Disclaimer : I still don't own any of it.
Datclaimer : But I own the plot!!! (Sorry I wanted to do that for a while, *blush blush)
Chapter 5 : Problems
"Something terrible happened to Hagrid this past summer, that especially involved you, Harry," the headmaster paused, "As you know, I sent him to negotiate with some powerful wizards for the impending war. While he was conferring with Braon (Breen) Whelan, the Minister of Magic in Ireland, they were attacked by the Dark Lord."
Hermione gasped, bringing her hand over her mouth.
"Why?" Harry asked urgently.
Dumbledore looked rather confused by Harry's simple question.
"Harry. Hagrid was negotiating with enemies of Lord Voldemort," Ron shuddered at the name, but the professor ignored his discomfort and went on, "Enemies that, brought together, could create a very powerful army that could defeat him. That is what we hope, and Voldemort prays doesn't happen."
Harry nodded at the explanation.
"But, why should he try to stop the negotiations?" Hermione asked, having recovered from the sudden shock, "It's not like he could change their minds. Nobody in their right mind would help him."
Dumbledore frowned slightly, "That's just the point."
Ron's eyes widened, "Y-you mean, the…….Imperius Curse?"
"Exactly. Voldemort was trying to get Hagrid under the curse. Not to mention, Braon. Both could have been very helpful to him," the headmaster said.
Harry spoke up again, "So what happened? How did they escape?"
"It was a poorly planned attack. I didn't believe myself, that the Dark Lord could be so careless. I got the whole story from Hagrid when he came back. He arrived in Ireland in the second week of August. They escorted him to the Ministry of Magic where he began the negotiations. They are quite a long and tedious process. Although the Minister feels the threat of Voldemort on the wizarding world, he was under the impression that he only wants to conquer England. Not the rest of Britain. On the last day that Hagrid was there, the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters ambushed them in the street. Immediately, Hagrid was put under a very powerful curse called the Dementus Curse. It is a very old, very unforgivable curse, though not quite so much as the main three. When put upon a person, their minds lose control of everything. It is very much like the affect of Dementors. You're mind becomes void of all happiness and all that remains are your worst nightmares. The Dementus Curse is pure torture and agony. The difference between the curse and the Dementors is the pain. In Azkaban, men go insane from the horrors inside their heads, but insanity is physically painless. The curse forces you to relive every moment. To take every curse and hex you have ever taken. It is used to force people into submission. Fortunately for Hagrid, he didn't suffer too much damage. The Aurors that had accompanied him and the Minister attacked the Death Eater who had cursed him. They outnumbered Voldemort easily. The Dark Lord realized this too late and was forced to flee," Dumbledore looked at the three students who all wore similar expressions of horror on their faces.
Harry finally managed to speak, "Will he be alright? He looked awful in there. Is there anything we can do?"
Dumbledore smiled faintly.
"Hagrid's mind has suffered much pain. Although no physical damage was done, his thoughts will be fragile for a while. The side-effects of the Dementus Curse; I didn't realize the extent of them. I suppose I will have to find a temporary replacement for him. As for what you can do. Leave him be. He is in a delicate state right now. He needs time alone to sort things out. And don't repeat what I have told you. You three are dear friends of Hagrid's and must know. I know you wouldn't rest until you had found out what was wrong with him. However, I fear the rest of the students may see this as reason to panic, when I assure you, there is none.
"Now, I must see to Hagrid myself. I will explain to him that he needn't work."
Hermione, Ron and Harry stood from there seats and walked towards the stairs, but, urging the other two to go on without him, Harry stayed for a moment.
"Professor?" he asked timidly.
Dumbledore turned from his bookshelf where he had been looking up names for substitute teachers.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Erm……When we were in Hagrid's cabin today, h-he mentioned my mum."
"He did? And you want to know why?"
"Well, yes," Harry said with a slight look of forlorn desperation.
"Well, I would have to believe that, in Hagrid's life, one of his most painful experiences was having to hear James and Lily being murdered. He was there that night, you know. He took you to the Dursley's," the headmaster spoke in a downhearted voice.
Harry's eyes dropped to the floor. Without another word, he left down the staircase, feeling the familiar hand of regret wrap around his heart.
