I do not own Harry Potter or gain anything from writing this other than the opportunity of expanding on an already brilliant universe for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours.

The After

The students filed into the Great Hall, the sounds of chatter coming with them as they took their seats at their house tables. The school was all talking about the same thing since coming in from the train. Where was Harry Potter? Most of the students hadn't seen him since last school year. After the news of him defeating Voldemort, he'd been extremely busy over the summer working with the DMLE and new Minister of Magic Amelia Bones, gathering up the remaining Death Eaters and most everyone was excited to ask him about everything that happened.

The problem was: he wasn't on the train. Every gossip at Hogwarts went to the known Harry Potter experts, Ron and Hermione, but their lips were sealed. It was clear they knew something though. The few Hufflepuffs who knew Susan Bones had become closer with Harry over the summer tried asking her instead.

'You'll see him,' she said mysteriously. 'You just have to be patient.'

When the students had all entered the Great Hall, looking up and down the Gryffindor table and still hadn't seen Harry Potter, they decided he probably wouldn't be there for the welcome feast. Professor Flitwick led the first years into the hall as the new Deputy Headmaster to begin the sorting. The hat sang a lovely song about peace and togetherness that brought a polite applause from all in the hall.

Once the sorting was finished, Professor McGonagall stood up at the dais to speak and silence fell upon the hall for the strict new Headmistress.

'To new students, we welcome you, to those of you returning, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. Normally, as my predecessor had done before, I would save this portion of the speech for after the feast. But seeing as the few of you who have noticed are spreading the word so quickly, I believe I should make this particular announcement immediately.'

The students, most of whom had not noticed, began asking their neighbours what she was on about.

'So allow me to share our new staff appointments, which is a tradition that will hopefully end.' The students quieted and looked around the staff table. Many mouths fell open. 'In the position of Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House, let me introduce you to the newly found innocent, Professor Sirius Black.'

There was a scattering of applause that seemed a little subdued as many were still staring transfixed at the other new member of staff. Sirius Black stood and waved, tossing his new co-worker a playful glare.

'And returning, not as a student, but as a Professor - the youngest ever appointed in history I might add - your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Harry Potter.'

Harry stood and waved to a scattering of cheers and applause from his closer friends. It evolved into a loud applause from the majority of the school which then evolved into a full blown roar of cheering and clapping the likes of which the staff table had never seen.

Harry sat back down grinning wildly at Sirius who was shaking his head in disgruntlement, but couldn't stop his mouth from curving upward. McGonagall had waved up the welcoming feast and sat down but the applause was still going, so Harry stood once more and gave another wave before motioning them to sit in a very professor manner.

'They're going to eat you alive, boy,' Sirius said dramatically.

'They can try,' Harry laughed. 'I wonder how they'll take having a Head of House who was, until recently, the most wanted man in Magical Britain.'

'I'll use it to my advantage,' Sirius said with an evil look. 'Put the fear in them, you know?'

The two laughed together until Harry had a thought.

'You know, I never did ask the school's policy on professors dating students,' he said thoughtfully.

Sirius roared with laughter, Minerva McGonagall watching them disparagingly, muttering, 'What the bloody hell have I done?'

Harry took the opportunity of the welcome feast to covertly listen around the hall with a bit of magic while the students enjoyed their meal.

'It's brilliant, isn't it?' Seamus Finnegan said. 'It's like we've got our own Snape on Gryffindor's side now. He's gonna lay into those snakes!'

Oh, they were in for a rude awakening, he thought.

'Is that why I got Quidditch Captain?' Katie Bell moaned. 'We're bloody doomed without Harry.'

'Oh come on, he's injured half the time anyway,' Ron said, laughing. 'Ginny did brilliantly last year.'

'Yeah but she wants to be a Chaser, doesn't she?' Katie whined. 'Hopefully there's some good new blood or my last year's going to have some lousy Quidditch.'

That was Harry's one regret with becoming a professor, Quidditch.

'Hey, Rolanda,' Harry called a few spots down the table.

'What's up, Professor Potter?' Rolanda Hooch asked with a grin.

'You're all going to be like this all year, aren't you?' he asked the table dryly, to which most professors chuckled evilly. 'You ever get the chance to play Quidditch? One thing I'll miss I think.'

'Of course!' she said excitedly. 'I have some friends I play with, and since there's two of us that actually play now, maybe we can organize some Friendly's with the students.'

