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Another new teacher
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Harry stepped into Dumbledore's office and looked around. McGonagall had given him a message saying that the headmaster has wanted a word with him after classes were over that day. Harry had nodded and here he was, but Dumbledore was currently not in his office. Harry sat in one of the leather chairs with a sigh and looked around. The old wizards in the pictures on the wall were mostly snoozing in the warm afternoon sun, and a few had gotten together and were playing cards in one of the larger frames. There was a tapping on the window and Harry looked up. A large red and gold bird looked at him imploringly from a perch affixed to the wall just outside the window. Harry smiled and got up to open the window.
"Hello Fawkes," he greeted the phoenix as the large bird stepped into the room. Fawkes hopped to his perch and gave Harry a trill of thanks.
"You're quite welcome," Harry told him as he closed the window.
"Ah, Thank you, I was worried I wouldn't be back before he was finished with his afternoon flight," Dumbledore said from the doorway.
"You wanted to see me?" Harry asked as he retook his seat across from the great oak desk.
"Yes. I saw your godfather. He said to say hello and that he was terribly sorry he couldn't see you this time," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"You saw Sirius! He's ok isn't he?" Harry asked, worried that the Dementors had caught Black.
"A bit thin, but he seemed well," Dumbledore told him, "But he seemed to think that Voldemort was up to something. No doubt it involves you." Harry sighed and sank back into the chair.
"Well," Dumbledore continued, "Our new student teacher is someone you are acquainted with and she wanted to stop by and say hello to you before she saw you in class tomorrow," Harry sat up with interest.
"Oh?" he couldn't think of anyone he knew who had expressed interest in trying to get a job as a teacher in Hogwarts. Dumbledore smiled and tapped the crystal ball on the corner of his desk.
"He's here now," he said to it. A moment later the door opened.
"'Arry!"
Harry was dumbstruck for a moment but then he smiled and got out of his seat. "Fleur," He said warmly shaking her hand. He and Ron had discussed her trying to get a job to improve her English over the summer, but they had let the idea drop after Hermione and Ginny and even Harry himself had gotten sick of hearing Ron moon over his memory of Fleur
"I said I was going to try and get a job 'ere and improve my English," She said with a grin. She seemed a lot less formal than the last time he'd seen her just before Beauxbatons had departed. Ron was going to have a fit.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Harry said and meant it. In the back of his mind he wondered how Krum and the Durmstrang's were doing. Mrs. Weasley had heard something about a new headmaster, but hadn't had any details to share.
"Merci," she replied, "I 'ope you will not be too, 'ow you zay, put out, by my teaching you potions?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Harry said. Somehow he hadn't figured Fleur for being one with a great skill in potions. Charms with Professor Flitwick made sense, but Potions?
"Ah, wonderful," Dumbledore said, "Now Harry if you want to tell everyone who the new student teacher is, that's fine. But you may keep it a secret if you like. They'll find out soon enough tomorrow," he winked. Harry grinned.
"Oh, I think I'll let them find out on their own," he said with a grin. Ron was going to have an absolute fit!
The morning of October first dawned crisp and clear. The winds seemed to hint the coming of winter as they blew fallen leaves around. The forbidden forest was a riot of colors. The leaves had turned the traditional red, gold and orange along beside the rebellious trees whose leaves turned blue, purple and even plaid in defiance. A few evergreens seemed to regard the cacophony of color with mild disgust and had taken to ignoring the rest of the trees all together.
The students at Hogwarts awoke to the smell of Fall; half rotted leaves, baking foods heavy in ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon with liberal amounts of pumpkin added in, and the great smoky fire in the common room of each house and in the great hall. It really seemed like Halloween (and the first little break of the year) was just around the corner and the students felt energetic as they went down to breakfast. Well, most did…
"Ugh, My head," Lisa moaned into her toast,
"You ok?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. Something isn't agreeing with me. I bet it was those awful things you Brits eat. Yorkshire puddings? Ugh, that HAD to be it," she winked at Hermione who chuckled good naturedly.
