The professor raised his hand, his smile beginning to turn mischievous, "Or something." He said as he poised his fingers to snap. "I'll be asking some of my summons to help me keep an eye on you all."

"Summons?" Hermione hazarded when he paused.

Harry grew faintly alarmed as Professor Muto's amused smirk turned somewhat predatory.

"Summons." He confirmed as he snapped his fingers, the sound echoing unnaturally around the room.

Chapter 8

Chairs clattered as the students leapt from their seats, craning their necks to watch as shadows crawled across the room and began coalescing at the professor's feet. Someone screamed as a figure began to emerge from their depths, the shadows obscuring the form falling away like running water as it slowly rose. Harry watched in dawning horror as the details of the creature were revealed, his hair standing on end having nothing at all to do with the now-apparent cables of lightning roaming across its body.

It was something pulled directly from nightmares.

It had a draconic face sculpted from bone with two horns- each the length of his forearm and wickedly sharp- protruding from the top of its head. Attached to its back were broad wings shaded the sickly blue color of a deep bruise and tipped with white claws. Its body was a terrible mix of white bone armor over nothing but sinewy muscle, stripped of skin and colored an awful shade of purple that immediately brought poison to mind. It towered over them all on two legs, each limb ending in claws as large as kitchen knives and black as night.

Its eyes glowed a horrid green.

(The same hue he saw flashes of in third year, in tandem with a woman's screams. That he sees every time he goes to sleep and dreams of a graveyard.)

The thing began to move, and Harry's vague sense of horror abruptly turned into a very immediate feeling of terror. He reached for his wand- and felt as if ice had been injected directly into his spine when he remembered it had been confiscated. He could only watch as the creature turned towards the professor and-

Knelt at his feet.

"Bloody hellfire," Ron breathed, arm shaking and knuckles white as he lowered his own wand.

"Students," the professor said in a mild tone, seemingly unperturbed at the sight of his entire class on their feet, wide-eyed and only just lowering the wands pointed in his direction, "this is one of my Summons." As the professor spoke, the…summons stood and moved to flank him. "As I'm sure you can see for yourself, he is quite capable of defending you if anything were to happen. He may or may not end up accompanying us on a trip, but I can assure you that every one of my Summons share this competence, and they are all just as invested in your safety and wellbeing as I am." Sure enough, when the professor finished his short speech, it- he, apparently- looked at them and gave a very firm nod.

Harry sat down hard before his legs gave out underneath him, most of the class following suit. The only one left standing was Hermione on Ron's right, horrified expression slowly morphing into (possibly more worryingly) the same determined expression on her face that appeared whenever she went recruiting for S.P.E.W.. Harry watched as she drew herself up a bit before decisively saying, "Well, it's very nice to meet you," and sitting down in a much more controlled manner than her classmates.

Professor Muto looked quietly delighted, and even the summons's eyes seemed warmer as he gave Hermione a congenial nod before dispersing back into misty shadows.

"Now then, are there any more questions?" The professor asked as the class gaped unattractively, an innocent lilt to his tone. Harry's thoughts were suddenly cast back to Dean's original introduction of the professor and, yeah. He could believe this man played mind games for a living. He clamped down on the urge to laugh, sure it would be tinged with more than a little hysteria.

Dean snorted breathlessly before hesitantly asking, "Was…wasn't that a card?"

Professor Muto turned towards him with a pleased expression. "Ah, wonderful, someone familiar with the game. Yes, you'll find that most of my Summons have appearances that match various Duel Monsters cards." he said, then took pity on the bewildered faces he received from around the room and elaborated.

"This is because the creator of the game, Maximillian Pegasus, based the cards on depictions he found on stone tablets during an archeological dig. These tablets were an ancient focusing tool for Magi and Magicians to call forth their Summons. Actually, the cards are so realistic, most members of Mage Society have a deck or two to use as a focusing tool for Summons and some more complicated spells.

"Much more convenient than tablets anyway," he finished, somewhat absently.

"S-so it's not dark magic?" Neville blurted out, immediately blanching and shrinking away as if to physically distance himself from the words.

There was a worryingly long pause as the professor considered the question. "…Well, not the type you're thinking of," he finally said.

And what did that even mean? Harry thought shrilly, exchanging a horrified look with Ron.

Blessedly, the professor explained.

"A Mage's definition of Dark Magic and a Wizard's definition of dark magic are very different things," he started, and threw Neville a reassuring smile as some of the tension drained out of him. "Wizards consider any magic that is abnormally dangerous or has an extremely high potential for harm as dark magic. For Magi, Dark Magic is just another classification of magic. To use Dark Magic rather than Light Magic has the same connotation to us as casting a transfiguration spell as opposed to a charm would have for you. We'll have a more in depth discussion of the differences between Magi and Wizard magics next week," he said, then sighed softly at the hands that had shot up as he'd been speaking.

