CHAPTER 4

~The New Teacher~

As soon as the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogwarts, fifth year students were very eager to get to the Welcoming feast.  Harry looked up at the splendid castle which seemed to lift up his spirits.  He could outline the massive figure of Hagrid, the game keeper of Hogwarts as well as the teacher for Care of Magical Creatures.

"All righ' there you three?" Hagrid boomed over the line of nervous first years.

"Hallo Hagrid!"  Harry, Ron and Hermione waved to him.  They rode in the usual horseless carriage to the castle feeling excited.  Harry in particular, was looking forward to seeing the Sorting.  It was where an old, frayed hat sorted the first years into the four different houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

They walked in through the giant front doors and through to the Great Hall where a thousand flickering candles were floating in mid air.  They looked up at the enchanted ceiling which was bewitched to mirror the sky outside; right now, it was speckled with silver stars which added light to the magnificent Hall.

Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the Gryffindor table to join their classmates.  It seemed as though none of them except Harry, Ron and Hermione had seen the phoenix.  Everybody was chatting animatedly to each other, laughing or otherwise looking around to see when the Sorting was going to begin.

Harry looked around too and noticed the first years standing in a line at the front doors; their faces mixed with excitement and nervousness since they didn't know what was coming.  After several minutes, Professor McGonagall, a strict witch who wore square spectacles and her hair in a tight bun, led the first years towards the centre of the Great Hall.  Argus Filch, the care taker, placed a three legged stool in the middle and then, on top of the stool, he placed the old but wise Sorting Hat.

And at once, the Hall became quiet and the Sorting Hat broke into a song:

I guess you're here, sitting under me,

To get sorted properly.

For I am the smart old sorting hat

And on thousands of heads have I sat

I see in through your mind and head,

And not another word has to be said,

I know where to put you, where you should be,

For that decision is up to me!

Hufflepuff? Is that where you belong?

Where the kindness and friends are well among,

The snartness and wits are the Ravenclaws,

Who would welcome anyone through the doors.

You are brave and loyal to all

It's not hard to see you belong to Gryffindor!

Oh you are sneaky, you have only friend,

Slytherin would help you to the end.

So now you are sitting, underneath me,

Open up your head, and let me SEE!

Properly.

The Great Hall was filled with a deafening applause as the Sorting Hat finished its song.  Harry knew for a fact that every year the Sorting Hat sang a different song and according to Ron, it spends all year making up the next one...and the next…and the next. Professor McGonagall had started reading off the names of the first years from a long roll of parchment.

"Abbelry, Kiara!" Kiara Abbelry, a small girl with dark, mahogany hair and rosy, pink cheeks walked up to the stool shakily and sat down. She pulled the hat over her head and the entire Hall waited…

"Ravenclaw!" shouted the Hat after a minute. The Ravenclaw table cheered and Kiara smiled shyly and sat down.

"Bannasha, Hilary!" called Professor McGonagall. Another girl walked up to the stool, her shoulders thrown back and looking confident. Before the hat even touched her blond head, it yelled out, "Slytherin!" and the Slytherin table cheered as well.

Student after student were sorted and finally, the applause died down and the Sorting Hat was put away. When Professor McGonagall came back, Harry looked up at the staff table.  Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts had risen from his seat and was now looking around at the students, beaming. 

He was an extremely old wizard who had a long white beard and half moon spectacles. Old as he was, Albus Dumbledore showed no sign whatsoever, of weakness.  He spoke, "Good evening students and staff, welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" he smiled. "I am very much aware of how hungry you all are and so I say…let the feast begin!"  Another round of applause followed this brief speech and Dumbledore sat down and started to talk to tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher.

Harry looked down at the table; the golden plates were now magically filled with every type of food imaginable: roast pork, roast lamb, roast chicken, casseroles, puddings, steak, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, steamed vegetables, grilled fish, salads…Harry helped himself to a bit of everything.  Ron and Hermione were sitting beside him—Ron eating as though he hasn't eaten in years and Hermione was looking down at the food, frowning.

"Oh c'mon Hermowny," Ron said with his mouth full. He swallowed, then said, "Nobody's poisoned that you know."