"Eat a doughnut, feel better," Ron said, but as his mouth was currently full of doughnut, his words came out rather garbled and powdered sugar burst from his lips in a puff of exhaled air.
"Don't talk and eat," Ginny scolded. Ron swallowed,
"Yes, Mum," he mocked. "So!" he said rather suddenly, "I've been thinking. I want to be a Manticore!" The table looked at him blankly.
"Poor boy's gone crazy," Fred said to George and patted Ron on the head.
"I have not!" Ron protested, "I've given this a lot of thought. They're like lions and they can fly. And-"
"Oh, are you talking about that Animagus transformation again," Harry asked,
"Yeah!"
"But Manticores have scorpion tails!" Ginny squealed.
"Right!" Ron grinned, "No one'd mess with me. I got the whole tail thing on top of the lion thing!"
"But they have three sets of teeth," Hermione said, "and they eat children!"
"Well I wouldn't!" Ron assured her, "and they can fly! Think of it Harry, you and I could go out for a bit of air and I wouldn't need a broom!" The table once again looked at him blankly.
"Riiiight" Hermione said.
"Well, you could do it, but it's a bitch to do magical animals. Just look at me," Lisa said, "I could do it really well all last year and now I can barely turn my hair into feathers. I suggest you try for a real lion, or perhaps a real hawk or something if you want to go flying."
"I think you should speak with professor McGonagall about it," Harry told him.
"Yeah, I guess that'd be as good a place to start as any. Especially considering I don't know how to begin,"
"It was on the final," Hermione said and gave Ron a look.
"Oh. Missed that one," he grinned cheekily.
"So I made an appointment to see McGonagall this afternoon…Why is he grinning like that?" Ron asked Hermione. Harry had had this odd look on his face all day and yesterday too. He'd had it since he'd come back from being summoned to Dumbledore's office in fact. Hermione looked over and caught Harry's eye. Harry simply grinned and tried to look innocent.
"He knows something," Hermione said, eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out what.
"Ok, settle down." Snape strode into the dungeon. The Slytherins and Gryffindors all grew quiet. The silence was shattered as Nevllie's cauldron clattered to the floor. "Five points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped and glared at them all.
"We have a student teacher. I expect you all to be on your best behavior. Mister Longbottom, I hope you can avoid any further embarrassing incidents in my class. Ah. Here she is." Snape's eyes flickered to the back of the room. The class turned and Ron did a double take. Fleur was standing in the doorway, a heavy book under one arm and her wand in her other hand. She wore silvery robes which set off her silvery hair and highlighted her inhuman beauty.
"Bonjour," she greeted them brightly. Ron gurgled something which might have been a greeting, but he wasn't the only boy in the class to do so. Several Slythein boys stared as Fleur strode across the dungeon and stood next to professor Snape. Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode gave identical sighs of annoyance and smacked Ron and Goyle respectively. Ron shot Harry a nearly murderous glare.
"You knew!" he hissed.
"A further five points from Gyrffindor," Snape said and Ron's jaw shut with a click of his teeth.
"Today we are going to learn about finding out what was IN a potion someone else made. Open your books," Snape growled.
Ron peeked around the corner of McGonagall's office, but she wasn't at her accustomed place behind her desk. Ron supposed she'd been called away from her normal office hours for something important, so he set his satchel down and sat in the leather chair across from her desk. Ron has never gotten a good look at her office before. Well, considering that really the only time he'd been there was to be scolded, he could really be forgiven for not taking a good snoop around because of more important and pressing things.
