Chapter 5
The New DADA Teacher
The next morning at breakfast the schedules were passed out. "Great! We have Transfiguration with the Slytherins and then Double Potions with the Ravenclaws." Ron said sarcastically. Harry groaned. "At least we don't have Snape anymore! Plus Tonks is teaching it!" Hermione said emphatically." Big whoop. I just hate potions." Harry replied. He piled some more ketchup onto his sausage and began to cut it up and eat it. "I hope the new transfiguration teacher will still see if we are animagi. That would be so exciting." Hermione said. After they had all eaten, they trudged to the Transfiguration room to see an owl sitting on the desk. "It's so old and feeble!" Parvati Patil cooed. As the last of the students entered, the owl flew up into the air and transformed into the wiry old professor, and Hermione smiled." Why are you smiling, young lady?" Professor Vance asked, looking slightly bewildered. "It's just I recognized you. Parvati is actually how I figured it out. When she made the statement about the owl being old and feeble, I just knew it was you." Professor Vance stared in amazement." I have done that for everyone of my class and no one has known it was me. I must have done around 100 times. You are the first one to figure it out. I am
amazed." Hermione just smiled and Professor Vance turned to the rest of the class." I expect this to be a lesson for the rest of you. Dark times are coming, and you never know what you might be facing. I hope you will all learn not to trust your surroundings. Oh, and 25 points to Gryffindor." he concluded, looking down at them. "We will start off by testing to see if you are an animagus. Professor Tonks will be teaching you to brew a potion to tell if you are an animagus. When all of you have successfully made your potions, you will test them on yourself. Though you may make the potion, I doubt that any of you will be an animagus. There are three types of animagi. There is magical, multiple, and regular. Being a magical animagi means that you can change into some type of magical creature. Multiple animagi can change into multiple forms. The only known registered multiple animagus is Godric Gryffindor, and he had to animagus forms. The regular animagi is just someone turning into a regular animal." He looked at them and smiled. "Now that we're done with the boring part, get out your books and turn to page 11 for the full human transfiguration." They spent the rest of the class going over human transfiguration, and, at the end of class, he assigned them 12 inches of parchment on animagi and human transfiguration. Harry walked up to the common room when he put his hands in his pockets. He felt his hand run across cool metal. He pulled the locket out of his pocket and stared at it. He had forgotten all about it. He opened it and read the note. He had almost memorized it last year he had read it so many times. He looked at the initials R.A.B. He thought about the initials, but could not get any farther. He sat the locket down in his trunk and went down to lunch. He ate and then went up to the common room to get his Firebolt. He still had an hour before Potions so he went out to the quidditch pitch to fly a little. He got on his Firebolt and was just completing his second lap when he saw Professor Nancy coming out to the pitch. She motioned for him to come down and he flew groundward to meet her. "Hi Harry. I see you are a very good flier." "I guess I'm okay." Harry replied, smiling sheepishly. "Why don't you come up into my office and
have a cup of cocoa with me." "Well, I really don't have enough time, but maybe some other time." Harry replied. "Okay, some other time then." With that she walked back to the castle. Harry got on his Firebolt and made one more lap around the field before going up to the common room to get his things. "Harry, where have you been? Class starts in five minutes!" Hemione exclaimed, and without giving him times to explain, she pulled him out to the hallway and they ran to the potions room. They arrived just a couple of seconds before Tonks did, completely out of breath. "Take a seat please, Harry. Class will be starting momentarily." Tonks said, and Harry and Hermione joined Ron at a table near the front." Hello, and welcome to Potions. We will be brewing a very difficult potion today, and you will be testing yourself with it at the end of class." Tonks said. "The directions will be on the board. Please follow them exactly or you could create something that could kill you." She flicked her wand and the directions and a list of ingredients appeared on the board. There was a lot of noise as everyone got out their cauldron and ingredients. They all concocted in silence. At the end of class Tonks assigned them to test the potion on themselves. If they turned blue, then they were an animagus. If they turned red, they weren't. Harry walked back o the common room with Ron and Hermione, and they collapsed on the sofa. "Are you ready to see in we're animagus?" Harry suggested, and they nodded. Hermione went first. She gulped down the potion and shivered. "It's like ice." She said with her teeth chattering. Suddenly an array of colors surrounded her. Very slowly they all morphed into red. Hermione whimpered. Ron reached out to comfort her, but she pulled away from him and ran up to her room. "You next, mate." Harry said, and handed Ron the potion. Ron drank his in one gulp and shuddered. The color started to surround him. It slowly turned to red. "Darn it!" Ron screamed, and then he handed the potion to Harry. He downed it in two gulps. Hermione was right, it did feel like ice was filling him from the inside. A cold sensation ran up his body and Harry saw the color surround him. Very slowly the light started to change. It turned from green to purple to blue. Harry smiled as Ron stared at him, bewilderment changing to happiness. "I knew if any of us had it, it would be you." Ron said. "I think I should go up and see Professor Vance. Harry sprinted down the halls towards Professor Vance's class. He ran inside to see Professor Vance sitting at his desk, grading some papers. He looked up at Harry in surprise, and then smiled. "What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" he asked. "I just took my potion for the animagus testing, and the colors around me turned blue!" Harry said. Professor Vance smiled and and opened his mouth again to speak. "There is a very complicated potion that can tell what type of animagus you are, and what you will turn into. I will have Professor Tonks start it for you tonight, and it should be ready in three days time. I think we should keep this between you and me, Mr. Potter." "Yes, sir." Harry said, and then walked out of the room and up to the Fat Lady. He hummed as he stepped to the portrait hole to find Ron and Hermione in one of the arm chairs, looking rather busy. He walked past them to the stairs leading to his dormitory. He went into his dormitory when he remembered the shrunken book. He found it in some of his robes and cast the spell to enlarge it. On the cover was the Potter crest. There were two lions in a crossing pattern with a sword on either side of them. He opened the book and looked inside.
