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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously.........

Special thanks to my betas, Dreamermarie and icycoolhermione! And more special thanks to White-witch91, Ainasister29, mary boleyn, McGonagall, and Alex! Thanks for taking the time to review, it is much appreciated!

Chapter Seven: Potions and Defense

Harry woke up early the next morning. He sat and looked around the room. Everyone else was still fast asleep in their beds. That didn't bother him much; it just meant he got to use the bathroom first.

"What's gotten into you?" Ron asked, when he woke up over an hour later. Harry could hear a groan coming from Dean's bed and mumbled curses could be heard coming from Seamus's drawn curtains.

"Woke up; couldn't sleep," Harry replied.

"Good. Wait for me and we'll go to breakfast together," Ron said.

In the girls' room, Hermione was hurriedly putting her bag together. Lavender and Parvati were sitting at their dressing tables applying large amounts of sparkly goop to their faces. Fiona was searching everywhere for her Potions book, but couldn't find it anywhere.

"It's in your trunk!" Hermione finally screamed at her.

"Oh, thanks."

"Let's go we're late!" Hermione complained.

"Hermione, breakfast hasn't even begun to be served yet! How could we be late?" Fiona asked, practically running down the stairs to catch up with Hermione.

"By the time we get to the Great Hall, we'll definitely be late," Hermione answered her, holding open the portrait.

"By what- two minutes? Thanks," Fiona said as the portrait swung shut behind her. Keeping up with Hermione was a lot of work and Fiona felt as if she had run a marathon by the time they reached the Great Hall.

"So, how did we get here?" Hermione tested her as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"How was I supposed to remember where I was going when I was trying to keep up with you!" Hermione gave her a disapproving look.

"Morning," Seamus mumbled as he sat down at the table.

"Morning," the girls chorused back.

Harry and Ron sat down shortly. Hermione rolled her eyes when she saw Ron- it looked like he just tumbled out of bed. Hermione, however, was neatly dressed and had even applied some make-up; not that the two dunderhead boys she had as friends would notice.

"Did you hear Harry's Quidditch Captain?" Ron asked, piling his plate with food.

"Congratulations! I knew they would lift that ban!" Hermione said.

"Now we just need to find some new teammates! Half our team left last year," Harry said, looking at his porridge. "You don't happen to play- do you?" He asked Fiona desperately.

"Um, I used to play a little bit. I haven't got a broom, though. I mean I used to, but I'm really sure what happened to it."

"That's not a big deal, tryouts aren't for a while anyways. What position did you play?" Harry asked, secretly hoping it was something they needed.

"Usually beater- it was my favorite."

"We've already got beaters," Ron said between gulps of pumpkin juice.

"Yes, but have you actually watched them?" Ginny asked as she sat down. "We could use some new ones- preferably ones that aren't afraid of bludgers. I'm trying out for Chaser myself."

"Good, because we don't have any," Harry said. "Fiona, talk to Madam Hooch and come to tryouts. If you don't make beater- which you shouldn't have a problem- then you can be a chaser with Ginny."

"Ok," Fiona said, looking at her eggs and bacon, remembering the dishes she was used to from back at her orphanage. Talking about Quidditch reminded her of Diso and Italy and she frowned into her food.

"Oh look! Schedules!" Hermione said.

"Oh, blimey! Double potions first thing today!" Ron said.

"That's bad?" Fiona asked.

"Snape teaches potions," Harry said.

"He hates Gryffindors," Seamus added.

"He used to hate Harry a lot, now he just ignores him," Ron put in.

"It's not a bad deal," Harry replied honestly. He'd rather Snape ignored him.

"I like potions," Fiona said.

"Trust us, after one class with Snape- you'll hate it," Ron advised.

"Transfigurations after that," Harry said. Fiona groaned. "And double Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch. That should be interesting. Anyone heard who the new teacher is?"

"Not a clue," Dean said.

"Me either," Ron said.

"Well, it can't be Umbridge again and it's surely not Professor Lupin," Hermione said. "But there wasn't a new teacher at the table last night. Professor Grubbly-Plank was back though."

"What's Hagrid doing then- wasn't he here when we got off the train?" Ron asked. Harry and Hermione gave him knowing looks- of course he would be doing something with the Order and hopefully it had nothing to do with his brother Grawp.

"Fiona, we'd better get going or else we'll be late for Potions!"

