Harry was depressed, really depressed. That wretched witch Umbridge had
just caught him when he was attempting to have a conversation with his
godfather, Sirius Black, who is wanted by both the muggle world and the
wizarding world.
He was standing in front of Umbridge's desk, which had the label
'headmistress' on it in big, bold, shiny, golden letters, as if she was
afraid people will not be able to see it.
"So, Mr. Potter, did you think that you could do this little, scheme, should I say," Umbridge smirked, "Without me detecting it? Just who do you think you are? I have charms upon charms set in my office in case something tries to break in."
Harry didn't say anything, he could bring himself to actually have a civil conversation with Umbridge, he knew that if he did say something, he there would probably be an argument between the two of them, a big one, no doubt.
"Tell me Harry, who were you trying to contact? Albus Dumbledore? Hagrid? Sirius?" Umbridge asked as she drew out her wand. "I don't have any Veritaserum right now, and to brew another bottle quite a long time, so I think that the Cruciatis Curse will do nicely to loosen your tongue, would you say?"
She was now aiming her wand around his body, obviously trying to find where it would hurt him the most, then her wand stopped at his torso, she drew a breath, and shouted, "Cruc-"
The door to her office bursted open, a wizard wearing a velvet black robe came in, followed closely by Snape. To Harry's surprise, Umbridge looked a bit nervous, and had actually hid her wand away.
"This is ridiculous, you weren't just about to use the Cruciatis Curse on the boy, were you?" the wizard asked Umbridge, who was shaking her head violently.
"Oh, no, no, that's illegal, I would never do something like that." Umbridge said in her fake cheerful voice, which obviously did not impress the wizard, because he frowned and pointed to the door.
"Out, and never come back to Hogwarts again. If I see you here, you will have your wand snapped in two," He then whispered in a dangerously low voice, "and you know I'm not joking with you."
"Yes, yes of course, I'll just get my things, and, er" Umbridge didn't finish the sentence, for the wizard in front of her was glaring at her, and she immediately rushed out of the door.
"Shall I leave you two alone, then?" Snape asked, and in a voice that sounded like he might actually show some respect to the man in front of him who had just sacked Umbridge.
"Yes, Sev, you do that." The man said in a much softer voice as if he had never had that outburst.
"See you around then." Snape said as he turned to leave.
"Close the door on your way out, Sev." The man said, while taking a seat in Umbridge's chair.
'Sev? The guy had the guts to call his potions master Sev? And he's not blasted into pieces yet? Who is he?' Harry wondered as he looked at the man, trying to remember where he had seen the face before, but it did not help at all.
"Mr. Potter, take a seat." The man said as he waved his wand to conjure up a chair.
Harry sat down and tried not to stare at the man, as much as he wanted to get even a glance at his face.
He waved again and all Umbridge's things disappeared, instead, there were bright gold and red decorations, a shelve full of books, another full of potion ingredients, a closet, and a couple of comfy-looking couches.
'Was he a Gryffindor before?' Harry wondered.
"So, Harry," The man paused to look at his face, then grinned, "I'm going to be your new headmaster and Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, how do you feel about that?"
"Nothing really," Harry said, he didn't really want to talk to anyone, "Are you the High Inquisitor as well?"
"As a matter of fact, yes I am." The man said, "You may address me as Professor Seleo, or simply Seleo if you wish, I don't care either way."
"Er, sure, er, Professor Seleo." Harry said, he wasn't sure what he should call him.
"Very well, go back to you Common Room now, I'll see you tomorrow in class." Seleo said casually.
"Right," Harry said as he turned to go, "Er, thank you professor, I don't know what could have happened if you didn't show up in time."
"Sure thing, I never did like Umbridge much, too picky, and always nosey too." He said and then chuckled, "Where do you reckon she'll go?"
"Back to where she belongs," Harry said, then remembered that he didn't know where she belongs, "Er, probably to Fudge."
"Yes, that's what I would say, probably, but you never know." He muttered, more to himself than to Harry.
"Right then, you're free to go." Seleo said, then turned his attention to loads of paper works on his desk, muttering to himself as he worked.
Harry went back to the Common Room, which was filled with people to find out what had happened, apparently, words had leaked out that Umbridge had just been sacked, and Harry was there to watch, again, Harry found himself the center of attention, which he did not like.
They kept on hitting him with waves of questions, until finally when professor McGonagall came in and told them that she would take fifty points off from Gryffindor if they didn't all go to bed in 3 minutes, and that, of course, quieted everyone down as they all went to their dormitory.
Harry had difficulties sleeping at night, Seleo had asked him how he feels about him being the headmaster and one of the professors, and he had saved him from probably what would turn out to be a murder case. He had felt comfortable talking to him, Harry had saw Seleo as a father for himself more than anything, what does all these mean? Harry thought about it over and over again till he fell asleep at almost dawn.
Harry didn't go to breakfast the next day, he was too sleepy to care, but by the time they had finished History of Magic with Binns, he was starving. He only hoped that he would not pass out in Defense Against Dark Arts.
He walked into the classroom, which was already half filled with people, and found a seat between Ron and Hermione. At the exacted second that the class started, Seleo walked through the door in a way that made Harry think of Snape.
