A/N: I never should have introduced my little sister to this story. She's been bothering me forever to update this. The only reason I am is because I discovered I'm on people's alert lists, and favorite lists, and in C2s, so I decided "What the heck, even if I think it's not really that good, other people do, so let's please them."
I would like to apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes. I did try to catch typos and stuff as I wrote it, and I did send it to my friend who went back and fixed all the other typos that I missed, but my computer refuses to do a spell check past the first three paragraphs, so there might be some that were missed by both of us.
I would also like to mention (so no one yells at me for this; I was reminded by Maria, who helped me go over this chapter, about this) that the test for Damien, specifically the question about 'lilac or rose', was gotten from/inspired by Luna the Moonmonster's Amulet of Time series. That is an amazing series and you should definitely go read it if you haven't.
Disclaimer: not mine. I just came up with the plot, but I probably got that from somewhere too and didn't know it.
For a random update: My crayfish is still alive. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Just say congratulations. The other one died. Say sorry. Then say 'yay, school is over'.
Parseltongue is in italics (unless it's obviously an emphasis on a word, or a spell. You should be able to recognize all the spells.)
oOo
Previous:
"Yes, he can be a little oppressive, can't he? Ah well. Do your best Damien. I'm sure you'll do fine." He nodded thanks to her, and they both dug into their meals with gusto, Siltivi occasionally stealing something off his plate, much to his irritation. He looked out over the Hall again, however—he'd have his work cut out for him if he was going to keep them alive in their future, and it weighed heavily over his head. Green eyes hardened and narrowed—none of them would die if he had anything to say about it.
oOo
Breakfast the next morning seemed normal—at least, until the Post began to arrive. Damien and Siltivi had been shifting uneasily all morning, unable to shake the feeling that something was going to happen.
Karal dropped off a letter to Damien, who picked it up and read it carefully. He blancehd slightly before sighing and looking towards the doors as the owls began to stream out of the room. A minute or so later, the doors opened, admitting Fudge and a large group of Aurors. The Minister stalked angrily up the Hall to the head Table, where he stared at Albus, livid.
"Is this true Dumbledore?" The old man looked calmly at the Minister.
"Is what true, Cornelius? After all, there is a lot of things that are true in the world." Fudge's eyes seemed to bulge slightly in his rage.
"That you admited the Snake Tamer, accused of Dark Magic, to join your staff!" Before Albus could reply, a deadly hiss from Siltivi drew his attention to the very same Snake Tamer he was screaming about. Damien's voice held contained danger when he spoke to the shocked man in front of him, standing up slowly.
"One has to wonder, Cornelius Fudge, where you learned of my nickname—after all, it's only used in Knockturn Alley. What would the Wizarding World's esteemed Minister of Magic be doing in such a place?" He continued to speak, ignoring the expression of the Minister.
"In response to the second accusation, how can one be expected to become a Master of the Defence without knowing all there is of what you are defending against? If I'm not mistaken—which I'm not—then your Aurors have learned some of the 'Dark Magic' in order to properly defend against it, haven't they?" One of the Aurors nodded, and Damien grinned, a purely predatorial grin, as he walked around the table to stare at the Minister, Siltivi draped over his shoulders with her fangs bared.
"For that matter, one must wonder how much their Minister knows of the Dark Magics, shouldn't they?" A wicked smile danced over his cold face as the pudgy man blanched.
"You refused to tell the World of Voldemort's return, despite all that Harry Potter had said. You cheered when the boy disappeared; you cheered for your Master, Death Eater." With a swift, unstoppable movement, Fudge's sleeve was gone, baring the ugly Dark Mark to the world. With a jolt, the Aurors leapt into movement, grabbing and arresting the one who would soon be an ex-Minister. With an unnoticed sigh of relief, Damien returned to his seat and his meal, firmly ignoring all stares sent his way. A few minutes later, he completed his meal and left for his classroom, whistling slightly.
oOo
Severus watched the newest professor leave, with a thoughtful expression on his face. Everything the man had said had been true—to become a true Master, one needs the skills in both the good and the bad of the subject. And he had been able to do what hundreds and thousands of witches and wizards, including himself, could not do—discover that Cornelius Fudge was truly a Death Eater.
