Disclaimer: Only the main plot and the original characters (Rose, Daisy, Andrew, Ti, Maggie, Sam and Daniel) are mine. The rest belong to JKR.

Chapter 10: The new Defense against the Dark Arts professor

When Harry and Hermione got back to the compartment after their prefect meeting and heard what happened to Ti, their reactions were predictable. Hermione admonished Ti for fighting on the train while Harry grinned at him and thanked him for coming to his defense.

Hermione, also predictably, frowned at her friend, "Harry, you can't encourage him. We haven't started the term and he's already going to get into trouble."

"Come on, Hermione," Ron said, "Those squirts were asking for it. They called Harry a spoiled brat. If I was in Harry's place, I'd have given them detention."

"Then I'm glad he's the prefect and not you, Ronald," Hermione said, glaring at her boyfriend.

"Uh Hermione," Harry said, "Ti may have thrown the first punch, but they didn't have to punch him back. If you'd seen that, what would you have done?"

Hermione turned her glare on Harry, "Oh all right, I would have given them detention too. But that would have included Ti."

Ti sighed and looked down, "I know, Hermione. I shouldn't have thrown the first punch. But they made me so mad. I mean, they should know Harry's not a supporter of V-Voldemort. They've been in Gryffindor Tower with us for the last two years. I thought they'd know better."

Harry sat down beside Ti and placed his arm around his shoulders, "I know, Ti, they should. But you said Paul was just saying what his father said. I know your father wasn't very good to you but you must admit that you've always valued his opinion. It's only natural for a bloke to look up to his father and take his opinions for his own, especially at our ages."

"I guess that's true, Harry," Ti said. "But what do we do if the other students feel the same way?"

"I'd hex them all to next week," Ginny said.

"I'll help you!" Rose said.

"Rose! Ginny!" Hermione cried, "You two most certainly will not!"

"Hermione's right, girls," Harry said to Ginny and Rose. "We can't do that if we want to show them that whatever the Prophet said isn't true. As much as I'd love to hex everyone myself if they believe that, it wouldn't change their minds. I suggest we don't worry about it until we get to Hogwarts."

The two female redheads looked mutinous for a few seconds but finally nodded. Things then settled down as they all sat around the compartment. Luckily for Ti, Hermione knew a few healing spells that she used to fix him up a bit though she couldn't do anything about his swollen eye.

They soon changed to their school robes as the Express neared Hogsmeade station. Once the train had stopped, they all alighted. After greeting Hagrid as he herded the first years to the boats on the lake, they headed out of the station.

Harry and Ginny were walking with linked hands when they caught sight of the carriages. They abruptly stopped walking, their eyes wide as they stared at the carriages.

"H-Harry," Ginny's mental voice shakily rang in Harry's head, "W-what are those things pulling the carriages?"

"I-I don't know, Ginny," he answered her. "I thought the carriages moved by themselves. Why do they have those things pulling them now?"

"What's the matter, you two?" Ron asked, having caught sight of the shocked looks on their faces.

"Don't you see them, Ron?" Ginny asked in reply, pointing to the carriages.

"What is it, Ginny?" Hermione asked, "Why are you pointing at the carriages? Wait, you can see them, can't you?"

"What?" Ron asked, "What do they see?"

"The Thestrals, Ron," Rose said. "They see the thestrals."

"What are thestrals?" Ron asked confusion on his face. "What do they have to do with the horseless carriages?"

"Oh, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated, "If you had read Hogwarts: a History before, you'd know that those carriages aren't horseless. They're pulled by thestrals."

"Okay, I'll ask again," Ron said, "What the bloody hell are thestrals?"

"They're big, fleshless, almost skeletal horses with bat-like wings and dragon-like heads," Rose said, "Normally, people can't see them. But if you've seen someone die, they become visible to you."

Everyone fell silent as they realized whose death Harry and Ginny had seen to be able to see the thestrals.

"Come on," Hermione said, pulling Harry's arm, "Let's get into the carriages before we end up not getting in one together."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny got into one while Rose, Neville and Ti got into another one. Maggie came inside the second one just as they were leaving.

"What happened to you, Ti?" Maggie asked when she saw his swollen eye, "Did you run into your brother?"

"No," Ti answered. Then he recounted what had happened between him and his dorm mates.

"Stupid gits," Maggie said, a scowl forming on her face. "I bet you and Ginny are going to hex them when you see those blokes, huh, Rose."

