AN: Hm, so I have discovered that by saving this in html format, the italics/bold/underline stay. How sad as I have been doing the thing for nearly two years. Well, here is chapter two.

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

It was a chilly morning the following Monday when Seraphim began class with the Gryffindors and Slytherins. She had them practicing the levitation spell on textbooks and was forced to spend half the class period trying to save people from being knocked in the head.

"All right," she sighed wearily. "Let's try it one by one. Miss Granger, you first, please." Seraphim send Hermione a pleading look.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Hermione enunciated clearly as the textbook rose to a few feet off the desk in front of her and hovered. After a nod from Seraphim, the book dropped back to the desk.

"Thank you," Seraphim scanned the room. "Mister Weasley?"

Screwing up his face, Ron looked very hard at the book and muttered the incantation. After a few seconds of tense trembling, the book rose to about a foot off the table and hovered for a few seconds before falling back with a dull thud.

Seraphim beamed. "Very good, very good. Mister Zabini?"

And so she continued down the circle of students until she'd come around to the front again. Only Harry and Malfoy were left.

"Mister Malfoy, would you please perform the spell?"

With an air of contempt, Malfoy uttered the incantation and pointed at the book. Unfortunately, his gaze was directed elsewhere and a goldfish hovered out of Seraphim's fishbowl.

"The book please, Mister Malfoy. This is not like with a wand, you must be looking directly at the object. Please try again."

Malfoy complied irritably. The textbook rose and, when he got bored, dropped.

"Mister Potter?" Seraphim rubbed her left temple.

Harry levitated the book without complaint, much to Seraphim's delight, and she left them the rest of the class to do as they liked, so long as they kept quiet, while she discussed some things with Harry and Ron.

"Now, I know it's a bit much to ask of you. But since you've been around him much longer than I have, could you perhaps get that insufferable idiot to stop bothering me?" Seraphim jerked her head towards Malfoy.

Ron chuckled. "We've been trying to keep him off our backs for over five years."

Seraphim sighed. "Well, all right then."

Harry stopped her before she went back to her desk, "We can't get him off your back, but I think we have a story that may interest you."

Seraphim looked intrigued, "Do tell."

"Well, you see, fourth year, there was this Triwizard tournament. This wizard, Barty Crouch Junior who posed as Professor Moody, was pretending to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry began.

"Yeah, and one day Harry and me and Hermione were walking to Potions and Malfoy comes up and starts an argument," Ron cut in. "So we're arguing and Malfoy's being a git and fires a curse at Harry's back right?"

"So then I turn around and there's this cracking sound and Moody's standing there," said Harry. "Then he tells us not to move and not to touch it."

"Only he was talking to Crabbe and Goyle because there was this white ferret on the ground," Ron laughed. "So he starts talking to the ferret and bouncing it up and down."

"And McG- I mean Professor McGonagall comes over and asks him 'Moody, is that a student?' all flustered-like and he says yes and explains that he was trying to hex me," Harry could hardly keep from laughing. "And she gets all bothered and tells Moody to change Malfoy back. And so he's lying on the floor-"

"His hair was all over the place and he was bright pink when Moody turned him back and took him to see Snape, who I'm sure didn't punish him, on top of being turned into a ferret!"

Seraphim raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Harry and Ron both swore.

"All right, thanks, I'll just picture a white ferret whenever I feel that he's being a little slimeball and that should lighten my mood considerably," she smiled.

"Anytime."

Seraphim straightened, "Okay everyone; class dismissed."

She also caught Harry, Ron, and Hermione on their way out. "Come by my room this evening for help on the levitation spell you two. And Hermione, I'll help you with that body-bind. Use it on Malfoy sometime when no one's looking, all right?"

They nodded and left the classroom grinning, heading for History of Magic.

Later that night, the three sixth-years filed into Seraphim's room where a Muggle CD was spinning of its own volition. A sweet flute and violin duet wafted through giving the room a warm, comforting feel.

Upon seeing her guests, Seraphim gathered up the notes in front of her and told them to sit down. "Let me just put these away and I'll be right with you."

They all flopped onto three of her many beanbag chairs. Harry got scarlet, Ron orange, and Hermione lavender. Seraphim walked back into the main room with a plate of chex mix and a jug of pumpkin juice. "Want some?" she mumbled around a cookie. Pulling up a gray beanbag chair, she set the refreshments on a coffee table.

"I've got a question Seraphim," said Ron around a mouthful of chex mix. "Why don't you just take away points from Malfoy for being a menace?"

She scowled. "Aunt Minerva won't let me. I'm only allowed to give or take away points for 'academic reasons'."

Harry chuckled at Seraphim's imitation of her aunt. "Can't you just give him a really hard one and when he can't do it, take points away?"

She shook her head. "Not unless everyone else could do it."

"Why?" Hermione looked slightly put out.

"Because I'm rooming with you guys. If I was in the teachers' dormitories, I could dish out whatever points I wanted. But Aunt Minerva wants me to have the learning experience of being around people who are relatively my own age."

"I see."

Soon the chex mix was gone and the reason for the visit forgotten.

"We'll teach you how to fly this weekend, won't we Ron?" Harry and Ron were defining the higher aspects of Quidditch with Hermione getting in a few pointers here and there.

"I've already told you, I'm abysmal at flying. I spend more time on the ground than on the broomstick whenever I try," Seraphim complained.