'Brilliant!' Harry said, happy his Quidditch career wasn't over.

He turned his attention back to the students. He could see many eyes trained on him as they ate, many of them witches.

'This is going to be better than Lockhart!' Hannah Abbott said excitedly. 'He's hot, he's famous and he's our age so he's not off limits! Aye, Susan?'

'Oh please lay off, Hannah,' Susan begged. 'It's embarrassing enough to have a massive crush on Harry that he fully knows about, but now he's a bloody professor. I'm screwed.'

'I don't know about that,' Hannah said thoughtfully. 'Unless you get a late night detention with him, then you might be screwed.'

'Hannah!'

Well, it was certainly going to be an interesting year. Not that he didn't know that already.

'I'm telling you, Justin, Defense is going to be a breeze,' Ernie said confidently. 'Harry is basically going to give us a free pass after the DA last year.'

'I don't know, Ern,' Justin replied, 'I think he's gonna feel like he's got a lot to prove because he's so young and all. Might be a hard ass.'

'But really,' Ernie laughed, 'Potter assigning homework? Fat chance.'

Harry grinned evilly; he'd already made up his lesson plan after all. Hopefully he would fall into a nice middle ground from what they both expected.

'I'm doomed, Cho,' Marietta Edgecombe said in a depressed voice. 'He bloody hates me already. I really need that NEWT for the apprenticeship with my uncle. They won't let me in without it.'

'I'm sure he won't hold it against you,' Cho Chang said unconvincingly. 'Not like you tried to make a fool out of him at Puddifoots or anything.'

Marietta just let out a pitiful groan.

Harry chanced a look over at the two girls. Cho quickly looked away when he caught her eye but Marietta was too busy sulking to see him. The pimples writing the word SNEAK were still very visible on her forehead.

He flicked his wand under the table and hit the girl with an invisible spell. Her hand jumped up to the pimples that had disappeared and looked to Cho for confirmation. Looking around the hall, Marietta caught Harry's eye for a moment and he tossed her a wink, looking back to his food once her eyes widened.

Now he moved onto potentially his biggest hurdle, the Slytherin table.

'What a joke this is,' Draco Malfoy growled. 'Potter - a teacher! I should have gone to Durmstrang this year.'

'It really is going to be terrible,' Pansy sulked. 'Maybe we should just drop Defence.'

'No,' Draco said stubbornly. 'We'll just have to make it known that he's not fit to be a teacher.'

'What the bloody hell are you talking about, Draco?' Tracey Davis said suddenly. 'He killed You-Know-Who! Who better to teach us Defence?'

'Don't tell me you believe the Prophet,' Malfoy scoffed. 'Paper's gone to the dogs if you ask me.'

'My father said it was true,' Daphne Greengrass pointed out. 'He's apparently gotten incredibly powerful since last year.'

'Potter?' Malfoy spat. 'Powerful? Unlikely. Glory monger is the only thing that describes him.'

'Jealous are we, Draco?' Blaise Zabini drawled.

'Not likely, Blaise,' Malfoy scoffed. 'Don't tell me you're looking forward to being taught by him?'

'Not taking Defense, am I?' Zabini said in a bored voice. 'Not much point anymore, is there?'

Yes, that lot will be a challenge indeed. Especially Malfoy. Getting him to come around and be actually interested in learning will be a real challenge. He was looking forward to it.

Of course, it would be with his old crowd that Harry began his professing debut. A double lesson at that. Harry was rather looking forward to subverting expectations in this class. He opened the door and moved aside to allow the class to enter. He looked at his old classmates impassively. Many of the Gryffindors and the old DA gave him a sniggering, 'Hey Harry,' as they passed. The Slytherins either ignored him or gave him a sneer. Well, Malfoy gave him a sneer.

'Books away,' Harry said loudly walking to the front of the class. 'A few orders of business first. I know we're all fully aware of the strange and awkward circumstances we've found ourselves in but let me make myself crystal clear,' he pointed his wand to the blackboard where Professor Potter appeared. 'You will refer to me as Professor, Professor Potter or sir. I am not your friend,' he looked pointedly at many of his friends, 'and I am not your enemy.' He looked to the group of Slytherins. 'I am your Professor and you are my students. You will be treated as such and there will be no preferential treatment.'

He scanned the room with his eyes to ensure there were no arguments.