"They'd love to but Harry talked them out of it," Neville said, looking at Rose with a smirk on his face, "He didn't think hexing them would change their minds."

"Didn't anyone try to clean up that eye, Ti?" Maggie asked. "If you go to Madam Pomfrey with that, you might end up with detention even if it's not even the first day of the term."

Ti shrugged, "Hermione managed to heal the bruises and a cut lip but couldn't clear up the swelling on the eye. I'm fine, really. I'll just sneak some ice from the table to bring the swelling down."

Maggie sighed, "If you go into the Great Hall with that, people will know you were in a fight. Here, let me. Mum showed me a few spells Aurors use for healing some injuries."

She muttered an incantation as she pointed her wand at the almost closed eye. A blue beam hit the eye and the swelling slowly disappeared.

"Thanks," Ti said, touching the eye which drew a slight wince.

"Don't touch it yet," Maggie admonished, "Let it alone for a few more minutes."

"Okay, thanks again," Ti said.

"You're welcome," Maggie said, turning away to hide the blush forming on her face.

The carriages arrived in the courtyard of the castle and the eight friends went inside together. They headed for the Gryffindor table, as soon as they entered the Great Hall.

Harry kept calm as he could sense the stares and heard the faint whispering. Rose seemed tenser as some of the stares were directed at her.

Looking up at the staff table, Harry noticed that there were two empty places at the table. He assumed that the one beside Dumbledore was Professor McGonagall's. The other one was probably for the new Defense teacher.

Before he could dwell more on the identity of that person, Professor McGonagall came inside, leading the new first years. She had the first year students all line up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students then set the Sorting Hat on the stool in front of them. After a few seconds, the Hat began to sing:

In times of old when I was new

And Hogwarts barely started

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning,

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach!"

The four good friends decided

And never did they dream that they

Might someday be divided,

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there and so can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry is purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name,"

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot.

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light,

For each of the four founders had

A House in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning, just like him,

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,

And taught them all she knew,

Thus the Houses and their founders

Retained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four,

Had once held up our school,

Now turned upon each other and,

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet and early end,

What with dueling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend

And at last there came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the Houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into Houses

Because that is what I'm for,

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether sorting

May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes

And we must unite beside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you…..

Let the Sorting now begin.

(Order of the Phoenix, U.S. edition, chapter 11)

Applause broke out at the end of the song but it was accompanied by mutterings and whispers as the students wondered about the song's meaning.

"What did the Hat mean with all that?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"I'd say it's a warning, Ron," Harry whispered back, "If everyone doesn't pull together to fight Voldemort, we'll be in for hard times."

"Ron, Harry!" Hermione whispered, "Pay attention! The Sorting's about to begin."

Harry and Ron turned their attention back to McGonagall who was looking sternly at the seated students. When the Great Hall was finally silent, she looked at the parchment she was holding and called out, "Abercrombie, Euan."

A small nervous boy with mousy brown hair came up to the stool. A few seconds later, the Sorting Hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!"

The boy nervously approached his new House's table and sat down after sneaking a glance at Harry. Harry pretended not to notice. Ginny squeezed his hand to calm him down.

The rest of the Sorting proceeded in its usual fashion. Finally, "Zeller, Rose," was sorted into Hufflepuff. Dumbledore then stood up.

"Welcome one and all to Hogwarts," he began, "Before I bore you all with my speech, let us enjoy a fine feast." He clapped his hands and the golden plates and bowls on the tables filled with fine food and drink. "Tuck in."

"Finally," Ron said as he started to heap food on his plate.

Hermione just shook her head at him before daintily scooping some potato salad on her plate.

As he ate, Harry noticed that there was an empty place at the head table. Since every professor he knew was present, he assumed the missing one was the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor, unless of course Snape was getting the job which caused another shudder to run through him. Still, Snape didn't look very happy.

"I really wonder who it will be," Ginny's mental voice broke into his thoughts. She poured some pumpkin juice into her glass with her right hand. The promise ring was prominently displayed on her ring finger.

Harry now noticed that the other girls were starting to notice the ring. Several of them, mostly girls from other Houses, were glaring at Ginny.

"Looks like my plan is working, Gin," he said to her. "A lot of the other girls have seen the ring by now."