The room was small and cozy unlike Snape's Spartan office. A small crystal ball sat on the edge of her desk next to a bit of rolled parchment and a quill. A lovely painting of a pair of owls roosting on a branch in winter was hung on one wall next to a bookcase. The owls reminded Ron of Hedwig and he smiled as one turned its head and blinked its great yellow eyes at him. The bookcase was filled from floor to ceiling with books of all shapes and sizes, most very old. McGonagall's deep emerald winter robe was hung on a brass fixture by the door, her pointed hat perched on top, so Ron knew she hadn't left the school, but he wondered where she was. Ron looked out the window and noticed that the professor had a spectacular view of the Quidditch field and what looked like quite a comfy window seat to go with it
Ron was looking around for a clock when a tabby cat sprinted into the office at a dead run. The cat nearly fell over herself in surprise when she saw Ron sitting in the chair, but she quickly recovered her composure and transformed back to herself mid-stride.
"Mr. Weasley," she said and took the seat behind her desk, "I do apologize for being late. I was attending to something,"
"Oh, " Ron said, "That's no problem," he'd attempted to study how she'd transformed from a cat into a human without missing a step, but the process always got blurry in his minds eye as limbs and clothing did things they really shouldn't do in reality. "Does it hurt?" he blurted out and immediately regretted it. That was not how he'd intended on beginning this conversation. She arched an eyebrow.
"Does what hurt?" She asked.
"You know, turning into a cat," Ron told her. The second eyebrow went up and her expression softened considerably.
"Actually no," She admitted, "it's something of a mild sense of pressure but nothing more. Though doing the transformation incorrectly can be excruciating,"
"Oh, that's good. Er I guess," Ron said, exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, "because I've decided I want to try and become an Animagus," he stated firmly. Inwardly Minerva was chuckling at the determined set of Ron's jaw, but she was also terribly pleased. She decided to simply nod.
"It's a very difficult spell since it requires no wand to cast, simply the force of will to direct the magic. Performed incorrectly, it can be quite painful, as I mentioned. But if you are determined to work hard and achieve your goal, I will assist you, and you will no doubt succeed," she said. Ron blinked.
"So, er, you think I can do it?" he asked somewhat hesitantly. Apparently this hadn't been the response he'd been expecting.
"I think that anyone who works at it hard enough will eventually be able to transform," She said levelly, "and I do think you are fully capable of applying yourself to the task, Mr.Weasley,"
"…Wow. Thanks. Er. So, where do I begin?"
She stood and went to the tall bookcase and scanned the gilded titles of the books there. She chose a fairly hefty volume bound in green dragon hide. She sat down at her desk and placed both hands possessively on the book.
"This book will guide you through the process," she told him, "It will require much study and you WILL need to read all of it. Because becoming an Animagi is such a dangerous process, the text on the latter pages will not be revealed until you have actually read the pages before. What I suggest you do to start, is to read the book. The entire book, Mr. Weasley, and then we will begin actually trying to turn you into something," Ron's face fell a little.
"Mr. Weasley, do not let the prospect of work stand in your way. If you just sit down and do a thing, it will get done. The reasoning for reading the entire book first is so that you have a good idea of what you are actually doing. The reading is not the hard part, nor is it the slow part. The difficult task is actually applying what you have learned," She slid the book across the desk so that it was close to Ron, but she kept her fingertips firmly on the book, preventing him from taking it.
"Once you have read the book, and I expect you will do so quickly if you set your mind to it, I will instruct you on the next phase which is actual transformation. But between then and now, I suggest you think of what you wish to turn into," she removed her fingers from the book and Ron was able to read the cover which said simply; Animagus.
"Yes, Professor," Ron said and took the book and held it close.
"I assume you have given some thought as to what you wish to become?" her tone had changed into a more informal one.
"I was thinking perhaps a Manticore," Ron's grin was huge. McGonagall blinked.
"Well I certainly hope you aren't planning on eating any of your classmates,"
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First set of chapters posted. I really want help on this next bit and some comments so far. I have another 2-3 semi complete chapters but I need to decide something first!
What sort of Animal should Ron practice to be? I couldn't decide! I was thinking maybe a Griffin or a lion or a hawk. I'd think he'd like to be something that can fly though. It'd very useful. Ideas?
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