Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It is owned by J. K. Rowling. I'm just a fan writing a fic; I'm not trying to be better than Rowling.



Chapter Two- Professor Clark



The next morning, after breakfast, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other Weasleys prepared the Floo powder for their trip to Diagon Alley.



"Dad's been busy at the Ministry lately," Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione. "He hasn't told us what it's about, but I overhead Mum and Dad talking about Dumbledore's plan. They're hoping that Fudge doesn't suspect he's 'interfering' at the Ministry. So, have you heard from *Snuffles* lately?" "Snuffles" was the name they called Sirius when in public.



Harry nodded. "He's still at Lupin's house as far as I know," he said. "They're rallying a group of witches and wizards he says that Dumbledore reckons can help fight Voldemort."



Ron flinched when Harry said the name. Ron and his family were one of the many wizarding families who always referred to Voldemort as either the Dark Lord, "You-Know-Who", or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named".



"Well, I hope he and Lupin are all right," said Hermione. "But I wonder... what has Fudge been doing at the Ministry all this time?"



"Don't know," said Ron. "I think he might be doing his job. 'Business as usual', I guess, pretending that nothing is happening..."



Harry at once remembered the dream he had the previous night. For a split second, he thought of telling them about it, but thought better of it.



"All right, everyone," announced Mrs. Weasley. "Lets go to Diagon Alley. One at a time, get in and shout where we're going. Ron, you go first. Then Harry, then Hermione."



Ron stepped in the fireplace and shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and at once, he vanished. Harry followed him and did the same. At once, he closed his eyes, preparing himself for the sick feeling he was about to feel. He felt himself going upward very fast. The next moment, he fell flat on the ground. He got up and found himself in Diagon Alley, Ron standing nearby.



"The only way to travel," Ron said to him sarcastically.



Soon Hermione and the Weasleys followed. They agreed that Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny would go to Flourish and Botts to pick up their assigned books for the year, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would look around. They would meet at the same spot they came from the Floo powder.



"So," said Ron as they walked to Flourish and Botts. "Who do you think we'll have as our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year?"



Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "What I'm wondering about is if the new one will last the year. They always just stay for the year. Maybe the job is jinxed after all."



"Don't be ridiculous," replied Hermione. "The job isn't jinxed; all the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers had to leave under strange circumstances. Lets see, we've had two teachers who worked for You-Know-Who..." she listed, ticking off names.



"Professor Quirrell and Mad-Eye Moody," clarified Harry. "Well, technically, it wasn't the real Mad-Eye Moody; it was Crouch's son disguised as Mad-Eye Moody."



"And we've had Gilderoy Lockhart," said Hermione continued.



"Who was a complete idiot and a con artist," added Ron.



"Lupin..." said Hermione.



"Who was really cool, except that he had to leave because he was a werewolf," said Harry.



"Do you think any of the old teachers will come back?" asked Ron.



"That's silly," snapped Hermione. "Quirrell is dead; the last time we heard, Lockhart was recovering from that Memory Charm; Crouch's son was given the dementor's kiss, so he's...." Hermione trailed off as though she couldn't bear to say that Crouch's son was now soul-less. "... And I don't know if parents would allow it if Lupin came back to teach. So, that leaves an open vacancy for the job." she finished.



"It'll be interesting to find out who teaches it," remarked Ginny.



"And it better not be another Lockhart," grumbled Ron.



They entered Flourish and Botts and began to browse the sections, trying to find their assigned books. They were just about the only ones there. Everything was going well... until...



"Well, well, well," said a sneering voice behind them. "If it isn't the famous Potter and his sidekicks."



The four whirled around and saw Draco Malfoy standing nearby, a smirk on his pointed face. Draco Malfoy and Harry were enemies since the first day of Hogwarts. In fact, Malfoy's family were part of the Death Eaters. Malfoy was the last person they all wanted to see on a nice day like this one. In fact, Malfoy was the last person they wanted to see any day.



"Do you always happen to be in the same places we are, or do you follow us around?" Ron asked in disgust.



"I don't know, Weasley," replied Malfoy lazily. "Has your family always been poor, or is it because your father is so wrapped up in his pathetic fascination of Muggles?"



Ron was about to dive at Malfoy, but Harry and the two girls held him back. "Go away," said Harry coldly. "We're not here to pick a fight, we're here to get our books."



"Typical of you to defend Weasley's father for liking Muggles and Mudbloods, Potter," Malfoy went on, pressing his advantage. At the word, "Mudblood", Malfoy's pale eyes fell on Hermione, who simply glared at him. "Not only do you hang out with Mudbloods, but your own mother was one..."



"You watch your mouth!" Harry snarled, still keeping a steady grip on Ron. He motioned to Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. "Come on," he muttered, finally letting go of Ron as they turned to leave.



