Title: Harry Potter and the Staff of Merlin
Author: Legolas-gurl88
Disclaimer: I'm still not J.K. Rowling… bummer!
Author Note: Sorry for the delay!
Story time!
8. The First Day
"Gather 'round, all o' yeh!" Hagrid called, waving his giant hands in the air the next morning (which was somewhat cold as the sun was being hidden behind gray clouds) beckoning the 6th years closer to a tortoise-like creature that Harry recognized as a Fire Crab. As the students moved in closer, it blinked dully, it's bejeweled shell blinking in the light.
"Now, who can tell me, wha' this is?" Hagrid started, gesturing to the Fire Crab, which growled menacingly, it's dull dazed look glazing over and being replaced by one that made it look as if it were daring anyone to come within range of it's shooting extent.
Harry knew he should have raised his hand, since he knew the answer, but he didn't want to deprive Hermione of getting yet another question correct.
"'Ermione?" Hagrid said, his beetle-black eyes glinting happily.
"It's a Fire Crab. Fire Crabs originated in Fiji in the early 1900s. Although it looks like a turtle, it was given the name 'crab' due to the fact it is not in the turtle family at all, but the crab family."
"Ruddy, brilliant!" Hagrid bellowed, "An' can anyone tell me wha' it's defense mechanism is?"
Instantly, and to no one's surprise, Hermione's hand was first to shoot in the air.
"If the Fire Crab feels at all threatened, in any way, it is able to shoot large amounts of fire at the person or thing in which it feels threatened by, through it's rear end."
"Brilliant!" Hagrid repeated, "Ten points to Gryffindor! Now, who would like to come up and pet it?"
"Pet that?" Malfoy's voice could be heard from the back.
"Yes, Malfoy, pet this. S' beau'iful innit?" Hagrid said proudly.
"Here, I'll pet it," Neville spoke up and everything went quiet. Neville had never in his time at Hogwarts volunteered to do anything that had a risk of being injured, maimed or killed. And here he was, volunteering to pet a Fire Crab.
"A-Alrigh'," Hagrid said, sounding stunned as well, "Jus' don' approach 'im too fas' or 'e'll think yer attackin' 'im. Go on, then, Neville," Hagrid's voice trailed off as everyone saw Neville swallow, then look around expectantly, as if asking why he had volunteered in the first place. Slowly, he extended his pudgy hand in front of himself and edged closely towards the Fire Crab.
"Tha's it, Neville, tha's it…" Hagrid said unconsciously… Neville was slowly inching closer to the Fire Crab-- the entire class had gone silent, waiting to see Neville achieve something they would never have expected of him. The Fire Crab noticed that someone was approaching it, let out a reedy growl and turned around, showing off it's rear.
"Careful, Neville, yer almos' there… careful! Watch it… slowly… don't give 'im a reason to try and 'urt yeh." Hagrid was saying, coaxing Neville closer. The Fire Crab shot flames out it's backside, but Neville dodged them and looked on the verge of running as far away from the creature as he could-- he was sweating greatly and his tongue was between his teeth in concentration and determination of reaching this animal and touching it.
After a long while-- it seemed like ages, but was probably only seconds-- Neville's hand was an inch from the Fire Crab and before everyone knew it, he was petting the Fire Crab, which was growling deep in it's throat, lazily. Neville gave a huge sigh and cracked a smile as the whole of the class (save the Slytherins) broke into a loud applause.
"Good job, Neville! Ten more points for Gryffindor!" Hagrid said, sounding somewhat relieved. They spent the rest of the class, copying down the different uses of the Fire Crab shell and before Harry knew it, the bell for the end of the class rang and everyone was putting away their parchment and quills. Harry, however, felt his stomach drop as he realized that his first class was next-- Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
"Come on, let's go!" Ron said, "Let's get good seats… maybe we have a good teacher for once!"
"Good luck, Harry!" Hagrid whispered to Harry as he passed.
They all walked toward the castle, the Gryffindors chattering excitedly about what they thought their new teacher was.
"I do hope it's someone who actually knows what they're doing!" Hermione squeaked anxiously. Harry was drowned in his thoughts, hoping that this was one of those times, where the clock seemed to slow down instead of speed up, but unfortunately for him, the clock seemed to be going at a breakneck speed and when his mind met conciousness, he was right outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts door. The door opened and Harry saw that all of the class was already there, talking to their friends. Ron and Hermione each took a seat, leaving one empty in between them, saving it for Harry.
Harry, however, walked up to the teachers' desk and set his bag down on it, and as he did so, he heard the bell ring.