"Yes, Hermione," Fiona said, even though Potions didn't start for a half hour and Fiona doubted it would take that long to get to wherever the potions class was.

"Potions classes are in the dungeons," Hermione informed her.

"Enchanting," was the reply.

Given what she had heard that morning, plus everything Fred and George had said about Potions, Fiona was less than excited to go to class. i 'But I like Potions and I'm good at it- I'll be fine' /i she told herself over and over. She looked around. The dungeons were pretty spooky. Of course, she and Hermione had to be the first to class. Hermione was already holding her Potions book. Fiona just followed her into the classroom and didn't even bother to protest when Hermione sat in the very front, very center of the room.

"So, how did we get here?" Hermione tested her again. Fiona told her the way they had come. She only messed up twice. "Not bad." Hermione told her, as she flipped through the book.

"Hermione, why are you already on Chapter 17? We haven't started class yet!"

"It's always good to be prepared," Hermione shrugged before returning to her reading. It took a long time for the rest of the class to arrive. When there were only five minutes left until class began half the seats were still empty. Harry and Ron came running through the door almost as class was beginning and took seats all the way in the back corner. Draco was sitting in the front next to Pansy Parkinson. He must have been trying to tell a joke because Pansy was laughing hysterically. Harry was happy to note that everyone else around Draco looked bored.

"Quills out, books away," Snape bellowed as he entered the room, slamming the door behind him. "Take out your summer assignments. Weasley, you may begin collecting them. You'd better hope none of you have gotten stupider over the summer and I must say this class is extremely demanding and requires hard work that is to be done to perfection! There is no doubt in my mind that many of you do not belong in this class. Long gone are the days when you sit about idly looking at cauldrons and getting by simply because you handed in an assignment." He appeared to be looking right at Harry. His gaze shifted for a second and lingered on Fiona.

"Today you will create a i simple /i healing potion," Snape said, making it sound as if it were incredibly easy, knowing perfectly well how difficult it would be for the class. "However, that doesn't mean that it does not require precision and all of your attention! The instructions are on the board, along with the ingredients. I suggest you copy them down for further use as this particular potion is not in your books. Now, before we begin- the seating arrangement in here is not at all acceptable," He paused. Fiona was hardly paying attention to him at all. Instead, she was looking at Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was, in fact, looking back at Fiona with an odd expression on his face.

i 'He can't possibly be SMILING at me- can he?' /i she thought to herself.

"Pay attention!" Snape snapped in her direction. Fiona jumped and faced forward, mumbling an apology. "That's five points from Gryffindor. And these seats will be permanent, so get used to them." Then he began pairing them off. Hermione was stuck in a back corner with Goyle as a partner. She sat next to him secretly wondering how he even got into the class. Ron and Harry were sitting on opposite sides of the room from each other and Fiona was paired with Draco. She sighed, her first day was starting out horrible.

"Don't worry, Snape is always taking points off us," Harry said to her as he walked to his new seat.

"Anything to share with the class, Potter? I didn't think so, now get to work!" Snape snarled. Fiona immediately began copying down the notes Snape had written on the board.

"I'm not going to bother writing those down. You will let me borrow your notes right," Draco said dropping his voice, " i mudblood /i lover? After all, we i are /i partners." Draco sneered at her. Fiona glared at him but put her paper in the center of the table anyway. Then she took out her supplies and took a deep breath. She lined up everything she needed and began preparing all of her ingredients. She looked over, Draco might have been a nuisance to have as a partner but at least he was neat.

Ron was off in a far corner of the room and appeared to be having a lot of trouble. Harry looked bored as Snape yelled at him for improperly setting up his cauldron. Hermione was hunched over her parchment, double and triple checking her ingredients.

"No problems over here I assume, Draco?" Snape asked. "I know you'll help Miss Clarec if she needs it." Snape said, trying to hide how impressed he was by Fiona's work so far. It was obviously superior to Draco's.

"Of course, Professor." Fiona rolled her eyes at him. What a sleazy git.

At the end of class, Fiona bottled up her potion and after marking her bottle, walked it up to the front of the class. She placed her potion on Snape's desk next to Hermione's before she went back to clean her supplies. When she finished, she looked around the room. Many of the students had already left. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere in sight. She quickly walked out the door, hoping to catch up with them. The dungeon corridor was empty.

"Where's your next class," a bored Draco said, leaning against the wall. Fiona looked at him but kept walking.