He glanced down the Head Table and fixed a glare on Albus, who had the twinkle set to full power in his eyes. With a freezing scowl, he too left the Great Hall.
oOo
Damien sat silently at his desk, listening with concealed amusement as Karal, who was perched by the window, and Siltivi, in her customary position around his shoulders, argued over one of their more trivial points—whether or not Karal had to stay in the Owlery. They fell silent as the first students began to file in, until finally all of the Gryffindor and Slytheirn 7th years were inside the room and in desks.
He stood up from his desk, Siltivi shifting slightly, and looked out over the faces he knew so well, and yet not at all. With a soft sigh, he began to call roll. Once all the students had been marked present (he looked with faint sorrow at the crossed out 'Harry Potter'), he looked at the students again and shook his head.
"No, this will not do. Please, pick up your bags and move to the walls. The seats you will be assigned will be your seats until furthur notice." With some looks of trepidation among the Gryffindors and sneers among the Slytherins, they all did as he asked. With that, he took the roster and began to 'randomly' choose names.
"Mr. Malfoy, front row left seat please. Ms. Granger, sit on his other side. Mr. Zabini, on Ms. Granger's side, and Mr. Longbottom, final seat in the row." So it continued until the students were seated like a Sltyerhin/Gryffindor checkerboard. Ron Weasley was seated in about the middle of the room, next to Greg Goyle. Satisfied, Damien replaced the roster on his desk and lifted a stack of parhment from his desk. Some of the students gained nervous glances, but he merely raised an eyebrow.
"These are small tests, quizzes, exams, whatever you wish to call it, to see what you already know and what we need to cover." With a slight smile, he handed out the tests and returned to his desk to write on a piece of parchment.
At the end of the first half of the class, Damien looked up at a hiss from Siltivi and glanced at the time. He nodded and stood, drawing the attention of the class. As he looked them over, a few tried to hide the papers they'd been reading or working on under the desk, their mostly finished tests on top. With a wave of his wand, all the tests arranged themselves on the desk.
Damine looked at his class with a slight frown and picked up one of the papers, reading it quickly. With a soft sigh, he replaced it on the pile and sat on the edge of his desk.
"Can anyone tell me what you know of the Patronus Charm? Yes, Ms. Granger." Hermione beamed at being chosen, and began.
"The Patronus Charm is the spell used to drive off Dementors and Lethifolds. The incantation is Expecto Patronum. The power behind the spell is the happy memory you put behind it—the happier the memory, the more powerful the spell. It takes the form of an animal you see as a protector." Damien smiled.
"Two points to Gryffindor. A Dementor is most often associated with this spell as it is made of pure joy, something the Dementors try to destroy. Please follow me outside for a moment." The class tropped outside to the large empty area between the lake and the castle. Karal flew out the window of the DADA classroom to land on the nearest tree branch, flipping his wings to rest on his back.
Damien twirled his wand slightly, pointed it at an empty patch of ground, and thought of the moment when he realized the Founders were his family.
"Expecto Patronum." Silver erupted from his wand, forming into an enormous snake creature. Hermione and Ron drew back with the rest of the class as they stared at the huge basilisk. Damine spoke calmly to the students.
"No need to worry. As a Patronus, a basilik's gaze cannot hurt you—not that this one would be able to anyway. This is the symbol of my father. If you look, you will notice that she has no eyes, but is blind." Indeed, where the eyes would have been was simply scales, just like the rest of the body. The Patronus turned her sightless head to face him and was dismissed with a fond smile and a twist of the wrist. He turned back to the startled students.
"It doesn't matter what size your patronus is, only the power of the memory behind it. Now, pair up with your desk partner and try the charm." Obediently, the students paired off. Draco Malfoy, however, glared at Hermione.
"I will not work with a Mudblood, and a Gryffindor at that!" Ron turned a bright red, lifting his wand, as Hermione flushed angrily. Several students gasped as Draco spoke. Siltivi hissed, head rising, and Karal cawed, wings flapping harshly, as Damien seemed to grow taller and walked over to the aristocrat.