"I know there's a lot to unpack there that I skimmed over, but I'm afraid if we go into it now, we'll run out of class time. I'll be devoting most of next week to teach you some general information about Mage Society, including some Magical Theory. Perhaps you all could write down any questions you currently have, and if I don't answer them during the lesson next week, you'll be more than welcome to ask then." he suggested, mollifying the students so that his class was full of pouts, rather than thoughts of mutiny.

"Now, do any of you have questions on the syllabus?" He prodded, more gently this time.

"…Can you talk more about next week," Lavender asked, shaking her head slightly, as if to get rid of the last traces of shock. "You said it'd be different from normal?"

The professor nodded at her, "Friday will be the same in that we'll be having a field trip, but Monday and Wednesday will be quite different from the general layout I gave you for the rest of the year. Although I encourage you to ask questions during the lessons, there will be no formal discussions, nor will there be a 'practical' portion of the class. Instead, I'll be devoting both class periods to lectures. I have several topic points about Mage culture that I plan on going over during the lesson- yes, Summons are included- but the amount of time we spend on each point and how deeply we examine them is dependent on your interest as a class."

Professor Muto gave them all an amused look as several students broke into excited whispers, before calling on another student.

"Can you explain what you meant by branching out beyond other Wizarding cultures for our papers? And maybe give an example of a topic that works in that situation?" Parvati asked.

The professor hummed thoughtfully, "Well, there are several magical creatures that have their own cultures, for example. There's a Centaur herd and Mer village in the immediate vicinity that would be wonderful sources for first-hand accounts on their respective cultures. I'd also be happy to give you the necessary materials if you'd like to make a comparison to Mage culture. Topics that would work well in each case might be the difference between divination through stargazing for Wizards and Centaurs,"- Parvati visibly perked up at this suggestion- "or a comparison of elemental magic for Mer and Wizards, or an examination of the use of wands versus staves as foci in the case of Wizards and Magi."

"Does that mean we could do something with Muggles?" Seamus asked curiously, drawing the professor's attention.

"I would allow that, yes. You could also choose a topic from another culture that's not present within Britain's and vice versa, though I do think it would be harder for you to write about. It can be difficult to measure what you're missing if you haven't experienced it, and anything along the lines of 'my culture doesn't have it, it doesn't affect me' is not an acceptable thesis, nor is disparaging a culture as backwater because they don't have something you're used to." He warned. "If you're willing to put in the work, though, I think a culture study from that perspective would be very beneficial to you."

Ron asked the next question, a mild scowl on his face that could be mistaken as a look of concentration, rather than displeasure. "So are we not actually learning anything new this year? It's just review?" He asked, a smattering of resignation warring with hostility in his tone even though he was clearly trying to remain polite.

Harry blinked, then thought back over what Professor Muto had said about the course. He frowned, and then grimaced when he realized Ron was right; although the field trips would be a welcome change, it sounded like they wouldn't actually be attempting any new material in the class. While review wasn't a bad thing, per se, it did sound like the class was shaping up to be dreadfully boring after the novelty of their new professor wore off. Especially for him; DADA was a subject Harry knew like the back of his hand, surpassing even Hemione when it came to practical application.

He spared a moment to be a little surprised Ron had caught onto that detail so fast, but then realized he shouldn't be; Ron might be dense sometimes, but he wasn't dull. In fact, he might be considered a master strategist when he actually applied himself. A fact that was proven every time Harry lost miserably to him at chess.

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts and joined his classmates in staring intently at the professor, who tilted his head slightly and said, "Well, I wouldn't say that. As I said earlier, I'm expecting your year to need to learn several jinxes you should have covered last year. And, if I'm able to get you all caught up early, I have several ideas about potential new material," the class perked up at this, "Though, even if we don't get to that point, I've set up the curriculum so that you'll at least learn new ways of using what you already know," Professor Muto finished.

Harry breathed an internal sigh of relief while Ron nodded, appeased, then raised his own hand to ask about something that had been bothering him.

"Er, so, about what you said earlier about replacing house points," he started, "I guess I'm not really sure about what we could replace them with? I mean, I know you mentioned extra credit points instead, earlier, but…" Harry trailed off, not entirely certain what he was trying to convey with his question.

Luckily, it seemed the professor had an idea, "That really depends on what each of you think of as rewarding. For some students, that's extra credit, for others, perhaps a pass on a missed homework assignment. I'd even be willing to do group rewards if the class does well enough- perhaps take you all out for lunch outside of school grounds," the professor cut himself off with a chuckle when several students straightened, "Ah, I see now how to earn your attention." He said good-naturedly as a few students ducked in embarrassment.

