Woohoo Brand New Chapter! I know a lot of you were waiting anxiously for this.

Thank you to everyone who offered to beta this story. I was very surprised with the number of offers I received. I really appreciate it.

This chapter is beta'd by TrueAisu who did a fantastic job. Thanks.

See chapter 1 for warnings and disclaimers.

Happy Reading.


Kingsley accepted the book, hoping that this next chapter would be something uplifting that would give everyone in the room a break. His lips quirked as he read the title, his eyes falling on the former defense professor as the current students in the room sent wide grins at the man. He didn't notice how Molly had gone pale or Snape's scowl had deepened.

"This sounds interesting," Charlie decided. His eyes cut away to his older brother, noticing the grim look on his face.

Bill shrugged at his brother's questioning look. "Later, if I hear what I think I'm going to hear," he murmured.

Moody sent an inquiring glance at the three professors after hearing how Malfoy hadn't returned to class until late Thursday morning. "Exactly how badly was the boy injured that he missed two days of classes? Potter here had all the bones removed from his arm and he was in the hospital wing for one night," he pointed out gruffly.

Mcgonagall sniffed. "He was patched up and back in his dorm the very same night."

"Then why was he allowed to miss classes?" Arthur said with a rare frown. He didn't mind a student taking the time needed to recover, but given that this was a member of the Malfoy family, it irked him. The difference in the treatment between the two boys only solidified his displeasure. "One of those classes was yours, wasn't it?"

"Severus felt that given his background and the severity of the injury, the boy needed the time," Dumbledore spoke up. "I saw no reason to force the issue." He smiled pleasantly as if he was unaware of the angry glares being aimed at him.

Snape shifted in his seat. "He didn't recover emotionally until his parents returned and were able to reassure him," he felt the need to explain. For a boy who had been spoiled and pampered all his life it had been a big blow to be injured and not have his parents fawning over him.

He turned back to the book as his godson entered his class to have the Parkinson girl treat him like a returning hero.

"Why is she acting like that?" Ginny questioned in disgust. "Hadn't she seen him in the dorm for the last two days?"

Fred shrugged. "They probably had it all planned out to draw the most attention to Draco and his injury."

George nodded. "Its what we would have done. But we would have done it for fun, not to be a prat," he added. He made a face when the potions professor merely cautioned the pair to settle down in an almost nice voice. "And obviously Snape is involved."

Snape glared at the two miscreants before switching the dark look to Harry. In the book the boy was thinking about how much the Slytherin head of house favored his snakes and how harsh he was to the lions in comparison.

"The difference is hardly that extreme." The man muttered. He had no doubt that the following passages would show him in the worst possible manner. What else could he expect when it was from the brat's point of view?

Sirius sighed and rubbed his forehead. He honestly didn't understand why Snape was here when he obviously didn't want to be. No one wanted to listen to his sniveling comments. "Keep reading, Shack," he said aloud. "I think we're about to hear a perfect example of the difference in his treatment of the two houses."

Kingsley pursed his lips as he looked over at the fuming potions professor. "I just want to say that I don't care the reasons, I don't care who approved it, or that you had to act a certain way because of the purebloods and Voldemort. These were impressionable children and an adult, any adult, treating them like scum is despicable and punishable by law. I will be paying attention to what I read and if I see what I think I'm going to, I will make sure you are no longer teaching, no matter how much you redeem yourself in the rest of the books." He quickly found his place on the page, missing the astounded and gleeful looks from the teens, the proud and determined ones from his fellow Order members and the furious glare from one old headmaster.

Bill shook his head when the brat sat down at the same table as the Gryffindor students. What self-respecting teacher wouldn't spot the obvious beacon of pending trouble and immediately separate them? He growled when the prat of a professor instructed his brother to cut up the Slytherin's ingredients.

Emmeline was looking conflicted. "Not that I approve of him missing classes, but if Malfoy was unable to participate enough to cut his own ingredients then he shouldn't have been there. I'm sure he could have done bookwork until you felt he could brew the potion on his own."

"Not to mention he's taking away from Ron's time on his own potion, and we all know Snape will deduct points from Ron when it doesn't turn out well," Tonks added.

"It can actually prove a danger to the rest of the class. If he can't prepare his own ingredients, how is he supposed to stir his potion? Or are you going to let someone else do that too?" Bill demanded to know.

"If that's the case, why is he even there except to cause trouble?" Charlie pointed out. He sent a glare at Snape. "Are you going to give him credit for another student"s work?"

