Disclaimer:

I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, these belong to that wonderful author JK Rowling and the various publishing companies used to publish her works. I am however borrowing them, no not to make money but for fun and fun only.

Summary:

Before Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts is set to begin Dumbledore has a problem. He must find a defense teacher or the minister will do it for him. When he sets his eyes on an American Auror things are about to get very interesting…

Now the DADA teacher is based off me let's get that straight right off. However this is no Mary Sue, though my character is an Auror she is not a front line Auror. Instead she prefers the quiet of research and works in the Auror Crime Scene Unit in the USA. That is why she ends up in England to help start such a division in England. Fudge is only doing so he will look good not for real security. She is married and her husband (like mine let's be honest) is a long suffering kind man who in this story writes for a magical Magazine and studies non-human magical beings, such as centaurs, mer-people, goblins, dwarves and the like.

My character will be an Animagmus, a cat and she does get along with Centaurs as in America the human and other intelligent beings get along a bit better than in Europe. However she is abrasive and tells it like it is. Some of you may not like he that is okay, she is after all only human. She has her flaws and one of these is a temper to match that of a certain potions master. As she is married there will be no romance between her or anyone else. As a teacher she will be good but you may not like her teaching style, she will lay down the law to all the students including Harry. Did I mention she does not want to teach? Yea well read to find out how Dumbledore gets her to teach, let' s just say he is well connected. Now on with the story…

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Chapter One: Number Twelve Grimmauld Place;

The house was old, old and clearly in need of new paint, new carpet and generally a good over haul. It was at least clean as if someone tried at least to make the place habitable even though it was a shabby home. Two people entered the long entry hall and looked around. One was an average height woman with long dark brown hair, lightly tanned skin and blue eyes (blue because of the contacts she wore), she was clad in a simple gown of dark blue. The other was a tall man with short curly black hair, intense green eyes and olive skin and he was clad in simple robes that matched his eyes. Right behind them a man closed the door and turned shaking his long grizzled gray hair out of his face. His face was so horribly scarred and savaged it barely looked human and he had one normal beady eye and one magical vivid blue that whizzed around in his head. He was clad in robes of brown and he used a staff to walk with.

"This way t' the dining room, we meet there now that th' elves want the kitchen t' work in." Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody said. "Not sure how anyone got that old elf t' work but there it is."

"I don't like this house." Mary Jane Taylor said looking up at the heads of the house elves on the wall. "What kind of sick psychopath puts house elves heads on the wall?"

"Careful dear" Robert Thomas Taylor said, "bet the owner of this house has a large knife and his mom's skeleton in the basement."

"No he does not have his mother's skeleton in the basement but ye may wake her up." Moody growled as they slumped down the hall not getting the muggle joke.

"So a portrait of his mom, nice, real nice." Taylor said taking in the dining room as they headed in. "Wonder if he kills his victims in the shower?"

"MJ, not funny!" Robert scolded his wife trying hard to hide his smile. "Can I not take you anywhere?"

"Sure but the Bates hotel English style?"

"Stop that!"

"Aye, aye captain" Taylor smirked walking into the dining room.

She saw the room was as clean as the rest of the house but still shabby though the dining table was polished and the silver on the table gleamed. She noticed first a tall lean man sitting at the table comfortably, he had long straight black hair neatly parted in the middle and framing his sallow skinned face dominated by a large nose and black eyes. He was clad in high collared buttoned robes of black and Taylor knew this to be one Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts, potions master and instructor at said school. There was a matronly woman with red hair and kindly face and a man sitting next to her with the same flaming red hair that was thinning. Taylor knew these two as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and they had seven children, six boys and one daughter. Next to them was a quiet man with short light brown hair streaked with gray, light blue eyes and a mustache on his lightly tanned face. He was clad in patched and faded robes.

But wait! How does Taylor know all these people? Go back a few days when she came to England and had gone for a walk around the hotel she was staying in with her husband. To make a long story short she had seen two boys and two Dementors. She had reacted and saved Harry Potter and his cousin from a Dementor attack. Though Dementors were a purely English thing Patronus Charms were not, they were useful for quite a few things, vampires really hated them and they were used to cheer up sick patients too and for communication as well. After Taylor had taken the boys home, warned the Dursleys to take care of Harry she had gone back to her hotel and work. Now a few days later she had, along with her husband been introduced to the ultra secret Order of the Phoenix. Her boss was good friends with Dumbledore and so they were invited here. Of course Taylor wanted to know who was in the order and what she was getting into, that was why she knew who was who.