"Right then," Seleo said, "As you all know, you're welcome to refer to me as Seleo or professor Seleo, I don't really care, and I'll be teaching your class. Now, I've combined Gryffindor with Slytherin, of course, I hope you don't mind."
He waited for a response, and most people didn't answer him. Surprisingly, he took a seat at his desk, "Well, I guess we can just sit here and wait for the bell."
Ron reached for his book bag to get something to read after about two minutes of sitting there doing nothing.
"Five points off Gryffindor," Seleo said, "When I said sit, I meant sit and nothing else, do you see me doing anything else except for sitting here, Mr. Weasley?"
"Er, no sir." Ron said, blushing.
"Good then sit and wait for you responds then." Seleo said.
"We don't mind sir," more people said, but most people still kept their jaws shut.
More points were deducted from Slytherin and Gryffindor as people who didn't answer got rest less and started to whisper, or try to whisper.
After about ten minutes or so, everybody had given in and answered the professor. Harry, who didn't want to answer, was blackmailed into answering by Hermione, who whispered the threat of not letting him copy her History of Magic notes, Seleo didn't hear this, or maybe he had but simply choose to ignore it, either way, the threat has gotten Harry to answer, and soon the class was starting.
"Very good, that took less time than I thought, from what I heard, Sev, er, professor Snape has told me that these two houses never got along well, I intend to change that." Seleo said as soon as everyone has replied to his question earlier.
"Now, let's start, today you will be learning how to shield yourself, in other words, the Shield Charm. Now, the word is Protego and the trick is timing, you must ready yourself for the perfect time to use the charm, using it too soon or too later could cause it to only reflect half of the curse, and your aim is to reflect the whole curse back to your enemy. Any volunteers for doing the demonstration?" Seleo looked around, nobody had put their hand up, Harry had a feeling that he was going to do what he had done before, and Harry was right.
Seleo had turned to sit back at his desk, "Well, how do you expect me to teach you when you don't even want to learn? I suppose we could all sit and-"
Seleo didn't need to finish his sentence, because Harry had put his hand up, he hated sitting there doing nothing, and he had thought that it would be fun trying to out do his teacher. The main reason holding him back was Malfoy, he was a bit afraid that he would make a fool out of himself and cause Malfoy to have another excuse to provoke him in the hallways.
"Yes Mr. Potter," Seleo had grimaced when he was saying his name, as if it brought back some very painful memory, "Would you like to assist me then?"
Harry nodded, he didn't really want to talk to the man who hates saying his name, and probably hates him altogether.
"Good, come up here, wand out." Seleo has stood up from his desk and was now in front of the class, "Very good figure. Figure is very important when you're doing a spell, it will help you to bring out the magic, or it could make your spell go horribly wrong sometimes."
Seleo was now holding his wand also, and standing gracefully in front of Harry, who was a bit nervous about fighting his own professor.
"Now, we'll do this as if we were dueling, because that's when the Shield Charm is often needed. I trust that you have been told about dueling?" Seleo asked.
"Yes, but by Lockhart." Harry said.
"Oh, well, er, I'm sure that'll be ok, all wizards duel the same no matter how bad they are."
At that, Seleo had earned some hisses from the girls in the class, "Yes, I have to say that he is a lady's man, but he is absolutely dreadful at teaching and spells, isn't he?"
Nobody could argue with that, Lockhart had thought that Pixies were dangerous, which proved what Seleo was saying.
"Now, let's get on with the lesson, shall we?" Seleo had asked, but it wasn't really much of a question.
Harry and Seleo had bowed to each other, then turned to walk 3 steps, turned to face each other again, and positioned themselves.
"Now Mr. Potter, I will be doing a simple stunning spell on you, and you will be trying to reflect it back to me."
"Yes sir." Harry said, he felt a lump in his throat, and an uneasy feeling he had in his stomach.
"Ready then," Seleo paused, "You all know of course, that in a duel nobody is going to tell you what they're going to do, let alone ask if you're ready."
"Yes sir." Harry wasn't really sure if that had been meant for the class or him, but he was the only one who answered.
"Now, then, that was lame." Seleo said, "You all should know to never take your eyes off your opponent, even if you're speaking to your students, so therefore, I can't turn to you when I speak, but I still expect an answer."
"Yes sir." Everyone in the class shouted.
"Good," His eyes have yet to leave Harry's, "Ready Mr. Potter, on three. One, two, stupefy."
"Protego." Harry shouted, hoping that the stunning course wouldn't hit him, it didn't, well, a bit.
"Right, good job on a first try, Mr. Potter." Seleo said, now standing up straight and smiling, "You've reflected half the curse, which is why you're not stunned right now, but you've only reflected half, which is why you're not feeling very well and I'm standing here in perfect health condition."
Harry heard a snicker from one of the students, he turned his head, and saw immediately that it was Malfoy.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, thank you for volunteering, I do need another demonstration, come up here then." Seleo said, Harry turned to look at him, caught his eyes, and could have sworn that Seleo winked at him like he had seen so many times in his dream like his father would have done to him.