Remus hesitated before speaking up. He felt almost sorry for the silently fuming man but couldn't let the opportunity pass. "Don't take this the wrong way Severus, but how do you expect Draco to learn if you show such favoritism in front of him?"

Snape sneered back. "Just wait wolf. We'll see how high and mighty you act when when they're tearing apart your teaching style." He winced internally when Draco repeated his instructions to Weasley.

"Do you know how much of an insult it was to insist the boy's enemy be the one to do his work? Wouldn't have been better to ask one of Malfoy's own housemates to assist him?" Emmeline pointed out looking disappointed.

Arthur nodded, a furious expression crossing his usually placid face. "How would you have felt if Dumbledore had made you work for James Potter?" he pointed out, nodding when the man bared his teeth.

Fred winced as he heard of the sloppy job Ron did on the roots. "That's going to come back to bite you. Not that I blame you. Me, I would have probably flat out refused," he said, his twin nodding in agreement. He gave a smug grin when none of the adults complained about that.

Kingsley glanced over at the potions master, having expected the man to have been ranting about the unfairness of it all at this point. He was surprised to note that except for the twin spots of bright color adorning his cheeks, Snape didn't look as if he was bothered by the critics at all. Shaking his head, he turned back to the book.

Charlie hissed when Snape made his little brother hand over his own perfect roots and told Harry to skin the shrivelfig for the blonde. How was it that no one else in the class was protesting? Was this behavior so common place that it was considered acceptable? He thought back to his own classes with the man. While they weren't fun, Snape had never singled anyone out or attacked them unless they had done some deliberate mischief, which had been rare.

Sirius meanwhile had turned to smile at his godson with pride. "It's incredible that you were able to hold your temper. I think by now even your mum would have lost it."

Harry shrugged though he felt the man's words went a long way towards making up for the hardships he'd had to endure during his potions class.

Bill gritted his teeth when Malfoy brought up Hagrid. "Emotionally distressed my arse. He waited to come back to class until he had talked to his father and had some ammunition."

He nodded when Ron threatened the blond, noticing that even his mother didn't seem upset at the prospect of fighting.

Nobody was surprised when Malfoy admitted he was just acting at being injured, though the twins exchanged a series of looks between them, silently adjusting some of the plans they had for the blonde prat.

Kingsley continued reading as Snape's attention in the class turned to Neville.

Emmeline hissed out a breath when the dark haired man humiliated the round faced boy in front of the whole class while insulting him about his potion. "Its no wonder he can't complete a potion if that's the way you treat him," she threw out, her angry eyes promising retribution.

He sneered back at her. "I wouldn't have to treat him that way if he would follow simple instructions," he pointed out snidely, causing Neville to blush and duck down in his seat.

"Potions do not have simple instructions, and he might be able to concentrate a bit better if he didn't have to worry about being made a laughing stock," Tonks shot back.

"Besides, not everyone can be good at potions," Remus pointed out. "Have you tried some different techniques with him or recommended additional texts?" He sighed when the man pointedly ignored him.

"Neville I'll talk to your grandmother and I'll make sure you get a tutor," Emmeline offered, knowing that even if Kingsley did get the potions professor dismissed, Dumbledore could make a case to keep him until the end of the year at least. "There's no reason you have to go to another class and be treated like that." She felt more than saw Dumbledore stiffen.

Neville smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks, but I'm okay. It's only five more months and then I can drop the class. I don't need it for what I'm planning to do after school."

Ron bit his lip to keep from speaking out. While he would really rather play Quidditch professionally he knew that wasn't going to happen, especially after his first game as the Gryffindor keeper. So he had figured he would follow his friend into the auror corps and they would be partners like always.

That didn't seem feasible now. He wouldn't make it into Snape's potion class, and his parents didn't have the money to get him a tutor like the other two. He had a brief spurt of panic, wondering what he was going to do with the rest of his life, before shoving the thought aside and focusing back on the reading.

In the book Snape was harassing Neville about his potion being orange. Sirius, who had been a decent potion student despite Snivelius' thoughts on the matter, cocked his head. "That's really not that big of a problem. And isn't part of potions class teaching how to fix the mistakes that can happen during brewing?" he asked, getting many nods in return.

Molly tried to give the other man the benefit of doubt though she was just as furious at his treatment of the students as everyone else. "We do need to remember that this book is from Harry's point of view and his attention was on Malfoy. It's possible Professor Snape had been assisting Neville."

The round faced boy shook his head. "I don't think he did. Unless you count standing over me and breathing down my neck," he added under his breath. He grimaced as the book told of Snape listing all the mistakes he had made.