Dean cleared his throat, the quickest to recover, "What if we like all of those rewards?"

Professor Muto nodded, looking like he'd been expected the question. "In that case, we can pool each of your ideas for rewards and continue with a points system. Instead of house points, though, you'd get class points and have a chance to exchange them for different rewards."

He smiled at the enthusiastic nods he received. "Go ahead and write down 'points system' on your surveys, then, as well as suggestions for what you'd like to trade them for. I'll mark down all those that sound reasonable, and we can assign point values on Monday."

It was at this point that Hermione finally raised her hand. Harry would have been worried she wasn't the first one with a question if he hadn't seen her furiously scribbling down notes in the corner of his eye since she had sat down. What she was so focused on, Harry wasn't sure. Maybe she was already drafting her paper; he wouldn't put it past her.

"I don't have any questions on the syllabus, exactly," she shot Ron a nasty look when he started choking on air, "but you said general questions were allowed?" She finished, fixing her attention back on the professor.

"Ah, I did say that, didn't I?" Professor Muto responded, a tad ruefully, then motioned for her to continue.

"Well, I was wondering if you were planning on teaching us any more about Mage society beyond the introductory information you mentioned for next week? And you said asking about it during office hours was acceptable? Also, not to be rude, but, if I may ask, how did you come to be here? Teaching, that is?" It was clear the answer she most wished to hear about was that of her last question. She wasn't alone; the rest of the class leaned forward eagerly- the professor looked amused again-, hoping to satisfy the curiosity that had been plaguing most of them since the welcoming feast.

"I don't have any formal plans for a curriculum at the moment; what we cover after I've caught you up depends on time constraints and whether you're interested in the topic- though it seems the latter might not actually be a concern," he teased.

"Questions about this class will take priority during my office hours, but otherwise you're all welcome to ask me anything, provided it can reasonably be considered educational," he made sure to stress, smirking as more than one student clicked their tongue softly.

"As for how I came to be teaching here- well, that's a bit of a long story-," as if on cue, the bell for the end of class rang, "-that I'm afraid we've run out of time for," the professor finished smoothly, and laughed brightly at the sheer outrage on their faces before relenting. "Alright, alright- here's the short version: the Mage Court was essentially performing an audit and discovered we had let the Founders borrow an artifact and never actually asked for it back. I was sent to retrieve it, and your headmaster offered me the position."

Harry frowned along with his classmates.

"That's it?" Lavender demanded, disappointed.

The professor smirked at them. "I said it was long, not that it was interesting. You're the ones who didn't let me keep up my air of mystery." He chided, amused. "Now, seriously," he continued, raising his voice above their grumbling, "get going before you're late for your next class. Mr. Finnegan, Mr. Potter, come retrieve your wands."

Harry fought not to cringe when the professor eyed them, and took his wand when it was handed to him. He turned to join Ron and Hermione, who were waiting by the door, but paused when the professor spoke again.

"And Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom, I'd like to speak to each of you."

"Me?" Neville squeaked, almost dropping the bag he had just started to sling over his shoulder.

"You're not in trouble," the professor assured him kindly. "Either of you," he amended, glancing at Harry before turning back to Neville. "But if you would be so kind as to wait in the hallway, Mr. Longbottom? This will only take a few minutes."

Neville also threw a glance at Harry before nodding hesitantly and making for the door.

"Mr. Potter," the professor began calmly after the door had creaked shut. "I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of getting counseling, particularly about what happened last year."

Harry scowled and hunched his shoulders. "So you think I'm crazy, too."

"No, Mr. Potter, I don't think you're crazy." Professor Muto said patiently. "From what I understand of the situation, regardless of the details, you saw a student- someone you knew personally and who was very close to you in age- die unexpectedly, right in front of you. A situation like that takes its toll on people.

"Add that to being entered unwillingly into a tournament where contestants have been known to die- not to mention what I've heard about the years before where it seems you and your friends got into some very dangerous situations.

"You've had an extremely stressful time, and you're only fifteen." Surprisingly, he sounded sympathetic when he said that, rather than patronizing, and when Harry looked up at his face, he could see the professor meant it.

"My door's always open if you ever just feel like you need an adult to listen to you," he offered, "but I'm not a professional.

"I know the Wizarding world has several available practices-" Harry winced at the idea. Even if the Wizarding world had such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality (and he really had no idea if they did- the only bit of experience he had with Wizarding medical procedure was with Madame Pomfrey; even if she never told a soul about her patient's ailments, everyone in the school knew via the Hogwarts rumor mill, so it was a moot point) he was far too recognizable to expect to never be discovered. And when he was, the press would go utterly rabid, "-but if you'd prefer someone more removed from your situation, there are also practices in Mage Society, and even a few in the mundane world who are aware of magic." The professor gave a confirming nod at Harry's startled look, and waited patiently for an answer.