"That's a load of rubbish, we'll get you to be a great flier," Harry affirmed.

They argued a while longer before Hermione decided to turn in for the night. She'd signed up for advanced Ancient Runes and had to be up earlier than Harry and Ron the following morning.

Ron leaned in once he heard the door shut, "So, can you really teach us the leg-locker curse? To use on Malfoy?" He grinned mischievously.

Seraphim rolled her eyes. "I was going to teach that to Hermione. She's got a little discretion on when to use it properly. Not when you feel like making his day miserable."

"What about the jelly-legs hex? Or the laughing charm?" Ron tried again.

"How about not?"

Harry laughed at Ron's seemingly futile attempts. "Give it a rest. She doesn't have the patience to teach you the leg-locker curse."

"Reverse psychology will not work on me," Seraphim half-glared.

"Damn."

Seraphim's CD began playing again. "What song is that?"

"It's Heart Throbbing Harmony from a Muggle show," she explained.

"I know that one. Gundam Wing, Dudley used to watch it," Harry mused.

"It's a good show. Aunt Minerva allowed me some Muggle luxuries and I got hooked on that Japanese Animation stuff. I've got a pen pal in Japan who sends me loads. He's taught me some Japanese as well," Seraphim grinned.

"My uncle works for the Gringott's branch in Japan," said Ron. "He's always sending us Japanese candy. They're delicious."

Seraphim nodded. "They are. And no, I'm never planning on teaching you the Leg-Locker curse without wands."

The boys' faces fell. "Why not?"

"It's unethical and I'm not allowed. I can only teach you 'useful spells which will further your education'," she sighed, wrinkling her nose.

"Did your aunt tell you that?" asked Harry.

"Yes. But Uncle Albus, that's what I call Professor Dumbledore since I've known him my whole life, says that as long as no one gets hurt a little fun isn't wrong. Of course, Aunt Minerva gives me pocket money so…" Seraphim trailed off.

Ron pouted. "What if you just…"

"No."

"Right then," he sat back in defeat.

Seraphim laughed good-naturedly. "Of course, I could leave a study manual with Hermione and if you looked through it I'm sure you could figure it out." Winking, she refilled the jug of juice.

Harry and Ron grinned. "We'll make sure to have Hermione get the book right away."

"Don't bother. I gave it to her yesterday. She's using it to brush up on her Transfiguration. Aunt Minerva taught me specifically," Seraphim sighed. "I've got loads of notes in there for wandless magic though so you should be able to find something to hex Malfoy with."

Harry and Ron's grins, if at all possible, grew. "Wicked."

"Mmhmm, just don't get caught."

Ron looked indignant. "Caught? Us? Never."

"Good," Seraphim sat back in her chair.

"After you've finished with him, you'll be sure to take a picture or something won't you?" she asked after a while.

"Of course. If we can find a camera," Ron assured her.

"Maybe we can borrow Colin's," Harry suggested.

"Or didn't Neville get a camera for his birthday? We could ask him, I know he'd love to have a souvenir of that," Ron mused, remembering Draco's use of the Leg-Locker curse on Neville in their first year.

"All right, enough talk of rule breaking for one night." Seraphim hushed them up. "Have you two finished the essay I asked of you?"

The boys groaned. "It's not due for a week!"

"It's only a foot of parchment, babies," Seraphim laughed.

"Easy for you to say, you assigned it!" Ron threw a pretzel at her.

She tried to catch it in her mouth and ended up getting hit on the nose. "Still."

"We'll do it, we promise," Harry told her. "Right now we're having fun." So saying, he tossed a wheat chex in the air and tried to get it into his mouth. He succeeded in hitting himself in the eye. "Ow!"

They continued in that manner for a few minutes in which they got about seven pieces into their mouths and a hundred or so on the floor. After cleaning up, they flopped on Seraphim's bed.

"I don't want to go to sleep yet," Ron complained, looking at Seraphim's clock. It was about two in the morning.

"Classes start at nine for us," Harry reminded him.

"So six hours of sleep?" Ron suggested.

Harry shrugged. "I guess."

Seraphim rolled over to snatch her schedule from her desk. "Argh, I've got to go to History of Magic tomorrow morning," she sighed. "I missed last week's lesson and he floated into my Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw class and demanded an explanation. After I told him I'm not technically even his student he got all offended. Aunt Minerva told me to go to at least every other class from now on." She then made a sour expression, as if she'd rather not.

"Reckon we'd better get to bed?" asked Harry, looking at Ron.

The redhead nodded. "See you tomorrow Seraphim."

"Oh yeah, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Well, Professor Miyu is actually interesting. I'm going to persuade her to tell you guys about the tengu."

"The what?"

"This Japanese sort of bird-monster," Seraphim explained. "She told me about it at the feast and I've wanted to know more."

"All right, I hope it's interesting. Our last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was…" Harry paused.

"Less than satisfactory," Ron finished as they stood.

"Good night," Seraphim called as they exited towards their dormitory.

After the boys left, Seraphim walked over to her desk and put her flute together. After taking some sheet music from a drawer, she began the melody from her CD.

Somewhere in the school, the strings of a violin murmured.

And that would be the end. Of chapter number the second one I mean. And if you could, you know, review, it would make me happy. Pretty please with a chocolate frog?

Until next time.