"Why is that when Neville misunderstands instructions he's an idiot and a horrible student, but when Malfoy deliberately doesn't listen in class it's all the professor's fault?" Bill asked with a sharp glance at the man. He was pleased to notice that McGonagall's lips had thinned and she was sending her own glare at her colleague.

When the next line showed Neville's reaction to the man's harsh words she lost what little hold she had on her temper. "Really Severus. I swear this is the worst I've ever heard you being and that's saying something."

Remus grimaced. "I thinks some of it has to do with my presence in the school at the time, not that that's an excuse," he explained. "Take how unpleasant he's become since we started reading this book, which is mostly about Sirius. I think my being a professor at the time was bringing up some bad memories for him."

"You think too much of yourself Lupin." Snape had an ugly look on his face. "I was concerned that we had a werewolf close to the students, which proved to be a valid concern." He gave a significant pause as he stared at the now pale man. "I was also worried that said wolf would lend assistance to the escaped criminal on the loose, also a valid concern."

"That's doesn't condone you taking your worries out on your students," Bill hissed.

Charlie nodded. "For someone who's supposed to be so good at mind magic that you can keep out your precious dark lord, you kind of suck at compartmentalizing and holding your temper."

Snape bared his teeth back. The ignorant swine should be glad for his shields at the moment, it was all that was keeping him from poisoning the lot of the back stabbing group. They had no appreciation for what he had to go through everyday, from having to put up with Dumbledore's schemes to risking his own life spying on the dark lord. All while having to put up with whinging brats day in and day out. So what if he was a little harsh? The world was a harsh place and the sooner they learned that, the better.

He sneered as he listened to Granger boast that she could help the blundering idiot.

Tonks gave the girl a small smile. "Its good that you're willing to help Neville, but next time just help and don't announce your intentions. That way Snape can't tell you no."

Hermione returned her smile, storing the information away for future use. She was a little subdued by the current atmosphere in the room and she could tell that the other teens were too. Even Fred and George had been quiet for the most part. She braced herself as Kingsley read out the professors threat to test the failed potion on Neville's toad.

Emmeline almost came out her chair. Kingsley's restraining hand was the only thing keeping her from raking her nails down the sour man's face. "How dare you. You have no right to deliberately try to harm his pet. Just because you don't have an emotional connection to anything in this world doesn't mean you get to take away anyone else's."

He sneered back. "There would have been no lasting harm."

"How could you possibly know?" Tonks asked. "You didn't give any instructions on how to fix his potion, and by now he's so worried about his toad that he could have turned the thing into some horrible poison. Even you couldn't have brought Trevor back from the dead."

"You're lucky he didn't end up blowing up the whole class," Remus pointed out mildly. He now knew why Neville's boggart had turned out the way it had. He was somewhat glad when one of his honorary godson's dorm mates brought up the sighting of the escaped criminal.

"How's that possible?" Sirius asked with an outraged tone. "The person was obviously blind." He smirked as the quartet of fifteen year olds chuckled, with the two younger girls joining in a moment later. He could see how stressful it had been for them to listen to the adults fighting and was happy to be able to give them a break.

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend. "Of course, Padfoot. We all know how careful you are in everything you do. There is no way she could have seen you."

"Glad you understand," Sirius teased back. "What I was saying was that once I made it to Hogwarts, I didn't leave until the end of the school year."

Harry looked up at him. "Not even to get newspapers like you did last year?"

His godfather shook his head. "I didn't need any news. I knew where my prize was, it was just getting to it," he explained. "That and watching over you, a full time task sometimes," he added causing the boy to laugh. "They probably had sightings of 'the criminal' all over and jumped at this one because it was close to Hogwarts."

Kingsley continued reading reciting Harry's affirmative answer to Malfoy's question of catching Black single handedly.

Harry rolled his eyes at the looks he received. " It's not like I actually tried. It was just talk."

"That's all it better ever be," he was warned by no less than three people, causing him to huff. He looked up when Malfoy's taunts let them know how delighted he was in knowing something Harry obviously didn't.

"This is another reason why its a bad reason to keep me in the dark," he pointed out. "I'm left ignorant while my enemies are free to taunt me about it."

"Young Malfoy is hardly your enemy." Dumbledore spoke up.

"As long as he acts like this he is." Bill cut him off. He was in complete agreement with the dark-haired teen on both points and was happy to see that Sirius was as well.

