"Harry, m'boy, how are you?" Harry found his hand engulfed by a large, fat one as he entered the staffroom. Everything had been sorted out in Harry's office and classroom thanks to a few well-cast spells; now all Harry had left to do was the timetables.
"Uhh… Hello Professor Slughorn," Harry said uncomfortably. He still didn't like the self-considering Slughorn all that much. But he was spared the annoyance of having to make conversation with the potions master by the arrival of Professor McGonagall; as she walked in everyone sat down at the table, and Harry found himself placed in between Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch.
"Just a few words before we begin," Professor McGonagall said, "I would like to say a few words. Though we were divided by a year without Hogwarts, we are now able to come back together again in safety, thanks to one young man, who has agreed to fill the one vacant position this year. I would like to welcome Harry Potter as our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of Gryffindor house, who's short eighteen years are more than compensated by his experience." A lot of the teachers waved to Harry; Hagrid, especially, almost knocked Professor Sprout out of her chair with the enthusiasm of his wave. Harry grinned back; he had been taught by most of these people, and it was good to see them all again.
"So, Harry," Madam Hooch said when the food appeared, "been doing much flying? I always said you could've played for England if you'd wanted to."
"Well, when I was after Voldemort there wasn't much of an opportunity," Harry said, ignoring Madam Hooch's faint wince, "but since I got back I've been flying a lot with Ron and Ginny Weasley."
"Ah, yes, I heard Miss Weasley was coming back this year. Engaged to her, aren't you? And did you give her the Gryffindor Quidditch captaincy? Good, good. She'll do you proud in the cup, no doubt." The flying teacher said all this very quickly, leaving only gaps for short nods from Harry in response to the questions.
After he had done the first to fifth year timetables, along with Ginny's, because he knew what subjects she was taking, and had prepared the sixth and seventh year OWL results for tomorrow, (Romilda Vane had passed well in DADA), it was almost time for dinner, so Harry went down to the great hall.
The sorting passed quickly, and Harry looked at the new Gryffindors with interest: one of the girls was undoubtedly Cho Chang's sister. Ginny seemed to have noticed too; she was eyeing Mari with a hidden dislike until Harry caught her eye and they grinned at each other,
Harry managed to get through the feast without looking at Ginny too much by sitting next to Hagrid and talking to him a lot, but Hagrid still noticed.
"I've never seen a boy more in love," he muttered under his breath. "It's taking all he's got just to keep his eyes off her."
Finally the plates had returned to their usual sparkling quality, and Professor McGonagall stood up to make the opening speech.
"Welcome all students," she said. "There are many announcements to get through tonight, and although some of our older students probably know a lot of them by heart, the first few are important, so a small amount of concentration will need to be squeezed from those tired minds." Professor McGonagall attempting humour? Harry thought. Since when does that happen? "First and foremost," McGonagall continued, "we would like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Potter. And since he is not long out of Hogwarts himself, and has not yet lost the bond with you students as I have, I will ask him to give an opening speech, before I get too far into the other announcements." Harry's mouth went dry. What did McGonagall expect him to do? But as he stood up, Harry knew exactly what to say.
"Firstly," he began, "to all the older students: it's Professor Potter now. I know that to a lot of the students, especially the seniors, I am still Harry, the Quidditch captain, the forth competitor of the Triwizard Tournament and the guy who was always getting detention with Professors Umbridge and Snape for yelling at them, so I won't be giving out detentions in the first few weeks to people who forget to call me 'sir.' Secondly, on a more serious note, I have people tell me that I am brave, taking on Voldemort all those times. But I still think the bravest thing I've done is take up this job. Do you know why? It's because I would only have finished Hogwarts last year if I hadn't been busy, and now I have to face all of you. I must admit, circumstances that I've been in may have given me extra training, but in a few years some of you may be stronger than me, so remember: you are powerful, and though the shadow of evil may always be there, to you, that's all it is; just a shadow.
"Thirdly, again, I'm sure some of the older students have heard this many times before, but take it from me: you must rely on each other. I have lost so many people to evil: my parents, my godfather, my mentor, my fellow schoolmate, and last year I almost lost the person that I plan to marry. So to try to stop others from loosing as much I will say it again: you must rely on each other. If I hadn't had my friends with me in every encounter I've had I would have died half a dozen times and more by now. So unless you want to fall alone, remember that we are weak when we're divided, but we're strong when we're united." Harry sat down amidst enthusiastic applause, and saw Ginny gazing up at him with tears in her eyes. Professor McGonagall continued along with the announcements, mentioning the DA, but Ginny and Harry were locked in a gaze that spoke louder than words.