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The curse of the DADA teacher
Chapter 9: A surprising surprise
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"You guys are crazy." Hermione whispered hotly, hands on her hips, but one could hear the mirth in her voice as she reprimanded them. Harry and Sirius both looked at her at the same time with identical, impossibly accentuated faked innocent looks. "What did we do?" Harry asked with wide eyes, while Sirius was trying to cover a snicker with a cough.
They were in a hallway near the entrance doors, in the shadows the staircase provided. They could still hear Trelawney shriek and scream and it was too much for them to bear. Godfather and Godson both fell into hysterical laughter and Hermione had to admit to herself that this prank was one of their best.
The 3 jumped as Remus and Ron appeared from the staircase with curious looks, and when Remus heard Trelawney's insipid rants, he shook his head and smirked. "What did you guys do to poor Sybill?"
Ron threw in happily; "Yeah! We could hear Trelawney's screaming in the upper levels of Hogwarts! What did you guys do?"
Harry and Sirius shared a glance and Hermione huffed. "Humph! I tried to stop them! Now is hardly the time to play some foolish games!"
Harry grunted at Hermione and his mood dampened. "That's why we did it in the first place, Hermione. The entire population of Hogwarts is freaking out in dread and the disappearance of Miss Moon's not helping out one bit! We only wanted to enlighten the mood! I was about to go crazy! At least now the students are laughing! Maybe it's at Trelawney, but it's better than nothing!"
Sirius snickered again when the divination teacher yelled like a madwoman from inside her classroom, and Hermione had to admit that Harry did have a point. She threw a furtive look towards the divination classroom and at the kids who were surrounding it, howling with laughter.
Firenze had long gone disappeared to see Dumbledore or whoever was going to be on his path. He had come out with a hand covering his eyes in embarrassment and had winced visibly, covering his ears, when the loud yell of Trelawney had invaded his sense of hearing.
Remus ruffled Harry's hair making the boy yelp, mimicked as if he was trying to rub a tear from his eyes and mocked him; "Our boy is growing before our very own eyes and becoming a marauder on his own! *sniff!* I never thought I would see this day! Let us all celebrate!"
He and the others laughed when Harry mock scowled at the werewolf. "Ah, piss off!"
Remus laughed some more just to make him squirm and asked when he was finished; "But really, Harry, what *did* you do to her?"
Harry gave him a diabolical look. "Well, I got the idea when Trelawney stopped me yesterday just to tell me she had seen my death once again-" Sirius snorted at that "-while doing her reading with her wax and cup of tea. I was about to tell her to shove it where she possibly couldn't, since she's so stuck-up, when the idea popped into my head. I merely said I would be careful and that she should be to in a foreboding manner just to scare her a little. I then went my way, leaving her alone to ponder on this."
Harry took a big intake of breath and smirked when he saw all the attention was focused on his explanation. "Now, you guys all know how she is; she's totally paranoid and believes everything she hears. She probably thought I was going to curse her or something at that point, but hey!" Harry shrugged, letting his phrase trail.
"I needed the help of Peeves, but I knew the joke would backfire on me, so I asked Sirius to assist me for this task. He asked Peeves if he would like to help and when I finished telling him about the plan, I swear the Poltergeist was salivating!" The green eyed boy chuckled while the dog animagus replayed the thing in his head, grinning widely.
"I wanted to catch Trelawney at her own game. I warmed some wax and shaped it in the form of a scythe as best as I could. Sirius and I hid underneath my invisibility cloak and stood in the corner of the classroom so we could watch the eternal shock on her face, it's still engraved in my memory, by the way. Anyway! She started to prepare her tea as usual, and that's where Peeves comes into play. He made an intentional racket with Filch's cat just when she poured the liquid wax into her cup. She turned around in curiosity to see what was going on, so we hurried up. Still hiding under the cloak, Sirius took the now solid wax from the tea and I replaced it with the one I had scythe-formed. I guess you can picture the rest." Harry finished deviously.
Ron was practically rolling on the floor by now, Remus and Sirius looked proud and even Hermione let out a giggle.
"So, that's what you did." said a familiar voice full of malice.
The small group of pranksters jumped in fright as they thought they had been caught. They looked up to see Professor Severus Snape leaning on the ramp of the staircase with a wide smirk thrown in their direction.
What was their surprise when he glanced towards the class and chuckled. "Stupid woman, I guess she never saw it coming. I was wondering how much time it would take for anyone to pull one on her. I'm happy you're the one to blame for that, Potter. I won't say that often, but good job. I'll see you guys later."
Then, he was gone as fast as he came, leaving a bunch of open mouthed people. They gazed at each other uncertainly until Sybill Trelawney shrieked again. They burst out laughing and scrammed out of there before they could be seen of heard.
*~*
Dinner came quickly for the students of Hogwarts, courtesy of the absent professor Moon. Sirius had wanted to replace her until she came back, hopefully, but he and the rest of the castle's population were shocked to see an energy field blocking Sirius's way to the chair. They came to the conclusion that the curse was still functional and decided not to test that theory out.