Charlie sneered when Malfoy claimed he would have hunted the criminal down himself if he'd had the same reasons as Harry. " As if he would risk himself that way. He's nothing but a sniveling coward. He was bawling like a baby after a little injury and he thinks he could hunt down a mass murderer? I wish he would have tried for Sirius. We'd have one less Malfoy to worry about."

"Charles," Molly admonished. "He's just a child. Your brother's age. You shouldn't wish things like that about him."

"Don't you think they think the same things about anyone of our family?" he shot back.

"I don't care. We didn't raise you to be like that and we will not stoop down to their level," she admonished him severely. The expression on her face left him without a trace of doubt that she'd haul him out of the room if he continued.

Fred and George gave him conspiratorial grins as Kingsley continued reading, letting them know that Snape had taken the opportunity to get in another dig at Neville while Hermione gave her fellow housemate clandestine instructions.

Harry couldn't help laughing as he heard himself question Malfoy's words and telling Ron that Black hadn't done anything to him yet.

Fred grinned at him. "So tell us young Harrikins. Does that still hold true?"

"Not even a little," the dark haired boy joked back. "He's awful bossy."

Beside him his godfather looked shocked. "I'm bossy?" He spluttered. "Out of all the adults in the room, I'm the bossy one?"

The other two thirds of the trio were laughing as Harry shrugged. "I probably have more rules now than I've had in my entire life." He deepened his voice. "Don't do that again. Don't say that word. Eat more." He mimicked before breaking down in laughter.

Sirius folded his arms over his chest, though the brightness of his eyes let everyone know that he was enjoying the teasing. "Here's another rule. No making fun of the adult in charge of you. "

Luna craned her neck around to look up at him. "I think that's a rule he's going to break a lot," she told him seriously.

Kingsley was chuckling as he turned back to the book, grateful for the brief respite as the next passage had showed Snape and the Slytherins' enjoyment as they gathered round in anticipation of Neville's toad being poisoned.

Snape rolled his eyes at the looks that were being directed his way once again. "If he didn't want to risk the thing he shouldn't have brought it to class with him. Animals are forbidden in my class. They cause too much of a risk, between knocking over ingredients and hopping into cauldrons. The boy knew this," he pointed out lazily.

"Still doesn't give you an excuse to try to kill it," Charlie muttered as he followed everyone's lead in looking at Neville.

He flushed at the attention. "Trevor had gotten in my bag that morning. I didn't realize until the end of breakfast and I didn't want to be late for class," he admitted. He was reminded of how scared he'd been when his professor had fed the toad the potion.

Emmeline, Tonks and Hermione had smug looks on their faces as the potion worked and Trevor became a tadpole while the four older Weasley boys protested loudly at the removal of points for the feat.

Bill hissed out a breath at the unfairness of it all. "You were mad that you couldn't continue to hurt Neville so you had to find a way to punish them anyway. That's low."

Snape's dark eyes were glittering dangerously. "I was completely within my right to remove points. Granger had defied a direct order by assisting him."

Tonks snorted. "You were just mad that she was successful in teaching Neville when you so obviously failed at it," she said, drawing snickers from the twins.

"That's enough." Dumbledore finally intervened, a grave look on his face. "I think we've said more than enough on Severus' teaching style."

"But Professor, I thought the point of these books were to learn from them. How are we supposed to do that if its not pointed out, whether it be Snape's anger issues or one of the teens doing something they shouldn't?" the pink-haired Auror pointed out, a cheeky smile on her face.

"While that is a good point, there is a difference between correcting someone and using the opportunity to attack them." He admonished her.

"This might make me sound a bit childish, but he started it," Charlie pointed out, his expression too serious for it to be taken as a joke.

"Be that as it may, there is no reason to continue it," the headmaster shot back, his voice sharp. He sent a look at his potions master to curb the man's razor tongue when he opened his mouth to retort.

"As much as I hate to agree with the headmaster, there's no reason to continue." Sirius spoke up, surprising everyone. "Its obvious that he'll never change. Instead we'll lend our support to Kingsley to get the bastard thrown out and leave it at that."

"That's very mature of you Padfoot, despite the cursing," Remus said, looking impressed.

"Yeah, well, as much as I hate the greasy git we aren't accomplishing anything but making people uncomfortable," he pointed out quietly, tilting his head at the younger sect. "It's time to move on."

Across the room Dumbledore had sat forward to frown sternly at the dark skinned auror. "Surely you can see how dangerous it would be to remove Severus from his position. I know he isn't the most popular professor but his extracurricular activities more than make up for that."

Kingsley stared back at him impassively. "You might excuse child abuse in favor of the greater good, Albus, but I find it despicable. What's more, as a member of the law enforcement I cannot condone it."