"Harry, mate," he heard Ron say, "What're you doing up there? Come on, Hermione and I have a seat saved."
"I can't," Harry said shortly.
Everyone was whispering to each other. They all looked perplexed until, finally, realization dawned on their faces.
"You-you're not--"
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harry said, finishing Dean Thomas's sentence for him. Harry cast his glance around to Ron and Hermione. The looks on their faces might have been funny if Harry wasn't so terrified. Why did classrooms always look bigger and more populated from the front of the room?
"Most of you, I think, were in the D.A. meetings last year..." Harry continued on, his voice faltering. He cleared his throat and kept going, "Dumbledore thought it best to appoint me 6th year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, seeing as everyone that had been in the D.A. meetings had gotten a perfect score, or close to one…" his voice slowed to a stop. He didn't really have much to say on the matter, and he hadn't even really thought about what to say. Instead, he walked over to his bag and pulled out Dumbledore's two-week lesson plan. The first thing on the list-- Harry read in Dumbledore's loopy handwriting;
1st Class- Teach students to say 'Voldemort.' Teach them all you know about him.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed… odd.
"Well--" he began again-- "Dumbledore gave me a list of things to teach you, so I guess we'll get started now--"
"--Are you going to teach Slytherins too?" A Ravenclaw girl asked suddenly, "And Hufflepuffs?"
"Yes." Harry said.
"Are you allowed to give points and take them?" asked Seamus Finnigan.
"Only in class, but I can't give or take points for stupid reasons."
There were groans from all over the classroom.
"Why can't you just dock Slytherin all their points?" Someone in the back of the room yelled.
"I'm not allowed." Harry said shortly.
"And what about detentions?"
"Only for good reason." Harry said. There was chattering heard from every corner of the room as all babbled happily about Harry's new powers. To quiet them, he spoke up again.
"Alright… so-- so Dumbledore-- he gave me a list of things to teach you-- and-- well… I suppose I should get started now."
He broke off oddly. Mentally, he was kicking himself… how come he was fine with teaching the D.A. meetings, but could barely speak now… in front of most of the people he had taught before? He put the sheet back down on the desk and turned to the chalkboard. Grabbing up a piece of chalk, he wrote three words.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE.
He set the chalk down quietly and turned to the class, who looked utterly confused.
"Can anyone besides Hermione or Ron tell me who this is?" Harry asked.
Silence.
Harry sighed.
"Alright… Hermione?" he said, grabbing the chair from the teachers' desk and sitting down in it and started to rub his temples.
"Voldemort." whispered Hermione and Harry looked up just in time to see everyone wince.
"Right," Harry said, taking his wand out and pointing it at what he had just written. Magically, the words rearranged themselves to say I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. Gasps echoed from all around Harry.
"Voldemort's givin name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. Tom, after his father, Marvolo after his grandfather. His mother named him that just before she died after-- having him." Harry started. He cleared his throat, then continued, "So, what Dumbledore wants me to teach you is all I know about Voldemort."
"How do you know so much about You-Know-Who?" asked a Ravenclaw boy.
"He-- he's told me bits and pieces of his life story during-- encounters." said Harry lamely. It was getting really hard to speak now, especially since he knew it would be time to tell the class everything that had happened. Never before had he told anyone but Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione and Sirius. Once again, he cleared his throat to gain his voice back.
"So-- so Voldemort--" more winces, "--has been gone since-- well, you know the story. Since then, he's been trying different ways to come back… even half-dead, he was still powerful. I'm going to tell you as much as I know about him, so in case of anything, you'll be prepared. Give me a break if I stop-- this isn't easy for me."
Harry ran a hand through his hair and stood up, looking at the class. Everyone looked sympathetically at him. Neville looked pale in the face. But everything was silent. Why-- why had he agreed to do this? To him, this felt like the hardest thing to do-- but Dumbledore was counting on him… he had to… he began to pace.
"Alright-- so, not many know this, but Voldemort is a Half-Blood. His mother was a witch, but his father was a Muggle. When his father realized what his mother was, he left her, so Voldemort-- or Riddle as he was at that time-- never had a father. When he grew up, he vowed to kill his father and he did… that's one of the things that brought Voldemort back to power-- his fathers' bone…"
This went on for what seemed like hours. The class was listening so intently to Harry's story, having not heard all of it, that Harry could probably have heard teachers speaking three floors up. At times, he paused and took deep breaths… as he went on, speaking became harder, because he was reliving his past… his horrible past. The only parts he left out of all his stories were Sirius, Wormtail and his odd dreams, for mention of one might lead to awkward questions later. He told the class how he had escaped Voldemort in his first, second, fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts, explained how he had survived the curse Avada Kedavra when no other wizard had, told them everything. All the while, he felt incredibly modest as the class looked at him with wonder, amazement, confusion, and some had looks of horror and disbelief on their faces. It felt odd telling large crowds about everything that had happened, and became somewhat worried that this might spread rumors around the school, for someone would certainly tell someone else outside of his classes. But as he spoke, he felt as if a heavy burden were being lifted from him… felt he was getting this out in the open… if some believed him, it would be enough.