Incendo ut aesculus aedifico considero attertiatus ceramitis contra lumina
The inscription looked Latin to Harry, but he couldn't be sure. He made a mental note to ask Hermione. He packed up his things for Defense Against the Dark Arts and went back downstairs to see Ron and Hermione, talking quietly in front of the fire. He
walked out of the common room and made his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. He saw Peeves floating above the corridor by Defense Against the Dark Arts. He walked down to go to the other corridor when he ran into Luna. "Hi, Harry." she said, and then gave him a hug." How's Neville?" Harry inquired, grinning. "Oh, he's fine. I got him a Crutolos for his birthday. It is a special kind of flower that suffocates its prey and then sucks out its juices." Luna said in her far away voice. "Oh, I'm sure he will like that." Harry said, smiling. "Well, I must be going. I need to go research vampires for Professor Nancy. She really is nice, you know." Luna concluded and then made her way towards the library. Harry walked back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor to find Peeves gone. He walked into the classroom to find only Professor Nancy there. "Hi, Harry." she greeted warmly, and then turned back to the papers she had been grading. Harry found a seat and looked at Nancy. She was wearing regular black robes and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. 'She is beautiful' Harry thought. Her
hair was glimmering in the light of the candle. She looked up and met his eyes and smiled. Harry looked down in embarrassment, his face turning scarlet. He was getting out his book when Ron and Hermione entered. "Hi, Harry ! What have you been doing? We were looking for you." Hermione inquired. " I was taking a walk and I just ended up here a couple of minutes before you did." Harry replied, trying not to reveal the information that he had stared at Professor Nancy for five minutes slip out. He pulled out the metal locket, feeling the touch of cold steel on his skin.' I bet Sirius would who R.A.B. is if I could just talk to him.' Harry thought, hoping that there was some way to get in touch with Sirius. 'But there isn't.' Harry's mind fought back,'He is gone forever and you will never get him back.' 'No! there has to be a way!' Harry thought miserably, knowing that that last bit of information was false. Professor Nancy stood up and faced the class." Hello, class. My name is Professor Nancy. In this class we will learn how to fight against some of the major curses known to dark wizards. We will also learn how to recognize any disguises and how to test and fight the imperious curse. It will be very difficult, but since you are my best and brightest, you should have no problem at all. I have confidence in each and every one of you." Professor Nancy concluded, smiling down at them all. She and Harry caught their eyes and smiled. ' This is going to be some year all right.' Harry thought to himself, and then settled down to the assignment she had just posted on the board. The rest of the class was very dull, as it was mostly review. Harry caught himself staring at Professor Nancy quite a few times. He felt bad because he was seeing Ginny, and he did not want to hurt her after all she had been through. "Okay class, please put your books away and I will see you on Thursday!" Professor Nancy concluded merrily, and then went back to grading papers like she had before class. There was a mad rush to the door as everybody left and Harry found himself to be one of the last to exit. He was walking up to the common room with Ron when he heard him yelp from beside him. "Damn it! That hurts!" Ron muttered, trying to remove his foot from the trick stair beneath him. "Here, I'll help you." With Harry's help, Ron managed to pry his foot loose from the stair. They walked back up the stairs in silence. They got Hermione and went down to dinner. Afterwards, Hermione pulled Harry aside and motioned for him to be quiet."Harry, I translated the words. It was Latin. It said 'Tap the third brick from the left of the window of the tallest tower to find what you are looking for'." Harry just stood there, looking amazed. They walked back upstairs in an eerie silence. Harry went straight to his dormitory, which was deserted. "This is going to be one strange year." He said out loud to the darkness, resting his head on his pillow and falling into a dreamless sleep.