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Chapter Two
The last remaining month of vacation flew by as fast as the summer weather, a little too fast for Harry and Ron. Hermoine came at the last week of vacation and they all traveled to Diagon Alley together to get their supplies. Harry and Ron had been looking forward to seeing Hermoine. Since she was always a booth of information, they were hoping she would know something about their new teacher.
"You mean it's not you?" she asked Harry questionably.
"No. We were kinda hoping you would know who it is?" asked Harry.
"Well I'm as stumped as you are. Maybe it's Snape." she had said. Harry still cringed as he thought about the prospect that Snape would be the new Professor. It was bad enough that he got an Outstanding in Potions and had to take another two years with Snape, but to have him for Defense would just be too much. He began to think on past events and what would make Dumbledore punish him so. As everyone piled into the car the ministry had sent, Harry tried to figure out if there was a way he could hide in the car so that he didn't have to go to Hogwarts, but after a span of fourteen minutes and thirty-six seconds, he found himself sitting on the Hogwarts train, waving goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred and George. Hermoine and Ron were still Prefects and had their duties to uphold, so Harry was left in his small compartment alone. After a short while, Neville Longbottom had joined him, and shortly after that, Ron and Hermoine had returned.
"We looked on the entire train, Harry, and there is no Professor on board." said Hermoine as she sat down in the seat next to him.
"That's why I think it's another student!" said Ron. "Maybe Dumbledore didn't like the way you taught class. Or maybe he wants to give someone else a chance."
"I highly doubt that Ron." said Hermoine, rolling her eyes.
"Well, maybe the Professor is already there." said Harry, glancing out the window.
"The Professor? You mean you're not teaching Defense class anymore?" asked Neville, who wasn't paying much attention to their conversation.
Harry shook is head and Neville sighed, "I hope it's not Professor Snape."
Harry moaned and continued to stare out the window. Why does everyone think its Snape? He thought.
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Once they had arrived at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermoine all kept their eyes peeled for the new Professor. But they couldn't find him anywhere. There was definitely a seat between Dumbledore and Snape that was left open, but there was no trace of the Professor anywhere. Everyone was at their house tables, waiting for the first years to arrive so they could start dinner. But they didn't have to wait long as the doors opened and Professor McGonagall led in a group of first years that all looked scared and nervous. After the Sorting Hat sung it's song, and sorted all the first years, Professor Dumbledore stood.
"I only have a few announcements to make. The rest can wait till after dinner. The Forbidden forest is strictly forbidden, as is the third floor. And Mr. Filch has informed me of new additions to his list of spells and toys that are not allowed in the hallways during and in-between classes. Now, Tuck in."
Then the tables were suddenly filled with food and everyone started eating. But it didn't take long till everyone noticed the empty seat between Dumbledore and Snape and questions were erupting throughout the Hall.
"So who's sitting in the empty seat at the staff table?"
"Did they lay off one of the teachers?"
"No, that's the seat for the new Defense teacher."
"Does anyone know who the teacher is?"
"No one knows. It's a mystery to all of us."
Harry listened to everyone talk and looked up at the staff table once more, and spotted Hagrid sitting at the end of the table. Hagrid smiled and winked at him and Harry smiled back. Harry then pointed to the empty chair at the staff table. Hagrid looked down the table, then back at Harry and shrugged, before he continued eating. Harry sighed and turned back to Ron and Hermoine.
"Well, Hagrid doesn't know what's going on either."
Ron smirked, "Well that's no surprise."
"Malfoy doesn't know either." stated Hermoine, and sure enough, when Harry turned to glance at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were in a heated discussion with a few other Slytherins, each glancing at the empty seat now and then.
Everyone waited patiently until the staff had finished eating and the food had disappeared and the plates were left spotless as always. Dumbledore stood once more and the room fell silent instantly.
"I know that many of you are wondering about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but she has sent me a letter stating that she's running a little late, and won't arrive till much later tonight. So, we should all get a good nights rest, and you can all meet her tomorrow."
Everyone slowly got up, some still muttering under their breath's about the new Professor being another woman, others mentioning that they were going to stay awake until the new teacher arrived. Harry thought it best to join Seamus and Dean, who were discussing on sitting by the Gryffindor common room window and waiting for the Professor to arrive.
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"So, the new Professor is a woman?" asked Professor McGonagall as the staff rose to depart to their rooms.
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, and I think she will be a very good teacher."
Severus tried to act like he didn't care, but he couldn't help but want to know who this woman was. A woman from his past.
Severus stood quickly and made his way to his office before going to bed. He had to finish his preparations for class the next day. He wasn't looking forward to the next day, he wasn't looking forward to seeing Harry Potter, and truthfully, he wasn't looking forward to finding out who the new Professor was. Sure, he was curious, as was everyone, but he was afraid that memories he had kept hidden for so long would come to the front in full force.
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Harry felt his body jerk as he was roughly shaken.
"Harry, wake up! That Professor is here! You have to see it!" whispered Ron hurriedly. Harry was awake instantly and groped around the nearby table for his glasses. Both themselves, and Hermoine had all stayed in the common room with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, both seventh years in Gryffindor, to await the arrival of the new Professor. Harry hurried towards the window that was currently occupied by Dean, Seamus and Hermoine, and tried to peer over their heads. There, near the gate leading to Hogwarts, was a cloaked figure atop a black horse. But there was something horse about the horse.
"She's riding a unicorn!" said Dean excitedly.
"But why is it black?" asked Hermoine.
But no one seemed to care about the color of the unicorn. They were more interested in the rider. Something under the woman's hood glimmered in the moonlight, like some sort of metal. The cloaked figure rode onward a few more paces before she and her horse were obstructed from view.