~~~~~~~~~
Harry wrote vigorously on his parchment as Professor McGonagall explained the inner workings of transfiguring a spoon into a mirror. He was determined to have good grades this year. And to get them on his own.
"The wrist movement is quite simple," McGonagall was saying, "Point! Swish left! And point again! Now, remember the words. Reflector Mevisa. Accent on the second syllables. Now, go on and try all of you."
Harry set down his quill and watched his classmates attempt the transfiguration. Hermione got it the best. Ron's was just a very large spoon. Harry pointed his wand.
'Point, swish left, point,' he thought to himself.
"Reflector Mevisa!" he said in a loud firm voice. Automatically, the hand of the spoon lengthened and became straight. The head enlarged and flattened out. Designs etched themselves around the edges in a plain fashion, giving Harry quite a nice mirror.
"Ooh, that's marvellous, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
Ron looked over at Hermione's squeal and glared.
After class, the trio talked about Hagrid on the way to the Great Hall.
"I can't believe he was attacked by the Dark Lord himself," Hermione voiced.
Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. It was quite a shock. After believing that Voldemort had been quiet all summer. This brought some questions to Harry's mind.
"Why didn't you hear about it? I mean, in the Daily Prophet, Ron? I can understand Hermione and I not knowing, but why was the attack not on the front page?"
"I think, maybe, that Fudge didn't believe it happened. I mean, you heard him last year. He was in complete denial. Most people don't even think that He Who Must No Be Named is back. I'm surprised that the Irish Minister of Magic agreed to talk with Hagrid. I guess that means that he knew You Know Who was coming back. At least some people listen to Dumbledore," Hermione answered for Ron.
Walking into the Great Hall, the three friends found their seats and began heaping food onto their plates. Looking around, Harry noticed that Hagrid wasn't at his spot at the head of the table. However, one unfamiliar face sat next to Professor Flitwick in a seemingly interesting conversation.
"Do you suppose that's the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Probably. She must've gotten here late. That's why Dumbledore didn't announce her at the Sorting," she replied.
The new teacher was a fairly older woman with long, brown hair, pale skin and round spectacles that sat on the tip of her nose. They reminded Harry of Professor Dumbledore's. Her wardrobe was composed of long, somewhat worn, black robes. All in all, there was nothing very exciting about her.
Finally, after the tables had been cleared, the headmaster made an announcement.
"Attention, attention everyone. I would like to introduce to you, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Ms. Tassi Artemisia."
The woman stood up slowly, as if her whole body might break if her movements were quick. She smiled at the students who stared at her questioningly. Then she sat back down in the same slow motions.
The whispers that echoed through the halls about the new teacher, the female teacher, were so numerous, that it seemed to be one long spoken note that never stopped. There was so much to say about this professor. So many rumours circling about her past. Strange as it was for students to talk so wonderingly about a mere teacher, they had become slightly apprehensive about the people who taught Defence Against Dark Arts.
"So we've got her next then, eh?" Ron asked rhetorically.
"What do you think will be wrong with this one?" Harry inquired.
"Harry! I'm surprised at you!" Hermione exclaimed as they turned into the Dark Arts classroom, "After what we were talking about last night! And here you are being completely hypocritical. Maybe there isn't anything wrong with Professor Artemisia. Like you said, there wasn't anything wrong with Professor Lupin, so why should there be with this one?"
Harry took a step back from Hermione, a little surprised, and ashamed by her words. She was right after all. It wasn't fair to judge this professor. All he could do was hope that this one wasn't corrupted. That she was a little more like Lupin.
"You're right, Hermione," he apologized with a guilty frown.
Hermione nodded and after a bit of hesitant surveying of the room, she spotted three empty seats, right in the middle. Motioning for the boys to follow, she walked towards them. They sat down right as Professor Artemisia walked in.
Upon closer examination, she revealed to be as average as they had all assumed. There was nothing in her expression that said there was anything mysterious or evil about her. But that in itself, her lack of mystery, made her all the more cause for wonder.
"Good afternoon," she spoke in a soft voice, tinged with an Italian accent, "As you know, I am Professor Artemisia, your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I am from Italy originally, but I have studied English for many years. Professor Dumbledore is a very close friend of mine and I was very pleased when he offered me this job. I taught the very same thing in my country for a while, but I decided it was time for a change.
