None of the characters in this story apart from Kathy Weasley, Rosemary Brooks, Professor Clarke, and Hermione's pen
friend Sarah (I forgot the last two in my previous disclaimers) belong to me. They are the creations of JK Rowling. (I'm so
glad I finally found a way to word this - ie - JK made them up, even if she doesn't still own them.)


The Gryffindors lined up excitedly outside their classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon.
Hermione was still a bit annoyed with herself for not bothering to find out who their new teacher was -- "After all, this is a
very important subject, and the teacher is one of the most important factors in -" "Shut up, Hermione." -- and Harry was
quite curious, too. He didn't think he'd seen anyone new at the professors' table, not that he'd really bothered to look. The
only new teachers were the ones from Salem -- oh, of course!

"Rosemary?" Harry said. "Who's your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? In Salem, I mean."

"Oh, that's Professor Clarke," Rosemary replied casually, and then she seemed to realize what Harry meant. "You
don't think she's taking us this year?"

"Well, it's hardly likely that Dumbledore would take the trouble to hire someone else, is it, if there's one staying here
already." Then Harry remembered something. "Professor Clarke? That one we saw on the first day who said she was your
headmistress?"

"Yes, that's the one," Rosemary replied. "She's okay, I guess... but she smiles all the time. It gets really irritating
after a while."

Harry laughed. "Yes, I noticed that."

Just then, Professor Clarke opened the door and let them in. Harry felt his jaw drop. He had never seen anything like
it. The desks had gone, and had been replaced with a large, oval table, like the ones people sat at in business meetings on
T.V. There were comfortable-looking office chairs all around the table, and a much bigger one at the end. Pictures of
famous Aurors and music groups had been put up around the walls. The only thing that remained from the previous year
was the blackboard that covered one entire wall. On it, in cheery purple chalk, was written "My name is Professor
Amandala Clarke". Harry could have sworn that some music by the Weird Sisters was playing softly in the background.

"Come in everyone, take a seat. Put your books on the table, now, come on," said the professor, still smiling.

"Don't worry, her classrooms are always like this," said Sarah, Hermione's friend, who sat down between Harry and
Hermione. "She has very... unusual... ideas about schooling. She says learning is a serious business, and she wants to treat
us like equals because to Death Eaters we are all equal."

"Yes," said Rosemary, next to Harry. "She also says that anyone could be a Dark wizard, appearances aren't all they
seem to be, and we are the adults of tomorrow."

"Blimey," said Ron, sitting down on Hermione's other side. "Wonder if Snape's seen all this?"

"Probably not," said Harry, "or he'd be trying to get her thrown out already, wouldn't he?"

"Please, everyone, could we have silence?" said Professor Clarke, grinning madly. "Thank you. Now, I have heard
that you had Professor Moody last year? Yes? Well, by that, of course I mean Professor... um... Crouch." She paused,
aware that perhaps she had said the wrong thing. "Yes, well, um..." She cleared her throat. "Even under his... doubtful...
guidance, you learned a lot about curses. This year I will be teaching you about Dark wizards and how to recognize them."

"This should be interesting," Ron muttered.

"Now, I must tell you that appearances aren't all they seem to be. Anyone could be a Death Eater."

"Told you," said Rosemary, and Harry tried not to laugh as Professor Clarke went on,

"You are the adults of tomorrow! You must know the truth now, so that someday you can protect us all! Now,
learning, especially about Dark magic, is a serious business. I will try to treat you all like equals, because to a Dark wizard
we are all equal. Now, let us begin."

And so the lesson went on. As they left Defense Against the Dark Arts an hour later, Harry reflected that he hadn't
really learnt much in the lesson. The professor had just repeated the same vague objectives throughout the lesson, and had
really told them very little about Death Eaters at all. Harry had a vague feeling that he knew more about Dark magic than
she did, but he had to admit that the lesson had been fun anyway. Lavender and Parvati, along with a few of the Salem girls,
had been singing along to the background music. Harry, Dean, Seamus and Ron had had a very interesting chat with some
of the American boys about Quidditch, which they didn't really understand. The game apparently wasn't very popular over
there. Hermione had had a rather aloof conversation with Rosemary, whom she still didn't seem to like much. Harry was
still puzzled by this, as Ron got on with Rosemary very well.

"Come on, Harry, let's go to and have a game of chess," said Ron. "Did you practice over the summer at all?"

Harry realized with a start that it was the end of the school day. It had gone so fast he hadn't even realized it.
Perhaps it was because he had so much on his mind. He turned to Ron and said, "Yes, and I'm much better now! You better
just watch out, I might actually win this time!"

***

Harry and Ron were immersed in their chess game when Dennis Creevey came into the common looking rather
confused.

"Harry..." he said. "A Ravenclaw girl gave me this chocolate for you."

