Professor Delvin Whifferdill
Alice raced through the hallways, desperately trying to reach the Great Hall before the eight o'clock bell sounded. Finally, she found herself only a turn away from her destination. Yes! she thought exuberantly. I'm going to make it! But then, as she rounded the corner, she suddenly found herself flying backwards, hitting a wall, and sliding painfully to the ground.
"Oh, dear!" a male voice exclaimed. "Are you all right?"
Groggily, Alice raised her head. For a moment, her head swum and she saw stars. Then her vision cleared and she saw who she's bumped into. It was a handsome man who looked to be only five or six years out of Hogwarts. He had long, blond hair contained into a ponytail, in sharp contrast to his dark business suit. He would have looked more in place at a Hollywood premiere than at Hogwarts. She stared at him stupidly for a moment, then leapt to her feet. "Who are you?" she demanded, her wand drawn and pointing straight at his chest.
He looked at her blankly, then with some amusement. "My dear, you don't think I'm a Death Eater, do you?"
"Who are you?" she repeated. "And what are you doing here?"
Laughing slightly, he raised his hands over his head. "My name is Delvin Whifferdill," he said confidently. When Alice didn't lower her wand, he gave her a questioning look. "You know, your new professor?"
Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Alice said sharply, "Go ahead of me into the Great Hall." He complied.
Meanwhile, James and Lily were going through their normal morning routine. Lily stood in front of the schedules, calling up the houses one by one and answering any questions. Each representative took roll and reported to James, who stood at the front of the hall as well, but off to the side.
"Where's Alice?" Lily hissed at Suzy, who just shrugged.
Just then, Whifferdill came dramatically into the Hall, closely followed by Alice, whose wand was still pointing at his back. Someone screamed, and chaos almost broke out across the room as everyone noticed the presence of a stranger.
Then, "Quiet!" James commanded. He and Lily had their wands drawn, as did most of the other students.
"Who is this, Alice?" Lily asked.
"He claims to be the first substitute," Alice said. "I ran into him in the corridor."
"This is preposterous!" Whifferdill cried as some of the more senior prefects grabbed his arms and pulled him up to where James and Lily were standing. "I am your professor, and you should treat me as such!"
"You're not our professor until Lily and James say you are," Suzy said scornfully. "We have no proof that you are who you say you are, only your word."
Whifferdill drew himself up to his full height. "Are you doubting my word?"
"Yes," Sirius said frankly.
"How did you get into the castle?" Remus demanded.
"The Minister of Magic himself let me in," Whifferdill said, puffing up his chest.
Group A traded incredulous looks. "The Minister?" Frank said doubtfully.
Whifferdill smiled, pleased with their response. Lily, however, after her initial surprise, was not going to let that soften her. "Do you have proof of your identity?" she asked, holding out her left hand, her wand never wavering from his chest.
Whifferdill sneered, "I hardly think that will be necessary-" he started, but was quickly cut off by James.
"Who do you think you are?" James demanded. "We're in charge here. If we ask for identification, you give it to us."
"Don't you dare speak to me in that tone of voice!" Whifferdill seethed. "It is clear to me that Dumbledore gave you an inflated idea of your position. The Ministry sent me here to guide you. That is what I intend to do. I am your superior, until the Minister says otherwise."
Everyone in the Hall looked at each other, incredulous. "Can you believe this guy?" one girl whispered to another.
Then the entirety of Gryffindor house rose to their feet, closely followed by the rest of the school. Even most the Slytherins stood, albeit grudgingly. "You're forgetting just one thing," Marlene McKinnon said. "The Ministry isn't in charge of Hogwarts. Dumbledore was, and he passed that power onto James and Lily and the rest of Group A. You are not their superiors until they give that power to you."
"Come now!" Whifferdill cried, looking at the Slytherins in hopes of support. "Surely you can't wish for them to be in charge."
"Maybe it's not exactly what we all would want-" Marlene started to say, but she was cut off by a yell.
"I like the way they're running the school!" the second-year Slytherin whom Lily had been talking to in the Hospital Wing called out.
"And me!" one of his friends cried.
The members of Group A listened in astonishment as almost the entire school was declaring their support to James and Lily. Avery, Snape, and the other DEWs were noticeably silent, but they were practically the only ones.
Finally, Lily and James raised their hands, silently calling for quiet. "Thank you," Lily said, her voice wavering slightly. Whifferdill stood stock still where he was, amazed at the student's opinions. His mind was whirling as he tried to find some way that he might be able to scrape a little power.
"Do you have proof of your identity?" James asked him. Grudgingly, Whifferdill handed it over.
"See, that wasn't too hard, was it?" Sirius said encouragingly. When Whifferdill turned away, however, Sirius mimed dumping water (or something worse) on his perfect hair-do.
As James and Lily poured over the identification, the entire school held its breath. All their wands were still drawn, and many students were itching for an excuse to get rid of this arrogant jerk. Finally, Lily raised her head. "Very well, professor. All this seems to be in order, but I'm sure you'll understand that there are a few more tests we must put you through. It's time for classes to start, however, so most of us have got to go. Remus, Sirius - James and I can take your first class without messing up the schedule too much if you two will see to Professor Whifferdill."
Sirius grinned maliciously and exchanged a mischievous glance with Remus. "We'd be happy to," he said.