10.- A new teacher?
After that, Harry and his friends started to call each other by their nicknames, and every time there was full moon, when Remus left to transform, the other children sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower and went after him. They spent many enjoyable moments while transformed, although Harry wasn't able to join them after a talk with Dumbledore and McGonagall's stern vigilance.
"Hey, Hooves!" Said James during breakfast one day.
"What's wrong, Prongs?" He answered.
"There's a letter from my parents to you." He said, while giving him said letter.
"Thanks."
Harry opened it and read it with a smile. Since they had started term at Hogwarts, his grandparents sent him several letters each week, something that caused Harry no end of pleasure.
"What does it say?" Asked Hermione.
"They are wondering why I don't want to go spent Christmas with them, and they also don't understand why James doesn't want to go either." Answered the boy.
"Well, Harry, you shouldn't worry if it's because of us." Said Ron. "We already knew you..."
"Of course I worry. Besides, you've done it each year for me, this time it's my turn."
"But..."
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
It was nearly Christmas and until now, everything had stayed calm. The news they received from the future gave them some hope (the giants and the werewolves had started to fight against Voldemort) and it seemed like no one (except of the Gryffindors and those who had known from the beginning) knew where Harry was.
Dumbledore stood up and made everyone quiet down with a small movement. When he saw that everyone's attention was on him, he started to speak.
"As you all know, Professor Andrey had a small accident, and he won't be able to teach again until next year. So, from now, until, hopefully, the end of term, we will have a new teacher. He'll be here at any moment, so those of you that have Defence should head to your class."
Everyone started to talk at once, but Dumbledore didn't say anything else. Harry wouldn't have been able to listen to much more anyways, because at that moment, the locket the Weasley twins had given him started to glow, showing that someone was trying to talk to them. They quickly made their way out of the Great Hall and went to a out of the way corner.
"Fred, George, what's wrong?" He asked, scared.
"Oh, guys, you're so lucky. You're going to be very surprised!"
"That is, if you're not surprised yet."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Ron.
"You'll know in a bit, you're going to love it!"
"Well, we'll see you later!"
As suddenly as they had called, they broke the link. The three glanced at each other, wondering what that had been about. A few moments later, the Marauders joined them, but they still didn't know what to make out of those words. And then, when they were about to head to potions, Harry felt as if someone was holding him from behind.
"Hey! Let go of me!" Shouted the boy, while fighting to get out of the arms that held him.
He was therefore surprised when the arms let him go quickly but at the same time, gently. Harry turned around sharply, and his eyes widened in surprise. His shock made it impossible for him to react for a moment. Before him was a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes.
"Snuffles!" He cried while jumping into the man's arms to hug him.
"Harry! Come here, kiddo!" He answered while returning the hug.
"I can't believe it, is it really you?"
"Of course, who else would I be?" Said the man while ruffling his hair and taking his glasses away.
"Hey! Give me those glasses back, you know I can't see anything without them!"
"Here you go." Then he turned to the other two. "Hey, you two, aren't you going to greet me?"
"Snuffles! It's just... you..."
"You weren't expecting this, were you?"
"No!" Said the trio at the same time.
"Good." He smiled. "although I'm surprised the twins didn't say anything."
"Of course! That's what they were talking about!" Cried Ron.
"And what are you doing here, Snuffles?" Asked Harry.
"I'll be your new DADA teacher."
"You?!" Asked three voices at the same time.
"Yes, me."
"You're going to be our new professor?" Asked Lily.
Sirius turned towards where the other teens were standing, his face expressionless. He looked at them for a moment, then he started to smile while he nodded.
"Yes, I'll be your new professor. My name's Sirius Smith." He smiled. "And if I'm not mistaken, by the information the headmaster and these three kids gave me, you must be the Marauders. Right?"
"Yes, sir." Said Sirius (Marauder)
"Professor, could you tell us what the headmaster told you?" Asked Remus.
"Just that you like pranks a little too much; he even told me about a few of them."
"You shouldn't believe everything you're told, Professor." Said James innocently.
"I think I should believe this one. And shouldn't you be going to class?"
"Right!" They said.
"Bye, Professor." Said the Marauders.
"See you later, Snuffles!" Smiled the trio.
When the teens disappeared, a voice at the man's back made him jump a little in surprise.
"Snuffles?"
Turning around, Sirius saw the headmaster standing next to his deputy- headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Both were wearing amused smiles.
"James came up with that. He started to call me that even before Harry was born, and the kid kept calling me that, just as his friends." He lied, he couldn't tell them he used that nickname so that no one at the Ministry would know they were talking about him.
"And why would James Potter give you that nickname, Sirius Black?" Asked McGonagall while her smile widened.
