"Harry."
"Hmm?"
Harry tilted his head to get a better look at Hermione.
"You haven't said a word since we got back."
"Oh." Harry said, as his gaze drifted back out of the window to the Hogwarts Express. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I just… have a lot on my mind."
Hermione seemed upset with him, but she said nothing more. Harry's problems, in a sense, had become her problems. It dawned on him that he wasn't being fair to her, that she didn't need to worry about him. But he said nothing to her. He couldn't bring himself to.
They did not speak at all as the train slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade station and they reached for their luggage. Harry took little notice of the skeletal horses that pulled the school carriages, instead staring out of the carriage window. Hermione stared at him throughout the entire trip, but said nothing.
Returning to Hogwarts hadn't brought him the happy feeling he was anticipating. He felt isolated and lonely, even surrounded by his closest friends. And after spending his entire summer with them… a part of him was beginning to wonder if they were really his friends at all.
"Harry." Hermione said, her voice timid. "We're here."
He hadn't noticed. He adjusted himself and got to his feet. He followed Ron and Hermione up to the gates of the Castle.
They took their seats and the table and Hermione surveyed the teacher's table, frowning.
"Who's that woman?"
Harry glanced upward, and he gaped.
"That's Makima!"
Makima was sitting at the Teacher's table, in polite conversation with Professor McGonagall. She turned her head and noticed him. She winked.
"That's Makima?" Hermione repeated. "But she works for the Ministry… right? Why is she…?"
"Dark Arts Professor." Ron said gruffly. "Dad always says that Devil Hunters know more about the Dark Arts than anyone else."
He seemed rather taken with Makima as well. Hermione shot him a disgusted look before turning back to Harry.
"She's a lot younger than I would have thought."
"I'll say." Ron said, in a approving voice. She smacked him with her palm.
Makima was watching them. She smiled down at them before continuing her conversation with Professor McGonagall.
…
"As High Inquisitor of this School." Dolores Umbridge said, her head held high. "I will be sitting in on all of your classes to monitor your behavior."
She set a large, thick binder full of lesson plans on the desk.
"This." She said. "Is the Ministry approved curriculum for this year's Defense Against The Dark Arts Classes. The Minister expects you to follow them to the letter."
Makima did not even look up from her own work as she took the pamphlet in her hand and threw it into the fireplace. It burst into flame and enveloped the entire thing whole. Umbridge stared, pursing her lips.
"Thank you, Dolores." Makima said. "Is that all?"
Her tone was that of cold, calculated dismissal. Umbridge leaned forward.
"Listen here." She whispered. "As soon as the Minister finds a way to deal with you, you will be out of this school and stripped of all of your power."
"Power cannot be taken." Makima said, her voice dry. "No more than it can be touched, or tasted."
She smiled.
"The only reason you are not already dead, Dolores, is that you serve a very particular purpose. You get to tell Cornelius just what I'm accomplishing right under Dumbledore's nose."
Umbridge bristled.
"I would not make threats that you cannot follow through with." Makima went on. "I would advise you not to threaten me… or my students… ever again."
She tilted her hand towards the door, clearly gesturing for Umbridge that it was time to leave. Umbridge gave her one last, dark look before leaving the room.
Makima smiled serenely at the door, her quill sitting untouched next to her hand.
"Good evening, headmaster."
From behind her, Professor Dumbledore appeared, as if from thin air.
"How long did know I was here?" He asked her.
"From the moment you apparated into the room." She said. "It is illegal for the Headmaster to apparate within these walls. People are not allowed to apparate or disapparate for a reason, Headmaster."
"Is that so?" Dumbledore asked. "I have received an exemption from the Ministry on such matters."
"No one is above the law, Headmaster." Makima said, as she turned around to face him. She crossed her legs and surveyed him, her spiral eyes fixing straight on his nose. "Not even you."
"You say this, when you are in the midst of overthrowing our ministry?"
She smiled at him.
"Not just the Ministry." She said. "But you, as well."
Dumbledore glared at her.
"It will never work." He said. "You will never leave this castle alive."
He clapped his hands, and disappeared in a burst of flame. Makima stared at the wall where he had been, still smiling.
"Oh, Albus." She sighed. "You speak as if I don't know that you control the entire world from this castle."
…
There was an air of trepidation through the air as the Fifth Year students made their way to the third floor for their first ever Defense Against The Dark Arts Lesson with Professor Makima. Harry felt himself nervously anticipating the event. Ron seemed almost as enthusiastic, while Hermione seemed reluctant.
"We've heard nothing but bad things about her." She said anxiously, as they made their way up the grand staircase.
Ron chortled. "After years of Snape causing us grief you're going to give Makima grief before she's done anything to us?"
"Well I-"
"Ron's right.' Harry said shortly, cutting off her response. "Makima's been nothing but good to me." He spoke as if that settled the matter. Hermione stared at him, a little taken aback, before turning away looking somewhat hurt.
Makima was sitting on her desk with her legs crossed, smiling as they came in.
