Disclaimer :

Another chapters here,

Naught but the plot is mine,

J.K. Rowling fans have no fear,

The rest is hers and still divine.

(I'm never going to last, these poems are getting worse and worse … ;) )

Summary :

Harry goes somewhere during the summer holidays after his forth year. He comes back a year later to teach D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts).

Authors Note :

As is customary, I would like to begin by thanking all those who took the time to review. It's really encouraging to see that your story is appreciated by others. Thanks to : shdurrani, Wolfmoon (err, oops ? ;) Yes, it was a mistake, soon to be corrected.), Rachel A. Prongs, Phoenix353, BloodredSword, (blank), silverlime, silentchild, illustrious sorrow, A-man, chochang913 (who thrice left a comment grins) (Harry's trunk is based on Moody's trunk, but improoved to have actual rooms. Thanks for correcting the name of Ron's sword, I'll post it shortly. Draco might not necessarily be nice, he just doesn't want to be a death eater and dispises his father for trying to force him into becoming one. This leaves me some room to se if he will be nice or not. He had a hard upbringing, after all.), skysong (maybe …), a fan, Gearge Weasley and Deritine (More Snape. That should be possible. Let's see, dying a long and painful death that takes 2 chapters alone ? *Ducks overripe tomatoes, frying pans, and the entire 'Swinging Sixties' collection on 40 CD's* Kidding. ;) I'll see what I can do …).

To everyone : enjoy !!!

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Harry woke up from a magnificent dream. Of course, Cho was in it, but that's beside the point. He had been temped to dream hop, but decided to only do so when he was comfortable with his teaching, when he was in the rythme of things, and when Cho had settled down into a regular study habit.

They had stayed up about an hour more last night, talking about things Cho could do once she finished Hogwarts. Harry had suggested she become a teacher, and she didn't find it too bad an idea. She was best in charms and transfiguration, and they gave some serious thought about her becoming one of the teachers apprentices. But Harry wasn't worried, they still had many months before they had to come to a real choice.

Getting out of bed, he went through his morning exercice session, consisting of stretches to warm up and keep flexible, followed by a general workout. Harry could always use his training room in his trunk, but decided instead to have a small weapons training on the grounds. Putting his disguise on, he put on some light sports clothing, wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, and get his trusty warhammer, which he slung over his shoulder before heading down.

He reached the main doors before meeting someone. Dumbledore arrived at the same time, the twinkle in his eye ever present.

"Good morning James. Have a good night ?"

"Yes thanks, Albus. I slept like a baby. And yourself ? Did you ever stumble on the chamberpot-filled room again ?"

"I'm well. I never found the room again, but I still have hope. Lemon drop ?" he asked, holding out a tin Harry hadn't even seen him get from one of his pockets.

"No thanks. I'm just heading out for a small training session. See you at breakfast." Harry said, exiting the hall, meeting the fresh morning chill head on. Suppressing a shiver, Harry walked down next to the lake, where the giant squid was poking the odd tentacle through the waters surface, as if to test the air temperature. Harry removed his cloak and placed it under a tree overlooking the lake. Starting of with a warmup with the hammer, he progressively moved onto more complex and faster mouvements. He kept on like this, fighting an imaginary opponent, for about 45 minutes. His arms weren't aching, since he wasn't going out full strength, but he had still worked up a sweat. Once he had finished, he slowed down, finishing with a few small cooling-down mouvements and stretches. He stood there, warhammer in hand, breathing in the cool morning air, when he hear someone … applauding ? He turned to see Cho there clapping her hands, standing next to Hermione and Ron who were holding hands.

"Gee, Harry, that was brilliant," Ron blurted out, always straight to the point, earning an elbow to his ribs as Hermione glared slightly at her boyfriend.

Cho gave a big sigh, batting her eyelashes at Harry. "My hero, my saviour." She said in a girly manner, before giving another sigh. Hermione tried to hold in her giggles, resulting in making her snort loudly.

Harry grinned at his friends. "How long have you been watching ?"

"Not long, Harry. Only about 15 minutes or so," Hermione answered.

