DISCLAIMER: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies - this is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.


Lesson 7 – How to Tell the Truth while Keeping Secrets

McGonagall opened her mouth as if to voice her demands a second time but was stopped by Dumbledore raising his hand to silence her, the movement catching Harry's attention out of the corner of his vision. Not knowing what to say, Harry kept his mouth closed - the words of the note resting heavily in his thoughts as he watched the ashes sifting in a nonexistent breeze.

"James?" Dumbledore softly called an unspoken question hovering on the tip of his tongue.

Harry closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably as he desperately grabbed at a barest thread of thoughts in an effort to explain his actions. "I was only defending myself," he began slowly, each word a seeming effort. "Snape accused me of purposely altering the grades of certain... students and he disregarded my request to handle it outside of the classroom. My only thoughts were to protect the children once the man allowed his anger to cloud his judgment. There was no reasoning with him, and I did try, though in retrospect I should not have goaded him in response to his unfounded accusations. It was irresponsible of me to sink down to his level and for that I apologize. But I will not apologize for protecting myself from yet another of his attacks and his vile attempt to force his way into my mind."

By the time Harry finished speaking his was trembling once more with rage and repressed grief as he glanced up and met Dumbledore's gaze for the first time since walking into the room. He was surprised to see concern and confusion mingling in the Headmaster's eyes and an uncertain frown on McGonagall's face.

"How..?" McGonagall began, only to fall silent.

"Today was not the first time that man has attacked me," Harry added tightly. "I suspect that it will not be the last time either."

"What ever do you mean?" Dumbledore asked a bit sharply.

"Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater – it doesn't matter what face he presents to the world, he can not hide the evil in his heart," Harry spat.

"Did he tell you that?" Dumbledore demanded his face stone-like.

"No," Harry barked out with a mirthless laugh. He knew he was saying too much, but he couldn't help it as his anger over-rode his common sense and took control of his tongue. "I've known the truth about that man for many years."

Silence fell over the room once more as Harry sat staring Dumbledore down, his breathing ragged as he struggled to get a grip on his emotions. It was some time before he calmed down enough to realize that he'd tripped up again in keeping his true identity a secret and as he tore his eyes away from Dumbledore's piercing gaze his knees buckled and he would have fallen to the floor if not for McGonagall quickly conjuring a chair for him.

"The man knows just how to get under my skin," Harry whispered as he sat slumped with his face in his hands, feeling defeated. "I will hand in my resignation and pack up my belongings."

"I do not recall asking for you to resign from your position, nor do I recall demanding you leave at once," Dumbledore chided gently. "It is disturbing that a disagreement between two adults would come to blows with so little regard to the safety of the students, though I did note that you had made an attempt. The matter will be investigated further and if it is discovered that such behavior occurs again, I might have no choice but to remove one, or both, of you from this school in order to protect the children."

"It will not happen again, sir," Harry promised lifting his eyes once more.

Harry was dismissed shortly after that and as he walked through the halls back towards his office, he couldn't help but wonder just how much Dumbledore actually knew and if the wise old wizard had any inkling of who Harry really was. It was a sobering thought and Harry vowed he'd guard against future slips that might lead to his discovery.


After leaving the Headmaster's Office, Harry came to the conclusion that it would be best if he locked himself away in his quarters during the hours when he was not actively teaching classes. He knew that rumors would be circulating through the castle about the duel and that many people would want to ask him questions that he might not be able to answer. So, logically, he fully intended to avoid the rest of the staff members and students outside of the classroom while he worried over their various feelings and reactions to the duel that had taken place between him and Snape. The Halloween feast came and went though Harry didn't attend due to the fact that Snape had recovered that same morning - Harry just couldn't bring himself to face the man so soon after their battle.

Early on the following Monday morning, before classes began; a man from the Ministry stopped by and spent an hour with Harry discussing the incident. He took notes on Harry's side of the story, weighed and measured Harry's wand, and snapped a few pictures before leaving. Harry was thankful that he had replaced his wand just after finishing Auror training – his old wand would have raised all kinds of questions he'd not have been able to answer. He still had the old wand with him, tucked up in his overnight bag, but he'd not used it since he'd graduated from the academy.

The weeks slipped by quickly after that and November melted seamlessly into December in the blink of an eye. Harry had fallen into an uncomfortable routine that kept him far away from Snape but also kept him cooped up in the small apartment set aside for his living needs. The distinction between his past and present began to blur and he lost the firm grasp on his sense of self as he came to think of himself more and more in terms of Professor James Harrison as opposed to Harry James Potter disguised as Professor Harrison. It didn't help that his current work habits and hobbies differed greatly from those he'd had prior to traveling back in time.

