equally attractive dusky-skinned friend out of my mind for now. I did the same for Ron's glare and even the expectant expression Hermione was shooting my way. Behind me, Flitwick stood on his trademark stack of books, content to silently let me lead the class.

I took another fortifying breath, "As I'm sure you've all learned to anticipate after three years here at Hogwarts, this first class of the year is reserved for revision. We'll be going over spells you already know, trying to shake off the rust of the summer's break."

I heard some disappointed groans but I pushed on, "But considering we do this every year, I figured I could do something a little different to spice things up. This is very experimental. I haven't even run it by Professor Flitwick here yet so I hope he'll approve."

My wand waved and letters of fire wrote themselves out in the air above my head, "That said… Welcome! To Hogwarts' first ever Charms Olympics!"

My declaration wasn't met with the fanfare I expected… I saw more confusion in my audience than anything else. The only ones who seemed to have a clue what I was trying to do were the Muggle-born or Muggle-raised.

"Charms Ol-what?" Ron asked, not even raising his hand.

"You cannot possibly tell me you haven't heard of the Olympics…" I deadpanned at him, only to receive infuriating silence from him and the rest of the Pure-Bloods in the class. "Seriously? Happens every four years? Biggest sporting event in the world? People train all their life for it? Dates all the way back to Ancient Greece? None of this is ringing a bell?"

"So it's some kind of Muggle competition?" A Hufflepuff boy — Macmillan, I think — asked. To his credit, he wasn't rude about it. More just curious.

Still, I couldn't stop myself from facepalming and muttering to myself, "Merlin save me from sheltered Pure-Bloods…"

I shook off this unexpected development, "Yes, it is, Mr. Macmillan. Typically, the Olympics are composed of sporting events but since this is a magical classroom, I thought we could take the idea and give it a Wizarding spin, yes?"

Hermione's hand shot up and I acknowledged her, "How is this productive? Shouldn't we be studying instead of playing games?"

"C'mon, Hermi-… Ms. Granger… You're Muggle-born. Surely you remember playing review games in primary school. The idea here is the same. These 'games' are to meant to allow us to internalize and familiarize ourselves with the concepts we are reviewing and even put them into practice instead of sticking only to theory. Remember, everyone learns in different ways. What works for you will not necessarily work for someone else," I chided gently.

Hermione's hand fell and she nodded, seemingly satisfied with my justification. And by the excitement that was starting to show on the Pure-Bloods' faces at the mention of 'games', her slight challenge had only been helpful. Clever girl, that one. Brilliant, even.

"What a wonderfully creative idea for revision, Mr. Atlas!" Flitwick said, clapping happily behind me. "I am a bit put out that you didn't tell me your lesson plan beforehand but the wait was well worth the surprise! You have my blessing and anticipation! Please, continue."

"Right," I clapped my hands emphatically, Flitwick's approval raising my confidence by at least two levels. "Professor, if you would the honors of vanishing the desks, I shall prepare our arena of competition."

Flitwick nodded, having all of the students stand away from their desks so he could clear the room. As he did, I began my part of the preparations. In one corner of the room, I summoned a series of targets and ammunition to be used later. In another, I summoned a small table with a miniaturized arena atop it. On the ground in the middle of the classroom, I burned a circle into the floor. The first event of the Charms Olympics wouldn't require anything more than that last bit of preparation.

With that done, I explained how this would work to my now eagerly waiting audience, "The class will be split into two teams. I think the dividing lines should be obvious enough: Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor. Everyone will get a chance to compete and House points will be awarded for exceptional play. Please treat this seriously, both as a competition and as a chance to review.

"The first event of the Charms Olympics will be relatively simple. Two students will step into the circle I've drawn in the center of the room. One will attack while the other defends. The defender will cast the Lumos Charm and hold it for as long as they can. The attacker's job is to disrupt the defender's concentration and make them drop the spell within a set time frame — say, 15 seconds.

"The defender wins if they last the entire time without dropping their Lumos Charm. Attackers may use any spell they know as long as it doesn't cause more harm than a Stinging Hex. Please remember that this is not a duel, merely friendly competition. Does everyone understand the rule?"

I received excited nods of confirmation and called up the first two competitors, "Longbottom, defense. Macmillan, attack."

Neville Longbottom stepped into the circle, anxiety practically pouring off of him at the attention of all of his classmates. In comparison, Ernie Macmillan was cool as a cucumber as he stepped into the circle opposite Neville.

"C'mon, Nev', don't be a Squib!" Ron and another Gryffindor boy — Finnigan maybe? — jeered.