Noise broke out in the Great Hall as Dumbledore came in late and looking more than pissed. Curious eyes followed him but they quickly caught on when Fudge came running behind him, clutching a small parchment to himself. Albus made his way up the alley and sat down on his chair, all the while trying to ignore the minister who seated himself beside him. He made the children calm down with a look and tried to sound cheerful. "I'm sorry it took so long to come, children! As you can see, we have a visitor. Everything's alright, so don't worry! Oh please, Sybill, stop muttering, for Heaven's sake!"
The teacher was still muttering wildly and gazing nervously from side to side.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled when he glanced at Harry for a little too long. The boy gulped and tried to look innocent while Sirius was downright inspecting the wall at his right side. Remus and Severus shared a glance and smirked.
"Well, children, eat up!" The old man made the food appear and sighed exasperatedly when Fudge shoved the parchment before his eyes none too gently and started to whisper harshly. Nobody could hear what they were talking about because of the noise the children were making and that didn't reassure Harry in the least.
He had suddenly lost his appetite and pushed his plate away. It never was good news when Fudge was here, and Dumbledore himself seemed tense about the parchment in front of him. Harry could see the headmaster shake his head negatively and trying to stand his ground about something but he could see he was loosing the argument.
Suddenly, the minister fisted the teacher's table and didn't take notice that it had made all the noise stop. "DAMNIT, DUMBLEDORE! WE AREN'T STRONG OR NUMEROUS ENOUGH TO BEAT HIM! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO READ!? IT-" Fudge stopped rapidly when he noticed the dead silence in the room and turned to see hundreds of stares directed at him.
Some kids were shaking with fear and they had a reason to; it didn't take a genius to know who 'him' was. Harry was frowning like the other teachers and watching the ongoing argument. Albus got up stiffly and was about to retort with a nasty comment when they heard an unfamiliar voice.
"It's so silent here! What's going on?"
Everyone turned to see 2 persons wearing bright red cloaks. Apparently, it was the taller one who had spoken when they saw him look at the other cloaked person, who shrugged in return. "I don't know, don't look at me! We haven't been here in a while, remember? It's good to be back, though!" A sigh escaped one of them. "I feel nostalgic. I wonder if he's here."
Those 2 persons were confusing the students and teachers. Of whom were they talking about anyway? Cornelius Fudge rasped his throat and glared at the intruders with disdain. "Who are you and how dare you intrude on our private conversation? And of whom do you speak of? Is it of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" He threatened.
The taller person scoffed none too gracefully. "If your conversation is too private, why don't you go elsewhere than in a place full of children? Or maybe you just wanted to show off and feel important! And if you think we're scared of Voldem-OUCH! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!" The tall one asked with an annoyed voice when the other elbowed him in the gut.
"Hush! You will not speak like that in front of the children!" Then, the obviously female one turned to face Dumbledore and Fudge. The minister currently had his wand trained on them and some teachers were standing stiffly when she spoke up, ignoring the threats. "Please excuse him, he's had a long day, and I too for that matter. We just want to see Harry, please."
The desperation in her voice made Harry wonder what the hell was going on while the other teachers reached for their wands. But before they could, the Boy-Who-Lived was up and blocking the way. "Why would you want to see me? Who are you?"
The 2 cloaked persons froze when the boy stood up from his table to look at them with a watchful gaze. Harry wasn't stupid as to throw himself in front of them to ask them a question. This could very well be a trick of Riddle and he stood at a fair distance, being wary in nature. He watched with curiosity as a gasp of shock echoed from both persons. "Oh Merlin! My baby!" came from the emotional female one.
Harry's eyes widened at being called that and while his rational side screamed at him that this wasn't remotely possible, his heart was screaming quite the contrary. The teachers froze when the female removed her hood and gazed at the standing boy with teary eyes. The students were wide eyed. They. Had. The. Same. Eyes. The same 'Avada Kedavra green' eyes! Meaning.
Remus had to lean on the table heavily and take big intake of breaths to fight the hyperventilation that was threatening him when the tall one removed his hood in his turn. Sirius's knees suddenly buckled and he fell on the ground, too shocked to speak.
The Hall was still silently stunned when the woman ran to Harry and embraced him tightly, tears falling profusely from her eyes. "My baby! My Harry! I'll never leave you again! Never again!" she cried out, tightening her hold on the still wide eyed boy.
Harry was stiff in the tight hold when he felt a second pair of arms encircling him and gazed at the man who was his almost identical copy, or was it him that was the copy? "My boy! He's become a man! Just look at him, Lily! He's just like me!" He let out a strangled laugh mixed with a sob and kept stroking Harry's hair as if he wanted to reassure himself that the boy really wasn't just a fragment if his imagination.
Harry brought his limp hands up to touch the woman he had seen first in the Mirror of Desires in his 1st year, then in his 4th year when he and Riddle had been tied by the Priori Incantatem. "M-mom?" he asked timidly, and transferred his gaze to the man who was smiling proudly to him. "D-dad?" he whispered faintly, tears making their way down his cheeks.