"You know, Weasley," Malfoy said quietly. "I think I know why you always hang out with Potter. You're trying to get publicity for yourself. I bet you don't even like Potter, you just want to be known as the famous Harry Potter's best friend..."



"Ron, don't!" yelled Ginny. But her words came out too late. Before Harry, Hermione, or Ginny could restrain Ron, Ron had thrown himself at Malfoy and had begun hitting him. The three tried to separate Ron and Malfoy. Ron kept screaming, "TAKE THAT BACK! TAKE THAT BACK!" There was the sound of someone entering the shop, but Harry didn't notice until the person who came in shouted, "That is enough!"



Even Ron and Malfoy stopped to fight to see who had shouted. A young woman made her way toward Ron and Malfoy. It was fair to say that the woman looked extremely annoyed with the two.



"Break it up!" she shouted, separating the two. She turned to Malfoy. "Young man, this is a book shop. It's no place to start a fight!" she said in a calm, yet severe tone.



Malfoy glared at Ron, but left without a word. The woman turned to Ron.



"And you," she said in the same tone. "I thought you would know better, after all that Dumbledore has told me about all of you..."



"Excuse me," interrupted Hermione politely. "But how do you know who we are? And how do you know Dumbledore?"



The woman suddenly looked embarrassed. "Oh," she began. "Well, I met him recently. He told me about some of the Hogwarts students, including you four. I'm Professor Fiona Clark," she said, getting to the point. "I'll be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year."



"You are?" asked Ron, shocked. Professor Clark nodded.



Harry and the others could only stare. Professor Clark had to have been in her middle twenties. She had eyes that were blue as a summer sky and long brown hair. Harry couldn't shake the feeling that she looked somewhat familiar. But that was silly; Harry didn't remember meeting a person named Fiona Clark in his life...



"He said that you all were basically good students," Professor Clark continued. "You're Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter, right?"



The four nodded.



"Oh that's good," said Professor Clark, looking embarrassed again. "I'm not very good with remembering names. Now then, I don't know what that young man did to cause that fight, but fighting leads to more fighting..." She trailed off and the expression on her face seemed as though she was remembering something very painful. "...So I hope that it doesn't end up like that for any of you," she finished.



There was an awkward silence. "Well," Professor Clark said finally. "I guess I'll see you all when the Hogwarts Express comes... that's how I'll be getting to Hogwarts. It was nice meeting you."



For a split second, Harry could have sworn that Professor Clark was staring at him in an eerie sort of way. Then she left the bookshop, leaving the four of them speechless.



"So," said Ron, as they started to look for their books again. "we have a *woman* for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"



"What's wrong with a woman teaching the class?" Hermione asked him crossly.



"Nothing," said Ron quickly. "It's just that...we've never had a woman teacher for that subject before."



"I think she's rather nice," Ginny piped up.



"Well, the way she handled that fight reminded me of Mum," commented Ron. "Still, you've got to admit, she *was* very attractive... ow!" he yelled when Hermione purposely stepped on his foot. Hermione didn't like it when Ron judged a woman or girl because of her looks.



Harry was silent as they all paid for their books and walked out of the bookstore. "You alright, Harry?" Ron asked him. "You've been quiet for a while."



"It's weird," said Harry softly. "I feel like I've met her before."



"Who?" asked Hermione.



"Professor Clark."



The others were dumbfounded. "How could you feel like that?" asked Ginny. "We just met her."



"I know," said Harry in a quiet tone. "There's just something about her that seems so... I dunno... familiar." Since the others were looking at him in a strange way, so Harry said quickly, "It's probably just nerves about this year. Forget about it."



Hermione changed the subject about talking about if she might have a chance of becoming Head Girl the next year. (Hermione was made a prefect the previous year because of her astounding academic achievements.) Harry knew from the tone of their voices as they chatted about random subjects that they didn't believe that what Harry said was just "nerves". Harry didn't really care; he convinced himself to stop thinking about this strange feeling and start concentrating on the work he'd do this year by the time they met Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and prepared to head back to the Burrow...



To be continued...



Alright, I hope you guys liked this part. Here's a quick little overview of what's going to happen in this story (in upcoming chapters):



1) The Ministry of Magic starts to screw up Dumbledore's plan of starting an alliance when Cornelius Fudge pays a little visit to Hogwarts...



2) Malfoy does the all-time low to Neville. Can't say anything more, but that's coming real soon...



3) The first boy Fiona was supposed to protect will be revealed... soon. Not giving any hints, but have fun guessing!



4) The climax of this story will be when something BIG happens. Yeah, yeah, it'll be Voldemort's doing, but I can't say anything more.



5) The reason why Snape stopped supporting Voldemort will be revealed, but IT DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH LILY POTTER.



That's about all I can tell you, and I hope you like where the story is heading. In the next part: the return to Hogwarts! But... something weird happens along the way to Harry. Stay tuned!