"Please." She said softly, as they all took their seats. "I would like to do a roll call before I introduce myself… it wouldn't do for anyone coming in late today to not know my name.
The class laughed. Makima tapped her hand against a large scroll sitting on her desk, which leapt up and unfolded itself. She glanced at, and then began reading off names. Harry kept expecting her to make some sound of recognition when she read off his name, but there was nothing. He found himself feeling a little bit disappointed as she continued further down the list.
"Well." Makima said, as the scroll folded itself and disappeared. "I suppose a brief introduction is in order. I am Makima... a Devil Hunter with Public Safety. And due to a personal request from the Minister of Magic I have decided to become your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher.
Hermione raised your hand.
"I am not taking questions now, Miss Granger." Makima said sweetly. Hermione lowered her hand, looking very dejected, and Ron laughed at her.
"Devil Hunters." Makima continued. "Are required to deal with the Darkest of creatures… the very fears that well within all of your hearts at this very moment. It is we who tackle these physical manifestations of these fears, that are known by both wizards and muggles as Devils."
Harry was enraptured. Makima spoke with such an air of confidence and professionalism that she completely drew him in.
"Fear is a natural part of human existence." Makima went on. "As such, Devils can never be truly eliminated… Or so your textbook says, at any rate." (Hermione looked scandalized) "They are born and reborn again and again, in both Hell and in our world, in a never ending cycle that is believed to be a law of nature."
Harry was enraptured. She spoke of the grim subject matter with nothing more than a smile. As grim as the reality of the terror devils was, Makima had complete control over the situation. Because of her, there was nothing to fear.
"Throughout the semester." Makima said. "We will be discussing all the ways devils can do harm to you. Even if you have no intention of becoming a Devil Hunter yourselves… you must understand just what you exactly you are dealing with."
They spent the remainder of the class discussing some of the most well known devils. In Wizarding society, dragons were much more feared than in the muggle world. As such, the Dragon Devil had a tendency to always attack wizards, in the hopes of obtaining more power.
Makima was a very good teacher. Much like Professor Moody had done the year previously, she demonstrated very well her sheer amount of experience with the material. So much so that by the time the class had ended and the students were filling out of the room there was a lot of excited discussion.
"That was a very good lesson." Ron said enthusiastically. "Don't you think so, Hermione?"
Hermione was, of course, their typical judge on this sort of thing.
"It was." Hermione acknowledged. "But something's bothering me."
"What?"
"If it's so important for Public Safety to be fighting Devils all the time… what is she doing here?"
"We needed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher."
"That's not as important as public safety!" Hermione snapped. Ron looked somewhat taken aback.
"You don't like her." Ron said. "Why?"
"Sirius told us we couldn't trust her!" Hermione said. "No one in the Order trusts her. Not even Dumbledore. Isn't that right, Harry!"
Harry gave her a look.
"Maybe… we can't trust the Order either."
Hermione's mouth fell open slightly, and then she closed it again in a tight line.
"You don't mean that."
"I do." Harry said, his voice cold. "Cedric is dead because Dumbledore couldn't figure out that Professor Moody was an imposter. The Ministry is denying that Voldemort has returned, and I almost got expelled. To be completely honest with you Hermione… I don't trust anyone."
Hermione stopped walking in the hallway. She had had enough of his attitude.
"Harry Potter." She said, her voice cold. "I-"
Harry kept on walking, completely ignoring her. Ron cast her a wayward glance, and then jogged after his friend. Hermione stared after them, her heart feeling like it was about to split into two.
…
Before the day was even over, Makima had already received several Owls informing her that her teaching materials went way outside of Ministry Guidelines and that she was running the risk of being terminated. Smiling to herself, Makima threw the letters into her fire one by one as she went over the list of students who had caught her interest.
"Hermione Granger…"
Incredibly clever, resourceful. I bit too trustful of authority.
"Cho Chang… "
A girl that would do anything for closure.
"Ron Weasley…"
A boy that would do anything for wealth, fame, and success.
"Luna Lovegood…"
A girl that understood, perhaps the nature of Devils more than any other.
And finally, at the very top of her list…
"Harry Potter. The Voldemort Devil."
She smiled to herself, as her eyes fixated on that one name. The one creature that even Chainsaw Man could not destroy… the Devil incarnation of a man so cruel and sinister, that his shadow lingered over the world over a decade after his fall from power. And now that he had returned, the Voldemort Devil within Harry was growing ever more powerful. So powerful, in fact, that it's power could control the entire world.
The Ministry did not understand that, but Dumbledore clearly did. Why else go to such lengths to isolate him and keep him in the dark? He had hoped to use the Voldemort Devil for his own ends. He had not foreseen, however, that Makima would take advantage of Harry Potter's true nature herself.
As his teacher, someone who saw and interacted with him every day, she would have just as much control over him as Dumbledore did. His one advantage that he had had over her was now moot.
The Ministry… The Death Eaters… And the Order of the Phoenix themselves. All of these factions were vying for power, and only now were they beginning to understand that they had no hope of possibly winning.
It was only a matter of time until she had complete Control.