I shot Silencing Charms and glared at both of them, "None of that, boys. Go on, Mr. Longbottom. You'll do fine."

Neville gave me a shaky nod and raised his wand to the ready. Just to be sure, I cast a subtle Calming Charm at Neville before I called the start of the match. It wouldn't do for the boy to embarrass himself and do further damage to his confidence.

As my Calming Charm hit him, Neville's face set with determination. It seemed to do wonders because he then cast a perfect Lumos Charm and held it without wavering an inch. Macmillan opened with a Cheering Charm, which only seemed to increase the light of Neville's Lumos.

What followed was exactly what I'd hoped would happen. The attacker — Ernie Macmillan, in this case — was forced to get creative and actually apply what he'd learned during his studies at Hogwarts. He tried Finite — the General Counter-Spell — and a couple of light Banishing Charms to push Neville around. Through it all, Neville stood tall and strong like a tree, barely swaying under the assault. In fact, it was almost as if his magic was acting to help protect him and blunt Macmillan's spells slightly.

15 seconds later and Neville was still standing with a light at the tip of his wand, having proved he was so much more than a Squib. His victory was met by cheers from the Gryffindor side of the room. It was only after seeing them cheering silently that I remembered to unsilence Ron and Seamus.

"Time," I called. "Neville Longbottom wins! 5 points to Gryffindor. Good effort, both of you. Next up…"

The event continued like that. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, actually engaged in the class and discussing which strategies worked and what else they could try with their team. Both teams won their fair share of matches. I gave advice where I could and facilitated the matches themselves. We ended up going for two cycles, giving everyone a chance at attack and defense.

To me, the standouts of the matches other than Neville were Heather, Hermione, and Susan Bones. Heather won her match handily with a simple Disarming Charm, something that none of the other students had thought to try, and held on well when put on the defense. There were some complaints of fairness but I only smirked at them. This was exactly what I wanted after all. For them to think outside their normal understanding of magic and apply themselves creatively.

Hermione was similarly creative on the attack, casting a Full-Body-Bind Charm that petrified her opponent and snuffed their Lumos like a candle. She didn't fair as well on defense but it was still impressive.

Susan Bones impressed both me and Professor Flitwick with a stalwart defense comparable to Neville's and a Stunning Spell that she should have had no way of knowing. That was Fifth-Year material. I guess it paid to have the Head of the DMLE as an aunt.

"Now, for our second event. This one is specifically designed to help you review and train the Banishing Charm and Levitation Charm. These targets will be set up at one end of the room and you all will stand at the other. You are tasked with hitting these targets with the ammunition provided. You may accomplish this in any way you desire but points will only count if the target is hit with the physical object, not a spell. Professor Flitwick and I will be moving the targets erratically to make this more interesting," I explained.

The second event started with even more enthusiasm than the first. Who knew people really like to hit stuff with other stuff? Even Flitwick and I got in on the fun by messing with the targets as we moved them. I'll admit that Flitwick did most of the heavy lifting there though, sometimes even causing illusionary targets to appear if a student seemed to be having too easy of a time with the task.

Still, no matter what we did to try and make things more difficult, two students absolutely dominated the event: Susan Bones and Heather Potter. They were like Muggle pitching machines, shooting the little tennis balls I'd summoned as ammunition so fast that Flitwick and I literally couldn't move the targets out of the way. Scary Witches, those two…

There were also some creative solutions to the event's challenge though. For example, Hermione was the only one who thought of casting an Enlarging Charm on the ammunition and the targets to make them easier to hit. Though others did start to copy her after she did that, to much lesser success.

"Once again, great job everybody," I congratulated the students, especially the ones who were starting to look worn out by the magical exercise. "Last event of the class and then we'll dismiss you to dinner. All I ask is that you don't immediately share what we've done today with your friends in the other two Houses. I'd like to keep the Charm Olympics a surprise for Slytherin and Ravenclaw."

At the accepting nods, I continued, "This last event is something a little different. This will be an individual event and will probably be the most challenging event for most of you. You'll all be given a bit of time beforehand to prepare.

"I'll ask you to find an object, any object you can manage to get your hands on so long as it can be held in your hands or shrunk to that size. We'll then take those objects to this miniature arena I've made. Two students will be selected and they will take their chosen objects to the arena and magically animate them to fight.

"If you can make a pineapple tap dance in your first year, I expect you to be able to make a handheld object fight in a rudimentary manner by now. The winner of this proxy duel and their object will stay until they are defeated. Any questions?"