Draco Malfoy walked slowly up to the front of the class, and went through the duel with Seleo, he hadn't even manage to reflect half of the curse, and it was not a simple stunning curse that Seleo had used on him. It was an Itch Charm, which makes the victim terribly itchy, the charm it self lasts for about 2 hours, and Seleo has no intention of performing a counter curse on Malfoy.
By the end of the class, everyone has gone through the Shielding Charm, a few were able to reflect half of it, but some, like Neville, couldn't even say the charm right. Seleo has added 20 points to Slytherin, and 25 points to Gryffindor. "A thank you gift for Mr. Potter to first volunteer." Seleo had explained when the Slytherins complained.
The next was double potions also with Slytherin, Harry was surprised to find out that Seleo will be inspecting Snape's class.
Seleo was sitting comfortably at Snape's desk when the class began, and Snape bursted through the doors as usual. He glanced at Seleo, sitting at his desk, but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to the students, "We'll be making the Dreamless Sleeping Potion today, it's quite complicated, so try and follow the instructions, and Mr. Longbottom, if the cauldron explodes again, I will have to minus fifty points from Gryffindor. Do you understand me?"
"Y, Yes sir." Neville said in a higher-than-normal voice.
"Begin with your potion, you have the two whole blocks." Snape said, then turned to face Seleo.
"Quite a class you have here, Sev." Seleo said, grinning.
"You have the same class that I do Seleo." Snape said, and walked pass him to sit down at his desk. "Do me a favor and make sure that they don't blow up the dungeon, will you?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure none of them are as clumsy as you are," Seleo said, paused to watch Snape for a second, "You did, after all, blow up the lab in your second year."
Giggles could be heard from the students, Harry was having his own difficulties with suppressing his laugh.
"Yes, I'm sure the students don't need to know that." Snape stared at Seleo, "So just do whatever it is that you do, and go."
"Fine," Seleo said, "But what did you add to your potion? I just have to know."
"Nothing, my wand slipped. Now go and check on them, it's been ten minutes, and this is usually when things go horribly wrong."
"If you say so, Sev." Seleo said, and started to stroll along the rows of students, correcting their potion here and there.
He walked to Harry, and chuckled when he saw his potion. "Mr. Potter, the potion is not meant to be red, it's suppose to be clear, what happened?"
"I don't know sir," Harry replied, he really doesn't, he had followed every instruction on the board.
"Er, Sev, why would a potion be red?" Seleo turned to the front desk.
"Red? It's probably because he didn't add the powdered moonstone, so it doesn't turn clear." Snape said without lifting his head up. Harry was shocked to see that his potions professor had his head down and was resting on his desk, looks like he was almost about to fall asleep too.
"Who's potion turned red?" Snape asked.
"Harry Potter." Seleo said, that was the first time Harry had heard him speak his full name.
"Like father like son, then." Snape said.
"I thought James was quite skilled at potions." Seleo said, Harry jerked his head to look at him, 'he had known my father.' Harry thought.
"James skilled at potions?" Snape was now walking over to where Seleo stood, which was right beside Harry, "James was good at transfiguration, sure, Defense Against Dark Arts, yeah, a bit, but not Potions, I ought to know, that was where I was best."
"Of course, Sev, of course, but James hadn't blown up the lab, did he now?" Seleo said. By now, students were looking their way.
"I've told you, it was an accident, and your were-wolf is okay now, isn't he?" Snape raised his voice a bit, which was highly unusual.
"He would have been better off without that scare on his leg." Seleo was now too, shouting a bit.
Snape didn't say anything, he looked around, and the students went back to their potion immediately.
"I said I didn't mean to, how was I suppose to know that." Snape didn't even finish his sentence, because Neville's cauldron has just exploded, and the poor boy was terrified.
"Fifty points off of Gryffindor." Snape roared in rage.
"Fine, be that way Sev, fifty points off of Slytherin." Seleo bellowed in equal rage.
"What for?" Snape had just regained his cool, but he still looked like he was about to hex Seleo any time now.
"For blowing up the dungeon," Seleo said, "Old Hammet didn't minus points for that, did he now."
Seleo turned to leave, but not before doing something to Snape, "Stupefy." He yelled.
"Protego." Harry heard Snape yell just in time to reflect the whole curse back to Seleo, who had gracefully dodged it, causing it to hit the back wall.
"And that students, is how the Shielding Charm is done." Seleo said just before he took his leave.
"What are you all gawking at? Get back to work. Twenty points off of both houses." Snape shouted before turning back to his desk.
The Slytherins looked horrified, their own head of the house, taking points off, guess there is a first for everything.
Harry could not but notice that Snape was not as mad as he appeared to be, he seemed to have a smirk on his face when he turned for his desk.
By the end of the day Harry was starving, he was like a pig when they were at dinner, much to Hermione's disgust.
They went up to their usual spots in the Common Room, and finished up their homework, Ron was anxious because he has Quidditch practice later on, "You know what you should do, Harry," Ron said just before he left. "You should ask Seleo to let you lot back on the team, I think he likes Gryffindor, and besides, we still haven't found a seeker or beaters yet."
"I think that's a great idea, Ron." Hermione said, "Really Harry, you should do that right now."
Harry thought about it for a minute, and then agreed with Hermione, "Ron, go ahead, hopefully I'll be joining you later."