"I know you don't know where you're going. You might as well answer, I'm the only one here who can help you- unless you're waiting for foolish Peeves of course." Fiona stopped. She knew he was right and she didn't want to find out what McGonagall would say if she walked in late.

"Transfigurations," she mumbled.

"Now was that so hard?" Draco asked sarcastically. They continued in silence all the way to Transfigurations. "It's that door over there." Suddenly, Fiona's bag split open, spilling its contents everywhere. She could have sworn she heard Draco mutter something and now he was smirking at her. She turned to yell at him but he was already gone.

"Where've you been?" Ron asked when Fiona finally walked into class.

"Oh, just walking to class with i Malfoy /i and you?"

"Er-" Ron began.

"He didn't do anything to you did he?" Harry asked.

"Of course not," Fiona answered, opening her Transfigurations book. She was horrible at Transfigurations and she groaned as everyone quieted for Professor McGonagall to start speaking.

The class went pretty smoothly, despite Fiona frantically taking notes every time McGonagall uttered a word. Ron sat back to watch her- she was writing twice as fast as Hermione. He didn't think it was possible.

The class split into groups to practice turning goblets into various animals. Ron and Fiona were put together while Harry was sitting with Hermione. The first thing they had to do was turn their goblets into parakeets.

"Um, I don't know what I did, but mine is definitely not chirping- it kinda sounds like a dying cat or something," Ron said.

"Don't worry, mine's still completely metal and can't move at all," Fiona said, frowning at her bird. It looked more like a statue than a live animal.

"Wanna switch and see if they come out better?"

"Absolutely not, Mr. Weasley. Now Fiona, try harder!" Professor McGonagall advised as she stood next to their table, waiting for them to finish the first transfiguration. Hermione was two desks over and was calling to the Professor to show her the parakeet she transfigured. It was currently sitting on her finger and chirping happily. Fiona scowled at Hermione's perfect bird and turned back to her own metal disaster. Ron's elbow accidentally hit it and it clamored to the floor. She picked it up and put it back on the table. There was a large dent in its head. Professor McGonagall looked at her expectantly.

The rest of class consisted of McGonagall watching everything Fiona did and showing her all of her mistakes. Neville looked relieved until his parakeet started flitting about the room. Since McGonagall was with Fiona, Hermione had to help him get it back. Fiona was ready to smash her goblet into the wall by the time class ended.

"I'm horrible at Transfigurations!" She wailed as they ate lunch.

"Yea, but look at how you are in Potions. Like you would i ever /i need Malfoy's help," Hermione said. "Don't worry about transfigurations, I'll help you with that."

"It's not so bad- I have something for Malfoy," Fiona said. Harry looked at her. "Just watch."

After she had finished her lunch, Fiona walked up to Draco with a huge smile on her face.

She leaned very close to him and whispered in his ear, "Thanks for walking me to class today, Draco. It was very nice of you." Then she took her goblet of pumpkin juice and poured it over his head. She ran out of the Great Hall before he even realized what happened. The whole Gryffindor table erupted in laughter.

Everyone arrived to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class early. The door was locked and Hermione's Alohamora spell didn't work, so everyone waited outside. They were all whispering to each other, trying to figure out who the new teacher was when suddenly, the door opened itself.

"Ouch!" The door had hit Neville square in the nose.

"Sorry about that," a feminine voice said from inside the room. "You may come in now. "As they entered, everyone gasped and stared at the classroom. There were artifacts from different parts of the world all over. Hermione let out a gasp as she looked around the room and secretly wished she could be locked in there for hours. There were tapestries, rugs, and drapes in various colors and from various places hung up everywhere. One whole corner of the room was devoted to Egypt and Hermione's eyes lingered on the various gold hieroglyphics that adorned the wall.

"Cool," Lavender said, taking a seat in the front of the classroom. Everyone followed her lead and began taking seats. Neville was absentmindedly rubbing his nose as he let his eyes wander around the room.

"Good afternoon, class. I hope you like all of my artifacts and memorabilia that I have collected- and yes, all of them are real so please be careful with them." Everyone's heads immediately turned to the front of the room. Standing in front of them was a woman who was wearing a bright turquoise robe with gold around the edges, reminding most of the students of a Sari. Her long, brown hair was swept back in a ponytail and she had long, dangling gold earrings. Everything about her looked interesting. Harry couldn't help noticing that she reminded him of a pixie as she was rather small and had a little pointy nose that turned up at the end. Her big, brown eyes looked around the class at all of the expectant students. She frowned when she got to Neville.