"Oh, Mr. Malfoy? And, pray tell, why not?" The blonde looked slightly stunned at being asked, as no one had ever asked him to explain himself before.
"Because she's a Mudlbood! That's why Slytherin left the school. And, she's a Gryffindor, when Gryffindor was the one who opposed Slytherin the most!" An amused smile seemed to flit across Damien's face for a moment, before it returned to its cool, impassive mask. He raised a condescending eyebrow.
"Oh, is that so? Well then, I think that it's time you learn the whole story." All of the students edged closer, Patronus forgotten in light of this new development.
"My family had recently acquired a record of Salazar Slytherin, written in the man's own handwriting. It explained that he feared for their lives if they brought witches and wizards to the attention of Muggles, even only those who had Muggleborns. When he could not convince the others of what he saw as their downfall, he left the school. A few years later, he saw that his beliefs were untrue, but his pride would not allow him to return. It was when he was nearing the last years of his life that the other three finally overcame their pride and apologised, which in turn allowed him to also confess his failure to adapt. Unfortunately, since the four disappeared shortly after, that was never brought to the Wizarding World's attention." He glanced down at Draco with that raised eyebrow still in place.
"Therefore, it shows your House prejudice as a failure and your pureblood pride as a stumbling block. If I hear of any more confrontations, I will deal with it the way I've been trained." He fingered his wand with a slightly feral smile. Before Draco could do more then glup and nod, Siltivi hissed again and Damien checked the time with a quick spell. With a soft sigh, he smiled at the class.
"There's a few minutes before class ends. Be prepared to practice the Patronus next time. Return to the classroom and get your bags; you are dismissed." Turning from the class, he held out a hand to Karal. The inky raven fluttered to his hand and cawed cheerfully, causing a smile as the teacher followed his students into the stone hallways of Hogwarts.
oOo
Damine smiled up at the four Founders that guarded his rooms, grinning when Rowena pulled Salazar and Godric apart and out of their brawl. Helga waved.
"How are you Damien? Is everything going alright?" Damine chuckled and nodded.
"Everything's fine here. Sal, I had to give the rest of your story to the Slytherin and Gryffindor 7th years. I won't tolerate prejudice, and nothing else would've stuck." The other black haired man nodded.
"Understandable. Thank you for letting me know." With a smile, Damien whispered the password and slipped inside to prepare for dinner.
oOo
Dumbledore looked up as Damien entered, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought. He had heard of the Patronus and the story of Salazar Slytherin through Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley. He had also checked, but seen no symbol or crest of any family that contained a sightless basilisk. After that, he had questioned the portrait of Salazar Slytherin in the painting before Raven's rooms, but had only been told 'I did keep journals of my entire life. Damien could very well have stumbled across one.'
Now, as he watched this man enter the Hall, he again had to wonder—just who is this man, how powerful is he, and who is his family?
Emerald green met cerulean blue and Damien Raven smiled, eyes holding many secrets which seemed to glitter in the dark. It was gone a minute later, leaving him to take his seat with a wide grin towards Ivy. The other professor returned it.
"Well? How was your day you hooligan?" Damien groaned and put a hand to his head.
"Let's just say that I never again will yell at my family for their teaching methods if I was anything like my students." She laughed and patted him on the arm, a few centimeters below the uniterested Siltivi's tail.
"It gets easier. First days and first impressions are always hard." He made a face.
"Don't I know it. I've done enough first impressions to last me a lifetime." He glared when Sprout began to laugh.
"I'm glad you find my misfortune so amusing." He glared for a moment more while she kept laughing, before sighing and turning to his food, eating his dinner while waiting for her to stop the laughing fit.
As he ate and waited, he thought back to his seventh year class. As he saw Salazar as more of a father then James Potter (though he couldn't blame the other man; it wasn't his fault he died), he had been telling the whole truth when he claimed the blind basilisk was the symbol of his father.
When Salazar had returned to his fellow Founders, he had been ashamed, and so changed his crest. Instead of the four proud snakes that had once formed an SS inside a circle, there was now a blind basilisk in an M. The basilisk resembled Salazar, who had often been accused of 'death glares'. She was blind, born without eyes, to represent his failure to see the truth of the Muggles and Muggleborns—hence, the M shape. Damine always found that crest more suiting than the original.