'From next year onward, I will only be allowing students who have achieved a grade of Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding into my NEWT class. But seeing as the education in this class has been severely lacking, especially with the toad last year, I have decided to allow those who have received an Acceptable as well.

'Your NEWT curriculum will be far more advanced than previous years. Just because this isn't your OWL year doesn't mean this will be a cake walk. Now.'

He pointed his wand at the blackboard again and the words non-verbal replaced the previous writing.

'Who can tell me the practical reasons for using non-verbal spells?' he asked in a carrying voice.

Immediately, Hermione's hand shot up into the air and no one else's.

'Put your hand down, Miss Granger, I'm fully aware you know the answer,' Harry said shortly.

Hermione lowered her hand slowly, looking confused.

'Anyone else?' he asked, scanning the students. 'I'll pick one at random then, Miss Li, any ideas?'

Sue Li looked around wide eyed; she wasn't normally one to speak up in class.

'I-it gives you the element of surprise,' she said quietly.

'True,' Harry said. 'Anything else?'

She scrunched up her face in thought for a moment. 'It's faster?' she tried.

'Well it certainly can be,' Harry replied, smiling. 'In summary, it gives you a split second edge over your opponent. If it is a spell that they don't recognize, it gives the added advantage of them not knowing the best way to defend. But you also said it was faster.'

Harry transfigured a dueling dummy right next to Sue Li.

'Stupefy, Diffindo, Petrificus Totalus, Expeliarmus.' he said, sending a steady stream of spells that collided with the dummy with various effects. 'Now silently.'

Harry's wand flashed and in less than a second he sent the same spells at the dummy.

'Faster?' Harry asked Sue Li who could only nod. 'I would have to agree. Five points to Ravenclaw. I want you all to pair up. One of you will be trying to hex the other, silently, the other will be trying to shield yourself, silently.'

After he finished talking no one moved.

'NOW!'

Most of the students stood up and started to pair off. The Slytherins lagging behind.

'While you're all at it,' Harry called over the noise, 'if there is anyone who needs help with a shield charm, come to the front.'

Two Hufflepuffs came to the front and a pair of Ravenclaws. Harry noticed two of the four Slytherins eyeing him like they wanted to but weren't sure if they could. Harry caught Tracey Davis' eye and waved her over. She came with her partner, Daphne Greengrass.

'Now I know you didn't get much of an education in this last year because of Umbridge, but you can come to me if you need any extra help,' Harry said. 'I know Mr Malfoy and Miss Parkinson won't take it from me willingly, but I promise to be fair to Slytherin, alright?'

Tracey and Daphne simply nodded, apparently still reserving judgment on Harry.

'Do you all know the incantation for a shield charm?' he asked, everyone nodded but he wasn't sure they were all being honest. 'Well regardless, the wand movement is a downward slash, like so, and the incantation is Protego, try it now. Out loud is fine.'

A round of Protegos sounded out and a few shields were produced. Harry asked for it a second time and six shields shimmered visibly.

'Excellent,' Harry said at the grinning students. 'Now try it again silently.'

They did and there was nothing. Again, nothing.

'The key to non-verbal casting is a clear mind,' Harry said in the lecture voice that he was working on. 'Not just the incantation, it has to be the combination of the incantation and the intent. When I first started learning non-verbal casting I focused too much on the incantation in my head and not on what I wanted the spell to do, you can't have one without the other. With insufficient intent the spell won't work or the effect produced could be far weaker than intended. Take a moment and try again.'

Six nods, a bit of focusing then some downward swipes. Two shields appeared instantly.

'Well done!' Harry said to Daphne and Megan Jones. 'Now get back into your pairs and keep practicing - and remember what I said about intent.'

Harry walked around to the class, observing the red faced students trying to hex and the bored ones waiting for a hex that was likely to never come. He passed on the same hint he'd given the others. Near the end of the class there saw a good handful of students casting silently with moderate consistency.

'Any luck, Mr Malfoy?' Harry asked the boy sitting on his arse and ignoring Pansy's attempt to hex him silently.

'None of your business, Potter,' Malfoy spat.

'That's Professor Potter, Mr Malfoy,' Harry said evenly, the Slytherin just scoffed. 'Perhaps a bit of encouragement then. Hex me silently, whatever hex you choose.'

Malfoy cocked his eyebrow at Harry then sneered. 'Think I can't do it, do you?' he asked scathingly.

