Disclaimer: Still not mine, still don't sue.

A/N: Okay…I'm not getting many reviews when I update…maybe 2 or 3. That makes me sad…Lol. Let's try to get five reviews on this update huh? My challenge to you! Anyways…They start classes today, with new teach. I wonder what she's like? Hmmmmm… Well until next update…

Chapter 7- Common Sense

Harry awoke with a start as his best friend shook him awake. Glancing quickly at his alarm, he noticed that it was only five in the morning. He pulled the blankets over his head, reluctant to get up.

"Harry, we start classes today! Get up mate. Breakfast, come on." Ron took Harry's extra pillow and hit the covered lump that was Harry's body. Harry moaned slightly, he had had a great night's sleep, thanks to the dreamless sleep potion.

It was a great feeling that it created, the potion that is. Not like sleep, but like flying. Harry felt as if all his cares had been lifted and he was simply floating, living, existing. Without a purpose, or a cause, just for the simple fact of being part of the world. There was no thought, no sight, only feeling. He wanted so desperately to go back to it.

"Harry!" The pillow met Harry's body again. "How many times do I have to hit you before you get up?!" Ron was beginning to become agitated. Harry could also hear other voices in the room. That of Neville, Dean, and Seamus. He listened to their voices.

"Lucky! I should have failed on purpose. Now I'll have to see his greasy face everyday! Did you do it on purpose? Ey Neville?" Seamus was speaking to a shaky boy standing by the door holding a stack of books.

"Er-No. I-I just get really nervous when people watch, that's all. At least he can't threaten me with drinking one of my faulty potions." Harry heard the door creaking open.

"HARRY!" Ron pulled back the blankets, and hit Harry on the shoulder, this time without the pillow. Grabbing at the place where Ron's fist had met his shoulder, he got up. He could see perfectly, and then realized that he had fallen asleep with his glasses on his face. He straightened them on his nose and smoothed down the robes that he hadn't taken off. "Let's go Harry. Grab your things."

Harry was still to asleep to really comprehend anything that was being said. Instinctively, he opened his trunk and pulled out every book that he could find. Stumbling slightly, he made his way to the door.

"I've never met anyone that hard to get up, Harry. You definitely need to work on that." Ron was talking away as they made for the Great Hall; Harry took in little of it, occasionally muttering 'yeah' or 'okay.' They took their time getting down to the Great Hall, Hermione had already left them, and there was no one there to make them rush. The light of the early morning sun spilled over the windows and into the corridors, brightening the mood of everyone. Despite the fact that they would be starting probably the hardest year of classes yet, and that they had detentions to look forward to, Harry and Ron were in very high spirits. They reached the Great Hall when only half the sun was risen.

The Hall looked pretty empty considering most people would arrive about half an hour later, but Harry enjoyed its desolateness. He spotted Hermione at the Gryffindor table, her nose buried in the new Charms book. When he reached her, he slammed his books on the table making her jump.

"'Morning Hermione." Harry was beginning to wake up now.

"Good Morning. Harry. Ron." She nodded at both of them then went back to the book. Ron closed it on her hand.

"Come off it Hermione. Charms isn't even our first class. Why aren't you reading," Ron took out his schedule and a grim look spread over his face. "Oh, how could I forget." He said bleakly. "Why aren't you reading your Defense against the Dark Arts book?"

"Finished it. Now if you don't mind," She opened the book once more.

"Finished it! When? How?" Ron knew quite well that they had not had free time for reading books.

"I couldn't sleep," Knowing that it was a lost cause, Ron and Harry took their seats and helped themselves to a piece of toast.

Harry glanced up at the staff table as he usually did. His stomach lurched when he saw that Snape was speaking to Dumbledore with a sneer on his face.

"Snape's ratting us out!" Harry felt his fists clench and an angry look spread over his face.

"What did you expect? Probably trying to get the punishment upped. He's also probably started his campaign to get that one fired." Ron's finger pointed to the seat which was supposed to hold the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, however it was not occupied. "Hey, where is that one anyway?" Ron looked to Hermione, probably because she had gotten there before they had.

"Ron, I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. Like I said. I don't trust her." Hermione did not look up from her book.