"I know," Ginny replied, "I'm making sure every movement of my hand shows the ring off. Now, everyone will know to leave you alone."

Just then, Lavender Brown who was seated across from Ginny, caught sight of the ring, "Ginny, what's that on your hand?" she asked, pulling Ginny's hand to her.

She gasped, "That's a beautiful ring. Don't tell me you're engaged to Harry already?"

"I wish it were an engagement ring," Ginny answered wistfully, "But we're still too young for that. It's just a promise ring, showing that Harry intends to get me a real engagement ring when we're old enough."

"It's still a beautiful ring," Parvati broke in. "I guess the emerald is for Harry and the ruby is for you, huh, Ginny?"

"You're right, Parvati," Harry answered, "I thought it was an appropriate symbolism. Anyway, if it wasn't for our ages, it would be a proper wedding ring already. I want to make sure everyone here at Hogwarts knows that I intend for us to be together forever. Any ceremony will be a formality and any ring a mere symbol." He spoke with such fervor that Ginny grasped his hand and looked at him with love and tears in her eyes.

He looked back at her with equal intensity, causing those nearby to look at them with envy. The moment was broken when the doors of the Great Hall banged open. In strode a man in dark blue robes and a cloak with its hood over his head.

"Sorry I'm late," the man said in a voice that seemed very familiar to Harry and his friends, "I had some errands to run that took me a bit longer than I expected."

"Ah good, you made it," Dumbledore said, "My dear students, let me introduce our new Defense against the Dark Arts professor, Professor James Potter."

Harry almost fell out of his chair as the man dropped his cloak's hood to reveal his father's grinning face. Harry looked around the table to his friends and saw that they were just as surprised as he was, even Rose.

James confidently walked between the tables toward the head table, unmindful of the stares and whispers that came from the students. As he passed the Gryffindor table, he winked at Harry, obviously relishing the confused look on his firstborn's face. He exchanged greetings with the other professors as he passed them. Of course, all he got from Snape was a glare. James sat down at the empty seat beside Professor Sprout and started eating.

Slowly, the students returned to their meal, including Harry and his friends. Of course, everyone was talking about the new professor to their neighbors.

"I can't believe it, Harry," Ginny said in his mind, "Your dad is actually going to teach DADA. I wonder how Professor Dumbledore convinced the Board of Governors to let him hire him with all that rubbish from the Prophet and Fudge."

"Doesn't matter, Gin," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm glad he'll be here. At least our classes in DADA are going to be as good as Moody's was last year, if not better. You know, it also makes our training a lot easier to arrange with him being here in an official capacity."

"You're right," Ginny said. "It will be easier to arrange a time for that. I am a bit surprised that Rose didn't see this in a vision."

"True. I guess that's why she needs some training to harness that ability." Harry looked over at his sister, who was talking with two of her and Ginny's room mates, Melinda Pipper and Linda McDougal. Rose looked back at him for a moment and shrugged.

Turning back to Ginny, he said, "Yup, she didn't see this one coming either. Oh well, what's life without some pleasant surprises, eh?"

Soon, the students had finished eating. Dumbledore stood up for his customary Welcome speech.

"Welcome one and all to Hogwarts," he began, "To the new students; I hope you will enjoy your stay here at Hogwarts; to the returning students, welcome back to another year of learning and adventure. As I have said, we have a new Defense teacher in the person of ex-Auror James Potter. Now, let me assure you that he is no supporter of Voldemort." Most of the students gasped or flinched on hearing Dumbledore mention that name. "He simply had a disagreement with the Minister which was blown out of proportion by the Prophet. Given his experience and dedication, I concluded that he would make an excellent teacher in Defense. I'm sure it will reassure your parents to know that I needed little effort to convince the Board of Governors to allow me to hire Mr. Potter. Let us again welcome Professor Potter to Hogwarts. Why don't you say a few words, Professor?"

He began clapping which was immediately followed by Harry and his friends. Harry looked pointedly at Dean and Seamus who reluctantly started clapping. This encouraged the rest of Gryffindor to follow suit, followed by the other Houses, except for Slytherin.