"He said it was because I couldn't stop and snuffle at everything that came my way." Said Sirius, then he added. "Harry is my godson, if anything happened to James and Lily, I would become his guardian."
Both of them nodded, they didn't talk about that anymore; instead, they started to discuss that year's DADA syllabus and about why Sirius had come into the past.
"The truth is that no one was very comfortable with the idea that the kids were here on their own, with no one to look after them. If they want, the three of them can be worse than we were as the Marauders, specially with Ron's twin brothers' help." He sighed amusedly, thinking about all the pranks they had done. "Just try to think about the three kiddos with the Marauders..."
"But, why you, Sirius?" Asked Dumbledore.
"Because not many people would notice my disappearance. If one of their parents came, it would attract too much attention. That left Remus and me, and Remus would attract too much attention with his monthly problem."
"What about Peter?" Asked McGonagall.
"Peter... it's been a long time since we could count on Peter." He said with a dark scowl. "We should talk about something else."
"Of course... it would be better if you and Harry could chat for a while without interruptions. You don't have to teach right now, so why don't you go get Harry, Minerva?"
"Of course, Albus, you'll have him here in a moment." Said McGonagall while walking out of the office.
Professor McGonagall went through several halls until she reached the dungeons, where the fifth year Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins.
"Excuse me, Professor, could Mr. Potter come with me?"
"Of course, Potter, leave."
"Take your things, Harry, you'll be going right towards your next class." Said McGonagall.
After that, they went back to Dumbledore's office. Harry was confused; why was she taking him to Dumbledore's office? He hadn't done anything wrong lately. Once inside, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Am I in trouble, Headmaster?"
"No, Harry, you're not. I just thought you would like to speak with Sirius for awhile."
Sirius smiled at him from the other side of the room, and after saying their goodbyes, they left the room together. They started to walk around the school, much like Harry had done with the Weasleys before starting the last task of the Tournament. While they walked, they discussed many things about that time, about their own time, about Voldemort... the time flew and when they finally noticed, they had to run to reach the Defence class on time. It wasn't too important if Harry was late, but Sirius was the teacher.
They reached the classroom just in time, Harry entered followed by Sirius.
"Good morning, everyone." Said Sirius when he entered. "My name is Sirius Smith, and I'll be you DADA teacher until the end of term."
The next hour, Sirius proved to be many things, but certainly not boring. His lessons were just as interesting as Remus' had been, with the difference that while Remus was always serious, Sirius was completely unable to be serious. He was nearly as mischievous as he had been when he was a teen, so he often made jokes and made the children laugh.
When the lesson ended, everyone walked out talking excitedly about the wonderful lesson, especially the Marauders and the trio.
"Professor Smith is cool!" Laughed James.
"Yes, his class was interesting and funny." Started Remus. "A strange combination."
"You didn't tell us that he was such a good teacher." Smiled Sirius. "Even I did like it."
"Well... we just didn't know." Assured Harry.
"Oh! Come on, Hooves, don't lie to us!" Cried Sirius, "I can't believe that you know him and that he hasn't been your teacher before."
"Hooves?" Asked a voice behind them.
Snuffles was standing there, glaring at them darkly, he looked angry. Harry had only seen him once looking like this. The time they had found Wormtail, and he was still stating that he was innocent.
"Come with me, you three, I want to talk to you right now." He said sternly. "You five, tell your teacher they are going to be late."
The Marauders nodded, and they left after shooting the trio concerned looks. When they were gone, Snuffles motioned them to follow him and led them to his office where he told them to sit down.
""Hooves", Harry?" He asked. "Please, tell me you haven't done what I think you've done."
"I... well..."
"You did the animagus transformation, didn't you, Harry?"
"Yes."
"I thought so." He sighed.
"He was not the only one, we did it too." Assured Hermione.
They were surprised when Snuffles smiled. He even started to laugh loudly. When he calmed down, he started to speak.
"I knew it! From the moment we sent you here I knew it was going to happen! I even told Dumbledore!" He said happily while the three teens glanced at each other confused.
"Aren't you angry, Sirius?" Asked Harry.
"Angry? Merlin's beard, of course not! Dumbledore and the Order thought it would be good for you to learn that. It will help you to hide from Voldemort. Which forms do you take?"
"I'm a tawny owl." Said Hermione. "They call me "Feathers"."
"An owl is fine, you're very smart, just like them." Assured Sirius. "What about you, Ron?"
"An unicorn, my nickname is "Noble"."
"Weird, I don't know about anyone who has ever transformed into an unicorn. And you, Harry? I guess you're a stag, right?" Harry nodded. "I would love to see you, all of you, in your animal forms."
There was a soft 'pop' and the three teens transformed. Sirius smiled, impressed with Harry's form.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.