Smiling, he though back to his other classes. The rest of his 7th years had been easy—he gave the same test, demonstration, and explanation to them, therefore keeping all four Houses on the same level. After that, he made sure to give the same explanation to the other years after the test and a demonstration of either the Shielding Spell or the Disarming Hex, depending on the level.
A few minutes later, he looked up from his thoughts to turn to Ivy, who had just poked him with a fork.
"What?"
"I'm done laughing now. Can you tell me how the rest of your day was? What are you going to teach them?" Damien's voice turned serious.
"The only class that seems to know anything about the Unforgivables is the 7th years, and even their knowledge of them is not what it should be. None of the other years know anything about them beyond the name and an idea behind it. The younger years seem to be close enough to up-to-date, but the older years are behind. The 7th years are at best at the level of 5th years; I'm surprised they passed their O.W.L.s! I'm going to have my work cut out for me with them." Ivy Sprout pursed her lips slightly and nodded.
"The teachers we had for the 7th years' first through fourth years, except for third year, were real imbeciles. It's only been recently that we got John Aldar, who did his best to teach them what they needed to know, but he had to leave to help the Aurors. Just do what you can, and do what any teacher does." He sent her an inquiring glance. She looked out towards the cheerful, chattering students with a sad smile.
"Hope it's enough." They were silent for a moment before she changed the subject, which he gladly responded to.
oOo
The next day, Damine waited in his classroom for the Gryffindor/Slytherin 7th years. All the desks were pushed to the sides, leaving an empty place in the room.
"You'd better try to be the encouraging teacher today Damien, or they shall all think you evil for the rest of the year." Damien chuckled.
"Yes, I suppose I should, shouldn't I. That's not the impression I want." He stopped talking as the first footfalls sounded in the hall. The students came in talking softly among themsleves, some mentioning their happy memories. As they entered the room, Damien smiled.
"Please place your bags along the wall and come stand in the middle of the room—yes, that's right Miss Granger, thank you—no, Mr. Longbottom, please leave your toad by the bags as well." Neville looked up from where he was attempting to stuff the toad in his pocket.
"But sir, Trevor will get away from me again if I leave him alone. I only just found him again today." Damien smiled.
"Well then, as you cannot take care of him while attempting the Patronus—working around familiars is something we might touch upon—we'll just put him—Trevor, did you say?—on my desk. Siltivi and Karal will make sure that he does not run away." He placed a guiding hand on Neville's back and steered him to the large desk. Neville carefully placed Trevor on the center of the desk. Damien lightly lifted the huge snake over his shoulders to the desk below as Karal fluttered down from the rafters. Both examined the smaller toad for a minute before all three turned to watch the class.
Damien turned, his hair swinging around quickly as he did so. A deep, jagged scar on the back of his neck flashed momentarily, before being covered again by the layer of hair. A few of the student's eyes widened. It was Ron Weasley who asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Professor Raven?"
"Yes Mr. Weasley?"
"How did you get that scar, the one on your neck?" A wry smile hovered at the edge of his face as he touched it lightly.
"I disobeyed my teacher in the worst possible way, and had to pay the price." It was true—Godric had told him over and over not to touch the blades in the Armory unless one of the Founders were there. In a fit of rebellion, he had ignored the warning. The blades had come alive and struck what would have been a death blow if Helga hadn't come in that exact moment. Godric had been furious, and had demanded that the scar remain as a lesson. It hadn't been until his last two years that they had taught him the spell to keep the weapons inanimate when he entered. He shook himself out of the reminising mood and smiled at the students.
"Now, please take out your wands, focus on your happy memory, and say 'Expecto Patronum'. Please do remember that this spell is very advanced, and if you get a mist, you have made progress. Begin." The room was filled with several voices as a few silvery mists sprang up in the room. Damien allowed them to continue for about five minutes before he stopped the class. His green eyes grew solemn as they looked back. He raised his wand.
"Very good. However, you will eventually need to know how to react in the presence of a Dementor. This might provide a little motivation." With a quick swish, the room darkened and chilled as a tall, imposing robed figure approached the students. Damine's voice broke them out of their shock.