"Anyone want to join me for a swim ?" Harry asked. They all shook their heads, so Harry went to his cloak. With a wave of his wand, he was now dressing in some snazzy dark blue swimming trunks, revealing his muscular frame in he early light. They hadn't had the opportunity to see how much Harry had changed, so they gasped when they saw how many muscles Harry had gained to his training. Hearing them, Harry turned and struck several poses, causing Cho and Hermione to giggle and Ron to laugh. Harry ran to the lake and did a few lengths before coming back. Drying himself with a quick spell, he got dressed, slung his weapon over his shoulder and they all made their way towards the great hall.

"So, what lessons do you have today ?" Harry asked. He would have liked to hold Cho's hand, but they couldn't run the risk of being seen by another student or teacher.

"We've got double history of magic, followed by double transfiguration, and history of magic after lunch." Hermione answered. "What about you, Cho ?"

"Erm, Arithmancy and history of magic the morning, followed by DADA the afternoon. How's the new teacher ?" she asked Hermione, giving her a small wink.

"Ooohh, he's awful, worse than Snape. Really mean he is," as Harry and Ron looked at her, shocked.

"I heard he's really ugly aswell. Is that true ?" Cho carried on. The boys were now beyond horrified.

"Oh yeah. And he smells really bad …" Hermione answered. Harry caught on at that moment, leaving Ron confused alone.

"I've got the seventh year Ravenclaws this afternoon. I've heard they're a rowdy lot of lazy troublemakers. Do you know anything about that, Cho ?" Harry asked, giving the girls a smile. Ron still looked shocked, but was now looking at Harry instead.

"No more than the sixth year Gryffindors" Hermione quipped.

"The girls will be utter hell, then." Harry said, before laughing out loud. Hermione and Cho soon joined him, leaving Ron with a very puzzled look on his face as they entered the great hall.

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Harrys morning went relatively well. Apparently, the seventh-year Sytherins and Gryffindors had the hardest time keeping themselves away from each other. Hary had had to take several points off each house, although he had refrained from giving detention. He treasured his free time too much, although he was determined not to shy back if ever the need arose.

As it was, the lesson was finished, and no one had died. He could be at least a little happy at this miracle. He had a double serving of them first thing in the morning, leaving the rest of the time before lunch blissfully free. Harry considered taking a nap, but decided to put his time to good use. He would prepare for the worst, and add to the already numerous wards placed at Hogwarts. He left his classroom and went to his office, which was just next door.

Upon entering, he remembered the many times he had already visited this room. Most memerable was when under Lockharts occupation, when the room was covered in fan mail and moving pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart himself. Next came Remus Lupin's memory. The room was interesting them, a few objects here and there and maybe the odd dark creature even, kept away in some dark space. Lastly, Alastor 'Mad eye' Moody. The false one, anyway. Turns out he was a death eater under polyjuice potion. But the room had been filled with many strange and wonderful dark detectors, such as a sneakoscope or a foe glass.

Harry hadn't entered here yet, stalling the moment. He needn't have worried. All objects had been removed, leaving only a desk and a few chairs, empty bookshelves and cupboards on 2 sides of the room. Harry hoped that he would find a quill, a pot of ink and some parchment in the desk. Seeting himself, he started to go through the desk. He found the quill and the ink, but no parchment yet.

Upon opening the last drawer, he found a piece. It was a large, slightly dog-eared piece of parchment that seemed somewhat familiar. Than, it clicked. It was the marauders map. Taking his wand, he tapped it lightly, whispering 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' before ink lines started to draw the familiar sight. Once finished, he was presented with the map of Hogwarts. He was that Dumbledore was in his offine, that all the other teachers were busy giving their lessons, that Filch was on the opposite side of the castle with mrs Norris. And Peeves was zooming around in an empty corridor on the second floor. Tapping the map once again, whispering (despite being alone) 'mischief managed', he wiped the map blank. Folding it up, he put the map in his pocket.