After that, Harry and his friends started to call each other by their nicknames, and every time there was full moon, when Remus left to transform, the other children sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower and went after him. They spent many enjoyable moments while transformed, although Harry wasn't able to join them after a talk with Dumbledore and McGonagall's stern vigilance.
"Hey, Hooves!" Said James during breakfast one day.
"What's wrong, Prongs?" He answered.
"There's a letter from my parents to you." He said, while giving him said letter.
"Thanks."
Harry opened it and read it with a smile. Since they had started term at Hogwarts, his grandparents sent him several letters each week, something that caused Harry no end of pleasure.
"What does it say?" Asked Hermione.
"They are wondering why I don't want to go spent Christmas with them, and they also don't understand why James doesn't want to go either." Answered the boy.
"Well, Harry, you shouldn't worry if it's because of us." Said Ron. "We already knew you..."
"Of course I worry. Besides, you've done it each year for me, this time it's my turn."
"But..."
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
It was nearly Christmas and until now, everything had stayed calm. The news they received from the future gave them some hope (the giants and the werewolves had started to fight against Voldemort) and it seemed like no one (except of the Gryffindors and those who had known from the beginning) knew where Harry was.
Dumbledore stood up and made everyone quiet down with a small movement. When he saw that everyone's attention was on him, he started to speak.
"As you all know, Professor Andrey had a small accident, and he won't be able to teach again until next year. So, from now, until, hopefully, the end of term, we will have a new teacher. He'll be here at any moment, so those of you that have Defence should head to your class."
Everyone started to talk at once, but Dumbledore didn't say anything else. Harry wouldn't have been able to listen to much more anyways, because at that moment, the locket the Weasley twins had given him started to glow, showing that someone was trying to talk to them. They quickly made their way out of the Great Hall and went to a out of the way corner.
"Fred, George, what's wrong?" He asked, scared.
"Oh, guys, you're so lucky. You're going to be very surprised!"
"That is, if you're not surprised yet."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Ron.
"You'll know in a bit, you're going to love it!"
"Well, we'll see you later!"
As suddenly as they had called, they broke the link. The three glanced at each other, wondering what that had been about. A few moments later, the Marauders joined them, but they still didn't know what to make out of those words. And then, when they were about to head to potions, Harry felt as if someone was holding him from behind.
"Hey! Let go of me!" Shouted the boy, while fighting to get out of the arms that held him.
He was therefore surprised when the arms let him go quickly but at the same time, gently. Harry turned around sharply, and his eyes widened in surprise. His shock made it impossible for him to react for a moment. Before him was a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes.
"Snuffles!" He cried while jumping into the man's arms to hug him.
"Harry! Come here, kiddo!" He answered while returning the hug.
"I can't believe it, is it really you?"
"Of course, who else would I be?" Said the man while ruffling his hair and taking his glasses away.
"Hey! Give me those glasses back, you know I can't see anything without them!"
"Here you go." Then he turned to the other two. "Hey, you two, aren't you going to greet me?"
"Snuffles! It's just... you..."
"You weren't expecting this, were you?"
"No!" Said the trio at the same time.
"Good." He smiled. "although I'm surprised the twins didn't say anything."
"Of course! That's what they were talking about!" Cried Ron.
"And what are you doing here, Snuffles?" Asked Harry.
"I'll be your new DADA teacher."
"You?!" Asked three voices at the same time.
"Yes, me."
"You're going to be our new professor?" Asked Lily.
Sirius turned towards where the other teens were standing, his face expressionless. He looked at them for a moment, then he started to smile while he nodded.
"Yes, I'll be your new professor. My name's Sirius Smith." He smiled. "And if I'm not mistaken, by the information the headmaster and these three kids gave me, you must be the Marauders. Right?"
"Yes, sir." Said Sirius (Marauder)
"Professor, could you tell us what the headmaster told you?" Asked Remus.
"Just that you like pranks a little too much; he even told me about a few of them."
"You shouldn't believe everything you're told, Professor." Said James innocently.
"I think I should believe this one. And shouldn't you be going to class?"
"Right!" They said.
"Bye, Professor." Said the Marauders.
"See you later, Snuffles!" Smiled the trio.
When the teens disappeared, a voice at the man's back made him jump a little in surprise.
"Snuffles?"
Turning around, Sirius saw the headmaster standing next to his deputy- headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Both were wearing amused smiles.
"James came up with that. He started to call me that even before Harry was born, and the kid kept calling me that, just as his friends." He lied, he couldn't tell them he used that nickname so that no one at the Ministry would know they were talking about him.
"And why would James Potter give you that nickname, Sirius Black?" Asked McGonagall while her smile widened.