When the clapping died down, James stood up. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. Thanks to all you guys for such a warm welcome. It's great to be back at Hogwarts after all these years. I have a lot of great memories from when I was a student here. Now, I'm going to be a professor. I bet none of my professors would have thought I'd be one, considering how I was back then. I'm sure the Headmaster or Professor McGonagall or even Professor Snape can give you an idea of that." He grinned as several students laughed at that, including Harry and his friends. "Anyway, I'd also like to thank Professor Dumbledore for giving me this opportunity in spite of all the rubbish in the Prophet. I look forward to teaching all of you." He sat down again. This time, the students needed no prompting to applaud. There was even some cheering by the Gryffindors.

Harry and his friends exchanged grins. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Dumbledore stood up again, "Thank you, Professor. Now, for a few more announcements, I remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden. No wandering is allowed there." He seemed to look pointedly at the Gryffindor table. "In addition, Mr. Filch would like to remind you all that the lists of Zonko products that are banned are posted on his office door. I am pleased to announce that we shall resume the holding of the Quidditch Cup this year. I believe that Gryffindor is the defending House." At that the entire Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. "Yes, yes, good luck to all the teams. To all Team captains, please see your Head of House to schedule your tryouts. Now, we've all had a long day and classes begin bright and early tomorrow. So, it's time to head to your dormitories. First years, please follow your House's fifth year prefects."

The Hall filled with noise as the students began leaving. Harry looked at his father who was talking to Hagrid. He really wanted to talk to him. Unfortunately, Hermione pulled on his elbow.

"Harry, come on. We have to show the first years the way to the Tower," his bushy-haired best friend said, "You'll find time to take to James later."

Harry sighed and turned away, to join Hermione with the first year Gryffindors. There were five boys and six girls. They were, unfortunately, staring at him and his scar. He sighed again.

"All right," Hermione said, drawing their attention from Harry, "I'm Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor female fifth year prefect. You probably recognize Harry here, who is the male fifth year prefect of Gryffindor House. Now, come on. We'll show you the way to Gryffindor Tower. It can get confusing since the entrance is on the seventh floor." She started out of the Great Hall while Harry hung at the back to make sure none of the first years got lost.

Finally, they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and Hermione gave the password (Griffin reborn). As they entered the Tower's common room, Harry noticed the looks of awe on many of the first years, drawing him back to the first time he saw the room and causing him to grin.

Most of their House was already in the common room or climbing the stairs to their dormitories. Harry took charge of the male first years.

"All right, guys, follow me to your dormitory." He said, starting up the stairs on the boys' side. When he didn't hear anyone following him, he looked back. He found them clustered at the bottom of the stairs, staring nervously at him. He shook his head and sighed.

"Look, guys," he began, running his hand through his hair, "Whatever the Prophet says, I'm just a student and a regular bloke. I'm only a prefect because Professor McGonagall, our Head of House, picked me out of the other four fifth year blokes. I'm nothing really special and most definitely, am not a supporter of Voldemort, the evil twit." He sighed inwardly as all five boys flinched on hearing Voldemort.

He walked back down to them and knelt down a bit to their height. "Let's start out again." He held his hand out to the small boy who had been the first sorted. "Hi, my name's Harry Potter. What's yours?"

The boy looked at Harry's hand for a moment before nervously reaching out with his own. "I-I'm Euan Abercrombie."

Harry shook his hand firmly, "Pleased to meet you, Euan. I hope you'll like being a Gryffindor." He turned to the next boy who had blonde hair and a broad nose, his hand extended, "Hi."

"Err, hi," the boy said, shaking Harry's hand, "I'm John Yeats."

"Great to meet you, John," Harry said.

Greatly encouraged, the other three boys shook Harry's hand as they introduced themselves.

"All right, come on. Let's see your room." This time, they followed Harry eagerly.

Later, Harry descended the stairs back to the almost deserted common room after helping the five eleven year olds settle in. He knew Ginny was there waiting for him. He was surprised to see Rose and his father there as well. All three of them were seated on the couch near the fireplace.

"Hi, Dad," Harry said, sitting down on the couch's arm closest to Ginny, "or should I say Professor? Why didn't you tell us? We could have kept it a secret."

"And miss the looks on your faces when I was announced as the new DADA teacher?" James asked, grinning, "It was too good to miss."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry said, "You just love surprising us too much. Still, I think it's brilliant, having you here as a Defense teacher."

"Thanks," James said, "Albus approached me about the idea just after your birthday. It seemed no one else wanted the job, except for Severus." He smirked at the foul expressions that crossed the three teens' faces on hearing that. "I know he's a real git at times and favors his House too much but he really is good at both Potions and Defense. Anyway, Albus decided to ask me first. I was a bit hesitant at first but these past few weeks watching you lot in your training were great. Plus, Lily talked to me a bit. So, here I am, the newest Professor of Defense."

