47Welp. I completely messed up. Chase is Arithmacy, Babbling is Ancient Runes, Underwood is Wilderness Training. (I can't believe I forgot one of my favorite characters...) In honor of this, when I write about his class, his class chapter will be entitled, "Enchiladas". You're welcome, Grover.
Harry's POV-continued
The students were grouped up outside the door to the new Physical Combat classroom. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking together near the edge of the crowd of 8th years, which was a mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.
"I wonder what Jackson and Zhang will be like." Hermione wondered.
"Can't be worse then Umbridge or Lockhart were, can they?" Harry replied, as the door suddenly opened to reveal Professor Zhang.
"Hello, everyone! Sorry for the wait-Professor Jackson isn't here quite yet but you can all come in for now and he'll show up within the first 15 minutes." he invited them in, holding the door open. Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced at each other before following their classmates into the room.
The first thing that caught everyone's attention were the large cushions hung on the walls. There were no desks or chairs, except for one which was pushed to the far cornor of the room. A large chest stood to one side. The students, upon instructions from Professor Zhang, moved to line up against a wall facing the majority of the cushions.
"Welcome to Physical Combat. I am Professor Frank Zhang, one of your two main teachers for this class. Professor Jackson, who should be coming any minute now, is your other instructor-"
The door flew open and a disheveled Professor Jackson ran in. "Sorry! I overslept!"
Professor Zhang looked amused. "I thought you were used to rising early after all these years?"
"I don't exactly have Annabeth throwing water over my head in the morning anymore." Jackson shrugged, before turning to the students. "Hello, I am Professor Jackson, one of your two main Physical Combat teachers and your Pegasus Flying instructor as well."
Harry studied the new arrival. He looked like he just got out of bed. He obviously hadn't bothered to comb his hair, and Harry was fairly sure that he'd been wolfing down a sandwich while running to class.
Hannah Abbott raised her hand. Professor Zhang called on her. "May I ask why you and Professor Mcgongail said main combat teachers? Aren't you the only two?"
Professor Jackson nodded. "That's right, we are. However, I'm also the Pegasus Flying teacher and refere and Frank here has some...responsibilities, we shall say, that he will have to take care of on occsion. So, um, yeah. We're planning on having some of the other teachers take our places whenever the need arises. Pretty much all of us, even Valdez, know enough to do the basics. Any other questions?"
Neville raised his hand. Jackson called on him. "What's the chest in the corner for?"
Zhang grinned happily. "Glad you asked! That's the weapon locker. We brought along a decent amount, and we have more in storage. You'll be learning how to use these soon enough. However, for today, we're going to learn something that doesn't require a weapon. You can put your wands, quails, and parchment away-you won't need them in this class." he added.
Jackson nodded in agreement. "Remember, this is physical combat, not magical combat. That's what DADA is for. Alright, everyone, pick a dummy."
"Just not Jackson. He's the only dummy that's taken." Zhang teased.
"Hey!"
Some of the students, Ron and Harry included, laughed at the joke. A few, like Hermoine, didn't laugh but still tried to hide their smiles as they walked forward and each chose a cushion.
Harry glanced around. "Now what?" he asked.
"We learn punching techniques." Zhang replied, demonstrating. Harry noticed Jackson was standing off to the side, watching. "Alright, now try it for yourselves. Remember, don't be afraid to hit hard. THese cushions are enchanted so that they are extra soft, so you won't lose any blood hopefully."
Harry turned and faced his cushion. Readying himself, he tentatively punched the cushion, one, two, cross, repeat. One, two, cross the other way, repeat.
"Put your whole body into it." Professor Zhang appeared next to Harry's side.
Harry tried and nearly fell over. The professor laughed. "Maybe not that much. Try imagining that this cushion is your worst enemy and they just did something to piss you off." he added, as he went to assist Ernie Macmillan.
Harry tried to imagine the cushion as Voledmort, but, since Voldemort was already dead, that didn't work very well. He tried imagining the cushion to have the face of Draco Malfoy, but that too didn't work, as now that Harry knew more about Malfoy, he couldn't bring himself to punch him as much as he might have a few years before. He heaved a sigh, remembering how he'd used Sectumsempra on Malfoy in the girl's bathroom just two years before...
"Harry! Stop daydreaming and punch!" Hermione hissed. Harry snapped to attention and quickly started punching the cushion again, his checks red.
After some time, Professor Zhang let them stop. "Good work. We'll improve on this next lesson. For now, practice by punching into pillows or beds. Either works, any direction is fine. The main goal is to get it so that your fists sinks in deeply and quickly. Class dismissed."
Harry picked up his bag, his arms sore. "I wonder if this is why Jackson and his lot look like they work out alot." he muttered to Ron as they left the classroom.
"Yeah but didn't you notice Mr. Valdez? Jackson said he was still elligible as a substitute and he's practically a twig!" Ron answered, wincing as he rubbed his arm.
Harry shrugged. "Maybe he does a different form of physical combat that isn't punching."
"Y'know, you might be right. Though I can't think of anything else right now...And did you see Jackson? He came and coached a few people but left a lot of the teaching to Zhang."
"Maybe he just doesn't know as much about punching or he's still tired from waking up late." Hermione retorted;
"B-but that makes absolutely se-Hey wait up Hermione!" Ron yelled, chasing after his girlfriend.
Harry lingered for a moment before hurrying after his two best friends. He'd ponder the mysteries of Jackson later. Right now, he had a Charms class he couldn't miss.
And now...cue the skip of 3-4 hours...