1. The Opening Feast
It was the first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the students and faculty had just witnessed a spectacular sorting ceremony, listened to Professor Dumbledore's usual opening announcements, and begun eating a delicious feast. All except for one, that is. Normally, the seat beside Professor Snape was filled with the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but it now sat empty. There had been four different teachers during Harry's time at Hogwarts, and now it would seem there would be a fifth. Harry chewed on the delicious food the house elves had prepared and mused over what the new professor might be like. He cast a glance to his left to watch Ron fight with his little sister Ginny over the last yeast roll. This brought a smile to Harry's face. It seemed like Ron was always fighting with one of his siblings, always fighting to get noticed.
"Ron, just let Ginny have the roll. You can sneak down to the kitchen and get another one later."
This statement was made from across the table by Hermione. The squabble between Ron and Ginny appeared to have distracted her from reading her rather large Arithmancy text book.
"Did anyone ask you to arbitrate, Hermione?" Ron questioned with an infuriated look on his face.
She cast Ron a look of utter fury. Harry was sure she was angry from being disturbed by such a useless sibling rivalry. Harry took comfort from the fact that even though the three of them had changed so much, some things remained the same. Hermione would always get involved in the business of others. Ron would always be annoyed by the fact that Hermione couldn't keep her nose out of things, and Harry…..well, Harry would always be there to keep them from killing each other.
Harry had been doing a lot of thinking like this lately. All summer, he had been having thoughts of his friends and what the future would hold. Since Voldemort had risen once again, the future seemed so…uncertain. Surely the Dark Lord would come after him once again. Would he be able to escape? What will happen to his friends? Look at what happened to Cedric Diggory. Harry realized he shouldn't worry himself so much, he would make himself sick, but knowing he should do something, and actually doing it were two different things. Uncertainty made him queasy.
Just as all these thoughts were flooding Harry's mind, the doors of the Great Hall burst open. Peeves, the resident poltergeist, sauntered through the tables and made his way up to Dumbledore. He leaned over as though he were going to whisper in the headmaster's ear, but instead yelled very loudly, "THE NEW PROFESSOR HAS JUST ARRIVED!" Peeves then began to cackle and went back down the main aisle doing cartwheels all the way out of the Great Hall doors. Harry looked back towards Dumbledore and watched as he wriggled his finger in his ear to stop the ringing. He then gathered his robes, came from around the table, excused himself, and left the Great Hall. Everyone was a bit stunned by the events that had just transpired and sat silent, with mouths gaping. No one moved until Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly to signal everyone should resume feasting.
A few moments later, as Harry was starting in on his potatoes, Dumbledore reentered with an attractive, young witch on his arm. She had straight, brown hair that hung down below her hips. He noticed her face, and saw that she had soft blue eyes, a button nose, and a beautiful smile. Unlike most magic folk, this witch was not wearing robes. Instead, the had a knee length black dress, and knee high black boots. More shocking than the fact that she dressed rather like a muggle, was the fact that she was holding onto a leash. Harry followed the leash with his eyes and at the end of it was a very familiar shaggy, black dog. It was Sirius Black!
Dumbledore was now at the front of the Hall and had turned himself and the young professor to face the student body. "Attention, students! I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Marzanne Murphy. She has recently left the Ministry of Magic to take the teaching position here. Ms. Murphy is a very good friend of mine, and I am certain everyone here will treat her with a great amount of respect." This introduction was followed by a quiet applause. Professor Murphy curtsied in acknowledgement, and began to make her way towards the empty seat at the staff table.
It seemed to Harry that most of the staff knew Professor Murphy very well. Professor McGonagall stood up and gave the new teacher a hug. Murphy then leaned down and kissed Professor Flitwick on the cheek causing him to turn a vibrant shade of pink. Hagrid waddled over and gave her a hug that literally picked her up off the floor. But the most shocking was Snape. Snape shook the woman's hand, with a smile. He actually made physical contact with another human being and didn't cringe! After shaking her hand, he then pulled out her chair for her. Harry noticed he wasn't the only one shocked by this when Ron whispered, "Is it cold here? Did Hell freeze over? What is up with Snape?"
Harry smiled, "Don't know. Maybe some potion fumes have gone to his brain….I'm more interested in knowing what she's doing with Padfoot."
Professor Murphy had pulled a large silver bowl from her purse, set it on the floor, and placed a few pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, and beans on the inside. Padfoot began chewing madly, as if he hadn't eaten in months. The new Professor leaned over towards Hagrid and asked him a question. He then pointed in Harry's direction, and the new professor looked over. She smiled, and waved. Harry couldn't think of what else to do, so he smiled and waved back. He was sure Hagrid would explain later.
When the feast was over, and the students were getting there belongings together to head to the dorms, Professor Murphy approached Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Good evening, Harry. I assume you must be Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley." She greeted them with a nod of her head. "You really have grown since the last time I saw you, Ron. Of course, I don't expect you to remember." Ron blushed a little, but didn't know if he was flattered, or embarrassed. "Anyhow, I am not here to reminisce. I have come to offer you employment. Naturally, I asked Hagrid first, but between teaching and his regular duties, he hasn't the time. However, the three of you come highly recommended. Plus, I am certain the three of you will understand the "special" needs of my dog more than anyone here." She winked as she said this to clue in that the three of them should play along.
"What special needs exactly?" asked Ron.
"Well, he needs walking, in the morning before breakfast, and in the evening after dinner. He also rather enjoys reading the Daily Prophet. The job pays 9 knuts a week," she smiled. She really did have a fantastic smile. Harry imagined it could melt an igloo. The dog had now come down from the staff table to where they were standing and was licking Harry's hand. "You can't possibly refuse, now. He likes you too much."
"We'll take it!" Harry smiled.
"Excellent, you can start now," she handed the leash to Harry. "I will meet you back here in one hour. Normally, I will have you bring him back to my rooms, but I don't know where they are yet," she looked rather embarrassed as she said this. Harry got the impression that she wasn't usually tardy. He looked over her shoulder and noticed Snape coming up from behind her.
"The headmaster has instructed me to show you to your quarters, Marzanne," Snape said looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a cold stare.
"Why thank you, Severus."
"Shouldn't you be heading to your dorms? I wouldn't like having to take off points from Gryffindor before there's been a chance to earn any." Snape snarled. Harry knew Snape would very much like to take points from Gryffindor despite what he said. However, before Harry could explain why they were lingering, Professor Murphy interrupted.
"Actually, I've hired these three to take Padfoot for walks. They are starting tonight, and had better get going," Professor Murphy placed her hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him a playful nudge and a wink. "Shall we take our leave, Professor?"
"Yes, of course." Snape offered her his arm and she took it. This had Padfoot growling in Snape's direction. Professor Murphy turned her head, gave the dog a sharp look, and Padfoot went silent. Padfoot then turned toward the main entrance of the Great Hall and then broke into run dragging Harry behind. Ron and Hermione followed at a bit of a jog.