"Well you better start trusting her. We have her class next." The conversation ended once again.

When Harry and Ron had finished with breakfast, and Hermione had finished the chapter she was reading, they still had around half an hour before they had to report for their first class. They decided to take their time getting up the stairs to the class room. Alas, they were still early, and found that they weren't the only ones.

"Hey Harry!" Neville, Seamus, and Dean ran over to them.

"What are you doing out here? Why aren't you in class?" Hermione looked astonished that someone who was early wouldn't have made a good impression by walking right into the classroom.

"Are you kidding me? I'm waiting for the Slytherins to get here. She looks like the type that won't do anything if Slytherins are around." Dean lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Oh please!" Hermione walked right into the classroom.

"Hello Miss Granger." A soft voice floated out the door of the classroom and into Harry's ears. He, Ron, and Neville followed it inside, and Seamus and Dean, seeing that Harry was now in the room, came as well.

The room looked entirely different. Instead of the usual dark and creepy feel, with garlic strung everywhere, it kind of resembled a common room, with desks instead of sofas. It had a warm fire, and books lining the walls. In the front of the room, instead of having the teacher's desk right in the center, it had been moved off to the corner and an immense, clear space made the room feel larger Harry took a seat in the back of the room and Ron piled his books beside him. Hermione and Neville took the desk in front of them. Dean and Seamus, the one in front of them. Harper had not said anything besides Hello to Hermione. She was captivated by a book and seemed to be lost in thought before she scribbled a few words in another large book.

Harry wouldn't have noticed who next came in the classroom, if it wasn't for the two monstrous boys who tried to get through the door with him. Draco Malfoy didn't look a thing like the way Hermione or Ron had described him. In fact, he looked perfectly fine and actually took the time to soot a deathly snarl at Harry and Ron.

"How'd they make it into this class?!" Ron pointed at Crabbe and Goyal.

"Dunno," Harry paused, "How does Malfoy look dead?" Harry whispered this as he would probably be cursed if he said it aloud.

"Must have had a good night's sleep, that's all. He looked terrible. Too bad, I was looking forward to doing more impressions of him." Harry and Ron both had a laugh at this one as Ron did the impression of a 'dead looking' Malfoy. 

The rest of the class filed in, as the bell was about to ring. Harper jumped when it finally did. She must have been really caught up in whatever she was doing, thought Harry.

"Silence. Find your seats." That statement reminded Harry of his next class. Harper strode over to the door and closed it. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." She walked over to the board and took out a long, black wand. She began spelling out her name. "My name is Naomyn Harper, but I expect you to call me Professor or mam, naturally." She turned back around to face the class. She narrowed her eyes at what she saw. "Well, Well, Well," She began walking up the center section of the room where the desks were separated. She dragged her fingers along the ends of the two sides of desks. "What an extraordinarily segregated class we have here" She talked very slowly, her words almost hypnotic. When she reached the back of the room, she fold her arms across her chest as every head turned to face her.

Harry looked around the room. It was very true what she said. The left section of desks were occupied only by Slytherins, and the right, only by Gryffindors.

"Accio" Harper roared, if you could call it a roar. A clipboard came flying across the room and hovered in front of her face. "I am a firm believe in taking advise when it is given to you," She grabbed the clipboard and walked back to the front of the class. Her eyes stopped and widened a bit when she got to one name. Harry was preparing himself for whatever she was going to say, but was very surprised to hear, "Draco Malfoy"

The Blonde boy in the back of the room put on a very smug look as her eyes darted over to him. "Come here please, Mr. Malfoy." Her lips were pursed a bit, but then she relaxed. Malfoy came and stood at her side. Her eyes continued down the list, and back to the top. "Granger. Hermione Granger. Up here please." Hermione was very reluctant to come, but she did so nonetheless. "Very well. Draco, why don't you sit down now,"

"Well that was pointless," Whispered Ron as Malfoy started walking toward his original seat.

"No, Mr. Malfoy." Draco stopped dead in his tracks, knowing what was coming next. Neville lurched in his seat and looked at Harry and Ron pleadingly. "You are to take Miss Granger's seat," Malfoy turned around to face her.

