Very official announcement

[alt_rabastan]

Hallo, hallo boys and girls. And by boys and girls I mean of course the young men and women who will be attending Hogwarts this autumn.

Of late you may have caught a rumour on the wind and I'm here to tell you that it is absolutely true: I'm to be your new Professor of Defence for the coming school year, replacing the tragically absent-minded Mr Gilderoy Lockheart.

I hope no one expects me to regale them with stories of how I tracked down a vicious clan of Gipsy Vampires into deepest Romania and transfigured their eye-teeth into buttons for a waistcoat, because I really don't have those sort of fairy tales to share. I have, however, been Harry Marvolo's private defence instructor for these past few summer months, as well as having other experiences that I believe will make me reasonably suited to the task. So whatever you may have heard about the Razzer, I'm Professor Lestrange to you now, and I look forward to teaching you a thing or three. Hopefully even more than that.

Comments

[alt_ron]

Um.

It was interesting meeting you today, sir. And I'm totally looking forward to having you for lessons. You'll be loads better than LocProfessor Lockhart was. Anyone would, but Harry says you'll be brilliant, and you seemed like you would be. I mean, that thing you did to check whether anyone was around who oughtn't to have been whenever we went into another shop. That was dead cool.

Anywiz. I'm glad you're going to be teaching us.

[alt_rabastan]

Pleasure was all mine, Mister Ron Weasley. And oh, is his name spelled Lockhart? I thought for certain it was Lockheart. My mistake.

You must mean the disillusionment detecting? I remember when Harry told me he'd never heard of it before--quite a surprise, that was. Knowing whether or not some odious sod (or even a Harry-smitten lass, like the one we discovered behind that stack of books) is hiding nearby is one of the most basic, yet fundamentally important, ways to defend oneself against a threat. Have to secure your surroundings before you can feel comfortable in them, eh?

[alt_ron]

Oh, I don't know really. About the spelling. I didn't pay a lot of attention to his books, y'know, or I guess I'd remember about his name. But that's the thing. See? He went on and on about himself and stuff he said he did, but he never showed us anything or taught us how to do anything or really explained it except to say whatever it was was brilliant and it'd got him out of some dead dangerous spot or other.

But you do stuff and then explain.

So that's loads better right there!

But, um. I guess you don't need me to tell you that.

I mean, I just meant I'm glad you'll be teaching us.

Erm. Yeah.

[alt_rabastan]

His books sell very well, I'm told. Nonetheless, I don't have plans for us to use them.

And I'm plenty glad myself. I hope that we can all learn from the experience.

[alt_draco]

Well I'm glad he's going to be teaching us, too.