TITLE: New Teacher on the Block
AUTHOR: Kayla Shay
DISCLAIMER: BtVS is owned by Joss Whedon and respective parties while all things Harry Potter are JK Rowling's.
NOTES: The plot thickens as Harry and company try to learn what Professor Harris is really up to.
Chapter 4: Who You Gonna Call?
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in their usual corner of the library. Madam Pince all but left them alone now. They had a copy of the article from the Daily Prophet spread in front of them trying for the tenth time to make a connection to something.
"Look Harry, every Defense professor has had a reason to take interest in you. Why should this one be any different?" Hermione questioned her friend. "We just need to determine if he is here for a good reason like Professor Lupin was or here for…" she paused mid sentence and glanced at Harry.
"Or here for me because of Voldemort," Harry concluded for her, his voice dropping a bit. Ron and Hermione shifted slightly in their chairs. They knew all too way the threat that Voldemort was to Harry and to the world.
"He can't be all that bad," Hermione spoke up, trying to diffuse the tension. "He did work with the slayer on an active Hellmouth."
"That just means he's mental," Ron blurted out. "Who in their right mind would live on the Hellmouth?"
Harry looked down at Rita's article again. Logically, he knew that her article could be just as erroneous as all the articles she had written about him, Voldemort and pretty much any other subject. However, logic and persuasion from the written word didn't go hand in hand. He found himself being swayed in his opinion of the new professor by her words.
"How can we be sure he really worked with the slayer? What kind of slayer associates with vampire and dark witches instead of killing them? Maybe she wasn't even a true slayer. Is there anyway we can find out?" Harry's mind was turning as he thought on the possibilities this could lead to.
Hermione's face took on a thoughtful look, "I think I saw a book a few years ago titled The Slayer's Handbook. Maybe it could tell us more about the slayer and the Council of Watchers. Supposedly Professor Harris works for the Council. If what we find in the official book doesn't match with what we know of them, then maybe, just maybe we can learn something about his motives."
With a plan of action set, Ron and Harry started playing a game of wizard's chess while Hermione went to find the book. Perhaps they would learn more about the world that Professor Harris was suppose to be a part of.
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Xander ducked through a door in the third floor floor corridor as he saw a flock of students coming down the hall. Ever since that article had been released, life at Hogwarts had taken a plunge; not that it had been peachy to begin with. It seemed that even in class all the students were talking about him. Most were of the opinion that he was some kind of reject who pretended he could fight monsters in order to get the job.
The worst seemed to be seemed to be the Potter kid and his friends. They kept casting questionable looks his way and they always seemed to move papers and books hastily around and stop talking when he walked by.
Turning around, he realized he was in one the many restrooms throughout the castle. He did not recognize it, but that didn't surprise him. Even after two weeks in the school he was still hopelessly lost when he ventured off the path between his rooms and the Great Hall.
Walking over to one of the mirrors lining the wall he peered into it, watching his reflection carefully. Since the day Caleb poked his eye out, he had avoided spending much time in front of a mirror. Not that he was a narcissist before, but even seeing the eye patch in his reflection brought back memories of the pain. He shook his head at the reflection, wondering for the umpteenth time what exactly he was doing at this school. "I'm just a tag along. Maybe I really am jealous of Buffy like the crazy reporter lady said. What am I doing here?" Still staring at his reflection, he wasn't expecting what happened next.
"Yes! What are you doing here? This is my restroom, a girl's restroom and my toilet."
Xander stumbled back in shock as what could only be a ghost barreled through the mirror at high speed and went right through him. With his typical luck, he slipped on a water puddle, lost his balance and fell flat on his ass. He thought for sure he heard, and felt, a definite crack when he stopped on the stone floor. Trying to scramble back to his feet and ignore the pain in his backside, he looked around for the ghost.
"Uh, hello miss, um," he paused thinking on a proper greeting for a ghost, "miss bathroom ghost. I didn't know this was your bathroom. I was just trying to get away and came in here and then I was using the mirror and…" It was a Scooby defense mechanism, when confused, scared, lost or all of the above, one must babble.
The ghost glided to a stop in front of him before she said, "I'm Myrtle and this is my bathroom. Who are you? You look to old to be a student."
He snorted, "I'm suppose to be a teacher here, but I don't think that going too great. According to everyone I meet, I'm just a worthless wanna-be."
Myrtle gazed over him and noticed his lack of proper wizarding attire. "Well, you definitely don't look like any professor or wizard I've met."
"Oh, I'm not a wizard. I'm just a muggle according to you people. I work for the Slayer's Council and was assigned as the liaison between them and the wizarding world. Not that I'm doing a good job at it." He let out a sigh as he sake back down to the floor to sit Indian style while they talked. He almost hoped she would talk to him, ghost or not, because he was so lonely since coming to Hogwarts.
"The Slayer? My second cousin was a Slayer. She was a squib, so when the Watchers arrived to train her, her mum pushed her right out the door. I was jealous of her at the time. She got to go off on and die while I was stuck in going to school and being teased by everyone. 'Poor Myrtle, poor ugly Myrtle,' they always say."
Xander sat puzzled. How does one comfort a ghost? He settled for change of topic. "How come you're a ghost? I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, it's just, I'm curious how one can become a ghost."
Xander watched Myrtle's face light up, or whatever it was that showed a change in a ghost's feelings. "No one's asked me since that Harry Potter and his friend. Such a cute boy he is."
Xander gave an internal groan, he didn't think he was ready to listen to a ghost go on about her like for the Potter kid. But he was spared as she began her story on how she died.
"Oooh, it was dreadful," her eyes flickered with excitement, "and it happened right here."
As she finished, telling of the pair of great, big, yellow eyes, Xander became nervous. "So some monster attacked and killed you right in this bathroom and the entrance to this secret chamber is right over at that sink?" He glanced at the sink, looking for signs of impending doom.
"Oh yes, but Harry Potter killed it a few years ago by going into the chamber. He is very brave that one. But he doesn't like me. No one ever likes poor Myrtle," and with one final wail, she plunged into her toilet, sending up a spray of water.
Xander took the opportunity to bolt from the room. Even if she said the Potter boy killed the yellow-eyed monster, he wasn't about to take any chances. Hurrying down the corridor, he missed Harry and his friends walking toward the restroom from the other direction.
"What do you suppose he was doing in there?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Let's go ask Myrtle," Hermione suggested. "It may not be a coincidence that he was where the entrance to the Chamber is."
Walking through the restroom door, Hermione called out, "Myrtle? Are you around?"
"What do you want? Come to poke fun at poor Myrtle?" the ghost wailed from her toilet.
"Er, no," Harry said slowly not wanting to upset her further. "We were just wondering what Professor Harris was doing in here."
"Oh, him? He asked about how I died so I told him. He seemed most interested about the chamber and the monster."
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous looks. It seemed that Professor Harris was not only interested in Harry but also the Chamber of Secrets. This meant they needed to work faster to determine what he was up to.
"Er, thanks for letting us know Myrtle. Well, we'll talk to you later," Harry said as he turned to the others. "Come on, let's go."
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Down in the dungeons, Professor Snape grasped his arm as a searing pain spread from his Dark Mark. Lord Voldemort was summoning him and he had no choice but to go. He left a hasty note for Professor Dumbledore explaining his absence and then headed out of the castle's protections in order to apparate.