"But-"

"Mr. Malfoy," She arched her brow and nodded to the seat that Hermione had once occupied. He walked over and sat down, giving Neville a derogatory look.

"You better not screw this class up for me Longbottom and if you do, I'll tell my father." He whispered so that Harper couldn't hear him. Neville buried his head in his arms that were folded on his desk. Harry desperately wanted to jump over his own table and knock Malfoy into next spring, but Ron held him down.

"Miss Granger," Harper nodded towards the seat beside Pansy Parkinson. Both did not look at each other as Hermione sat down.

When Harper was finished, there was not a single person who was paired with someone of his or her own house. Ron had ended up with Goyal, and Harry had ended up with Crabbe.

"Wonderful," was Ron's sarcastic response.

"Now," continued Harper in that eerie voice. "I am perfectly aware of the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Yes. I attended this school, so do not take me to be some idiot who is not aware of such things. I will tell you today, that if I see any of it. Any at all. Both houses with lose 50 points, be they the victim or the criminal. Do I make myself clear?" A few grunts told her so.

"Now," She waved her wand and a piece of blank parchment fell in front of every student in the room. "I'm quite aware that this parchment is blank at the present time, but it will soon become a test to tell me what you know, and what I have to teach you, let's see," She picked up a different clipboard. "Ah yes, in your first year you learned," She paused and read something off the parchment attached to the clipboard. "Absolutely nothing." A few people giggled. "In your second year," She shook her head, "You learned that Gilderoy Lockheart paints his teeth white," More laughs.

"And he's completely insane!" Joked Ron. A few Gryffindor girls laughed, but Harper was not amused, and made it clear. She slammed the clipboard own on her desk, causing Ron to jump.

"Do not joke about such things!" Commanded Harper, but then picked up the clipboard again and read some more. Ron was suddenly very interested in the underside of his desk.

"Third year you actually learned something, but you should have learned most of that content in your first or second year. Forth year," A slight smile spread over her face "Seems you learned three things exactly, and your fifth year you learned, what a surprise, nothing." She shook her head and placed the board in a drawer on her desk. "Seems I'm dealing with the dullest class of your age," Her empty eyes narrowed, "Only I will not hold you to fault."

She waved her wand and words appeared on the parchment. "This test will not count for or against you, do your best, oh, and do answer the questions on your own parchment. Anyone who tries to fit their answer into the space between questions is a damn fool and will have it publicly announced. Begin." She once again retreated to her desk and scribbled more words in the large book, unconcerned with the fact that she had just sworn in front of her class.

The test was fifty questions long. All in short answer or essay form. Harry stared down at his list of questions and shook his head. How am I ever going to get through this, Harry asked himself. He ran his finger down the parchment, and realized what Harper meant about being a fool if you tried to answer the questions in the space in between the word. The fact of the matter was, was that there wasn't a space between questions. Taking a deep breath, Harry began to answer the questions on his own parchment.

Some of the questions were easy enough to answer, such as 'The one thing that a Boggart does not comprehend is?" That's simple, thought Harry, as he wrote laughter beside number twenty on his parchment. Then there were others such as 'Explain the ideal situation to use a 'Demligh Shield' and also include why it has two counter charms,' Harry began to sweat over such questions. What is a 'Demligh Shield?' I've never heard of that in my entire life. Harry unthinkingly wrote those words next to number twelve on his parchment and desperately tried to smudge them off, but they didn't come off. He decided to move onto some scenario questions, questions thirty-five to fifty. He hoped that all the tests in this class wouldn't rack his brain this much, but seeing as much of Harper's personality as he had, he would put money on them being even harder.

"Is that everyone? Or are you just trying to search your brains for some useless assortment of words to waste my time?" Harry glared at her subconsciously, the way he did Snape. "Okay. Accio" The parchment from every desk flew neatly into her hand, which was almost covered by her long, velvet sleeve. She flipped through them a bit, and then walked them over to her desk.

"Very well. We are going to be doing something in this class that you have most likely never done, as all your past Professors had very low standards. Seeing as how this is a N.E.W.T level class, I will keep my standards extremely high. I have deemed this new addition to my class the 'exit pass.' Before you leave my class each day, you will be required to perform a spell, turn in a page of notes, or something of the like before I allow you to leave. Why? Because I believe that even the thickest person in the lot of you will learn something if you do, say, or write it enough times," All eyes turned to Crabbe and Goyal. "Today, it will be easy, as I only need enough time to review your tests."