"It is my job to prepare you against Dark magic. To instil in your minds the ways to keep yourselves alive under pressure. I am to teach you when to run and when to fight. Where to go when you run and what techniques to use when you fight."
Harry had a feeling that he might like this teacher.
"I would like all of you to find a partner," Professor Artemisia announced to the class.
Immediately, Harry and Ron paired up, leaving Hermione by herself. A little disappointed that her friends would leave her out without any thought to it, she scanned the room in search of a partner. Dean Thomas caught her eye. He was standing in the back of the room, nervously spinning his wand in his hand. Hermione walked over to him.
"Be my partner?" she asked him.
Smiling at her, he agreed, "Thanks."
After the students had all been matched up, Professor Artemisia magicked the desks away to give them space and announced the drill.
"I have been informed that you know a little about duelling. However, I see it as a very important aspect of defending yourselves, and therefore, I believe that you must know a lot about duelling. First, simply refresh your memories with Expelliarmus."
Hermione and Dean took their positions. On the count, they duelled.
"Expelliarmus!"
Hermione's wand flew from her hand into Dean's. A little surprised that she had been beaten, she took her wand back from Dean and took her stance once more, with a determined air about her. Once more they duelled, and once more, to Hermione's embarrassment, Dean managed to relieve her of her wand. Completely thrown at her sudden failure, Hermione performed poorly while practicing even the simplest spells during the class.
Finally, Professor Artemisia called for the end, and Hermione, red with shame, congratulated Dean on his performance and went back to her seat to collect her book bag.
Once in the halls, Hermione rushed through the crowd of people to her next class. The whole day, she wasted precious time when she could have been taking notes in History, or practicing the Colour-Changing Charm. Her thoughts were in complete chaos. Some people would have most likely thought she was overreacting about not being able to disarm Dean, but, as she was more or less a perfectionist, it bothered her to no end. Was she losing her touch? Had being made prefect given her a cocky self-assurance? Finally, when her last class finished, she rushed to the library to study. She needed to beat Dean next time. She had to.
Harry found her leafing through the pages of a musty book bearing the title, 'Duelling; the Ins and Outs.'
The light tap he administered to her shoulder, made her jump before turning in her seat to face him.
"Harry! You scared the devil out of me!" she exclaimed.
"Ah, Hermione, there's no devil in you," he replied with a wink.
She grinned at his lame humour and closed her book.
"Why're you reading that anyway? We didn't get any assignments from Artemisia, did we?" he asked, getting slightly worried.
"N-no. I was just, a little, unhappy with my performance today. I wanted to be ready next time," she explained.
"Oh."
Harry took the book from her, and flipped open to a page. Scanning it without actually reading, he sighed.
"Hermione, can I ask you something?" he said hesitantly.
"Of course you can, Harry. What is it?" she replied.
Handing the large book back to her, Harry opened his mouth to speak.
"You know how, well, the Thestrals. You know how I can see them?" he began.
Hermione nodded, hoping he wasn't going to start blaming himself for Cedric's death again.
"Well, I was thinking. Why couldn't I see them before?"
Hermione gave him a puzzled look.
"Why should you have been able…" Hermione stopped mid-sentence, realizing exactly what he meant. He had seen his parents die.
Tempest in Blue : Haha, sorry bout that. I'm not very good at making cliff's, so I decided that since I had the opportunity, I had best take it. I was quite proud, lol. Anyway, now you know what's wrong. It took me a whole week, well maybe not a whole week, but… I really wasn't sure how I could fit Harry's mum in the picture, but I liked the way Hagrid brought her in.
Von : Thanks for your help fixing the annoying little buggers in the text. And I realized what you were saying about the Thestrals, I never thought of that. It's the same in the book. MISTAKE!! MISTAKE IN THE BOOK!!!!!! But I' trying to come up with a way to justify it now.
princess55 : Sorry bout those weird little symbols, but I got rid of em in case you didn't see. Keep reading!!
A/N : I don't really have much to say, but I felt like leaving a note to my few yet, hopefully forever faithful reviewers. I hope y'all liked this chapter. I'm having trouble making it run together, as you can see. It's got so many little bits going on right now. Oh well. Hope it works out, eh?
- JemG