"So," said Harry, nearly eighty minutes later, with almost twenty minutes left of the class, "The reason I'm here, is to teach you all I know, to prepare you for anything that might ever happen, 'cause I can assure you, now that Voldemort's back, things will happen. Dumbledore reckons that fear of a name, only increases fear of the thing itself, which is why he wants me to teach you to say Voldemort."
Some students exchanged glances.
"To be honest, I don't know why anyone is scared of the name 'Voldemort'… it's just a name… it's like saying Harry Potter, or Dean Thomas, Ron Weasley, or Parvati Patil, or Lavender Brown… it's just a name. So, right now, on the count of three, I want you to say 'Voldemort'. One… two… three-- Voldemort."
The only voices to be heard were his and Hermione's.
"Come on… just say it… it's not a curse word… it's a name that Voldemort created to strike fear into people's hearts… if we let that fear beat us, there's no help for us when the time comes for us to face him. Look, if there's one name to be scared of, it's Draco Malfoy--"
The students laughed and Harry grinned in spite of himself.
"--But that's not the point. The point is, you have to learn to face your fears. How would you react if he were to come here, right now, without you not even being able to say his name? Come on… again-- all of you-- one… two… three-- Voldemort!"
He and Hermione's voices were the only one's to ring clear, but a few started to mumble underneath their breaths.
"Better… but I want you to shout it. Pretend… pretend you're saying a different version of You-Know-Who… one… two… three-- Voldemort!"
Voices were becoming slightly louder now… only a few hadn't managed to mumble it. Everyone was become pale in the face and sweaty, as though a large spider were up in the front of the class teaching them instead of Harry.
"Come on… I know you can do this. Look, I've been saying it for over five years and I'm the one that's come across him the most in that time! One… two… three… Voldemort!"
About six people managed to say it and looked slightly shocked and apologetic, as though they were truly uttering curse words.
"Almost… come on, you guys-- it shouldn't be this hard! One… two… three… VOLDEMORT!" Harry's voice has started to rise out of impatience… he had no clue people were this terrified of saying 'Voldemort.'
Everyone said it… those that had started saying it first were speaking more clearly than those who were just catching on, but still, no one was really making it anywhere.
"Alright… a new approach, then." Harry said, "Everyone, get out a quill and some parchment… write down the word 'Voldemort' twenty times."
There was a shuffle as students reached into their bags for parchment, looking confused at the odd task that Harry had set them to do.
Harry waited until all the quills had been set down.
"Alright," said Harry, "Now, you don't really think you did, but you've just said 'Voldemort' twenty times and you've got the words to prove it. When you write something down, you say it in your head as well. If it's not hard to say in your head, why is it so difficult to say it out loud? Come on… one… two… three… VOLDEMORT!"
Surprisingly, he was not only he that had shouted it, but the entire class. Not one had mumbled or mouthed or looked bashfully. Instead, everyone cracked a smile and looked around at each other, surprised. Even Harry grinned.
"Great!" he said, "I knew you could do it! It's not as hard as people make it out to be, is it?"
Everyone nodded.
The Lunch Bell rang.
"Alright… no homework."
"You're allowed to give homework?!" Seamus Finnigan asked.
"Yeah… well, I'll see you guys again on Thursday." Harry finished amid cheers. Once all the students had filed out, talking excitedly, Harry grabbed his bag and walked to where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him outside the door. Neither looked as though they could speak. Ron found his voice first, though it didn't do much good as Harry couldn't understand him.
"I-- wow-- you're the-- I don't believe-- why didn't you-- wicked-- I didn't even think--"
"Ron, if you're not going to make sense, stop talking." said Harry.
"Why didn't you tell us, Harry?" said Hermione faintly. "All that time at Headquarters--"
"When did you find out?" asked Ron, finally discovering that he had a voice.
"That's the letter that Dumbledore sent to me while I was at the Dursleys and why he wanted to talk to me when I went to Grimm--"
"--Harry, don't say that-- say 'Headquarters' so no one knows what you're talking about." Hermione said, her shock fading and her bossy tone returning full blast.
