Five Weeks Before The Term Begins
London, England
Outside The Leaky Cauldron
The streets of London were bustling with people. As it was every day. A young man walked close to the buildings so he wouldn't get knocked over as he searched for the place he was told to go. He wore black boots (perhaps for a motorcycle), dark blue jeans, and a black shirt with a red long sleeved jacket over top. It was only slightly different than Judai Yuki's uniform during his days at Duel Academia , but he rather liked the colors and familiarity.
He looked both ways before sliding into a dingy, run down building that seemed to be not there to many but oh-so very real to a few. To him it looked real, but everything was surreal.
In this place, that was called The Leaky Cauldron, a woman appeared into it by a burst of green fire from a fireplace, a man waved his hand and a table wiped itself clean, and another's spoon moved a long with his twirling finger.
Judai winced at the rush of unrestrained magic, these wizards may think they have total control but in reality they barely did. The magic felt, and tasted, awful, thought it could be the state of the building that made it that way. It was strange compared to the Light of Destruction and Gentle Darkness he was use to.
He made his was to the front counter where a bald man stood, hunched in the back. Tom, his memory supplied him.
"Ano... I am Judai Yuki." Never before was he so glad English was a required class at Duel Academia , how else would everyone be able to speak to the English-speaking Johan Andersen and Australian Jim Cook in their native tongue.
Months ago Yubel would've playful scowled at the use of Johan's name, but after another unfortunate adventure she seem to be locked somewhere in Judai's soul, and he hadn't been able to free her (there were many things about himself he didn't even know). But he could still feel ever so slight emotions pulse from her through their bond, like now. Along with her being playfully annoyed she was also just plain annoyed at the state of many things.
"Ah, yes." Back to the present, Tom checked his logbooks and looked up at him with slightly crazed eyes would creep out any normal person. Then again, Judai wasn't normal. "Yes. Judai Yuki, the young Japanese man Dumbledore booked a room for. Tell me, how did you come into the company of one such as Albus?"
Judai smiled ever so slightly; to give off the feeling he was unarmed (ha! He was never unarmed), innocent (not in a really long time), and completely not dangerous (since when?). And by the look on the other man's face, it worked. "It is actually a long story. One that you would not really be interested in hearing."
"Ah." A dazed look made its way over Tom's eyes. "Perhaps you're right. Very well, here's your key and a letter Albus wanted me to give you with a list of what needs to be done before the school years starts. Enjoy your stay!"
Three Weeks Later
Leaky Cauldron, London
Room 214
Not wanting to get up, Judai relaxed against the rickety bed. Well as relaxed as he could get with half of his soul locked away. That was one of the reasons he accepted Dumbledore's offer to teach, may be there was a way these wizards could help him figure out how to free Yubel.
But almost a month now, and none of the books in "Diagon Alley" had any information about souls. Apparently any magic for could was taboo, even if it was good magic.
The King sighed and got up, stretching to the sound of the room's mirror gushing several compliments ("So pretty! Beautiful even!") that earned the reflective silver/glass a gold glare.
His image flashed at him, and the sight of those pure gold eyes made him sigh. Since he didn't have Yubel anymore he relied solely on the powers of Darkness, not the Dragon's...and he missed it. It wasn't the same when Yubel wasn't supporting him.
"I'll get you back, Yubel. I promise," his whispered in his native tongue. Their bond warmed in the facsimile of Yubel's smile.
Judai smiled back before heading out the door. It two weeks until the school year started so that made this his last day of freedom and a chance to see the students as they got their supplies.
Maybe he could see if there were any books he missed about souls.
One Hour Later
Florish & Blotts Bookstore, Diagon Alley
Defense Against the Dark Arts Section
Harry Potter scanned the book list, searching for any unusual books when one title popped out at him making him furrow his eyebrows. "Hey Hermione, have you ever heard of this book?" He shoved the parchment into her face and pointed at the new DADA book, Shades of Gray: What Makes Up Light and Dark by Johan Andersen.
She shook her head, "I saw it earlier. But the author sounds familiar."
"Hey!" Ron Weasly's voice came from the Defense books. "It was only published two years ago!"
The only girl of the group rushed over and pulled out the surprisingly thin book. She flipped through the pages until she came to the end and to a picture of a young man with bushy teal hair and glittering sea-green eyes who smiled and waved at them. "Wow. He looks so young."
"You don't think we're going to get another Lockhart, do you?" Ron asked, shuddering from the horrible memory of the awful man.
"Nah, there's another book called The Power of Worlds by a different person. If we were going to have a Lockhart person it would be by him." Harry pointed out, not-so-secretly glad about it.
Hermione Granger snorted at the title. "Worlds? If it means Wizarding versus Muggle then we already know the power." She looked up at the ceiling as she thought. "I can't really think of another world."