 With a wave of her wand, the board in the front of the room turned half black, and half white. The black side had these words written on it:  

There is no good and evil, there is only power…and those too weak to seek it

Harry's heart skipped a beat. These had been the words that Quirrel had uttered to him on the night that he saved the sorcerer's stone. He felt a drop of cold sweat drop down his brow as he read the words over and over again. He was sure that was where he had heard it. How could he forget? He quickly glanced to the white half of the board that had these words written on it:

The relationship between good and evil is such that only one can prevail

Harry was sure he hadn't heard these words before, but he was glad that he had something there that contradicted the first statement. He felt a little more at ease.

"Copy each of these statements down ten times, and we will discuss the tests after I am finished reviewing them." Harper was already at her desk thumbing through the quizzes when she spoke these words. Halfheartedly, Harry began to copy the words, but focused more on the statement he recognized. He began to copy the words slowly, every memory from that night flooding back to him. Fluffy, the devil's snare, the chess, the potions, the troll. His scar burned, and he felt immensely happy. As if he wanted to do a dance around the room and shout out in joy. Harry dropped his quill, splattering the floor with tiny dots of ink.

"Keep him out," Harry told himself as he reached for his quill, but the feeling hadn't passed. He desperately felt as if he had to praise someone, or something. "Keep it out!" Harry urged his mind to let the feelings go, but before he could stop himself he let it go to far. "Excellent work!" He called out. His scar stopped searing, and he covered his mouth. Every set of eyes in the classroom was turned on him, and he felt his face fading into an embarrassed frown.

"Mr. Potter. Would you like to share something with the class? Or will you kindly let your class mates get back to work." Harper was very near the end of the stack of tests. She had been copying notes on a separate roll of parchment. She glared at Harry and rubbed her forearm in anticipation of his answer.

"Er-the latter," he said trying to sound as cool as possible. She stopped rubbing her arm, but kept her hand there.

"Very well." She looked back down at the papers that she was separating.

Ron, and Hermione were staring at Harry with utmost concern. Shaking his head, he indicated that he would tell him after class was over. He didn't want to risk passing a note. Not in this class, not with her as a teacher. Voldemort had been extremely happy with someone at that moment, which, Harry couldn't tell, but for once, he wished he had paid more attention in Occlumency. Putting his head down on the desk, he tried to get his mind back to the task that had been assigned to him, he only had to write the statement three more times. Oddly enough, he couldn't take his mind off what had just happened. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wanted to go back to where ever he had been, go back and feel those feelings. He rubbed his eyes for several seconds and concentrated on the statements on the board. The feelings slowly faded from his mind. He felt at peace.

This peace was shattered however by Professor Harper's voice. His eyes shot up to where she was now standing with several different stacks of parchment. "I have reviewed the tests, an, well. Well it seems to me that this year is going to be most difficult. As for some of you," she shook her head and smirked. "I'm not quite aware how you managed to get into this class" She pulled out her wand, and pointed it in the direction of her desk. It began to fly across the clearing towards her, but stopped no more than and inch from the bottom of her dragging robes. She separated the tests once more into neatly stacked piles, moving some photographs on her desk out of the way as she did so.

She spun around; her hair flew behind her and came to rest on one of her shoulders, making her look very uneven. A mystical look had spread over her face and the usual chill ran down Harry's back. It seems that he wasn't the only one. Ron had looked down, and Blaise Zabini had busied herself with scratching the surface of her desk.

"First lesson," Many people jumped at the harshness in her voice. "There are four types of people in the world. Those that possesses the cleverness of books, those that posses common sense, those that have a bit of both, and those that have neither or the other." She looked around the room, scanning it. For what, Harry did not know.