"I'm awfully sorry about that, I didn't think anyone was standing near the door," she started saying. "Would you like to go to the infirmary?"

"No, that's alright. I'm fine," Neville muttered, and immediately stopped rubbing his nose.

"Well, I am truly sorry. Anyway, my name is Professor Dimisa Safia. I was born in London, but have grown up and lived in various parts of the globe. I speak several languages and enjoy studying different wizarding cultures around the world. Now, this is the sixth level N.E.W.T. preparatory class, correct?" She asked as she opened a notebook on her desk. "Sorry for being so late but I had some i personal /i business to attend to. My schedule is all mixed up now and most of my classes appear to be changed around. I started talking about werewolves this morning only to discover that I was talking to first years! It was quite embarrassing," She said, winking at Ron. His face turned an interesting shade of crimson all the way up to his ears and he ducked behind his book.

"This is the sixth year N.E.W.T. class," Hermione told her matter-of-factly.

"Well, thank you. Let me begin by taking attendance." She quickly took attendance and Harry was glad to note that she hardly paused when she read his name. Ron had to duck behind his book again as she called his name. Harry answered for him as the large book in front of him muffled Ron's reply.

"You'll have to speak up if you want me to be able to hear you," she responded. "Now, I have been told that you are a little behind on your Defenses due to an irregular teaching schedule last year- but no worries, soon you will be caught up. The first unit we will discuss is part- human beings. Can anyone think of an example?" Hermione raised her hand expectantly. "Please, say your name and house first so I may get to know you better."

"Hermione Granger, Gryffindor. The answer to your question is: werewolves, vampires, hags-"

"Thank you very much, Hermione," Professor Safia said, cutting her off. Hermione frowned. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, the reason I stopped you from continuing is because you mentioned vampires. Today we will begin discussing vampires and how to protect yourselves against them. It's important to remember that we can't walk around expecting to be attacked every five seconds, so some of the things you learn in here- although useful- aren't very practical unless you know you are looking for one particular species- such as a vampire. But please, close your books, it's very distracting. Simply sit and listen. You may take notes if you feel it's necessary," she said, looking at the shocked look on Hermione's face. Everyone sat looking at her expectantly. They weren't sure whether a lecture on the first day was a good thing- or an incredibly horrible one. It turned out to not be that bad. Harry actually enjoyed himself.

Besides teaching the normal aspects on vampires, like all the stuff written in their exceptionally large books, Professor Safia told anecdotes and stories throughout her lecture. It sort of reminded Harry of Professor Lockhart, except Professor Safia didn't take credit for any of her stories- instead she told stories about different people she had met and talked to. When the class was over, no one moved. They were waiting for her to continue speaking.

"Well, that is all, really. Next class we will begin discussing werewolves. You may leave, but if you please- I need to speak to a Harry Potter after class." Harry sighed; of course he had to stay after class. After everyone left, he trudged to the front of the room.

"Yes, professor?" he asked expectantly.

"Harry, how are you?" she paused. "Did you know that I am skilled in Legilimens and Occlumency? Professor Dumbledore has informed me that I will begin taking over your Occlumency lessons shortly. You will have one lesson with me per week and one lesson with Professor Dumbledore per month. Also, a certain Professor Skont has asked me to talk to you about DA meetings. That is correct- DA meetings?" She waited for Harry to nod before she continued. "Alright well, your DA has changed. Although it will be a class, it will be very hard for Professor Skont to make it to your meetings, as she is a very busy person. Instead, she will instruct only you once every two weeks. In this time she will teach you various different activities that you are to master and pass on to the rest of your group. She said this is somewhat normal. Does that sound all right? You should be expecting an owl from her shortly."

"Er, yes it's fine- just, do you know Professor Skont?" Harry asked warily.

"Of course I do, Harry. She and I are good friends. She's a very talented witch. Now, that is all. You'd better hurry along; I heard Professor Snape gave you an excessive amount of homework to do. I was going to give some, too but it is the first day so I decided against it. Have a nice night, Harry. We'll finish with this occlumency later."

"Good bye, Professor," Harry said before he walked out the door. Fiona was waiting outside for him.