There were of course, staff meetings and patrolling duties that Harry could not back out of, but Snape was surprisingly silent during these meetings. He was not delusional enough to think the surly Slytherin had forgiven him though, as Harry could feel his hate filled gaze boring into him whenever Dumbledore's attention was on other matters. It made him extremely uncomfortable knowing that Snape was just waiting for a chance to corner him away from the safety of the castle and Dumbledore's presence. It also made Harry all that more conscious of the slips he'd made since he'd first showed up before the start of term and during the duel.

If Snape's constant monitoring wasn't unsettling enough, Harry now fell under the closer scrutiny of McGonagall's ever watchful eyes. The Deputy Headmistress had a way of turning up at the oddest moments when he least expected it, appearing during his classes, or at his office door during breaks under the guise of delivering supplies or important documents. He also discovered that she was trailing him, in her Animagus form, during the evenings he patrolled the halls of the school and he was uncertain of whether she was monitoring his every move or watching over him in the likely event that he run into Snape during those late night strolls.

Only Dumbledore seemed to have forgotten the incident entirely, treating Harry no different then he had prior to the disastrous duel. Harry attributed this to the aging wizard's preoccupation with the growing presence of Voldemort in the world outside of Hogwarts. Harry was quick to notice the amount of time that Dumbledore spent away from the school – something he'd not been completely aware of when he'd lived through this year the first time as a student.

There was one more group of people within the castle that eyed Harry with greater suspicion since the duel. The younger Harry and his friends spent just as much time spying on him as Snape and McGonagall did, using the Marauder's Map to keep tabs on his location on the nights that he disappeared into his rooms. The trio completely unaware that Harry was pouring over his own, older copy of the map taking note of Snape's every move.

As the winter holidays grew closer, Harry found himself unconsciously stepping up the intensity of his lessons, asking more from the students, and himself, as he pushed them to the breaking point. Demanding faster reactions, smoother spell transitions, and quick thinking as he taught them how to cast multiple spells without breaking the flow of wand movements. The fifth years seem to suffer the most under the grueling training and more then once Harry had to cut class short because one student or another couldn't cope with the exhausting exercises. Thankfully they had the winter break to look forward to as they revised for the end of term tests and assessments that were being given just before the holidays.

The sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were the last group of students to be tested as the last day of the term rolled around. Harry could be found clearing out desks and chairs as he set up the classroom for the practical that had been outlined by his unknown employer. The normal black rug that lined the dueling space was expanded to cover the entire floor and dark curtains were hung over the windows to block some of the light streaming through.

Conjured walls, buildings, and holograms littered the room – giving it the appearance of downtown London at night; complete with strolling Muggles and wizards in disguise. When he was happy with the way the dueling set appeared, he grabbed a large bowl filled with folded sheets of paper and his grade book before stepping outside the classroom to wait for the students. Shortly after the bell rang, students began appearing in groups of twos and threes and Harry lined them up just outside the door and once they were all present, he began explaining the rules of the exam.

"Once the exam begins, you will have one hour in which to complete your assigned task and get out," Harry instructed, walking up and down the line as he shook the bowl of papers. "Each of you will be completely on your own out there and you will have to depend on your skills and instincts to get through the course. There are only two rules that you will need to remember once you pass through this door." Harry ran his gaze down the line to make certain he had everyone's attention before he continued. "One, you may only use harmless jinxes and hexes – anyone breaking this rule will automatically fail this exam. And two, for the purposes of this exam a stunning curse will represent a death curse. You may not revive stunned students. Anyone who does not complete their task before one hour has passed will have points deducted from his or her final score that reflect upon the unfinished proportions of the task. Those students 'killed' during their task will be assigned grades based upon their performance up to the point at which they were knocked out. Any questions? No? Then let us begin."

Harry walked down the line, and separated the entire group into three categories; Aurors, Death Eaters, or By-Standers before charming a twelve inch high letter onto the back of their robes. Next he handed each student a slip of paper from the bowl, taking care to make note of the assigned tasks in the grade book before moving to the next student. Once all of them had been assigned a task, he led them silently through the door into the classroom. Gasps were heard up and down the line as they took in the transformed classroom and Harry allowed them a few seconds to take it in before he blew a whistle to signal the exam's start.

Harry waited until the last of the students disappeared into the maze before working his way through to the exit point of the test. Climbing onto a small raised platform, he opened his grade book and placed a charmed dictation quill at the ready as he turned his attention to the floor below as the first few hexes and jinxes began flying through the maze below.