Harry ran to Seleo's office, and was hoping that he could persuade him to let Harry back on the team again. He knocked three times, and the door opened, "Come on in." Harry heard Seleo's voice.
"Er, professor Seleo, sir," Harry said, he was suddenly really nervous. "I was, er, wondering if, er, you see, Umbridge had banned me, Fred and George from playing Quidditch, and I was wondering if you could let us back on the team."
"She banned you from playing Quidditch?" Seleo asked, he seemed really angry.
"Yeah, she said we're not allowed to play, and locked out broomsticks away." Harry said.
"Sure, you can play again, follow me, I'll go and get your broom." Seleo rose from his seat and went straight for the dungeons, "What position do you play, Harry?"
"Seeker," Harry said.
"Just like your father, he would have been proud of you." Seleo said.
"You knew my father?" Harry asked, curious.
"Yes, very well." Seleo said, "I was very close with your father."
"Then you know he's a jerk, from what he did to Snape." Harry said.
"Professor Snape, Harry." Seleo said, he sounded a bit guilty. "Your father didn't mean to, he was immature."
"I'm the same as his age right now, you don't see me doing that to anybody." Harry said bitterly.
"Harry," Seleo had stopped and turned to him. "Your father is forgiven for what he has done by Severus already, I'm hoping you would forgive him too, for just being a bastard."
"He was NOT a bastard, he was just being immature, like you said earlier." Harry shouted. He still didn't like anyone insulting his family members.
"If you say so." Seleo said happily, and Harry realized that the insults were just a way to make him admit he doesn't hate his father.
"So, you seem very close with Sn, Professor Snape too." Harry said.
"I am, we're half brothers." Seleo said, "But don't tell anyone, he doesn't like people to know that he still have human emotion left in him."
They both chuckled at that, and Harry was surprised to see that they have arrived at the dungeon already.
Their broomsticks were nailed to the wall with some massive nails, and then bonded with steel chain.
"Do you think you can get that out, Sir?" Harry asked, he then realized that he had sounded extremely rude to his teacher, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound rude."
"Don't worry about it, I think I can get it out, do you still want your broom in one piece?" Seleo asked.
Seleo took one look at Harry and started laughing, Harry didn't know that it was meant to be a joke, and thought that Seleo has to break his broomstick, and he looked absolutely terrified at that thought.
"Don't worry, I was just joking, here." Seleo muttered something under his breath, the chains and nails fell off the wall immediately.
"Thank you professor." Harry said, he wanted to hug Seleo, but controlled his urge.
"Sure thing, hey, is that a firebolt? Did Sirius buy you that?" Seleo asked."
"Yeah, he did," Harry answered, confused, "How did you know?"
"Er, I was close with your father, and Sirius was like James' twin, if you befriend one of them, you befriend both of them." Seleo said.
"He's innocent." Harry said, he wasn't sure what made him say it out loud, or what made him trust Seleo with that information.
"I know," Seleo said, "If you really knew Sirius, or James for that matter, you would know that the man is innocent."
"Were you a Marauder?" Harry suddenly asked as they made their way up.
"Yes." Seleo said, then chuckled, "I suppose you have the cloak and the map?"
"Yeah, Dumbledore gave me the cloak in my first year, and the Weasley twins gave me the map in my third year."
"The Weasley twins? Fred and George? How did they get the map? I thought Filch had it."
"He did, but they managed to, er, borrow it." Harry suddenly realized that he was trusting the man with information that he wouldn't even tell Dumbledore.
Seleo noted the expression on Harry's face, "Don't worry, I was quite the trouble-maker when I was here, so I don't think I'll punish the twins just yet."
Harry grinned at that, he had a feeling that Seleo was quite trustworthy the first time he saw him, and this has proven him to be right.
"Harry," Seleo said, going on to first names, "Do you really hate your father?"
"No, I'm just surprised that he would do something like that to Professor Snape, but at least my mom was decent."
"Yes, Lily was always the wise one," Seleo murmured, more to himself than to Harry. "Oh, go on and practice Quidditch now, go on, you don't want to be late."
Harry walked away, he had a feeling that he went a bit too far in bringing back Seleo's memories, but nevertheless, he found himself thinking about the man, Seleo has to be working for Dumbledore, he just has to be.
The whole Gryffindor team was thrilled with the idea of Harry and the Weasley twins coming back on the team, "So now we'll be able to beat the Slytherins for sure, right Harry?" Fred had asked before the practice, he was in a really good mood, as were all the other Gryffindors.
Harry had to admit, they have a really good team this year, with three Weasleys and himself on the team, not to mention three fabulous chasers, not to mention Ginny could always fill in for one of the chasers if something went wrong, Harry had no doubt that they'll make a great team, even without wood.
Quidditch practice was really really great for Harry, he had missed flying around on his Firebolt, since it was locked up in the dungeons, and he had missed all the stunts he could pull off when he was on a broom.
After the practice, he went straight back to the Common Room to finish his homework, which was mainly the four-feet long potions essay on how the moonstone was able to help in potion making.
He went to bed very late that day, thinking about what has happened so far; he was banned from playing Quidditch ever again in his life by his professor; he was rescued by a stranger from the Cruciatis Cruse that one of his professors had been trying to put him through, and he met a really wonderful professor who helped him to be released from the Quidditch ban, not to mention that the new professor makes Harry feel all warm inside, like the father-figure that was missing from his life.