He picked up the book before the old man could try to charm his way out of the situation, reciting Ron's assertion that Hermione should have insisted that Neville had made the corrections on his own.

"No offense Neville, but I don't think that would have been anywhere close to believable." Charlie chuckled.

Bill shot his brother a look as the round faced boy laughed. "And how many potions can you make again?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Two," he was unashamed to admit. "Burn paste and burn salve, and that's only out of necessity," he said, sending a wink at Neville. He was lucky when Bill's attention was diverted by the sudden disappearance and reappearance of Hermione in the book.

The elder Weasley was frowning. "Just what were you tucking down your robes?"

"A necklace." She answered truthfully, an innocent expression on her face. She kicked Ron in the leg when he began laughing.

George raised an eyebrow. "Something fishy about that necklace. Perhaps it was from an admirer?" he teased, watching his twin out of the corner of his eye.

Hermione was looking pointedly at Kingsley, her eyes begging him to continue. With a grin he did, telling how her bag had split from the number of heavy books she was carrying around.

"Why on earth don't you have a feather light and bottomless bag?" Emmeline asked her. "I'm surprised you don't have back problems from carrying all those around."

"I didn't know that they made bags like that until halfway through the year, after my bag split for the fourth time," she added. "The extension charm isn't taught until fifth year but Professor Flitwick took me aside and taught me the charms. It made things so much easier."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, until then we were her book mules anytime we were together. It's our backs you should be worrying about. She always had books for every class with her."

"Well I had a lot more homework than you, didn't I?" She retorted. "Any chance I had I needed to be working on it, and I couldn't if I didn't have the book with me."

Kingsley cut the redhead off as the trio attended their first defense class of the year, beating the Professor to the classroom.

"Tsk, tsk, Moony, late for a class; must be the first time that's ever happened," Sirius teased his friend.

Remus smirked back. "I wouldn't be a marauder if I didn't make an entrance," he shot back. He smiled smugly at the news that the class was to be a practical one.

"That's one way to make an impression." Charlie seemed impressed. In his mind, defense was one class that should be more hands-on than book learning.

Fred and George were grinning. "If its anything like our class it'll be good," the first twin said.

The other one nodded. "He had us shot as many spells as we could at a dummy over the course of a minute."

Remus shrugged. "It was their OWL year and that was the easiest way to know how much they had covered during their previous years." He explained drawing impressed looks. He listened as his book self led the students out of the classroom.

"And a field trip to boot." Tonks was almost bouncing in her seat. "As long as you're not taking them to the forest," she added.

"I would like to think I have more common sense than that," he said dryly.

"You might have before you became a professor, but it seems taking a position at Hogwarts seems to make normal people take a leave of their senses." Harry teased.

Mcgonagall raised an eyebrow. " What was that, Mr. Potter?"

"You have to admit it's happened even to you Minnie." Sirius stepped in. "Please tell me you haven't forgotten sending first years into the forest in the middle of the night, or completely ignoring my godson when he came to you for help, or..."

She held up a hand to stop him. "There is no need to continue, Black. I will admit to having a few brief lapses. Perhaps we can continue reading."

She huffed when the group came upon the school poltergeist. "Peeves. And we wonder why we have such pranksters on our hands when that's the kind of role models we have at the school."

Bill shrugged. "Peeves is harmless fun, and despite it all he does show respect to the proper authorities." He grinned as the poltergeist began singing. "Well, most of the time."

Sirius had burst out laughing. "I can't believe he still remembers that." He turned to the curious teens. "It was nearing OWLS and Remus had been particularly uptight. James and I were getting a little irked with it and set Peeves after him."

Remus was grinning fondly in remembrance. "I practically spent the next two months in the library. It was the only place in the castle he wouldn't come into."

"I recall having to banish him from Gryffindor tower when he insisted on singing all night long. Kept everyone in the dorms up." Mcgonagall said with a stern glare.

The werewolf nodded. "One of the only times Lily was ever mad at me. Of course when she realized who was behind it …" He trailed off as he grinned at his friend.

Sirius pretended to wince. "That girl knew some nasty hexes." He continued to laugh as Remus retaliated by making the chewing gum Peeves was filling the keyhole with fly up the poltergeist's nose. Everyone looked impressed, the twins taking out a piece of parchment and writing down the spell.

Bill was watching them with trepidation. "I'm a little worried about what they can do with that spell," he murmured to Charlie. He shrugged away his worries as he turned back to the book.