"I wonder what she looks like," said Dean.
"I hope she's pretty. It'll be nice to have a looker for a Professor instead of all the old ones we've been getting." said Seamus, as he and Dean headed up to their room to sleep, still discussing what the Professor my look like. Harry sat in the common room waiting until he heard their door close before he looked at Ron and Hermoine.
"How about we get a closer look?"
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Harry, Ron and Hermoine slowly made their way out of the portrait hole, all cramped together under the Invisibility cloak. It was a little more difficult than when they were younger, seeing as they were all considerably taller. When they finally reached the entrance all, they saw Professor Dumbledore, and all the other Professors there to greet the new comer, except Professor Snape. The three stood near a statue of armor and remained as quiet as possible.
"I am glad to see that you have made it here safely, Petra." said Dumbledore, taking the hand of the cloaked woman.
"Thank you," she said, "It was a rough journey for awhile, but at least I've made it in time for class tomorrow."
Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, well, these are some of the other Professors." and Dumbledore set out to introduce Petra to everyone, forgetting (or not planning) to mention the absence of Snape. Petra reached towards the hood of her cloak and slowly pulled it back, revealing her face.
"A pleasure to meet you all," she said, smiling, but nor Harry, Ron, or Hermoine could see her smile. In fact, no one could. Just the slightest squinting of her eyes showed that she was smiling. Harry now realized the metal that he saw glinting under the hood was from the silver mask that Petra wore over the lower half of her face. The mask rose across the bridge of her nose, covering all the way to her chin, and sank below her ears and connected at the back of her head. She had long white hair that was kept in a braid and disappeared into the hood of her cloak. Her hair was parted on the side, so most of her hair hung in front of her right eye, while the left sparkled in the candlelight. Hermoine gasped, slapping her hand over her face and Harry looked to see what was wrong. When Harry noticed that she was staring at Petra's face, Harry turned back to the woman for further examination and realized what Hermoine was so shocked about. When Petra turned to address Professor Sprout, he noticed that her left eye was blood red. Harry shuddered slightly, remembering the only time he had seen eyes that red was when he was looking into the eyes of Voldermort.
"Well, let me take you to your room. I'm sure you're exhausted and you should get some rest before your class tomorrow." said Dumbeldore.
Petra nodded, "That would be wonderful." and Dumbledore led her away from the other Professor's towards her room. Harry, Ron and Hermoine waited until all the other Professors walked back to their own rooms, before they made their way back to the tower.
"Did you see the color of her eyes?" asked Hermoine.
"What eyes? I only saw one. Besides I was more entranced by her appearance!" said Ron dreamily.
"They looked like the eyes of Voldermort." said Hermoine exasperatedly.
"There's no way she could be Voldermort. Voldermort's dead! Besides, I think she's way to pretty to be Voldermort." said Ron dreamily. Hermoine huffed irritably.
Harry was unusually quiet but Ron and Hermoine didn't seem to notice, as they were engrossed in there own conversation. Harry really wasn't sure he was as excited to go to class the next day anymore.
At breakfast the next morning, many were disappointed to see that the new Professor was not with the rest of the staff. But something that stunned Harry, Ron and Hermoine, was that the students weren't the only ones who looked disappointed. Snape kept glancing around the hall and would then look at the empty chair next to himself and then would resign himself to eating breakfast, only making small chit-chat with Madam Hooch who was sitting next to him.
"Well, what's your schedule Harry?" asked Ron.
Harry pulled out his list. "First, it's History with Professor Binns, then Herbology with Professor Sprout, then a double Potions with Professor Snape and then Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Petra."
Ron smiled brightly; obviously they had the same schedule. As soon as they finished breakfast, they all left and walked back to their tower before heading off to their first class.
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Snape sat through the Potions class, doing his usual duties to make Harry absolutely miserable. Not only did he have to deal with Harry's presence, but he had the privilege of have Neville Longbottom in his class as well. Apparently, all the times that Hermoine Granger whispered tips to him, ended up gaining him an 'O' in his O.W.L.'s exams. Snape made sure to keep all of the Gryffindor students separated so that they could not help one another, and all of his Slytherin students took it upon themselves to torture them while Snape was busy with Harry. The only thing that kept him going was the fact that he was going to walk his Slytherin students to their Defense class so that he could get a closer look at the new Professor. Keeping himself as segregated as possible, kept him from knowing exactly who the Professor was. And his usual students he spoke to to get information, weren't speaking to him anymore, after he helped Dumbledore send all their father's to Azkaban. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle never went a day without giving him the worst possible glare they could muster, but he never minded, he was used to those kinds of looks.
Once the bell rang to dismiss class, he ordered everyone to bring him a sample of their potions before they could leave. Once he had all the potions, he followed the rest of the class out of his room and towards the Defense classroom. All of the students walked into the classroom and took their seats, talking animatedly with each other before the bell rang once more to signal the start of class. Snape stood in the back of the room, near a corner slightly concealed in shadows, not knowing for sure if he wanted to be seen or not. The door, leading to Professor Petra's office opened and she descended the stairs nearby and stood at the front of the class.
"Good morning everyone." she said brightly. "My name is Petra Flewing. But you may all call me Professor Petra."
Snape stared at Petra, his mouth slightly ajar in shock. He couldn't believe that she was here. The one person in his life who treated him like an equal, like a true friend. The one person he allowed himself to smile for, the one person he allowed himself to love, the one person, whom he felt, took that love and walked all over it. And after looking at the young woman she had turned into now, he wasn't quite sure it was such a smart idea to follow everyone to her class.
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