But Harry knew what Hermione was thinking about. "The house-elves love work remember?"  Harry said. House elves were odd, small creatures who absolutely loved any type of work. They had big, bat like ears and eyes the size of tennis balls. They were used as slaves and were mostly found in huge houses with rich families. Last year, Hermione had tried to put a stop to the slavery of house elves without much success. 

Ron snorted into his pudding.

"Don't tell me your still on about that Hermione!" he laughed.

"Oh don't be silly," Hermione snapped at Ron, who was still laughing.  But she continued to eat however.

When they had all finished eating their desserts (ice cream, custard, cakes, muffins, jelly, trifles…), the plates in front of them returned to their normal clean and gleaming state.  Dumbledore got up from his chair and looked around once more.

"Now that we have all eaten, I would like to make a few important announcements," he said in a serious tone but with the same twinkle in his eye. "The Forest in the grounds is strictly out of bounds.  Nobody should have any reason to go there unless they are on detention." His pale blue eyes glancing at the Weasley twins. He continued, "Also, I would like to announce the new Quidditch captains for each house this year."

Excited murmurs spread through the Great Hall. Quidditch was the most popular sport in the wizarding world. It consisted of four balls, two of which try to knock you out while you flew.

"For Hufflepuff…Mr Ben Hundlers!" The Hufflepuff table cheered and Harry looked at Ben Hundlers who was swapping high fives with the rest of his team, grinning broadly. Dumbledore broke the cheers. "For Ravenclaw…Miss Cho Chang!" The Ravenclaw table erupted with cheers and Harry sputtered. He took a quick look at Cho Chang who was a very pretty sixth year. Harry thought she looked beautiful as she blushed and smiled awkwardly…obviously pleased with herself. Dumbledore continued again. "For Gryffindor,"--Harry's chest was pounding--"Mr Harry Potter!" Harry could have sworn the Gryffindor table exploded as his team, Ron and Hermione landed on him giving Harry extra tight hugs and cheering madly. Harry simply grinned, lost for words. "And last but certainly not least," Dumbledore said, looking at the Slytherin table. "The Slytherin Quidditch Captain…is Mr Draco Malfoy!" The Slytherin table applauded and whistled loudly and Harry looked at Malfoy with cold eyes. Harry and Draco had been enemies since their first year and there hasn't been a slightest change in their attitude towards each other since then. Malfoy was being clapped on the back by his fellow team members and fellow students, a malicious gleam that Harry knew only too well back in his eye.

 "When you have all calmed down," Dumbledore said, his bright blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon glasses, "I would also like to give a warm welcome to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Kasender." He said gesturing to a young witch sitting next to him. 

Professor Kasender smiled and waved and Harry noticed that she was wearing robes of pastel pink which had silver trimmings. The hat she wore matched her robes and her eyes were an icy blue colour. Her long blond hair flowed out behind her like a river of white water.  Ron's mouth dropped.

"She's the new Dark Arts teacher?" he asked in disbelief. "We've never—never—had a female Dark Arts teacher!"

"Well, we were bound to have one sometime, weren't we?" said Hermione.

Dumbledore started clapping and the students, having recovered from the shock of seeing a female Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, followed his example.  Harry looked around the staff table at Snape. Professor Snape was the school's Potions master and he was also Harry's least favourite teacher.  It was obvious too, that Snape disliked, or rather loathed, Harry. At the moment, Snape was looking at Professor Kasender with a look that was plainly hatred.  Everyone knew that Snape has been trying (and always failed) to get the Defence against the Dark Arts job because it seemed that he was highly interested in the Dark Arts, having once been a Death Eater (Lord Voldemort's supporters).

When the feast ended, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed to the Gryffindor Tower, looking forward to having a good, long sleep. They approached the painting of a the Fat Lady (her name being that because she is fat) in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked politely.

"Excuse me everyone!" the new prefect called. "The new password is 'peachypear' and please…no one should forget that!"

The Fat Lady swung inwards to admit the sleepy students.

"See you!" called Hermione as she set off towards the girl's dormitories whilst Harry and Ron headed for the boy's. 

"Been an interesting day, hasn't it?" Ron asked yawning.

"Yeah…" Harry replied. Then he dropped into his bed, pulled the covers up and got ready for a nice, dreamless sleep.

A/N Sorting hat poem done by Dimitri Snape