"Cast the spell!" With a jump, several began casting. There was a sudden increase of power, detected by Damien, in one corner. A large silvery raven Patronus arrowed at the Dementor, who dissolved. Damiens miled at the unconscious play on his name as the young Mr. Malfoy looked at the raven that bowed its head before disappearing. Siltivi hissed her amusement.
"He already, consciously or not, views you as a protector." Damien smiled, though he couldn't answer her.
"Very good Mr Malfoy; twenty points to Slytherin and please remain after class for a moment. Now, as you recall, Mister Malfoy's Patronus charged the Dementor, which caused it to fade away." With a swish of his wand, the desks were back at the middle of the room, with all the bags at their owner's feet.
"Please take out your quills and take notes." There was a flurry of activity as the class prepared.
oOo
As the rest of the class stampeded for the door, Draco Malfoy approached the man carefully. Damien, sitting behind the desk, cast an anti-eavesdropping spell on the room and motioned for him to sit. He did so under the stern gaze of Karal, and the measuring gazes of Damien and Siltivi. The 24 year old spoke first.
"Mr. Malfoy, was that your first time casting the Patronus?" Slowly, studying the professor to see what he wanted, Draco nodded.
"It was."
"Ah." He paused momentarily.
"Mr. Malfoy, I have a very serious question to ask you. Please answer it truthfully; no matter what you say, I will not harm you. Mr. Malfoy," he leaned forward, "do you want to become a Death Eater?"
oOo
Chapter End
oOo
A/N: that might be my first successful cliffhanger. Anyway, shall leave you to stew over that while I convince myself that I do have to go back and do a manual spell check because this computer is stupid. Please let me know of any major spelling mistakes or typos that take away from the story!
Review Responses
Thanks to:
OrganiclyMe, Mika (because it was eight years for Harry, but only 2 for everybody else.), shadow of the black abyss, Black-Raven3, shion20 (as my sister informed me, it's been a while again. Sorry!), Xblilyia (did I really? Oops. At some point I'll have to go back and fix that… until I do, pretend that either she didn't say that, or that he eventually told her the whole story. Thanks for letting me know!), emikae, maddy143ded (I did send you an email that said I'd never read that story, as far as I knew, and that it was going completely differently from that one, right? And you didn't offend me. –just freaked me out for an hour because I was so worried the email didn't reach you or something and that I was going to get reported.--), Night-Owl123, Yuna31, Allyanna (lol, any reviews are wonderful!), Shadowed Rains, HecateDeMort (I just tried to capitalize the H four times in your name, and kept getting a lowercase one because my finger would lift off the Shift key before I hit the H. ), Lady Smoothie (Stop making me blush. I do not write 8 times better then you can. I like your story better then mine! –maybe we should trade, if we like each other's better. D-), ApocSM (hey, someone else does random spanish in their review! Now I don't feel so strange. D thanks!), ScrewyLouie12, falconsfan, USA-Jeanette (eventually-not-really-on-purpose. But you didn't hear it from me. Oh, and no, OotP did not occur; I had this whole story written in the notebook before the 5th book came out. D), Prongs Luver (Yes, poor them… feel sort of bad for them. The rest of me is wearing devil horns and tail and pitchfork and cackling evilly. Mwuahahahaha!), Bloodless Ace, Eowyn23, Dragon Shadow (I think I know you. Are you blonde, talkative, and related to me?), Red Jeanie, foxychibi, Sirenia, porcupineapple (how did I do on the lessons?), and bookfanatic84. Thanks again! You guys gave me 27 reviews! That's one more then from Picture A Pirate. D
Looking forward to more reviews, in which you guys discuss what the world government should be if the penguins attacked from outerspace and killed all adults over the age of 25. This occurred after the 3rd world war, caused by an argument between China and the US over the ping pong ball trade. (This was my world history essay question for the final. Interested in your answers. D)
Buh-bye now!
Kaaera
Note from Maria: In chapter 2, the test Harry has to take to get approved for being a teacher: "What type of soap do I prefer, lilac or rose?" You got that from Amulet of Time, didn't you? P