"So, Mr. Potter, did you think that you could do this little, scheme, should I say," Umbridge smirked, "Without me detecting it? Just who do you think you are? I have charms upon charms set in my office in case something tries to break in."
Harry didn't say anything, he could bring himself to actually have a civil conversation with Umbridge, he knew that if he did say something, he there would probably be an argument between the two of them, a big one, no doubt.
"Tell me Harry, who were you trying to contact? Albus Dumbledore? Hagrid? Sirius?" Umbridge asked as she drew out her wand. "I don't have any Veritaserum right now, and to brew another bottle quite a long time, so I think that the Cruciatis Curse will do nicely to loosen your tongue, would you say?"
She was now aiming her wand around his body, obviously trying to find where it would hurt him the most, then her wand stopped at his torso, she drew a breath, and shouted, "Cruc-"
The door to her office bursted open, a wizard wearing a velvet black robe came in, followed closely by Snape. To Harry's surprise, Umbridge looked a bit nervous, and had actually hid her wand away.
"This is ridiculous, you weren't just about to use the Cruciatis Curse on the boy, were you?" the wizard asked Umbridge, who was shaking her head violently.
"Oh, no, no, that's illegal, I would never do something like that." Umbridge said in her fake cheerful voice, which obviously did not impress the wizard, because he frowned and pointed to the door.
"Out, and never come back to Hogwarts again. If I see you here, you will have your wand snapped in two," He then whispered in a dangerously low voice, "and you know I'm not joking with you."
"Yes, yes of course, I'll just get my things, and, er" Umbridge didn't finish the sentence, for the wizard in front of her was glaring at her, and she immediately rushed out of the door.
"Shall I leave you two alone, then?" Snape asked, and in a voice that sounded like he might actually show some respect to the man in front of him who had just sacked Umbridge.
"Yes, Sev, you do that." The man said in a much softer voice as if he had never had that outburst.
"See you around then." Snape said as he turned to leave.
"Close the door on your way out, Sev." The man said, while taking a seat in Umbridge's chair.
'Sev? The guy had the guts to call his potions master Sev? And he's not blasted into pieces yet? Who is he?' Harry wondered as he looked at the man, trying to remember where he had seen the face before, but it did not help at all.
"Mr. Potter, take a seat." The man said as he waved his wand to conjure up a chair.
Harry sat down and tried not to stare at the man, as much as he wanted to get even a glance at his face.
He waved again and all Umbridge's things disappeared, instead, there were bright gold and red decorations, a shelve full of books, another full of potion ingredients, a closet, and a couple of comfy-looking couches.
'Was he a Gryffindor before?' Harry wondered.
"So, Harry," The man paused to look at his face, then grinned, "I'm going to be your new headmaster and Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, how do you feel about that?"
"Nothing really," Harry said, he didn't really want to talk to anyone, "Are you the High Inquisitor as well?"
"As a matter of fact, yes I am." The man said, "You may address me as Professor Seleo, or simply Seleo if you wish, I don't care either way."
"Er, sure, er, Professor Seleo." Harry said, he wasn't sure what he should call him.
"Very well, go back to you Common Room now, I'll see you tomorrow in class." Seleo said casually.
"Right," Harry said as he turned to go, "Er, thank you professor, I don't know what could have happened if you didn't show up in time."
"Sure thing, I never did like Umbridge much, too picky, and always nosey too." He said and then chuckled, "Where do you reckon she'll go?"
"Back to where she belongs," Harry said, then remembered that he didn't know where she belongs, "Er, probably to Fudge."
"Yes, that's what I would say, probably, but you never know." He muttered, more to himself than to Harry.
"Right then, you're free to go." Seleo said, then turned his attention to loads of paper works on his desk, muttering to himself as he worked.
Harry went back to the Common Room, which was filled with people to find out what had happened, apparently, words had leaked out that Umbridge had just been sacked, and Harry was there to watch, again, Harry found himself the center of attention, which he did not like.
They kept on hitting him with waves of questions, until finally when professor McGonagall came in and told them that she would take fifty points off from Gryffindor if they didn't all go to bed in 3 minutes, and that, of course, quieted everyone down as they all went to their dormitory.
Harry had difficulties sleeping at night, Seleo had asked him how he feels about him being the headmaster and one of the professors, and he had saved him from probably what would turn out to be a murder case. He had felt comfortable talking to him, Harry had saw Seleo as a father for himself more than anything, what does all these mean? Harry thought about it over and over again till he fell asleep at almost dawn.
Harry didn't go to breakfast the next day, he was too sleepy to care, but by the time they had finished History of Magic with Binns, he was starving. He only hoped that he would not pass out in Defense Against Dark Arts.
He walked into the classroom, which was already half filled with people, and found a seat between Ron and Hermione. At the exacted second that the class started, Seleo walked through the door in a way that made Harry think of Snape.
"Right then," Seleo said, "As you all know, you're welcome to refer to me as Seleo or professor Seleo, I don't really care, and I'll be teaching your class. Now, I've combined Gryffindor with Slytherin, of course, I hope you don't mind."