"Well, you certainly made a good impression," Tonks said happily. "That was a perfect way to show your mettle and gain their attention."

"I'm more impressed that you were able to respond to the Thomas boy by calling him by his first name. This was the first time you'd meet any of them." Emmeline pointed out. She cocked her head as she heard their destination was the staff room.

The twins were pouting. "How come we have to sneak and hide and break a bunch of rules to get inside that room and you take a whole class in there?" George pretended to whine.

"It wasn't intentional," Remus assured them, a grin tugging at his lips. " An opportunity arose and I took it." He grimaced as he was reminded that they had interrupted Snape's free time.

"I know he's probably going to say something horrible here, but to give him some credit the staff room is where the professors go to relax when they don't have class." Molly pointed out.

"Perhaps you should have put up a sign that you were going to use the room, Remus, so that he wouldn't have been put in the situation of having students observe him in an unprofessional environment."

Remus nodded. "I should have, yes. Unfortunately it was rather a last-minute change and I did think the room would be empty."

Emmeline growled when the sour man took the opportunity to insult Neville once again. She was confused. She could understand some of the man's hostility toward Harry. She didn't condone it, but she could see the reason for it. But for the life of her she didn't know what Neville or his parents had ever done to Snape that would cause this level of hostility.

She gave the werewolf a grateful smile when he defended the boy. "I'm glad someone is finally standing up for him, given what's he's already gone through that day."

Arthur grimaced. "Though I'm not sure if being singled out yet again, even if it is for praise, is going to make him feel better."

Kingsley nodded in agreement as he went on to read about the staff room wardrobe, which Remus announced to his class held a Boggart.

"I know you wanted to make a good impression and you might not have realized just how bad their previous two years had been but a boggart is pretty ambitious for a first class." Emmeline pointed out softly. Across the room Snape was looking smug as someone elses teaching methods were found deficit.

Bill nodded looking grim. "I'm not trying to criticize you." He started. "Okay, maybe I am a little. But boggarts show your worst fears. I think its a little inappropriate to expose those fears, those weaknesses, to everyone. I wouldn't have wanted some of my dorm mates to know I was scared of clowns. They would have given me all kinds of grief."

Arthur gave the werewolf an apologetic look. "It is kind of personal for thirteen year olds to share. I'm surprised the Slytherins allowed it. "

Remus shrugged. "The creature didn't actually show up until the afternoon before this class. They were the only ones to get the hands on experience. Being it was my Gryffindor class I didn't think anything about it. I was wanting to keep it to test my Newt students but we got carried away and defeated it. I was fortunate to find another later in the year."

Hermione was giving him a curious look. "The other classes didn't see the boggart?" she clarified.

He shook his head. "No, we had very spirited discussions. They volunteered their fears and we came up with countermeasures as a group with points for the most outrageous suggestion."

Harry made a face. "I would have much rather have faced the thing than just discuss it in class. And we did have a lot of fun." He pointed out bringing a smile to the man's face despite hearing about how most of the class became frightened at the news they had just received.

"Of course they would be scared. You're talking about facing their worst fears. It's not something to be take lightly." Molly muttered. Charlie was giving his mum a concerned look noticing the paleness of her features.

Tonks was biting her lip. "I know at thirteen their fears are probably kind of silly but you could have been opening up a big can of worms. What if one of them had been abused at home and the boggart turned into the abuser?"

"Then I think it would be a good thing that the truth had finally come out, even if it was in the form of a boggart." Charlie told her softly.

"I think what she's trying to say is that he didn't know what was going to appear for anyone and couldn't anticipate the trauma it could cause." Bill corrected his brother.

Fred wrinkled his nose. "It could have been a death eater or Voldemort himself."

Molly took a deep breath. "Or the death of a loved one. There is not a good way to make that into a joke."

Remus nodded. "I had taken that into account and had done some background checking. The only ones I were really worried about were Hermione and Harry, and I didn't let them face the boggart," he said drawing more impressed looks. "And if something unknown had occurred I was prepared to deal with it." He smiled at the disgruntled looks the two teens wore.

Kingsley gave him a smile as he turned back to the book, telling about the man giving an overview of the boggart's habitats.

"I'm really surprised this house didn't have more of them." Tonks noted. "Just the kind of atmosphere they love."

Molly shuddered. "One was more than enough." Arthur pulled her closer as he waved his sons off.

"Do they affect house elves?" Hermione asked.

Sirius snorted having followed her line of thought. "If Kreacher had seen my old mum giving him clothes every time he came across one, he would have made sure the things didn't get in."