He realized that there had been no parchment, so decided to work in his chambers. Exiting his office, he locked it and placed several wards on the door. Even though it was empty, he thought it best. 'Maybe Moodys CONSTANT VIGILANCE is starting to rub off on me' Harry thought as he made his way to his chambers …

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Harry was in his office, busy writing different wards and runes he planned on placing to increase the security. He wanted to make sure the common rooms were secure as well as the great hall. Next would come classrooms and teachers quarters, although they could probably put up their own personnalized wards. Harry realized that he hadn't placed any wards around his chambers yet.

Half an hour later, he had filled a roll of parchment with different security spells, such as activable shields, barriers, wards not allowing different kinds of spells being cast, and the like. He had also thought of placing transportation runes in key locations around the school. He knew apparition wasn't possible. After all, Hermione had told them that often enough. But no measures had been taken for rune magic. It hadn't been common back in Godrics time, and it was all but extinct in this time. So he could place a network of runes that would permit him to jump from one rune to another, making faster transportation. Of course, thay would have to be password activated, just to be sure.

When he was finally finished, he noticed that it was almost lunch time. Leaving the 2 pieces of parchment on his desk, he got up. Making sure his disguise was in place, he exited his chambers. On his way down, he didn't come across anyone. Upon arriving, there were a couple of teachers and students, along with the headmaster already there. Taking a place, he leaned back and put his feet on the table. There wasn't any food yet, so it didn't bother anyone, although he thought he saw one student point in his direction.

More students started to fill in, as well as teachers, so Harry sat up and removed his feet before the food. A few seconds later, the serving dishes were full of delicious food. Helping himself to a generous serving of everything, he started eating, sparing the odd glance to the students every now and then. Ron and Hermione were talking with their fellow Gryffindors. Ron seemed to be talking about quidditch with Dean and Seamus, since he was making big swooping gestures between bites, and Hermione seemed to be talking about some lessons with some 7th years, judging from the look on her face. Cho was also talking with her classmates, although Harry thought he saw her steal the odd glance in his direction. Once he was finished, he struct up a conversation with Mcgonagall, talking about lessons and the like.

Once lunch was over, the students started to leave to head to their next lessons. Harry stood up and went over to where Dumbledore was seated.

"Albus ?"

Turning, the headmaster look carefully at Harry. "Yes James ?"

"I have been looking at several different wards and additionnal security measures that could be taken. Perhaps we could go over them tonight."

"Yes, that would be an excellent idea. Perhaps at half-eight ?"

"Yes, that sounds good. In your office ?"

"That would be the best place."

"See you later then." Harry concluded, standing straight and heading off to his classes. Arriving, he saw the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students lined up against the wall. Passing them, he opened the door and entered the students following and taking their seats. They weren't very nervous, since they had asked their younger housemates how he gave lessons.

Harry stood behind the desk, waiting for the students to take their seats. Once everyone was seated, he took the roll call. Once that formality was done, he got started. "Good morning class. As you probably know by now, I'm professor Andrews, and I'll be giving you this years DADA lessons. This is your seventh and final year, and you will be learning many advanced curses and counter-curses, as well as the most dangerous dark creatures. Now, what are the darkest curses that exist ?" Several hands shot up, and Harry chose a Hufflepuff boy.

"The unforgivables, sir. The killing curse, the Cruciatus curse and the Imperius curse."

"Correct, 2 points to Hufflepuff. Now, those curses were normally seen when you were in your forth year. They require a lot of power behind them, so we will be seeing some weaker but more common versions. Localised pain, partial control, and the like. They also have their equivalent in potions, so we will be seeing those later on. Now, who here was able to resist the Imperius curse, even if it was only partially or for a short time ?" Only 4 hands went up, Cho included. "Okay, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Not many people can throw it off partially, let alone completely. And they are often used in such a way that the person doesn't realize they are being controlled." A huffepuff girl raised her hand. "Yes ?"

"Erm, sir, what's the use of partial control spells ?"

"Good question. I'll show you with a practical example." Harry took out his wand. "Curse me."

"Erm, sir ?" she said, hesitantly.

"Attack me, with any localized curse you want. Except the unforgivables, of course. And I'll use a curse that controls your wrist."