"So it's like Wizard's Chess?" Ron asked.

"Uh…" I paused. "Yeah, I guess it kinda is."

"Wicked!"

With that uncharacteristically apt comparison, I released the students to pick their objects. Almost immediately, I was impressed by the variety of their choices. Some chose books or parchment. Others chose quills, pieces of chalk, or other writing utensils. Others still chose personal items or items of clothing. The two that impressed me the most were Seamus Finnigan who chose a flask that he definitely shouldn't have been in possession of and Ron Weasley who pulled a full set of Wizarding Chess from his bag.

"Mr. Finnigan," I said. "I'll pretend I didn't see that little bit of contraband so long as your enchantment is successful."

Seamus nodded vigorously and thankfully and I turned my attention to Ron, "Mr. Weasley, do you think your object is in the spirit of the event? Or that it is sporting to use something that has already been enchanted and animated?"

"Uh…" Ron looked down at his Chess set a bit guiltily.

"I do appreciate the initiative and creativity though. I'm sure Professor Flitwick or I would be willing to conjure a Muggle Chess piece for you to enchant and use if you asked…" I hinted.

Ron looked a little put out about having to rely on others but ultimately nodded, "Right… Uh, a little help, Professor?"

"Certainly, Mr. Weasley. A Queen, I presume?"

With the 'hard' part of asking for help out of the way, Ron quickly grew excited again, "Yeah! This is bloody brilliant by the way, Prof'! Only time I've actually had fun studying!"

I allowed myself to smile slightly, "I'm glad you're enjoying my idea, Ron. Hopefully, I can bring that same spark to the other classes I'm put in charge of."

I lowered my voice as I spoke to Ron so as to not disrupt my vaguely constructed image of professionalism. I didn't want to come across as strict as McGonagall or Snape but I also wasn't addressing the students by their first names. Still, there were times when a more personal touch was called.

I conjured the Chess piece I'd promised Ron, making sure to make it permanent in case he wanted to keep the piece to experiment on after this class. A quick check over the rest of the class showed that everyone else seemed ready. With that, I called the first two students up to the miniature arena and the third event of the Charms Olympics began.

Needless to say, it was a roaring success. Everyone was at least able to make their object move, if not make it fight outright. Books swallowed socks. Parchment ripped itself upon the sharp points of quills. Chalk and charcoal broke each other in half, a flask was smothered by a scarf, and in the end, Ron Weasley's conjured Queen stood supreme over the miniature arena.

Congratulations, compliments, and a general attitude of good cheer filled the classroom. I was smiling as well. With only a few minutes before the end of class, it seemed my experimental style of teaching was a success. Nothing could have killed my good mood and-…

"So who won?" Someone — one of the Hufflepuff students, I think — asked.

"Uhm…" My mind went blank. I had completely forgotten to keep track of the points. I'd just been handing points out as I felt like it and making it up as I went. But I had said this was a competition. I glanced at Professor Flitwick for help.

The half-Goblin smirked at me but thankfully, still came to my rescue, "I believe the Gryffindor team did. We shall be able to confirm that with the point totals in the Great Hall. Either way, you should all be proud of yourselves. Why, I don't think I've had a more successful review class in many, many years!"

I breathed a sigh of relief as the students seemed content with Flitwick's answer, "As Professor Flitwick said, this has been a wonderfully productive class. Again, please be sure to keep quiet about this little experiment so as to preserve the surprise for the Snakes and Birds. You will all be dismissed in a few minutes. You have free reign to do as you please until then while Professor Flitwick and I clean up the classroom."

I shot Flitwick a thankful glance, not even minding the little smirk that stayed on his face as he nodded in return. We then proceeded to try and put the classroom back in order. As we did, the students spread out to chat happily amongst themselves and I accidentally overheard something I probably shouldn't have…

The two gossiping giggling girls from the beginning of class chattered to each other, not even whispering despite the… surprisingly suggestive… nature of their conversation. They seemingly didn't care who overheard them, even the person they were talking about — me in this case.

"Do you think Prof Atlas is the type to give '~extra credit~'?" The curly-haired blonde — Lavender Brown — asked.

"Ooooh~" Her dusky-skinned friend — Parvati Patil — giggled. "Maybe… Should we ask him~?"

I looked up from what I was doing near them just in time to catch a blatantly unashamed glance my way from Lavender. She giggled as well, "Maybe~ He's kinda cute in a nerdy way and he's still young enough to be cool. I wouldn't mind earning my extra credit with him~"

I looked to Professor Flitwick for help. He was across the classroom, ignorant of what even I could tell was two students propositioning their Assistant Professor. The pitying looks I saw from the other students who heard Lavender and Parvati told me I wasn't going to find any help there either. Surprisingly, it was Heather and Hermione who came to my aid.