He turned back to the book as Kingsley read about Hermione reciting word for word from their textbook what a boggart was. Remus praised her and went on to tell them how no one knew what shape a boggart originally had.

Moody rolled his eyes when everyone turned to look at him. "Do you know how many times people have asked me what the thing looks like?"

"Well." Tonks looked expectant. "What does it look like?"

"Just because I can see through the cupboard or whatever they're housed in does not mean I see it's real shape." He pursed his lips. "I tend to think of it as a reflective surface, it reflects back the fear of whoever's looking at it. Even though I'm seeing it through something I'm still looking at it so i see my fear."

"Which is?" Fred dared to ask.

"None of your business, gingersnap," the grizzled man growled back.

Kingsley was chuckling as he turned back to the book where Harry was trying to answer Lupin's question despite his friend's insistent bobbing and hand waving.

Hermione grimaced. "I sound absolutely horrible," she moaned understanding for the first time why she might not have had any friends before Hogwarts.

"I'm sure you've calmed down some since then," Tonks stated diplomatically. "And if you haven't, well, now you know." She laughed as she listened to Remus' story about the boggart trying to choose between the flesh eating slug and the headless corpse.

"Which one of you were afraid of the slug?" She asked.

Remus shook his head. "The story wasn't about us but some students I had tutored. The moon has always been mine. I believe James' fear when we were 13 was a ghoul. He'd had a bad experience with one. He soon outgrew it though. Sirius…" He looked at his friend. "Sirius would have been one of the ones I wouldn't have let face the creature," he finished quietly causing Harry to look at his godfather in concern.

"I've always been scared of losing those close to me," the man told him softly. "My brother, James, you. Two of those have come true. Let's not make it three."

Harry pressed against his shoulder in a sign of support. He had a deep understanding of that fear, revolving around the man next to him. He tuned back to the book in time to hear his ex-professor explaining how they needed to turn their fear into something amusing.

"That's kind of hard to do." Emmeline pointed out. "If we found it funny we wouldn't be scared in the first place."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you aren't scared of boggarts too. Merlin, girl, you wouldn't need a crowd with you to confuse the thing. You have enough fears yourself."

She threw a fierce frown at him. "Just because I have a healthy respect for creatures that are bigger than me with sharp teeth and claws does not mean I'm scared of everything. And I can handle a boggart perfectly well. I was just making an observation."

Kingsley was staring at her with a smirk. "So what is your fe..." he started to ask before deciding the he would be wiser not to agitate her further. He quickly turned back to the book.

Bill sighed as the werewolf took his class through practicing the charm without wands before continuing. "You're a pretty decent teacher," he admitted grudgingly. He still wasn't ready to forgive the man for abandoning Harry for most of his life and he wasn't completely clear

what he'd done at the end of the last book.

Emmeline bit her lip as Remus had Neville admit his worst fear, his potions professor.

"This is a child whose parents were put through the worst possible thing you can imagine and his worst fear is you. That should tell you something, Severus Snape," she whipped out in a quiet voice.

He had the audacity to sneer. "He was thirteen. His fears…"

"Don't you dare say his fears weren't important or real," she snapped.

Hermione nodded, a grave look on her face. "In the muggle world suicide rates are increasing because of bullying," she pointed out, causing Emmeline and Molly to send concerned looks at Neville.

Sirius' hand tightened where it was laying on his godson's knee. Merlin knew that of all of them Harry had probably endured the worst, between the Dursleys. his professors, and Voldemort. He resolved to make sure the boy knew he loved him.

Emmeline was distracted from her own dark thoughts when Remus brought up Neville's grandmother. "What does she have to do with boggarts?" she asked suspiciously.

Tonks was watching as the twins began laughing hysterically. " What did you do?" she asked him eagerly.

He smiled innocently back at her. "I merely made an angry Severus Snape seem amusing." He gestured to the book as he asked what kind of clothes the old woman wore.

Bills eyes opened wide as he got the gist of what was going to happen. Glancing to his right he saw that Snape was trembling in anger, his knuckles white as he dug his hands into the arm rests.

Kingsley was chuckling as Neville described his grandmothers signature outfit.

"It was the handbag that did it." Ron grinned. "The dress could have been mistaken for a robe but that was definitely a purse and the fact that it was Gryffindor colors made it all the better."

Sirius was biting hard on his tongue as he listened to his friend instruct Neville to picture the clothes on his potions professor. "Brilliant," he managed to gasp out as he clapped the man on the shoulder. "Absolutely brilliant. James would have been proud."