"Fine-- well… besides the point-- how did I do?" Harry's voice suddenly became a bit worried.
"You were wonderful, Harry!" Hermione said, "I hardly could tell it was you!"
"For a minute, I didn't think it was you, mate," continued Ron, "I mean-- we could hardly get you to say any of that stuff to us and that was just two of us and there you were, telling the whole class! To be honest, I didn't really think you would ever say stuff like that--"
"It was so clever the way you made everyone write down 'Voldemort'! I never would have thought of doing that--"
"--But I can't get over the fact that you're our teacher--"
"Harry," Hermione cut in, her eyes widening in realization, "how on Earth are you going to get classes with homework done, while doing your homework and Quidditch Lessons--"
"And Occlumency and Auror Training," finished Harry.
"You've still got Occlumency--" Ron started but Hermione cut in.
"Never mind that-- what do you mean Auror Training?"
"McGonagall's giving me Auror Training. Last year at my Career Advice meeting, she and Umbridge got-- er-- in a fight and she swore she'd coach me to become an Auror if it was the last thing she ever did."
Harry said this all very fast.
Ron looked baffled and shocked.
Hermione looked worried and amazed.
By dinner that night, it seemed like the whole school knew that Harry had been appointed Defense Against the Darks Arts for Sixth Years. As Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at the table, occasionally seeing a First Year wander in looking relieved (it was very hard for First Years to find everything right away on the first day), people that Harry didn't even know approached him to ask him if the rumors were true. When they were told 'yes' they all looked astounded. By mid-dinner, Draco Malfoy finally found his way to the Gryffindor Table as Harry knew he would.
"Well, well, well… Professor Potter…" he sneered, sweeping his blonde hair out of his eyes. His Prefect's Badge was glinting from his robes.
"Malfoy," said Harry coldly in return.
"I suppose you'll be my teacher then," Malfoy continued unconcernedly, "Aren't you supposed to be sitting up at the teachers' table?"
"Nope," answered Harry casually, taking a bite of his mashed potatoes. Ron looked as though he were bursting to come out with snide remarks to match Malfoy's, but Hermione gave him glances from the other side of Harry and Ron looked disgruntled.
"As long as I don't have to call you 'Professor Potter' or actually listen to any of the crap that you have to teach… I doubt very much it will help in anything I have to do,"
"Fine by me… get a D in my classes," Harry said, not making eye contact with Malfoy.
Malfoy sneered… for once in the time that he and Harry had known each other, he didn't have a comeback.
"Later, Professor Potty… Weasel…" Malfoy sneered at the two boys, looked at Hermione disgustedly and stalked away.
"Careful, Malfoy!" yelled Ron in Malfoy's direction. "He could dock you points for calling him that! He's a teacher, Prefect!"
"Ron, you're a Prefect too…" Hermione said, rubbing her forehead as though exhaustedly.
"Oh…" Ron said, "Right… but still, I don't call Harry names."
"I didn't think of that…" Hermione said, "That you'd have to teach Malfoy too…"
"Hey, Harry, I don't really have to call you 'Professor', do I?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry said shortly, "I don't want anyone to call me anything."
"I was talking, Ron!" Hermione said.
"Oh, excuse me!" Ron said, reaching for the tomato soup and ladling some into his bowl, "Go ahead, by all means."
Hermione ignored him.
"You're not going to tell Malfoy all the things you had to tell us? I mean, if you give too much information, he could go strait to his father and tell him all about it and Malfoy's dad knows Voldemort."
"I-I hadn't really thought of that," Harry said, feeling slightly worried. "I don't really know if this teacher thing is a good idea… I don't even really know what I'm doing and when I run out of the things on the list that Dumbledore gave me… well…"
"Surely he didn't say you had to keep going with it?" Hermione said, frowning.
"No, he said that Fleur could take over…"
"Well, there you are, then." replied Hermione. "And I will help you if you need it."
"Yeah, me too." Ron said.
"Thanks you guys," said Harry gratefully. He looked up at the teachers' table and saw Dumbledore talking to McGonagall… he winked from behind his half-moon spectacles. Harry cast a glance around the Great Hall and students in it. From the other side of the room, he saw Cho give him a proud smile…
Hundreds of miles away, someone else was happy as well…
"M-master, everything is going according to plan,"
Voldemort smiled.
"Perfect."
