The Adventure Continued
Chapter 10: Fox Fighting
A/N: Ten chapters later, we finally get to the root of our problem! Ok, we barely touch the root, but now you know that it's there. There is so much more to come, so please be patient! For those who are worried that I won't continue this story, I will begin Chapter 14 today! Yay! So, you can have faith that this story is going something. Why won't I post the next 3 chapters right now? Well, like these 10 past chapters, the next three need polishing up and proofreading. Don't worry, next one will be coming out soon.
Thanks to IamSiriusgrl, gldnsunsprite21, Honey P, IAMSOAP, Snorri Pig, and, 5CANDALOUS for the excellent reviews!
Harry sat on his desk as a large group of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff second years shoved into the room, each trying to get a seat at the front. The news that the famous Harry Potter would be teaching at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher flew like wildfire through the school, so that the students crowded eagerly outside his door until Harry nervously unlocked them.
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am Professor Potter and this year, we will be learning basic techniques to help you defend yourselves," Harry announced, once the students were settled down and those who did not belong in the class exited. "There is one rule I'm sticking to: I am not going to tell you anything about myself or Voldemort." A few students flinched, but Harry took no noticed. After all the years of saying his name, the response was always the same. "I am here to teach you how to defend yourselves so that you might have the fighting chance that was not granted to all victims of Dark magic, like my parents. Yes, Miss…?"
"Peebles, sir," a red-headed girl spoke up in an unusual squeaky voice. "Why won't you tell us how you defeated You-Know-Who?"
The class sat on pins and needles, waiting for their teacher's response. Harry simply smiled at them, took off his glasses and proceeded to clean them off uncertainly on his black robes.
"Even the greatest wizards don't share all that they know with their apprentices. This burden was given to me by a powerful wizard and at one point I would have done anything to give it back," Harry paused to look at each student's face. There was no way any of these kids could have fought as Harry did. They all had families that loved them, barriers from the evilness that lurked in the darkness. No, it was better that they didn't know. "But now it's mine and I am not going to pass this on so another person could experience my fate. The point of this class is that you won't have to go through what I went-"
"But Professor!" a spiky blonde boy with big teeth interrupted. "Wouldn't you agree that the battle was important? That we could learn something?"
Harry looked at the boy and the rest of the class. It was clear they only had one thing on their mind. "The next student to interrupt me will have points taken from their house," Harry answered quietly, but sternly. "I am in no position to share my experiences and that's the last I will say on this subject." Harry reset his glasses on his face and looked out to see the disappointed faces.
"Please open your book, Defensive Spells and Counter-curses, to page seven and read silently to page sixteen," Harry began again. "We will have a discussion over the material, some practice on shield charms, and for homework, a nineteen-inch role of parchment on the importance of shield charms and how they are used. No less than five hundred words. Open your books and begin!"
The second years grumbled miserably as they open their books and slowly read the chapter. Harry couldn't be more thankful when the class period was over, but groaned (again) when he realized that he had three more classes that day to teach. His first break came at lunch, where he met Ginny at the staff table.
"Hey Ginny," Harry greeted as he sat down next to her.
Ginny promptly ignored him.
"Well, come on, you can't just ignore me," Harry spoke quietly. "There's something wrong. Can't we talk?"
"The only wrong thing here is you," Ginny replied haughtily and she marched out of the Great Hall. Harry's bright green eyes followed her until she disappeared behind the doors, but his determination wasn't thwarted. He would just have to try again, he thought miserably, finishing his lunch.
None of the students really paid much attention, except a pair of eyes staring across the staff table. She could only see too well the pain in Harry's eyes…
The rest of his classes proved to be as eager to learn about his past as the second years. Each class asked the same questions, which sometimes didn't end until Harry took points away from houses for interruptions (double points if they were in Slytherin). All in all, it had been a tiring day, one which Harry did not feel like repeating again, although he had sixteen more classes lined up for the rest of the week.
His first free period occurred the next day after the first break and couldn't have come any sooner. For a while, he wondered aimlessly around the castle, and incidentally found the Transfiguration classroom filled with fourth years.