"You would be surprised," an amused voice popped up behind them. "Even though he knows nothing he makes much sense."
The Golden Trio whirled around and came face to face with a smiling young man who had ruffled two-toned hair of caramel brown and a darker chocolate brown underneath and golden brown eyes. He wore Muggle clothes under a black cloak.
"And Mister Andersen," the man continued. "Knows exactly what he is talking about. I was surprised to find his book here in the first place."
Harry stared at him, trying to rack his brain to figure out the accent the man had laced with his words. It sounded vaguely similar to something he heard last year at the Quidditch World Cup, but only a few times.
Ron was also staring, but not in the subtle way his friends were. Instead of thinking he blurted out, "Who are you?"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed, a pink flush rising to her cheeks. She smacked his shoulder hard.
The stranger just laughed, a very musical laugh. "No, it is fine." His smile was bright and disarming. "I am just a friend of Johan's." With that he turned heeled and walked away, a few books shifting under his arms.
"He never actually answered my question."
Two Weeks Later
Hogwarts Express, Somewhere Along The Countryside
Cabin 32C
"I've never read such an interesting book!" Hermione exclaimed once she finally sat down from her pacing the hallways for bullies and Slytherins (That last one was tacked on by Ron). She pulled out their main DADA book and opened to a random page.
Ron grinned. "Even more interesting than your first read of Hogwarts, A History?"
The two boys exchanged smiles, after the three of them became friends Hermione immediately began an exciting (note: sarcasm) rendition of the book, much to their amusement and boredom. Apparently her most interesting book was being replaced by one that wasn't so thick, which was good news for Harry and Ron.
She nodded her head so hard her hair almost came out of her ponytail. "It breaks the stereotype of Dark magic is evil and Light magic is good. A lot of parents are not going to like this class."
"Again," Harry added, they couldn't forget Moony's year of teaching or Lockhart's. Or even Remus' in the end. "I didn't think you were going to like it." His best friend was very strict about certain rules and guidelines she knew.
"Neither did I. But, there's something the way Johan Andersen writes." She bit her lip, looking down at the chapter titled 'Are You On the Side You Think You're On?' "It's almost as if he's experienced these things first hand."
Harry relaxed against the back of his bench. "You'd think we'd hear about him though, if stuff like that actually happened."
She shrugged. "You never know. It's not like we pay any attention to other magics."
"'Other magics?'" Ron perked up at that, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Hermione half rolled her eyes. "What we do here is considered Northern magic, and what we do is similar to Western magic—the United States of America. But then there's Southern magic down in areas like Africa and the Middle East and Eastern magic in China and all. Latin America. There's a whole slew of different magics practiced around the world. Johan Andersen could possibly be from one of those places."
Johan Andersen, Harry thought. "He doesn't sound very foreign. First name's German, last name is English."
Ron stole her book and opened it to the picture of the author. "And he doesn't look very foreign either."
She stole it back. "Even though I'd love to know, something tells me that's not going to happen."
"You're probably right." Harry snagged a chocolate frog from the pile of candy. "So, what do you think our Defense teacher's going to be like?"
That Night
The Great Hall, Hogwarts
Gryffindor Table
The Great hall was filled with new and old students talking and laughing with each other, but no one sat in the seats surrounding the Golden Trio. Harry didn't mind that, but the fact his friends were looking miserable hurt the most.
"Hi Harry!" Neville Longbottom spoke, a mixture of nerves and actual joy to see them. He plopped down next to the Boy-Who-Lived. "How was your summer?"
And like that, more Gryffindors flocked around. Just like every year.
Neville had this weird sixth sense that could read people, so if he hung out with Harry Potter then that meant he was a-okay.
Harry grinned, "It was good." Except for the nightmares, but no one but Ron and Hermione had to know that.
"Who do you think our new Defense teacher's gonna be?" Fred (George?) Weasley asked.
His twin (George? Fred?) nodded. "All the years got the same book! I hope he's not like Lockhart."
"That man was awful!" Lee Jordan added. He tapped the twins' shoulders and pointed down at a couple of first years with a sly grin on his face.
Prank time.
Hermione shrugged. "If you don't hurt them, fine." Every stared at the permission to prank. Hermione never let them prank.
"Are you feeling okay?" Ron asked tentatively.
She nodded halfheartedly. "Yeah, I'm more worried about the new professor. They're not here yet."
"Dramatic entrance?" Harry tried not to think of the imposter Moody when he said that. But some people do have an unhealthy flair for dramatics.