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
First of all, I would like to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter up! I've been so busy with so many things that I'm getting really stressed and overwhelmed! But that will never fully take me away from writing for you guys! I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again, because I haven't got a new chapter written yet… hopefully, it will be up soon, so don't give up on me! Also, what took me a long time is that I figured that Harry is back at Hogwarts, I should think more about the main plot so everything runs smoothly… I've got like 24 chapters planned so far with more to come, so I'll be here a while! Review time!
Pipaluga- No, I don't know Estonian. I hope you're having fun there, nonetheless!
Huggiebear- smiles That's what I'm here for… to leave you all hanging! Har, har, har! Well, I looked it up and Hermione says something like 'Oh no-- I don't like this-- oh, I really don't like this…' or something like that… I always assumed she meant she didn't like riding Buckbeak, because even Harry didn't exactly like it… even if that's not true, I'll stick with it because that's how it's written for me… glad I could clear that up!
Megan- I always assumed Mark was related to Harry since Harry's mother's maiden name was Evans. I also thought that since Harry has a relative, he could have gone to live with them, so I've got something planned… whoa! Major clue! I'm related to J.K. Rowling just about as much as Harry's related to Dobby. It makes me feel nice that people think I'm J.K. Rowling, because I want to write like her some day (if not now) and publish books and it's nice to know that people would actually read my stories! May Harry live on in ALL of our minds!
Snow-angel222- How was that? Now you know how everyone would react. I really wasn't happy with this chapter, but I didn't have time to go back and re-write it! WAAA! Thanks for your review!
Makotochi- Yes, Harry must cool down!
Lady Aioria- Maybe not kill, as that would be bad and we don't want to end up in prison… but how about we food poison her, or force her to eat asparagus! EW! I can't wait for Kingdom of Heaven! I'm sorry that I took so long to update… wait… backs away from personalities stop! I'm sorry! NOOOOOOOO!!! : )
Parchement- I didn't know 'Rose Garden' was so funny, but if it makes you laugh, I guess that's good! Have you seen Troy? I know that's random, but I want to tell you something if you have. It's about the names of the kids in the First year. Mark Evans… since Harry said that Mark was 10 in the fifth book and you must be 11 to get into Hogwarts, I figured what the heck? I'll put him in Hogwarts! That's probably what's gonna happen anyway!
YeVaud- I'll probably forget to tell you that I have updated, but you could put me on a favorite's list, so you could know… Thanks! I'll try to remember to tell you!
Jack Wilde- I very much doubt Snape is going to be civil, because he's fun being a nasty slimy oddball! I suppose Harry and Mark are related… grins mischievously Are you trying to give me a hint that you want the Dursleys to visit Hogwarts, or are you just wondering what I think? : ) well, I think they would be completely freaked out!
Vicster- No, Fleur Weasley doesn't sound right! I thought that as I was typing it and I sort of crinkled my nose up at the sound… but seeing as they are married, I figured it would be only proper…
J.- Thanks!
The evil witch queen- Been a while since I heard from you! Wow! Long e-mail! Poor Ron for getting stuck with a Veela for a sister-in-law! If she and Bill had a baby, I wonder what the baby would look like… Uncle Ronald! Heh, heh! I probably won't get your e-mail, because seeing as I have two and I don't check that one as often… well, you get the point!
Ellen- Whoa! I think you pressed the send button one too many times! Sometimes, those things take a while loading up. Next time on the 4th, look for me and throw bags of candy at me! It's always nice to know the people in the parade that have the candy… Thanks a bunch for your review(s)! I'm so bored without Trin! I can't wait until she comes back! May broomsticks be in your dreams is sort of like saying, 'I hope you're having wonderful dreams about broomsticks!' Ooh, Trin will like the POTC soundtrack! I have it and I love it! Have you heard it?
Panther28- Well, now you know how Ron and Hermione would react to Harry's being a D.A.D.A teacher. I put something about that at the very end… about how Harry needs to know more about the D.A.D.A. stuff… you know… during his uncertainty moment… Anyway, thanks for the review!
Debbie- Even though you weren't really reviewing for my story, I'd like to say thanks! It's nice that people give me support and I certainly won't let one flame ruin my day… I've got ways of relieving the stress of a flame… I just hope that the flamer person (I don't want to attract attention to her by saying her name… I'll call her Poodle) doesn't mind all this stuff that people are saying to her through me. I don't want Poodle to attract negative attention. However, it's always nice to know that there are more people on my side than hers and that helps me into making more chapters for you guys. Once again, thanks!
Wow! 15 reviews! That's not bad and it's more than I've gotten for my other stories! Keep 'em comin' 'cause I enjoy gettin' 'em!
May broomsticks be in your dreams!
Luv,
Legolas-gurl88
L ß my sign