The quill began flittering up and down the column of names taking down notes as Harry commented aloud on the progress of the students below. He found it extremely difficult to keep his mind on the task at hand though, as his thoughts flew back to the memories of his own experience in the maze.

The sound of the whistle echoed in Harry's ears as he trotted through a deserted ally of the maze with his instructions grasped tightly in a fist frowning as he considered the task that had been assigned to him.

You are a third class Auror, there are rumors of Death
Eaters stalking Muggles in downtown London and it is
your job to track them down and capture them. You
must capture at least two of these 'Death Eaters' in order
to pass your task.

It was very odd to be assigned such a task in light of his planned career choice, and he wondered briefly if Professor Harrison had rigged the tasks. Pushing his worries about the identity and motives of his latest defense professor to the back of his mind, Harry pushed forward with his wand held out at the ready as the sound of a duel close by reached his ears.

Around the corner he found Seamus and Terry Boot arguing back and forth over some trivial part of their tasks. Shaking his head at the two of them, Harry skirted them and moved deeper into the jumble of tall buildings wondering which spells would be the best to use to capture the 'Death Eaters' he was supposed to be searching out.

Quite unexpectedly he stumbled onto a pitched battle between two Ravenclaws, one with the Auror's 'A' and the other with a 'DE' emblazoned onto the back of their robes. From the looks of the battle, the Auror was losing badly, unsure of whether he should interfere Harry hesitated for a split second before trying to work his way in closer. His delay though allowed enough time for the Death Eater to stun the Auror, dropping the student out of the test.

The Ravenclaw Death Eater, who happened to be one of the former members of the DA, turned to flash a smile in Harry's direction before taking off down the nearest Ally. Muttering under his breath, Harry took off after him firing several tripping jinxes that all missed their mark.

Harry pulled himself out of his daydreams as he caught sight of his younger self living through the memory he'd just been wrapped up in. Frowning, he directed the quill to scribble down several notes about the mistakes that had been made before scanning the rest of the students.

The rest of the time passed fairly quickly as Harry monitored on the mock battles taking place on the floor below him, his mind firmly focused on the task at hand as he continued to take notes on his observations. When the hour had passed, he blew the whistle a second time and the entire set vanished with a puff as the students lowered their wands and glanced around at each other uncertainly. Harry wrapped up his notes and put away his quill as he climbed down off the platform and approached his students.

"I will be reviewing my notes over the next couple of days and will post the results on the last day before your winter holidays. Thank you, you are dismissed," Harry announced as he revived those students who had been 'killed' during the course of the exam. "Mr. Potter, I'd like to have a word with you before you leave."

Harry watched himself frown at his request to stay behind, and couldn't help but laugh inside as he remembered his reaction to that very request many years ago. Harry took a few minutes to return the room back to its normal state while waiting for the students to disperse, glad to have a few minutes to allow himself to recall what he'd been told that long ago day. It didn't take long for the other children to leave, and as the door swung shut on silent hinges for the last time Harry seated himself on the edge of a desk and studied the familiar boy standing with folded arms a few feet away from him.

"Tell me, Mr. Potter, why did you hesitate?" Harry asked himself.

"Why did I…? What do you mean?" his younger self countered with furrowed brow.

"When you came upon a fellow 'Auror' in trouble, you hesitated to help him, why?" Harry clarified.

"I was unsure if I should help or not," younger Harry answered slowly, "I didn't know if I should interfere and thought he might become upset with me for jumping in."

"And if that had been a real battle? Would you have sacrificed another's life so needlessly just out of fear of hurting his feelings?"

"That's a bit harsh isn't it? A real battle is far less organized and you don't have time to think," the younger boy snapped as he dropped his arms and balled his fists up as he glared unknowingly at his older self. "I've been there, I lived through real battles."

"So have I," Harry softly informed himself. "I've lived through more then you could possibly imagine. I've seen those I love cut down by Voldemort and his followers in cold blood. Don't make the mistake of believing that every battle in the real world will be as unorganized as the few you have lived through. You have to learn to trust your instincts and to think on your feet."

An awkward silence followed Harry's short speech, both of them wrapped up in memories of the past that had been triggered by his words. The older Harry's thoughts dwelling on the losses of Ginny and Dumbledore in his time and the younger Harry reliving Sirius's lost at the end of the previous school term. Knowing there was nothing further he had to say, Harry gathered up his grade book and headed up to his office, leaving his younger self to his thoughts.