"Sorry, I wasn't snooping on you- but I couldn't catch up to Hermione and Ron and didn't really feel like wandering around until I eventually found the common room."

"Not a big deal," Harry said. "I'll show you how to get back. Did anyone tell you about the DA?"

"Um, Ginny mentioned it briefly. It's disbanded though, right?"

"Not really, it's starting up again. Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to join. New recruits are always welcome and well, I think you'll do good."

"Sure, thanks Harry. When is it meeting?"

"Not sure, yet. Have to find a place to meet first. Quaffle," Harry said to the portrait.

Harry spotted Ron and Hermione sitting on the far end of the common room playing a game of wizard's chess. From the smug look on Ron's face, Harry deduced that he was winning.

"Second game in a row," Ron said to her. "You might as well give up, Hermione." Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing in Potions class today," Hermione snapped at him. "Oh, hi Harry. Hi Fiona. You know Fiona, there's a letter for you upstairs on your bed."

"Oh, thanks Hermione," Fiona said.

"So," Ron called out to Fiona, "who calls you Fia?" Hermione looked down at the chessboard, pretending to be very interested in the knight that was riding around the table.

"No- no one important," Fiona said, blushing before running up to the dormitories.

"Ron, that was really mean!" Hermione said.

"I was just curious-"

"Nosy, you mean. I told you not to say anything!"

"All right, all right," Harry said, looking around. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "We have to set up some DA meetings. I was wondering, do you think we could still use the coins?"

"Oh, Harry I don't know. What if the coins got lost, or confiscated," Hermione said.

"So, what if we make new ones?" Harry asked.

"You said it wasn't that hard, Hermione," Ron reminded her.

"Well, when's the first meeting?"

"Not sure, I have to wait for Professor Skont," Harry said, grumbling. "She's going to instruct me of different things to teach everyone. We still have to work on Patronuses, mind you."

"Don't I know it," Ron muttered.

"Oh, and I've asked Fiona to join. Do you think that's all right?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Besides, from how well she did in Potions today we'll definitely need her help," Ron said.

"Yes, but she's almost as bad as Neville in Transfigurations," Hermione reminded him.

"Neville's not so bad, just nervous. Look at how he does at DA meetings," Harry said. "Speaking of which, where should we have them? We obviously can't use the Room of Requirement anymore, now that everyone knows about it."

"Not everyone knows about it," Ron said.

"Draco does," Harry reminded him.

"That's true, but why don't you just ask Professor Skont? Who is she anyway?" Hermione asked.

"No clue and since she's counting on me to teach, she'll probably be counting on me to find a room, too," Harry said.

"Too bad we can't have it in here," Ron said glumly.

"Maybe not in here," Hermione said, perking up. "But, Ron, what about the i prefect /i common room? Hardly anyone goes in there and if we said we were using it-"

"But Hermione it's for i prefects /i ," Ron reminded her.

"Well, I highly doubt it's the only one," Hermione said to him.

"What do you mean not the i only /i one?" Harry asked.

"Well, there's one for boys and one for girls, right? Well, they have to have old ones. They probably even have an old Gryffindor common room! That would be perfect!" Hermione said.

"Hermione, they can't possibly-"

"Yes they can. Hogwart's has gotten a lot bigger than it used to be- think of how many more students go here now than before!" Hermione said. That was true- there were more first years than Harry ever remembered.

"But Hermione, how would we i find /i these rooms?" Ron asked.

"The Marauder's Map!" Harry exclaimed.

"Um, no Harry. Actually, that wouldn't work," Hermione said.

"What, Hermione that's ridiculous! There's no way it can't work-" Ron interrupted.

"Think about it! Seriously, the Marauder's Map isn't that old- they used the same common rooms and dormitories that we use! We need something even older-"

"What about Dobby?" Harry asked. "House elves know everything about Hogwart's."

"And how are you going to ask him?" Ron asked.

"Ron, Harry's idea isn't so bad- Dobby would know or he'd find out from the other house elves. This is all assuming that Professor Skont doesn't have a room, but still. Harry, why don't you visit Dobby tomorrow? You can go before breakfast-"

"Sorry, Harry but I'm not waking up that early."

"It's alright, Ron. I'll go myself."

"Now Harry, about this Professor Skont," Hermione began. i 'Why does her name sound so familiar?' /i She thought to herself.

Well, another chapter is posted!  I hope you liked it and please, review!