Pulling on his invisibility cloak (which was useful also for passing quickly by students who would otherwise goggle at him), he followed a late Ravenclaw student into the classroom and stood at the back. Apparently, Professor Weasley was late, but then Harry realized that the fox in the corner was no stuffed animal. It had been sitting there, watching students so stiffly that most of the students didn't even realize that it was alive. When the hour struck, the fox walked to the front of the class and transformed back into the red-haired girl that Harry had once fallen in love with.
"Transfiguration is one of the most difficult forms of magic that you will encounter here at Hogwarts. I do not tolerate any misbehavior in this class and those caught misbehaving will be expelled. You have been warned," Ginny's eyes narrowed as her eyes looked over every student in the class. Good way to start off the year, just like McGonagall, Harry thought to himself. "Now, open your books to page thirty-one, and attempt to turn these feathers into pins."
Harry watched the fourth years struggle with their first task while Ginny showed the students the proper procedure, and went around the room helping students. Twice, Harry "accidentally let" the spell slip from his lips, and some surprised fourth years jumped in excitement over their "achievements." However, the students remained baffled at why it wouldn't work a second time.
"Harry, I told you to stay out of my way," Ginny spoke sharply at the end of the class period when the last fourth left the room and door shut behind him. "Don't think just because you are under that invisibility cloak that I don't know you are there. I could smell you across the room and outside the door."
Harry pulled off the invisibility with a broad grin. "You are tricky. I will have to remind my students to stay out of your way. Defense 101: Stay out of Ginny Weasley's Way."
"Oh, funny, Potter," Ginny snapped, clearly not amused. "What do you want? Why are you here?"
Harry sat down on a desk and shrugged. "I wanted to see you."
Ginny stood shocked. "Well, what if I don't want to see you?"
"You really haven't got a choice," Harry mused, "since we both work at the same place. But I think we need to talk. There's obviously more to this story that I'm not getting. You can't be entirely angry at me for getting a job near you."
"Well, what if I am?" Ginny retorted coldly.
"The Ginny I knew wasn't like that. She cared about her friends, despite the circumstances," Harry noted calmly, as if Ginny had always fired angry questions at Harry.
Ginny frowned. "Well, the Ginny you knew is no longer around. She died years ago when the Harry she knew broke her heart and never came back to fix it."
Harry raised an eyebrow. Now we were getting somewhere. "The Harry she knew has changed as well. I guess we've never discussed this before. But just because I have changed doesn't mean anything. I wanted to protect you, Gin. Don't you understand?" His green eyes seemed to plead with her- for her forgiveness and understanding nature.
"I understand plenty, Potter," Ginny snarled back. "And now I know never to fall for you and your arrogant head again."
"Yeah, that is a problem," Harry smiled wanly, somehow feeling a lot older than he really was. "My arrogant head does get in the way- although, unintentionally. I would quit on the dime right here, Gin, if it wasn't for my job with the ministry. It's really important."
"Oh, yeah, it's so important!" Ginny yelled in outrage. "So important that you forget about the people you love. Yeah, that's really important, Potter. Really." And without another word, Ginny marched out of the classroom, shutting the door behind her.
Harry took a minute to collect his thoughts before throwing the cloak back over him. "No, Gin," he thought grimly, "you really don't understand."
Taking the path back up to his office where Sirius sat snoring loudly in his portrait (Harry suspected that he wasn't really sleeping), he found a few owls had come and gone, leaving messages from the ministry, and to Harry's joy, one from each of his two best friends. He savored the letters before returning to his classroom after lunch to begin another lecture of Defense Against the Dark Arts that he done four times before and still needed to be done another sixteen times.
How do teachers do this all day? Harry thought tiredly, before collapsing again for the rest of the night. But his sleep did not prove restful. He was now being haunted by the same scene as the night before, except this time, Ginny was yelling at Harry, telling him that he was worthless piece of filth. Well, it wasn't entirely unreal. Harry's dream came true the next morning when he once again ran into Ginny in one of the corridors.