"He said it was because I couldn't stop and snuffle at everything that came my way." Said Sirius, then he added. "Harry is my godson, if anything happened to James and Lily, I would become his guardian."
Both of them nodded, they didn't talk about that anymore; instead, they started to discuss that year's DADA syllabus and about why Sirius had come into the past.
"The truth is that no one was very comfortable with the idea that the kids were here on their own, with no one to look after them. If they want, the three of them can be worse than we were as the Marauders, specially with Ron's twin brothers' help." He sighed amusedly, thinking about all the pranks they had done. "Just try to think about the three kiddos with the Marauders..."
"But, why you, Sirius?" Asked Dumbledore.
"Because not many people would notice my disappearance. If one of their parents came, it would attract too much attention. That left Remus and me, and Remus would attract too much attention with his monthly problem."
"What about Peter?" Asked McGonagall.
"Peter... it's been a long time since we could count on Peter." He said with a dark scowl. "We should talk about something else."
"Of course... it would be better if you and Harry could chat for a while without interruptions. You don't have to teach right now, so why don't you go get Harry, Minerva?"
"Of course, Albus, you'll have him here in a moment." Said McGonagall while walking out of the office.
Professor McGonagall went through several halls until she reached the dungeons, where the fifth year Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins.
"Excuse me, Professor, could Mr. Potter come with me?"
"Of course, Potter, leave."
"Take your things, Harry, you'll be going right towards your next class." Said McGonagall.
After that, they went back to Dumbledore's office. Harry was confused; why was she taking him to Dumbledore's office? He hadn't done anything wrong lately. Once inside, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Am I in trouble, Headmaster?"
"No, Harry, you're not. I just thought you would like to speak with Sirius for awhile."
Sirius smiled at him from the other side of the room, and after saying their goodbyes, they left the room together. They started to walk around the school, much like Harry had done with the Weasleys before starting the last task of the Tournament. While they walked, they discussed many things about that time, about their own time, about Voldemort... the time flew and when they finally noticed, they had to run to reach the Defence class on time. It wasn't too important if Harry was late, but Sirius was the teacher.
They reached the classroom just in time, Harry entered followed by Sirius.
"Good morning, everyone." Said Sirius when he entered. "My name is Sirius Smith, and I'll be you DADA teacher until the end of term."
The next hour, Sirius proved to be many things, but certainly not boring. His lessons were just as interesting as Remus' had been, with the difference that while Remus was always serious, Sirius was completely unable to be serious. He was nearly as mischievous as he had been when he was a teen, so he often made jokes and made the children laugh.
When the lesson ended, everyone walked out talking excitedly about the wonderful lesson, especially the Marauders and the trio.
"Professor Smith is cool!" Laughed James.
"Yes, his class was interesting and funny." Started Remus. "A strange combination."
"You didn't tell us that he was such a good teacher." Smiled Sirius. "Even I did like it."
"Well... we just didn't know." Assured Harry.
"Oh! Come on, Hooves, don't lie to us!" Cried Sirius, "I can't believe that you know him and that he hasn't been your teacher before."
"Hooves?" Asked a voice behind them.
Snuffles was standing there, glaring at them darkly, he looked angry. Harry had only seen him once looking like this. The time they had found Wormtail, and he was still stating that he was innocent.
"Come with me, you three, I want to talk to you right now." He said sternly. "You five, tell your teacher they are going to be late."
The Marauders nodded, and they left after shooting the trio concerned looks. When they were gone, Snuffles motioned them to follow him and led them to his office where he told them to sit down.
""Hooves", Harry?" He asked. "Please, tell me you haven't done what I think you've done."
"I... well..."
"You did the animagus transformation, didn't you, Harry?"
"Yes."
"I thought so." He sighed.
"He was not the only one, we did it too." Assured Hermione.
They were surprised when Snuffles smiled. He even started to laugh loudly. When he calmed down, he started to speak.
"I knew it! From the moment we sent you here I knew it was going to happen! I even told Dumbledore!" He said happily while the three teens glanced at each other confused.
"Aren't you angry, Sirius?" Asked Harry.
"Angry? Merlin's beard, of course not! Dumbledore and the Order thought it would be good for you to learn that. It will help you to hide from Voldemort. Which forms do you take?"
"I'm a tawny owl." Said Hermione. "They call me "Feathers"."
"An owl is fine, you're very smart, just like them." Assured Sirius. "What about you, Ron?"
"An unicorn, my nickname is "Noble"."
"Weird, I don't know about anyone who has ever transformed into an unicorn. And you, Harry? I guess you're a stag, right?" Harry nodded. "I would love to see you, all of you, in your animal forms."
There was a soft 'pop' and the three teens transformed. Sirius smiled, impressed with Harry's form.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.