'On the contrary, I hope you can,' Harry said. 'You too, Miss Parkinson, a hex of your choosing.'

Malfoy gave him a dark look and pointed his wand at Harry's head. 'Engorgio Skullus,' he said aloud, hitting Harry with the spell.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Malfoy in annoyance. 'If you want my head to get any bigger than it already is,' he said, 'you'll have to keep your mouth shut. Miss Parkinson?'

After a minute or two Pansy was simply waving her wand around in frustration. Harry calmly told her what he wanted her to do differently and waited until finally she hit him with a silent horn growing hex.

'Well done, Miss Parkinson,' Harry said loudly, drawing a few looks.

Pansy's face was a mix of looking pleased and confused for being pleased.

'Give it another go, Mr Malfoy,' Harry said. 'Remember what I said to Miss Parkinson, and remember how satisfying it would be to give me a large head.'

Harry thought he saw Malfoy fighting off a grin as he pointed his wand at Harry, attempting to cast silently. It took a few tries but then Harry felt his head growing.

'Well done, Mr -'

'Oi!' an angry voice cut Harry off from across the classroom. 'Don't attack the bloody teacher! Densaugeo!'

Harry's wand was out in a flash, he shielded the spell from hitting Malfoy, rebounding it back at the caster.

'Mr Weasley!' Harry shouted angrily, casually waving his wand to remove the horn and shrink his head back to normal size. 'He had full permission to attack a teacher and you did not have permission to attack another student in the back!'

Ron's teeth were elongating alarmingly fast, so Harry pointed his wand at him and shrank them back to normal size.

'That'll be fifteen points from Gryffindor,' Harry said harshly. 'Another outburst like that and you can have a detention to go with it.'

He returned to the front, ignoring the gobsmacked looks from the entire class.

'For homework,' he called in a level voice. 'I want an eighteen inch essay by next Monday on the practical uses of non-verbal spells,' A collective groan followed the assignment before Harry continued over it. 'Its advantages, its disadvantages, how it functions. I also want you to practice the use of non-verbal spells. You'll be expected to be silent in every one of our classes. A little bird told me your other classes have similar expectations, so don't slack on your practice. Dismissed!'

As the class packed up, Harry busied himself with reviewing the lesson for his next class. He heard Ron's scathing comment of, 'Can you believe him? Professor Potter.' He ignored it; it's what he was after anyway. Once the class left he looked up to see Hermione and Susan were watching him, small smiles playing on their lips. Harry allowed himself a grin.

'How'd I do?' he asked.

'Brilliant,' Susan said, grinning back. 'I especially liked your hands on portion.'

Harry rolled his eyes at the blatant flirting.

'No fraternizing with the faculty, Susan,' though his upturned mouth belied his seriousness. 'What about you, Hermione?'

'Well other than you taking all the fun out of it for me,' she said with a forced sigh, 'I agree, you were brilliant. Especially the way you dealt with the Slytherins. And the Gryffindors now I think of it.'

Harry looked at his two friends and let out a sigh, it will be hard not talking with them candidly more often. He got pretty used to it during the summer with Susan. He'd been used to it with Hermione for years.

'I know,' Susan said, reading his thoughts, 'but we can always sneak off sometimes under your cloak,' she said teasingly.

'I am rather sneaky,' he said thoughtfully. 'Don't you two have a class to get to? My first years will be here soon.'

'Ooh, how exciting,' Hermione gushed genuinely. 'I wish we had you in first year instead of Quirrell.'

As they were leaving a thought occurred to Harry. 'Wait a minute. I'm the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Does that mean I'm going to try and kill Harry Potter?'

'Shut up, Harry,' Susan laughed while Hermione cackled all the way out of the classroom.

Soon after they left, Harry opened the door to let the first year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students in. He waited until they settled down with their books and parchment in front of them to begin

'In this class you will learn how to defend yourself against the darkness that exists in this world,' Harry intoned in a loud voice, causing a few near him to jump. 'I will teach you methods of defending against the darkest of creatures, from Hags and Vampires to Werewolves who have lost control. To users of the Dark Arts, an ever changing, uncontrollable branch of magic that is as evil as it is unpredictable.'

He paused at the front of the room to look out at the nervous faces.

'But first,' he said in a much lighter tone, 'let's learn how to shoot red sparks out the end of our wands, shall we?'

Yes, Harry Potter very much enjoyed being a teacher.