"Has Professor McGonagall given out the timetables yet, Hermione?" asked Harry, as he sat down next to her at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She shook her head.

"No, but I'm dying to see who's replaced Flitwick. I still can't believe he won't be teaching us Charms this year."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Dumbledore picked someone good to replace him. I mean, he got the real Moody to teach us, didn't he? Have you heard anything about the new Charms teacher, Ron?" He poked his snoring friend in the ribs. "Ron, wake up!"

Ron snorted and jerked his head up. "What, am I late for class? Is breakfast over?" He stared blearily around. Harry shook his head, looking amused.

"No, I was just asking if you knew anything about the new Charms teacher. And didn't you get any sleep last night? You look terrible."

"Well," Ron looked sheepish, "I only got to bed this morning. Lavender…..er…..really missed me over the summer." Hermione fought back the urge to roll her eyes. She had long accepted the fact that Ron and Lavender were a couple, and she no longer had any romantic feelings for him, but as his friend she was sometimes concerned about his relationship with Lavender. Wasn't it supposed to mean more than just meaningless make out sessions? She pushed the thought out of her mind and helped herself to some more pumpkin juice.

"Anyway," continued Ron "I passed Sprout and McGonagall in the corridor this morning and I heard them mention something about 'Professor Novak'. That has to be him. From what I heard, he finished Hogwarts only a couple of years ago and he's really young. Oh and he's dhampir." Clang. Hermione's freshly filled goblet was knocked over by Neville, who had been listening to their conversation and had jumped violently at the mention of the word dhampir. Hermione hurriedly whipped out her wand and muttered the incantation to get rid of the spilt pumpkin juice.

"D-d-dhampir?!" squeaked Neville, "What if he tries to attack us all?"

"Rest assured, Longbottom," said a voice behind Hermione. Looking up, she saw Professor McGonagall standing there with a stack of parchment in her arms. "Professor Novak has full control over himself and he will not be attacking any students. I trust that you will all cooperate with him and make him feel welcome. I will not tolerate any students from my house who display a lack of respect for any of their teachers. Here are your timetables." She handed a sheet of parchment to each of them. "Good day."

"Wow, a dhampir," Hermione whispered as she looked at her timetable, "It would be really interesting to learn from him. They're really rare, and apparently their blood is more magical than pure wizards. It's just that most of them let their vampiric natures control them, so not many are allowed to be near wizards or Muggles. We've really had a strange lot teaching us, haven't we? I mean, there was Lupin, Hagrid, Firenze…and now Novak."

"Yeah, and none of them tried to attack us, did they?" Harry snorted "In fact, the teachers who did try to attack us were all pure wizards – Quirrell, Lockhart, Umbridge and the fake Moody. I'd take a half-vampire over that lot any day."

"Hear, hear" muttered Ron, as browsed his own timetable "Did you see this? We've got double Potions first thing this morning!" he groaned. "I wish Novak would just attack Snape already!"

***

Kai stacked away the cushions he had used to teach his previous class the banishing charm, and shut the cupboard door. Checking his watch, he realized he still had a full hour before his sixth year class was scheduled.

I think a walk around the castle might be a good idea, he thought to himself. I haven't explored it in so many years. He headed out of the Charms classroom and into the third floor corridor, chuckling as he passed the statue of the one-eyed witch. He had never used the passage concealed behind it, but he had seen his friends use it countless times. He would never have wanted to risk getting caught. Dumbledore had gone through so much trouble to convince the other parents that he was safe to be around; even the tiniest blot on his perfect record would cause suspicion. The broomstick incident had, of course, been quite unintentional. One of his friends, Bradley Hall, had stupidly accepted a dare to spend the night in the Forbidden Forest. Kai, like everyone else, didn't take him seriously; it was common knowledge how dangerous it was in there. So when Kai went up to his dormitory that night, he fully expected to see a grinning Bradley sitting on his bed, ready to laugh at how stupid those Slytherins were if they really thought he would spend the night there. It was probably one of the most chilling moments of his life, he realized, when he had walked in and seen Bradley's empty bed. Not even stopping to think, he had grabbed his broomstick and flown down into the Hogwarts grounds, passing a very appalled Argus Filch on the way. He arrived at the forest just in time to see a large wolf-like creature preparing to spring at his terrified friend, who seemed too paralyzed by fear to even attempt to raise his wand. A well aimed hex had thrown the beast backward, giving Kai enough time to pull Bradley onto his broom and fly out of the forest. Bradley was so shaken he could barely hang on, so Kai had decided to leave him at Hagrid's hut, after persuading the gentle half-giant to keep their misadventure a secret. It was lucky that he returned to the castle alone, because waiting for him in the Gryffindor common room was an enraged Professor McGonagall. He'd earned detention for two weeks but he figured it had been well worth it. Bradley was still alive. The incident had also made him realize that people weren't as judgmental as he'd thought; no one had assumed he was a wild, reckless dhampir showing his true nature. This realization was what had inspired him to apply for the position of Charms teacher, nearly seven years later. He felt almost….accepted.

Kai had been so immersed in his thoughts that he was quite surprised when he found himself standing in front of the Quidditch pitch. His sharpened vampire senses caught the sound of a bell chiming inside the castle, signaling the end of the period. Time for me to head back, he thought. He cast a brief look at the dark forest in the distance, the turned and walked back towards the castle.