She stood and took out her wand. She obviously didn't want to attack a teacher, especially on her first lesson. She pointed her wand at Harry, and weakly muttered "Expelliarmus". Behore she completed the incantation, Harry flicked his wand to the side and muttered a small spell, causing her wrist to pivot. The spell flew across the room, narrowly missing one or two students and finally hitting the wall.

"Thank you. You may be seated." She hurredly sat down again. "Now, I didn't bother to direct it against anyone. But the spell takes relatively little effort to cast. Imagine I had caused you to aim for an ally during a battle, it would be much more effective."

The lesson continued, with Harry casting the odd control spell now and again, making their wrists jerk out of line when they were writing, making them leave long ink streaks on their parchments. No one noticed he was doing it, and they thought it was their own doing. It was actually rather funny to see the odd student concentrating, then have their arm jerk, followed by some mild cursing.

Every so often, he would catch Cho looking at him intently, or giving him a quick glance when the others were copying something of interest down. Harry managed to curse her, but instead of making her arm jerk, he made her write 'I love you'. She gaped a bit when she saw what she had written. She looked up and saw Harry smiling. Blushing slightly, she continued to write as if nothing had happened. Harry hoped whe wouldn't lend her notes. Not soon, anyway.

The rest of the lesson went smoothly. Harry had the students try the wrist-control curse on each other. He had to do it one at a time, to avoid random spells being sent all over the place. Harry had placed a target on the wall, and points were awarded whenever the deviated spell hit the target. No-one had managed, although a few students had been close. They had recieved a few points, since they were the most successful.

The end-of-lesson bell rang. The students packed their books, and left the class, talking about the lesson they had just had. Harry was relieved that they had enjoyed it. At least, those he heard had been positive. He also heard a comment from a Hufflepuff, describing him as 'hot' before giggling. Cho looked his way, winking before she followed her friends back to their common room.

Harry was happy. He had already been teaching for three whole days. People liked his lessons, no one had died or even gotten injured, which was a feat in itself. He enjoyed being back, being able to talk with his friends once again. And yet, there was still a shadow, hanging over him : Voldemort. Made worse by the fact that Fudge wasn't acknowledging his return and therefore taking no measures to fight him. Harry knew that old Voldie would stop at nothing to reach him. And who knows what he was doing at the moment. Snape sometimes gave a bit of information, since Dumbledore had asked that he play spy once again. But Voldemort didn't trust him completely yet, and didn't give him much information. And the little he had brought back wasn't useful by itself. Still, it was better than nothing. They knew that Voldemort still hadn't completely recuperated, so that was something.

However, each time Snape came back, he said that the number of Death Eaters was increasing. Slowly, but surely. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had another spy among the newly recruited, but chose not to ask. If Dumbledore wanted him to know, he would tell him when the time was right.

Looking out the window, Harry saw that it was still bright outside. Deciding to leave such dark thoughts to another time, he pushed them to the back of his mind and left the classroom to regain his chambers, locking the door behind him.

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The rest of the day up till dinner went well. Harry had advanced DADA tomorrow. At the end of the fifth year, students could choose additionnal advanced courses, or start accelerated basic courses they wish they could have taken back in the third year. Of course, Ron and Hermione had taken advanced DADA, as had Cho the year before. Harry remembered Rons letter when they had had to choose, saying that Hermione wanted to take everything, and that Hermiones letter had ranting about the merits od advanced Arithmancy. He had spent the afternoon setting up what he would do for his lessons. He had a double serving of sixth years the first two periods of the morning, and seventh years after, leaving him with the whole afternoon free. One lesson out of two would be physical training, the other dueling, curses, and shields.

Dinner was an uneventful happening aswell. You could really tell that the Weasley twins had left. Not that people were sad or anything like that, simply that random food items didn't explode, or people didn't suddenly change colour during their meal. It was sad, in a way, Harry thought, that they hadn't managed to find their replacements. Although nothing prevented him from doing anything. And Dobby was sure to help him with spiking the food, he thought with a smile on his face.

