Chapter 19
"He cornered Shannon against a wall and started kissing her," said Ginny.
"What?" exclaimed the three of them.
"She's not enjoying it either," added Ginny. "It looks like she's pretending to be into it or something."
"What is she doing?" asked Hermione. "Something's going on."
"I'll see you in class, Draco," they heard Shannon say.
Suddenly, something wet touched Harry's hand. He jumped and looked at his side, there stood Morpheus, Shannon's black dog. He looked worried as he sat beside Harry. Then, Morpheus' ears perked up and he ran off towards where Malfoy and Shannon were.
"Let's get to class and take our seats," Harry said.
"I've got Hagrid right now so I better get moving," Ginny said. "See you at lunch."
"Bye," they said to her as she hurried down the hall.
They slowly walked down the hall towards the Dark Arts room. As they reached the wooden door, they heard a man's voice.
"I have to," said the raspy male voice.
"No!" Shannon said sharply. "It's too dangerous. We have to plan before we jump into anything."
"Why do you put yourself through this?" asked the voice. "Why do you allow snakes like him to touch you?"
"I do what I must for the mission," said Shannon, her voice shaky. "I will always do what has to be done."
"The day you saved me I swore to protect you and stay by your side until you no longer needed me," said the voice.
"And you are," she said. "But we must be careful. Now you better leave before someone comes."
"Okay," the voice said. "I'll see you tonight if I can."
The room fell silent as a window opened and someone ran up the stone stairs. Harry waited a couple minutes before opening the door and walking into the classroom with Ron and Hermione behind him.
This room was larger than some of the others at Hogwarts. Four large window's lined the wall to the left of the door and a stone staircase ran along the wall opposite the door leading up to an office. Between each window stood a large bookcase. Each was filled with something different. One held miscellaneous body parts in glass jars filled with liquid. Another held miscellaneous creatures also in glass jars with liquid. The others held books and dangerous looking objects.
This year, instead of desks, large dark green couches and chairs were placed around the outside of the room. A large, wooden, low to the ground table sat in the middle of the room. In the middle of the table sat a large water fountain composed of hematite and crystals. Around the table sat several candles in-groups of three and four. The running water created a soothing sound that filled the room.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked around the room as they sat down on the nearest couch. They noticed a large rectangular wooden box hidden in the shadows of the room. On the front of the box, clearly carved into the wood, was a large cross. Hermione stood and walked over to the box.
As she reached out to touch the engraved cross, a voice shouted, "Stop!"
Hermione flinched as she looked up towards the voice. There standing at the top of the stairs was Shannon, her eyes narrow and filled with caution.
"Never touch a cross that is carved into a wooden box," warned Shannon.
"What's inside?" asked Harry.
"You'll see," Shannon said, the edges of her lips curling. "Take your seat."
With a wave of Shannon's hand a large black sheet fell from the ceiling and draped itself over the box. She smiled at them and then disappeared back into her office. Hermione quickly took her seat beside Harry and glanced at the box out of the corner of her eye.
"Forget it," Harry said, noticing his lover.
Hermione looked at him. Even though they had been going out for a short period of time, Harry still knew how she worked due to the seven years they had been friends. She smiled at him but took one last look at the box. Slowly, one by one, their fellow Gryffindors and Slytherin house arrived and took their seat. By the time the last student was seated, the room was divided Gryffindors on one side and Slytherins on the other.
The heavy door leading into the classroom suddenly slammed shut on its own. The sound of it closing boomed through the room and echoed down the halls. Without warning, the shutters of the four tall windows shut, plunging them into darkness. The only light came from the candles that littered the floor.
As the students talked in a low whisper, a door opened somewhere in the room. A clicking sound caught their attention and the whispering stopped. The clicking sound stopped and the room fell silent. Then the shutters on the windows opened and light flooded the room.
Standing before the black sheet covered box was Shannon. She was dressed in a pair of tight, low rider, dark blue jeans, a tight dark green long sleeved shirt, a pair of black ankle high-heeled boots, and a black robe that skirted the her ankles. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that cascaded over her shoulder.
"Welcome," Shannon said with a grin. "As you learned last night I'm Professor Darconia your new Dark Arts teacher."
A young girl with light brown hair and brown eyes raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss…" said Shannon not knowing the young lady's name.
"Parvati Patil," she said.
"Miss Parvati, what is your question?" asked Shannon.
"What is under the black sheet?" asked Parvati.
"You'll see," smiled Shannon. "But first I'm sure all of you have questions you would like to ask me that does not have to do with the black sheet behind me."
Parvati raised her hand again. "How many wizarding schools are there in America?" she asked.
"Four," Shannon said.
A young girl with dark brown hair raised her hand. "How many years of schooling do you go through?" she asked.
"Ten," said Shannon. "What's your name?"
"Lavender Brown," she said.
"Yes, Draco," Shannon said.
"Which Hogwarts house would you like to be in if you were a student?" asked Malfoy.
"We're not getting into this conversation again," said Shannon.
"Why not?" asked Ron.
"Because I have every trait that each house stands for," Shannon said. "Gryffindor for bravery, Hufflepuff for loyalty, Ravenclaw for intelligent, and Slytherin for my determination to be the best."
The room fell silent. Then Hermione's hand went into the air.
"Yes?" said Shannon.
"What kind of creatures have you come across in your life?" asked Hermione.
"Many," Shannon said. "I once ran into a Werewolf. I was in Germany, the Black Forest to be exact, and I was hunting a Vampire who had murdered a friend of mine. I had run off on my own and there in a cave was a Werewolf. Not to happy to see me either."
"Oh my," said Parvati. "Did you find the Vampire?"
"No," she said. "I had to come home before it was found. Shall we get to our lesson today?"
The room filled with groans.
"Can anyone tell me why, let's say, a dark wizard would use Vampires and or Werewolves for their dirty deeds?" asked Shannon.
"They can see at night," Hermione said. "Vampires can sneak into a house without a sound."
"Werewolves kill anything that moves," Malfoy said.
"Good, good," Shannon said. "Anything else?"
"Both can be killed and then you wouldn't be able to find out who used them," Harry said.
"Good," said Shannon. "Dementors are another good creature to use. I've heard that there are several students here at Hogwarts that can conjure a Patronus charm. Is that true?"
"Yes," the Gryffindors said proudly.
"Harry's the best one," said Seamus.
It wasn't a secret that most of the students knew spells that were far beyond their years. It also wasn't a secret that Harry was the best one.
"Mr. Potter," Shannon said. "Would you be so kind as to demonstrate for us?"
"There's no Dementors around," Harry said.
Shannon smiled as she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few moments, a large trunk flouted down the stairs and settled behind her. She motioned for Harry to stand up and take his place before her as she moved behind the trunk. As she opened the trunk a large billow of black fog raised up and took the shape of a Dementor.
As it floated towards Harry, he raised up his want and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
A sudden burst of light flooded from the tip of Harry's wand and there, before him, stood a giant blue stag. The stag reared up and the Dementor was pushed back into the trunk. Once Shannon had closed and locked the trunk, she walked forward and touched the side of the stag's face.
The stag slowly evaporated into thin air and Shannon sat on the trunk behind her. She was pale as she stared at Harry. Her dark blue eyes suddenly changed to a brilliant green and then back to the dark blue color. Harry stared at her in amazement.
"Please take your seat, Mr. Potter," Shannon said. "Shall we move on then?"