He waited for a response, and most people didn't answer him. Surprisingly, he took a seat at his desk, "Well, I guess we can just sit here and wait for the bell."
Ron reached for his book bag to get something to read after about two minutes of sitting there doing nothing.
"Five points off Gryffindor," Seleo said, "When I said sit, I meant sit and nothing else, do you see me doing anything else except for sitting here, Mr. Weasley?"
"Er, no sir." Ron said, blushing.
"Good then sit and wait for you responds then." Seleo said.
"We don't mind sir," more people said, but most people still kept their jaws shut.
More points were deducted from Slytherin and Gryffindor as people who didn't answer got rest less and started to whisper, or try to whisper.
After about ten minutes or so, everybody had given in and answered the professor. Harry, who didn't want to answer, was blackmailed into answering by Hermione, who whispered the threat of not letting him copy her History of Magic notes, Seleo didn't hear this, or maybe he had but simply choose to ignore it, either way, the threat has gotten Harry to answer, and soon the class was starting.
"Very good, that took less time than I thought, from what I heard, Sev, er, professor Snape has told me that these two houses never got along well, I intend to change that." Seleo said as soon as everyone has replied to his question earlier.
"Now, let's start, today you will be learning how to shield yourself, in other words, the Shield Charm. Now, the word is Protego and the trick is timing, you must ready yourself for the perfect time to use the charm, using it too soon or too later could cause it to only reflect half of the curse, and your aim is to reflect the whole curse back to your enemy. Any volunteers for doing the demonstration?" Seleo looked around, nobody had put their hand up, Harry had a feeling that he was going to do what he had done before, and Harry was right.
Seleo had turned to sit back at his desk, "Well, how do you expect me to teach you when you don't even want to learn? I suppose we could all sit and-"
Seleo didn't need to finish his sentence, because Harry had put his hand up, he hated sitting there doing nothing, and he had thought that it would be fun trying to out do his teacher. The main reason holding him back was Malfoy, he was a bit afraid that he would make a fool out of himself and cause Malfoy to have another excuse to provoke him in the hallways.
"Yes Mr. Potter," Seleo had grimaced when he was saying his name, as if it brought back some very painful memory, "Would you like to assist me then?"
Harry nodded, he didn't really want to talk to the man who hates saying his name, and probably hates him altogether.
"Good, come up here, wand out." Seleo has stood up from his desk and was now in front of the class, "Very good figure. Figure is very important when you're doing a spell, it will help you to bring out the magic, or it could make your spell go horribly wrong sometimes."
Seleo was now holding his wand also, and standing gracefully in front of Harry, who was a bit nervous about fighting his own professor.
"Now, we'll do this as if we were dueling, because that's when the Shield Charm is often needed. I trust that you have been told about dueling?" Seleo asked.
"Yes, but by Lockhart." Harry said.
"Oh, well, er, I'm sure that'll be ok, all wizards duel the same no matter how bad they are."
At that, Seleo had earned some hisses from the girls in the class, "Yes, I have to say that he is a lady's man, but he is absolutely dreadful at teaching and spells, isn't he?"
Nobody could argue with that, Lockhart had thought that Pixies were dangerous, which proved what Seleo was saying.
"Now, let's get on with the lesson, shall we?" Seleo had asked, but it wasn't really much of a question.
Harry and Seleo had bowed to each other, then turned to walk 3 steps, turned to face each other again, and positioned themselves.
"Now Mr. Potter, I will be doing a simple stunning spell on you, and you will be trying to reflect it back to me."
"Yes sir." Harry said, he felt a lump in his throat, and an uneasy feeling he had in his stomach.
"Ready then," Seleo paused, "You all know of course, that in a duel nobody is going to tell you what they're going to do, let alone ask if you're ready."
"Yes sir." Harry wasn't really sure if that had been meant for the class or him, but he was the only one who answered.
"Now, then, that was lame." Seleo said, "You all should know to never take your eyes off your opponent, even if you're speaking to your students, so therefore, I can't turn to you when I speak, but I still expect an answer."
"Yes sir." Everyone in the class shouted.
"Good," His eyes have yet to leave Harry's, "Ready Mr. Potter, on three. One, two, stupefy."
"Protego." Harry shouted, hoping that the stunning course wouldn't hit him, it didn't, well, a bit.
"Right, good job on a first try, Mr. Potter." Seleo said, now standing up straight and smiling, "You've reflected half the curse, which is why you're not stunned right now, but you've only reflected half, which is why you're not feeling very well and I'm standing here in perfect health condition."
Harry heard a snicker from one of the students, he turned his head, and saw immediately that it was Malfoy.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, thank you for volunteering, I do need another demonstration, come up here then." Seleo said, Harry turned to look at him, caught his eyes, and could have sworn that Seleo winked at him like he had seen so many times in his dream like his father would have done to him.
Draco Malfoy walked slowly up to the front of the class, and went through the duel with Seleo, he hadn't even manage to reflect half of the curse, and it was not a simple stunning curse that Seleo had used on him. It was an Itch Charm, which makes the victim terribly itchy, the charm it self lasts for about 2 hours, and Seleo has no intention of performing a counter curse on Malfoy.