The meal ended, and the students left the great hall to go to their respective common rooms. Hermione was already studying like her life depended on it, and Ron, being her boyfriend, studied with her. Of course, he just said it was beacuse he wanted to get better grades, but everyone knew better. Cho was also studying. She was in her very last year, and NEWTS awaited her at the end. But her grades had been excellent up till now, no reason that that would suddenly change.

Dumbledore stood, and Harry followed suit. They left the great hall, heading towards Dumbledores office to discuss the additionnal security measures Harry wanted to place.

"Well James, are you holding out well ?"

"I'm fine thanks. It's going much better than I expected. I was nervous, but starting with the relatively tame fifth years, I gained confidence."

"It's good. I'm sure you make your lessons interesting."

They were still chatting away when they arrived at the stone gargoyle. Giving the password ("Ice Mice"), the statue moved aside, letting them enter. Once inside the office, Dumbledore took his place behind his desk and Harry took a seat.

"Now James. You said you wanted to add additionnal wards. Do you think they will be useful ?"

"Yes sir. I won't be adding additionnal wards to the whole castle, since the ancient wards are still strong, and will be for a long time. I was more thinking of localized wards, on classrooms, chambers, and common rooms."

"Will they interfere with the original wards ?"

"I'll have to do a little research, but normally not. The wards are implemented in the castle itself, and deeply rooted in the surrounding area. The wards I want to place could be considered as surface protection."

"You have a list ?" Harry removed the rolls of parchment from one of the numerous inside pockets his cloak had, and gave them to the headmaster. He unrolled them and started to scan. "What about the transportation runes ?"

"They are runes that would be placed at key locations, mainly classrooms, the staffs personnal quarters, house common rooms and the great hall. They would let me move from one place to another in a short amount of time."

"Wouldn't they let anyone use them ?"

"No. I can make them invisible, and password activated. The password could be disactivated in emergencies, such as requiring the moving of large amounts of people. Getting students back to their common rooms, for example.

"And what about the great hall ?" Dumbledore asked, still skimming through the wards Harry had written down.

"Protection shields placed around the tables, the aforementionned transportation runes. Maybe even the possibility of moving down into the kitchens if an attack occurs.

Dumbledore stayed silent, finishing looking through the scrolls. "Well, this seems satisfactory. You have certainly given this a lot of thought. However, I'm still not sure how much this would interfere with the original wards. Could you do some research to this effect, and come back when you have found what you need ?"

"That shouldn't be a problem Albus. I might have to go into the restricted section, though …"

"Which shouldn't be a problem, since you're a teacher. No need to use your invisibility cloak anymore," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Well, if there's nothing more, I'll head back to my quarters. Lessons, tomorrow. Oh, before I forget, is there anything new concerning Draco Malfoy ?"

"Yes, Snape has spoken with the lad. He is not ready to be a spy, so arrangements will be taken to remove him from his fathers care. However, this will be difficult, since Fudge still doesn't believe if Voldemorts return. However, if we can proove his return and the existance of several notorious Death Eaters in the ministry, then it should be possible."

"Okay. I would like to provide him with a portkey for when he returns home, so that if the pressure becomes too great, he could go to a place where he would be secure."

"Yes, that would be good. However, he will probably be staying in the castle during the holidays, and I see no reason why Lucius would come and force his to return home, so you still have a little time before this is necessary. However, we can never be too sure. Is that all ?"

"Yes, sir. Good night."

"Good night, Harry …" Dumbledore answered, as Harry left his office …

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Authors Notes :

Here it is. I finally got another chapter up. I've been really busy, so I apologize. School professors have been really piling on the work, and I regularlly go to bed at 1 or 2 in the morning. I'll survive though. And I should be able to get a couple of chapters up when the winter holidays arrive.

This chapter was a bit slower than most. It's more of an explaination of what will be happening during the students school year, and what Harry plans to do. Action will come, so be patient … please? … Pretty please ? …. With a cherry on top … (starts grovelling at the readers feet, drops of drool making small puddles on the floor). Okay. That's it. I'll update as soon as I can.