"Best introduce ye t' all here." Moody said, "Molly an' Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape, Sirius Black is around here somewhere."

"Probably still refusing to come in here after what Severus here did." Remus said.

"Oh what did he do?" Taylor asked.

"I snapped." Severus said with a voice that did not match his looks, it was a cultured velvet voice that would do well on radio. "He got me quite upset and so I snapped."

"Must have done something bad." Mr. Taylor said taking a seat and taking a cup of tea from Mrs. Weasley. "Thank you Mrs. Weasley. What did he do professor?"

"He could not keep his big mouth shut, I had put up with as much as I could." Snape said a smile tugging at his lips.

"He took him to the school…"

"Lupin you are ruining my fun!" Snape snapped at Lupin.

"Sorry Severus."

"Do go on," Mr. Taylor said.

"He must have thought I would kill him, he promised me houseroom here, hearth, board, and bed." Severus said taking a scone and eating it.

"So what did you do?" Taylor asked.

"Humiliated me tortured me and damn near killed me!" Came a voice in the doorway.

Taylor turned and saw a tall man with long curly near black hair and neatly trimmed goatee surrounding a handsome pale face with gray eyes. The owner of the house Sirius Black was clad in robes of dark red and he was glaring at Snape. The look was one of pure hatred and Snape looked up at him and smirked and started on another scone. Sirius came into the room and took a seat and right behind him came a woman clad in a long green gown, her black hair done up in a bun with square glasses. With her was, good Merlin Albus Dumbledore himself! Taylor stared in awe at the tall lean wizard with long flowing silver hair and beard clad in robes of bright blue that matched blue eyes behind half moon spectacles. He was giving Severus as stern look who was not paying any mind to it at the moment as he was smirking at Sirius!

"I would hardly call keeping you in a dungeon for a few hours torture." Snape said coolly, "you deserved it."

"Albus he had no right to treat me that way!" Sirius whined, "you have to punish him!"

"You act like a spoilt child who did not get his way!" Snape snapped, "one would think I tortured you for hours when all I did was hang you up by your thumbs in a cool dark dungeon."

"Severus, Sirius enough!" Dumbledore warned them. "Severus you got your revenge leave it at that."

"Yes headmaster, but Merlin it was great to have him at my mercy for once, hanging by his thumbs naked I might add."

"Why you…" Here Sirius went off on a tirade that was mostly swear words and Taylor could not hide her smile at this. She was finding this entertaining as Sirius swore and raged at Snape telling him in graphic detail what he would do to him.

"Are all the meetings going to start this way Albus?" Came the voice of a tall bald black man with a gold earring in one ear clad in dark blue Auror robes. "Though this is entertaining I do fear it is staring to get old."

"I agree with you Kingsley." Dumbledore said, "we need volunteers to go get Harry."

This got the men to stop fighting and turn to the headmaster, this was exactly what everyone had been waiting for it seemed. Several people volunteered and some how Taylor found herself volunteering as well, she was an Auror too and this could be fun. After all she had been ordered to help out here and improve international Wizarding relations. So she went with Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphas Dodge and Bill Weasley a tall lean handsome man with the trademark flaming red hair of his family and merry blue eyes and fair skin. Snape got up with a sneer on his face and shoved something at Taylor. She took it and saw it was a thin robe but one with warming charms in it.

"From Flitwick, no doubt the boy will need it." He said coldly, "would not want the golden boy to catch sick now would we? Give him more of a chance…."

"Severus enough, now sit down." McGonagall said firmly.

"Minerva he is a spoiled…"

"Sit down Severus, please." Dumbledore said and with much glaring Snape did so. "Do be safe and come back as quickly as you can."

"I will get them back safe." Moody said, "come you lot."

So it was Taylor found herself Apparating outside the wards that protected the block Harry lived on, these had been added as extra protection this last year. Taylor followed the witch and wizards up to the house and stayed at the back as they went into number 4 Privet drive to get Harry Potter. They got the boy and took him back to Grimmauld Place. Taylor thought her good deed was done and life would get back to normal with her going back to America and back to her beloved lab. How wrong she was, how very, very wrong she was indeed…