"Oh, thanks, Dennis," said Harry, not really listening. He was trying to make sure that Ron's queen didn't capture his
last remaining knight. If he could just get that knight clear...

"Are you blind? Can't you see that queen?" the knight in question shouted up at him.

"Yes, I can see it, thank you very much," said Harry irritably. "Give me a minute..."

"Harry... do you want this chocolate?"

"Yes, Dennis. Just leave it there," said Harry, still not taking his eyes from the board.

"Harry... can I have a piece?" Dennis asked hopefully.

"Yes, Dennis, go ahead," said Harry, still not really listening. "Take as much as you want."

"Oh, thanks, Harry!" said Dennis. "I'm going upstairs to bed, I'll just leave the chocolate here for you, shall I?"

"Yes, Dennis. Thank you."

Dennis went upstairs with a few squares of chocolate. The rest of the bar lay there forgotten as Harry and Ron
finished their game. Needless to say, Ron won in a landslide victory. "See," he said, grinning. "You should have practiced
more!"

***

Hermione came down from her dormitory as Harry and Ron were packing up their game.

"It's nearly a quarter to eleven, you two!" she said, sounding very prefect-ish.

"Then what are you doing down here?" said Harry, grinning at her.

"I was looking for my Rune dictionary, thank you very much," she said, as if she was going to take five points from
Gryffindor any minute. "You should really be in bed!"

"Give us a break, will you," said Ron, yawning. "It's Friday night! Have some chocolate."

"Where'd you get it?" asked Hermione, sounding suspicious.

Harry laughed. "We didn't buy it off Fred and George, if that's what you're thinking. Dennis Creevey brought it up
here earlier. He said it was for me from some Rav -" Harry stopped dead. Cho Chang?

Hermione was obviously thinking along the same lines, because she said, "Who ate these first few squares?"

"Dennis..." said Ron slowly. "We were so busy playing that we didn't -"

But Hermione and Harry had already rushed up the stairs to the boys dormitory. They ran up until they found the
second year dormitories, and they ran in.

"Dennis!" Hermione called, sounding panicky. "We need to talk to you! Dennis!"

Five boys woke up slowly, climbing out of bed to see: 1) why there was a sixteen-year-old girl in their bedroom, and
2) what she was shouting about. But one bed remained still, the hangings around it remained closed. Harry ran towards and
pulled the hangings back violently.

And there was Dennis Creevey, unconscious and a funny greenish colour. He had traces of chocolate around his
mouth. Harry just stared. It was his fault, all his fault. If only he had listened to Dennis... if only he hadn't been so intent on
winning his stupid game of chess.

Hermione came up behind Harry and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Harry," she said softly. "How
could you have known?"

"But I did know!" he said angrily. "If only I hadn't had my mind on the bloody chess game, I would have realized. I
would have told him not to eat it. And then he'd still be okay!"

Ron appeared in the doorway. "You're not supposed to be up here, Hermione." She glared at him, so he said,
"Maybe, as our prefect, you better go and tell someone."

"Oh, you're right," said Hermione, looking suddenly very flustered. "I'll go and get Dumbledore now."

When she was gone, Ron said, "It' not your fault, Harry. It really isn't. Whoever's doing this -" But Harry broke him
off.

"So you don't think it's Cho?"

Ron looked very uncomfortable. "Well, she did... I mean, there's no real..."

"You think she did it, don't you?" Harry said accusingly.

At that moment, luckily for Ron, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey, closely followed by Hermione, came in. "Oh
no..." Harry heard the matron gasp. "Oh, no, Albus, not another one!"

"I'm afraid so, Poppy," said Dumbledore, but he wasn't looking at Dennis. He was staring at Harry, searching him
with his eyes. Harry tried to ignore it. Surely Dumbledore doesn't think I'd do this, thought Harry.

"Miss Granger, call the other prefects. I would like to see them in my office," said Dumbledore quietly. He turned to
Ron. "Mr Weasley, if you could wake Mr Colin Creevey, I would like to see him in my office. And Harry," he continued.
"You'd better come with me now."


Author's Note: Oh no, more poison! Does Dumbledore suspect Harry? Was it Cho that gave Dennis the chocolate? You
may (or then again you may not) find out next time! Please r/r, I still want to know who you think is poisoning all these
people, and why.
I may take longer than usual to get the next chaper to you, but I have a good excuse. This is the last day of the
Easter holidays ::sob, sob:: and this will be the summer term. In other words, I will have exams in June, so my writing may
be sacrificed to make time for school work. (told you I was like Hermione). Also, I hope to take Grade 5 clarinet this term,
so that means more practice than I do now (ie- none). So please forgive me if my writing slows down, I promise new
chapters will appear eventually, so keep checking!