Molly cut in before Remus could respond. "I really don't think it's good form to make fun of another professor in front of the students," she admonished.

He shrugged. "It was Neville's fear and anything I did was going to be funny. Besides, he hadn't exactly been pleasant since my arrival," he added to his friend.

Mcgonagall gave him a stern look but all she said was how he had won the respect of all of Gryffindor house with that one move.

"Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too I bet," Tonks added giddily.

Molly's stern look had her sons quieting down as the reading continued, the class taking a few moments to ready their own fears. No one was surprised when Harry's first thought jumped to Voldemort.

"How would you make him amusing?" Ginny asked her face scrunched up in thought.

"Strip him naked," Fred promptly answered.

"Put him in a nappy with a binky in his mouth," George suggested, dodging the pillows that were being thrown at them.

"Have Hagrid sit on him," Harry suggested.

Luna grinned at him. "Can we really try that? I think it would be very effective."

"I'm sure Hagrid would enjoy it too," Ron added. His laughter faded as Kingsley read about Harry realizing the dementor scared him more than anything.

There was silence as everyone tried to think of ways to turn one of the soul sucking creatures into an amusing spectacle.

"Okay," Charlie said finally. "You are definitely not facing a boggart anytime soon".

Harry shrugged. "Dementors don't bother me anymore, and I'm pretty sure my boggart would show something else now."

"What do you mean they don't bother you?" Bill asked. He knew the kid had fought a couple off during the summer but figured they still scared the crap out of him.

"You'll see," the dark-haired teen said, causing the two Weasley boys to scowl. "It should be around the middle of the book."

Sirius was eying him critically. "I'm not going to like it, am I?"

Beside him Remus winced. "It might be a little hard for you to hear but in no way was it Harry's fault."

They turned back as the reading continued. In the book everyone had backed away to give Neville the first shot. Kingsley was impressed that the pale boy was standing straight and filled with determination.

The laughter started up again as Neville got the spell on the first time and Snape was described in the old lady's clothes. The potions master moved as if to leave the room; only the headmaster's grip had him remaining in place. No one was foolish enough to comment and make the situation worse, Hermione poking Ron to make sure he kept his mouth shut.

The tension lessened somewhat when Parvati faced a bloodstained mummy which she had unravel and fall face first.

"Weak." Fred murmured. "It would have been better to unravel it in the middle and have the two halves fall apart."

His twin gave him an impressed look. "Not bad. Me next." He listened as Seamus' banshee became voiceless. "These kids have no imagination. How about if she suddenly sounded like Mcgonagall? That would have been funny."

Charlie chuckled as he took in the expression on his ex head of house's face. "My turn," he declared listening as the banshee turned into a rat. "Really? Must be a girl. Put it in a tutu and have start dancing."

Bill shook his head at him. "Pitiful," he told him before approving of Dean's method of trapping the severed hand in the mousetrap.

Arthur grimaced as Ron's boggart appeared and he was reminded of Aragog and his son's adventure in the forest. "If only you could have taken their legs off when you met them," he muttered. He listened as the legless spider rolled in front of Harry before Remus hurried to cut it off.

"Subtle," Sirius muttered knowing his godson was going to wonder why he hadn't been allowed to face the boggart.

Remus sighed. "Padfoot, you know why I had to do that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm betting you didn't take Harry aside and let him know," he guessed.

"Not then, no, but Harry does ask me about it himself later," he admitted surprising the man.

Emmeline looked pleased as Remus had Neville come forward to finish off the creature. She could practically hear how confident that had made him feel, probably wiping out a lot of what had happened during his potions class. She listened as Remus handed out points, making sure that everyone got some.

"Harry," Tonks cried as he protested the points. "Never try to give back points."

He shrugged. "I was just confused why I was getting some. I hadn't faced the boggart."

Bill's eyebrows shot up. "But he did have you and Hermione answer questions, the two people he planned on not facing the boggart. That was well planned out."

"But why didn't you want me to face it," Hermione asked, frowning. "I can understand Harry, but I'm muggleborn."

Remus hesitated. "You were so tightly wound that I didn't know exactly what would present or how you would react to it," he explained. "I couldn't take the chance."

She nodded. She hadn't really had a clue what her boggart would have been at the time either, though most likely Ron's suggestion of Mcgonagall failing her would have been pretty accurate, which would have been very embarrassing.

"Well, professor." Tonks turned to Remus as Kingsley closed the book. "It sounds like you're off to a perfect start. That was a brilliant class. Good job."

Remus blushed. He couldn't help thinking that compared to the disaster that Severus' class had been anything else would have seem good.