"Hermione Granger." Spat Harper. Hermione looked up as a few of the Slytherin girls chuckled. Harry was sitting directly behind Malfoy, who had muttered 'stupid mudblood' just loud enough for Harry to hear it. He could feel his hand moving to his hip, where his wand rested. "Stand,"

Hermione didn't hesitate. "Now, If you will. Please read question number forty-three aloud, along with your answer." Harper walked slowly to Hermione and held out a piece of parchment to her. Unwillingly, Hermione took the answer sheet from the Professor.

-ehem- Began Hermione looking around. "Question number forty-three. Suppose you have been wandering around the forbidden forest after dark, alone. You come face to face with a Vampire and have no means to escape. You have your wand, which is tucked inside your school robes. What do you do? (You do not think to Stun)" Hermione stopped and looked at Harper.

"And what do you do Miss Granger?" she said, a smirk coming upon her face.

"I—well—I. I take out my wand and perform the 'Sense binding curse'" She said hopefully.

"The Sense binding curse?" Harper nodded and turned to the class. "An acquaintance of mine found themselves in the same situation once when we were in school. They, like Miss Granger here, tried to perform the sense binding curse, for it was what they had read about the vampire slayers doing in their books. Now can anyone tell me why this person ended up with imprints of Vampire teeth in their leg before the effects of the curse set in?" She looked around the room. Harry looked at Hermione, then at Ron, both of which did not have a clue. Harper sighed and rolled her eyes. "The Sense binding curse is what you call a 'delayed curse' It binds one sense at a time beginning with sight, and moving down the list. It takes at least fifteen seconds in between senses. It binds smell last, and that is a Vampire's dominant sense. Smell it what a Vampire uses to seek blood. The sense binding curse is effective in the end, yes, but I would not recommend it should you find yourself in that situation." Hermione looked toward down at the floor. Harper smiled. "Miss Granger," Hermione looked up, Harry could see the slightest presence of tears in her eyes. "Has shown that she actually cares about her school work, reads, and pays attention. She is also the only one who came up with that answer. Respectable. Five points. Sit." She wrote something down on a clipboard as Hermione sat down, the tears had retreated, and her eyes where bright.

"Draco Malfoy," She smiled as Draco jumped out of his seat looking ready to receive points. Harper handed him his test nodded to him. "Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyal, Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter, and Neville Longbottom," Harry and Ron exchanged glances of confusion. Harry tried to remember what he had written for his answer to question forty-three. It had sounded so stupid to him. Never the less, he stood and received his paper from Harper. His scar did not burn. Why was he expecting it to? It was her eyes. Something in her mysterious, expressionless, eyes that made him tremble.

"Mr. Weasley," Ron rolled his eyes and Harry thought he heard, from across the room, 'Why Me?' "Mr. Weasley. If you will, read your response to question number forty-three."

Ron gulped. "Do I--"

"Yes," Snapped Harper.

"Okay," He whimpered. "I-I w-w-would transfigure my necktie into a necklace of garlic."  He looked pleadingly at Harry, who looked amazed. Glaring down at his own paper, he realized that he had put the same answer. Obviously everyone who was standing reached this same conclusion at the exact moment Harry did. You could see it in their bewildered expressions. Harper smirked, almost evilly.

"And you Mr. Malfoy?"

"The-The same thing Madame Harper," He put cold emphasis on the name, to which the Professor narrowed her eyes. Harry found himself once again reaching for his wand. He couldn't stand Malfoy's voice, and wanted to shut it off once and for all. He clenched his fist just before it touched the smooth wood of his wand.

"Yes. Very well." She directed her attention once again to the rest of the class. "These are the people in this class who you may not think to be too bright." She looked at Neville first, then Ron, then at Crabbe and Goyal. "However, I assure you that these are the people who would be able to escape the Vampire in the quickest, and easiest way. Sure, they would not have a dramatic story to tell about how they wielded a powerful and complicated charm to stop the Vampire precisely before it bit them, but they would be alive. Common sense. A thing that you have to have to excel in the dark—in defense against the dark arts-" Harry's heart skipped a beat. She had been about to say 'The dark arts' in place of 'defense against the dark arts.' He shuddered, but listened intently to what was being said. "Remember," Her voice floated on the air in a relaxing whisper. "Remember that common sense can bail you out of most any situation."