"That's great, Dad," Harry said. "Now, we can see each other even during the school year. What about Mum and the twins?"

"Oh, they'll be safe at Potter Manor," James said, "You know that Molly will be taking care of the twins while your mum is at work. I'll be going home on Saturday nights to spend Sunday with them. Now, if I'm needed there, I have an emergency portkey on me directly to the living room. In the meantime, I have a room of my own here during the week in the teachers' wing."

"What about our training, James?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I've set up a schedule of an hour after dinner on Wednesday nights and three hours on Saturday afternoons for the dueling part since all you guys need is practice," James said, "As for the animagus part, I think Minerva will take up part of your Sunday afternoons and maybe a couple of one hour sessions during the week. We don't want to use up too much time at night since you still need time to do your homework for your regular classes. We'll see about starting this weekend."

"Okay," Harry said, "That sounds good, Dad. By the way, how'd you get in here anyway? I've only seen Professor McGonagall come in here before."

James grinned, "Harry, all professors have access to all the passwords to the common rooms. Of course, I asked Minerva for permission to come talk to you and Rose. It's also great seeing Ginny as well."

"You mean you have the password to all the common rooms, even Slytherin?" Harry asked. "Wow, you can go in and prank any house."

James smirked, "As much as I would have loved to be able to do years ago, as a Professor, I have to set an example. Of course, if I don't catch the perpetuators of any pranks, I can't punish them."

Harry laughed, "Well, you don't have to worry about that this year, Dad." His face became serious. "You didn't hear the Sorting Hat's song earlier."

"Yeah," Rose said, "It gave us some history lesson on the Four Founders of Hogwarts and how they were once friends but had a falling out especially Gryffindor and Slytherin. Then after Slytherin left, the school was never united again."

"It then said that, while it was his duty to sort the new students into one of the four Houses, it thought that doing it was wrong," Ginny said.

James raised an eyebrow, "Now that is interesting."

"Yeah," Harry said, "It got me thinking that, in order to beat Voldemort, everyone has to work together. We can't have the four Houses fighting each other anymore, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin. So for now, we will have no more pranking the Slytherins, or any other House for that matter."

"That's good, Harry," James said, grinning, "I'm sure Severus will be surprised but glad that the members of his House won't be changing hair color, form or gender this year."

"What about in Quidditch?" Rose asked.

"A little friendly rivalry in sports is fine," James said. "Just as long as you don't get carried away."

"I doubt the Slytherins would see it that way," Rose said.

Harry shrugged, "Well, we'll just have to see. All we can do is play like we always do."

James got up, "Well kids, we've got the first day of term tomorrow and I still have to go over my lesson plan. I'll see you all at breakfast." He hugged each of them in turn then left through the portrait.

The three kids sat back down with Harry and Ginny snuggling up to each other.

"Well, I must say that having Dad show up as the new DADA teacher was a real surprise," Rose said. "If I had seen that in a vision, there's no way I could have kept it to myself."

"I don't doubt that," Harry said, grinning, "It's too big a thing to keep in, if someone had told me that yesterday, I'd have thought about committing him to St. Mungo's mental ward."

"I think he'll be a great professor," Ginny said, "Just look at how he helped us this summer."

"You're right there, Gin," Harry said, "I'm sure he will. I just hope the Slytherins don't give him a hard time, or Snape."

"I'm sure Dad can handle them, Harry," Rose said. "After all the Dark Wizards he's caught over the years, what are a few mini-Death munchers?

Harry grinned, "Yeah, you're right, Rose. What chance do they have against one of the original Marauders, eh?"

The three teens laughed at that. After a few more minutes, they went off to bed, after Ginny and Harry shared a proper good night kiss. They all couldn't wait to find out their schedules so they'd know when they were having DADA.

A/N: I found the actual Sorting Hat song from the book appropriate to my story so I used it. In case anyone is wondering, Harry and Ginny are now able to dim down their connection so they don't get distracted by what the other is seeing. They can still sense where the other is and their emotions. They just tune out the other's surroundings. That's why Harry didn't know about what happened to Ti and his dorm mates until after the Prefect meeting. Now, please r&r.