Harry studied Professor Muto's face for a moment, not finding any judgement, before considering what he had just been told. He would be lying if he said he disliked the idea of having someone finally listen to him, even if only as part of their job. And for it to be someone outside of the Wizarding world, who still knew about magic, but wouldn't assume they already knew Harry despite having never met him…

"I'll think about it," he finally said.

Professor Muto gave him a nod and a small smile. "That's all I can ask." He turned to his desk and handed Harry a piece of paper with some writing on it. "Here, a pass for your next class." Harry accepted it with a nod of his own and turned towards the door. "Oh, would you send Mr. Longbottom in, please?"

"Neville, you can go in," Harry said as he exited the classroom, letting Neville slide past him, then pausing at the sight of Dean and Seamus waiting in the hallway alongside Ron and Hermione.

Unsurprisingly, Ron looked displeased at their company, while Hermione just looked anxious to get to their next class, and avoid a fight in the meantime. In all honesty, Harry was also tired of fighting, so he turned to leave with his best friends, assuming Dean and Seamus had only stayed behind to walk to class with Neville.

Before Hermione could hustle them off, though, Dean elbowed Seamus forward. Seamus cleared his throat nervously.

"Look, Potte-Harry, I'm sorry. About what I said during class and the other night and how I've been acting the last few days. Mind you, I still don't believe You-Know-Who came back from the dead- but. Well, we had that maniac who turned out to be that escaped Death Eater teaching us last year and he- I think he set up the attack on you and- and Cedric, and maybe made it look like it was You-Know-Who or credited him or something, but that's obviously not the same thing as you lying to everyone for kicks, so- I'm sorry."

Harry looked at Seamus.

Even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, the apology was still sincere. "Yeah, me too. I'm not- I can't apologize for being angry about what you said, but I shouldn't have talked to you like that, and I shouldn't've said all that about your mum. I guess- I'm just angry at a lot of people right now and was taking a lot of it out on you."

Seamus grimaced a bit himself at Harry's apology- as though he was also expecting something different- but accepted it.

"We alright, then?" He asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah, we're good." Harry confirmed, shaking it. He nodded at Dean over Seamus's shoulder, who grinned back.

"…I'm really happy that you've all made up, honestly, but we really need to get going or we'll be late," Hermione interjected tentatively, expression turning dismayed when bell rang again.

The tension of the group broke as the boys rolled their eyes in unison- albeit fondly- at her.

"Come on Hermione," Dean countered, not unkindly, "at least let us wait for Neville."

"Yeah, we have History next anyway," Ron added, "we could probably even skip and Binns wouldn't notice."

Harry sighed as this sparked yet another argument between them, but was more amused than irritated by it, for once.

Thankfully, the classroom door opened again before they could really get going.

"-always willing to listen if you need someone to talk to," Harry caught the tail end of Professor Muto's sentence. He was holding the door open, his other hand resting on Neville's shoulder.

Curious, Harry peered at Neville. He looked somewhat shell-shocked, but not upset. Harry's eyebrows shot up when Neville, noticing Harry's attention, gave him a beaming grin, rather than the nervous smile he was expecting after a one-on-one talk with a professor who wasn't Sprout.

The professor looked up at them as well, smiling kindly and seemingly unsurprised to see more than half his class lingering in the hallway. "That goes for all of you, alright?" He said warmly.

"Yes, professor." They answered, somewhat shyly in the face of his sincerity.

"Good. Now, go on before you're really late for class. If your professor is annoyed, have them come to me." He offered, backtracking almost immediately when he registered his own words. "Of course," he amended, "if you're more than five minutes late, I'm not covering for you." He teased, chuckling.

That was enough to kick Hermione into high gear as she realized that was a possibility, even though the History classroom was just two flights down. "He's right! We need to go!" She exclaimed as she hurried towards the stairs (still walking, of course. There was no running in the halls- at least, not with a professor right there.)

"You heard the lady," Ron sighed, conceding defeat, as he and the rest of the group followed after her.

Yugi watched his students hurry away for a moment before gently closing the door, pausing as a voice spoke up behind him.

"It looks like you have some good students. I'm glad."

The small smile Yugi sported grew slightly before he attempted to school his expression into something more stern. "Yes, they are." He turned around to face the man leaning against his desk, critical look only mostly ruined by the laughter in his eyes.

"But, honestly, Atem- did you have to stand there the entire time?"

NOTICE: Ok, so I just started Grad school this semester and it is a lot lot lot lot of work. This weekend was actually the first time I've had a chance to write since the summer, and I don't think I'll get another chance until Christmas break. So- just to warn you guys- the next update could be anywhere between 2-6 months from now.