Dumbledore stood up from his seat, earning a collective hush that fell over the student body. "To new students, welcome. To old students, welcome back! I know that you must all be feeling sorry that the summer's over, but I hope you do enjoy your year. Please keep in mind that the Forbidden Forest has its name for a reason, it is forbidden," his eyes lingered on the Golden Trio, "And there is a list of banned items on every Houses' bulletin board that has reached the number of 857. On another note, I'm happy to announce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Judai Yuki!"
Questions fill the air. Hermione leaned over the table to whisper, "What kind of name is that?" It wasn't in a mean way, but Hogwarts very rarely got foreign wizards, especially foreign wizard teachers.
The Great Hall's doors slammed opened and in walked a man wearing a red shirt, Muggle jeans and black boots under a black cloak. He had dark skin, golden brown eyes, and two toned hair of caramel brown on top and chocolate brown on the bottom.
"It's the man from the bookstore!" Ron stage yelled.
The man—Professor Yuki—laughed as he walked up to the teachers' table and scratched his head. "Gomennasai, Albus. I got distracted by something on the way here."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I completely understand, Judai. That happens to me often."
"Good," he said. "Now I do not feel as idiotic."
The Headmaster chuckled. "As you are all probably hungry. Let's eat!"
Food magically appeared on the tables and they all dug in.
Hermione chewed and swallowed before glancing back up at the table. "He looks so young."
"I want to know why he didn't tell us he was the new professor!" Ron managed to say around a rather small piece of chicken.
"He didn't know?" The black haired teen wondered. He watched at the professor got a few teachers to laugh, even McGonagall twitched a smile. Snape, on the other hand, was glaring at him—nothing new there.
Next Day
Defense Against the Dark Arts Room
Hogwarts
The thing about Defense Against the Dark Arts classes is that every year is different because every year the teacher was different. Year one for the Golden Trio had a stuttering idiot with Voldemort fused to the back of his head; second year had a smiling pretty boy who wasn't that pretty and, well, an idiot; year three had Professor Remus Lupin, best year ever; and while Mad-Eye Moody had good lessons last year he turned out to be an imposter, which is bad.
What students learned varied, overlapped, and has such large gaps Fuffy could curl up comfortably in them.
So when Harry walked into the classroom you couldn't really blame him for being a bit wary.
Professor Yuki hadn't shown up yet and there were more Gryffindors than Slytherins. Hermione headed straight for a seat in the front row with Ron and him picking seats right behind her at a much slower pace.
"As I was saying," Draco Malfoy said loudly, dragging everyone's attention to him. Even Harry's, much to his annoyance. "Father is absolutely outraged this Yuki man is teaching this year. It's rumored he's completely mad. Psychotic."
"And that would be different than all the other Defense professors how exactly?" Someone asked sarcastically, a curly haired brunette with Slytherin Harry never talked to before but always seen around Malfoy.
Malfoy glared at her and opened his mouth to tell her exactly how that was different when the door to the professor's office opened and shut with a loud click.
"It is different, Miss. Aragon," Professor Yuki said as he walked down the stairs from the balcony. "Because those others were merely mad because they viewed the world differently."
"And you don't?" Hermione just had to ask.
Yuki smirked. "Perhaps," he said airily. "Now, if you all would take your seats?"
As the last student entered and everyone sat down in their preferred seats Harry wondered why Professor Yuki didn't speak with more Japanese. His English was very good, but the only Japanese was last night at dinner and he wasn't adding any Japanese honorifics to their names (Hermione pointed that out that morning).
"Who has read the books I assigned for this class?" Yuki asked. "It was not a requirement, I am just curious as to who read ahead."
Hermione raised her hand and a few people raised their hand half way, that brunette Slytherin wobbling her hand side-to-side to indicate she kind of read one of the books.
Yuki suddenly grinned. "Unfortunately, your education is lacking when it comes to different magics. Not just in Defense, but the rest of your classes. I understand your History class is taught by a ghost?" He let out a snort of laughter. "They always forget the interesting things, damn scattered-brained… Anyway. It is alarming to say the least, what if you were to run into an African wizard? His magics go a completely different route than your own and you do not know it. This year we will be focusing on other magics, how to perform and defend."
Hermione sat up ramrod straight at that, bouncing excitedly in her seat. Ron laughed and shook his head at her antics.
The professor raised his hands to quell the building murmur. "Before you get too excited, I am afraid that we are not going to get to that right away. The term will be divided by types, first the theory with practical demonstrations, and then in practice. I am hoping that this class will push you all to your limit."
Some people groaned at the thought of dealing with theory, while a few others thought it was the best thing ever. Even Malfoy looked interested, even though his father would balk at his son learning anything other than European magic. Harry was torn, though; learning theory was good for spotting others about to use the same magic, but it was much more exciting to actually do the spells and duel a little in the safety of a classroom.
Yuki grinned at the reaction. "All right then. Let us get started."