She flicked her wand again, and the remainder of the papers were distributed to their owners. Stepping lightly, careful not to tread on her robes that dragged the ground, she made her way to the wall at the front of the room. Harry took his seat, glaring at the teacher. "Take five points for your houses," she said as they all sat down.

"Now, can anyone tell me where these words originated?" She jabbed a long, bone-thin finger at the black side of the board. Harry's heart leapt, and he felt his hand shoot into the air, without him telling it to.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?" She arched a brow; surprised that anyone could have known this.

Harry didn't know what to say. He had not meant to put his hand in the air. He ad not meant to make her look at him again. He looked down as his scar began to burn. "Think Harry! Just say something," he told himself. "Er- Sa-Slatero Quirrel?" He questioned whether he should have spoken these words as son as they began to come out of his mouth. His questions were answered with an outburst of laughs from the Slytherins. He could feel his face reddening, both with anger and embarrassment.

"Silence." Harper spat, and the classroom was hushed with uneasy calm at once. "You will show no disrespect when one answers," though she said this while she herself had a huge grin on her face. "No, Mr. Potter. Many people have spoken the words, but I am looking for the person who first uttered them. Anyone else?" All was quiet, except for a few students uncomfortably shifting in their seats.

"A great wizard spoke these words. Corruptive words they were. Corruptive, conniving, cryptic words, but great. The person who spoke these words, was none other than the Dark Lord, Voldemort" The emphasis put on this word was so powerful, that it made the torches flicker when she aid them. Books fell off tables, screeches were heard from every corner of the room, and she smiled. She smiled.

Harry felt the urge to run out of the class right at that moment. Run to anyone, everyone, and have this horror removed from his school. How dare she frighten people like that? Harry knew at that instant, that he despised her, loathed her, and put her on a level with Snape. Yet he could not take his eyes off that smile. Something was lurking behind it, something important, waiting to be spilled. All it needed was a little coaxing. His scar seared. 

Her soft smile faded, and returned to a blank expression as the class calmed itself down. A few people had gathered their things that had fallen off their table. "And does anyone know what those words were used for?" Again, no hands in the air. She narrowed her eyes. "Come on! The words were used as a weakening technique! To lure people to him! Quite ingenious if I do say so myself, no matter how terrible it may sound. On the other hand," She jabbed the same pale, scrawny finger at the white side of the board, "We have here, words to contradict the Dark Lord's. Can anyone tell me who wrote these, and lived by them?" Harry was expecting no hands again, but one shot up towards the ceiling.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Harper glared at Hermione as she spoke firmly, letting no weakness into her voice. Harry smiled.

"Taphilious Ambarrassa," She paused and cleared her throat, "The greatest ancient magical philosopher ever known. Taphilious Ambarrassa lived before the time of Merlin, and his philosophies are still studied today." Harry and Ron both looked at each other. If Ron was feeling hat Harry was feeling, then they were both about to stand up and cheer. Someone had answered on of Harper's questions.

Harper looked mildly impressed, "And how do you know so much about the 'Greatest Ancient Magical Philosopher' Miss Granger?"

"I-I read about him, but I have yet to find one of his books." Hermione looked straight at Harper with wide eyes. Harper had folded her arms across her chest.

"Very well." She looked around the room to the curious faces. "That is the correct answer. Taphilious Ambarrassa, being an upholder of the ancient magical ways, lived by these words, but did not write them down until he was on his deathbed with seven of his closest friends around him." A loud intake of breath was heard from the side of the room opposite of Harry. It had come from Hermione. He recognized it as the sound she made when something had come to her attention. She gazed at Harry, probably wondering whether it had come to his attention as well. All the same, it hadn't.

-Ehem- "For homework tonight. I wish you all to write an essay on which one of these statements you believe and why." There was a long pause before someone from the back of the room called out.

"How long does it have to be Harper?" Malfoy's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Professor Harper, or Madam Harper if you please Mr. Malfoy." She spat. "And as long as you have to make it to get your point across." She took out a silver pocket watch, shaped like something very familiar.

Harry gazed between the circlet on Harper's head, and the watch. They both had the same dragon shaped pendant, however, the watch lacked the swirling stone. He shook it off as nothing. She probably just wanted matching accessories. "Women," he whispered under his breath, and the bell rang.