"Y-You can't do that!" Hermione hissed in a not-so-hushed whisper. "He's our Professor! It's unethical!"

"So?" Parvati asked, shrugging her shoulders. "He's the only Professor even remotely young enough to consider. So what if we want to be a little bit naughty? I'm sure he won't be complaining~"

"Yeah, and not all of us are as smart as you, Hermione. Maybe we need all the help we can get," Lavender added.

"W-Well! Well, you still shouldn't s-s-sleep with your Professor," Hermione shot back, blushing up a storm. I wasn't far behind in that regard.

"That's what makes it so hot though! I know you know what I'm talking about, girl~," Lavender teased.

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't have a rebuttal for that, just clamping her lips shut and keeping quiet. Heather placed a hand on her shoulder, "C'mon, Hermione, leave them to their little delusions. Not like Atlas would ever go for them. He's got too much self-worth to mess with girls who would sell their bodies for grades instead of actually studying or getting to know him."

I mean… she wasn't wrong. Part of the reason Lavender and Parvati's indirectly blatant flirting was freaking me out so much was that it was for the wrong reason. I didn't want to jeopardize my current position at Hogwarts for carnal pleasure. Surprisingly, though, I didn't think I'd have a problem with the ethical ramifications of having relations with a student if they were actually interested in me for me…

Thankfully, that was when the class came to an end and Professor Flitwick abruptly dismissed the students. Lavender and Parvati chased after Heather and Hermione as they left the classroom, having smelled gossip in the water.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?! How can you be so sure? Do you two know him? Is there something going on between you?" Lavender pressed with rapid-fire questions.

"Heatheeerrrrr~ Don't leave us hanging like that~" Parvati's whine was the last I heard of that honestly mortifying conversation.

I was left standing in the classroom, still practically frozen from what I'd heard. Honestly, this possibility hadn't even crossed my mind. Who knew teenage girls could be horny? Or that older guys in positions of authority could be desirable at all?

"I… I think I need to lay down…" I muttered to myself.

I hadn't even noticed Flitwick walking up next to me until he spoke, "Ah, yes, I understand that sentiment. Your first day of teaching can be surprisingly draining. Take heart, Atlas, that today's classes were both stupendous successes! You showed initiative, creativity, and flexibility with your lesson plans and I could not be more proud to now call you a colleague!"

"T-Thank you, sir. That… means quite a bit to me," I said, still slightly shell-shocked and staring at the space Lavender and Parvati had previously occupied.

Flitwick nodded with a jolly smile on his face, "Yes, well, I just wanted to offer my congratulations. Don't let me keep you, Atlas. I can put the rest of the classroom back in order."

Where I might have typically protested and insisted I stay to finish the job, I just nodded. I was too drained by today — especially the idea that I might now be target number 1 for a decent percentage of the castle's female student population — to reject Flitwick's generous offer. I wish someone had told me that being basically the same age as the students I was teaching had the potential to make this Assistant Professor's job problematic.

< +5 to Speech, +3 to Teaching, +1 to Influence and Notoriety >

< Speech 16+5=21/100, Teaching 35+3=38/100, Influence 4+1=5/100, Notoriety 6+1=7/100 >

I tried my best to push that thought along with the System notifications out of my mind as I made my way back to my quarters and collapsed into my bed. Dinner could wait. A long nap sounded like exactly what I needed right now. I dreamed of blonde, wispy-haired fairies who saw more than they should and school girls in short skirts trying to earn an easy 'O'.

My room was mostly dark when I returned to the waking world, lit only by the moonlight coming through my window. I groggily reached for my wand but couldn't find it in the darkness. Frustrated, a wave of my empty hand did the trick in its place.

I was trying to figure out what had woken me up when I heard soft, tapping knocks at my door. With the room lit slightly more, I was able to find my wand and get out of bed. I rubbed my eyes, yawning as I approached my door. Thankfully, I'd fallen asleep in my full clothes so I was presentable, if disheveled. Though, I doubt anyone knocking at my door at this hour would care about that.

"Yes?" I asked as I opened the door. I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes so I didn't get a good glance at my visitor yet.

An airy but not unintelligent-sounding voice spoke softly, "Hello, Professor Gamer… At the Start-of-Term feast, you said to come to find you if we needed any help at all… Is that true? Can you help me?"