By the end of the class, everyone has gone through the Shielding Charm, a few were able to reflect half of it, but some, like Neville, couldn't even say the charm right. Seleo has added 20 points to Slytherin, and 25 points to Gryffindor. "A thank you gift for Mr. Potter to first volunteer." Seleo had explained when the Slytherins complained.
The next was double potions also with Slytherin, Harry was surprised to find out that Seleo will be inspecting Snape's class.
Seleo was sitting comfortably at Snape's desk when the class began, and Snape bursted through the doors as usual. He glanced at Seleo, sitting at his desk, but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to the students, "We'll be making the Dreamless Sleeping Potion today, it's quite complicated, so try and follow the instructions, and Mr. Longbottom, if the cauldron explodes again, I will have to minus fifty points from Gryffindor. Do you understand me?"
"Y, Yes sir." Neville said in a higher-than-normal voice.
"Begin with your potion, you have the two whole blocks." Snape said, then turned to face Seleo.
"Quite a class you have here, Sev." Seleo said, grinning.
"You have the same class that I do Seleo." Snape said, and walked pass him to sit down at his desk. "Do me a favor and make sure that they don't blow up the dungeon, will you?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure none of them are as clumsy as you are," Seleo said, paused to watch Snape for a second, "You did, after all, blow up the lab in your second year."
Giggles could be heard from the students, Harry was having his own difficulties with suppressing his laugh.
"Yes, I'm sure the students don't need to know that." Snape stared at Seleo, "So just do whatever it is that you do, and go."
"Fine," Seleo said, "But what did you add to your potion? I just have to know."
"Nothing, my wand slipped. Now go and check on them, it's been ten minutes, and this is usually when things go horribly wrong."
"If you say so, Sev." Seleo said, and started to stroll along the rows of students, correcting their potion here and there.
He walked to Harry, and chuckled when he saw his potion. "Mr. Potter, the potion is not meant to be red, it's suppose to be clear, what happened?"
"I don't know sir," Harry replied, he really doesn't, he had followed every instruction on the board.
"Er, Sev, why would a potion be red?" Seleo turned to the front desk.
"Red? It's probably because he didn't add the powdered moonstone, so it doesn't turn clear." Snape said without lifting his head up. Harry was shocked to see that his potions professor had his head down and was resting on his desk, looks like he was almost about to fall asleep too.
"Who's potion turned red?" Snape asked.
"Harry Potter." Seleo said, that was the first time Harry had heard him speak his full name.
"Like father like son, then." Snape said.
"I thought James was quite skilled at potions." Seleo said, Harry jerked his head to look at him, 'he had known my father.' Harry thought.
"James skilled at potions?" Snape was now walking over to where Seleo stood, which was right beside Harry, "James was good at transfiguration, sure, Defense Against Dark Arts, yeah, a bit, but not Potions, I ought to know, that was where I was best."
"Of course, Sev, of course, but James hadn't blown up the lab, did he now?" Seleo said. By now, students were looking their way.
"I've told you, it was an accident, and your were-wolf is okay now, isn't he?" Snape raised his voice a bit, which was highly unusual.
"He would have been better off without that scare on his leg." Seleo was now too, shouting a bit.
Snape didn't say anything, he looked around, and the students went back to their potion immediately.
"I said I didn't mean to, how was I suppose to know that." Snape didn't even finish his sentence, because Neville's cauldron has just exploded, and the poor boy was terrified.
"Fifty points off of Gryffindor." Snape roared in rage.
"Fine, be that way Sev, fifty points off of Slytherin." Seleo bellowed in equal rage.
"What for?" Snape had just regained his cool, but he still looked like he was about to hex Seleo any time now.
"For blowing up the dungeon," Seleo said, "Old Hammet didn't minus points for that, did he now."
Seleo turned to leave, but not before doing something to Snape, "Stupefy." He yelled.
"Protego." Harry heard Snape yell just in time to reflect the whole curse back to Seleo, who had gracefully dodged it, causing it to hit the back wall.
"And that students, is how the Shielding Charm is done." Seleo said just before he took his leave.
"What are you all gawking at? Get back to work. Twenty points off of both houses." Snape shouted before turning back to his desk.
The Slytherins looked horrified, their own head of the house, taking points off, guess there is a first for everything.
Harry could not but notice that Snape was not as mad as he appeared to be, he seemed to have a smirk on his face when he turned for his desk.
By the end of the day Harry was starving, he was like a pig when they were at dinner, much to Hermione's disgust.
They went up to their usual spots in the Common Room, and finished up their homework, Ron was anxious because he has Quidditch practice later on, "You know what you should do, Harry," Ron said just before he left. "You should ask Seleo to let you lot back on the team, I think he likes Gryffindor, and besides, we still haven't found a seeker or beaters yet."
"I think that's a great idea, Ron." Hermione said, "Really Harry, you should do that right now."
Harry thought about it for a minute, and then agreed with Hermione, "Ron, go ahead, hopefully I'll be joining you later."
Harry ran to Seleo's office, and was hoping that he could persuade him to let Harry back on the team again. He knocked three times, and the door opened, "Come on in." Harry heard Seleo's voice.