His heart couldn't take the shock, nor the extreme joy that came with it. He sagged in the tight hold, his eyesight became blurry and the last thing he saw was his mother's mouth moving to say something to him, though he heard no words. He fell unconscious in their arms and Lily gave a little yelp of fear. Her husband helped her with the sudden extra weight and took his son in his arms.
He gave an amused look at the gaping teachers and snickered. "This is great and all, but I think we need to go to the infirmary."
Poppy shook herself out of her stupor when she vaguely heard the word 'infirmary' and scoffed. "I don't think it'll be necessary. Harry went in there for worst things than a simple fainting spell."
James and Lily's mood dampened and the devoted mother put a hand on her son's shoulder as if those simple words could take her son away from her.
"Yes, we heard quite a lot from Serena, but not the entire story. And I'm afraid I won't like more than just the half of what I'm about to hear" James said with all the seriousness in the world.
Severus got up swiftly, making his chair fall back in the movement and finally surprising the kids out of their daze. "YOU SAW SERENA?! WHERE IS SHE?"
When everyone thought they were going to hear one of the famous arguments between the arrogant Slytherin and hot-headed Gryffindor, James merely smiled back. "I'm sure you missed her a lot, huh? All those years, waiting and waiting. She's done a lot in the past few days, Snape. And she's still as mysterious as ever." James let his phrase trail and Lily gave the potions teacher a small smile.
"She held onto her promise, Severus. She's the one who brought us back." This made the students start to whisper in disbelief and some let out exclamations of shock. Ron and Hermione were still rooted on their bench and hadn't dared run to Harry when he had fallen unconscious in his parent's arms.
Lily continued when Dumbledore made the commotion stop; "We don't know how she actually did it but it took a lot out of her, Severus. The last thing I remember is *him* killing me and when I opened my eyes, I was standing in Godric's Hollow as if nothing had ever happened. Serena, we didn't recognized her at first but she explained rapidly, said to go to Hogwarts to see Harry, she knew we were dying to, no pun intended. We asked her if she was going to come back with us but she shook her head and urged us to come here. We wanted to Apparate with her but she refused, saying we would only waist our magic, and that we would need it. We didn't want to push the subject, so we left and Apparated in Hogsmeade with our cloaks on. No need to make the population panic more, we saw everyone was tense and on their guard enough already. You know the rest of the story. My guess is Serena's still in Godric's Hollow, but I can't be sure of that."
She heard Severus growl slightly. "And you just left her there?! Alone?!"
James sighed patiently, knowing very well how he felt. "It may be wrong, Snape, but she truly wanted to be left alone for the moment, believe me. She really looked tired, but we were powerless against her choice. Let's just wait a little and if she still hasn't come back on her own, we'll go back to see if she's still there, ok?"
Severus willed himself to relax and not act like a lovesick adolescent fool. He was still greatly worried, though. He glanced at both his sides when 2 sets of hands brushed his shoulders. He looked up to see Black and Lupin smiling in support at him. That's right, they, too, were concerned but they believed in her, so they were courageous about the matter.
"Sirius, Remus."
Both men turned to a softly smiling James. They went to the couple and received a hearty hug from Lily. They put their hands on James shoulder since he had an armful of Harry Potter and they willed themselves not to cry.
'The marauders are back' James thought with a big smile, 'but we're short of one member.' His eyes became serious. "I think you have a lot to tell us, don't you?"
Sirius knew of what he was referring to and cringed. They had a lot to explain, and James would certainly not like the part where he had gone to Azkaban because of Pettigrew's treason. Sirius got out of his daze when he felt a sharp nudge.
James gazed at him with an annoyed look and glanced down at his still unconscious son. "You know, Sirius, I could use some help. He's not as light as a feather, if you believe the contrary."
Remus sweatdropped while Sirius smirked teasingly. "Hey! He's YOUR son!"
James smirked just like him and imitated him. "Hey! He's YOUR godson!"
He then proceeded to dump the boy in Sirius' arms and breathed a sigh of relief for his poor arms. The boy was 16 after all!
Sirius began to whine at James and everyone started to laugh at him heartily. Hermione and Ron shared an embarrassed look. Lucky for Harry he was unconscious because he would've whined at being treated like a sac of potatoes.
They were going to exit the Great Hall when James turned around and stared at Cornelius Fudge, who was sprawled on the ground, out cold. He lifted an eyebrow and glanced at Dumbledore. "What about Fudge?"
Dumbledore looked down at the minister and shrugged. "What about him?" And he exited the room with Sirius in tow and a bunch of students laughing at Fudge who had fainted like a sissy the moment he had seen the supposedly dead Potters.
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SOOOO? DID YOU LIKE? HUH? HUH? DID YOU LIKE??? ^_^;
Sorry! I guess I'm too hyper from reading my own chapter! But I really like the way I made them react! Did you? ^.^ PS: Trelawney's an idiot.
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Eternal Cosmos ^_~