Since he could remember, Harry Potter had always thought that he was an ordinary boy, and gave no thought to the weird stuff that had happened around him. Then, earlier today, he learnt from a giant named Hagrid that he was in fact a wizard, like his parents, who had not died in a car crash as he was told by his aunt and uncle, but in fact were killed by a very powerful dark wizard. However whatever curse the dark wizard tried to inflict on Harry merely backfired, so since that day, Harry Potter has been famous within the wizarding world as not only the boy-who-lived, but for the reason that the dark wizard vanished. So it was no surprise that once he had entered the wizarding pub 'The Leakey Cauldron' that everyone had got out of their seats and rushed over to greet him back in the wizarding world.

One wizard however remained seated.

At least Harry assumed he was a wizard. He didn't think that any muggles, or non-magic people, could enter the Cauldron. But he didn't exactly look like a wizard, or at least Harry's image of a wizard or how he looked compared to the others in the pub. He looked much more like a businessman, or a CEO of a successful company with his dinner jacket. Harry thought that the thin faced, reddish brown haired man looked Chinese or Japanese. He certainly looked very out of place in this dingy pub surrounded by wizards with his clean-cut suit and his glass of wine. What made him look quite bizarre was the fact that although he was the only person sitting at his table, he was not alone. The man was surrounded by a number of fantastic creatures; a giant red snake whose scales glistened like rubies, a blue scaled monkey with webbed feet and a flat head with untidy hair surrounding it, a tiny purplish black monster with large eyes and small hands that reminded Harry of a mouse, a brown long-nosed large eared goblin, a fox with two tails (That made Harry think of the character Tails in the Sonic the Hedgehog games), three turkey like birds that looked suspiciously a lot like the extinct dodo, and a gigantic red-coloured tortoise. However it was not this bizarre array of creatures that made Harry almost jump back when he noticed the man. It was his scar. Harry had his own scar, but it was not like the scar this man had. Large and bulging, it ran down his face and covered where his left eye should have been. His other eye, however, remained fixed on Harry. Harry did not like the way he looked at him. It was almost like a greedy expression, the way his mouth curved. When leaving the cauldron, Harry was glad to get out of there.

"Morning, Hagrid!"

Harry turned around. Oh no, he thought. The man in the suit who was eyeing him earlier was now strolling towards them, his assortment of creatures following him. Hagrid, however, looked delighted to see him.

"Ah, Professor! I didn't see yeh in the pub!"

"That is quite all right. I wanted to chat with you without the commotion of the others in the pub anyway, which is why I didn't greet you earlier."

His eye then looked down on Harry.

"So this is the boy-who-lived is it?" He was giving Harry that greedy expression again, "He looks a lot like his dad, doesn't he? Almost identical, even, with the exception of his eyes, though."

"Yes, I was just tellin Harry earlier today how much he looks like James. Oh Harry, this is Professor Eric Eago. He'll be one of the teachers teachin yeh at Hogwarts."

If Harry wasn't too full of dread that this man would even be teaching at his new school, he'd be thinking that 'Eric Eago' didn't sound exactly Chinese or Japanese.

"How do you do, Harry?"

The professor gave out his hand for Harry to shake. For a moment, Harry was hesitant about shaking it, but seeing both men's concerned expressions, Harry took his chances and grasped the man's hand.

"How do you do, sir?" Harry replied in return, "What do you teach at Hogwarts?"

"Oh I'm the Potions Master." Professor Eago answered letting go of Harry's hand, "I teach students how to brew potions. Course, I'd also like to teach History of Magic and Ancient Runes as well if the school would let me. I'm sure I'd definitely make a better History of Magic teacher than the one we've already got, wouldn't you agree, Hagrid?"

"I'm-er, afraid it's not my place to criticise a teacher, Sir."

"No, of course it isn't."

Harry could not help but notice that Eago's snake was staring at him. The latter saw Harry looking in the direction of the creatures.

"Oh this is my menagerie," He explained, "Menagerie, say hello to Harry Potter."

From the mixture of growls and squawks, Harry could have sworn that he had also heard 'Hello Harry Potter' from the assortment of fantastic creatures trailing behind the professor. The snake, its eyes never leaving Harry, rose up to Eago's ear and hissed in it. Eago looked surprised.

"Oh. Really? Well that's interesting."

He stroked the snake under the neck.

"You can understand snakes?" Harry asked without thinking.

Professor Eago looked at him.

"Why yes! I can understand the tongues of all my menagerie. Sadly I can't speak any of them myself, though, given that I don't have any of the tongues."

Harry had gotten excited because earlier that year he'd thought that he was able to understand a snake he had seen at the local zoo. He'd wondered if anyone else could do the same.

"You're going to the bank, right?" Eago asked them, "You know, I need to go to the apothecary to restock on some ingredients. It's along the same route, why don't we join you?"

"I don't see any problem with tha'," Hagrid answered, "Yeh alrigh' abou' tha' Harry?"

Harry nodded his head automatically.

"Splendid!" Eago cried, clapping his hands, "Now then, shall we be on our way?"

"Wha' was up with yeh, Harry?" Hagrid asked him after they and Eago with his menagerie had gone their separate ways, "Yeh looked like he was abou' teh bite off yeh hand earlier!"

"I didn't like the way he looked at me in the pub," Harry explained.

Hagrid didn't looked concerned at all.

"Well yeh can't blame him for being curious, can yeh, Harry? Yeh are the mos' famous person in the wizarding world after all!"

This did not assure Harry.

"Look," Hagrid began, "I'll admi' tha' Professor Eago can be a bi' bad tempered at times, but other than that he's an all righ'! You've nothing to worry about from him!"

As they continued on their way to the bank, Harry's thoughts still rested on Professor Eric Eago.