"Does that mean the Headmaster's possessed then?" Seamus asked in a loud voice.
"Good question, lad," he motioned at Lavender, "why don't we ask the expert here?"
Lavender squirmed in her chair and nervously flicked her hair back. "Professor Dumbledore has an unique style; he likes clashing colours and abstract patterns often featuring cute creatures and beautiful flowers. So…I would say he was possessed if he suddenly began to wear something different, Professor? A more sedate wardrobe or an even more over the top one?"
"Excellent observations and deductions, lass! Take ten points for Gryffindor!" Moody said firmly. His wand pointed at the chalk and the item of 'change of dress/odd styling' made its way across the black. "Anything else?"
Harry raised his hand warily and almost regretted it when Moody nodded at him. "My scar hurt in his presence, Professor." He tried to ignore how everyone turned to stare at his forehead.
"Curse scars caused by Dark magic often will be pained in the presence of more Dark magic or certainly the one who gave you the scar in the first place." Moody agreed as the chalk wrote it up on the board. "'Course, not everyone has useful scars like ours, Potter."
There was a smattering of chuckles in the classroom.
"Let's move on." Moody said. "Weasley, when did you realise that Lockhart was an obliviating fraud?"
Ron gaped a little before he snapped his mouth shut. "Uh, I think we realised the fraud part when he didn't teach us anything and set the crate of Pixies on us. The obliviating bit…" his eyes briefly met Harry's, "well, like Harry said, just before he tried to, uh, well, he didn't try to kill us just obliviate us."
"Same question to you lot. What gave him away way before he got the opportunity to try and obliviate your school mates here?" Moody asked.
Hermione's hand was ignored in favour of Daphne's.
"The timeline of his books was inconsistent and filled with errors." Daphne said succinctly. "The impossibility of it should have alerted people to the fact that he was fraudulent and therefore had to have acquired the inherent facts of events in some nefarious fashion."
"Good. What else?" Moody's chalk was writing up 'blatant lying' on the blackboard.
Parvati was given the nod. "Um, he wore impractical clothing during his heroics according to his books. A real hero doesn't pay attention to what they're dressed in."
Her dark eyes fell on Neville who blushed bright red.
"You've got the heart of it right, lass." Moody agreed. "Why so much time spent on his appearance and dress? You don't wear Acromantula silk when traipsing through muck."
Draco put his hand up and Moody motioned for him to speak.
"Lockhart was easily defeated in a duel." He said crisply.
"Heard about that, and again, you'd be right about the main point. A man with Lockhart's reputation shouldn't have been taken by surprise although your Head of House is no slouch at duelling so there may have been extenuating circumstances – a difficult opponent." Moody's chalk wrote up 'weak performance.'
"His spells never worked." Dean offered.
Moody nodded again. "Example?"
Dean sent Harry a sympathetic look. "He banished Harry's bones instead of healing them."
"Bloody idiot." Moody muttered, obviously meaning Lockhart as he sent a proud look in Dean's direction. He waved his wand at the chalk. "Let's move on again."
Harry's heart sank; he had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"Miss Granger, when did you realise Professor Lupin was infected with lycanthropy?" Moody asked roughly.
Hermione frowned at him, almost disapprovingly. "After I completed the essay on werewolves Professor Snape set when he deputised for Professor Lupin."
"Who else realised Professor Lupin's condition before it was revealed to the masses?" Moody asked.
Greengrass, Nott, and Zabini put their hands up.
"What gave him away for you, Greengrass?" Moody pressed.
"Like Granger, it was the essay that prompted it. I did an analysis of the times he was absent with the occurrence of the full moon." Daphne answered crisply.
Moody huffed. "Anyone have a different reason?"
Zabini threw an apologetic look towards Harry, understanding that Harry was uncomfortable with the discussion revolving around someone he cared about. "I put it together during the boggart lesson when his boggart turned into the full moon. That coupled with his distinctive scars made me conclude he was likely a werewolf or had been marked by one."
Parkinson raised her hand and shot Parvati and Lavender a smug look. "His shabby clothes also gave it away in hindsight."
"I suppose they would." Moody said flatly. "Werewolves are labelled as Dark creatures and struggle to find work especially since most of them don't have the advantage of the education Mister Lupin was able to undertake." He said grimly. "Most folk forget that the majority of them are wizards who had no choice in whether they were bitten or not. Wolfsbane, if they can get it, keeps them docile during the full moon unless they feel their pack is threatened."
Parkinson sniffed. "You're not suggesting werewolves should be treated the same as wizards, Professor, are you?"
"They are wizards." Harry retorted angrily.
"The lad's right." Moody glared at Parkinson. "Put it this way: who was the more dangerous out of your previous three Professors? The one possessed by a Dark Lord, the idiot who had no idea what he was doing when he held a wand in his hand except when it came to the spell to make you forget your own name, or the one who took Wolfsbane and locked himself in his office on a full moon?"
Harry felt vindicated as he saw some of the students beginning to understand.
Moody turned back to Harry. "However, you shouldn't forget that without Wolfsbane they are dangerous even ones who don't want to hurt anyone. Defences?"
"Silver weapon curse." Tracey Davies offered.
"Silver in general." Nott added.
Neville put his hand up. "A plant called aconite."
"Yes, that's very poisonous to them." Moody agreed.
Harry raised his hand. "Being an animagus."
Moody smiled at him. "Yes, if you're animagus, a werewolf's bite won't turn you if you're in your animal form when bitten. Werewolves will also accept an animagus as part of their pack if they recognise them and not attack, but an animagus outside of the pack will sometimes be viewed as prey."
The chalk had fallen silent.
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