"Er, professor Seleo, sir," Harry said, he was suddenly really nervous. "I was, er, wondering if, er, you see, Umbridge had banned me, Fred and George from playing Quidditch, and I was wondering if you could let us back on the team."
"She banned you from playing Quidditch?" Seleo asked, he seemed really angry.
"Yeah, she said we're not allowed to play, and locked out broomsticks away." Harry said.
"Sure, you can play again, follow me, I'll go and get your broom." Seleo rose from his seat and went straight for the dungeons, "What position do you play, Harry?"
"Seeker," Harry said.
"Just like your father, he would have been proud of you." Seleo said.
"You knew my father?" Harry asked, curious.
"Yes, very well." Seleo said, "I was very close with your father."
"Then you know he's a jerk, from what he did to Snape." Harry said.
"Professor Snape, Harry." Seleo said, he sounded a bit guilty. "Your father didn't mean to, he was immature."
"I'm the same as his age right now, you don't see me doing that to anybody." Harry said bitterly.
"Harry," Seleo had stopped and turned to him. "Your father is forgiven for what he has done by Severus already, I'm hoping you would forgive him too, for just being a bastard."
"He was NOT a bastard, he was just being immature, like you said earlier." Harry shouted. He still didn't like anyone insulting his family members.
"If you say so." Seleo said happily, and Harry realized that the insults were just a way to make him admit he doesn't hate his father.
"So, you seem very close with Sn, Professor Snape too." Harry said.
"I am, we're half brothers." Seleo said, "But don't tell anyone, he doesn't like people to know that he still have human emotion left in him."
They both chuckled at that, and Harry was surprised to see that they have arrived at the dungeon already.
Their broomsticks were nailed to the wall with some massive nails, and then bonded with steel chain.
"Do you think you can get that out, Sir?" Harry asked, he then realized that he had sounded extremely rude to his teacher, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound rude."
"Don't worry about it, I think I can get it out, do you still want your broom in one piece?" Seleo asked.
Seleo took one look at Harry and started laughing, Harry didn't know that it was meant to be a joke, and thought that Seleo has to break his broomstick, and he looked absolutely terrified at that thought.
"Don't worry, I was just joking, here." Seleo muttered something under his breath, the chains and nails fell off the wall immediately.
"Thank you professor." Harry said, he wanted to hug Seleo, but controlled his urge.
"Sure thing, hey, is that a firebolt? Did Sirius buy you that?" Seleo asked."
"Yeah, he did," Harry answered, confused, "How did you know?"
"Er, I was close with your father, and Sirius was like James' twin, if you befriend one of them, you befriend both of them." Seleo said.
"He's innocent." Harry said, he wasn't sure what made him say it out loud, or what made him trust Seleo with that information.
"I know," Seleo said, "If you really knew Sirius, or James for that matter, you would know that the man is innocent."
"Were you a Marauder?" Harry suddenly asked as they made their way up.
"Yes." Seleo said, then chuckled, "I suppose you have the cloak and the map?"
"Yeah, Dumbledore gave me the cloak in my first year, and the Weasley twins gave me the map in my third year."
"The Weasley twins? Fred and George? How did they get the map? I thought Filch had it."
"He did, but they managed to, er, borrow it." Harry suddenly realized that he was trusting the man with information that he wouldn't even tell Dumbledore.
Seleo noted the expression on Harry's face, "Don't worry, I was quite the trouble-maker when I was here, so I don't think I'll punish the twins just yet."
Harry grinned at that, he had a feeling that Seleo was quite trustworthy the first time he saw him, and this has proven him to be right.
"Harry," Seleo said, going on to first names, "Do you really hate your father?"
"No, I'm just surprised that he would do something like that to Professor Snape, but at least my mom was decent."
"Yes, Lily was always the wise one," Seleo murmured, more to himself than to Harry. "Oh, go on and practice Quidditch now, go on, you don't want to be late."
Harry walked away, he had a feeling that he went a bit too far in bringing back Seleo's memories, but nevertheless, he found himself thinking about the man, Seleo has to be working for Dumbledore, he just has to be.
The whole Gryffindor team was thrilled with the idea of Harry and the Weasley twins coming back on the team, "So now we'll be able to beat the Slytherins for sure, right Harry?" Fred had asked before the practice, he was in a really good mood, as were all the other Gryffindors.
Harry had to admit, they have a really good team this year, with three Weasleys and himself on the team, not to mention three fabulous chasers, not to mention Ginny could always fill in for one of the chasers if something went wrong, Harry had no doubt that they'll make a great team, even without wood.
Quidditch practice was really really great for Harry, he had missed flying around on his Firebolt, since it was locked up in the dungeons, and he had missed all the stunts he could pull off when he was on a broom.
After the practice, he went straight back to the Common Room to finish his homework, which was mainly the four-feet long potions essay on how the moonstone was able to help in potion making.
He went to bed very late that day, thinking about what has happened so far; he was banned from playing Quidditch ever again in his life by his professor; he was rescued by a stranger from the Cruciatis Cruse that one of his professors had been trying to put him through, and he met a really wonderful professor who helped him to be released from the Quidditch ban, not to mention that the new professor makes Harry feel all warm inside, like the father-figure that was missing from his life.