The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a cage full of budgies arguing. The moment the cover came off, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making faces at the class.
He resumed his heroic pose. "Now, Witches, you use protego to protect yourself and your partner. Wizards, you use the Freeze Charm to defend yourself and your partner." With that short warning, Lockhart opened the cage.
It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Three bounced off the window, on which he had cast an impervious charm that morning.
"Come on now — round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted, hands on his hips, his grin beaming broadly at the class.
Half the class was trying to shelter under the desks at the back of the class. Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling where the pixies had left him. The pixies were split between harassing the students and attacking their belongings, which were fortunately charmed closed and stuck to the desks.
The other half, though, those girls with slightly faster reactions, had popped up their shields between themselves and the attacking pixies. Two had even remembered to protect their partner. Harry, hiding behind Hermione, was shooting the Freeze Charm with decent accuracy at any pixie that tried to sneak around her shield. Lavender had backed into a corner, which prevented the little monsters from flanking her, but also prevented Ron for casting the Freeze Charm because he was with her, not that he could cast it, anyway. Blaise Zabini had taken cover under a desk in the corner and was sniping at pixies as quickly as possible. Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were shielding each other.
Lockhart stood at the front of the class, laughing. The pixies knew well not to attack him, he had earlier that day put the fear of Harry/Gilderoy into them! Finally, he waved his wand, freezing the remaining pixies. A second wave put the pixies back into their cage, which he re-covered.
Another wave saw Longbottom rescued from the chandelier and the desks moved back to their proper positions.
Still chuckling, and shaking his head, Lockhart said, "Right, then, who can tell me what you did wrong?"
After a moment of silence in which they all just looked at each other, Hermione slowly raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"We were too slow?"
"And?"
". . . ."
The Wizard turned to the blackboard and a chalk flew up and started writing as he said, "One point to Miss Granger."
"First," he pointed to the line the chalk had just finished, "There was no teamwork!" The witches, except Hermione, ducked their heads down. A few of the wizards joined them.
"Second," he pointed to the next line, "Almost everyone forgot their spells!"
The rest of the class looked shamefaced. "Five points to Mr. Potter and Miss Granger for actually acting as a team and properly working together to defend themselves. Three points each to Miss Brown, Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis, Mr. Quartey, and Mr. Zabini for remembering their spells, even if they were late.
"And these were pixies! Pixies that you lot laughed at and called harmless! And they completely routed you all! What will you do if you meet an Acromantula? Or even a Kurupira? I tell you now; hiding under desks will not save you from a werewolf, banshee, hag, vampire, or troll. Not even hiding in a toilet stall or under a sink will help, will it Miss Granger?" Hermione blushed a bright red and Harry looked outraged. Several students gave a surprised look at the Witch, wondering what the story was behind his remark.
"I don't expect you to go toe-to-toe against Dark Wizards with decades of experience, but I do expect you to be able to properly defend yourself, and your family, while you escape!" He glared fiercely at the class. "Only a fool fights a Wizard with decades of experience. Only a fool fights head-on against a Witch with more power than himself." He paused, now looking tired. "And I have been the fool too many times, and if not for an unreasonable amount of luck I would not be here today. And I have lost more friends than I care to count because I was a fool." He glared at them. "That's why I am here, to teach you not to be foolish!"
The class was staring at him wide-eyed.
"The next two classes, maybe more, will be remedial classes covering last year. You should already know this material backwards and forwards. I expect you all to master all of last year's material in two weeks. Remember your homework! And TEAMWORK! Class dismissed.
"Mr. Potter, a word before you leave."
Harry slowly picked up his bag and stuffed his books back in it. Hermione and Ron were hanging back at the door as the rest of the chastised class left the room.
Lockhart sat in his chair and watched Harry reluctantly approach. "And the word, Mr. Potter, is detention!" the Professor said cheerily.
Harry's eyes shot wide open and his mouth dropped. Both Ron and Hermione looked surprised, as well. Gilderoy knew they were thinking that Harry was being given a new detention and that Harry was about to protest.
Ignoring the students' reactions, Lockhart cheerfully continued, "Your seven detentions from yesterday will be with me, starting tonight at seven."
Harry's mouth clicked closed.
Gilderoy beamed happily at his pranking Harry. Harry would figure it out later. Maybe.
"Dismissed."
"Yes, sir," the boy said, turned smartly, and stiffly stalked out the door.
Lockhart waved his hand and the door closed.
It wasn't going to be easy, but he intended to have the entire Second Year class working on Third Year material by June. And similar plans for the other years. The seventh years were in for a big surprise as he planned to run them through all six previous years before Christmas. When they hit their NEWTS, they would be prepared. He had already chosen four Sixth Years to act as teacher' aides on the written homework for the Third through Fifth years. He planned to approach the Weasley twins about doing the same for the First and Second Years.
He was not going to watch poorly trained students die fighting Death Eaters.