This is my first fanfiction, so criticism is encouraged because my writing will likely fairly horrendous, especially the dialogue, any tips/suggestions on writing dialogue would be very appreciated. Flames will be ignored.

I am open to suggestions for pairings, however, there will be no Slash, Harry/Hermione, or Harry/Ginny.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 1

The feast was winding down. The desserts had been all but wiped out and the Great Hall was filled with the sound of people talking excitedly about the tournament. Harry himself was just finishing up a plate of treacle tart when Dumbledore stood up to make one last announcement.

"Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has informed me that he will be arriving late." Dumbledore said, after casting a the sonorous charm on himself, "But he will be here in time for his first lesson, if not before."

This statement had little impact on the students and most began to head to their common rooms.

Harry turned to Ron "Isn't it really unusual for wizards and witches to be late to anything? How can someone be late when they can instantly transport themselves across continents?"

Ron shrugged "Maybe he got sick, you can ask him tomorrow, we've got him first thing in the morning."

Line Break

All of the Gryffindors (Hermione excluded) were talking quite loudly when, about fifteen minutes late, the door swung open and their new professor entered. Everyone immediately fell silent as their teacher walked to the front of the room. He looked to be about thirty years old, with dark olive skin and light brown hair that was cut short, he was wearing brown robes and was carrying a staff. Harry could almost feel some sort of aura of power as he passed by.

"Alright class," He said, his voice deep and carrying quite a bit of authority. "I am professor Ra, you can call me professor, sir, or professor Ra, but not Sir Ra."

There were a few chuckles throughout the room. Ra then proceeded to scoop up a wand that was sitting on his desk and conjure a chalkboard. Harry found it slightly odd that the professor's wand was already in the room before he had arrived. Harry dismissed the thought, Hermione would have noticed as well, and her theories would be much better than his, so there was really no point for him think about it. Harry snapped out of his train of thought when he realized that Ra was talking as he drew on chalkboard.

"The first thing that I would like to do, is get you all familiar with how this course is going to be scheduled." Ra stepped away from the board, revealing nine squares, each labeled with a month from September to May. "I will briefly explain how the class will be organized; we will have four major points in this year, these points consist of a test of what you have learned so far and what you grades are looking like overall. Any questions?"

Harry sighed, Hermione was, of course, the first person to raise her hand, bobbing up and down in her effort to get noticed.

"Ms. Granger?"

"What will these tests mean for our grade?" She said "I mean, we have only ever gotten graded on our final exams."

"The four intermittent tests will not affect your grade, it is merely a way for me to see what you have learned." A few people sighed in relief at this.

"However, she does raise another good point," he continued "the Hogwarts grading system and my grading system are going to be very different; almost all the assignments that I give you, as well as most of the practical work that we do in class will be graded using the standard O-EE-A-P-D-T* system, the assignments will have different weights based on difficulty, complexity and size. Your overall grade will be determined from an average of your scores throughout the year, and if your grade is a D or below at the end, you will be forced to retake the class next year. A P will result in you being forced to take a summer class."

Harry noticed that most of the muggleborns nodded at this new system, likely because it was more similar to the schools they attended before receiving their Hogwarts letters, while the purebloods, including Ron, looked stunned.

"Now I will explain what we will be learning," Professor Ra began, " we will start off by learning spells and tactics that will give you an edge if you happen to encounter a dark wizard or beast in the months of September and October. Then, for the duration of November and December we will dive into the applications of charms, transfiguration and potions against the dark arts. We will start the new year off in January and February by learning about how to deal with cursed objects. Next, during the months of March and April the subject will be harnessing the elements in battle. The month of May will be spent polishing up on everything learned earlier in the year, just in time for the exams."

Internally, Harry was very happy. They finally had a teacher who gave them a good idea of what they would learn. He glanced at his best friend, Ron looked horrified, no surprises there, Harry had figured that the idea of a teacher who was serious about their job would not be appealing to someone who hated work as much as Ron. Meanwhile, Hermione was asking something about extra credit which, once again caused Harry to return his attention to what Ra was saying, another thing he found odd, because he had never been interested in extra work before.

"No, there will not be any opportunities for extra credit," the professor said, much to Hermione's disappointment. "However, after the first period of classes, when I have fully evaluated your skills; a select few of you may be eligible for a special class."

"What is it about?" Came Hermione's rapid fire response.

"Only those who get into the class will know what it is about, and they will be forbidden from revealing it to anyone who is not in the class."

"How will we know if we get in?"

"Please raise your hand when you wish to ask a question." Ra said, before continuing, "you will be owled your report card for the first period, and it will say whether you qualify or not."

Hermione's eyes were alight, Harry could tell that she would do anything to get into the special class. He found it to be oddly annoying, and knew that she would talk of nothing else until she knew if she were accepted or not; and in the likely event that she were selected while and Ron himself were not, he felt that she would flaunt it over them. Harry briefly amused himself with the thought of what her face would look like if he got in and she didn't.

Ra spoke again, "Well, it wasn't a full lesson, but since I don't have anything prepared I'm going to end the class here. You may leave."

As soon as they were out in the corridor Harry heard both Ron and Hermione draw breath in preparation to give their opposite opinions of Professor Ra.

"He's awful!" Ron said at the exact moment that Hermione said, "He's brilliant!"

Harry groaned as they began arguing loudly, both trying to get him on their side.

He needed new friends.

End

* O=Outstanding, EE=Exceeds Expectations, A=Acceptable, P=Poor, D=Dreadful, T=Troll

How was it? Terrible? Great? Let me know!

Some chapters may come fast and some may come really slowly, I don't have any sort of schedule.